Publications by authors named "Christenson J"

Maternal immune activation (MIA), a maternal stressor, increases risk for neuropsychiatric diseases, such as Major Depressive Disorder in offspring. MIA of toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) initiates an immune response in mother and fetuses in a sex-selective manner. The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), a brain region that is sexually dimorphic and regulates hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress responses, have been tied to stress-related behaviors (i.

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Background: Previous studies have reported race-based health disparities in North America. It is unknown if emergency medical service (EMS) treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) varies based on race. We sought to compare markers of resuscitation intensity among different racial groups.

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  • The introduction of high-sensitivity troponin (hsTnT) testing for emergency department patients with cardiac chest pain resulted in a significant reduction in length of stay, decreasing from approximately 464 minutes to 285 minutes.
  • The study included over 5,500 patients with cardiac chest pain, revealing a very low rate of missed major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at just 0.2%, indicating the safety of the new testing method.
  • No changes were observed in admission rates for both cardiac (around 24%) and noncardiac chest pain patients, while noncardiac cases remained stable in length of stay as well, underscoring the specific impact of hsTnT testing on cardiac chest pain
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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a global health problem affecting approximately 4.4 million individuals yearly. OHCA has a poor survival rate, specifically when unwitnessed (accounting for up to 75% of cases).

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  • TDO2 is expressed at higher levels than IDO1 in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
  • Knocking down TDO2 can trigger an increase in IDO1 as a compensatory response.
  • A new dual inhibitor targeting both TDO2 and IDO1 reduces tryptophan catabolism, inhibits anchorage-independent survival, and decreases invasive capabilities of cancer cells.
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  • The study aimed to analyze long-term outcomes in survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) based on the cause of the arrest, particularly focusing on reversible vs. non-reversible etiologies.
  • Researchers examined data from the British Columbia Cardiac Arrest registry, categorizing patients by their OHCA cause and measuring outcomes like mortality and rehospitalization over three years.
  • Results indicated that survivors with reversible ischemic causes had the best outcomes, while those with reversible non-ischemic causes experienced the worst outcomes, highlighting the importance of identifying the underlying cause of cardiac arrests.
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  • The study aimed to explore the factors that influence how willing people are to continuously use wearable devices that could detect out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) and alert emergency services, especially as most cases are unwitnessed.
  • Researchers conducted an online survey from October 2022 to June 2023, collecting responses from 359 participants who showed a preference for hand-based devices, valued comfort, cost, and size, and indicated a greater willingness to use these devices at higher perceived risk levels.
  • The findings suggest that people are open to wearing these devices for OHCA detection, and enhancing their willingness involves not just understanding user preferences, but also raising awareness about the urgency of OHCA situations
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  • The study aimed to compare the outcomes of intravenous (IV) vascular access versus humeral-intraosseous (IO) access during out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) resuscitation by analyzing data from the BC Cardiac Arrest Registry.
  • Results from 2,112 cases showed that an IV-first approach led to better neurological outcomes and survival rates at hospital discharge compared to humeral-IO, particularly in patients with a shockable initial cardiac rhythm.
  • The findings suggest that prioritizing IV access during resuscitation is more effective than humeral-IO access, especially for those with a shockable rhythm, but not necessarily for non-shockable cases.
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Central nervous system histoplasmosis is a serious complication of a common endemic mycosis, but it is rare in immunocompetent hosts. SARS-CoV-2 has introduced significant challenges into the healthcare setting with overlapping clinical presentations that may delay the diagnosis of alternative conditions. Additionally, it may lead to immune dysregulation and increase the risk for secondary infections, including invasive fungal diseases.

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  • Clinicians often rely on historical non-prescription drug use when making decisions about prognosis in cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), but outcomes related to this factor have not been thoroughly investigated.
  • In a study of 18,426 cases, 2,171 were identified as associated with non-prescription drug use, which typically occurred in younger patients during nighttime and showed different clinical patterns compared to other OHCA cases.
  • While initial findings suggested that DA-OHCA might lead to better survival and neurological outcomes, adjusted analyses did not support a significant association, although there was a positive link to the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).
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Background: In the prehospital tranexamic acid (TXA) for traumatic brain injury (TBI) trial, TXA administered within 2 hours of injury in the out-of-hospital setting did not reduce mortality in all patients with moderate/severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). We examined the association between TXA dosing arms, neurologic outcome, and mortality in patients with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on computed tomography (CT).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the Prehospital Tranexamic Acid for TBI Trial ( ClinicalTrials.

