Publications by authors named "Hope W"

Background: Patients with large pannus and ventral hernias may benefit from undergoing panniculectomy performed concurrently with open ventral hernia repair (VHR-PAN). However, there has been concerns related to increase surgical site occurrences when adding a panniculectomy. This study aims to evaluate outcomes of open VHR with and without panniculectomy using a large hernia specific database.

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  • The study assesses surgeon efficiency when transitioning from laparoscopic to robotic-assisted inguinal hernia repair across multiple centers and surgeons.
  • Experienced surgeons with no prior robotic experience participated, measuring efficiency by procedure durations and outcomes post-surgery.
  • The results show that surgeons improved their efficiency over time, especially in unilateral repairs during the mid-phase of the study, although variations existed between individuals and factors like practice patterns and external circumstances impacted the results.
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Objectives: The UK has recently established subscription-payment agreements for two antimicrobials: cefiderocol and ceftazidime-avibactam. This article summarises the novel value assessments that informed this process and lessons learned for future pricing and funding decisions.

Methods: The evaluations used decision modelling to predict population incremental net health effects (INHEs), informed by systematic reviews, evidence syntheses, national surveillance data and structured expert elicitation.

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Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is a key weapon against antimicrobial resistance. Diagnostic microbiology laboratories use one-size-fits-all testing approaches that are often imprecise, inefficient, and inequitable. Here, we report a personalised approach that adapts laboratory testing for urinary tract infection to maximise the number of appropriate treatment options for each patient.

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Background: The incidence of invasive fungal infections is increasing in immune-competent and immune-compromised patients. An examination of the recent literature related to the treatment of fungal infections was performed to address two clinical questions. First, in patients with proven or probable invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, should combination therapy with a mold-active triazole plus echinocandin be administered vs.

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Introduction: Cefepime/enmetazobactam is a novel β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (BL-BLI) combination with broad Gram-positive and -negative activity. Cefepime is relatively resistant to hydrolysis by AmpC and enmetazobactam inhibits all Ambler Class A extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs). Hence the combination is resistant to hydrolysis by many ESBLs.

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  • - The study aimed to analyze how the antibiotics minocycline, rifampicin, and linezolid perform in treating infections caused by MRSA in a population setting, using pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics data.
  • - Researchers collected samples during a Phase 4 trial, comparing the effectiveness of oral minocycline plus rifampicin against linezolid, finding minocycline plus rifampicin to be just as effective as linezolid.
  • - Despite most patients meeting the drug concentration targets for effective treatment, the study concluded that the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic measurements did not correlate with clinical outcomes, meaning the expected model did not predict how well patients would respond to the treatment.
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  • Blood cultures are crucial for managing sepsis and bloodstream infections, relying on swift laboratory processing for accurate clinical decision-making.
  • The study created a detailed process map and discrete event simulation (DES) model to analyze blood culture processing, revealing valuable insights on optimization opportunities.
  • Results showed that both laboratory technician and scientist availability significantly affect processing times, highlighting the need for improved resource management to enhance patient outcomes.
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) emerges when disease-causing microorganisms develop the ability to withstand the effects of antimicrobial therapy. This phenomenon is often fueled by the human-to-human transmission of pathogens and the overuse of antibiotics. Over the past 50 years, increased computational power has facilitated the application of Bayesian inference algorithms.

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Purpose: Numerous clinical practice guidelines and consensus statements have been published in hernia surgery, however, there is still a need for high-quality evidence to address remaining unanswered questions. The aim of this study was to conduct research priority setting through a modified Delphi process to identify a list of top research priorities in hernia surgery.

Methods: A structured literature review of clinical practice guidelines was performed by the steering committee.

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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in is an unmet medical need. Multiple drug-resistant/extremely drug-resistant strains of do not display growth well in models, and consequently, their response to antibacterial therapy is inconsistent. We addressed this issue by engineering carbapenem resistance motifs into the highly virulent genetic background of AB5075.

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Unlabelled: Cryptococcal meningitis causes an estimated 112,000 global deaths per annum. Genomic and phenotypic features of the infecting strain of spp. have been associated with outcomes from cryptococcal meningitis.

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The T-line hernia mesh is a synthetic, polypropylene mesh with mesh suture extensions designed to prevent anchor point failure by evenly distributing tension across the soft tissue. Previous studies have demonstrated the success of onlay ventral hernia repair with T-line hernia mesh, but retrorectus applications of the mesh have not yet been characterized. This technique article illustrates technical descriptions and clinical applications of the T-line hernia mesh in the retrorectus plane.

