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PulmPEEPs episodes

May 21, 2024 73. PulmPEEPs and ATS Critical Care Assembly: Dying in the ICU
Welcome to our second episode of ATS 2024 highlighting content featured through the ATS Critical Care Assembly. Today we are going to be talking about one of the Critical Care Assembly Symposiums entitled: “Care of Dying in the ICU: End of Life Care in 2024 and Beyond”
Meet our Guests
Dr. Theodore “Jack: Iwashyna is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Jack is a critical care physician and has a broad focus on research that understands the broader context of critical illness, and the long term impact on patients’ lives. He is an enormously productive and successful researcher with numerous publications in the field of critical care, and is a pioneer in the field of ICU survivorship. He is a devoted mentor and has received accolades from numerous societies
Dr. Molly Hayes is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, the Director of the MICU at BIDMC, and the Director of External Education at the Carl J Shapiro Institute for Education and Research. She additionally is a co-founder of the BIDMC Center for Humanizing the ICU. Molly has been extensively involved with ATS with leadership roles in the Critical Care Assembly, and the newly minted Steering Committee on the Advancement of Learning.
Meet our Collaborators
The American Thoracic Society Critical Care Assembly is the largest Assembly in the American Thoracic Society. Their members include a diverse group of intensivists and care providers for both adult and pediatric critically ill patients. The primary goal of the Critical Care Assembly is to “improve the care of the critically ill through education, research, and professional development.”
28 min
May 16, 2024 72. PulmPEEPs and ATS Critical Care Assembly: A New Reality for Critical Care after Dobbs
Welcome to our first episode of ATS 2024 highlighting content featured through the ATS Critical Care Assembly. Today we are going to be talking about one of the Critical Care Assembly Symposiums entitled: “A New Reality for Critical Care after Dobbs.”
Meet our Guests
Dr. Katie Hauschildt is a Faculty Research Associate at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where she conducts research on equity in healthcare and critical illness recovery. She has her PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan and an Advanced Fellowship in Health Services Research from the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, and is a board certified patient advocate.
Dr. Kathleen Akgün is an Associate Profess or Medicine at the Yale School of Medicine. She is the Association Section Chief for the VA section of Pulmonary, the Co-Director of the Network of Dedicated Enrollment Sites Program, the director of the MICU at the VA Connecticut health care system, and a member of the DEI Working Group at Yale.
Meet our Collaborators
The American Thoracic Society Critical Care Assembly is the largest Assembly in the American Thoracic Society. Their members include a diverse group of intensivists and care providers for both adult and pediatric critically ill patients. The primary goal of the Critical Care Assembly is to “improve the care of the critically ill through education, research, and professional development.”
References and Further Reading
Good Trouble Indiana: https://www.goodtroubleindiana.org/
McHugh K, Bosslet GT, Rouse C, Wilkinson T. Doctors think “advocate” is a dirty word. But it’s our ethical responsibility. STAT News. https://www.statnews.com/2023/06/01/caitlin-bernard-indiana-abortion-10-year-old-advocacy/. Published June 1, 2023.
MacDonald A, Gershengorn HB, Ashana DC. The Challenge of Emergency Abortion Care Following the Dobbs Ruling. JAMA. 2022;328(17):1691-1692. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.17197
Ashana DC, Chen C, Hauschildt K, et al. The Epidemiology of Maternal Critical Illness Between 2008-2021. Ann Am Thorac Soc. Published online June 14, 2023. doi:10.1513/AnnalsATS.202301-071RL
Sonntag E, Akgun KM, Bag R, et al. Access to Medically Necessary Reproductive Care for Individuals with Pulmonary Hypertension. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. Published online June 13, 2023. doi:10.1164/rccm.202302-0230VP
Griffin KM, Oxford-Horrey C, Bourjeily G. Obstetric Disorders and Critical Illness. Clin Chest Med. 2022;43(3):471-488. doi:10.1016/j.ccm.2022.04.008
Her Body, Our Laws: https://bookshop.org/p/books/her-body-our-laws-on-the-front-lines-of-the-abortion-war-from-el-salvador-to-oklahoma-michelle-oberman/9007091?ean=9780807089071
Watson K, Oberman M. Abortion Counseling, Liability, and the First Amendment. N Engl J Med 2023;389(7):663–7.

27 min
May 07, 202471. Fellows' Case Files: University of New Mexico
Today we’re visiting the University of New Mexico for another interesting entry in our Fellows’ Case Files.

