Exertional Compartment Syndrome Strategies for Evaluation and Management.

Objective: The exertional compartment syndrome (ECS) is often a delayed diagnosis. Compartment pressure measurements (CPM) confirm the diagnosis. Herein we present our algorithm for the evaluation and management (E&M) of ECS.

Mass cytometry analysis reveals altered immune profiles in patients with coronary artery disease.

Objective: The importance of inflammation in atherosclerosis is well accepted, but the role of the adaptive immune system is not yet fully understood. To further explore this, we assessed the circulating immune cell profile of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) to identify discriminatory features by mass cytometry.

Methods: Mass cytometry was performed on patient samples from the BioHEART-CT study, gated to detect 82 distinct cell subsets.

Lipidomics Profiling and Risk of Coronary Artery Disease in the BioHEART-CT Discovery Cohort.

The current coronary artery disease (CAD) risk scores for predicting future cardiovascular events rely on well-recognized traditional cardiovascular risk factors derived from a population level but often fail individuals, with up to 25% of first-time heart attack patients having no risk factors. Non-invasive imaging technology can directly measure coronary artery plaque burden. With an advanced lipidomic measurement methodology, for the first time, we aim to identify lipidomic biomarkers to enable intervention before cardiovascular events.

Overcoming cohort heterogeneity for the prediction of subclinical cardiovascular disease risk.

Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality with an estimated half a billion people affected in 2019. However, detecting signals between specific pathophysiology and coronary plaque phenotypes using complex multi-omic discovery datasets remains challenging due to the diversity of individuals and their risk factors. Given the complex cohort heterogeneity present in those with coronary artery disease (CAD), we illustrate several different methods, both knowledge-guided and data-driven approaches, for identifying subcohorts of individuals with subclinical CAD and distinct metabolomic signatures.

Third-party CMV- and EBV-specific T-cells for first viral reactivation after allogeneic stem cell transplant.

Virus-specific T-cells (VSTs) from third-party donors mediate short- and long-term antiviral effects in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients with relapsed or refractory viral infections. We investigated early administration of third-party VSTs, together with antiviral therapy in patients requiring treatment for first cytomegalovirus (CMV) or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Thirty HSCT patients were treated with 1 to 4 VST infusions (2 × 107 cells/m2; CMV n=27, EBV n=3) at a median of 4 days after initiation of antiviral treatment.

treekoR: identifying cellular-to-phenotype associations by elucidating hierarchical relationships in high-dimensional cytometry data.

High-throughput single-cell technologies hold the promise of discovering novel cellular relationships with disease. However, analytical workflows constructed for these technologies to associate cell proportions with disease often employ unsupervised clustering techniques that overlook the valuable hierarchical structures that have been used to define cell types. We present treekoR, a framework that empirically recapitulates these structures, facilitating multiple quantifications and comparisons of cell type proportions.

Metabolic Signatures in Coronary Artery Disease: Results from the BioHEART-CT Study.

Despite effective prevention programs targeting cardiovascular risk factors, coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death. Novel biomarkers are needed for improved risk stratification and primary prevention. To assess for independent associations between plasma metabolites and specific CAD plaque phenotypes we performed liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry on plasma from 1002 patients in the BioHEART-CT study.

Bioinformatics Analysis of Chicken miRNAs Associated with Monocyte to Macrophage Differentiation and Subsequent IFNγ Stimulated Activation.

Background: The goal of this project was to characterize the molecular and cellular roles of various gene targets regulated by miRNAs identified in differentiating and stimulating avian macrophages. Once a monocyte arrives to a site of infection, local signals induce a redistribution of resources into a macrophage phenotype. This may involve upregulating pathogen pattern recognizing receptors and increasing the efficiency of lysosomal biogenesis, while simultaneously recycling components involved in circulatory migration and leukocyte extravasation.

Impact from point-of-care devices on emergency department patient processing times compared with central laboratory testing of blood samples: a randomised controlled trial and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Objective: To determine if time to disposition decisions for emergency department (ED) patients can be reduced when blood tests are processed using point-of-care (POC) devices and to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of POC compared with laboratory testing.

Methods: This randomised trial enrolled adults suspected of an acute coronary syndrome or presenting with conditions considered to only require blood tests available by POC. Participants were randomised to have blood tests processed by POC or laboratory.

Causes of constraints to patient flow in emergency departments: a comparison between staff perceptions and findings from the Patient Flow Study.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were: (i) to survey staff perceptions of causes of delay in patients' journeys through the ED; (ii) to identify and analyse key constraints to patient flow using real-time diagnostic/decision support software (Patient Flow Study); and (iii) to assess the correlation between staff perceptions and data from the Patient Flow Study.

Methods: ED and non-ED staff were surveyed prior to the Patient Flow Study. The survey involved ranking the likely reasons for delay at three set points after triage (160, 320 and 480 min).

Deck the halls with rows of trolleys...emergency departments are busiest over the Christmas holiday period.

Objectives: To assess changes in emergency department (ED) activity and visits to EDs that could have been managed by general practitioners (GP-type visits) in the Christmas and New Year holiday period compared with the rest of the year.

Design And Setting: Retrospective descriptive and analytical comparison of New South Wales ED visits in the holiday period and the rest of the year; data were obtained from the NSW Emergency Department Data Collection database for the period 2001 to early 2006. More detailed information in 2005-2006 allowed GP-type visits to be assessed in this period only.

Acute symptomatic pulmonary embolism associated with long haul air travel to Sydney.

The association between air travel and pulmonary embolism (PE) is recognized, but the absolute risk has not been quantified. Due to its geographical isolation, more than 50% of international travelers arrive at Sydney airport after a flight of'at least 9 hours. Patients who become acutely unwell upon disembarkation are taken to one of two hospitals.

The impact of trauma case management on patient outcomes.

Background: Previous investigations demonstrate that nursing case management in the acute care setting improves patient outcomes. However, these findings provide limited information specific to trauma patients.

Method: The effect of trauma case management (TCM) was measured using practice-specific variables such as in-hospital complications, missed injury rates, and length of stay.