The University of Tokyo · Medicine
Professor Shotaro Aso's research lab specializes in critical care medicine and intensive care outcomes, with a focus on advanced circulatory support therapies such as venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) and intraaortic balloon pumping in patients with cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest. The lab investigates pharmacological interventions in acute respiratory failure, including cyclosporine A in acute exacerbation of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and employs advanced statistical methods—such as instrumental variable analysis—to evaluate treatment effects in observational data. A central theme is improving survival and weaning outcomes in high-risk critically ill patients using large-scale national databases and rigorous methodological approaches.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
The present nationwide study showed high mortality rates in patients who received VA-ECMO, and in particular in patients with cardiogenic shock and in patients with cardiac arrest. Weaning from VA-ECMO did not necessarily result in survival. Further studies are warranted to clarify risk-adjusted mortality of VA-ECMO using more detailed data on patient background.
In a national inpatient database, intraaortic balloon pumping combined with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was associated with improved mortality and successful weaning from venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Randomized controlled studies are required to confirm the mortality-reducing effect of intraaortic balloon pumping combined with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Therapeutic/care management, level III.
Cyclosporine A did not reduce in-hospital mortality in patients with AE-IPF. Randomised controlled studies are required to confirm this apparent lack of effect of cyclosporine A in AE-IPF.
In theory, instrumental variable (IV) analysis, like randomized controlled trials, can adjust for measured and unmeasured confounders. IVs need to meet the following three conditions: (i) they are associated with treatment assignment; (ii) they have no direct association with the outcome and are associated with the outcome exclusively through the treatment; and (iii) they are not associated with any of the measured confounders. Studies have presented several types of IV, including preferences of
Background: Dexmedetomidine has a mild sedative effect and may reduce mortality in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients. However, few studies have examined the effects of dexmedetomidine in patients with sepsis who require mechanical ventilation. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dexmedetomidine and mortality in patients with sepsis requiring mechanical ventilation, using a nationwide inpatient database in Japan. Methods: Using the Diagnosis Procedure Co
In a Japanese inpatient database study analyzing outcomes from patients with acute exacerbation idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis receiving systemic glucocorticoids, the addition of cyclophosphamide was not associated with improved in-hospital mortality and ventilator-free days.
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