Meet Our Guests
Neel Vahil is a second-year internal medicine resident at the University of New Mexico. He completed medical school at New York Medical College and is planning on applying to pulmonary critical care fellowship programs.
Ishan Patel is a third year PCCM fellow at the University of New Mexico and will be pursuing a second fellowship in clinical informatics this year. He completed medical school and residency in Internal Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. His fellowship research has focused on clinical outcomes of intensivist-led ECMO programs.
Dr. Lucie Griffin completed her internal medicine residency and PCCM fellowship at the University of New Mexico and is currently the Director of the Albuquerque VA medical intensive care unit.

Case Presentation
A 69 year old male veteran who presents with 6 weeks of weight loss, cough, and malaise. He has ongoing tobacco use, and history of rheumatoid arthritis on HCQ and weekly MTX with etanercept, which he had stopped taking in the three prior months. Vitals: Afebrile, mildly tachycardic to 101, BP of 93/59, saturating appropriately on room air without any signs of respiratory distress

Key Learning Points
Rheumatoid effusions can be a pulmonary manifestation of uncontrolled, active rheumatoid arthritis
The pleural fluid characteristics of rheumatoid effusions can be similar to that of malignancy, active bacterial infection, or tuberculosis including a high ADA level, low glucose, and a low pH
The presence of Rheumatoid factor with concomitant negative evaluation for active infection or malignancy can help narrow the differential diagnosis to rheumatoid effusion
Complications are mostly related to long-standing residual inflammatory fluid and can be a fibrothorax with the presence of pneumothorax ex vacuo, which can be managed by observation unless severe
See infographic below
References and Further Reading
Komarla A, Yu GH, Shahane A. Pleural effusion, pneumothorax, and lung entrapment in rheumatoid arthritis. J Clin Rheumatol. 2015;21(4):211-215.
Boddington MM, Spriggs AI, Morton JA, Mowat AG. Cytodiagnosis of rheumatoid pleural effusions. J Clin Pathol. 1971;24(2):95-106.
Balbir-Gurman A, Yigla M, Nahir AM, Braun-Moscovici Y. Rheumatoid pleural effusion. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2006;35(6):368-378
37 min
April 23, 202470. Bronchoscopy Emergencies with Critical Care Time
We’re super excited to have a joint episode this week with Dr. Cyrus Askin and Dr. Nick Mark from Critical Care Time! We discuss all the ways that bronchoscopy can be your best friend in the ICU and how to be prepared for the unexpected scary situations that arise in the ICU. This ranges from airway bleeds, difficult intubations, lobar collapse, and trach emergencies. Don’t miss this great discussion!
Key Learning Points
Utility of bronchoscopy in people with critical illness
Bronchoscopy can be both diagnostic and therapeutic; both are potentially lifesaving.
General situations where bronchoscopy is useful in the ICU:
Placing (or confirming placement of) an endotracheal tube or tracheostomy tube
Removing a foreign body or mucous plugs from the lungs
Localizing the source of pulmonary hemorrhage or performing interventions to stop/contain the bleed
Diagnosing certain rare conditions, particularly those where the diagnosis can substantially change management (e.g. DAH, AEP, rare infections, etc).
Proficiency with bronchoscopy is important to realize the benefits. Simply “having the equipment” is insufficient, regular practice/simulation is essential
Anesthesiologists, emergency physicians, and other specialists may have limited experience with bronchoscopy in training. Even experienced pulmonologists, who may be good at diagnostic bronchoscopy often have limited experience deploying bronchial blockers, using retrieval baskets, etc.
Remember: “People don’t rise to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training.”
If you haven’t regularly practiced with a bronchoscope, you are not going to be able to use it effectively under stress when performing high acuity low occurrence (HALO) procedures such as in emergent airways, deploying bronchial blockers, retrieving foreign bodies, etc.
Practice practice practice: High fidelity bronchoscopy simulators are available. Low cost bronchoscopy simulators (e.g. 3D printed DIY) are available.
Difficult Airways
Two broad situations where a bronchoscope is generally used:
Awake intubation in the anticipated difficult airway (e.g. someone with abnormal anatomy, airway tumor, etc)
Rescue method in the unanticipated difficult airway (e.g. very anterior cords, difficulty with Bougie, etc)
Nasal vs Oral approach:
Oral approach is usually used in an unanticipated difficult airway
Nasal approach: More common if performing an awake intubation. Nasal is often better tolerated however epistaxis can make a difficult airway almost impossible.
