Center-Related Variation in Cardiac Stress Testing in the 18 Months Prior to Renal Transplantation.

This analysis of data from US Renal Data System examined patient- and center-level variables for patients who did and did not undergo cardiac stress testing to determine which were associated with stress testing 18 months prior to renal transplantation.

The association of preoperative cardiac stress testing with 30-day death and myocardial infarction among patients undergoing kidney transplantation.

Background: Although periodic cardiac stress testing is commonly used to screen patients on the waiting list for kidney transplantation for ischemic heart disease, there is little evidence to support this practice. We hypothesized that cardiac stress testing in the 18 months prior to kidney transplantation would not reduce postoperative death, total myocardial infarction (MI) or fatal MI.

Methods: Using the United States Renal Data System, we identified ESRD patients ≥40 years old with primary Medicare insurance who received their first kidney transplant between 7/1/2006 and 11/31/2013.

Patients Commonly Believe Their Heart Failure Hospitalizations Are Preventable and Identify Worsening Heart Failure, Nonadherence, and a Knowledge Gap as Reasons for Admission.

Background: There are few data describing patient-identified precipitants of heart failure (HF) hospitalization. We hypothesized a patient's perception of reason for or preventability of an admission may be related to 30-day readmission rates.

Methods And Results: Ninety-four patients admitted with decompensated HF from July 2014 to March 2015 completed a brief questionnaire regarding circumstances leading to admission.

Outcomes and predictors of recovery in acute-onset cardiomyopathy: A single-center experience of patients undergoing endomyocardial biopsy for new heart failure.

Background: About one-third of patients with unexplained acute-onset heart failure (HF) recover left ventricular (LV) function; however, characterization of these patients in the setting of contemporary HF therapies is limited. We aim to describe baseline characteristics and predictors of recovery in patients with acute-onset cardiomyopathy.

Methods: We previously described 851 patients with unexplained HF undergoing endomyocardial biopsy.

Automatic scoring of medical students' clinical notes to monitor learning in the workplace.

Background: Educators need efficient and effective means to track students' clinical experiences to monitor their progress toward competency goals.

Aim: To validate an electronic scoring system that rates medical students' clinical notes for relevance to priority topics of the medical school curriculum.

Method: The Vanderbilt School of Medicine Core Clinical Curriculum enumerates 25 core clinical problems (CCP) that graduating medical students must understand.

Development and validation of the General Health Numeracy Test (GHNT).

Objective: Because existing numeracy measures may not optimally assess 'health numeracy', we developed and validated the General Health Numeracy Test (GHNT).

Methods: An iterative pilot testing process produced 21 GHNT items that were administered to 205 patients along with validated measures of health literacy, objective numeracy, subjective numeracy, and medication understanding and medication adherence. We assessed the GHNT's internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and explored its predictive validity.

Filamin A mutant lacking actin-binding domain restores mu opioid receptor regulation in melanoma cells.

We have previously reported that the protein filamin A (FLA) binds to the carboxyl tail of the mu opioid receptor (MOPr). Using human melanoma cells, which do not express filamin A, we showed that receptor down-regulation, functional desensitization and trafficking are deficient in the absence of FLA (Onoprishvili et al. Mol Pharmacol 64:1092-1100, 2003).