In Western countries the incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is 1.89 per 100,000 per year and the prevalence is 5.2 per 100,000. The incidence of ALS is lower among African, Asian, and Hispanic ethnicities when compared to Caucasians. The mean age of onset for sporadic ALS is about 60 years and there is a slight male predominance (male to female ratio of 1.5 to 1). Approximately two thirds of patients with ALS have the spinal form of the disease with symptoms presenting in the extremities. Patients typically have evidence of both lower motor neuron degeneration (atrophy, weakness, and fasciculations) and upper motor neuron degeneration (spasticity, weakness, and hyperreflexia). Patients with limb onset ALS typically complain of focal muscle weakness and wasting. The symptoms may start either distally or proximally in the upper and/or lower limbs. Gradually spasticity develops in the weakened atrophic limbs, affecting manual dexterity and gait. Patients with bulbar onset ALS typically present with dysarthria and dysphagia for solid or liquids. Limb symptoms can develop simultaneously with bulbar onset. In the vast majority of patients, limb weakness will occur within 1-2 years of bulbar onset ALS symptoms. A case of bulbar and sporadic limb ALS in a 70-year-old veteran, presenting with right diaphragmatic paralysis and respiratory failure, is presented.

Despite the advantages of using NIV, healthcare professionals are not in agreement about precisely when to commence NIV (Elliott, Confalonieri& Nava 2002:1159; Lightowler, Wedzicha, Elliott&Ram 2003: [4]; Garpestad &Hill 2006:147), which adds to the underutilisation of NIV. The aim of this study was to collaboratively develop a clinical pathway for NIV. Two main objectives were identified, namely (i) to identify the components of a clinical pathway for NIV, and (ii) to develop a clinical pathway for NIV that can be implemented in the CCU. The research design utilised for this study was qualitative, contextual, explorative and descriptive in nature. The study consisted of three phases, namely Phase 1: Components of the clinical pathway, Phase 2: Literature control, and Phase 3: Development of the clinical pathway. The objectives of the study were met, and a clinical pathway for NIV was developed. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Nursing Science / unrestricted

Mechanical ventilation (MV) is the primary form of therapeutic support for patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) until the underlying disease is resolved. However, as patient disease state and response to MV are highly variable, clinicians often rely on experience to set MV. The result is more variable care, as there are currently no standard approaches to MV settings. As a result of the common occurrence of MV and variability in care, MV is one of the most expensive treatments in critical care. Thus, an approach capable of guiding patient-specific MV is required and this approach could potentially save significant cost. This research focuses on developing models and model-based approaches to analyse and guide patient-specific MV care. Four models and metrics are developed, and each model is tested in experimental or clinical trials developed for the purpose. Each builds the understanding and methods necessary for an overall approach to guide MV in a wide range of patients. The first model, a minimal recruitment model, captures the recruitment of an injured lung and its response to positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP). However, the model was only previously validated in diagnosed ARDS patients, and was not proven to capture behaviours seen in healthy patients. This deficiency could potentially negate its ability to track disease state, which is crucial in providing rapid diagnosis and patient-specific MV in response to changes in patient condition. Hence, the lack of validation in disease state progression monitoring from ARDS to healthy, or vice-versa, severely limits its application in real-time monitoring and decision support. To address this issue, an experimental ARDS animal model is developed to validate the model across the transition between healthy and diseased states. The second model, a single compartment linear lung model, models the lung as a conducting airway connected to an elastic compartment. This model is used to estimate the respiratory mechanics (Elastance and Resistance) of an ARDS animal model during disease progression and recruitment manoeuvres. This model is later extended to capture high resolution, patient-specific time-varying respiratory mechanics during each breathing cycle. This extended model is tested in ARDS patients, and was used to titrate patient-specific PEEP using a minimum elastance metric that balances recruitment and the risk of lung overdistension and ventilation-induced injury. Studies have revealed that promoting patients to breathe spontaneously during MV can improve patient outcomes. Thus, there is significant clinical trend towards using partially assisted ventilation modes, rather than fully supported ventilation modes. In this study, the patient-ventilator interaction of a state of the art partially assisted ventilation mode, known as neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA), is investigated and compared with pressure support ventilation (PS). The matching of patient-specific inspiratory demand and ventilator supplied tidal volume for these two ventilation modes is assessed using a novel Range90 metric. NAVA consistently showed better matching than PS, indicating that NAVA has better ability to provide patient-specific ventilator tidal volume to match variable patient-specific demand. Hence, this new analysis highlights a critical benefit of partially assisted ventilation and thus the need to extend model-based methods to this patient group. NAVA ventilation has been shown to improve patient-ventilator interaction compared to conventional PS. However, the patient-specific, optimal NAVA level remains unknown, and the best described method to set NAVA is complicated and clinically impractical. The Range90 metric is thus extended to analyse the matching ability of different NAVA levels, where it is found that response to different NAVA levels is highly patient-specific. Similar to the fully sedated MV case, and thus requiring models and metrics to help titrate care. More importantly, Range90 is shown to provide an alternative metric to help titrate patient-specific optimal NAVA level and this analysis further highlights the need for extended model-based methods to better guide these emerging partially assisted MV modes. Traditionally, the respiratory mechanics of the spontaneously breathing (SB) patient cannot be estimated without significant additional invasive equipment and tests that interrupt normal care and are clinically intensive to carry out. Thus, respiratory mechanics and model-based methods are rarely used to guide partially assisted MV. Thus, there is significant clinical interest to use respiratory mechanics to guide MV in SB patients. The single compartment model is extended to effectively capture the trajectory of time-varying elastance for SB patients. Results show that without additional invasive equipment, the model was able estimate unique and clinically useful respiratory mechanics in SB patients. Hence, the extended single compartment model can be used as ‘a one model fits all’ means to guide patient-specific MV continuously and consistently, for all types of patient and ventilation modes, without interrupting care. Overall, the model-based approaches presented in this thesis are capable of capturing physiologically relevant patient-specific parameters, and thus, characterise patient disease state and response to MV. With additional, larger scale clinical trials to test the performance and the impact of model-based methods on clinical outcome, the models can aid clinicians to guide MV decision making in the heterogeneous ICU population. Hence, this thesis develops, extends and validates several fundamental model-based metrics, models and methods to enable standardized patient-specific MV to improve outcome and reduce the variability and cost of care.

