The first of this two-part series on critical illness in pregnancy dealt with obstetric disorders. In Part II, medical conditions that commonly affect pregnant women or worsen during pregnancy are discussed. ARDS occurs more frequently in pregnancy. Strategies commonly used in nonpregnant patients, including permissive hypercapnia, limits for plateau pressure, and prone positioning, may not be acceptable, especially in late pregnancy. Genital tract infections unique to pregnancy include chorioamnionitis, group A streptococcal infection causing toxic shock syndrome, and polymicrobial infection with streptococci, staphylococci, and Clostridium perfringens causing necrotizing vulvitis or fasciitis. Pregnancy predisposes to VTE; D-dimer levels have low specificity in pregnancy. A ventilation-perfusion scan is preferred over CT pulmonary angiography in some situations to reduce radiation to the mother's breasts. Low-molecular-weight or unfractionated heparins form the mainstay of treatment; vitamin K antagonists, oral factor Xa inhibitors, and direct thrombin inhibitors are not recommended in pregnancy. The physiologic hyperdynamic circulation in pregnancy worsens many cardiovascular disorders. It increases risk of pulmonary edema or arrhythmias in mitral stenosis, heart failure in pulmonary hypertension or aortic stenosis, aortic dissection in Marfan syndrome, or valve thrombosis in mechanical heart valves. Common neurologic problems in pregnancy include seizures, altered mental status, visual symptoms, and strokes. Other common conditions discussed are aspiration of gastric contents, OSA, thyroid disorders, diabetic ketoacidosis, and cardiopulmonary arrest in pregnancy. Studies confined to pregnant women are available for only a few of these conditions. We have, therefore, reviewed pregnancy-specific adjustments in the management of these disorders.

Recent emphasis has been placed on methods to predict fluid responsiveness, but the usefulness of using fluid boluses to increase cardiac index in critically ill patients with ineffective circulation or oliguria remains unclear.

Managing critically ill obstetric patients in the ICU is a challenge because of their altered physiology, different normal ranges for laboratory and clinical parameters in pregnancy, and potentially harmful effects of drugs and interventions on the fetus. About 200 to 700 women per 100,000 deliveries require ICU admission. A systematic five-step approach is recommended to enhance maternal and fetal outcomes: (1) differentiate between medical and obstetric disorders with similar manifestations, (2) identify and treat organ dysfunction, (3) assess maternal and fetal risk from continuing pregnancy and decide if delivery/termination of pregnancy will improve outcome, (4) choose an appropriate mode of delivery if necessary, and (5) optimize organ functions for safe delivery. A multidisciplinary team including the intensivist, obstetrician, maternal-fetal medicine specialist, anesthesiologist, neonatologist, nursing specialist, and transfusion medicine expert is key to optimize outcomes. Severe preeclampsia and its complications, HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets) syndrome, and amniotic fluid embolism, which cause significant organ failure, are reviewed. Obstetric conditions that were not so common in the past are increasingly seen in the ICU. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura of pregnancy is being diagnosed more frequently. Massive hemorrhage from adherent placenta is increasing because of the large number of pregnant women with scars from previous cesarean section. With more complex fetal surgical interventions being performed for congenital disorders, maternal complications are increasing. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is also becoming common because of treatment of infertility with assisted reproduction techniques. Part II will deal with common medical disorders and their management in critically ill pregnant women.

To better understand clinical and epidemiologic patterns of blastomycosis, we report on a large series of blastomycosis in Indiana.

Inhalation/smoking has become the most common method of recreational opiate consumption in the United Kingdom and other countries. Although some heroin smokers appear to develop COPD, little is known about the association.

In recent years, the potentially adverse role of sleep-disordered breathing in cancer incidence and outcomes has emerged. In parallel, animal models of intermittent hypoxia (IH) and sleep fragmentation (SF) emulating the two major components of OSA have lent support to the notion that OSA may enhance the proliferative and invasive properties of solid tumors. Based on several lines of evidence, we propose that OSA-induced increases in sympathetic outflow and alterations in immune function are critically involved in modifying oncologic processes including angiogenesis. In this context, we suggest that OSA, via IH (and potentially SF), promotes changes in several signaling pathways and transcription factors that coordinate malignant transformation and expansion, disrupts host immunologic surveillance, and consequently leads to increased probability of oncogenesis, accelerated tumor proliferation, and invasion, ultimately resulting in adverse outcomes.

