Pulmonary Artery Catheterization was not Associated with Survival Benefits in Critically Ill Patients with Cardiac Disease: An Analysis of the MIMIC-IV Database

Background: It is not clear whether pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) placement is beneficial for critically ill patients with heart disease. This study aims to investigate the association of PAC use with 28-day mortality in that population.Methods: The MIMIC-IV database was employed to identify critically ill patients with cardiac disease with or without PAC insertion. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Multivariate regression was modeled to examine the association between PAC and outcomes. Additionally, we examined the effect modification by cardiac surgeries. Propensity score matching (PSM) was conducted to validate our findings.Results: No improvement in 28-day mortality was observed among the PAC group compared to the non-PAC group (odds ratio=1.18, 95% CI=1.00-1.38, P=0.049). When stratified by cardiac surgeries, the results were consistent. Patients in the PAC group had fewer ventilation-free days and vasopressor-free days than those in the non-PAC group after surgery stratification. In surgical patients, PAC insertion was not associated with the occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI), and was associated with a higher daily fluid input (mean difference=0.13, 95% CI=0.05-0.20, P=0.001). In non-surgical patients, the PAC group had a higher risk of AKI occurrence (odds ratio=1.94, 95% CI=1.32-2.84, P=0.001).Conclusion: PAC placement was not associated with survival benefits in critically ill patients with cardiac diseases, either in surgical and non-surgical patients.

EXPRESS: Cardiac Index is Associated with Oxygenation in COVID-19 ARDS

Eleven participants with COVID-19 ARDS requiring mechanical ventilation underwent pulmonary artery catheterization for clinical indications. Clinical interventions or events concurrent with hemodynamic were recorded. Increased cardiac index was associated with worse hypoxemia. Modulation of cardiac index may improve hypoxemia in patients with COVID-19 ARDS.  

Pulmonary artery catheterization in cardiogenic shock: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Cardiogenic shock carries high morbidity and mortality. Pulmonary artery catheterization (PAC) allows invasive hemodynamic assessment and tailored therapy; however, evidence supporting this practice is sparse. Methods We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized controlled trials comparing PAC versus no PAC in cardiogenic shock. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, and grey literature. We screened references, abstracted data and evaluated risk of bias in duplicate. We pooled data using a random-effects model and evaluated the quality of evidence using GRADE. Outcomes of interest were mortality and length of stay (LOS). Results We identified 13 observational studies (1,982,047 patients) and no randomized controlled trials; 12 studies were at high risk of bias. When pooling adjusted results, PAC was associated with reduced mortality at hospital discharge (RR 0.64; 95% CI 0.50–0.82) and at longest available follow-up (RR 0.65; 95% CI 0.49–0.87). Unadjusted LOS was 5.0 days longer (95% CI 4.93–5.07) with PAC. Quality of evidence was very low for all outcomes. Conclusion Based on very low quality evidence, PAC use in patients with cardiogenic shock may be associated with lower mortality. The observed increase in hospital LOS may represent survivor bias or relate to more aggressive management with PAC. Overall, these results support consideration of PAC for hemodynamic assessment and tailored therapy in cardiogenic shock. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None