Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) is a poorly understood complication of transplantation carrying a high mortality. Patients commonly deteriorate and require intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Treatment with high-dose steroids and aminocaproic acid (ACA) has been suggested. The current study examined 119 critically ill adult hematopoietic transplant patients treated for DAH. Patients were subdivided into low-, medium-and high-dose steroid groups with or without ACA. All groups had similar baseline characteristics and severity of illness scores. Primary objectives were 30, 60, 100 day, ICU and hospital mortality. Overall mortality (n = 119) on day 100 was high at 85%. In the steroids and ACA cohort (n = 82), there were no significant differences in 30, 60, 100, day, ICU and hospital mortality between the dosing groups. In the steroids only cohort (n = 37), the low-dose steroid group had a lower ICU and hospital mortality (P = 0.02). Adjunctive treatment with ACA did not produce differences in outcomes. In the multivariate analysis, medium-and high-dose steroids were associated with a higher ICU mortality (P = 0.01) as compared with the low-dose group. Our data suggest that treatment strategies may need to be reanalyzed to avoid potentially unnecessary and potentially harmful therapies.

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This study provides a longitudinal view of ICU utilization rates, hospital and ICU length of stay, and severity-adjusted mortality rates. Although the data arise from a single institution, it encompasses a large number of hospital admissions over two decades and can serve as a point of comparison for future oncological studies at similar institutions. More studies of this nature are needed to determine whether consolidation of cancer care into specialized large-volume facilities may improve outcomes, while simultaneously sustaining appropriate resource utilization and reducing unnecessary healthcare costs.

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Background: To describe short-term outcomes and independent predictors of 28-dayx mortality in adult patients with hematologic malignancies and septic shock defined by the new Third International Consensus Definitions (Sepsis-3) criteria. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to the medical ICU with septic shock from April 2016 to March 2019. Demographic and clinical features and short-term outcomes were collected. We used descriptive statistics to summarize patient characteristics, logistic regression to identify predictors of 28-day mortality, and Kaplan-Meier plots to assess survival. Results: Among the 459 hematologic patients with septic shock admitted to the ICU, 109 (23.7%) had received hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The median age was 63 years (range, 18–89 years), and 179 (39%) were women. Nonsurvivors had a higher Charlson comorbidity index (P=.007), longer length of stay before ICU admission (P=.01), and greater illness severity at diagnosis and throughout the hospital course (P<.001). The mortality rate at 28 days was 67.8% and increased with increasing sequential organ failure assessment score on admission (odds ratio [OR], 1.11; 95% CI, 1.03–1.20), respiratory failure (OR, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.49–6.51), and maximum lactate level (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.10–1.22). Aminoglycosides administration (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.26–0.69), serum albumin (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.31–0.86), and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) (OR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.24–0.65) were associated with lower 28-day mortality. Life support limitations were present in 81.6% of patients at death. At 90 days, 19.4% of the patients were alive. Conclusions: Despite efforts to enhance survival, septic shock in patients with hematologic malignancies is still associated with high mortality rates and poor 90-day survival. These results demonstrate the need for an urgent call to action with higher awareness, including the further evaluation of interventions such as earlier ICU admission, aminoglycosides administration, and G-CSF treatment.

Understanding existing patterns of care at the end of life will help guide decisions about resource allocation and palliative care programs. Patients who seek care at dedicated cancer centers may elect more aggressive care; thus the generalizability of this study is limited. Although dying in a hospital may be unavoidable for patients who have uncontrolled symptoms that cannot be managed at home, palliative care consultations with patients and their families in advance regarding end-of-life preferences may prevent unwanted admission to the ICU.

PURPOSE Many hospitals have established goals-of-care programs in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; however, few have reported their outcomes. We examined the impact of a multicomponent interdisciplinary goals-of-care program on intensive care unit (ICU) mortality and hospital outcomes for medical inpatients with cancer. METHODS This single-center study with a quasi-experimental design included consecutive adult patients with cancer admitted to medical units at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX, during the 8-month preimplementation (May 1, 2019-December 31, 2019) and postimplementation period (May 1, 2020-December 31, 2020). The primary outcome was ICU mortality. Secondary outcomes included ICU length of stay, hospital mortality, and proportion/timing of care plan documentation. Propensity score weighting was used to adjust for differences in potential covariates, including age, sex, cancer diagnosis, race/ethnicity, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score. RESULTS This study involved 12,941 hospitalized patients with cancer (pre n = 6,977; post n = 5,964) including 1,365 ICU admissions (pre n = 727; post n = 638). After multicomponent goals-of-care program initiation, we observed a significant reduction in ICU mortality (28.2% v 21.9%; change −6.3%, 95% CI, −9.6 to −3.1; P = .0001). We also observed significant decreases in length of ICU stay (mean change −1.4 days, 95% CI, −2.0 to −0.7; P < .0001) and in-hospital mortality (7% v 6.1%, mean change −0.9%, 95% CI, −1.5 to −0.3; P = .004). The proportion of hospitalized patients with an in-hospital do-not-resuscitate order increased significantly from 14.7% to 19.6% after implementation (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.3 to 1.5; P < .0001), and do-not-resuscitate order was established earlier (mean difference −3.0 days, 95% CI, −3.9 to −2.1; P < .0001). CONCLUSION This study showed improvement in hospital outcomes and care plan documentation after implementation of a system-wide, multicomponent goals-of-care intervention.