The Association of the Lactate-Albumin Ratio With Mortality and Multiple Organ Dysfunction in PICU Patients

OBJECTIVES: To compare the relative associations of lactate, albumin, and the lactate-albumin ratio (LAR) measured early in disease course against mortality and prevalence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in a general sample of critically ill pediatric patients. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of the Health Facts (Cerner Corporation, Kansas City, MO) national database. SETTING: U.S. hospitals with PICUs. PATIENTS: Children admitted to the ICU (n = 648) from 2009 to 2018 who had lactate and albumin measured within 6 hours of admission. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 648 admissions were included, with an overall mortality rate of 10.8% (n = 70) and a MODS prevalence of 29.3% (n = 190). Compared with survivors, deaths had higher initial lactates (7.3 mmol/L [2.6-11.7 mmol/L] vs 1.9 mmol/L [1.2-3.1 mmol/L]; p \u3c 0.01), lower initial albumins (3.3 g/dL [2.7-3.8 g/dL] vs 4.2 g/dL [3.7-4.7 g/dL]; p \u3c 0.01), and higher LARs (2.2 [1.0-4.2] vs 0.5 [0.3-0.8]; p \u3c 0.01), with similar trends in patients with MODS versus those without MODS. LAR demonstrated a higher odds ratio (OR) for death than initial lactate alone (2.34 [1.93-2.85] vs 1.29 [1.22-1.38]) and a higher OR for MODS than initial lactate alone (2.10 [1.73-2.56] vs 1.22 [1.16-1.29]). Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve of LAR for mortality was greater than initial lactate (0.86 vs 0.82; p \u3c 0.01). The LAR AUROC for MODS was greater than the lactate AUROC (0.71 vs 0.66; p \u3c 0.01). Trends of lactate, albumin, and LAR for mortality were consistent across several diagnostic subgroups (trauma, primary respiratory failure, toxicology), but not all. CONCLUSIONS: LAR measured early in the course of critical illness is significantly associated with mortality and development of MODS when compared with initial lactate or initial albumin alone in critically ill pediatric patients

Theta-Alpha Variability on Admission EEG Is Associated With Outcome in Pediatric Cerebral Malaria

PURPOSE: Pediatric cerebral malaria has high rates of mortality and neurologic morbidity. Although several biomarkers, including EEG, are associated with survival or morbidity, many are resource intensive or require skilled interpretation for clinical use. Automation of quantitative interpretation of EEG may be preferable in resource-limited settings, where trained interpreters are rare. As currently used quantitative EEG factors do not adequately describe the spectrum of variability seen in studies from children with cerebral malaria, the authors developed and validated a new quantitative EEG variable, theta-alpha variability (TAV). METHODS: The authors developed TAV, a new quantitative variable, as a composite of multiple automated EEG outputs. EEG records from 194 children (6 months to 14 years old) with cerebral malaria were analyzed. Independent EEG interpreters performed standard quantitative and qualitative analyses, with the addition of the newly created variable. The associations of TAV with other quantitative EEG factors, a qualitative assessment of variability, and outcomes were assessed. RESULTS: Theta-alpha variability was not highly correlated with alpha, theta, or delta power and was not associated with qualitative measures of variability. Children whose EEGs had higher values of TAV had a lower risk of death (odds ratio = 0.934, 95% confidence interval = 0.902-0.966) or neurologic sequelae (odds ratio = 0.960, 95% confidence interval = 0.932-0.990) compared with those with lower values. Receiver operating characteristic analysis in predicting death at a TAV threshold of 0.244 yielded a sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 70% for an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.755. CONCLUSIONS: Theta-alpha variability is independently associated with outcome in pediatric cerebral malaria and can predict death with high sensitivity and specificity. Automated determination of this newly created EEG factor holds promise as a potential method to increase the clinical utility of EEG in resource-limited settings by allowing interventions to be targeted to those at higher risk of death or disability

Effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on morbidity among children hospitalized for an asthma exacerbation

BACKGROUND: Pediatric asthma exacerbations account for substantial morbidity, including emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. Although the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with a decrease in pediatric asthma ED visits and hospitalizations, there is limited information on the clinical characteristics of children hospitalized with an asthma exacerbation during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical characteristics of children hospitalized with an asthma exacerbation during the pandemic as compared with those hospitalized during the same months in the year prior. METHODS: A retrospective case-control study was conducted at the Children\u27s National Hospital, Washington, DC, comparing demographic and clinical characteristics of all children, 2 to 18 years old, hospitalized for an asthma exacerbation between April to September 2020 (cases) and April to September 2019 (controls). RESULTS: We identified 50 cases and 243 controls. Cases were significantly older than controls (9.8 ± 4.3 years vs 6.7 ± 3.8 years; P \u3c .001), had significantly less eczema (16% vs 32.1%; P = .02) and food allergies (6% vs 18.5%; P = .03), and were more noncompliant with controller medications (46% vs 24.7%; P = .002) than controls. Magnesium sulfate was more frequently administered in the ED to the cases than to the controls (84% vs 63%; P = .004). Its use was associated with older age, African American race, and Hispanic ethnicity, but was independent of comorbid conditions. CONCLUSION: Patients hospitalized for asthma during the COVID-19 pandemic were older and have less atopy than those hospitalized prepandemic. A larger proportion received magnesium sulfate in the ED, suggesting patients had with more severe asthma presentation during the pandemic

