A posterior pericardial chest tube is associated with reduced incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery: A propensity score-matched study.

Objective: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is a common complication after cardiac surgery that is associated with other adverse outcomes. Recent studies have shown that drainage of pericardial effusion by a posterior pericardial incision reduces the incidence of POAF. An alternative approach is a chest tube placed posteriorly in the pericardium.

Vortioxetine in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder Among Working Patients in Routine Clinical Practice: An Analysis of a Post-Marketing Surveillance Study in South Korea.

Background: Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) experience depressive symptoms such as anhedonia as well as cognitive dysfunction which can subsequently impair their work performance.

Purpose: To assess the effectiveness and safety of vortioxetine in working patients with MDD in South Korea.

Patients And Methods: This was a subgroup analysis of a prospective, multicenter, non-interventional, non-comparative post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study.

Retrograde cerebral perfusion reduces embolic and watershed lesions after acute type a aortic dissection repair with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

Background: To assess whether retrograde cerebral perfusion reduces neurological injury and mortality in patients undergoing surgery for acute type A aortic dissection.

Methods: Single-center, retrospective, observational study including all patients undergoing acute type A aortic dissection repair with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest between January 1998 and December 2022 with or without the adjunct of retrograde cerebral perfusion. 515 patients were included: 257 patients with hypothermic circulatory arrest only and 258 patients with hypothermic circulatory arrest and retrograde cerebral perfusion.

Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Economic Evaluations of Orphan Drugs in Rare Diseases: An Umbrella Review.

Background And Objectives: There are significant challenges when obtaining clinical and economic evidence for health technology assessments of rare diseases. Many of them have been highlighted in previous systematic reviews but they have not been summarised in a comprehensive manner. For all stakeholders working with rare diseases, it is important to be aware and understand these issues.

Assessing Reliability and Validity of the Oxford Depression Questionnaire (ODQ) in a Japanese Clinical Population.

Purpose: Originally developed in English, the Oxford Depression Questionnaire (ODQ) is a patient-reported scale specifically developed for assessing emotional blunting in people with major depressive disorder (MDD). We aimed to examine the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the ODQ.

Patients And Methods: This was a prespecified analysis of a prospective, 24-week, multicenter, observational cohort study of employed Japanese outpatients with MDD initiating treatment with vortioxetine according to the Japanese label (JRCT1031210200).

The Long-Term Mortality Effects Associated with Exposure to Particles and NO in the Malmö Diet and Cancer Cohort.

In this study, the long-term mortality effects associated with exposure to PM (particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to 10 µm), PM (particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to 2.5 µm), BC (black carbon), and NO (nitrogen oxides) were analyzed in a cohort in southern Sweden during the period from 1991 to 2016. Participants (those residing in Malmö, Sweden, born between 1923 and 1950) were randomly recruited from 1991 to 1996.

Clinical Impression of Severity Index for Parkinson's Disease and Its Association to Health-Related Quality of Life.

Background: Clinical Impression of Severity Index for Parkinson's Disease (CISI-PD) is a simple tool that can easily be used in clinical practice. Few studies have investigated the relationship between health-related quality of life and the CISI-PD.

Objective: To analyze the association of CISI-PD scores with those of generic (EQ-5D-5L) and Parkinson's disease (PD) disease-specific (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-8 [PDQ-8]) health-related quality of life assessments.

Effectiveness of vortioxetine in patients with major depressive disorder and comorbid Alzheimer's disease in routine clinical practice: An analysis of a post-marketing surveillance study in South Korea.

Background: Vortioxetine has demonstrated procognitive effects in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). We assessed the effectiveness and safety of vortioxetine in a cohort of patients with MDD and comorbid Alzheimer's disease participating in a large post-marketing surveillance study in South Korea.

Methods: Subgroup analysis of a 6-month, prospective, multicenter, non-interventional cohort study in outpatients with MDD with a pre-baseline diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease receiving vortioxetine in routine care settings ( = 207).

Impact of national holidays and weekends on incidence of acute type A aortic dissection repair.

Previous studies have demonstrated that environmental and temporal factors may affect the incidence of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). Here, we aimed to investigate the hypothesis that national holidays and weekends influence the incidence of surgery for ATAAD. For the period 1st of January 2005 until 31st of December 2019, we investigated a hypothesised effect of (country-specific) national holidays and weekends on the frequency of 2995 surgical repairs for ATAAD at 10 Nordic cities included in the Nordic Consortium for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection (NORCAAD) collaboration.

