Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening condition with high mortality that imposes a serious medical burden. Antiplatelet therapy is a potential strategy for preventing ARDS in patients with a high risk of developing this condition. A meta-analysis was performed to investigate whether antiplatelet therapy could reduce the incidence of newly developed ARDS and its associated mortality in high-risk patients. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, Embase, Medline, and the Web of Science were searched for published studies from inception to 26 October 2017. We included randomized clinical trials, cohort studies and case-control studies investigating antiplatelet therapy in adult patients presenting to the hospital or ICU with a high risk for ARDS. Baseline patient characteristics, interventions, controls and outcomes were extracted. Our primary outcome was the incidence of newly developed ARDS in high-risk patients. Secondary outcomes were hospital and ICU mortality. A random-effects or fixed-effects model was used for quantitative synthesis. We identified nine eligible studies including 7660 high-risk patients who received antiplatelet therapy. Based on seven observational studies, antiplatelet therapy was associated with a decreased incidence of ARDS (odds ratio (OR) 0.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52–0.88; I2 = 68.4%, p = 0.004). In two randomized studies, no significant difference was found in newly developed ARDS between the antiplatelet groups and placebo groups (OR 1.32, 95% CI 0.72–2.42; I 2 = 0.0%, p = 0.329). Antiplatelet therapy did not reduce hospital mortality in randomized studies (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.58–2.27; I 2 = 0.0%; p = 0.440) or observational studies (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.62–1.03; I2 = 31.9%, p = 0.221). Antiplatelet therapy did not significantly decrease hospital mortality in high-risk patients. However, whether antiplatelet therapy is associated with a decreased incidence of ARDS in patients at a high risk of developing the condition remains unclear.

Sepsis is a heterogeneous syndrome. This study aimed to identify new sepsis sub-phenotypes using plasma cortisol trajectory. This retrospective study included patients with sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit of Zhongshan Hospital Fudan University between March 2020 and July 2022. A group-based cortisol trajectory model was used to classify septic patients into different sub-phenotypes. The clinical characteristics, biomarkers, and outcomes were compared between sub-phenotypes. A total of 258 patients with sepsis were included, of whom 186 were male. Patients were divided into two trajectory groups: the lower-cortisol group (n = 217) exhibited consistently low and slowly declining cortisol levels, while the higher-cortisol group (n = 41) showed relatively higher levels in comparison. The 28-day mortality (65.9% vs.16.1%, P < 0.001) and 90-day mortality (65.9% vs. 19.8%, P < 0.001) of the higher-cortisol group were significantly higher than the lower-cortisol group. Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that the trajectory sub-phenotype (HR = 5.292; 95% CI 2.218–12.626; P < 0.001), APACHE II (HR = 1.109; 95% CI 1.030–1.193; P = 0.006), SOFA (HR = 1.161; 95% CI 1.045–1.291; P = 0.006), and IL-1β (HR = 1.001; 95% CI 1.000–1.002; P = 0.007) were independent risk factors for 28-day mortality. Besides, the trajectory sub-phenotype (HR = 4.571; 95% CI 1.980–10.551; P < 0.001), APACHE II (HR = 1.108; 95% CI 1.043–1.177; P = 0.001), SOFA (HR = 1.270; 95% CI 1.130–1.428; P < 0.001), and IL-1β (HR = 1.001; 95% CI 1.000–1.001; P = 0.015) were also independent risk factors for 90-day mortality. This study identified two novel cortisol trajectory sub-phenotypes in patients with sepsis. The trajectories were associated with mortality, providing new insights into sepsis classification.

Prone positioning (PP) has been shown to improve oxygenation in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); with a focus on its early physiological effects. However, the time-dependent effects of PP on ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) matching have not been fully investigated. In this study we aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of PP on regional V/Q matching and the distribution of ventilation and perfusion in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated ARDS. This study analyzed patients with COVID-19 ARDS who were mechanically ventilated and underwent their first PP treatment. V/Q mismatching was assessed using electrical impedance tomography (EIT). At five intervals during the initial PP session PaO2/FiO2 measurements and EIT evaluations were performed including: before the initiation of PP while in the supine position (SP), 1 h after PP (PP1), 3 h after PP (PP3), 16 h after PP (PPend), and 3 h after reverting to the supine position (RE-SP3). In this study eighteen COVID-19 ARDS patients were enrolled. In comparison with SP, PP led to significant improvements in oxygenation, with PaO2/FiO2 consistently increasing at each PP time point and peaking at PPend. Dorsal ventilation significantly increased at PP1 (P = .047), and steadily rose during PP, with a higher increase at PPend than PP1 (P < .001). Dorsal perfusion remained unchanged during the first three hours of PP; however, significantly increased by PPend. Ventilation and perfusion returned to their baseline levels at RE-SP3. PP increased normal V/Q (%), and decreased non-perfused (%), low V/Q (%), particularly in the dorsal lung regions, compared with SP. At RE-SP3, there was a marked increase in the non-ventilated (%), low V/Q (%), and non-perfused (%) compared with PP. The global inhomogeneity (GI)-V/Q ratio was noted to have decreased during PP and correlated with an increase in PaO2/FiO2. In COVID-19-induced ARDS patients, prone positioning initially improves oxygenation and V/Q matching by enhancing ventilation distribution and decreasing low V/Q (%). Over time, perfusion changes further improve V/Q matching, but these benefits diminish once the patient returns to the supine position, leading to increased V/Q mismatch. Trial registration Clinical Trials.gov, NCT04725227. Registered 25 January 2021, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04725227?cond=NCT04725227&rank=1

Sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI) is a common and serious complication in critically ill patients, leading to increased morbidity and mortalit