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Acute Lung Injury (ALI) and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a condition where high levels of inflammation damage the lung. This is a highly morbid condition with no specific pharmacologic therapies. The investigators posit that ARDS is caused due to an exaggerated activation of immune cells and that blockade of this activation may reduce lung damage/injury and help in ARDS management and possibly recovery. To test this hypothesis, the investigators propose to generate an in vitro immune cell model and test a novel (reactive oxygen species) blocking agent PIP-2 on this model. The investigating team will obtain blood of ARDS patients and isolate immune cells (specifically peripheral blood mononuclear cells or PBMC) and monitor the activation of these cells and their blockade by PIP-2. This is entirely an in vitro study.
This study will compare the sensitivity and specificity of waveform capnography versus colorimetric carbon dioxide detection to identify tracheal placement of the endotracheal tube during intubation of critically ill adults.
VoiceLove is a phone application allowing family and patients to share information in a secure platform. This project will compare the VoiceLove app to usual care to learn about whether VoiceLove improves patient-family communication, family engagement, and ICU delirium.
Despite powerful antibiotics, 50% of the intestinal tracts of critically ill surgical patients are colonized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, whose mere presence in this site increases mortality fourfold by mechanisms that remain unknown. Many patients who survive the initial surgical trauma still succumb to multi-organ failure and septicemia secondary to an invasive nosocomial infection. The sequelae of shock, hypoxia, and parental nutrition result in injury to the intestinal mucosa, changes in gut permeability, and failure of intestinal defense mechanisms. These conditions put patients at risk for infection and multiple organ failure secondary to the translocation of enteric bacteria, initiating a systemic release of inflammatory mediators-a process that has been termed gut-derived sepsis. Intestinal P. aeruginosa senses host factors released during stress and responds by activating its virulence gene machinery. As such, the presence of a highly activating intestinal milieu serves to induce virulence in strains of P. aeruginosa and this correlates to the severity of a patient's illness. While the host-pathogen interaction is a dynamic process, the study expects that as a patient's illness worsens or resolves over time, the "virulence-activating" properties of their intestinal milieu will change accordingly. This study will conduct a prospective observational trial in a population of critically ill patients at the Universtiy of Chicago Medical Center. This trial will entail collecting and screening stool samples obtained from critically ill patients for their virulence inducing capabilities on laboratory strains of P. aeruginosa using in vitro and in vivo assays. The study also plans to isolate strains of intestinal P. aeruginosa from stool samples to determine the prevalence of intestinal P. aeruginosa in a population of critically ill patients.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if fasting or not fasting before a procedure has an effect on recovery in those who are critically ill. The main questions it aims to answer for patients on a breathing machine who are receiving tube feeding are: * Does the risk of lung complications and death differ between those who are not fasting, which may have a higher chance of allowing tube feeding to enter the lungs, and fasting, which temporarily stops nutrition before a procedure? * Is there a difference in recovery times, hospital stays, infection rates, need for organ support, safety, and nutrition for those who either fast or do not fast before a procedure? * What is the relationship between nutrition and clinical outcomes? Researchers will compare not fasting and fasting to see if it has an effect on recovery. Participants will: * Be assigned by chance (like a coin toss) to one of two groups. One group (fasting group) will have their tube feeding stopped at least 8 hours before their procedure. The other group (not fasting group) will have their tube feeding stopped right before their procedure. * Be monitored via medical record for amount of protein and calories received, and any complications related to fasting/not fasting. * Receive a phone call from the study team about 3 months after they enter the study to see how they are doing and complete a questionnaire. '
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the abilities of Cystatin C (CysC) and CysC-based estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) equations to characterize the pharmacokinetics (PK) profiles of meropenem and cefepime relative to Serum Creatinine (SCR), Serum Creatinine based Equation (SCRE)and iohexol at the population and individual levels in critically ill adult patients with suspected or documented AMR Gram-negative infections. We hypothesize that CysC and CysC-based eGFR equations will characterize the PK profiles of meropenem and cefepime at the population and individual levels with greater accuracy and precision than SCR and SCREs. Iohexol will be administered to patients enrolled in the study and serve as the reference indicator of measured Glomerular Filtration Rate (mGFR), which is the gold standard assessment of kidney function. We hypothesize that the predictive performances of CysC and CysC-based eGFR equations in estimating the PK profiles of meropenem and cefepime at the population and individual levels will be comparable to iohexol. The information obtained in this study will be used to develop PK/pharmacodynamics (PD) optimized meropenem and cefepime dosing schemes based on the renal function biomarker population PK (PopPK) model with the best predictive performance for clinical use in the treatment of critically ill adult patients with suspected or documented AMR Gram-negative infections and varying degrees of renal function. The primary objective of this study is to compare the abilities of renal function biomarkers (CysC, CysC-based eGFR equations, SCR, SCREs) relative to iohexol to characterize the PK profiles of meropenem and cefepime in critically ill adult patients with suspected or documented AMR Gram-negative infections.