Sedation strategy:
Full topicalization: lidocaine vs cocaine (equally effective and lidocaine is normally preferred, however the vasoconstriction action of cocaine may be helpful in preventing epistaxis).
Which types of topicalization work best?
Spray as you go w/ or w/o and atomizer
Nebulization (maybe better? maybe)
Gurgling (Nick: from personal experience lidocaine is super gross)
Remember total dose of lidocaine: < 8 mg/kg
Ketamine
Ideal because it’s dissociative and analgesic, maintains respiratory drive and (maybe) airway reflexes
Consider scopolamine patch to reduce oral secretions
Dexmedetomidine
Great adjunct
One vs two operator
Especially in unanticipated difficult airways; the second operator can use VL/DL to facilitate visualization of the vocal cords.
Second operator can also be preparing for a surgical airway.
Equipment considerations:
Preload the endotracheal tube onto the bronchoscope. Use the bronchoscope as a bougie to guide the ETT through the vocal cords.
Suction! You want two – one connected to the bronch and one connected to a yankuer.
Disposable vs “good” scope
Remember to load the tube first!
Also remember to lube the tube!

Tracheostomy troubleshooting
Similarly to intubation, bronchoscopy can be very useful to confirm placement
Mechanics are similar to above
Goal is to avoid inadvertent placement of the tracheostomy tube into the soft tissues of the neck and to avoid putting air into those tissues (false lumen).
Advanced trick for exchanging tubes: You can use a disposable bronchoscope to exchange tubes: you can get it in, confirm placement, then cut it with trauma shears! Now you can slide the old tube out and put a new one in. (Don’t try this on a $40,000 fiberoptic bronchoscope!)
Ideally you should load the ETT onto the bronchoscope in advance (red arrow). If necessary however, you can cut the ETT and turn the disposable bronchoscope into a improvised exchange catheter. This technique is very useful for exchanging tracheostomy tubes.

Foreign Body Removal from airways
Bronchoscopy is invaluable for both diagnosis and treatment of foreign body aspirations.
Most commonly these aspirations are food (nuts, seeds, etc), teeth, pills, etc
Great overview of the procedure.
Intubated vs awake
Intubated is harder in many cases: no cough to help, hard to get foreign body out of the ETT.
Flexible vs rigid
Most objects can be retrieved using flexible bronchoscope; however 15-20% require rigid bronchoscopy
Flexible can reach smaller foreign bodies that are lodged more distally.
Rigid bronchoscopy is usually done if flexible bronchoscopy fails; an interventional pulmonologist wielding a rigid is superior but more invasive (requires GA)
Many different retrieval devices; technique depends on what equipment is available.
Forceps
Many types: shark tooth, rat tooth, alligator are most common
Basket
Grasper
Snare
Net (GI device repurposed)
Cryoprobe can be especially useful for frangible materials (e.g. food)

Mucous Plugs & Lobar collapse
Presentation can be subtle or dramatic.
Bronchoscopy can remove mucous plugs and help re-expand collapsed lung areas, which is potentially life saving.
Additionally, bronchoscopy can permit diagnosis of tracheal bronchus (bronchus sui)
Pig bronchus – 1-3% of people – have a RUL bronchus that comes off the trachea.
Often presents with RUL collapse in an intubated person.
Suction considerations and bronchoscope size
Remember that suctioning force is highly dependent (i.e. radius raised to the fourth power!) upon the working channel size. Use the largest size bronchoscopy possible when suctioning.
Remember that other interventions: regular inline suctioning, chest PT, adequate hydration, mucolytics are also important to prevent recurrent mucous plugging.

Localization & Isolation of Pulmonary Hemorrhage
Pre-bronch interventions
Stabilization
Nebulized TXA
Bad side down → counter-intuitive because shifting blood flow, but also the goal is to protect the non-bleeding lung.
etc
Bronch can localize the bleeding site. Bronch can also perform interventions such as:
Cold saline
Epinephrine 1:100,000
Bronchial blockers – comparison of types
CRE balloon
Fogarty
Cryo probe – great for removing clots
Delivering ETT to contralateral side → single lung ventilation

Making “bronchoscopy only” diagnoses
Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage (DAH)
Finding: Increasingly bloody returns on serial lavages
Infections not covered by empiric therapies:
Invasive fungal infection (e.g. mucor), azole resistant fungi (C glabrata)
Rare/unusual infections (PJP, histoplasmosis, etc)
Infection mimics:
Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) and chronic eosinophilic pneumonia (CEP)
Finding: eosinophils > 20%
E-Cigarette Vaping Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)
Foamy lymphocytes
Organizing Pneumonia
Others
Remember to always send a cell count on a BAL! And cytology!
