Hemorrhagic shock secondary to Aortoesophageal Fistula as a complication of Esophageal Cancer

Although aortoesophageal fistulas are rare, they can present as life-threatening emergencies. This condition can develop secondary to an aneurysm, foreign bodies, infiltrating tumors, and radiotherapy. We report a patient with hemorrhagic shock secondary to an aortoesophageal fistula. A 69-year-old male with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus treated with chemoradiation and metallic stent placement was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after an episode of hematemesis. The patient was hemodynamically unstable, requiring fluid resuscitation, blood transfusions, and respiratory and vasopressor support. The patient developed electric pulseless activity, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed for 40 minutes. An upper endoscopy showed the esophageal tumor infiltrating into the stent, and computed tomography (CT) angiogram showed leakage of contrast from the thoracic aorta to the esophagus. The diagnosis of aortoesophageal fistula was made. The patient underwent endovascular management for the fistula. However, his critical condition did not improve, and the patient perished.Revista Internacional - Indexad

Prediction Scores Do Not Correlate with Clinically Adjudicated Categories of Pulmonary Embolism in Critically Ill Patients

Copyright © 2014 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.BACKGROUND: Prediction scores for pretest probability of pulmonary embolism (PE) validated in outpatient settings are occasionally used in the intensive care unit (ICU).OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation of Geneva and Wells scores with adjudicated categories of PE in ICU patients.METHODS: In a randomized trial of thromboprophylaxis, patients with suspected PE were adjudicated as possible, probable or definite PE. Data were then retrospectively abstracted for the Geneva Diagnostic PE score, Wells, Modified Wells and Simplified Wells Diagnostic scores. The chance-corrected agreement between adjudicated categories and each score was calculated. ANOVA was used to compare values across the three adjudicated PE categories.RESULTS: Among 70 patients with suspected PE, agreement was poor between adjudicated categories and Geneva pretest probabilities (kappa 0.01 [95% CI −0.0643 to 0.0941]) or Wells pretest probabilities (kappa −0.03 [95% CI −0.1462 to 0.0914]). Among four possible, 16 probable and 50 definite PEs, there were no significant differences in Geneva scores (possible = 4.0, probable = 4.7, definite = 4.5; P=0.90), Wells scores (possible = 2.8, probable = 4.9, definite = 4.1; P=0.37), Modified Wells (possible = 2.0, probable = 3.4, definite = 2.9; P=0.34) or Simplified Wells (possible = 1.8, probable = 2.8, definite = 2.4; P=0.30).CONCLUSIONS: Pretest probability scores developed outside the ICU do not correlate with adjudicated PE categories in critically ill patients. Research is needed to develop prediction scores for this population

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

Small increases in serum creatinine are associated with prolonged ICU stay and increased hospital mortality in critically ill patients with cancer.

PurposeDeclining kidney function has been associated with adverse hospital outcome in cancer patients. ICU literature suggests that small changes in serum creatinine are associated with poor outcome. We hypothesized that reductions in renal function previously considered trivial would predict a poor outcome in critically ill patients with malignant disease. We evaluated the effects on hospital mortality and ICU length of stay of small changes in creatinine following admission to the intensive care unit.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study utilizing clinical, laboratory and pharmacy data collected from 3,795 patients admitted to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center's Intensive Care Unit. We conducted univariate and multivariate regression analysis to determine those factors associated with adverse ICU and hospital outcome.ResultsIncreases in creatinine as small as 10% (0.2 mg/dl) were associated with prolonged ICU stay (5 days vs 6.6 days, p < 0.001) and increased mortality (14.6% vs 25.5%, p < 0.0001). Patients with a 25% rise in creatinine during the first 72 h of ICU admission were twice as likely to die in the hospital (14.3% vs 30.1%, p < 0.001). RIFLE criteria were accurate predictors of outcome, though they missed much of the risk of even smaller increases in creatinine.ConclusionsEven small rises in serum creatinine following admission to the ICU are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in oncologic patients. The poor outcome in those with rising creatinine could not be explained by severity of illness or other risk factors. These small changes in creatinine may not be trivial, and should be regarded as evidence of a decline in an individual patient's condition

Management of respiratory failure in immune checkpoint inhibitors-induced overlap syndrome: a case series and review of the literature

Abstract Background Checkpoint inhibitor-induced overlap syndrome ([OS] myocarditis, and myositis with or without myasthenia gravis) is rare but life-threatening. Cases presentation Here we present a case series of four cancer patients that developed OS. High troponinemia raised the concern for myocarditis in all the cases. However, the predominant clinical feature differed among the cases. Two patients showed marked myocarditis with a shorter hospital stay. The other two patients had a prolonged ICU stay due to severe neuromuscular involvement secondary to myositis and myasthenia gravis. Treatment was based on steroids, plasmapheresis, intravenous immunoglobulin, and immunosuppressive biological agents. Conclusion The management of respiratory failure is challenging, particularly in those patients with predominant MG. Along with intensive clinical monitoring, bedside respiratory mechanics can guide the decision-making process of selecting a respiratory support method, the timing of elective intubation and extubation