Jesse T T McLaren, José Nunes de Alencar, Stephen W Smith
{"title":"Diagnosis of occlusion myocardial infarction.","authors":"Jesse T T McLaren, José Nunes de Alencar, Stephen W Smith","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001359","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001359","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>To summarize the emerging paradigm of acute coronary occlusion myocardial infarction (OMI), with a practical overview of clinical assessment, ECG advances, and the role of bedside echocardiography and troponin.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>ST-elevation MI (STEMI) millimeter criteria are a poor surrogate marker for OMI, with high rates of false positives (STE without OMI) and false negatives (OMI without STE). The OMI paradigm shift maximizes the capabilities of the ECG while putting these findings into clinical context. OMI is a clinical diagnosis that starts with assessment for anginal symptoms, whether they are continuous or resolved, and whether the patient is stable or unstable. Evidence-based ECG advances have addressed multiple diagnostic dilemmas in the STEMI paradigm to identify false positive and subtle occlusions. OMI ECG signs double the sensitivity of STEMI criteria, maintain high specificity, and can be learned by AI. Regional wall motion abnormalities on bedside ultrasound can complement clinical and ECG signs. The initial troponin has limited sensitivity and predictive value in OMI.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>The OMI paradigm shift uses clinical features, ECG/POCUS findings and judicious use of troponin to identify patients in need of emergent reperfusion.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"230-238"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146043824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Point-of-care ultrasound in the modern era of emergency medicine: a narrative review of the recent literature.","authors":"Nick Mani, Sampreeth Rao, Daniel J Kim","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001358","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001358","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has transformed emergency medicine by providing a noninvasive, accessible, repeatable, efficient, and cost-effective imaging tool to the bedside. This article is a narrative review of the most impactful POCUS literature over the past 18 months, identifying and highlighting the most common emerging themes.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>We identified five main themes in the recent POCUS literature: ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, POCUS in resuscitation, diagnostic POCUS, technology and artificial intelligence, and POCUS governance and administration.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>The recent body of literature strengthens the utility of POCUS in emergency medicine, demonstrating its efficacy, safety, and efficiency across multiple clinical scenarios. The literature continues to expand the scope of POCUS by covering new diagnostic applications and integrating emerging technologies, while continuing to build a robust governance framework. Future research should focus on patient-oriented outcomes, implications of POCUS protocolization and clinical application, and the impact of POCUS at hospital and healthcare systems levels.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"262-268"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146043815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cardiopulmonary monitoring in low-resource settings.","authors":"Vanina Kanoore Edul, Cecilia González","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001382","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001382","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>To discuss cardiopulmonary monitoring strategies during resuscitation of shock in resource-limited settings.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Despite substantial advances in critical care over recent decades, major disparities in access to cardiopulmonary monitoring persist worldwide. In resource-limited settings, shock management must rely on the optimal use of basic monitoring, including clinical examination and low-cost physiological surrogates of cardiac output and tissue oxygenation. However, each of these tools has important limitations and no single variable accurately predicts fluid responsiveness or tissue perfusion. Evidence supporting routine use of more complex indices, such as central venous oxygen saturation or venous-arterial carbon dioxide difference, has been challenged by lack of efficacy. Recent trials highlight the feasibility of physiology-driven, personalized resuscitation strategies; however, the results need careful interpretation.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Cardiopulmonary monitoring during shock resuscitation in resource-limited settings should prioritize a pragmatic, physiology-based integration of available monitoring tools. Future research must focus on validating simple, affordable strategies and defining context-adapted approaches capable of improving outcomes in these vulnerable populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"286-295"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147688762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Early management of acute heart failure.","authors":"Òscar Miró, Effie Polyzogopoulou, John Parissis","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001357","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001357","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Acute heart failure (AHF) is a frequent, high-risk emergency department presentation in which early diagnostic and therapeutic decisions strongly influence outcomes. This review is timely as new evidence is reshaping the first hours of care, requiring emergency department clinicians to integrate updated diagnostic tools and early guideline-directed treatments.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Key diagnostic advances include broader use of cardiopulmonary ultrasound and emerging biomarker-based, machine-learning tools. Noninvasive ventilation remains preferred for severe respiratory distress, while high-flow nasal cannula is widely used despite neutral comparative data. Diuretic strategies are evolving, with natriuresis-guided protocols and combination regimens enhancing decongestion. Vasodilators retain a role in hypertensive AHF. In cardiogenic shock, early inotrope initiation may improve survival, and new agents such as istaroxime show promising hemodynamic effects. Additional emergency department strategies include midazolam for agitation, intravenous iron for iron deficiency, and cautious anti-inflammatory use. Avoiding iatrogenesis - particularly urinary catheterization and prolonged boarding - is crucial, especially in frail patients. Very early initiation of guideline-directed medical therapy, including SGLT2 inhibitors, is increasingly supported. Risk-based disposition using tools such as EHMRG or MEESSI-AHF, combined with structured follow-up, can improve postdischarge outcomes.