How often does bronchoscopy change management? Surprisingly often!
A study of how often bronchosco
1 hr 8 min
April 16, 2024 69. Rapid Fire Journal Club 7 – SMART Meta-Analysis
Today on Rapid Fire Journal Club we’re reviewing a new article type and discussing a meta-analysis of Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) for asthma.
Article and Reference
Today we’re taking a deeper diver into SMART treatment for asthma to continue our discussion of inhalers.
Reference: Sobieraj DM, Weeda ER, Nguyen E, Coleman CI, White CM, Lazarus SC, Blake KV, Lang JE, Baker WL. Association of Inhaled Corticosteroids and Long-Acting β-Agonists as Controller and Quick Relief Therapy With Exacerbations and Symptom Control in Persistent Asthma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA. 2018 Apr 10;319(14):1485-1496. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.2769. PMID: 29554195; PMCID: PMC5876810.
Infographic
17 min
April 09, 2024 68. Fellows’ Case Files: Mount Sinai Morningside
We’re back with another Case Files episode from Mt. Sinai Morningside. Listen in to hear another great case and some key learning points along the way.
Meet Our Guests
Dr. Sara Luby is a third-year Internal Medicine resident and rising chief resident at Mt. Sinai Morningside/West and planning on applying to Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship this upcoming year.
Dr. Javier Zulueta is the Chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai Morningside. He completed residency training at St. Luke’s Medical Center/Case Western in Cleveland and fellowship in Pulmonary/Critical Care at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. His research focuses on lung cancer screening and incidental lung findings.
Dr. Mirna Mohanraj is the Associate Program Director for the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at Mt. Sinai Morningside / Beth Israel and an associate professor of medicine and medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She completed residency training at University of Chicago and fellowship training at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Case Presentation
A 51 year old male presents with two days of acute on chronic chest pain and shortness of breath, worsening over the last month. His initial vitals: 143/ 100, pulse 85, temperature 36.5 °C (97.87°F), RR 16, SpO2 97 % on room air, BMI 29.8
Pre and Post Treatment Imaging
References and Further Reading
Shroff N, Choi W, Villanueva-Meyer J, Palacio DM, Bhargava P. Pulmonary vein occlusion: A delayed complication following radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation. Radiol Case Rep. 2021;16(12):3666-3671. doi:10.1016/j.radcr.2021.09.015
Fender EA, Widmer RJ, Hodge DO, et al. Assessment and Management of Pulmonary Vein Occlusion After Atrial Fibrillation Ablation. JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. Vol 11(16); 2018. doi:10.1016/j.jcin.2018.05.020
López-Reyes R, García-Ortega A, Torrents A, et al. Pulmonary venous thrombosis secondary to radiofrequency ablation of the pulmonary veins. Respir Med Case Rep. 2018;23:46-48. doi:10.1016/j.rmcr.2017.11.008
Mizuno A, Mauler-Wittwer S, Muller H, Noble S. Recurrent pneumonia post atrial fibrillation ablation: do not forget to look for pulmonary vein stenosis. BMJ Case Rep. 2022;15(12):e250896. doi:10.1136/bcr-2022-250896
39 min
March 05, 2024 67. Fellows’ Case Files: Northwestern University
Listen in today to another stop on our Fellows’ Case Files journey. We’re at Northwestern University for another great case presentation. Tune in, check out our associated infographic, and let us know what you think!
Meet Our Guests
Jamie Rowell is a first-year clinical fellow in the Northwestern PCCM program. She completed medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina and her internal medicine residency and Chief Residency at the University of Vermont Medical Center.
Cathy Gao is an Instructor of Medicine at Northwestern and completed her PCCM fellowship there last year. Her research focuses on using machine learning applied to ICU EHR data to characterize patient trajectories and identify potential interventions to improve outcomes.
Clara Schroedl is an Associate Professor of Medicine in Pulmonary and Critical Care and Medical Education. She is the program director of the Northwestern PCCM fellowship program, with an interest in medical education and simulation.
Case Presentation
A 25-year-old previously healthy woman presents with recurrent episodes of right chest pain and cough. In October she was treated with antibiotics and felt somewhat better but in December, she presented again with chest pain, and again was treated with antibiotics. The pain improved but she still felt breathless. In February, again she had intense chest pain interfering with life, and was given NSAIDs and took high dose TID without clear benefit.