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We report a highly unusual case of small bowel obstruction in an 86-year-old man from ingestion of a citrus fruit, known as kumquats, which led to intestinal perforation and peritonitis. He initially presented with a one-day history of diffuse abdominal pain associated with nausea and feculent emesis after eating whole pieces of unpeeled kumquats. When symptoms of peritonitis evolved with a blood lactate of 5.

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  • A study compared Bayesian estimation methods to traditional frequentist methods for determining antimicrobial resistance (AMR) prevalence, aiming to improve reliability and resource efficiency in decision-making.
  • The Bayesian approach used real-world healthcare data and prior information from literature, resulting in significantly fewer extreme estimation errors and lower averages for required susceptibility results compared to frequentist methods.
  • The findings suggest that Bayesian estimation is particularly effective for estimating AMR prevalence in cases where resistance rates are neither very low nor very high, offering a better tool for managing infections when AMR data is uncertain.
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In the face of increasing antimicrobial tolerance and resistance there is a global obligation to optimise oral antimicrobial dosing strategies including narrow spectrum penicillins, such as penicillin-V. We conducted a randomised, crossover study in healthy volunteers to characterise the influence of probenecid on penicillin-V pharmacokinetics and estimate the pharmacodynamics against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Twenty participants took six doses of penicillin-V (250 mg, 500 mg or 750 mg four times daily) with and without probenecid.

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  • Acute leukaemias (AL) are severe blood cancers that can be treated with intensive chemotherapy, but this also increases the risk of serious infections, particularly invasive fungal infections (IFIs), due to low white blood cell counts (neutropenia).
  • Current guidelines suggest using antifungal agents as a preventive measure in high-risk patients, but there's a significant issue of overprescribing these medications. Biomarkers like galactomannan and β-D-glucan could improve the diagnosis of IFIs when used together rather than separately.
  • The BioDriveAFS study is a large clinical trial involving 404 participants that will compare a biomarker-based antifungal management strategy to traditional antifungal prophyl
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  • - Human fungal infections, often overlooked in research, account for over 1.5 million deaths annually, and recent studies have shed light on the complex interactions between fungi and their human hosts.
  • - Researchers are uncovering how fungi evade the immune system and contribute to serious health issues, while simultaneously highlighting emerging antifungal drug resistance as a significant threat.
  • - The review emphasizes the need for more effective immunotherapeutic strategies, while also addressing future challenges such as drug resistance and new pathogens emerging due to advancements in medicine.
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Ventral hernia repair (VHR) is one of the most common surgeries performed in the United States. Degradable mesh is the recommended choice for patients presenting with high-risk co-morbidities or increased risk for infection. GORE® ENFORM Biomaterial is a biosynthetic degradable mesh that has recently been approved for use in ventral hernia reconstruction with no reports of its clinical outcomes.

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Invasive fungal infections are a significant public health concern, with mortality rates ranging from 20% to 85% despite current treatments. Therefore, we examined whether a ketogenic diet could serve as a successful treatment intervention in murine models of and infection in combination with fluconazole-a low-cost, readily available antifungal therapy. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that promotes fatty acid oxidation as an alternative to glycolysis through the production of ketone bodies.

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The field of hernia surgery has seen many recent advances and continues to evolve. Care of the hernia patient begins preoperatively by ensuring adequate preparation for surgery with surgeons now having the opportunity to accurately predict risk which can aid with informed consent. Imaging studies can now help surgeons diagnose and plan hernia surgery on an individual level based on hernia characteristics as well as abdominal wall musculature.

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  • AIgarMIC is an innovative tool that automates and standardizes the measurement of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), addressing challenges of traditional methods that are time-consuming and prone to human error.
  • The system uses artificial intelligence, specifically a convolutional neural network, to classify bacterial growth in agar plates, achieving high accuracy rates (94.3% for growth detection and 88.6% for growth inhibition).
  • The effectiveness of AIgarMIC was validated against manual methods, showing a 98.9% agreement rate in determining MIC, which enhances the efficiency of large-scale antimicrobial susceptibility surveillance.
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SUMMARYThe World Health Organisation's 2022 AWaRe Book provides guidance for the use of 39 antibiotics to treat 35 infections in primary healthcare and hospital facilities. We review the evidence underpinning suggested dosing regimens. Few ( = 18) population pharmacokinetic studies exist for key oral AWaRe antibiotics, largely conducted in homogenous and unrepresentative populations hindering robust estimates of drug exposures.

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Incisional hernia prevention has become an important concept for surgeons operating on the abdominal wall. Several techniques have been proposed to help decrease incisional hernia formation with suture closure of the abdominal wall being one of the cornerstones. Technical details that have been reported to decrease incisional hernia rates include achieving a 4:1 Suture to Wound length ratio and the use of a small bites technique.

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