Using EEG in Resource-Limited Areas: Comparing Qualitative and Quantitative Interpretation Methods in Cerebral Malaria

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to compare the strength of association and predictive ability of qualitative and quantitative EEG factors with the outcomes of death and neurological disability in pediatric cerebral malaria (CM). METHODS: We enrolled children with a clinical diagnosis of CM admitted to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Blantyre, Malawi) between 2012 and 2017. A routine length EEG was performed within 4 hours of admission. EEG data were independently interpreted using qualitative and quantitative methods by trained pediatric neurophysiologists. EEG interpreters were blinded to patient discharge outcome. RESULTS: EEG tracings from 194 patients were reviewed. Multivariate modeling revealed several qualitative and quantitative EEG variables that were independently associated with outcomes. Quantitative methods modeled on mortality had better goodness of fit than qualitative ones. When modeled on neurologic morbidity in survivors, goodness of fit was better for qualitative methods. When the probabilities of an adverse outcome were calculated using multivariate regression coefficients, only the model of quantitative EEG variables regressed on the neurologic sequelae outcome showed clear separation between outcome groups. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple qualitative and quantitative EEG factors are associated with outcomes in pediatric CM. It may be possible to use quantitative EEG factors to create automated methods of study interpretation that have similar predictive abilities for outcomes as human-based interpreters, a rare resource in many malaria-endemic areas. Our results provide a proof-of-concept starting point for the development of quantitative EEG interpretation and prediction methodologies useful in resource-limited settings

Pediatric critical care–associated parental traumatic stress: Beyond the first year*

Objectives: Perform a longitudinal analysis of parental traumatic stress up to 30 months after PICU discharge. Design: Prospective observational cohort study. Setting: Two tertiary care children\u27s hospitals with mixed medical/surgical/cardiac PICUs. Subjects: Parents of patients unexpectedly admitted to the PICU. Interventions: None. Measurements and main results: Two hundred sixty-five parents of 188 children were enrolled. Of the 195 parents who completed the 3-9-month assessments, 29 (14.8%) met posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) qualification on the PTSD Symptom Scale Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Multivariable analysis showed parents who met acute stress disorder (ASD) qualification (odds ratio [OR] 8.01; 95% CI 2.64-24.3), parents of children with Pediatric Overall Performance Category score of severe or coma at discharge (OR 5.21; 95% CI 1.65-16.4), parents who had concerns for their child\u27s permanent injury (OR 1.82; 95% CI 1.36-2.43), and parents who reported increased knowledge of child illness during admission (OR 1.82; 95% CI 1.13-2.93) had increased odds of developing parental PTSD. Of the 175 parents (66%) who completed the 18-30-month assessments, 22 (12.5%) met PTSD qualification. Multivariable analysis showed parents who met ASD qualification (OR 4.19; 95% CI 1.12-15.7), parents who had a history of a family member or themselves being admitted to ICU (OR 6.51; 95% CI 1.43-29.6), and parents who had concerns of child\u27s susceptibility to death post discharge (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.19-2.09) had increased odds of developing parental PTSD. At 18-30 months post discharge, parents who met the PTSD qualification were more likely to report a decrease in household income following discharge (OR 9.23; 95% CI 1.71-49.9

National Intravenous Acetaminophen Use in Pediatric Inpatients From 2011-2016

OBJECTIVE: To 1) determine current intravenous (IV) acetaminophen use in pediatric inpatients; and 2) determine the association between opioid medication duration when used with or without IV acetaminophen. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of pediatric inpatients exposed to IV acetaminophen from January 2011 to June 2016, using the national database Health Facts. RESULTS: Eighteen thousand one hundred ninety-seven (2.0%) of 893,293 pediatric inpatients received IV acetaminophen for a median of 14 doses per patient (IQR, 8-56). A greater proportion of IV acetaminophen patients were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) (14.8% vs 5.1%, p \u3c 0.0001), received positive pressure ventilation (2.0% vs 1.5%, p \u3c 0.0001), had a higher hospital mortality rate (0.9% vs 0.3%, p \u3c 0.0001), and were operative (35.5% vs 12.8%, p \u3c 0.001) than those not receiving IV acetaminophen. The most common operations associated with IV acetaminophen use were musculoskeletal and digestive system operations. Prescription of IV acetaminophen increased over time, both in prescription rates and number of per patient doses. Of the 18,197 patients prescribed IV acetaminophen, 16,241 (89.2%) also were prescribed opioids during their hospitalization. A multivariate analysis revealed patients prescribed both IV acetaminophen and opioids had a 54.8% increase in opioid duration as compared with patients who received opioids alone. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to assess IV acetaminophen prescription practices for pediatric inpatients. Intravenous acetaminophen prescription was greater in the non-operative pediatric inpatient population than operative patients. Intravenous acetaminophen prescription was associated with an increase in opioid duration as compared with patients who received opioids alone, suggesting that it is commonly used to supplement opioids for pain relief