Background Non-invasive oxygenation strategies have a prominent role in the treatment of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). While the efficacy of these therapies has been studied in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the clinical outcomes associated with oxygen masks, high-flow oxygen therapy by nasal cannula and non-invasive mechanical ventilation in critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients remain unclear. Methods In this retrospective study, we used the best of nine covariate balancing algorithms on all baseline covariates in critically ill COVID-19 patients supported with > 10 L of supplemental oxygen at one of the 26 participating ICUs in Catalonia, Spain, between March 14 and April 15, 2020. Results Of the 1093 non-invasively oxygenated patients at ICU admission treated with one of the three stand-alone non-invasive oxygenation strategies, 897 (82%) required endotracheal intubation and 310 (28%) died during the ICU stay. High-flow oxygen therapy by nasal cannula (n = 439) and non-invasive mechanical ventilation (n = 101) were associated with a lower rate of endotracheal intubation (70% and 88%, respectively) than oxygen masks (n = 553 and 91% intubated), p < 0.001. Compared to oxygen masks, high-flow oxygen therapy by nasal cannula was associated with lower ICU mortality (hazard ratio 0.75 [95% CI 0.58–0.98), and the hazard ratio for ICU mortality was 1.21 [95% CI 0.80–1.83] for non-invasive mechanical ventilation. Conclusion In critically ill COVID-19 ICU patients and, in the absence of conclusive data, high-flow oxygen therapy by nasal cannula may be the approach of choice as the primary non-invasive oxygenation support strategy.

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Background: Few validated biomarker or clinical score combinations exist which can discriminate between cases of infection and other non-infectious conditions following activation of an in-hospital sepsis code, as well as provide an accurate severity assessment of the corresponding host response. This study aimed to identify suitable blood biomarker (MR-proADM, PCT, CRP and lactate) or clinical score (SOFA and APACHE II) combinations to address this unmet clinical need. Methods: A prospective, observational study of patients activating the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital sepsis code (ISC) within the emergency department (ED), hospital wards and intensive care unit (ICU). Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves, logistic and Cox regression analysis were used to assess performance. Results: 148 patients fulfilled the Vall d'Hebron ISC criteria, of which 130 (87.8%) were retrospectively found to have a confirmed diagnosis of infection. Both PCT and MR-proADM had a moderate-to-high performance in discriminating between infected and non-infected patients following ISC activation, although the optimal PCT cutoff varied significantly across departments. Similarly, MR-proADM and SOFA performed well in predicting 28-and 90-day mortality within the total infected patient population, as well as within patients presenting with a community-acquired infection or following a medical emergency or prior surgical procedure. Importantly, MR-proADM also showed a high association with the requirement for ICU admission after ED presentation [OR (95% CI) 8.18 (1.75-28.33)] or during treatment on the ward [OR (95% CI) 3.64 (1.43-9.29)], although the predictive performance of all biomarkers and clinical scores diminished between both settings. Conclusions: Results suggest that the individual use of PCT and MR-proADM might help to accurately identify patients with infection and assess the overall severity of the host response, respectively. In addition, the use of MR-proADM could accurately identify patients requiring admission onto the ICU, irrespective of whether patients

Prone positioning is safe and significantly improves gas exchange in patients with refractory hypoxaemia after lung transplantation. It should be considered as a possible treatment in these patients.

Purpose. To analyse the capacity of whole-blood NGAL (wbNGAL) to stratify AKI in critically ill patients with and without sepsis. Methods. Whole-blood NGAL was measured with a point-of-care device at admission and 48 hours later in patients admitted to a general ICU. Patients were classified by the AKIN and KDIGO classifications at admission and 24 and 48 hours. We performed an ROC curve analysis. wbNGAL values at admission were compared in patients with sepsis and septic shock. Results. The study included 100 consecutively admitted patients (40 female) with mean age 59.1±17.8 years. Thirty-three patients presented AKI at admission, and 10 more developed it in the next 48 h. Eighteen patients had AKI stage 3, 14 of them at admission. Nine patients required renal replacement therapy. According to KDIGO at admission, wbNGAL values were 78 μg/L (60-187) in stage 0 (n=67), 263 μg/L (89-314) in stage 1 (n=8), 484 μg/L (333-708) in stage 2 (n=11), and 623 μg/L (231-911) in stage 3 (n=14), p=0.0001 for trend. Ten patients did not complete 48 hours of study: 6 of 10 were discharged (initial wbNGAL 130 μg/L (60-514)) and 4 died (773 μg/L (311-1010)). The AUROC curve of wbNGAL to predict AKI was 0.838 (95% confidence interval 0.76-0.92, p=0.0001), with optimal cut-off value of 178 μg/L (sensitivity 76.7%, specificity 78.9%, p<0.0001). At admission, twenty-nine patients had sepsis, of whom 20 were in septic shock. wbNGAL concentrations were 81 μg/L (60-187) in patients without sepsis, 481 (247-687) in those with sepsis, and 623.5 μg/L (361-798) in the subgroup of septic shock (p<0.0001). Conclusions. Whole-blood NGAL concentration at ICU admission was a good stratifier of AKI in critically ill patients. However, wbNGAL concentrations were higher in septic patients irrespective of AKI occurrence.

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