BackgroundThe lung ultrasound score has been regarded as a decent semiquantitative score to measure the lung aeration loss. The score has been proven to be valuable in diagnosing and monitoring lung pathology, but no studies have demonstrated its relationship to the outcome. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the lung ultrasound score and outcome in shock patients in the Intensive Care Unit.MethodsThe data were extracted from the SHOCK-ICU study, a 14-month prospective study of shock patients in the Medical Intensive Care Unit in West China Hospital. A bivariate logistic regression model was established to identify the correlation between the lung ultrasound score on admission and the 28-day mortality. For subsequent analyses, we divided patients into lung ultrasound score quartiles, and survival analysis was performed using Cox stratified survival analysis and regression analysis with the Breslow method of ties.ResultsA total of 175 cases with a completed lung ultrasound exam were included. The mean APACHE II score was 23.7 ± 8.8, and the 28-day mortality was 46.3% (81/175). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that the lung ultrasound score was an independent risk factor for 28-day mortality, as well as the APACHE II score and lactate level. When divided into lung ultrasound score quartiles, after correcting for the APACHE II score, vasoactive use, PaO2/FiO2, and lactate level, the COX analysis reveals that a higher lung ultrasound score was related to a lower survival rate. Quartile 1 and quartile 2 had a significantly lower hazard ratio versus quartile 4 (OR 0.442[0.215–0.911]; 0.484[0.251–0.934], respectively).ConclusionsThe lung ultrasound score is independently related to the 28-day mortality, as well as the APACHE II score and lactate level, in Intensive Care Unit shock patients. A higher elevated lung ultrasound score on admission is associated with a worse outcome.Trial registrationThe study is registered on Clinical Trials. Trial registration: NCT03082326; retrospectively registered on 3 March 2017.

AimCritical care ultrasound (CCUS) has been used by many Intensive Care Units(ICUs) worldwide, so as to guiding the diagnosis and the treatment. However, none of the publications currently systematically describe the utilization of CCUS to analyze the characteristics of hemodynamics and lung pathology upon the new admission to ICU and its potential role in patients’ prognosis prediction. In this retrospective clinical study, we have demonstrated and analyzed the characteristics of hemodynamics and lung pathology assessed by CCUS and investigated its potential to predict patient outcome.MethodsWe have described and analyzed the epidemic characteristics of hemodynamics and lung pathology assessed by CCUS on ICU admission, which based on our database of 451 cases from the biggest medical center in Western China, between November 2014 and October 2015. The patients’ demographics, clinical characteristics, prognosis and ultrasonic pattern of hemodynamics and lung pathology had been analyzed. A bivariate logistic regression model was established to identify the correlation between the ultrasonic variables on admission and the ICU mortality.ResultsThe mean age of the 451 patients was 56.7±18.7 years; the mean APACHE II score was 19.0±7.9, the ICU mortality was 30.6%. Patients received CCUS examination of pericardial, right ventricle (RV) wall motion, left ventricle (LV) wall motion, LV systolic function, LV diastolic function, lung and volume of inferior vena cava (IVC) were 423(93.8%), 418(92.7%), 392(86.9%), 389(86.3%), 383(84.9%), 440(97.6%), 336(74.5%), respectively; The univariate analysis revealed that length of mechanical ventilation was significantly correlated with the diameter of IVC, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion(TAPSE), mitral annular plane systolic excursion(MAPSE), early diastolic transmitral velocity to early mitral annulus diastolic velocity(E/e’) (p = 0.016, 0.011, 0.000, 0.049, respectively); The TAPSE, ejection fraction(EF), MAPSE, lung ultrasound score (LUS score) (p = 0.000, 0.028, 0.000, 0.011, respectively) were significantly related to ICU mortality. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that APACHE II, age, TAPSE, E/e’ are the independent risk factors for ICU mortality in our study.ConclusionCCUS examination on ICU admission which performed by the experienced physician provide valuable information to assist the caregivers in understanding the comprehensive outlook of the characteristics of hemodynamics and lung pathology. Those key variables obtained by CCUS predict the possible prognosis of patients, hence deserve more attention in clinical decision making.

Up to April 4, 2020, the novel coronavirus disease-2019 COVID-19 has affected more than 1 099000 patients and has become a major global health concern. World Health Organization (WHO) has defined COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Critical care ultrasound (CCUS) can rapidly acquire the image of lung and other organs and demonstrate the pathophysiological changes to guide precise therapy in COVID-19 pneumonia without radiation or interfering with personal protective equipment. In addition, the application of CCUS can cover the whole courses from the fever clinic to the intensive care unit to improve the treatment. We would like to present the CCUS features about COVID-19 pneumonia and share the application experience of CCUS in Wuhan, China, and hope it works for physicians worldwide to solve the problem and improve the outcome.

Background A unified clinical definition of feeding intolerance (FI) is urged for better management of enteral nutrition (EN) in critically ill patients. We aimed to identify optimum clinical FI definitions based on reported evidence. Methods We searched clinical studies comparing FI with non-FI with a clear definition, summarized the evidence by random-effect meta-analyses, and rated the certainty of evidence by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation frameworks. Results Five thousand five hundred twenty-five records were identified, of which 26 eligible studies enrolled 25,189 adult patients. Most patient-centered outcomes were associated with FI overall. Low to very low certainty evidence established FI defined as large gastric residual volume (GRV) ≥ 250 ± 50 mL combined with any other gastrointestinal symptoms (GIS) had a significant association with high mortalities in particular all-cause hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40–2.57), the incidence of pneumonia (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.13–2.09) and prolonged length of hospital stay (mean difference 4.20, 95% CI 2.08–6.32), with a moderate hospital prevalence (41.49%, 95% CI 31.61–51.38%). 3-day enteral feeding (EF) delivered percentage < 80% had a moderate hospital prevalence (38.23%, 95% CI 24.88–51.58) but a marginally significant association with all-cause hospital mortality (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.03–3.50). Conclusions In critically ill adult patients receiving EN, the large-GRV-centered GIS to define FI seemed to be superior to 3-day EF-insufficiency in terms of both close associations with all-cause hospital mortality and acceptable hospital prevalence (Registered PROSPERO: CRD42022326273). Trial registration: The protocol for this review and meta-analysis was registered with PROSPERO: CRD42022326273. Registered 10 May 2022.

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