Neurological outcomes in children dead on hospital arrival

Introduction: Obtaining favorable neurological outcomes is extremely difficult in children transported to a hospital without a prehospital return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). However, the crucial prehospital factors affecting outcomes in this cohort remain unclear. We aimed to determine the prehospital factors for survival with favorable neurological outcomes (Cerebral Performance Category 1 or 2 (CPC 1-2)) in children without a prehospital ROSC after OHCA. Methods: Of 9093 OHCA children, 7332 children (age <18years) without a prehospital ROSC after attempting resuscitation were eligible for enrollment. Data were obtained from a prospectively recorded Japanese national Utstein-style database from 2008 to 2012. The primary endpoint was 1-month CPC 1-2 after OHCA. Results: The 1-month survival and 1-month CPC 1-2 rates were 6.92% (n=508) and 0.99% (n=73), respectively. The proportions of the following prehospital variables were significantly higher in the 1-month CPC 1-2 cohort than in the 1-month CPC 3-5 cohort: age (median, 3years (interquartile range (IQR), 0-14) versus 1year (IQR, 0-11), p<0.05), bystander-witnessed arrest (52/73 (71.2%) versus 1830/7259 (25.2%), p<0.001), initial ventricular fibrillation (VF)/pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT) rhythm (28/73 (38.3%) versus 241/7259 (3.3%), p<0.001), presumed cardiac causes (42/73 (57.5%) versus 2385/7259 (32.8%), p<0.001), and actual shock delivery (25/73 (34.2%) versus 314/7259 (4.3%), p<0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that 2 prehospital factors were associated with 1-month CPC 1-2: initial non-asystole rhythm (VF/pulseless VT: adjusted odds ratio ( aOR), 16.0; 95% confidence interval (CI), 8.05-32.0; pulseless electrical activity (PEA): aOR, 5.19; 95% CI, 2.77-9.82) and bystander-witnessed arrest (aOR, 3.22; 95% CI, 1.84-5.79). The rate of 1-month CPC 1-2 in witnessed-arrest children with an initial VF/pulseless VT was significantly higher than that in those with other initial cardiac rhythms (15.6% versus 2.3% for PEA and 1.2% for asystole, p for trend<0.001). Conclusions: The crucial prehospital factors for 1-month survival with favorable neurological outcomes after OHCA were initial non-asystole rhythm and bystander-witnessed arrest in children transported to hospitals without a prehospital ROSC. © 2015 Goto et al

A case of pulmonary stenosis after a repair for tetralogy of Fallot treated with percutaneous pulmonary valvuloplasty using a triple-balloon technique

SummaryThe patient was a 37-year-old female who had undergone a repair for tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) at the age of 4 years. Postoperative pulmonary stenosis remained, but she continued to be managed medically. Approximately 3 years ago, at the age of 34, she exhibited a worsening of fatigue and dyspnea during exertion (New York Heart Association III), and was therefore hospitalized for a detailed examination. In cardiac catheterization, a right ventricle to pulmonary artery peak-to-peak gradient of about 90mmHg was observed. Since it appeared that medical treatment alone would not sufficiently control her heart failure, pulmonary valvuloplasty using a triple-balloon technique was performed for the pulmonary stenosis. The peak-to-peak gradient immediately after the procedure decreased to 13mmHg. There were no indications of restenosis approximately 6 months after the procedure, and the symptoms of heart failure in her daily life improved thereafter

Optimal duration of antibiotic treatment for community-acquired pneumonia in adults: a systematic review and duration-effect meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES To find the optimal treatment duration with antibiotics for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults. DESIGN Systematic review and duration-effect meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES MEDLINE, Embase and CENTRAL through 25 August 2021. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA All randomised controlled trials comparing the same antibiotics used at the same daily dosage but for different durations for CAP in adults. Both outpatients and inpatients were included but not those admitted to intensive care units. We imposed no date, language or publication status restriction. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data extraction by two independent reviewers. We conducted a random-effects, one-stage duration-effect meta-analysis with restricted cubic splines. We tested the non-inferiority with the prespecified non-inferiority margin of 10% examined against 10 days . The primary outcome was clinical improvement on day 15 (range 7-45 days). SECONDARY OUTCOMES all-cause mortality, serious adverse events and clinical improvement on day 30 (15-60 days). RESULTS We included nine trials (2399 patients with a mean (SD) age of 61.2 (22.1); 39% women). The duration-effect curve was monotonic with longer duration leading to a lower probability of improvement, and shorter treatment duration (3-9 days) was likely to be non-inferior to 10-day treatment. Harmful outcome curves indicated no association. The weighted average percentage of the primary outcome in the 10-day treatment arms was 68%. Using that average, the absolute clinical improvement rates of the following durations were: 3-day treatment 75% (95% CI: 68% to 81%), 5-day treatment 72% (95% CI: 66% to 78%) and 7-day treatment 69% (95% CI: 61% to 76%). CONCLUSIONS Shorter treatment duration (3-5 days) probably offers the optimal balance between efficacy and treatment burden for treating CAP in adults if they achieved clinical stability. However, the small number of included studies and the overall moderate-to-high risk of bias may compromise the certainty of the results. Further research on the shorter duration range is required. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD 42021273357

