Mitsunobu Nakamura

Predicting the need for massive transfusion in trauma patients: the Traumatic Bleeding Severity Score.

BACKGROUND The ability to easily predict the need for massive transfusion may improve the process of care, allowing early mobilization of resources. There are currently no clear criteria to activate massive transfusion in severely injured trauma patients. The aims of this study were to create a scoring system to predict the need for massive transfusion and then to validate this scoring system. METHODS We reviewed the records of 119 severely injured trauma patients and identified massive transfusion predictors using statistical methods. Each predictor was converted into a simple score based on the odds ratio in a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The Traumatic Bleeding Severity Score (TBSS) was defined as the sum of the component scores. The predictive value of the TBSS for massive transfusion was then validated, using data from 113 severely injured trauma patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to compare the results of TBSS with the Trauma-Associated Severe Hemorrhage score and the Assessment of Blood Consumption score. RESULTS In the development phase, five predictors of massive transfusion were identified, including age, systolic blood pressure, the Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma scan, severity of pelvic fracture, and lactate level. The maximum TBSS is 57 points. In the validation study, the average TBSS in patients who received massive transfusion was significantly greater (24.2 [6.7]) than the score of patients who did not (6.2 [4.7]) (p < 0.01). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity, and specificity for a TBSS greater than 15 points was 0.985 (significantly higher than the other scoring systems evaluated at 0.892 and 0.813, respectively), 97.4%, and 96.2%, respectively. CONCLUSION The TBSS is simple to calculate using an available iOS application and is accurate in predicting the need for massive transfusion. Additional multicenter studies are needed to further validate this scoring system and further assess its utility. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic study, level III.

Analysis of risk classification for massive transfusion in severe trauma using the gray zone approach.

BACKGROUND The Traumatic Bleeding Severity Score (TBSS) was developed to predict the need for massive transfusion (MT). The aim of this study is evaluation of clinical thresholds for activation of a MT protocol using the gray zone approach based on TBSS. METHODS This is a single-center retrospective study of trauma patients, admitted from 2010 to 2013. The TBSS on admission was calculated, and the accuracy of predicting MT was analyzed using area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Risk classification for MT was made using sensitivity/specificity. The gray zone (indeterminate risk) was defined from a sensitivity of 95% to a specificity of 95%, patients were separated into MT and non-MT groups, and their clinical characteristics were compared. RESULTS A total of 264 patients were enrolled, with an area under the TBSS curve of 0.967 (95% confidence interval, 0.94-0.99). A TBSS of 10 points or less resulted in a sensitivity of 96.5% with 146 patients in this group, and 3.4% (5/146) of them received MT. A TBSS of 17 points or higher had a specificity of 97.8%, which included 72 patients, and 94.4% (68/72) of them received MT. Forty-six patients had a TBSS from 11 to 16 points (gray zone), and 26.1% (12/46) of them received MT. Comparing the MT group (12/46) and non-MT group (34/46), coagulopathy and extravasation on computed tomographic scan were more prevalent in the MT group. CONCLUSION The TBSS is highly accurate in predicting the need for MT, and a risk classification for needing MT was created based on TBSS.

A Japanese patient with a rare case of Streptobacillus moniliformis bacteremia.

Streptobacillus moniliformis is the etiological agent of rat-bite fever, a rare disease in Asia that is difficult to diagnose. We describe an elderly patient living in rat-infested conditions who presented with severe sepsis. He was successfully treated with meropenem, and blood culture revealed infection with S. moniliformis.

Differential effect of mild therapeutic hypothermia depending on the findings of hypoxic encephalopathy on early CT images in patients with post-cardiac arrest syndrome

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to evaluate the differential effects of mild therapeutic hypothermia (MTH) in post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) patients depending on the presence/absence of hypoxic encephalopathy (HE) in the early brain CT images obtained before the initiation of MTH. METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of the data of a total of 129 patients with PCAS who were treated by MTH (34 °C) or normothermia treatment (NT) (35 °C or 36 °C), and had undergone brain CT examination prior to the initiation of these treatments. We divided the subjects into 4 groups, namely, the HE(-)/MTH, HE(-)/NT, HE(+)/MTH, and HE(+)/NT groups, for evaluating the interaction effect between the two variables. Then, we compared the neurological outcomes between the HE(-)/MTH and HE(-)/NT groups by multivariate logistic analysis. Good outcome was defined as a Cerebral Performance Category score of ≤2 at 30 days. RESULTS The percentages of subjects with a good outcome in the HE(-)/MTH and HE(-)/NT group were 68.9% (42/61) and 36.1% (13/36), respectively (p = .003), while those in the HE(+)/MTH and HE(+)/NT groups were lower, at 7.4% (2/27) and 20.0% (1/5), respectively (p = .410), suggesting a statistically significant interaction effect between the two variables (pinteraction = 0.002). In the HE(-) group, MTH was associated with a higher odds ratio of a good outcome as compared to NT (OR 6.80, 95% CI 1.19-38.96, p = .031). CONCLUSIONS The effect of MTH in patients with PCAS differed depending on the presence/absence of evidence of HE on the early CT images.

Accuracy of the first interpretation of early brain CT images for predicting the prognosis of post-cardiac arrest syndrome patients at the emergency department

BackgroundEarly brain CT is one of the most useful tools for estimating the prognosis in patients with post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) at the emergency department (ED). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognosis-prediction accuracy of the emergency physicians’ interpretation of the findings on early brain CT in PCAS patients treated by targeted temperature management (TTM).MethodsThis was a double-center, retrospective, observational study. Eligible subjects were cardiac arrest patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for TTM between April 2011 and March 2017. We performed the McNemar test to compare the predictive accuracies of the interpretation by emergency physicians and radiologists and calculated the kappa statistic for determining the concordance rate between the interpretations by these two groups.ResultsOf the 122 eligible patients, 106 met the inclusion criteria for this study. The predictive accuracies (sensitivity, specificity) of the interpretations by the emergency physicians and radiologists were (0.34, 1.00) and (0.41, 0.93), respectively, with no significant difference in either the sensitivity or specificity as assessed by the McNemar test. The kappa statistic calculated to determine the concordance between the two interpretations was 0.66 (0.48–0.83), which showed a good conformity.ConclusionsThe emergency physicians’ interpretation of the early brain CT findings in PCAS patients treated by TTM was as reliable as that of radiologists, in terms of prediction of the prognosis.