Dynamic cerebral autoregulation to induced blood pressure changes in human experimental and clinical sepsis

Cerebral Autoregulation Indices Are Not Interchangeable in Patients With Sepsis

Introduction

Dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) is frequently altered in patients with sepsis and may be associated with sepsis-associated brain dysfunction. However, the optimal index to quantify dCA in patients with sepsis is currently unknown.

Objective

To assess the agreement between two validated dCA indices in patients with sepsis.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data in patients with sepsis; those with acute or chronic intracranial disease, arrhythmias, mechanical cardiac support, or history of supra-aortic vascular disease were excluded. Transcranial Doppler was performed on the right or left middle cerebral artery (MCA) with a 2-MHz probe, and MCA blood flow velocity (FV) and arterial pressure (BP) signals were simultaneously recorded. We calculated two indices of dCA: the mean flow index (Mxa), which is the Pearson correlation coefficient between BP and FV (MATLAB, MathWorks), and the autoregulation index (ARI), which is the transfer function analysis of spontaneous fluctuations in BP and FV (custom-written FORTRAN code). Impaired dCA was defined as Mxa >0.3 or ARI ≤ 4. The agreement between the two indices was assessed by Cohen's kappa coefficient.

Results

We included 95 patients (age 64 ± 13 years old; male 74%); ARI was 4.38 [2.83–6.04] and Mxa was 0.32 [0.14–0.59], respectively. There was no correlation between ARI and Mxa (r = −0.08; p = 0.39). dCA was altered in 40 (42%) patients according to ARI and in 50 (53%) patients according to Mxa. ARI and Mxa were concordant in classifying 23 (24%) patients as having impaired dCA and 28 (29%) patients as having intact dCA. Cohen's kappa coefficient was 0.08, suggesting poor agreement. ARI was altered more frequently in patients on mechanical ventilation than others (27/52, 52% vs. 13/43, 30%, p = 0.04), whereas Mxa did not differ between those two groups. On the contrary, Mxa was altered more frequently in patients receiving sedatives than others (23/34, 68% vs. 27/61, 44%, p = 0.03), whereas ARI did not differ between these two groups.

Conclusions

Agreement between ARI and Mxa in assessing dCA in patients with sepsis was poor. The identification of specific factors influencing the dCA analysis might lead to a better selection of the adequate cerebral autoregulation (CAR) index in critically ill patients with sepsis.

Cerebral Autoregulation in Non-Brain Injured Patients: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Cerebral autoregulation (CA) plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of adequate cerebral blood flow (CBF). CA monitoring, through direct and indirect techniques, may guide an appropriate therapeutic approach aimed at improving CBF and reducing neurological complications; so far, the role of CA has been investigated mainly in brain-injured patients. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of CA in non-brain injured patients.

Methods: A systematic consultation of literature was carried out. Search terms included: “CA and sepsis,” “CA and surgery,” and “CA and non-brain injury.”

Results: Our research individualized 294 studies and after screening, 22 studies were analyzed in this study. Studies were divided in three groups: CA in sepsis and septic shock, CA during surgery, and CA in the pediatric population. Studies in sepsis and intraoperative setting highlighted a relationship between the incidence of sepsis-associated delirium and impaired CA. The most investigated setting in the pediatric population is cardiac surgery, but the role and measurement of CA need to be further elucidated.

Conclusion: In non-brain injured patients, impaired CA may result in cognitive dysfunction, neurological damage, worst outcome, and increased mortality. Monitoring CA might be a useful tool for the bedside optimization and individualization of the clinical management in this group of patients.

Retinal blood flow in critical illness and systemic disease: a review

BACKGROUND

Assessment and maintenance of end-organ perfusion are key to resuscitation in critical illness, although there are limited direct methods or proxy measures to assess cerebral perfusion. Novel non-invasive methods of monitoring microcirculation in critically ill patients offer the potential for real-time updates to improve patient outcomes.

MAIN BODY

Parallel mechanisms autoregulate retinal and cerebral microcirculation to maintain blood flow to meet metabolic demands across a range of perfusion pressures. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) is reduced and autoregulation impaired in sepsis, but current methods to image CBF do not reproducibly assess the microcirculation. Peripheral microcirculatory blood flow may be imaged in sublingual and conjunctival mucosa and is impaired in sepsis. Retinal microcirculation can be directly imaged by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) during perfusion-deficit states such as sepsis, and other systemic haemodynamic disturbances such as acute coronary syndrome, and systemic inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease.

