30 May 2020

May 30, 2020

Written by REBEL Covid-19, REBEL EM
Background: One of the hot topics in COVID-19 care is the mortality rate associated with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). There have been early reports of IMV having mortality rates ranging from 50 to 90%.  These high rates are concerning but, context is important; many of the reports emerged from areas with large surges where hospital systems were overwhelmed. Additional data looking at outcomes of critical patients is important particularly within systems that were able to maintain baseline critical care provisions despite surges.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease, Thoracic and Respiratory
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26 May 2020

May 26, 2020

Written by REBEL Covid-19, REBEL EM
Background: The saga of Remdesivir for treatment of COVID-19 continues. We previously covered two studies of this drug on REBEL EM (Link is HERE & Link is HERE). One trial (≈200pts) showed no difference in the primary outcome of median time to clinical improvement and the second trial was a compassionate release study which gave us no real clinical information due to its design. A third study was mentioned in the first post from the NIAID, but we didn’t really review it, as much as mention it, as no data was made available.  It was a little teaser from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Despite these facts the FDA approved remdesivir for use and we have had no robust data supporting its use except for the tease of the NIAID study.  Part 1 of the NIAID trial was just published in the NEJM as a preliminary report and we will review here on this post: Remdesivir ACTT-1.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
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25 May 2020

May 25, 2020

Written by REBEL EM
“You’re working a shift in whatever the lower acuity version is of your department. So maybe it’s fast track, maybe you call it an urgent care. Whatever it is, it’s a unit where they take doctors, who trained for 7 or 8 years to become expert resuscitationists, and make us spend all day seeing sniffles, sore throats and chronic back pain in a manner that I can only assume was designed specifically to make us all exceptionally crazy. But, either way: that’s where you’re working. You’ve taken care of a young woman, you’ve treated her ailments, you’ve decided what’s wrong with her. And you’re deciding you are going to prescribe a few medications for her and send her on her way. You’ve answered all of her questions and you are walking out the door, your hand is on the door handle and she says “Oh, but doc, did I tell you I’m currently breastfeeding my 6-month old baby? Can I even take these medications?” And your heart stops. And you freeze. And your hand is still on the door handle. And the first thought that goes through your head is “Oh my God, I have no idea.” Because you, like most of us, had one lecture on medications in pregnancy and lactation back in your second year of medical school and you have no idea what you learned. That’s your first thought. “Oh my god, I have no idea.” Your second thought is “Oh my god, I have 8 more patients that just got triaged, while I had that thought. What am I gonna do?” Your third thought then is that you breathe a sigh of relief and you go “It’s ok, I’ve got an ED pharmacist. I’ll just ask her.” But then you’re horrified again because you realized it’s Saturday! And while you work in a 24/7/365 emergency department, your department has decided to staff this one crucial member for just business hours from Monday through Friday. And you think “That’s terrible.” And now you’re back to horror. Because, again, you don’t know what to do. And another 8 patients have been triaged and they all have chronic back pain and they’re asking why they haven’t been seen yet. And you’re still in that room and your hand is still on the door. Now you think “I don’t know. I don’t know.” “Honestly lady, I don’t know, you probably should just pump and dump.” Out of an abundance of caution we always just revert back to “You should pump and dump.” But I’m going to argue that that’s probably not the best strategy.”
Medical Categories: Obstetrics and Gynecology
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24 May 2020

May 24, 2020

Written by REBEL Covid-19, REBEL EM
This publication has now been retracted by Lancet (June 4, 2020) Background: There is no conclusive evidence that chloroquine, or its derivative hydroxychloroquine, with or without a second-generation macrolide is effective in COVID-19 treatment or prophylaxis. Laboratory studies have shown antiviral and immunomodulatory properties in vitro. The small retrospective observational trials thus far have had mixed results in efficacy.  However, these medications are well known to have cardiovascular adverse effects via QT interval prolongation leading to ventricular arrhythmias. Despite the potential harms and the absence of convincing data to support treatment with these drugs, they are widely prescribed to COVID-19 patients.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
2 Likes
23 May 2020

May 23, 2020

Written by REBEL Covid-19, REBEL EM
Disclaimer: This post explores some of the pathophysiologic findings in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. It explores possible mechanisms-based and posits theories BUT, this is not a clinical post. The hypothesis and findings here are not confirmed and extrapolation to management is unclear. Understanding of the mechanisms of COVID-19 is badly needed if we are to find treatments that may be beneficial. The leading cause of mortality in patients with COVID-19 is hypoxemic respiratory failure most frequently resulting in ARDS.  However, the mechanisms that bring patients from infection to ARDS are unknown:  is it diffuse alveolar damage (DAD), endothelial damage, or some combination of both? Although it may seem ridiculous to consider these two entities as separate, as the alveolar-capillary interface is submicrons in size, we want to know if one of these two entities is driving the injury more than the other? There have been some interesting pathological reports that have been published looking at the histopathology of COVID-19, and many more discussions about the similarities to other viral pneumonias (i.e. H1N1). A recent publication in NEJM compares the pathology of COVID-19 vs H1N1.
Medical Categories: Infectious Disease
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