Very low serum IGF-1 levels are associated with vertebral fractures in adult males with beta-thalassemia major.

Purpose: Patients with beta-thalassemia major (BTM) often develop several endocrine disorders due to chronic iron overload. They are also prone to osteoporosis and vertebral fractures. Plasmatic insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels are often low in subjects with BTM, which origin is multifactorial.

Delabeling of Penicillin Allergy: Room for Improvement.

Background: Penicillin allergy labels have been shown to be associated with suboptimal treatment, negative health outcomes, and increased antibiotic resistance. Many inpatients claim to have penicillin allergy, but studies show that allergy can be disproved and the label removed in up to 90% of cases.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the proportion of patients with a penicillin allergy label in a Danish hospital and to classify patients according to the risk of having penicillin allergy in "no risk," low, and high risk.

Early Massive Fibrosis of a Single Extraocular Muscle Causing Severe Unilateral Euthyroid Graves' Ophthalmopathy in a Patient with Hypercholesterolemia Who Smokes.

Background: Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is an autoimmune manifestation of orbit affecting approximately 25% of patients with Graves' disease (GD). Autoreactive T cells involved in thyroid autoimmunity can recognize the thyroid-stimulating receptor (TSHr) expressed in orbital tissues of GO patients. Clinical manifestations of GO are rather different depending on the presence of some risk factors, such as smoking, hyperthyroidism duration, age, biological activity of anti-TSHr antibodies (TSH-R-Ab) and metabolic diseases.

Streptococcal species as a prognostic factor for mortality in patients with streptococcal bloodstream infections.

Purpose: Streptococcal bloodstream infections (BSIs) are common, yet prognostic factors are poorly investigated. We aimed to investigate the mortality according to streptococcal species and seasonal variation.

Methods: Patients with streptococcal BSIs from 2008 to 2017 in the Capital Region of Denmark were investigated, and data were crosslinked with nationwide registers for the identification of comorbidities.

Streptococcal infective endocarditis: clinical features and outcomes according to species.

Purpose: Infective endocarditis (IE) is frequently caused by streptococcal species, yet clinical features and mortality are poorly investigated. Our aim was to examine patients with streptococcal IE to describe clinical features and outcomes according to streptococcal species.

Methods: From 2002 to 2012, we investigated patients with IE admitted to two tertiary Danish heart centres.

A pre-post intervention study: Knowledge among parents about child infections and antibiotic use facilitated by maternal and child health nurses.

Aims: To investigate parent's knowledge and beliefs of common infections and antibiotics in children before and after an educational intervention provided by maternal and child health nurses. Second, to investigate sociodemographic differences in parent's knowledge before and following the intervention.

Design: A prospective pre-post intervention study.

SFARI genes and where to find them; modelling Autism Spectrum Disorder specific gene expression dysregulation with RNA-seq data.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have a strong, yet heterogeneous, genetic component. Among the various methods that are being developed to help reveal the underlying molecular aetiology of the disease one approach that is gaining popularity is the combination of gene expression and clinical genetic data, often using the SFARI-gene database, which comprises lists of curated genes considered to have causative roles in ASD when mutated in patients. We build a gene co-expression network to study the relationship between ASD-specific transcriptomic data and SFARI genes and then analyse it at different levels of granularity.

Attributable mortality of vancomycin resistance in ampicillin-resistant bacteremia in Denmark and the Netherlands: A matched cohort study.

Objective: To study whether replacement of nosocomial ampicillin-resistant (ARE) clones by vancomycin-resistant (VRE), belonging to the same genetic lineages, increases mortality in patients with bacteremia, and to evaluate whether any such increase is mediated by a delay in appropriate antibiotic therapy.

Design: Retrospective, matched-cohort study.

Setting: The study included 20 Dutch and Danish hospitals from 2009 to 2014.

Proposal for the use of echocardiography in bloodstream infections due to different streptococcal species.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) is diagnosed in 7-8% of streptococcal bloodstream infections (BSIs), yet it is unclear when to perform transthoracic (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) according to different streptococcal species. The aim of this sub-study was to propose a flowchart for the use of echocardiography in streptococcal BSIs.

Methods: In a population-based setup, we investigated all patients admitted with streptococcal BSIs and crosslinked data with nationwide registries to identify comorbidities and concomitant hospitalization with IE.

Native and foreign healthcare workers' knowledge of appropriate use of antibiotics: a prospective pre-post study in Danish nursing homes.

Aim: The aim was to determine the association between healthcare workers' (HCWs) country of birth and their knowledge of appropriate use of antibiotics, and whether the association changed after an educational intervention.

Background: Older residents in nursing homes have been recognized to receive excessively antibiotic treatments. HCWs often represent an important link between the older resident and the general practitioner prescribing the antibiotics, thus their knowledge of appropriate use of antibiotics is important.

Antibiotic use in pre-school children and the correlation with adult educational levels in two Nordic counties: a replication of a 20-year-old study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the change of antibiotic prescribing in pre-school children in the municipalities of the former Copenhagen County in Denmark and Skåne County in Sweden after 20 years of antibiotic stewardship effort. Furthermore, the variation in the prescribing of antibiotics between the municipalities and the correlation between municipal adult educational level and antibiotic prescribing in pre-school children was assessed.