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Integrating these advances may optimize early emergency department management, personalize care, and improve outcomes in AHF.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"217-223"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146043732","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emerging technologies and AI-assisted tools in cardiopulmonary monitoring.","authors":"Nicolas Orozco, Ross Prager, Robert Arntfield","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001385","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001385","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Cardiopulmonary monitoring is fundamental to critical care, yet traditional approaches rely on simplified thresholds that capture only a fraction of the rich information contained within waveforms, imaging, and continuous physiological data. This review examines emerging applications of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) that enhance waveform interpretation, automate point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), enable predictive monitoring, and extend advanced assessment capabilities into low-resource settings.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>AI models now identify deterioration earlier than conventional tools, derive complex hemodynamic variables from noninvasive signals, and predict events such as hypotension, cardiac arrest, and sepsis hours in advance. In POCUS, AI enables real-time acquisition guidance and automated cardiac and pulmonary interpretation, allowing novice users to obtain expert-quality studies. Cloud and edge-based architectures further support AI-driven monitoring in austere environments. Despite these advances, most AI systems remain in early development; fewer than 2% have undergone clinical integration, and challenges persist related to generalizability, bias, heterogeneous data quality, and limited prospective evaluation.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>AI-assisted cardiopulmonary monitoring has the potential to transition critical care from reactive assessment to dynamic, anticipatory management. Realizing this promise will require rigorous validation, workflow integration, and evidence demonstrating true clinical benefit.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"296-302"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147765091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Older people and frailty in the emergency department.","authors":"Julia Josephine Henneman, James David van Oppen","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001360","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001360","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Our population is ageing and this is driving rising emergency department (ED) attendances and critical care use. Frailty, not age, is the key predictor of outcomes and brings complex, multidimensional needs. However, emergency care systems were designed around single-issue presentations. This review highlights why frailty-attuned emergency care is timely and relevant, and examines evolving approaches aimed at improving person-centred outcomes.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Frailty affects a substantial proportion of ED patients and is associated with poorer outcomes including mortality, longer stays, and higher admission rates. Meaningful outcomes prioritize quality rather than necessarily longevity of life. Geriatric emergency medicine promotes holistic assessment, multidisciplinary involvement, and goal-oriented care, but many centres are still being reconfigured to provide for this. Meanwhile, systems can work to implement frailty screening and attuned triage, encouraging use of person-centred and pragmatic approaches based on shared decision-making to support appropriate resource use and alignment of care with patient values.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Frailty-attuned geriatric emergency care involves cohort identification, broadened assessment, and goal-based person-centred decision-making. These principles can be integrated as the basis for meaningfully grounded quality improvement and service design.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"224-229"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146045925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Three decades of hemodynamic monitoring (1995-2025): from invasive pressure based hemodynamic profiling to functional physiology.","authors":"Michael R Pinsky","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001384","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001384","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Hemodynamic monitoring has undergone a profound transformation over the last 30 years. The field has transitioned from the \"standard of care\" invasive pulmonary artery catheterization (PAC) toward minimally invasive and noninvasive technologies. This evolution is characterized by a shift in clinical philosophy.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>A very strong shift away from the measurement of static pressures and flow defining specific hemodynamic profiles to the assessment of functional physiology and fluid responsiveness characterize the main changes in hemodynamic monitoring over this time interval. This review summarizes the four main milestones, the evidence-based \"PAC-wars\" and the \"Great debate\" (1995-2005); the shift to functional hemodynamics and more precise resuscitation (2005-2015), through the rise of goal-directed therapy (GDT) and protocolization based on patient subgroups (2010-2020); to the present where the focus is on noninvasive monitoring, using artificial intelligence (AI) to plumb biosignatures from time series data and focusing on tissue perfusion and end-organ function (2020-2025).</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>The use of hemodynamic monitoring to plumb bedside cardiopulmonary status and monitor responses to therapy with the goal of precise and personalized resuscitation focusing on end-organ recovery using advanced minimally-invasive and on-invasive monitors coupled with AI-aided physiological pattern recognition represents the pathway we are on.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"269-274"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147621683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Silvia Mongodi, Francesco Mojoli, Fernando Suarez Sipmann
