Outcomes of critically ill patients according to the perception of intensivists on the appropriateness of intensive care unit admission

Background It is important for intensivists to determine which patient may benefit from intensive care unit (ICU) admission. We aimed to assess the outcomes of patients perceived as non-beneficially or beneficially admitted to the ICU and evaluate whether their prognosis was consistent with the intensivists’ perception. Methods A prospective observational study was conducted on patients admitted to the medical ICU of a tertiary referral center between February and April 2014. The perceptions of four intensivists at admission (day 1) and on day 3 were investigated as non-beneficial admission, beneficial admission, or indeterminate state. Results A total of 210 patients were enrolled. On days 1 and 3, 22 (10%) and 23 (11%) patients were judged as having non-beneficial admission; 166 (79%) and 159 (79%), beneficial admission; and 22 (10%) and 21 (10%), indeterminate state, respectively. The ICU mortality rates of each group on day 1 were 59%, 23%, and 59%, respectively; their 6-month mortality rates were 100%, 48%, and 82%, respectively. The perceptions of non-beneficial admission or indeterminate state were the significant predictors of ICU mortality (day 3; odds ratio [OR], 4.049; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.892–8.664; P<0.001) and 6-month mortality (day 1: OR, 4.983; 95% CI, 1.260–19.703; P=0.022; day 3: OR, 4.459; 95% CI, 1.162–17.121; P=0.029). Conclusions The outcomes of patients perceived as having non-beneficial admission were extremely poor. The intensivists’ perception was important in predicting patients’ outcomes and was more consistent with long-term prognosis than with immediate outcomes. The intensivists’ role can be reflected in limited ICU resource utilization

Validation of the healthcare workers’ version of the Pandemic Grief Scale among frontline nursing professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea

IntroductionNurses have been repeatedly exposed to unexpected death and grief during COVID-19 pandemic, and it is necessary to provide grief support for the nurses who have experienced the loss of patients to COVID-19. We aimed to explore the reliability and validity of the Pandemic Grief Scale (PGS) for Healthcare Workers among frontline nursing professionals working in COVID-19 inpatient wards whose patients may have died.MethodsAn anonymous online survey was performed among frontline nursing professionals working in COVID-19 wards in three tertiary-level general hospitals in Korea between April 7 and 26, 2021. In total, 229 from participants who confirmed they had witnessed death of patients were employed for the statistical analysis. The survey included demographic characteristics and rating scales, including the Korean version of the PGS for Healthcare Workers, the Fear of COVID-19 scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 items, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items.ResultsThe single-factor structure of the Korean version of the PGS for Healthcare Workers showed good fits for the model. The scale had good internal consistency and convergent validity with other anxiety and depression scales.ConclusionThe Korean version of the PGS of Healthcare Workers was valid and reliable for measuring grief reactions among nursing professionals facing the pandemic. It will be helpful in evaluating the grief reaction of the healthcare workers and providing them with a psychological support system

Projection of Cancer Incidence and Mortality From 2020 to 2035 in the Korean Population Aged 20 Years and Older

Objectives: This study aimed to identify the current patterns of cancer incidence and estimate the projected cancer incidence and mortality between 2020 and 2035 in Korea. Methods: Data on cancer incidence cases were extracted from the Korean Statistical Information Service from 2000 to 2017, and data on cancer-related deaths were extracted from the National Cancer Center from 2000 to 2018. Cancer cases and deaths were classified according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition. For the current patterns of cancer incidence, age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) and age-standardized mortality rates were investigated using the 2000 mid-year estimated population aged over 20 years and older. A joinpoint regression model was used to determine the 2020 to 2035 trends in cancer. Results: Overall, cancer cases were predicted to increase from 265 299 in 2020 to 474 085 in 2035 (growth rate: 1.8%). The greatest increase in the ASIR was projected for prostate cancer among male (7.84 vs. 189.53 per 100 000 people) and breast cancer among female (34.17 vs. 238.45 per 100 000 people) from 2000 to 2035. Overall cancer deaths were projected to increase from 81 717 in 2020 to 95 845 in 2035 (average annual growth rate: 1.2%). Although most cancer mortality rates were projected to decrease, those of breast, pancreatic, and ovarian cancer among female were projected to increase until 2035. Conclusions: These up-to-date projections of cancer incidence and mortality in the Korean population may be a significant resource for implementing cancer-related regulations or developing cancer treatments

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Mortalin deficiency suppresses fibrosis and induces apoptosis in keloid spheroids

Abstract Mortalin (Mot) is a mitochondrial chaperone of the heat shock protein 70 family and it’s pro-proliferative and anti-apoptosis functions could be associated with keloid pathogenesis, and blocking of mortalin and its interaction with p53 might be a potential novel target for the treatment of keloid. Therefore, we generated mortalin-specific small hairpin (sh) RNAs (dE1-RGD/GFP/shMot) and introduced into keloid spheroids for examination of its apoptotic and anti-fibrotic effect. On keloid tissues, mortalin expression was higher than adjacent normal tissues and it’s protein expressions were activated keloid fibroblasts (KFs). After primary keloid spheroid were transduced with dE1-RGD/GFP/shMot for knockdown of mortalin, expression of type I, III collagen, fibronectin, and elastin was significantly reduced and transforming growth factor-β1, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinases 1 and 2 (Erk 1/2), and Smad 2/3 complex protein expression were decreased. In addition, increased TUNEL activities and cytochrome C were observed. Further, for examine of mortalin and p53 interaction, we performed immunofluorescence analysis. Knockdown of mortalin relocated p53 to the cell nucleus in primary keloid spheroids by dE1-RGD/GFP/shMot transduction. These results support the utility of knockdown of mortalin to induce apoptosis and reduce ECMs expression in keloid spheroid, which may be highly beneficial in treating keloids

Water-dispersible ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanocubes with extremely high r 2 relaxivity for highly sensitive in vivo MRI of tumors

The theoretically predicted maximum r(2) relaxivity of iron oxide nanoparticles was achieved by optimizing the overall size of ferrimagnetic iron oxide nanocubes. Uniform-sized iron oxide nanocubes with an edge length of 22 nm, encapsulated with PEG-phospholipids (WFION), exhibited high colloidal stability in aqueous media. In addition, WFIONs are biocompatible and did not affect cell viability at concentrations up to 0.75 mg Fe/ml. Owing to the enhanced colloidal stability and the high r(2) relaxivity (761 mM(-1) s(-1)), it was possible to successfully perform in vivo MR imaging of tumors by intravenous injection of 22-nm-sized WFIONs, using a clinical 3-T MR scanner.