Long-term outcomes after stepping down asthma medications are not well described.

With body growth from childhood, the lungs can enlarge by either increasing the volume of air in the periphery (as would occur with inspiration) or by increasing the number of peripheral acinar units. In the former case, the lung tissue density would decrease with inflation, whereas in the latter case, the lung density would be relatively constant as the lung grows. To address this fundamental structural issue, we measured the CT scan density in human subjects of widely varying size at two different lung volumes.

A large body of evidence demonstrates dose-response relationships of cumulative coal mine dust exposure with lung function impairment and with small-opacity profusion. However, medical literature generally holds that simple coal worker's pneumoconiosis (CWP) is not associated with lung function impairment. This study examines the relationship between small-opacity profusion and lung function in US underground coal miners with simple CWP.

Mortality risk prediction tools have been developed in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, however, it is unknown whether these models accurately estimate mortality in systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD).

Among patients with OSA, a higher number of medical morbidities are known to be associated with those who have obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) compared with OSA alone. OHS can pose a higher risk of postoperative complications after elective noncardiac surgery (NCS) and often is unrecognized at the time of surgery. The objective of this study was to retrospectively identify patients with OHS and compare their postoperative outcomes with those of patients with OSA alone.

Patients with systemic rheumatic diseases (SRDs) may require ICU management for SRD exacerbation or treatment-related infections or toxicities.

In COPD, a decreased inspiratory capacity to total lung capacity ratio (IC/TLC) is associated with dynamic hyperinflation and poor exercise capacity. The association with upper-extremity force measured by handgrip strength (HGS) and 6-min walk distance (6MWD) has not been previously described. We hypothesized that IC/TLC affects muscle strength in the upper and lower extremities, affecting HGS and 6MWD.

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has a high prevalence in sarcoidosis. This high prevalence may be the result of increased upper airways resistance from sarcoidosis of the upper respiratory tract, corticosteroid-induced obesity, or parenchymal lung involvement from sarcoidosis. OSA is a form of SDB that is particularly common in patients with sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis and SDB share many similar symptoms and clinical findings, including fatigue, gas exchange abnormalities, and pulmonary hypertension (PH). Sarcoidosis-associated fatigue is a common entity for which stimulants may be beneficial. Sarcoidosis-associated fatigue is a diagnosis of exclusion that requires an evaluation for the possibility of OSA. Hypercapnia is unusual in a patient with sarcoidosis without severe pulmonary dysfunction and, in this situation, should prompt evaluation for alternative causes of hypercapnia, such as SDB. PH is usually mild when associated with OSA, whereas the severity of sarcoidosis-associated PH is related to the severity of sarcoidosis. PH caused by OSA usually responds to CPAP, whereas sarcoidosis-associated PH commonly requires the use of vasodilators. Management of OSA in sarcoidosis is problematic because corticosteroid treatment of sarcoidosis may worsen OSA. Aggressive efforts should be made to place the patient on the lowest effective dose of corticosteroids, which involves early consideration of corticosteroid-sparing agents. Because of the significant morbidity associated with SDB, early recognition and treatment of SDB in patients with sarcoidosis may improve their overall quality of life.

Recent legislative successes allowing expanded access to recreational and medicinal cannabis have been associated with its increased use by the public, despite continued debates regarding its safety within the medical and scientific communities. Despite legislative changes, cannabis is most commonly used by smoking, although alternatives to inhalation have also emerged. Moreover, the composition of commercially available cannabis has dramatically changed in recent years. Therefore, developing sound scientific information regarding its impact on lung health is imperative, particularly because published data conducted prior to widespread legalization are conflicting and inconclusive. In this commentary, we delineate major observations of epidemiologic investigations examining cannabis use and the potential associated development of airways disease and lung cancer to highlight gaps in pulmonary knowledge. Additionally, we review major histopathologic alterations related to smoked cannabis and define specific areas in animal models and human clinical translational investigations that could benefit from additional development. Given that cannabis has an ongoing classification as a schedule I medication, federal funding to support investigations of modern cannabis use in terms of medicinal efficacy and safety profile on lung health have been elusive. It is clear, however, that the effects of inhaled cannabis on lung health remain uncertain and given increasing use patterns, are worthy of further investigation.

Pathogenic causes of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) can be difficult to identify at early clinical presentation. We evaluated the diagnostic utility of combined cardiac and thoracic critical care ultrasonography (CCUS).