Active clinical trials for "Respiratory Insufficiency"

In-hospital cardiovascular arrest is associated with poor outcome despite prompt treatment and optimal on-site resources. The population of patients treated by venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO) due to pulmonary failure is a very challenging group of patients. To date, the frequency, causes and outcome of cardiovascular arrest in these patients have not been studied. We are aiming to conduct a retrospective observational study of all vv-ECMO patients treated at our ARDS centre.

Critically ill patients experience a severe physical disease, associated with a psychotrauma, which may lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (17 to 30% of patients after critical illness) and persistent symptoms of anxiety and depression. RESIREA study will study psychodrama, resilience and factors associated with resilience in patients previously included in the NUTRIREA-3 randomized controlled trial designed to compare standard calorie and protein feeding complying with guidelines to low-calorie low-protein feeding in a well-defined group of severely ill ICU patients requiring at least MV and vasoactive drugs.

The aims of this study are (1) to find out the relationship between PaO2 and SaO2 among mechanically ventilated patients and (2) to create a reliable system to utilize SF ratios to impute the PF ratios in assessing the respiratory parameter of the SOFA score.

The purpose of this observational study is to collect prospective data on the occurrence of bacterial and viral pneumonia in the ICU setting. Current classification systems for pneumonia promote over treatment with antibiotics as they do not specifically recognize the presence of culture-negative and viral pneumonia. The investigators will collect data to determine if a novel pneumonia classification system can be developed that more accurately links the etiology of pneumonia (antibiotic-susceptible bacterial pneumonia, antibiotic-resistant bacterial pneumonia, culture-negative pneumonia, viral pneumonia) to clinical outcomes. Additionally, the investigators will collect data on the practice of antimicrobial stewardship in the ICU setting to determine if further improvements in antibiotic practices can be accomplished in the future.

Some overweight individuals develop problems with their breathing such that they gradually breathe less and less. This leads to a lack of oxygen and a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood, called ventilatory failure. As a consequence, if such a person develops a chest infection, they are more likely to become seriously ill and need intensive care. In addition they are much more likely to develop severe complications during and following operations. This problem can be treated with a machine at home used overnight to help breathing. It is interesting that ventilatory failure only happens in some overweight individuals, and the investigators do not understand what factors make this complication develop. There are a number of theories: for example the distribution of the fat, additional lung disease (such as asthma), the addition of obstructive sleep apnoea, a condition when there are periods of cessation of breathing overnight (which is more common in obese individuals), weak muscles of breathing (perhaps due to fatty infiltration of muscles or vitamin D deficiency), and other hormonal changes. The investigators intend to measure many potential factors in a range of overweight individuals, some who have ventilatory failure, and some who do not, to try and work out which are the important factors that cause this problem. If the investigators can identify such factors, then this will help predict in advance who is at risk from chest infections and during operations; thus allowing for earlier provision of an overnight breathing machine. This should reduce complications and potentially deaths in such individuals.

Purpose of the Study Critical illness requiring life support affects over 150 000 people in Ontario every year. With aggressive support, the number of people who die from critical illness is decreasing. However, people who survive often have neurological problems. These neurological problems often include difficulties with memory, concentration, and attention. These problems are associated with poor quality of life among survivors of critical illness. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that contribute to these neurological deficits. Specifically, the investigators are testing whether changes in oxygen delivery to the brain during critical illness are related to both short- and long-term neurological complications. Procedures involved in the Research When patients are diagnosed with a critical illness such as shock or respiratory failure, they are treated with intravenous fluids, medications to raise their blood pressure, and can be placed on a ventilator to assist with their breathing. They are observed in an intensive care unit (ICU). This research protocol does NOT interfere with the normal treatment of patients with critical illness. The procedure involved in this research protocol requires the placement of two stickers to either side of the patient's forehead, and information about oxygen delivery to the brain will be recorded. When the patient has recovered from the critical illness, they will be asked to perform several neurological tests. Some of these tests will be done with a pencil and paper, while others will use a robotic device to test arm movements, reaction time, and concentration. Potential Harms, Risks or Discomforts: This research study involves the placement of a sticker sensor to either side of the forehead. Rarely, patients may develop a rash to these electrodes. The investigators monitor patients very carefully for rashes, and if a rash is to occur, the sticker sensor will be removed. With regards to the neurological testing, rarely patients can have some mild muscle stiffness after moving their arms in the robot. The investigators do not expect any other further harms, risks, or discomforts.

Objectives To characterize mechanical ventilation practices during general anesthesia for surgery To assess the dependence of intra-operative and post-operative pulmonary complications on intra-operative Mechanical Ventilation (MV) settings

Today, the electronic medical record, microprocessor mechanical ventilators, and physiologic monitoring are under-utilized when translating research into decision support. Current medical informatic capabilities can be leveraged to calculate trends in measured parameters to initiate a paradigm shift in critical care from reaction-based treatment to proactive and plausibly preventative care. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop baseline understanding of our practice and how data collection utilizing a newly implemented system called T3. We would like to retrospectively review mechanically ventilated patients in which we have collected continuous data to test a newly developed analytic platform. Additionally we would like to compare these results to our standards of practice established by clinical practice guidelines.

In patients suffering from hypercapnic respiratory failure and treated by non invasive ventilation (NIV), the interest of using transcutaneous CO2 measurement to evaluate PaCO2 and PaCO2 variation over time is unknown and will be evaluated in this study. Measurements will be done during one-hour NIV treatments.

A hospitals manual method of patient monitoring will be implemented in an automated system and supported by an early patient deterioration detection for timely escalation. The purpose of this study is to assess if clinical outcomes of patients in Acute Care are significantly improved by such a system.