Are regional variations in activity of dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrests outcomes? A nation-wide population-based cohort study

Aim: Dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DA-CPR) impacts the rates of bystander CPR (BCPR) and survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCAs). This study aimed to elucidate whether regional variations in indexes for BCPR and emergency medical service (EMS) may be associated with OHCA outcomes. Methods: We conducted a population-based observational study involving 157,093 bystander-witnessed, resuscitation-attempted OHCAs without physician involvement between 2007 and 2011. For each index of BCPR and EMS, we classified the 47 prefectures into the following three groups: advanced, intermediate, and developing regions. Nominal logit analysis followed by multivariable logistic regression including OHCA backgrounds was employed to examine the association between neurologically favourable 1-month survival, and regional classifications based on BCPR- and EMS-related indexes. Results: Logit analysis including all regional classifications revealed that the number of BLS training course participants per population or bystander\u27s own performance of BCPR without DA-CPR was not associated with the survival. Multivariable logistic regression including the OHCA backgrounds known to be associated with survival (BCPR provision, arrest aetiology, initial rhythm, patient age, time intervals of witness-to-call and call-to-arrival at patient), the following regional classifications based on DA-CPR but not on EMS were associated with survival: sensitivity of DA-CPR [adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence intervals) for advanced region; those for intermediate region, with developing region as reference, 1.277 (1.131-1.441); 1.162 (1.058-1.277)]; the proportion of bystanders to follow DA-CPR [1.749 (1.554-1.967); 1.280 (1.188-1.380)]. Conclusions: Good outcomes of bystander-witnessed OHCAs correlate with regions having higher sensitivity of DA-CPR and larger proportion of bystanders to follow DA-CPR. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.Embargo Period 12 month

Reply to: Over time, differences in survival and favorable neurologic outcomes between conventional and compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation have been gradually reduced in pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系Embargo Periods 12 Month

Impact of functional studies on exome sequence variant interpretation in early-onset cardiac conduction system diseases

Aims The genetic cause of cardiac conduction system disease (CCSD) has not been fully elucidated. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) can detect various genetic variants; however, the identification of pathogenic variants remains a challenge. We aimed to identify pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in CCSD patients by using WES and 2015 American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) standards and guidelines as well as evaluating the usefulness of functional studies for determining them. Methods and Results We performed WES of 23 probands diagnosed with early-onset (&amp;lt;65 years) CCSD and analyzed 117 genes linked to arrhythmogenic diseases or cardiomyopathies. We focused on rare variants (minor allele frequency &amp;lt; 0.1%) that were absent from population databases. Five probands had protein truncating variants in EMD and LMNA which were classified as “pathogenic” by 2015 ACMG standards and guidelines. To evaluate the functional changes brought about by these variants, we generated a knock-out zebrafish with CRISPR-mediated insertions or deletions of the EMD or LMNA homologs in zebrafish. The mean heart rate and conduction velocities in the CRISPR/Cas9-injected embryos and F2 generation embryos with homozygous deletions were significantly decreased. Twenty-one variants of uncertain significance were identified in 11 probands. Cellular electrophysiological study and in vivo zebrafish cardiac assay showed that 2 variants in KCNH2 and SCN5A, 4 variants in SCN10A, and 1 variant in MYH6 damaged each gene, which resulted in the change of the clinical significance of them from “Uncertain significance” to “Likely pathogenic” in 6 probands. Conclusions Of 23 CCSD probands, we successfully identified pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in 11 probands (48%). Functional analyses of a cellular electrophysiological study and in vivo zebrafish cardiac assay might be useful for determining the pathogenicity of rare variants in patients with CCSD. SCN10A may be one of the major genes responsible for CCSD. Translational Perspective Whole-exome sequencing (WES) may be helpful in determining the causes of cardiac conduction system disease (CCSD), however, the identification of pathogenic variants remains a challenge. We performed WES of 23 probands diagnosed with early-onset CCSD, and identified 12 pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in 11 of these probands (48%) according to the 2015 ACMG standards and guidelines. In this context, functional analyses of a cellular electrophysiological study and in vivo zebrafish cardiac assay might be useful for determining the pathogenicity of rare variants, and SCN10A may be one of the major development factors in CCSD