{"title":"Noninvasive pulmonary monitoring in critical care: role, advances, limitations.","authors":"Silvia Mongodi, Francesco Mojoli, Fernando Suarez Sipmann","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001383","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001383","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Acute respiratory failure is a frequent cause of ICU admission and carries a high mortality rate. Multimodal respiratory monitoring integrating imaging techniques, respiratory mechanics and functional data provides a more comprehensive physiologically grounded assessment of the respiratory status. This review describes recent advances in noninvasive bedside monitoring options that when combined could enable a safer, more personalized management of patients on invasive mechanical ventilation.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Quantitative lung ultrasound can be reliably used at the bedside to quantify and monitor the lung density and guide the ventilatory strategy; a recent expert consensus has defined its technical and clinical applications. While providing information on lung morphology, it needs to be combined with other bedside tools such as tidal hysteresis in pressure-volume loops and/or EIT to individualize ventilatory settings. Muscle ultrasound assessment is used to monitor active patients, mainly to quantify patient effort and predict weaning outcomes. Expired CO 2 kinetics evaluates lung efficiency, with important prognostic implications, and new promising developments may allow to continuously estimate static lung volume and cardiac output.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Multiple noninvasive bedside tools are available for a multimodal assessment of the respiratory system; while each evaluates the patient from a different perspective, their effectiveness is maximized when they are integrated and combined for daily monitoring and clinical assessment.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"275-285"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147671017","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advances and challenges in the emergency diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.","authors":"Héloise Bannelier, Theophile Vieux, Melanie Roussel","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001378","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common and potentially life-threatening condition for which diagnostic strategies in the emergency department remain challenging. This review provides an updated synthesis of recent advances in PE diagnosis, from pretest probability assessment and D-dimer-guided strategies to imaging selection across settings.</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>In patients with very low clinical probability, pulmonary embolism can be excluded on clinical criteria alone. For low or intermediate probability, using D-dimer thresholds adjusted to clinical probability, including age adjustment, increases specificity and safely reduces imaging. Simplified diagnostic pathways - probability assessment, D-dimer testing, then imaging only if required - improve efficiency when applied consistently. In imaging, low-dose and low-iodine computed tomography pulmonary angiography preserves diagnostic quality, including in pregnancy-adapted workflows. When it is contraindicated, new ventilation-perfusion scintigraphy techniques and magnetic resonance angiography provides contrast-free alternatives in experienced centers. Tailored diagnostic pathways have also been developed for specific populations - such as pregnancy, chronic lung disease, and cancer.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Over recent years, the rising number of diagnosed events without a reduction in overall mortality - even as case fatality from pulmonary embolism has decreased - suggests overdiagnosis, driven by detection of smaller or clinically marginal emboli. This supports probability-based testing: anchor decisions in pretest probability, apply thresholds adjusted to the pre-test probability, and reserve imaging for patients likely to benefit. The aim is to balance safety, diagnostic yield, and exposure to radiation and iodinated contrast while preserving overall quality of care.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"239-247"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147638100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Agustin Godoy, Edoardo Picetti, Juan Antonio Llompart-Pou
{"title":"Management of acute brain injury in pregnant patients what is different?","authors":"Daniel Agustin Godoy, Edoardo Picetti, Juan Antonio Llompart-Pou","doi":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001380","DOIUrl":"10.1097/MCC.0000000000001380","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose of review: </strong>To establish the anatomical and physiological basis for understanding the differences in the evaluation, diagnosis, and management of pregnant women with acute brain injury (ABI).</p><p><strong>Recent findings: </strong>Underline the absence of specific guidelines and the limited available literature, demonstrating marked variability and heterogeneity in the management of critically ill pregnant women with primary neurological damage.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>\"Two lives at risk\" highlights the importance of a comprehensive approach to the mother and the fetus. Understanding the systemic and cerebral physiological adaptations induced by pregnancy constitutes the basis for supporting therapeutic interventions. Maintaining the functional integrity of the maternal-fetal unit is essential for both lives. The evaluation and categorization of ABI is fundamental and should be based on three pillars: neurological and systemic clinical examination associated with neuroimaging; pregnancy status (maternal-fetal unit) and fetal viability. Additionally, decision-making involves sociocultural, emotional, and medicolegal factors that must always be kept in mind.</p>","PeriodicalId":10851,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Critical Care","volume":" ","pages":"311-320"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147621697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}