Critical Care Reviews Newsletter

Welcome to the 519th Critical Care Reviews Newsletter, bringing you the best critical care research and open access articles from across the medical literature over the past seven days. The highlights of this week's edition are randomised controlled trials investigating aspirin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 & inhaled pulmonary vasodilator therapy in adult lung transplantation; systematic reviews and meta analyses on prediction of extubation outcome & enrollment into ARDS and sepsis trials; and observational studies on phenotypes of COVID-19 patients with a positive clinical response to helmet noninvasive ventilation & esophageal pressure–guided PEEP in ARDS.

There are also guidelines on basic ultrasound skills for intensivists & cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency cardiovascular care science; narrative reviews on combining fluids and vasopressors & the heterogeneous impact of hypotension on organ perfusion; editorials on equilibrating SSC guidelines with individualized care & defining key elements of critical care nursing and its relation to staffing; and commentaries on why the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system in critically ill patients can no longer be ignored & sedation practices for mechanically ventilated patients; as well as correspondence on therapeutic anticoagulation with heparin in Covid-19 & intracranial pressure monitoring and unfavourable outcomes. 

If you only have time to read one review article this week, try this one on therapeutic hypothermia following cardiac arrest after the TTM2 trial – more questions raised than answered.

COCA Livestream Trial Results Presentation

The results of the COCA trial, investigating calcium for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, will be presented at a Critical Care Reviews Trial Results Livestream, on Tuesday November 30th at 19:30 UTC+0. Further details are available on the livestream webpage. As always, viewing is free; in addition, we have applied for CPD points for those wishing to claim them - these will be available shortly for a small charge.

Critical Care Reviews Meeting 2022

After the virtual eCCR21 meeting this year, in 2022 we return to the iconic Titanic Belfast for our 10th anniversary meeting next June, 15th to 17th, 2022. Including major trial results presentations, reviews of the best trials of the preceding year and talks on various aspects of trials, CCR22 has become the niche meeting for the latest in critical care trials. Registration will open shortly, initially for registered CCR subscribers, before opening to the wider critical care community. The meeting sells out every year, so don't wait and miss out.