CONCLUSION

Monitoring microcirculatory flow offers the potential to enhance monitoring in the care of critically ill patients, and imaging retinal blood flow during critical illness offers a potential biomarker for cerebral microcirculatory perfusion.

Cerebral autoregulation and neurovascular coupling are progressively impaired during septic shock: an experimental study

Background

Alteration of the mechanisms of cerebral blood flow (CBF) regulation might contribute to the pathophysiology of sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). However, previous clinical studies on dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) in sepsis had several cofounders. Furthermore, little is known on the potential impairment of neurovascular coupling (NVC) in sepsis. The aim of our study was to determine the presence and time course of dCA and NVC alterations in a clinically relevant animal model and their potential impact on the development of SAE.

Methods

Thirty-six anesthetized, mechanically ventilated female sheep were randomized to sham procedures (sham, n = 15), sepsis (n = 14), or septic shock (n = 7). Blood pressure, CBF, and electrocorticography were continuously recorded. Pearson’s correlation coefficient Lxa and transfer function analysis were used to estimate dCA. NVC was assessed by the analysis of CBF variations induced by cortical gamma activity (Eγ) peaks and by the magnitude-squared coherence (MSC) between the spontaneous fluctuations of CBF and Eγ. Cortical function was estimated by the alpha-delta ratio. Wilcoxon signed rank and rank sum tests, Friedman tests, and RMANOVA test were used as appropriate.

Results

Sepsis and sham animals did not differ neither in dCA nor in NVC parameters. A significant impairment of dCA occurred only after septic shock (Lxa, p = 0.03, TFA gain p = 0.03, phase p = 0.01). Similarly, NVC was altered during septic shock, as indicated by a lower MSC in the frequency band 0.03–0.06 Hz (p < 0.001). dCA and NVC impairments were associated with cortical dysfunction (reduction in the alpha-delta ratio (p = 0.03)).

Conclusions

A progressive loss of dCA and NVC occurs during septic shock and is associated with cortical dysfunction. These findings indicate that the alteration of mechanisms controlling cortical perfusion plays a late role in the pathophysiology of SAE and suggest that alterations of CBF regulation mechanisms in less severe phases of sepsis reported in clinical studies might be due to patients’ comorbidities or other confounders. Furthermore, a mean arterial pressure targeting therapy aiming to optimize dCA might not be sufficient to prevent neuronal dysfunction in sepsis since it would not improve NVC.

Dynamic Estimation of Cerebral Blood Flow Using Photoplethysmography Signal during Simulated Apnea

Monitoring apnea-induced cerebral blood flow oscillations is of importance for assessing apnea patient brain health. Using an autoregressive moving average model, peak and trough values of cerebral blood flow were estimated from a concurrently recorded forehead photoplethysmography signal. Preliminary testing of the method in 7 subjects (4 F, 32±4 yrs., BMI 24.57±3.87 kg/m²) using a breath hold paradigm for simulating apnea shows that maximum mean and standard deviation of the prediction error is -1.10±8.49 cm/s and the maximum root mean squared of the error is 8.92 cm/s.

Cerebral Autoregulation-Guided Optimal Blood Pressure in Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy: A Case Series

BACKGROUND

Impaired cerebral autoregulation and cerebral hypoperfusion may play a critical role in the high morbidity and mortality in patients with sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). Bedside assessment of cerebral autoregulation may help individualize hemodynamic targets that optimize brain perfusion. We hypothesize that near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-derived cerebral oximetry can identify blood pressure ranges that enhance autoregulation in patients with SAE and that disturbances in autoregulation are associated with severity of encephalopathy.

METHODS

Adult patients with acute encephalopathy directly attributable to sepsis were followed using NIRS-based multimodal monitoring for 12 consecutive hours. We used the correlation in time between regional cerebral oxygen saturation and mean arterial pressure (MAP) to determine the cerebral oximetry index (COx) as a measure of cerebral autoregulation. Autoregulation curves were constructed for each patient with averaged COx values sorted by MAP in 3 sequential 4-hour periods; the optimal pressure (MAP_OPT), defined as the MAP associated with most robust autoregulation (lowest COx), was identified in each period. Severity of encephalopathy was measured with Glasgow coma scale (GCS).

