Álvaro Réa-Neto

Characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer requiring admission to intensive care units: A prospective multicenter study*

Objective:To evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer admitted to several intensive care units. Knowledge on patients with cancer requiring intensive care is mostly restricted to single-center studies. Design:Prospective, multicenter, cohort study. Setting:Intensive care units from 28 hospitals in Brazil. Patients:A total of 717 consecutive patients included over a 2-mo period. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:There were 667 (93%) patients with solid tumors and 50 (7%) patients had hematologic malignancies. The main reasons for intensive care unit admission were postoperative care (57%), sepsis (15%), and respiratory failure (10%). Overall hospital mortality rate was 30% and was higher in patients admitted because of medical complications (58%) than in emergency (37%) and scheduled (11%) surgical patients (p < .001). Adjusting for covariates other than the type of admission, the number of hospital days before intensive care unit admission (odds ratio [OR], 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.37), higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.17–1.34), poor performance status (OR, 3.40; 95% CI, 2.19 –5.26), the need for mechanical ventilation (OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.51–3.87), and active underlying malignancy in recurrence or progression (OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.51–3.87) were associated with increased hospital mortality in multivariate analysis. Conclusions:This large multicenter study reports encouraging survival rates for patients with cancer requiring intensive care. In these patients, mortality was mostly dependent on the severity of organ failures, performance status, and need for mechanical ventilation rather than cancer-related characteristics, such as the type of malignancy or the presence of neutropenia.

Efficacy and safety of doripenem versus piperacillin/tazobactam in nosocomial pneumonia: a randomized, open-label, multicenter study

ABSTRACT Objective: Doripenem is a new carbapenem that has broad-spectrum activity against bacterial pathogens commonly responsible for nosocomial pneumonia (NP). It has several advantages over currently available carbapenems and other classes of drugs used in this indication. This prospective, randomized, open-label, multicenter study was designed to establish whether doripenem was noninferior to piperacillin/tazobactam in NP. Methods: Adults (n = 448) with signs and symptoms of NP, including non-ventilated patients and those ventilated for <5 days, were stratified by ventilation mode, illness severity (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score), and geographic region and then randomly allocated to treatment with doripenem 500 mg every 8 h by a 1-h intravenous (IV) infusion or piperacillin/tazobactam 4.5 g every 6 h by 30-min IV infusion. After receiving IV study drug for at least 72 h, eligible patients could be switched to oral levofloxacin 750 mg once daily. Antibiotic therapy was continued for a total of 7–14 days. The primary endpoint was the clinical cure rate, assessed 7–14 days after treatment completion, in clinically evaluable patients and in the clinical modified intent-to-treat population (cMITT). Results: Doripenem was noninferior to piperacillin/tazobactam. Clinical cure rates in clinically evaluable patients (n = 253) were 81.3% in the doripenem arm and 79.8% in the piperacillin/tazobactam arm (between-treatment difference: 1.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], −9.1 to 12.1%) and in the cMITT population 69.5% and 64.1%, respectively, (between-treatment difference: 5.4%; 95% CI, −4.1 to 14.8%). Baseline resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to piperacillin/tazobactam was 44% and 26.9%, respectively; a doripenem minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) >8 µg/mL occurred in 0% and 7.7%, respectively. Favorable microbiological outcome rates against Gram-negative pathogens were numerically higher with doripenem than with piperacillin/tazobactam, but the difference was not statistically significant. Both study drugs were generally well tolerated, as only 16.1% and 17.6% of patients receiving doripenem and piperacillin/tazobactam, respectively, had a drug-related adverse event. Study limitations included the open-label design, the low rate of monotherapy (adjunctive use of aminoglycoside was required when P. aeruginosa was suspected), and the exclusion of the most critically ill and immunocompromized patients. Conclusions: Doripenem was clinically and microbiologically effective in patents with NP, including those with early-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia, and was therapeutically noninferior to piperacillin/tazobactam. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00211003.

Outcomes for Patients With Cancer Admitted to the ICU Requiring Ventilatory Support: Results From a Prospective Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer requiring nonpalliative ventilatory support. METHODS This was a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study conducted in 28 Brazilian ICUs evaluating adult patients with cancer requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) during the first 48 h of their ICU stay. We used logistic regression to identify the variables associated with hospital mortality. RESULTS Of 717 patients, 263 (37%) (solid tumors = 227; hematologic malignancies = 36) received ventilatory support. NIV was initially used in 85 patients (32%), and 178 (68%) received MV. Additionally, NIV followed by MV occurred in 45 patients (53%). Hospital mortality rates were 67% in all patients, 40% in patients receiving NIV only, 69% when NIV was followed by MV, and 73% in patients receiving MV only (P < .001). Adjusting for the type of admission, newly diagnosed malignancy (OR, 3.59; 95% CI, 1.28-10.10), recurrent or progressive malignancy (OR, 3.67; 95% CI, 1.25-10.81), tumoral airway involvement (OR, 4.04; 95% CI, 1.30-12.56), performance status (PS) 2 to 4 (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.24-4.59), NIV followed by MV (OR, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.09-8.18), MV as initial ventilatory strategy (OR, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.45-8.60), and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (each point except the respiratory domain) (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03-1.29) were associated with hospital mortality. Hospital survival in patients with good PS and nonprogressive malignancy and without tumoral airway involvement was 53%. Conversely, patients with poor functional capacity and cancer progression had unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Patients with cancer with good PS and nonprogressive disease requiring ventilatory support should receive full intensive care, because one-half of these patients survive. On the other hand, provision of palliative care should be considered the main goal for patients with poor PS and progressive underlying malignancy.

