Mechanically ventilated patients are weaned during acute care hospitalization when it is determined that they are ready for withdrawal. If weaning fails, patients are admitted to a rehabilitation medical center for continued supportive care and additional weaning attempts.   This study's objective is to increase the success rate of...

The evidence that cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) predicts morbidity and mortality independent of commonly obtained risk factors isbeyond dispute.   Observations establishing that the addition of CRF to algorithms for estimating cardiovascular disease risk reinforcesthe clinical utility of CRF.   Evidence suggesting that non-exercise e...

Nutritional optimisation is recognised as having significant impact on clinical and functional outcomes of critically ill patients.   Clinical recommendations suggest use of indirect calorimetry guided nutrition in the intensive care unit (ICU), and a recent systematic review demonstrated improved outcomes from its use.   The COVID-1...

Is exercise capacity reduced more than 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection among those with long COVID-19 (LC) symptoms compared with recovered individuals without symptoms, and what patterns of limitations on cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) are common? In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 38 studies comprising 2160 pa...

Although the marathon race has been democratized, it remains complex due to the famous “hitting the wall” phenomenon after the 25th km. To characterize this “wall” from a physiological and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) perspective in recreational marathon runners, we report first continuous breath-by-breath gas exchange measurements dur...

In this new review, the authors identify the pros and cons of Indirect Calorimetry (IC) to estimate Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) and define individual nutritional energy targets among critically ill patients.  Indirect Calorimetry (IC) is a monitoring tool that provides factual information on metabolism. There is significant evidenc...

University of Nebraska at Omaha - Department of Biomechanics - relied on COSMED K5 to measure the metabolic cost of walking with a robotic waist tether. The metabolic rate during walking can be minimized by providing assistance at the waist of individuals undergoing physical therapy. By focusing on the center of mass of an individual, th...

Studies have showed that long-term sequelae from COVID-19 may affect human respiratory system, cardiovascular system, nervous system, immune system etc. with a negative impact on the patients’ mental health, well-being and quality of life, but the lungs are the organ most likely to sustain serious impairment from COVID-19. The convalescen...

A novel study was published on Current Opinion in Physiology to summarise the impact of COVID-19 infection on pulmonary function and to relate this to disease severity and to the clinico-radiological outcomes. In agreement with the findings of the respiratory community concerning the physiological assessment in patients following COVID-19 inf...

Energy expenditure appears highly variable among critically ill patients and in individual patients during various phases of illness. As a consequence, critically ill patients are at considerable risk of under- or overfeeding during ICU and post-ICU hospital stay, when rough and static estimates are used. The most recent international guidelines...

Different metabolic phases can be distinguished in critical illness, which influences nutritional treatment. Achieving optimal nutritional treatment during these phases in critically ill patients is challenging. The aim of this observational study is to describe measured resting energy expenditure (mREE) and feeding practices and tolerance duri...

Indirect calorimetry (IC)-guided nutrition might positively affect the clinical outcome of critically ill patients. The objective of this study is to assess the benefit of isocaloric nutrition guided by IC, compared to hypocaloric nutrition, for critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). This systematic review and meta-a...

COVID-19 can rapidly progress into acute respiratory distress syndrome accompanied by multi-organ failure requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and critical care treatment. Nutritional therapy is a fundamental pillar in the management of hospitalized patients. It is broadly acknowledged that overfeeding and underfeeding of intensive care un...

Long-term effects of COVID-19 are of utmost relevance. This study aims to determine the functional capacity of COVID-19 survivors by cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), the characteristics associated with cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) performance and the safety and tolerability of CPET. COSMED system (Quark CPET, COSMED, Rome, It...

Among other important risk factors for severe COVID-19 outcomes, obesity has emerged along with undernutrition-malnutrition as a strong predictor of disease risk and severity. Obesity-related excessive body fat may lead to respiratory, metabolic and immune derangements potentially favouring the onset of COVID-19 complications. Early after the o...

Indirect calorimetry (IC) is the gold-standard for determining measured resting energy expenditure (mREE) in critical illness. When IC is not available, predicted resting energy expenditure (pREE) equations are commonly utilized, which often inaccurately predict metabolic demands leading to over- or under-feeding. This study aims to longitudina...

Premature infants often undergo postnatal growth failure and show an altered body composition (BC) at termequivalent age (TEA) with lower fat-free mass (FFM) and increased fat mass (FM) than infants born at term. Early nutrition and growth may impact brain growth. Nevertheless, the evidence relating BC and later neurodevelopment remains sparse....

Critical illness demands objective, targeted nutritional therapy to prevent adverse effects of underfeeding/ over feeding. Thus, all recent societal guidelines recommend indirect calorimetry use to determine energy needs. Current commercially available indirect calorimeters are often inaccurate, and the inconveniences have led to significant ch...

The outbreak of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has presented a global public health emergency. Although predominantly a pandemic of acute respiratory disease, corona virus infectious disease-19 (COVID-19) results in multi-organ damage that impairs cardiopulmonary function and reduces cardiorespir...

Body composition is a sensitive marker of infants’ intra- and extrauterine growth quality that can influence short- and long-term outcomes; including retinopathy of prematurity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), metabolic health, cardiovascular and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Low body fat percentage at birth in small and appropriate for gestat...