The goal of this observational study is to investigate how bacterial populations from the intestine and mouth of patients change during the hospitalization period and evaluate if some populations of specific bacteria increase or decrease the risk of acquiring an infection or becoming colonized by pathogenic bacteria. Participants will have the following samples collected during enrollment: stool samples (maximum 2x/week), blood draws (1x/week), oral swab (1x/week).
Artificial airways, such as endotracheal tubes and tracheostomies, in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units (PICU, NICU respectively) are lifesaving for patients in respiratory failure, among other conditions. These devices are not without a risk of infection - ventilator-associated infections (VAIs), namely ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) and ventilator-associated tracheitis (VAT), are common. Treatment of suspected VAI accounts for nearly half of all Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) antibiotic use. VAI can represent a continuum from tracheal colonization, progression to tracheobronchial inflammation, and then pneumonia. Colonization of these airways is common and bacterial growth does not necessarily indicate a clinically significant infection. Tracheostomies, which are artificial airways meant for chronic use, are routinely exchanged on a semi-monthly to monthly basis, in part to disrupt bacterial biofilm formation that aids bacterial colonization and perhaps infection. When patients with tracheostomies are admitted for acute on chronic respiratory failure or a concern for an infection, these artificial airways are also routinely exchanged at some institutions. There however remains a critical need to understand how an artificial airway exchange alters the bacterial environment of these patients in sickness and in health. This research hypothesizes that exchanging an artificial airway will alter the microbiome of the artificial airway, by altering the microbial diversity and relative abundance of different bacterial species of the artificial airway. This study will involve the prospective collection of tracheal aspirates from patients with artificial airways. We will screen and enroll all patients admitted to a the NICU or PICU at Cohen Children's Medical Center (CCMC) who have tracheostomies and obtain tracheal aspirates within 72 hours before and after tracheostomy or endotracheal tube exchange. Tracheal aspirates are routinely obtained in the NICU and PICU from suctioning of an artificial airway and is a minimal risk activity. These samples will be brought to the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research for 16 s ribosomal DNA (16srDNA) sequencing, which allows for accurate and sensitive detection of relative abundance and classification of bacterial flora. Tracheal aspirate sets will be analyzed against each other. Additionally, clinical and epidemiological data from the electronic medical record will be obtained. Antibiotic exposure will be accounted for via previously published means.
Background: Following acute brain injury (ABI), patients are monitored in the intensive care unit (ICU) where providers rely on frequent neurological examinations ("neurochecks") to assess for neurodeterioration. Serial neurochecks are part of guideline recommendations, but there is equipoise between hourly (Q1) and every-other-hour (Q2) evaluation. In the ICU, care-related awakenings occur frequently, but it is unclear if differential neurocheck frequencies result in differential sleep, providing the scientific premise for this proposal. Population: Thirty patients (N=15 per group) who have undergone elective aneurysm coiling will be enrolled. On post-operative day (POD) 0, patients will be screened and approached for informed consent if they do not meet exclusion criteria, e.g., prior intracranial injury, sleep disorders, cognitive impairment, mechanical ventilation. Patients with elective aneurysm coiling are being chosen because they require ICU level of care following their intracranial procedure, but do not have structural brain injury or ongoing sedation needs that might impact sleep measurements. Methods: Usual care: Patients are monitored every 15-30 minutes for up to 6 hours post-procedure, then Q1 or Q2 for up to 24 hours. If these patients remain stable, they are discharged home on post-operative day (POD) 1. Proposed Intervention: Enrolled patients will be randomized to Q1 or Q2 neurochecks following the institutionally required 6 hours of stable neurological and vascular checks. Once randomized, patients will undergo placement of electroencephalogram (EEG) with video, electrooculogram, and chin lead. The video EEG will be in place for at least 8 hours to include the overnight (10PM-6AM) time period. Following completion of the recording, the signals obtained will be reviewed by a blinded polysomnographic sleep technician for sleep characteristics including quantitative assessments of wakefulness, deep (N3) sleep, REM sleep, sleep efficiency, and sleep fragmentation and arousals. On POD1, patients and their nurse will fill out the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire to rate subjective sleep quality.
The purpose of this research is to determine if the use of RELiZORB™ improves nutrition tolerance and helps critically ill patients meet their nutrition goals. RELiZORB™ is a digestive enzyme cartridge that contains lipase and works as a pancreatic enzyme replacement. It promotes breaking down fat and helps the body absorb it. The device connects with tube feedings to help the body with digestion. RELiZORB™ is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use with tube feedings in patients 5 years of age or older. While the use of RELiZORB™ in this study is consistent with the FDA approval, the use of RELiZORB™ in patients with multi organ failure is not in the current standard of care practice at Inova Health Care facilities.