ObjectiveWe report on the effect of hemoadsorption therapy to reduce cytokines in septic patients with respiratory failure.MethodsThis was a randomized, controlled, open-label, multicenter trial. Mechanically ventilated patients with severe sepsis or septic shock and acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome were eligible for study inclusion. Patients were randomly assigned to either therapy with CytoSorb hemoperfusion for 6 hours per day for up to 7 consecutive days (treatment), or no hemoperfusion (control). Primary outcome was change in normalized IL-6-serum concentrations during study day 1 and 7.Results97 of the 100 randomized patients were analyzed. We were not able to detect differences in systemic plasma IL-6 levels between the two groups (n = 75; p = 0.15). Significant IL-6 elimination, averaging between 5 and 18% per blood pass throughout the entire treatment period was recorded. In the unadjusted analysis, 60-day-mortality was significantly higher in the treatment group (44.7%) compared to the control group (26.0%; p = 0.039). The proportion of patients receiving renal replacement therapy at the time of enrollment was higher in the treatment group (31.9%) when compared to the control group (16.3%). After adjustment for patient morbidity and baseline imbalances, no association of hemoperfusion with mortality was found (p = 0.19).ConclusionsIn this patient population with predominantly septic shock and multiple organ failure, hemoadsorption removed IL-6 but this did not lead to lower plasma IL-6-levels. We did not detect statistically significant differences in the secondary outcomes multiple organ dysfunction score, ventilation time and time course of oxygenation.

BackgroundRisk stratification plays an essential role in the management of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The current European guidelines propose a 3-strata model to categorise risk as low, intermediate, or high, based on the expected 1-year mortality. However, with this model, most patients are categorised as intermediate risk. We investigated a modified approach based on 4 risk categories with intermediate risk subdivided into intermediate-low and intermediate-high risk.MethodsWe analysed data from COMPERA, a European pulmonary hypertension registry, and calculated risk at diagnosis and first follow-up based on functional class (FC), 6 min walking distance (6 MWD) and serum levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal fragment of pro-BNP (NT-proBNP), using refined cut-off values. Survival was assessed with Kaplan-Meier analyses, log-rank testing, and Cox proportional hazards models.ResultsData from 1,655 patients with PAH were analysed. Using the 3-strata model, most patients were classified as intermediate risk (76.0% at baseline and 63.9% at first follow-up). The refined 4-strata risk model yielded a more nuanced separation and predicted long-term survival, especially at follow-up assessment. Changes in risk from baseline to follow-up were observed in 31.1% of the patients with the 3-strata model and in 49.2% with the 4-strata model. These changes, including those between the intermediate-low and intermediate-high strata, were associated with changes in long-term mortality risk.ConclusionsModified risk stratification using a 4-strata model based on refined cut-off levels for FC, 6MWD and BNP/NT-proBNP was more sensitive to prognostically relevant changes in risk than the original 3-strata model.

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Delay in antimicrobial therapy and source control was associated with increased mortality but the multifaceted approach was unable to change time to antimicrobial therapy in this setting and did not affect survival.

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BackgroundSince 2015, the European pulmonary hypertension guidelines recommend the use of combination therapy in most patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, it is unclear to what extend this treatment strategy is adopted in clinical practice and if it is associated with improved long-term survival.MethodsWe analysed data from COMPERA, a large European pulmonary hypertension registry, to assess temporal trends in the use of combination therapy and survival of patients with newly diagnosed PAH between 2010 and 2019. For survival analyses, we look at annualized data and at cumulated data comparing the periods 2010–2014 and 2015–2019.ResultsA total of 2,531 patients were included. The use of early combination therapy (within 3 months after diagnosis) increased from 10.0% in patients diagnosed with PAH in 2010 to 25.0% in patients diagnosed with PAH in 2019. The proportion of patients receiving combination therapy 1 year after diagnosis increased from 27.7% to 46.3%. When comparing the 2010–2014 and 2015–2019 periods, 1-year survival estimates were similar (89.0% [95% CI, 87.2%, 90.9%] and 90.8% [95% CI, 89.3%, 92.4%]), respectively, whereas there was a slight but non-significant improvement in 3-year survival estimates (67.8% [95% CI, 65.0%, 70.8%] and 70.5% [95% CI, 67.8%, 73.4%]), respectively.ConclusionsThe use of combination therapy increased from 2010 to 2019, but most patients still received monotherapy. Survival rates at 1 year after diagnosis did not change over time. Future studies need to determine if the observed trend suggesting improved 3-year survival rates can be confirmed.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of many chronic lung diseases, especially COPD and interstitial lung disease (ILD) [1]. In these conditions, the development of PH is associated with an aggravation of symptoms and an increase in mortality risk. In most patients with chronic lung disease, the haemodynamic severity of PH is mild to moderate, while some patients develop severe PH, which is presently defined by a mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ⩾35 mmHg or mPAP ⩾25 mmHg in the presence of a cardiac index <2.0 L•min −1 •m −2 [2]. These haemodynamic criteria were introduced per expert consensus but were not based on solid data.In patients with PH associated with COPD, ZEDER et al. [3] showed recently that a pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) >5 WU was the strongest haemodynamic predictor of mortality, and the authors suggested to use this threshold to define severe PH in this group of patients. We wondered whether this threshold might also apply to patients suffering from PH associated with ILD (PH-ILD).To address this question, we analysed data from the Comparative, Prospective Registry of Newly Initiated Therapies for Pulmonary Hypertension (COMPERA). Details of COMPERA (www.COMPERA.org; Clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01347216) have been reported previously [4]. In brief, COMPERA is a large-scale ongoing web-based PH registry that prospectively collects detailed data on characteristics, treatment and outcomes of patients who receive therapies for PH. PH centres from various European countries participate (Austria,

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