Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Does Not Confirm Validity of the Craig's Test.

The Craig's test is a clinical assessment used to quantify femoral version. The validity of the Craig's test has been called into question due to instances where the test exhibits relatively poor correlation with three-dimensional imaging. Our study purpose was to use dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to indirectly assess the validity of the Craig's test.

Cystatin C is glucocorticoid responsive, directs recruitment of Trem2+ macrophages, and predicts failure of cancer immunotherapy.

Cystatin C (CyC), a secreted cysteine protease inhibitor, has unclear biological functions. Many patients exhibit elevated plasma CyC levels, particularly during glucocorticoid (GC) treatment. This study links GCs with CyC's systemic regulation by utilizing genome-wide association and structural equation modeling to determine CyC production genetics in the UK Biobank.

Translating Pressure Into Practice: Operational Characteristics of Ambulatory Hemodynamic Monitoring Program in the United States.

Background: Ambulatory hemodynamic monitoring (AHM) using an implantable pulmonary artery pressure sensor (CardioMEMS) is effective in improving outcomes for patients with heart failure. The operations of AHM programs are crucial to clinical efficacy of AHM yet have not been described.

Methods And Results: An anonymous, voluntary, web-based survey was developed and emailed to clinicians at AHM centers in the United States.

Ambulatory Pulmonary Artery Pressures After Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair of the Mitral Valve in Patients With Heart Failure and Mitral Regurgitation.

The objective of this study was to assess ambulatory hemodynamics after transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) of the mitral valve. Pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) measurements from implanted sensors were collected through a remote monitoring database and linked to Medicare fee-for-service claims data. Among patients with linked data, those undergoing TEER were included if the ambulatory PAP monitor was implanted ≥3 months before TEER and ≥3 months of PAP data after TEER were available.

The general practice nurse workforce: Estimating future supply.

Background: General practice nurses (GPNs) form an important component of the general practice workforce in Australia. Despite this, there is limited research on estimating their future supply. This study aims to estimate the future GPN supply and the impact of a range of policy and non-policy changes on workforce balances.

An overview of the general practice nurse workforce in Australia, 2012-15.

Several surveys of the general practice nurse (GPN) workforce have been undertaken in Australia over the last decade, but they have limitations, which mean that the workforce is not well-understood. The aim of this study is to describe the profile of the GPN workforce using the dataset available through the Australia Health Practitioner Registration Agency and to explore how it differs from the non-GPN nursing workforce, and if this workforce is changing over time. Data from labour force surveys conducted from 2012 to 2015 were used.

Left Atrial Diastolic Dysfunction And Pulmonary Venous Hypertension In Atrial Fibrillation: Clinical, Hemodynamic And Echocardiographic Characteristics.

Background: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction has been well described; diastolic abnormalities of the LA are less frequently recognized and poorly understood.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical, hemodynamic and echocardiographic features of left atrial (LA) diastolic dysfunction.

Methods: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), severe LA enlargement, and pulmonary venous hypertension (PVH, Group 1) were compared to patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), normal LA size and sinus rhythm (Group 2).

How evidence-based workforce planning in Australia is informing policy development in the retention and distribution of the health workforce.

Background: Australia's health workforce is facing significant challenges now and into the future. Health Workforce Australia (HWA) was established by the Council of Australian Governments as the national agency to progress health workforce reform to address the challenges of providing a skilled, innovative and flexible health workforce in Australia. HWA developed Australia's first major, long-term national workforce projections for doctors, nurses and midwives over a planning horizon to 2025 (called Health Workforce 2025; HW 2025), which provided a national platform for developing policies to help ensure Australia's health workforce meets the community's needs.

Lessons in redesigning a quality program across the continuum.

The Kaiser Permanente North East Bay service area redesigned its quality program beginning in 1995, to better mirror how care was provided across the continuum. The old model had evolved over time, was based on departmental structure, and did not focus on all patient populations. The purpose of this article is to describe the redesign process, the quality model implemented, and future directions, with the hope that the lessons learned will provide other healthcare quality professionals some of the knowledge needed and, perhaps, the courage to "design" their quality programs.

Effects of metoprolol CR/XL on mortality and hospitalizations in patients with heart failure and history of hypertension.

Background: We describe the effect of controlled-release/extended-release (CR/XL) metoprolol succinate once daily on mortality and hospitalizations among patients with a history of hypertension complicated by chronic systolic heart failure.

Methods And Results: We enrolled 3,991 patients with chronic heart failure of New York Heart Association functional class II-IV with an ejection fraction of < or = 0.40, stabilized with optimum standard therapy, in a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled study.

An audit of case-load and work-load in a regional plastic surgery unit using intermediate equivalents: a one-year study.

Until March 1992, when it was transferred to St John's Hospital, Livingston, the Regional Plastic Surgery Service for Adults in the Lothians was based at Bangour, West Lothian. Plastic surgery for children continues to be provided by the same staff but at the Sick Children's Hospital in Edinburgh. With increasing interest in improving efficiency of care and audits several ways in which assessments can be done have been suggested.

Coronary artery-right ventricular fistula in a heart transplant patient.

Routine coronary angiography 2 years after heart transplantation in a 48-year-old patient revealed a fistula from a septal branch of the left anterior descending artery to the right ventricle. This finding was not present at coronary angiography 1 year before. This coronary-ventricular fistula is most probably the result of repeated endomyocardial biopsies.