RESULTS

Six patients with extracranial sepsis met the stringent criteria specified, including no pharmacological sedation or neurologic premorbidity. Optimal MAP was identified in all patients and ranged from 55 to 115 mmHg. Additionally, MAP_OPT varied within individual patients over time during monitoring. Disturbed autoregulation, based on COx, was associated with worse neurologic status (GCS < 13) both with and without controlling for age and severity of sepsis (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 2.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.77-2.52; P < .001; OR: 2.97; 95% CI: 1.63-5.43; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

In this high-fidelity group of patients with SAE, continuous, NIRS-based monitoring can identify blood pressure ranges that improve autoregulation. This is important given the association between cerebral autoregulatory function and severity of encephalopathy. Individualizing blood pressure goals using bedside autoregulation monitoring may better preserve cerebral perfusion in SAE than current practice.

Impaired cerebral autoregulation is associated with brain dysfunction in patients with sepsis

Background

Sepsis-associated brain dysfunction (SABD) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The pathophysiology of SABD is multifactorial. One hypothesis is that impaired cerebral autoregulation (CAR) may result in brain hypoperfusion and neuronal damage leading to SABD.

Methods

We studied 100 adult patients with sepsis (July 2012–March 2017) (age = 62 [52–71] years; Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score on admission = 21 [15–26]). Exclusion criteria were acute or chronic intracranial disease, arrhythmias, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and known intra- or extracranial supra-aortic vessel disease. The site of infection was predominantly abdominal (46%) or pulmonary (28%). Transcranial Doppler was performed, insonating the left middle cerebral artery with a 2-MHz probe. Middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (FV) and arterial blood pressure (ABP) signals were recorded simultaneously; Pearson’s correlation coefficient (mean flow index [Mxa]) between ABP and FV was calculated using MATLAB. Impaired CAR was defined as Mxa > 0.3.

Results

Mxa was 0.29 [0.05–0.62]. CAR was impaired in 50 patients (50%). In a multiple linear regression analysis, low mean arterial pressure, history of chronic kidney disease and fungal infection were associated with high Mxa. SABD was diagnosed in 57 patients (57%). In a multivariable analysis, altered cerebral autoregulation, mechanical ventilation and history of vascular disease were independent predictors of SABD.

Conclusions

Cerebral autoregulation was altered in half of the patients with sepsis and was associated with the development of SABD. These findings support the concept that cerebral hypoxia could contribute to the development of SABD.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13054-018-2258-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cerebral Blood Flow Autoregulation in Sepsis for the Intensivist: Why Its Monitoring May Be the Future of Individualized Care

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) autoregulation maintains consistent blood flow across a range of blood pressures (BPs). Sepsis is a common cause of systemic hypotension and cerebral dysfunction. Guidelines for BP management in sepsis are based on historical concepts of CBF autoregulation that have now evolved with the availability of more precise technology for its measurement. In this article, we provide a narrative review of methods of monitoring CBF autoregulation, the cerebral effects of sepsis, and the current knowledge of CBF autoregulation in sepsis. Current guidelines for BP management in sepsis are based on a goal of maintaining mean arterial pressure (MAP) above the lower limit of CBF autoregulation. Bedside tools are now available to monitor CBF autoregulation continuously. These data reveal that individual BP goals determined from CBF autoregulation monitoring are more variable than previously expected. In patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, for example, the lower limit of autoregulation varied between a MAP of 40 to 90 mm Hg. Studies of CBF autoregulation in sepsis suggest patients frequently manifest impaired CBF autoregulation, possibly a result of BP below the lower limit of autoregulation, particularly in early sepsis or with sepsis-associated encephalopathy. This suggests that the present consensus guidelines for BP management in sepsis may expose some patients to both cerebral hypoperfusion and cerebral hyperperfusion, potentially resulting in damage to brain parenchyma. The future use of novel techniques to study and clinically monitor CBF autoregulation could provide insight into the cerebral pathophysiology of sepsis and offer more precise treatments that may improve functional and cognitive outcomes for survivors of sepsis.