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Background: () is an unusual cause of osteomyelitis. Infection may develop following open trauma, intravenous drug abuse, or in the presence of hardware, but osteoarticular infections outside of this context are atypical in the absence of immunodeficiency. Rarely, a chronic indolent infection may develop after open trauma with disease recurrence years after the initial injury.

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  • * Over a year, participants showed significant improvements in accessing opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and engaging in addiction services, with follow-up completion rates around 40%.
  • * The outreach program was found to be helpful, as patients reported increased rates of treatment and support for housing, indicating the program's positive impact on their recovery.
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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major health problem, with a poor survival rate of 2-11%. For the roughly 75% of OHCAs that are unwitnessed, survival is approximately 2-4.4%, as there are no bystanders present to provide life-saving interventions and alert Emergency Medical Services.

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  • Extreme heat significantly increases the incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), particularly when temperatures exceed 25 °C.
  • In a study of EMS-assessed OHCAs in British Columbia during warm seasons, results showed that the relative risk for OHCA incidence was notably higher on extremely hot days.
  • Patients experiencing OHCA during heatwave conditions had lower survival rates and worse neurological outcomes at hospital discharge compared to those during non-heatwave periods.
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  • Multiple jurisdictions have seen a rise in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases, sparking an investigation into the role of drug-associated cardiac arrests (DA-OHCA) and their impact on treatment by emergency medical services (EMS).
  • An analysis of a cardiac arrest registry from 2016 to 2022 revealed that DA-OHCA cases represented 11% of those treated by EMS, with a notable increase in both DA-OHCA and overall OHCA incidences during this period.
  • The study concluded that while DA-OHCA cases have increased significantly, they still account for a smaller fraction of the overall rise in OHCA cases, and individuals with DA-OHCA have a higher likelihood of receiving
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Clinical networks (CNs) can promote innovation and collaboration across providers and stakeholders. However, little is known about the structure and operations of CNs, particularly in emergency care. As Canada advances learning health systems (LHSs), foundational research is essential to enable future comparisons across CNs to identify those that contribute to positive system change.

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Background: The prognostic association between dysnatremia and outcomes in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is not well understood. Given hypernatremia is associated with poor outcomes in critical illness and hyponatremia may exacerbate cerebral edema, we hypothesized that dysnatremia on OHCA hospital admission would be associated with worse neurological outcomes.

Methods: We studied adults (≥19 years) with non-traumatic OHCA between 2009 and 2016 who were enrolled in the British Columbia Cardiac Arrest Registry and survived to hospital admission at 2 quaternary urban hospitals.

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  • The study investigates the availability and accessibility of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in four major regions of British Columbia (BC) to improve outcomes for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA).
  • It analyzed data from 879 operational AEDs and 9333 EMS-treated OHCAs over five years, measuring factors like weekly accessible AED-hours per 100,000 population and the proximity of AEDs to OHCAs.
  • Results showed significant differences in AED access across regions, indicating a need for better strategic placement of AEDs to enhance community preparedness for cardiac emergencies.
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Background: Few studies have measured ventilation during early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before advanced airway placement. Resuscitation guidelines recommend pauses after every 30 chest compressions to deliver ventilations. The effectiveness of bag-valve-mask ventilation delivered during the pause in chest compressions is unknown.

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Aim: Humeral and tibial intraosseous (IO) vascular access can deliver resuscitative medications for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), however the optimal site is unclear. We examined the association between IO tibia vs. humerus as the first-attempted vascular access site with OHCA outcomes.

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Background: Advances in vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) technologies may enable drone-like crewed air ambulances to rapidly respond to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in urban areas. We estimated the impact of incorporating VTOL air ambulances on OHCA response intervals in two large urban centres in France and Canada.

Methods: We included adult OHCAs occurring between Jan.

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Background: British Columbia 8-1-1 callers who are advised by a nurse to seek urgent medical care can be referred to virtual physicians (VPs) for supplemental assessment and advice. Prior research indicates callers' subsequent health service use may diverge from VP advice. We sought to 1) estimate concordance between VP advice and subsequent health service use, and 2) identify factors associated with concordance to understand potential drivers of discordant cases.

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Objectives: Many emergency department (ED) patients with opioid use disorder are candidates for home buprenorphine/naloxone initiation with to-go packs. We studied patient opinions and acceptance of buprenorphine/naloxone to-go packs, and factors associated with their acceptance.

Methods: We identified patients at two urban EDs in British Columbia who met opioid use disorder criteria, were not presently on opioid agonist therapy and not in active withdrawal.

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