The global pandemic involving severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus-2 (SARS-COV-2) has stretched the limits of science. Ever since it emerged from the Wuhan province in China, it has spread across the world and has been fatal to about 4% of the victims. This position statement of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine represents the collective opinion of the experts chosen by the society.

Introduction: Differentiation between sepsis and systemic inflammation response syndrome (SIRS) remains a diagnostic challenge for clinicians as both may have similar clinical presentation. A quick and accurate diagnostic tool that can discriminate between these two conditions would aid in appropriate therapeutic decision-making. This prospective study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic utility of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) and procalcitonin (PCT) in sepsis and SIRS patients. Materials and methods: Eighty-eight patients were enrolled, of which 29 were SIRS and 59 were sepsis patients. The levels of suPAR and PCT were measured on the day of admission (day 1), day 3, and day 7. Results: The levels of suPAR and PCT were significantly higher (p = 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively) in sepsis group as compared to the SIRS group. The soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor was a better diagnostic tool in predicting sepsis over PCT [area under curve (AUC) 0.89 vs 0.82] on day 1. The best cutoff for suPAR was 5.58 pg/mL [96% sensitivity and 90% negative predictive value (NPV)] and the best cut-off for PCT was 1.96 ng/mL (93.1% sensitivity and 80% NPV). However, PCT had better prognostic trends (p = 0.006) to identify nonsurvivors in sepsis group. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that both suPAR and PCT can be used as potential test tools to differentiate between SIRS and sepsis. Procalcitonin showed significant prognostic trends to identify nonsurvivors. The soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor showed better diagnostic potential than PCT on day 1. Clinical significance: Both suPAR and PCT can be used as surrogate biomarkers to distinguish sepsis from SIRS. Procalcitonin showing a significant prognostic trend to identify nonsurvivors can help the clinicians to take relevant clinical decisions. Also, the use of biomarkers like PCT and suPAR could reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics in noninfective SIRS.

Objectives: To compare the predicted vs observed mortality rate, criticality, and length of stay of the patients with healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in intensive care units (ICUs) of a tertiary health center through acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) IV scoring. To analyze the drug sensitivity pattern of the isolated pathogen. Design: This is a prospective observational study involving the patients admitted to various ICUs of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Among 1,229 patients who were admitted in the ICUs for a period of 2.5 months (74 days), 767 patients stayed beyond 48 hours. They were monitored and 87 of them who developed HAIs were included in the study. The organisms isolated from the infection site were identified, and the drug resistance pattern was reported as per standard guidelines. The patients were followed up till their discharge, and adequate details pertaining to the study were collected including demographic details and physiological and biochemical parameters to calculate APACHE IV score, length of stay, and prognosis. Setting: Intensive care units of JSS Hospital, Mysuru, Karnataka, India. Subjects/patients: All patients who developed HAI in ICUs. Interventions: Nil. Measurements and main results: The HAI rate observed in this study was 15.7%. Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) was the most common type of infection. Klebsiella and Acinetobacter were the frequently isolated organisms. There was a high prevalence of drug resistance among these pathogens. The ICU mortality in infected patients was 21.83%, roughly twice as that of uninfected patients. The observed length of stay was 11.66 (±8.53) days. Conclusion: Healthcare-associated infection was associated with long duration of ICU stay. There was a high prevalence of drug resistance to various antibiotics. Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation IV score was not found to be good scoring system to predict the mortality and length of stay in the patients who had HAI.

Objectives: In critically ill patients, acute kidney injury (AKI) and sepsis often coexist. This confounds the assessment of outcomes of both sepsis and AKI in these patients. Hence, in this study, we compare the outcomes of AKI with sepsis, AKI without sepsis, and sepsis without AKI against a control cohort comprising patients with neither AKI nor sepsis. Materials and methods: Prospective observational study conducted in our critical care unit (CCU) between January and July 2009. Data including demographic details, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) III score, presence of AKI, presence of sepsis, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (LOS), and outcomes were collected for all patients. Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN) criteria were used to define the presence of AKI and American College of Critical Care Medicine 2001 definition was used to define the presence of sepsis. Results: A total of 250 patients were included in the study and 8 patients were excluded from analysis as they were discharged from hospital against medical advice. The remaining 242 patients (mean age 52.8 ± 17 years; 61.6% male; APACHE III score: 48.2 ± 24.1) were analyzed, and AKI was seen in 111 patients (45.8%). Among the patients with AKI, 55.8% (62/111) had sepsis and 44.2% (49/111) had nonseptic AKI. There was a higher need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) among patients with septic AKI in comparison to those with nonseptic AKI (19.3% vs 6.1%; p = 0.04), but no mortality difference was seen between the two groups (25.8% vs 20.4%, p = 0.5). Patients with sepsis and AKI had a significantly higher mortality (25.8%) compared to the patients with sepsis alone (5.6%; p < 0.01). Conclusion: Patients with septic AKI had a higher RRT requirement compared to patients with nonseptic AKI, but no significant differences in mortality were seen between the groups. Occurrence of AKI in septic patients substantially increases their mortality.