One month later, she coughed up some bloody mucus, so now she is presenting for evaluation. The chest pain is worse with deep breaths and improves in between these episodes. She only notes it on her right side. At this point, she does sometimes feel short of breath; she used to run 5 miles but is now struggling to run two miles. She denies any unusual exposures. She went to school in central rural Ohio for a while. She has no history of pulmonary infections, no exposure to mold or animals, and no history of vaping.
Key Learning Points
1.Making the diagnosis of Fibrosing Mediastinitis :
–Etiologies: histoplasmosis, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, IgG4, Behcet, ANCA vasculitis
–Imaging modalities: CT chest, perfusion studies, pulmonary angiogram
–Imaging characteristics: infiltrative, heterogeneous, fibrotic process that crosses fat planes and encroaches on nearby structures causing airway or vascular stenoses
2. Management strategies:
–No curative therapies. Goal to relieve symptom burden
–Airway stents
–Vascular stents
–Rituximab
–Antifungals, steroids generally not considered effective
References and Further Reading
Kern et al. Bronchoscopic Management of Airway Compression due to Fibrosing Mediastinitis. Annals of the American Thoracic Society 2017. 14: 1235-1359
Welby JP, Fender EA, Peikert T, Holmes DR Jr, Bjarnason H, Knavel-Koepsel EM. Evaluation of Outcomes Following Pulmonary Artery Stenting in Fibrosing Mediastinitis. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2021 Mar;44(3):384-391. doi: 10.1007/s00270-020-02714-z. Epub 2020 Nov 17. PMID: 33205295.
Westerly, BD Targeting B Lymphocytes in Progressive Fibrosing Mediastinitis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2014 Nov 1; 190(9): 1069–1071.
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/fibrosing-mediastinitis/#complete-report
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21422386/
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/30/4/688/421789
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22033450/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352906715300087
https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1513/AnnalsATS.201610-782RL
39 min
February 23, 2024 66. Inhalers 101
We are excited to bring an a dedicated episode all about inhalers. We know there are many type of inhalers, formulations and techniques that are needed for successful use and we cover them all. Take a listen today!
Meet our Guests
Amber Lanae Martirosov is an Associate Clinical Professor at Wayne State University and is an Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Specialist in Pulmonary at Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan. Amber’s specific interests include appropriate inhaler use, medication access, ILD and advocating for pharmacy collaborations.
Nick Ghionni is a first year attending at the MedStar Baltimore Hospital System. He is fresh out of PCCM fellowship at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at Mercy Catholic Medical Center and his specific interests include mechanical ventilation, POCUS, and medical education. Nick is our newest member of the PulmPEEPs team and serves as an Associate Editor.
Device Overview
1. Metered dose inhaler (MDI): delivers a dose of medication when you press on the canister. 2. Dry powder inhaler (DPI): delivers powered medication with each inhalation. 3. Soft mist inhaler (SMI): which sprays a dose of medication when pressed
Inhaler Charts
We partnered with Pyrls to show common inhaler devices, formulations and dosing. You can create a free Pyrls account at pyrls.com or our app they can download an additional bundle/more awesome charts just like these totally free!
Additional Resources
COPD Foundation
References and Further Reading
Brand P, Hederer B, Austen G, Dewberry H, Meyer T. Higher lung deposition with Respimat Soft Mist inhaler than HFA-MDI in COPD patients with poor technique. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2008;3(4):763-70. PMID: 19281091; PMCID: PMC2650591.
Levy ML, Carroll W, Izquierdo Alonso JL, Keller C, Lavorini F, Lehtimäki L. Understanding Dry Powder Inhalers: Key Technical and Patient Preference Attributes. Adv Ther. 2019 Oct;36(10):2547-2557. doi: 10.1007/s12325-019-01066-6. Epub 2019 Sep 2. PMID: 31478131; PMCID: PMC6822825.
Jindal S K, Pandey K K, Bose P P. Dry powder inhalers: Particle size and patient-satisfaction. Indian J Respir Care 2021;10:14-8
Spitzer WO, Suissa S, Ernst P, Horwitz RI, Habbick B, Cockcroft D, Boivin JF, McNutt M, Buist AS, Rebuck AS. The use of beta-agonists and the risk of death and near death from asthma. N Engl J Med. 1992 Feb 20;326(8):501-6. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199202203260801. PMID: 1346340.
