Composite Hyaluronic Acid Gas-Entrapping Materials to Promote Wound Healing.

Tissue repair is often impaired in pathological states, highlighting the need for innovative wound-healing technologies. This study introduces composite hyaluronic acid gas-entrapping materials (GEMs) delivering carbon monoxide (CO) to promote wound healing in pigs. These composite materials facilitate burst release followed by sustained release of CO over 48 h.

Pregnancy-Related Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Conditions: Maternal Mortality Review Committees in 32 U.S. States, 2017 to 2019.

Background: Cardiomyopathy (CM) and other cardiovascular conditions (OCVs) are among the most frequent causes of pregnancy-related death in the United States.

Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to report demographic and clinical characteristics, preventability, contributing factors, and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC) recommendations among pregnancy-related deaths with underlying causes of CM, OCVs, and the 2 combined (cardiovascular conditions, CV).

Methods: We analyzed pregnancy-related death data from MMRCs in 32 states, occurring during 2017 to 2019, with MMRC-determined underlying causes of CVs.

Capsule release surgery temporarily reduces contracture in a rat elbow model of arthrofibrosis.

Elbow trauma can lead to joint contracture and reduced range of motion (ROM). Nonsurgical interventions can improve ROM, but in some cases capsule release surgery is required. Although surgery can improve ROM, it often does not restore full ROM.

Fatal Accidental Drowning in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, 1880-1939.

Drowning is currently the second leading cause of injury-related death for children 1-4 years of age in the United States and is the leading cause of death worldwide for boys ages 5-14 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as a public health threat and advocates for reducing drowning deaths by understanding geographical, cultural, and societal risk factors. To these three we added a fourth: historical studies.

Myocarditis in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, 1880-1939.

From 1920 to 1940 in Minnehaha County there was an apparent striking increase in the incidence of fatal myocarditis and chronic myocarditis. Based on an analysis of the interment records of the Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, word frequency studies in two prominent American medical journals and a general review of related medical publications, we explore this increase.

A New Method for Creating Impact-Induced Intra-Articular Fractures in a Rabbit Model Induces Severe Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis.

Objectives: The objective of this work was to develop a model of intra-articular fracture (IAF) in a rabbit and document the speed and severity of degenerative joint changes after fracture fixation.

Methods: With Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee approval, impact-induced IAFs were created in the distal tibia of 16 New Zealand White rabbits. Fractures were fixed with a plate and screws.

Pregnancy-Related Deaths by Hispanic Origin, United States, 2009-2018.

To describe pregnancy-related mortality among Hispanic people by place of origin (country or region of Hispanic ancestry), 2009-2018. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of pregnancy-related deaths among Hispanic people, stratified by place of origin (Central or South America, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Other and Unknown Hispanic), using Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System data, 2009-2018. We describe distributions of pregnancy-related deaths and pregnancy-related mortality ratios (number of pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births) overall and by place of origin for select demographic and clinical characteristics.

Development of a Pneumatic-Driven Fiber-Shaped Robot Scaffold for Use as a Complex 3D Dynamic Culture System.

Cells can sense and respond to different kinds of continuous mechanical strain in the human body. Mechanical stimulation needs to be included within the in vitro culture system to better mimic the existing complexity of in vivo biological systems. Existing commercial dynamic culture systems are generally two-dimensional (2D) which fail to mimic the three-dimensional (3D) native microenvironment.

Drivers of shared decision making in inpatient psychiatry: An exploratory survey of patients' and multi-disciplinary team members' perspectives.

Objective: To assess the prevalence and predictors of Shared Decision Making (SDM) in an adult, inpatient psychiatric setting.

Method: Multi-disciplinary clinician focus groups and patient pre-testing informed the development of a survey on 4 SDM and 11 factors hypothesized to interfere with SDM. The survey was administered to 89 adult inpatients (80% response rate) and their treatment team psychiatrists, nurses, and social workers (n = 338 ratings, 95% response rate).

County-Level Associations Between Pregnancy-Related Mortality Ratios and Contextual Sociospatial Indicators.

Objective: To characterize county-level differences in pregnancy-related mortality as a function of sociospatial indicators.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multilevel analysis of all pregnancy-related deaths and all live births with available ZIP code or county data in the Pregnancy Mortality Surveillance System during 2011-2016 for non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic (all races), and non-Hispanic White women aged 15-44 years. The exposures included 31 conceptually-grounded, county-specific sociospatial indicators that were collected from publicly available data sources and categorized into domains of demographic; general, reproductive, and behavioral health; social capital and support; and socioeconomic contexts.

Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2019.

Problem/condition: CDC conducts abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions and number of abortion-related deaths in the United States.

Period Covered: 2019.

Description Of System: Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies for 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City.

Urban-rural differences in pregnancy-related deaths, United States, 2011-2016.

Background: The US pregnancy-related mortality ratio has not improved over the past decade and includes striking disparities by race and ethnicity and by state. Understanding differences in pregnancy-related mortality across and within urban and rural areas can guide the development of interventions for preventing future pregnancy-related deaths.

Objective: We sought to compare pregnancy-related mortality across and within urban and rural counties by race and ethnicity and age.

Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2018.

Problem/condition: CDC conducts abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions and number of abortion-related deaths in the United States.

Period Covered: 2018.

Description Of System: Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies for 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City.

Using Supervised Learning Methods to Develop a List of Prescription Medications of Greatest Concern during Pregnancy.

Introduction: Women and healthcare providers lack adequate information on medication safety during pregnancy. While resources describing fetal risk are available, information is provided in multiple locations, often with subjective assessments of available data. We developed a list of medications of greatest concern during pregnancy to help healthcare providers counsel reproductive-aged and pregnant women.

Hospitalizations and Deaths Associated with EVALI.

Background: As of January 7, 2020, a total of 2558 hospitalized patients with nonfatal cases and 60 patients with fatal cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Methods: In a national study, we compared the characteristics of patients with fatal cases of EVALI with those of patients with nonfatal cases to improve the ability of clinicians to identify patients at increased risk for death from the condition. Health departments reported cases of EVALI to the CDC and included, when available, data from medical-record abstractions and patient interviews.

Abortion Surveillance - United States, 2016.

Problem/condition: Since 1969, CDC has conducted abortion surveillance to document the number and characteristics of women obtaining legal induced abortions in the United States.

Period Covered: 2016.

Description Of System: Each year, CDC requests abortion data from the central health agencies of 52 reporting areas (the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City).

Assessing the Burden of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Validation of ICD-9-CM Data, Florida, 2010-2011.

Context: On October 1, 2015, the United States transitioned from using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) to ICD-10-CM. Continuing to monitor the burden of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after the transition presently requires use of data dependent on ICD-9-CM coding to enable trend analyses. Little has been published on the validation of using ICD-9-CM codes to identify NAS cases.

Sulfasalazine Resolves Joint Stiffness in a Rabbit Model of Arthrofibrosis.

Joint stiffness due to fibrosis/capsule contracture is a seriously disabling complication of articular injury that surgical interventions often fail to completely resolve. Fibrosis/contracture is associated with the abnormal persistence of myofibroblasts, which over-produce and contract collagen matrices. We hypothesized that intra-articular therapy with drugs targeting myofibroblast survival (sulfasalazine), or collagen production (β-aminopropionitrile and cis-hydroxyproline), would reduce joint stiffness in a rabbit model of fibrosis/contracture.

Update: Characteristics of Patients in a National Outbreak of E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use-Associated Lung Injuries - United States, October 2019.

CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, state and local health departments, and other public health and clinical stakeholders are investigating a national outbreak of electronic-cigarette (e-cigarette), or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) (1). As of October 22, 2019, 49 states, the District of Columbia (DC), and the U.S.

Pregnant? Validity of the pregnancy checkbox on death certificates in four states, and characteristics associated with pregnancy checkbox errors.

Background: Maternal mortality rates in the United States appear to be increasing. One potential reason may be increased identification of maternal deaths after the addition of a pregnancy checkbox to the death certificate. In 2016, 4 state health departments (Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, and Ohio) implemented a pregnancy checkbox quality assurance pilot, with technical assistance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Update: Interim Guidance for Health Care Providers Evaluating and Caring for Patients with Suspected E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use Associated Lung Injury - United States, October 2019.

CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and public health and clinical partners are investigating a multistate outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), or vaping, products. In late August, CDC released recommendations for health care providers regarding e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI) based on limited data from the first reported cases (1,2). This report summarizes national surveillance data describing clinical features of more recently reported cases and interim recommendations based on these data for U.