Original ResearchCritical CareFeaturedOutcomes for Patients With Cancer Admitted to the ICU Requiring Ventilatory Support: Results From a Prospective Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer requiring nonpalliative ventilatory support. METHODS This was a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study conducted in 28 Brazilian ICUs evaluating adult patients with cancer requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) or noninvasive ventilation (NIV) during the first 48 h of their ICU stay. We used logistic regression to identify the variables associated with hospital mortality. RESULTS Of 717 patients, 263 (37%) (solid tumors = 227; hematologic malignancies = 36) received ventilatory support. NIV was initially used in 85 patients (32%), and 178 (68%) received MV. Additionally, NIV followed by MV occurred in 45 patients (53%). Hospital mortality rates were 67% in all patients, 40% in patients receiving NIV only, 69% when NIV was followed by MV, and 73% in patients receiving MV only (P < .001). Adjusting for the type of admission, newly diagnosed malignancy (OR, 3.59; 95% CI, 1.28-10.10), recurrent or progressive malignancy (OR, 3.67; 95% CI, 1.25-10.81), tumoral airway involvement (OR, 4.04; 95% CI, 1.30-12.56), performance status (PS) 2 to 4 (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.24-4.59), NIV followed by MV (OR, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.09-8.18), MV as initial ventilatory strategy (OR, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.45-8.60), and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (each point except the respiratory domain) (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03-1.29) were associated with hospital mortality. Hospital survival in patients with good PS and nonprogressive malignancy and without tumoral airway involvement was 53%. Conversely, patients with poor functional capacity and cancer progression had unfavorable outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Patients with cancer with good PS and nonprogressive disease requiring ventilatory support should receive full intensive care, because one-half of these patients survive. On the other hand, provision of palliative care should be considered the main goal for patients with poor PS and progressive underlying malignancy.

A Multicentre, Prospective Study to Evaluate Costs of Septic Patients in Brazilian Intensive Care Units

BackgroundSepsis has a high prevalence within intensive care units, with elevated rates of morbidity and mortality, and high costs. Data on sepsis costs are scarce in the literature, and in developing countries such as Brazil these data are largely unavailable.ObjectivesTo assess the standard direct costs of sepsis management in Brazilian intensive care units (ICUs) and to disclose factors that could affect those costs.MethodsThis multicentre observational cohort study was conducted in adult septic patients admitted to 21 mixed ICUs of private and public hospitals in Brazil from 1 October 2003 to 30 March 2004. Complete data for all patients admitted to the ICUs were obtained until their discharge or death. We collected only direct healthcare-related costs, defined as all costs related to the ICU stay.Enrolled patients were assessed daily in terms of cost-related expenditures such as hospital fees, operating room fees, gas therapy, physiotherapy, blood components transfusion, medications, renal replacement therapy, laboratory analysis and imaging. Standard unit costs (year 2006 values) were based on the Brazilian Medical Association (AMB) price index for medical procedures and the BRASINDICE price index for medications, solutions and hospital consumables. Medical resource utilization was also assessed daily using the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28). Indirect costs were not included.ResultsWith a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 61.1 ± 19.2 years, 524 septic patients from 21 centres were included in this study. The overall hospital mortality rate was 43.8%, the mean Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score was 22.3 ± 5.4, and the mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at ICU admission was 7.5 ± 3.9.The median total cost of sepsis was

Clinical outcomes of patients requiring ventilatory support in Brazilian intensive care units: a multicenter, prospective, cohort study

US9632 (interquartile range [IQR] 4583–18 387; 95% CI 8657, 10 672) per patient, while the median daily ICU cost per patient was

Differences in Sepsis Treatment and Outcomes between Public and Private Hospitals in Brazil: A Multicenter Observational Study

US934 (IQR 735–1170; 95% CI 897, 963). The median daily ICU cost per patient was significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors, i.e.

Pacientes com infecção por vírus A (H1N1) admitidos em unidades de terapia intensiva do Estado do Paraná, Brasil

US1094 (IQR 888–1341; 95% CI 1058, 1157) and

Diretrizes para manutenção de múltiplos órgãos no potencial doador adulto falecido: parte II. Ventilação mecânica, controle endócrino metabólico e aspectos hematológicos e infecciosos

US826 (IQR 668–982; 95% CI 786, 854), respectively (p < 0.001). For patients admitted to public and private hospitals, we found a median SOFA score at ICU admission of 7.5 and 7.1, respectively (p = 0.02), and the mortality rate was 49.1% and 36.7%, respectively (p = 0.006). Patients admitted to public and private hospitals had a similar length of stay of 10 (IQR 5–19) days versus 9 (IQR 4–16) days (p = 0.091), and the median total direct costs for public (

Sumário de atualização da II Diretriz Brasileira de Insuficiência Cardíaca Aguda 2009/2011

US9773; IQR 4643–19 221; 95% CI 8503, 10 818) versus private (