Chang, YL., Ko, HK., Lu, MS. et al. Independent risk factors for death in patients admitted for asthma exacerbation in Taiwan. npj Prim. Care Respir. Med. 30, 7 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41533-020-0164-4
50 min
February 13, 2024 65. Rapid Fire Journal Club 6 – SARCORT Trial
Today we’re continuing our Rapid Fire Journal Club series. We’ve mainly been discussing landmark trials, but today we’re delving into a new study with interesting findings that are applicable to a common presentation in pulmonary medicine: treatment naive sarcoidosis. We’re discussing the SARCORT trial published in the European Respiratory Journal in 2023. This study evaluated a high vs low dose steroid trial in patients with sarcoidosis. Pulm PEEPs Associate Editor Luke Hedrick walks us through the study.
Article and Reference
Today we’re discussing the 2023 SARCORT Trial published in the European Respiratory Journal.
Reference: Dhooria S, Sehgal IS, Agarwal R, Muthu V, Prasad KT, Dogra P, Debi U, Garg M, Bal A, Gupta N, Aggarwal AN. High-dose (40 mg) versus low-dose (20 mg) prednisolone for treating sarcoidosis: a randomised trial (SARCORT trial). Eur Respir J. 2023 Sep 9;62(3):2300198. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00198-2023. PMID: 37690784.
Infographic
This can be downloaded on our website and will be shared on Twitter and Instagram.
16 min
February 06, 202464. Fellows’ Case Files: Emory University School of Medicine
Hi everyone, we’re here with another Fellows’ Case Files. Today, we’re going virtually to Emory University School of Medicine. We’re joined by Associated Editor Luke Hedrick to dive into a critical care case. Listen in and let us know if you have any additional thoughts or questions!
Meet Our Guests
Luke Hedrick is a first-year pulmonary and critical care fellow at Emory University. He did his internal medicine residency at BIDMC in Boston. He is also one of our amazing Associate Editors here at Pulm PEEPs
Shirine Allam is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine where she is the Program Director of both the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine fellowship as well as the Critical Care Medicine fellowship. She completed her PCCM training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, followed by a Sleep Medicine fellowship at Stanford. She has received multiple teaching awards throughout her career
Case Presentation
A 32-year-old male is brought in by his coworkers unresponsive. He is a construction worker and was his usual self in the morning at the start of the day, but when they broke for lunch they noticed he was acting different—his arms were drooping, and while he initially was able to answer yes/no, he soon started babbling, then grunting, then vomited and became unresponsive. They laid him flat, threw cold water on him because it was 110 degrees and humid outside that day, and brought him to the ED.
When they arrive in the ED, he is unresponsive and warm to the touch. His vitals are notable for an oral temperature of 105, HR in the 160s, BP 76/34, a RR in the high 30s, and an SpO2 100% RA. His exam is relatively unremarkable other than for significant diaphoresis and both bowel and bladder incontinence.
Key Learning Points
Definition and recognition of heat stroke: Heat stroke is characterized by hyperthermia (>104°F or 40°C) accompanied by CNS dysfunction, primarily caused by exertion or exposure. Encephalitis without significant heat load does not constitute heat stroke.
Management priorities: Rapid cooling is paramount to minimize long-term complications and organ failure. Cooling should be initiated as soon as possible, even before transportation to a hospital, particularly in cases of exertional heat stroke.
Cooling methods: Surface cooling, such as immersion in ice water, is the most effective way to cool heat-stroke patients. Alternative methods include the TACO method and evaporative cooling, although they are less efficient. Refrigerated IV fluids can be used as an adjunct, but they do not replace the need for surface cooling.
Monitoring and goals: Shivering during cooling should be monitored to prevent excessive heat generation. The goal is to reach a normal core body temperature (~38°C or 100.4°F). Traditional antipyretics like aspirin and acetaminophen should be avoided due to ineffectiveness and potential toxicity.
Approach to endotracheal tube (ETT) exchange: ETT exchange requires preparation for potential complications. This includes ensuring the availability of airway equipment, sedation of the patient, and having additional personnel for assistance. Direct visualization using a video laryngoscope is recommended, along with measuring and marking the exchange catheter for proper insertion depth.
The following infographic can be downloaded from our website:
References and Further Reading
1.Epstein Y, Yanovich R. Heatstroke. New England Journal of Medicine. 2019;380(25):2449-2459. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1810762
2. Sorensen C, Hess J. Treatment and Prevention of Heat-Related Illness. New England Journal of Medicine. 2022;387(15):1404-1413. doi:10.1056/NEJMcp2210623
41 min