Association between Risk Communication Format and Perceived Risk of Adverse Events after COVID-19 Vaccination among US Adults.

The format used to communicate probability-verbal versus numerical descriptors-can impact risk perceptions and behaviors. This issue is salient for the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), where concerns about vaccine-related risks may reduce uptake and verbal descriptors have been widely used by public health, news organizations and on social media, to convey risk. Because the effect of risk-communication format on perceived COVID-19 vaccine-related risks remains unknown, we conducted an online randomized survey among 939 US adults.

Using Interactive Learning Modules to Teach Value-Based Health Care to Health Professions Trainees Across the United States.

Problem: Despite prominent calls to incorporate value-based health care (VBHC) into medical education, there is still a global need for robust programs to teach VBHC concepts throughout health professions training.

Approach: In June 2017, Dell Medical School released the first collection (three modules) of a set of free interactive online learning modules, which aim to teach the basic foundations of VBHC to health professions learners at any stage of training and can be incorporated across diverse educational settings. These modules were designed by an interprofessional team based on principles of cognitive engagement for active learning.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection with left ventricular thrombus.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare, nonatherosclerotic cause of acute coronary syndrome. The etiology is unclear, and optimal treatment for SCAD remains undefined. We describe a patient with significant cardiovascular risk factors who presented with SCAD resulting in anterior wall acute myocardial infarction with left ventricular thrombus.

Feasibility of primary sternal plating for morbidly obese patients after cardiac surgery.

Background: Morbidly obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 35 kg/m) who undergo cardiac surgery involving median sternotomy have a higher-than-normal risk of sternal dehiscence. To explore a potential solution to this problem, we examined the utility of transverse sternal plating for primary sternal closure in morbidly obese cardiac surgical patients.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data from cardiac surgical patients who underwent single primary xiphoid transverse titanium plate reinforcement for primary sternal closure from August 2009 to July 2010 (n = 8), and we compared their outcomes with those of patients with BMI ≥35 kg/m who underwent cardiac surgery without sternal plate reinforcement from April 2008 to July 2009 (n = 14).