High risk of developing dementia in Parkinson's disease: a Swedish registry-based study.

Dementia have substantial negative impact on the affected individual, their care partners and society. Persons living with Parkinson's disease (PwP) are also to a large extent living with dementia. The aim of this study is to estimate time to dementia in PD using data from a large quality register with access to baseline clinical and patient reported data merged with Swedish national health registries.

Perinatal Health Inequalities in the Industrial Region of Estonia: A Birth Registry-Based Study.

Despite the increasing number of studies on industrially contaminated sites (ICS) and their health effects, there are very few studies on perinatal health outcomes in ICSs. In the present study, we examined the perinatal health inequalities by comparing adverse birth outcomes (ABOs) in the oil shale industry region of Ida-Viru County in Estonia with national-level figures and investigated the effects of maternal environmental and sociodemographic factors. Based on the 208,313 birth records from 2004-2018, Ida-Viru ICS has a birth weight 124.

Prenatal Exposure to Locally Emitted Air Pollutants Is Associated with Birth Weight: An Administrative Cohort Study from Southern Sweden.

While prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution has been shown to be associated with reduced birth weight, there is substantial heterogeneity across studies, and few epidemiological studies have utilized source-specific exposure data. The aim of the present study was, therefore, to investigate the associations between local, source-specific exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during pregnancy and birth weight.

Disease Progression in Multiple System Atrophy-Novel Modeling Framework and Predictive Factors.

Background: Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare and aggressive neurodegenerative disease that typically leads to death 6 to 10 years after symptom onset. The rapid evolution renders it crucial to understand the general disease progression and factors affecting the disease course.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to develop a novel disease-progression model to estimate a population-level MSA progression trajectory and predict patient-specific continuous disease stages describing the degree of progress into the disease.

Sensitivity to Change and Patient-Centricity of the Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale Items: A Data-Driven Analysis.

Background: The Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale (UMSARS) is a commonly used semiquantitative rating scale to assess symptoms and measure disease progression in multiple system atrophy (MSA). However, it is currently incompletely understood which UMSARS items are the most sensitive to change and most relevant to the patient.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess sensitivity to change and patient-centricity of single UMSARS items.

Impact of age at onset on symptom profiles, treatment characteristics and health-related quality of life in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is typically considered an age-related disease, but the age at disease onset can vary by decades between patients. Aging and aging-associated diseases can affect the movement system independently of PD, and advanced age has previously been proposed to be associated with a more severe PD phenotype with accelerated progression. In this work, we investigated how interactions between PD progression and aging affect a wide range of outcomes related to PD motor and nonmotor symptoms as well as Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and treatment characteristics.

Once after a full moon: acute type A aortic dissection and lunar phases.

Objectives: Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is a rare but severe condition, routinely treated with emergent cardiac surgery. Many surgeons have the notion that patients with ATAAD tend to come in clusters, but no studies have examined these observations. This investigation was undertaken to study the potential association between the lunar cycle and the incidence of ATAAD.

Air pollution and increased number of psychiatric emergency room visits: A case-crossover study for identifying susceptible groups.

Background: Ambient particulate matter is a leading risk factor for disease globally. Particulate matter 10 (PM) and particulate matter 2.5 (PM) are derived from different sources, including operating motor vehicles as well as from industrial activities.

Annual dementia incidence and monetary burden attributable to fine particulate matter (PM) exposure in Sweden.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias currently represent the fifth most common cause of death in the world, according to the World Health Organization, with a projected future increase as the proportion of the elderly in the population is growing. Air pollution has emerged as a plausible risk factor for AD, but studies estimating dementia cases attributable to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution and resulting monetary estimates are lacking.

Methods: We used data on average population-weighted exposure to ambient PM for the entire population of Sweden above 30 years of age.

Are self-reported and self-monitored adherence good proxies for reaching relevant plasma concentrations?: Experiences from a study of anti-depressants in healthy volunteers.

Background: The use of electronic-based devices to measure and to improve adherence of subjects in clinical trials is increasing. AiCure has developed a mobile technology that is claimed to provide visual confirmation of drug ingestion. While there is evidence suggesting that including such self-monitoring device in a study increases adherence, the quality of the data produced by the device may be questionable.

Local Contrasts in Concentration of Ambient Particulate Air Pollution (PM2.5) and Incidence of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia: Results from the Betula Cohort in Northern Sweden.

Exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) is emerging as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but existing studies are still limited and heterogeneous. We have previously studied the association between dementia (AD and vascular dementia) and PM2.