Amyotrofisk Lateral Skleros, ALS, är en neurologisk sjukdom vilken leder till att samtliga kroppens muskler förtvinas och dör. Då sjukdomen saknar bot blir all behandling symptomatisk och individuellt anpassad för varje enskild persons behov. I denna systematiska litteraturstudie har det sökts efter olika sätt att stötta denna patientgrupp då syftet att belysa hur vi som personal kan hjälpa och stötta personer med ALS relaterad dysfagi och andningsproblem till en så bra tillvaro som möjligt skulle belysas.Författarna har funnit att omvårdnaden sällan sätts i fokus. Det är istället de lösningar som tar bort symtomet som fått fokus i flertalet av de artiklar som granskats. Att hjälpa dessa personer till trygga och oberoende människor som kan fortsätta att leva istället för som många av artiklarna visade då det gjordes insatser som ledde till att personerna blev mer bundna till sina anhöriga och sina vårdare.

La VC est nécessaire à la survie des patients les plus graves et impose le plus souvent sédation profonde et une mise au repos des muscles respiratoires. Si la VC est un traitement de référence en cas d'insuffisance respiratoire aigüe, elle peut cependant entraîner une altération des propriétés contractiles du diaphragme, principal muscle respiratoire, et promouvoir la survenue d'infections nosocomiales, pulmonaires en particulier. Dans ce travail, nous avons tout d'abord montré les effets délétères d'une VC de courte durée en acidose hypercapnique aigüe puis nous avons montré les effets protecteurs de l'acidose hypercapnique modérée et prolongée et du maintien de cycles ventilatoires spontanés sur la dysfonction diaphragmatique en comparaison à la VC. Deuxièmement, dans le cadre des effets délétères de la ventilation prolongée sur l'incidence des complications infectieuses pulmonaires nosocomiales, nous avons rapporté l'intérêt de la prise en compte des facteurs de risque de bactéries multi-résistantes dans le traitement des Pneumonie Acquise sous Ventilation Mécanique (PAVM) et avons ensuite montré l'apport de la surveillance de la colonisation trachéale dans le diagnostic et le traitement précoce de la PAVM. Finalement, nous présentons les perspectives d'interactions entre dysfonction diaphragmatique et sepsis, en particulier d'origine pulmonaire à travers nos projets de travaux expérimentaux et cliniques. / Mechanical ventilation (MV) is a life saving procedure for critically ill and often needs deep sedation and rest muscles. Although MV is a basic treatment for acute respiratory failure, it can alter diaphragmatic contractile properties (Ventilator Induced Diaphragmatic Dysfunction, VIDD) and can promote nosocomial infections, Ventilator Associated Pneumonia (VAP) in particular. In this thesis, we first showed the deleterious effects of acute hypercapnic acidosis and the protective effects of both moderate and prolonged hypercapnic acidosis and by maintaining spontaneous ventilation activity while initiating MV in a healthy piglet model. Second, we reported the potential impact of considering tracheal colonisation as a guide for an early diagnosis and adequate initial treatment of VAP. Finally, we present the potential interactions and futures animal and clinical studies suggesting the potential interaction between VIDD and VAP.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(社会健康医学) / 甲第22649号 / 社医博第109号 / 新制||社医||11(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科社会健康医学系専攻 / (主査)教授 中山 健夫, 教授 川上 浩司, 教授 伊達 洋至 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Public Health / Kyoto University / DFAM

No description available.

