Publications by authors named "J Thomas Curtis"

Background: In-hospital mortality risk prediction is an important tool for benchmarking quality and patient prognostication. Given changes in patient characteristics and treatments over time, a contemporary risk model for patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) is needed.

Methods: Data from 313 825 acute MI hospitalizations between January 2019 and December 2020 for adults aged ≥18 years at 784 sites in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry Chest Pain-MI Registry were used to develop a risk-standardized model to predict in-hospital mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Uncertainty exists regarding patient outcomes when using TNF inhibitors versus other biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD). We compared survival and respiratory hospitalisation outcomes following initiation of TNF-inhibitor or non-TNF inhibitor biological or targeted synthetic DMARDs for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis-associated ILD.

Methods: We did a retrospective, active-comparator, new-user, observational cohort study with propensity score matching following the target trial emulation framework using US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic and administrative health records.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Critically-ill patients and their families often experience communication challenges during their ICU stay and across transitions in care. An intervention using communication facilitators may help address these challenges.

Objectives: Using clinicians' perspectives, we identified facilitators and barriers to implementing a communication intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane under anticipated end-of-century warming, here we used heating rods to warm (by 3.8 °C) to the depth of permafrost in polygonal tundra in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska and measured fluxes over two growing seasons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Targeted therapies have been associated with potential risk of malignancy, which is a common concern in daily rheumatology practice in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and a history of cancer.

Objectives: To perform a systematic literature review to inform a Task Force formulating EULAR points to consider on the initiation of targeted therapies in patients with IA and a history of cancer.

Methods: Specific research questions were defined within the Task Force before formulating the exact research queries with a librarian.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF