Rationale: Relationships between chronic health conditions and acute infections remain poorly understood. Preclinical studies suggest crosstalk between nervous and immune systems. Objectives: To determine bidirectional relationships between cognition and pneumonia. Methods: We conducted longitudinal analyses of a population-based cohort over 10 years. We determined whether changes in cognition increase risk of pneumonia hospitalization by trajectory analyses and joint modeling. We then determined whether pneumonia hospitalization increased risk of subsequent dementia using a Cox model with pneumonia as a time-varying covariate. Measurements and Main Results: Of the 5,888 participants, 639 (10.9%) were hospitalized with pneumonia at least once. Most participants had normal cognition before pneumonia. Three cognition trajectories were identified: no, minimal, and severe rapid decline. A greater proportion of participants hospitalized with pneumonia were on trajectories of minimal or severe decline before occurrence of pneumonia compared with those never hospitalized with pneumonia (proportion with no, minimal, and severe decline were 67.1%, 22.8%, and 10.0% vs. 76.0%, 19.3%, and 4.6% for participants with and without pneumonia, respectively; P , 0.001). Small subclinical changes in cognition increased risk of pneumonia, even in those with normal cognition and physical function before pneumonia (b ¼ 20.02; P , 0.001). Participants with pneumonia were subsequently at an increased risk of dementia (hazard ratio, 2.24 [95% confidence interval, 1.62-3.11]; P ¼ 0.01). Associations were independent of demographics, health behaviors, other chronic conditions, and physical function. Bidirectional relationship did not vary based on severity of disease, and similar associations were noted for those with severe sepsis and other infections. Conclusions: A bidirectional relationship exists between pneumonia and cognition and may explain how a single episode of infection in well-appearing older individuals accelerates decline in chronic health conditions and loss of functional independence. Keywords: pneumonia; dementia; cognitive functionApproximately half of all adults have a chronic health condition and these conditions are a leading cause of disability and death. A single episode of infection may also lead to a cascade of secondary illnesses, disability, and death (1-3). However, the relationship between chronic health conditions and infection remains poorly understood, particularly in community-dwelling individuals without major impairments in cognition or physical function.We examined the relationship between pneumonia and cognition because pneumonia and dementia are common and In this study, we demonstrate how changes in cognition over time, even small subclinical changes, are associated with an increased risk of pneumonia and within the same cohort we demonstrate that once participants develop pneumonia, they have an accelerated course to dementia. Similar patterns were seen in those with severe sepsis and when stratifie...

Background: Fatigue is a common debilitating symptom in chronic kidney disease patients on maintenance hemodialysis. However, little is known about its pathogenesis and association with survival. Methods: This study examines the correlates and outcomes of fatigue among 1,798 hemodialysis patients enrolled in the HEMO study. Fatigue was assessed using the SF-36 vitality scale. Multivariable analysis was used to assess independent associations of demographic and clinical characteristics with baseline fatigue and longitudinal changes in fatigue. The association of fatigue with all-cause and cause-specific mortality and cardiac hospitalizations was also assessed. Results: Higher index of coexistent diseases (ICED) score, diabetes, non-African-American race, lower serum albumin, use of medications for sleep and poor sleep quality were found to be significantly associated with more fatigue at baseline. In longitudinal analyses, patients who were older, had been on dialysis longer, had higher ICED score, and reported using medications for sleep were more likely to experience worsening fatigue, whereas higher serum albumin was strongly associated with an improvement in level of fatigue. A 10-point increase in vitality score was associated with 10% increase in mean survival (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Demographic and clinical factors have significant associations with fatigue, which itself predicts mortality. Improving fatigue in the end-stage renal disease population may positively impact patient well-being and survival.

