Dr. Biljana Kuzmanovska: “Point of Care in the ICU”

Abstract

Point of Care (POC) refers to medical laboratory testing or other diagnostic tools that are performed outside of laboratory settings, such as bedside and near-patient settings. POC is any medical test that is performed ad hock and provides quick results. POC can be used in community, at home, in ambulances, during patient transport, in emergency rooms and in intensive care units. There is growing need of POC in intensive care units (ICU). Time is of essence for diagnosis and treatment of critically ill patients hospitalized in ICU. These patients often have affection of multiple organ systems, and the complexity of their pathology requires multiple and often repeated diagnostic procedures, which can be time consuming. POC in ICU means fast diagnosis of certain conditions in critically ill patients and enables timely clinical decision making. Very useful POC test in ICU are coagulation tests (thromboelastography TEG), blood gases analysis, rapid microbiological tests. Bedside ultrasound is also a point of care diagnostic tool in ICU, used in detecting changes in internal organs, bleeding, pleural effusion etc., even accessing the state of hemodynamics. POC ultrasound is especially useful in unstable patients that are not fit for transport to radiology department for CT or MRI. In conclusion, Point of Care is diagnostic tools concept, which is particularly useful in care for critically ill patients, enabling fast clinical decision making.

Curriculum Vitae

Dr Biljana Kuzmanovska was born 1972 in Skopje, Macedonia. She is anesthesiologist who obtained her medical degree and specialization in Anesthesiology from Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, N. Macedonia. She defended Master and PhD Thesis in the field of Anesthesiology at the same university. Dr Kuzmanovska is author of several scientific publications, coauthor of three books in the field of anesthesiology and reanimation, and participant in several international multi centric scientific clinical trials as Principal Investigator for her clinical center. The results of some of the trials are published, and others are ongoing. She is contributor to the following published clinical trials:

• Effect of Intraoperative High Positive End-Expiratory Pressure (PEEP) With Recruitment Maneuvers vs Low PEEP on Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in Obese Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial
• Writing Committee for the PROBESE Collaborative Group of the PROtective VEntilation Network (PROVEnet) for the Clinical Trial Network of the European Society of Anaesthesiology et al. JAMA. 2019.
• Post-anaesthesia Pulmonary Complications After Use of Muscle Relaxants (POPULAR): A Multicentre, Prospective Observational Study
• Eva Kirmeier et al. Lancet Respir Med. 2019 Feb.
• Rivaroxaban for Thromboprophylaxis After Hospitalization for Medical Illness
• Alex C Spyropoulos et al. N Engl J Med. 2018.

Dr. Kuzmanovska was invited speaker to several international scientific conferences and congresses in the field of anesthesiology and intensive care. She currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Medical Faculty, Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, N. Macedonia. Researchgate score: 26.71, h-index: 5.