A-TEAM-ICU Antibiotic Stewardship, Therapeutic Drug monitoring and Early Appropriate infection Management in worldwide ICUs.

The management of severe infections is a daily challenge in the intensive care unit and must therefore be a core competence of intensivists. A “hot topic” in the field of infectious diseases is the use of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to optimize the application of anti-infective. This approach is highly relevant in critically ill patients and many hospitals are already employing TDM to guide therapy. Additionally, efforts to improve the treatment of infections can be seen in the broader concept of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS).

The A-TEAM-ICU-survey is a aimed at physicians working in intensive care units worldwide.

Steering Committee: Dr. Christian Lanckohr, Prof. Jan de Waele MD PhD, Dr. Jeroen Schouten, Prof. Dr. D.W. de Lange and Prof. Dr. Menno Prins.

Invasive Aspergillosis among Patients with Severe Influenza in Intensive Care Units.

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is widely recognized as a major cause of mortality and morbidity among immunocompromised patients. Recently, attention has been given to IPA as a complication of critically ill patients with severe influenza. However, multi-center data on influenza-associated aspergillosis (IAA) are lacking.

This IPAFLU survey aims to assess the burden of IAA in European ICUs and the use of galactomannan in the diagnosis of IPA in adult critically ill influenza patients. Furthermore, we also want to raise awareness of IAA among European intensivists.

The survey is led by Prof. Dr. Joost Wauters and has been endorsed by CDC (US),  the INF Section and ESICM.

Respiratory virus-associated severe lower respiratory tract infections in critically ill adult patients: a survey of knowledge and practice patterns among European intensivists.

The purpose of this survey is to provide data regarding the knowledge and the management of respiratory virus-associated severe LRTI by European intensivists. These data will guide future prospective studies aiming to better characterize the use and the impact of molecular diagnostic tests and the optimal therapeutic management of viruses-associated LRTI.

The survey was endorsed by ESICM Section.

Investigators: Guillaume Voiriot, Quentin Philippot, Intensive Care Unit, Tenon Hospital, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a rare condition characterized by new (no previous cirrhosis) and rapidly evolving (≤26 weeks) hepatic dysfunction associated with neurologic dysfunction (any grade of hepatic encephalopathy) and coagulopathy (INR ≥1.5). This disease may be due to several aetiologies (e.g. drug toxicity such as paracetamol and viruses such as hepatitis A, B or E), with great regional variability. The outcomes of patients with ALF have been improving throughout the decades largely because of optimized access and quality of intensive care and emergent liver transplantation.

We have developed the survey ALFinICU to try to characterize the current practice of European ICUs in treating patients with ALF. With this, we hope to contribute to generate debate and identify future educational points about this rare disease.

International survey on the Structure and Organisation of the Intensive Care Unit (ISOREA)

The present survey aims to evaluate the structures and the organisation systems of the ICUs in a large sample from high, middle, and low income countries.

The survey is endorsed by:
– ESICM (European Society of Intensive Care Medicine)
– SRLF (Société de Réanimation de Langue Française)
– SARAF (Société d’Anesthésie Réanimation d’Afrique Francophone)
– ISCCM (Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine)

Coordinator: Pr. Armand Mekontso Dessap