No abstract

Background Intensive care unit (ICU) telemedicine is an increasingly common strategy for improving the outcome of critical care, but its overall impact is uncertain. Objectives To determine the effectiveness of ICU telemedicine in a national sample of hospitals and quantify variation in effectiveness across hospitals. Research design We performed a multi-center retrospective case-control study using 2001–2010 Medicare claims data linked to a national survey identifying United States hospitals adopting ICU telemedicine. We matched each adopting hospital (cases) to up to 3 non-adopting hospitals (controls) based on size, case-mix and geographic proximity during the year of adoption. Using ICU admissions from 2 years before and after the adoption date, we compared outcomes between case and control hospitals using a difference-in-differences approach. Results 132 adopting case hospitals were matched to 389 similar non-adopting control hospitals. The pre- and post-adoption unadjusted 90-day mortality was similar in both case hospitals (24.0% vs. 24.3%, p=0.07) and control hospitals (23.5% vs. 23.7%, p<0.01). In the difference-in-differences analysis, ICU telemedicine adoption was associated with a small relative reduction in 90-day mortality (ratio of odds ratios: 0.96, 95% CI = 0.95–0.98, p<0.001). However, there was wide variation in the ICU telemedicine effect across individual hospitals (median ratio of odds ratios: 1.01; interquartile range 0.85–1.12; range 0.45–2.54). Only 16 case hospitals (12.2%) experienced statistically significant mortality reductions post-adoption. Hospitals with a significant mortality reduction were more likely to have large annual admission volumes (p<0.001) and be located in urban areas (p=0.04) compared to other hospitals. Conclusions Although ICU telemedicine adoption resulted in a small relative overall mortality reduction, there was heterogeneity in effect across adopting hospitals, with large-volume urban hospitals experiencing the greatest mortality reductions.

IntroductionPrior work suggests that leukocyte trafficking is determined by local chemokine gradients between the nidus of infection and the plasma. We recently demonstrated that therapeutic apheresis can alter immune mediator concentrations in the plasma, protect against organ injury, and improve survival. Here we aimed to determine whether the removal of chemokines from the plasma by apheresis in experimental peritonitis changes chemokine gradients and subsequently enhances leukocyte localization into the infected compartment, and away from healthy tissues.MethodsIn total, 76 male adult Sprague–Dawley rats weighing 400 g to 600 g were included in this study. Eighteen hours after inducing sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture, we randomized these rats to apheresis or sham treatment for 4 hours. Cytokines, chemokines, and leukocyte counts from blood, peritoneal cavity, and lung were measured. In a separate experiment, we labeled neutrophils from septic donor animals and injected them into either apheresis or sham-treated animals. All numeric data with normal distributions were compared with one-way analysis of variance, and numeric data not normally distributed were compared with the Mann–Whitney U test.ResultsApheresis significantly removed plasma cytokines and chemokines, increased peritoneal fluid-to-blood chemokine (C-X-C motif ligand 1, ligand 2, and C-C motif ligand 2) ratios, and decreased bronchoalveolar lavage fluid-to-blood chemokine ratios, resulting in enhanced leukocyte recruitment into the peritoneal cavity and improved bacterial clearance, but decreased recruitment into the lung. Apheresis also reduced myeloperoxidase activity and histologic injury in the lung, liver, and kidney. These Labeled donor neutrophils exhibited decreased localization in the lung when infused into apheresis-treated animals.ConclusionsOur results support the concept of chemokine gradient control of leukocyte trafficking and demonstrate the efficacy of apheresis to target this mechanism and reduce leukocyte infiltration into the lung.

Discharge practices bias in-hospital ICU mortality measures in a way that disadvantages large hospitals. Accounting for discharge bias will prevent these hospitals from being unfairly disadvantaged in public reporting and pay-for-performance.

Dynamic estimates of mean systemic pressure based on a Guytonian analog model (Pmsa) appear accurate under baseline conditions but may not remain so during septic shock because blood volume distribution and resistances between arterial and venous beds may change. Thus, we examined the effect of acute endotoxemia on the ability of Pmsa, estimated from steady-state cardiac output, right atrial pressure, and mean arterial pressure, to reflect our previously validated instantaneous venous return measure of mean systemic pressure (Pmsi), derived from beat-to-beat measures of right ventricular stroke volume and right atrial pressure during positive pressure ventilation. We studied 6 splenectomized pentobarbital-anesthetized close chested dogs. Right ventricular stroke volume was measured by a pulmonary arterial electromagnetic flow probe. Instantaneous venous return measure of mean systemic pressure and Pmsa were calculated during volume loading and removal (±100-mL bolus increments ×5) both before (control) and 30 minutes after endotoxin infusion (endo). Cardiac output increased (2628 ± 905 vs 3560 ± 539 mL/min; P < .05) and mean arterial pressure decreased (107 ± 16 vs 56 ± 12 mm Hg; P < .01) during endo. Changes in Pmsi and Pmsa correlated during both control and endo (r2 = 0.7) with minimal bias by Bland-Altman analysis (mean difference ± 95% confidence interval, 0.47 ± 5.04 mm Hg). We conclude that changes in Pmsa accurately tracts Pmsi under both control and endo.

In hospitals with low baseline SBT completion, physician-targeted financial incentives were associated with increased SBT rates driven in part by increased exclusion rates, without consistent improvements in outcome.