Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the practice of intubation for hypoxemic respiratory failure secondary to presumed COVID ARDS has shifted from earlier to later intubation at our hospital. Patients are now intubated for respiratory fatigue rather than for only hypoxemia. Timing of intubation has not been associated with change in mortality based on one recent [...]

Background: The COVID-19 RT-PCR test is a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 virus (8). False negative RT-PCR tests pose a serious challenge as they can lead to diagnosis and treatment delays as well as increased risk of viral transmission in the community (1-10). [...]

Background: Decompensated Heart failure (HF) is one of the many challenges of the US healthcare system. 12 to 27% at 30-day is the readmission rate for this condition, resulting in decreased quality of life and increased cost of care. 2017 Heart Failure guidelines have recommended a pre-discharge pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (ProBNP) to establish post-discharge prognosis [...]

Background: Prior case reports and case-series reports have shown an association between Opioid use disorder and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP). However, clinical data regarding Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura co-existing with Opioid use disorder are still lacking in the literature. We aim to study patient characteristics, epidemiology, co-morbidities, and clinical outcomes in these patients. Methods: We analyzed [...]

Background: On March 7, New York was declared in “State of Emergency”; all Emergency Room and hospital facilities in NYC were overwhelmed by the rapid and high influx of patients with COVID-19 infection. At least 20% of patients with criteria for hospitalization received mechanical ventilation, and the Mortality reached 80% in a time when the [...]

Background: ARDS incidence in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia varies from 15-42%; between 5-20% of patients with hospitalization criteria received mechanical ventilation (1-3). Prone positioning demonstrated mortality benefits for patients with Severe ARDS (sARDS) with lung injury, but its use in patient COVID-19 is not clear (4-6). ARDS protocol (ARDSp) is recommended by ATS and The [...]

Background: In hospitalized patients with anemia the AABB recommends that transfusion of red blood cells occur when a patient’s hemoglobin (Hb) drops below a restrictive transfusion threshold, either at 7 or 8g/dL. These recommendations are the result of a growing body of clinical trial evidence showing that transfusion at estrictive Hb thresholds is safe, compared [...]

Background: The World Health Organization defines anemia in females as a hemoglobin (Hb)

Background: Historically, patients transferred from one hospital to another are admitted through the emergency department and then placed on the desired unit at the accepting hospital. This practice creates delays for critically ill patients in need of continuous ICU care. A strategy known as the direct admission addresses this issue. With this strategy, transfer patients [...]

Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians have sought to identify risk factors for severe disease to help guide hospital algorithms, resource allocation and therapeutics. Older age, high Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), D-dimer and C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with severe disease (1-5). CCI and SaO2/FiO2 ratio are associated with mortality, but the changing SaO2 in [...]