Methods: In this ecological study, information on antibiotic prescribing in pre-school children was obtained from a central pharmacy settlement system in each Region.

Evidence That Baseline Levels of Low-Density Lipoproteins Cholesterol Affect the Clinical Response of Graves' Ophthalmopathy to Parenteral Corticosteroids.

Background: High dose intravenous glucocorticoid (ivGC) therapy is the first line treatment in moderate to severe Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and is associated with a clinical response rate ranging from 50% to 80%. Recently, a positive correlation between total cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDLc) with GO presentation and activity has been described.

Objective: We aimed at evaluating whether, in patients with moderate to severe active GO treated with ivGC therapy, cholesterol, and LDLc could represent valuable predictive factors of medium-term GO outcome.

Intravenous mecillinam compared with other β-lactams as targeted treatment for Escherichia coli or Klebsiella spp. bacteraemia with urinary tract focus.

Background: Mecillinam (amdinocillin) is active against Gram-negative bacteria. Clinical data on the efficacy of IV mecillinam for severe urinary tract infections is sparse.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of targeted IV mecillinam compared with other β-lactams for bacteraemia with Escherichia coli and Klebsiella spp.

Risk for infective endocarditis in bacteremia with Gram positive cocci.

Purpose: Infective endocarditis (IE) is a serious complication of bacteremia and is most often caused by Gram positive cocci. We investigated the prevalence of IE in patients where echocardiography was encouraged when bacteremia with Gram positive cocci was present.

Methods: The study included patients with Gram positive cocci bacteremia hospitalized at two Danish hospitals between March and December 2016.

Prevalence of Infective Endocarditis in Streptococcal Bloodstream Infections Is Dependent on Streptococcal Species.

Background: Streptococci frequently cause infective endocarditis (IE), yet the prevalence of IE in patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs) caused by different streptococcal species is unknown. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of IE at species level in patients with streptococcal BSIs.

Methods: We investigated all patients with streptococcal BSIs, from 2008 to 2017, in the Capital Region of Denmark.

Shorter Total Length of Stay After Intraperitoneal Fosfomycin, Metronidazole, and Molgramostim for Complicated Appendicitis: A Pivotal Quasi-Randomized Controlled Trial.

We aimed to investigate the difference in the total length of hospital stay (LOS) after intraperitoneal vs. intravenous antibiotic treatment in patients with complicated appendicitis. We conducted a quasi-randomized prospective clinical trial.

Does an Antimicrobial Incision Drape Prevent Intraoperative Contamination? A Randomized Controlled Trial of 1187 Patients.

Background: The risk of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI), a serious complication after arthroplasty, has not changed for years. Interventions such as eradication of Staphylococcus aureus and antibiotic bone cement are used to diminish infection risk but despite these efforts, the percentage of infection in TKA remains constant. Antimicrobial drapes have a dual action, acting both as a physical and antimicrobial barrier to counter bacterial contamination of the surgical wound.

The plasma pharmacokinetics of fosfomycin and metronidazole after intraperitoneal administration in patients undergoing appendectomy for uncomplicated appendicitis.

We aimed to investigate the pharmacokinetics of fosfomycin and metronidazole after intraperitoneal administration of the combination of fosfomycin and metronidazole in patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy for uncomplicated appendicitis. We included eight otherwise healthy men undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy. The trial treatment was administered at the end of the surgical procedure and left in the abdominal cavity.

Antibiotic-prescribing and antibiotic-resistance patterns among elderly citizens residing in two Nordic regions.

The objective of this study was to compare antibiotic-prescribing rates in 2016 and antibiotic-resistance rates in 2017 among citizens aged ≥85 years between the Capital Region in Denmark and the Skåne Region in Sweden, with regards to overall antibiotic use and antibiotics of choice for urinary tract infections (UTIs) and skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Inhabitants ≥85 year old on the date of prescription during 2016 and residing in the Capital Region or the Skåne Region were included for antibiotic-prescription analyses. Samples from 2017 from residents of the same regions who were ≥85 years old were included for antibiotic-resistance analyses.

Prevalence of Infective Endocarditis in Enterococcus faecalis Bacteremia.

Background: Enterococcus faecalis is the third most frequent cause of infective endocarditis (IE). Despite this, no systematic prospective echocardiography studies have examined the prevalence of IE in patients with E. faecalis bacteremia.

Bacterial colonization of seromas after breast cancer surgery with and without local steroid prophylaxis.

Background: Seroma formation is a frequent postoperative sequela after mastectomy for primary breast cancer. We investigated the role of bacterial colonization of seroma fluid with three different culture methods and the effect of intracavitary steroids.

Methods: The study group consisted of 212 patients scheduled for mastectomy from a previously performed double-blind randomized placebo-controlled intervention trial.

Prevalence of infective endocarditis in patients with positive blood cultures: a Danish nationwide study.

Aims: Increasing attention has been given to the risk of infective endocarditis (IE) in patients with certain blood stream infections (BSIs). Previous studies have been conducted on selected patient cohorts, yet unselected data are sparse. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of IE in BSIs with bacteria typically associated with IE.