Background and aims: To evaluate and validate four severity-of-illness scores, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation IV (APACHE IV), simplified acute physiology score III (SAPS III), mortality probability models II at 0 hours (MPM0 II), and ICU cancer mortality model (ICMM), in a prospective cohort of critically ill cancer patients. Materials and methods: Single-center, prospective observational study performed in a 14-bedded combined medical–surgical ICU of a tertiary care cancer center of India, from July 2014 to November 2015. Score performance was judged by discrimination and calibration, using the area under receiver–operating characteristics (ROC) curve and Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test, respectively. Results: A total of 431 patients were included in the study. Intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality were 37.4% and 41.1%, respectively. The area under ROC curve for APACHE IV, SAPS III, MPM0 II, and ICMM were 0.73, 0.70, 0.67, and 0.67, respectively. Calibration as calculated by Hosmer–Lemeshow analysis type C statistics for APACHE IV, SAPS III, MPM0 II, and ICMM shows good calibration with Chi-square values of 5.32, 9.285, 9.873, and 9.855 and p values of 0.723, 0.319, 0.274, and 0.275, respectively. Conclusion: All the four models had moderate discrimination and good calibration. However, none of the mortality prediction models could accurately discriminate between survivors and nonsurvivors in our patients.

Aims: Despite the importance of abnormal QTc interval values in intensive care unit (ICU) patients, there is a paucity of information on this topic. The current study was designed to identify the incidence and predictors of QTc prolongation in medical (M), surgical (S), and emergency (E) ICUs. Materials and methods: A prospective observational study was conducted for 6 months. Patients more than 18 years old who admitted to MICU, SICU, and EICU were included in the study. Electrocardiogram (ECG) was taken on day 1, 3, and 5 of ICU admission. The QTc intervals >460 ms in male and >470 ms in female and increased >60 ms above baseline were considered QTc prolongation. Comparative analysis was done between two groups of patients (normal vs prolonged QTc). Logistic regression models were carried out to determine the predictors of QTc prolongation. Results: Incidence of QTc prolongation was 6.5, 9.8, and 15.7% on day 1, 3, and 5 of ICU admission, respectively. On day 1, the history of alcohol addiction and the reason of ICU admission were associated with a prolonged QTc. A significant association was demonstrated between administration of azithromycin and QTc prolongation on day 3. High serum creatinine and hospitalization in EICU were predictors of QTc prolongation on day 5 of ICU admission. Conclusion: The QTc prolongation is relatively common among patients admitted to ICUs and its incidence increases with increasing length of hospital stay. Predictors of QTc prolongation may be affected by the duration of ICU admission. Physicians should consider these predictors particularly before prescribing QTc-prolonging drugs.

Background: Recreational drug abuse is a serious health problem that poses detrimental effects on central nervous system. Neuroimaging plays a pivotal role in the detection of these abnormal changes in the brain associated with the drug abuse. This study focuses on the grading of cerebral atrophy in the opioid-addicted patients and their association with the age and duration of opioid abuse. Objectives: Grading of cerebral atrophy in opioid-addicted patients and to assess the probable association between chronic opioid abuse and cerebral atrophy in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital. Materials and methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 40 patients of opioid abuse who were admitted in the ICU of the hospital over a period of 2 years. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of these patients was done using Siemens Avanto 1.5 Tesla scanner. Results: All the patients were male with 25 patients having varying degrees of cerebral atrophy as assessed from Pasquier scale. Majority of the patients (n = 14) on chronic opioid abuse had global cortical atrophy (GCA) score of 1 indicative of mild cerebral atrophy. The associated factors like the duration of abuse and age of presentation had significant association with the cerebral atrophic changes in the brain (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Opioid-dependent patients with long-term substance abuse had probable association with the atrophic changes in brain as assessed from neuroimaging. The progressing age and longer duration of drug abuse may foster significant alterations to the brain structure leading to varied degree of cerebral atrophy.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is characterized by fulminant necrotizing infection of the kidney and perirenal tissues. Emphysematous pyelonephritis presenting as pneumomediastinum is quite rare. A 65-year-old gentleman presented to us with respiratory failure on ventilator support and uncontrolled sugars. He had fever with chills, abdominal pain, and breathlessness. He was evaluated and computed tomography showed right Huang et al. class 3 EPN with pneumomediastinum. He also had renal failure, respiratory distress syndrome, and metabolic acidosis. Pigtail drainage of right EPN was performed. He succumbed to the disease despite treatment. This case highlights the rare presentation of EPN as pneumomediastinum.