Cade Oil Poisoning: A Case Series

Objectives and Study: Cade oil is aromatic oil obtained from the branches and wood of Juniperus oxycedrus, common in the Mediterranean region and widely used in traditional medicine. This oil contains many chemical compounds with neurological, cardiac, renal, respiratory, hepatic, and gastrointestinal toxicity. Cade oil poisoning often requires intensive care admission due to the severity of the clinical picture. The objective of this study is to highlight the multiple manifestations found in the pediatric population due to cade oil exposure objectifying its significant toxicity. Methods: The authors report during this article a series of five cases of cade oil poisoning on pediatric patients hospitalized in the pediatric intensive care unit of El HARROUCHI hospital at the CHU Ibn Rochd in Casablanca during the period from 11/01/2022 to 12/07/2022. The patients have been exposed, a few hours before their admission, to an external cade oil application used by parents for therapeutic purposes. Main Findings: Our patients were aged from 1 month to 4 years, the average age was 1.5 years with a female predominance and a sex ratio of 1.5:1. The patients had no prior medical history, and the cade oil application was spontaneously declared by the parents of only 2 patients, 3 of them reported the use of it after the detection of the substance by the clinician. For all the cases, cade oil was applied to treat fever. All five (5) patients presented initial neurological signs. 3 of them were admitted to an acute consciousness disorder and the 2 other patients presented respectively a convulsive status epilepticus and generalized-onset seizure. We report respiratory symptoms in 4 cases ranging from a simple caught, rhinorrhea to severe respiratory distress. Three patients presented acute liver failure with very high transaminase levels associated with acute kidney failure. Two of them presented digestive symptoms such as abundant hematemesis, vomiting, and watery diarrhea. All patients received high doses of N acetylcysteine in their initial treatments. The evolution was unfavorable for 4 patients who developed a multiorgan failure, 3 of them died, with a good clinical improvement in the fifth patient after supportive and symptomatic treatment. Conclusion: Cade oil poisoning remains a very frequent situation in our context. Its toxicity is widely described in the literature. The increasing number of cases admitted, and the seriousness of the clinical picture require mass awareness among the population and the scientific community toward the use of medicinal plants.

Critical care medicine in China： history and perspective

Critical care medicine began in 1982 in China and is still in a phase of rapid development. Despite theinadequate resources compared with-those of developed countries, critical care medicine has been recognized as a specialty by the government and by other specialties. National critical care societies are dedicated to promoting professional education and the academic improvement of critical care medicine in China. Although critical care services and clinical research are still underdeveloped due to scarce resources, great improvement is expected in the near future.

Efficacy and safety of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in the treatment of acute respiratory failure after cardiac surgery

Background Although noninvasive positive pressure ventilation （NPPV） has been successfully used for various kinds of acute respiratory failure,the data are limited regarding its application in postoperative respiratory failure after cardiac surgery.Therefore,we conducted a prospective randomized control study in a university surgical intensive care unit to evaluate the efficacy and safety of NPPV in the treatment of acute respiratory failure after cardiac surgery,and explore the predicting factors of NPPV failure.Methods From September 2011 to November 2012 patients with acute respiratory failure after cardiac surgery who had indication for the use of NPPV were randomly divided into a NPPV treatment group （NPPV group） and the conventional treatment group （control group）.The between-group differences in the patients＇ baseline characteristics,re-intubation rate,tracheotomy rate,ventilator associated pneumonia （VAP） incidence,in-hospital mortality,mechanical ventilation time after enrollment （MV time）,intensive care unit （ICU） and postoperative hospital stays were compared.The factors that predict NPPV failure were analyzed.Results During the study period,a total of 139 patients who had acute respiratory failure after cardiac surgery were recorded,and 95 of them met the inclusion criteria,which included 59 males and 36 females with a mean age of （61.5±11.2） years.Forty-three patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting （CABG）,23 underwent valve surgery,13 underwent CABG＋valve surgery,13 underwent major vascular surgery,and three underwent other surgeries.The NPPV group had 48 patients and the control group had 47 patients.In the NPPV group,the re-intubation rate was 18.8％,tracheotomy rate was 12.5％,VAP incidence was 0,and the in-hospital mortality was 18.8％,significantly lower than in the control group 80.9％,29.8％,17.0％ and 38.3％ respectively,P ＜0.05 or P ＜0.01.The MV time and ICU stay （expressed as the median （P25,P75）） were 18.0 （9.2,35.0） hours and 4.0 （2.0,5.0） days,which were significantly shorter than in the control group,96.0 （26.0,240.0） hours and 6.0 （4.0,9.0） days respectively,P ＜0.05 or P ＜0.01.The postoperative hospital stays of the two groups were similar.The univariate analysis showed that the NPPV success subgroup had more patients with acute lung injury （ALl） （17 vs.0,P=0.038）,fewer patients with pneumonia （2 vs.7,P ＜0.001） and lower acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ （APACHE Ⅱ） scores （16.1±2.8 vs.21.8±3.2,P ＜0.001）.Multivariate analysis showed that pneumonia （P=-0.027） and a high APACHE Ⅱ score ＞20 （P=-0.002） were the independent risk factors of NPPV failure.Conclusions We conclude that NPPV can be applied in selected patients with acute respiratory failure after cardiac surgery to reduce the need of re-intubation and improve clinical outcome as compared with conventional treatment.Pneumonia and a high APACHE Ⅱ score ＞20 might be the independent risk factors of NPPV failure in this group of patients.