Stakeholders' perspectives on capturing societal cost savings from a quality improvement initiative: A qualitative study.

Background: Besides improving the quality of care, quality improvement initiatives often also intend to produce cost savings. An example is prehabilitation, which can reduce complication rates and the length of stay in the hospital. However, the process from utilization reductions to actual societal cost savings remains uncertain in practice.

[Blood culture utilization and its indications in emergency departments; time for change?].

Objective: To gain insight into the blood culture (BC) utilization in emergency departments (EDs) and to identify differences in the indications for BC collection.

Design: Retrospective study METHOD: Data were collected in 11 EDs for 2018, 2019, and 2020. Indications for blood culture collection were identified in from the hospital protocols.

Towards effective CAIX-targeted radionuclide and checkpoint inhibition combination therapy for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are routinely used in advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, a substantial group of patients does not respond to ICI therapy. Radiation is a promising approach to increase ICI response rates since it can generate anti-tumor immunity.

Improved identification of left atrial enlargement in patients with obesity.

Accurate standardization of left atrium volume (LAV) in patients with obesity is challenging. The aim of this study was to investigate and to examine the relation between LAV indexed to height and left atrial function in patients with moderate to severe obesity. Echocardiograms of patients with moderate to severe obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 35 kg/m) without known cardiac disease were analyzed.

Association between epicardial adipose tissue and cardiac dysfunction in subjects with severe obesity.

Aim: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) plays a role in obesity-related heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. However, the association of EAT thickness with the development of cardiac dysfunction in subjects with severe obesity without known cardiovascular disease is unclear. The aim of this study was to determine the association between EAT thickness and cardiac dysfunction and describe the potential value of EAT as an early marker of cardiac dysfunction.