Background & Objective: Covid-19 pandemic has led to multiple waves secondary to mutations in SARS-CoV-2 and emergence of variants of concern (VOC). Clinical characteristics of delta (B.1.617.2) VOC are not well reported. To compare demographic, clinical and laboratory features and outcomes in the second Covid-19 wave in India (delta VOC) with the previous wave we performed a registry-based study. Methods: Successive SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed Covid-19 patients presenting to our Advanced Covid Care hospital were prospectively recruited. In the first phase (wave) from March-December 2020, 1395 of 7476 (18.7%) suspected patients tested positive and 863 (61.89%) hospitalized, while in second wave from January-July 2021 out of 1641 confirmed cases out of 8680 (19.4%) suspected 388 (23.6%) were hospitalized. Details of clinical and laboratory features at admission to hospital, management and outcomes in the two waves have been compared. Results: In both cohorts, majority were men and 20% less than 40 years. Prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases was more than 20%. Second wave patients had similar pre-hospitalization symptom duration but had significantly greater cough, fever and shortness of breath and lower SpO2 at presentation with greater lymphopenia, C-reactive proteins, interleukin-6, ferritin, lactic dehydrogenase and transaminases. In the second vs first wave patients, requirement of supplementary oxygen (47.9% vs 34.3%), prone positioning (89.2 vs 38.6%), high flow nasal oxygen(15.7 vs 9.1%), non-invasive ventilation (14.4 vs 9.5%), invasive ventilation (16.2 vs 9.5%), steroids (94.1 vs 85.9%), remdesivir (91.2 vs 76.0%) and anticoagulants (94.3 vs 76.0%) was greater (p<0.001). Median (IQR) length of stay [8 (6-10) vs 7 (5-10) days] as well as ICU stay [9 (5-13) vs 6 (2-10) days] was more in second wave (p<0.001). In-hospital deaths occurred in 173 patients (13.9%) and were significantly more in the second wave, 75 (19.3%), compared to the first, 98 (11.5%); unadjusted odds ratio (95% CI) 1.84 (1.32-2.55) which did not change significantly with adjustment for age and sex (2.03, 1.44-2.86), and age, sex and comorbidities (2.09, 1.47-2.95). Greater disease severity at presentation was associated with mortality in both the waves. Conclusions: Covid-19 patients hospitalized during the second wave of the epidemic (delta variant) had more severe disease with greater dyspnea, hypoxia, hematological and biochemical abnormalities compared to first wave patients. They had greater length of stay in intensive care unit, oxygen requirement, non-invasive and invasive ventilatory support. The in-hospital mortality in the second wave was double of the first.

Background: The epidemiology of critical illness in India is distinct from high-income countries. However, limited data exist on resource availability, staffing patterns, case-mix and outcomes from critical illness. Critical care registries, by enabling a continual evaluation of service provision, epidemiology, resource availability and quality, can bridge these gaps in information. In January 2019, we established the Indian Registry of IntenSive care to map capacity and describe case-mix and outcomes. In this report, we describe the implementation process, preliminary results, opportunities for improvement, challenges and future directions. Methods: All adult and paediatric ICUs in India were eligible to join if they committed to entering data for ICU admissions. Data are collected by a designated representative through the electronic data collection platform of the registry. IRIS hosts data on a secure cloud-based server and access to the data is restricted to designated personnel and is protected with standard firewall and a valid secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. Each participating ICU owns and has access to its own data. All participating units have access to de-identified network-wide aggregate data which enables benchmarking and comparison. Results: The registry currently includes 14 adult and 1 paediatric ICU in the network (232 adult ICU beds and 9 paediatric ICU beds). There have been 8721 patient encounters with a mean age of 56.9 (SD 18.9); 61.4% of patients were male and admissions to participating ICUs were predominantly unplanned (87.5%). At admission, most patients (61.5%) received antibiotics, 17.3% needed vasopressors, and 23.7% were mechanically ventilated. Mortality for the entire cohort was 9%.  Data availability for demographics, clinical parameters, and indicators of admission severity was greater than 95%. Conclusions: IRIS represents a successful model for the continual evaluation of critical illness epidemiology in India and provides a framework for the deployment of multi-centre quality improvement and context-relevant clinical research.

Aluminum phosphide is most common cause of poisoning in northern India. There is no specific antidote available and management of such cases is mainly supportive with high mortality. We present two cases of severe acute aluminium phosphide poisoning where continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) was started early along with other resuscitative measures and both the patients survived.

Background: The epidemiology of critical illness in India is distinct from high-income countries. However, limited data exist on resource availability, staffing patterns, case-mix and outcomes from critical illness. Critical care registries, by enabling a continual evaluation of service provision, epidemiology, resource availability and quality, can bridge these gaps in information. In January 2019, we established the Indian Registry of IntenSive care to map capacity and describe case-mix and outcomes. In this report, we describe the implementation process, preliminary results, opportunities for improvement, challenges and future directions. Methods: All adult and paediatric ICUs in India were eligible to join if they committed to entering data for ICU admissions. Data are collected by a designated representative through the electronic data collection platform of the registry. IRIS hosts data on a secure cloud-based server and access to the data is restricted to designated personnel and is protected with standard firewall and a valid secure socket layer (SSL) certificate. Each participating ICU owns and has access to its own data. All participating units have access to de-identified network-wide aggregate data which enables benchmarking and comparison. Results: The registry currently includes 14 adult and 1 paediatric ICU in the network (232 adult ICU beds and 9 paediatric ICU beds). There have been 8721 patient encounters with a mean age of 56.9 (SD 18.9); 61.4% of patients were male and admissions to participating ICUs were predominantly unplanned (87.5%). At admission, most patients (61.5%) received antibiotics, 17.3% needed vasopressors, and 23.7% were mechanically ventilated. Mortality for the entire cohort was 9%.  Data availability for demographics, clinical parameters, and indicators of admission severity was greater than 95%. Conclusions: IRIS represents a successful model for the continual evaluation of critical illness epidemiology in India and provides a framework for the deployment of multi-centre quality improvement and context-relevant clinical research.

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A three feet two inch (96 cm) tall achondroplastic patient with urothelial cell carcinoma involving renal pelvis was scheduled for a radical nephrectomy. Radial artery cannulation and central venous access were secured in the pre-induction period. After induction, the airway was secured using a exible breoptic scope. General anaesthesia was maintained with oxygen-nitrous-oxide and continuous propofol infusion. The total duration of anaesthesia was three hours and 50 minutes. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the shortest adult achondroplastic patient ever reported to undergo such major abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia. The anaesthetic implications in patients with achondroplasia are reviewed in this case report.