Optimum diagnostic pathway and pathologic confirmation rate of early stage lung cancer: Results from the VIOLET randomised controlled trial.

Background: Pathologic confirmation of lung cancer influences treatment selection for suspected early-stage lung cancer. High pre-treatment tissue confirmation rates are recommended. We sought to define management and outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for primary lung cancer in a UK multi-centre clinical trial.

Medicines optimization prior to discharge in patients admitted to hospital with heart failure.

Aims: Approximately half of patients with heart failure and a reduced ejection fraction (HeFREF) are discharged from hospital on triple therapy [angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-Is) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), beta-blockers (BBs), and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs)]. We investigated what proportion of patients are on optimal doses prior to discharge and how many might be eligible for initiation of sacubitril-valsartan or sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2Is).

Methods And Results: Between 2012 and 2017, 1277 patients admitted with suspected heart failure were enrolled at a single hospital serving a local community around Kingston upon Hull, UK.

Prognostic value of the chest X-ray in patients hospitalised for heart failure.

Background: Patients admitted to hospital with heart failure will have had a chest X-ray (CXR), but little is known about their prognostic significance. We aimed to report the prevalence and prognostic value of the initial chest radiograph findings in patients admitted to hospital with heart failure (acute heart failure, AHF).

Methods: The erect CXRs of all patients admitted with AHF between October 2012 and November 2016 were reviewed for pulmonary venous congestion, Kerley B lines, pleural effusions and alveolar oedema.

Applications of adaptive focused acoustics to compound management.

Since the introduction of lithotripsy kidney stone therapy, Focused Acoustics and its properties have been thoroughly utilized in medicine and exploration. More recently, Compound Management is exploring its applications and benefits to sample integrity. There are 2 forms of Focused Acoustics: Acoustic Droplet Ejection and Adaptive Focused Acoustics, which work by emitting high-powered acoustic waves through water toward a focused point.