Bakgrund Andningssvikt är ett tillstånd som uppkommer till följd av problem med gasutbytet i kroppen. Ett flertal respiratoriska sjukdomar som till exempel astma och kroniskt obstruktiv lungsjukdom leder till andningssvikt. Patienter med andningssvikt upplever ofta ett lidande i samband med deras tillstånd och behöver ofta vård inom slutenvården. Sjuksköterskans professionella ansvar inkluderar därför omvårdnad av tillståndets symptom såsom dyspné, samt ett arbete mot att lindra patienters lidande. Syfte Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt var att belysa sjuksköterskors omvårdnad hos vuxna patienter med identifierad andningssvikt inom sluten sjukhusvård. Metod Litteraturöversikt användes som metod. Det inkluderades 15 artiklar i denna litteraturöversikt, dessa söktes fram i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed. Artiklarna granskades av författarna separat och tillsammans. Kvalitativa och kvantitativa artiklar har inkluderats i detta arbete, och analyserats utifrån metoden integrerad analys enligt Kristensson (2014). Resultat Dataanalysen gav upphov till tre kategorier. Dessa var “Sjuksköterskans förutsättning för god identifiering och bedömning av andningssvikt”, “dokumentation av andningssvikt” och “omvårdnadsåtgärder vid andningssvikt”. Det framgick att sjuksköterskor besitter bristande kunskaper om andningssvikt, använder inte evidensbaserade omvårdnadsåtgärder och undervärderar nivån av dyspné hos patienten. Sjuksköterskors vård av patienter med andningssvikt förbättrades vid krav på dokumentation, regelbundna bedömningar, samt användning av instrument och protokoll. Slutsats Bedömning är en viktig aspekt inom omvårdnaden av andningssvikt, och bör utföras regelbundet och i samband med omvårdnad. Det finns en stor variation av bedömningsinstrument och protokoll, och användning av dessa förbättrar sjuksköterskans omvårdnad av patienter med andningssvikt. Dessa verktyg är billiga och enkla att använda, samt kan leda till en hållbar miljö inom vården. / Background Respiratory insufficiency is a condition that is caused by problems related to the gas exchange that occurs in the body. Respiratory insufficiency is caused by numerous respiratory diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Patients with respiratory insufficiency often experience an accompanied suffering and may need incare hospital care. Nurses’ professional responsibility therefore includes nursing care for the symptom of the condition such as dyspnea, and a work towards alleviating the patients suffering. Aim The aim of this literature review was to highlight nursing care towards adult patients with identified respiratory insufficiency within incare hospital setting. Method The applied method was a literature review. A search was performed in the bibliographic databases PubMed and CINAHL, and 15 articles was included in the literature review. These articles were reviewed by the authors separately and together. Quantitative and qualitative articles were included, both kinds were analyzed with the method integrated analysis according to Kristensson (2014). Results The data analysis resulted in three categories. These were “Nurses’ condition for good identification and assessment of respiratory insufficiency”, “Documentation of respiratory insufficiency” and “nursing interventions in respiratory insufficiency”. The results showed that nurses have inadequate knowledge about respiratory insufficiency, don’t use evidence-based interventions and underestimate the level of dyspnea among patients. Nursing care was improved with assessments in regularity, documentation requirements, or with the use of measuring instruments or protocols. Conclusions Assessment is an important aspect in nursing care for respiratory insufficiency and should be performed regularly and in liaison with care. There is a broad variety of assessment tools and protocols, and they improve nursing care for patients with respiratory insufficiency. These tools are cheap, easy to use and can lead to a sustainable environment in healthcare.

No description available.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has emerged as a global pandemic with an unprecedented death toll worldwide. Although it primarily affects the respiratory tract presenting as pneumonia or acute respiratory failure, it is also known to cause significant cardiovascular complications, including acute coronary syndrome (ACS), arrhythmia, myopericarditis, cardiomyopathy, venous thromboembolism, heart failure, and cardiogenic shock. Morbidity and mortality secondary to cardiovascular complications are higher in patients with preexisting cardiovascular risk factors. Here, we present a case report of a 69-year-old male who was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 illness presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and eventually with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), and the course was complicated by right atrial thrombus and a pulmonary embolism (PE).