Major publications in the critical care pharmacotherapy literature: 2019.

Purpose: To summarize selected meta-analyses and trials related to critical care pharmacotherapy published in 2019.

Materials And Methods: The Critical Care Pharmacotherapy Literature Update (CCPLU) Group screened 36 journals monthly for impactful articles and reviewed 113 articles during 2019 according to Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) criteria.

Results: Articles with a 1A grade, including three clinical practice guidelines, six meta-analyses, and five original research trials are reviewed here from those included in the monthly CCPLU.

Implementation of 3D Printing Technology in the Field of Prosthetics: Past, Present, and Future.

There is an interesting and long history of prostheses designed for those with upper-limb difference, and yet issues still persist that have not yet been solved. Prosthesis needs for children are particularly complex, due in part to their growth rates. Access to a device can have a significant impact on a child's psychosocial development.

Impact of prehospital airway management on combat mortality.

Introduction: Analysis of modern military conflicts suggests that airway compromise remains the second leading cause of preventable death of combat fatalities. This study compares outcomes of combat casualties that received prehospital airway interventions, specifically bag valve mask (BVM) ventilation, cricothyrotomy, and supraglottic airway (SGA) placement. The goal is to compare the effectiveness of airway management strategies used in the military pre-hospital setting.

Oxygen-induced alterations in the expression of chromatin modifying enzymes and the transcriptional regulation of imprinted genes.

Embryo culture and assisted reproductive technologies have been associated with a disproportionately high number of epigenetic abnormalities in the resulting offspring. However, the mechanisms by which these techniques influence the epigenome remain poorly defined. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of oxygen concentration to influence the transcriptional control of a selection of key enzymes regulating chromatin structure.

Effect of a stroke-specific follow-up care model on the quality of life of stroke patients and caregivers: A controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a stroke-specific follow-up care model on quality of life for stroke patients, being discharged home, and their caregivers.

Design: A non-randomized, controlled trial, comparing an intervention group with a control group (usual care).

Subjects: Stroke patients and their caregivers.

Mitigation of obesity-promoted diseases by Nigella sativa and thymoquinone.

Obesity is closely associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, insulin resistance, and immune dysfunction, and thus obesity-mitigation strategies should take into account these secondary pathologies in addition to promoting weight loss. Recent studies indicate that black cumin (Nigella sativa) has cardio-protective, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, and immune-modulatory properties. While black cumin and/or its major bioactive constituent, thymoquinone have demonstrated bioactivity in a variety of disease models, the mechanisms of action are largely unknown.

Effects of a brief cardiovascular prevention program by a health advisor in primary care; the 'Hartslag Limburg' project, a cluster randomized trial.

Objective: To determine in primary care patients at high risk for a cardiovascular event, the effects on biomedical risk factors for and incidence of cardiovascular events, of a brief cardiovascular prevention program executed by a health advisor.

Design: cluster randomized controlled trial with 1275 patients (24 general practices) in and around Maastricht, the Netherlands (1999-2004).

Intervention: health advisors were to complete computerized cardiovascular risk profiles, provide multi-factorial tailored health education and advice, and communicate with GP's to optimize treatment.

Changes in gut hormone and glucose concentrations in relation to hunger and fullness.

Background: The search for biomarkers of appetite is very active.

Objectives: The aims were to compare dynamics of hunger and fullness ratings on a visual analog scale (VAS) with dynamics of glucagon-like peptide 1, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine, ghrelin, glucose, and insulin concentrations throughout different meal patterns-and thus different timings of nutrient delivery to the gut-by using a statistical approach that focuses on within-subject relations of these observations and to investigate whether appetite ratings are synchronized with or lag behind or in front of changes in hormone and glucose concentrations.

Design: Subjects (n = 38) with a mean (±SD) age of 24 ± 6 y and BMI (in kg/m(2)) of 25.

Fatigue and health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease: results from a population-based study in the Netherlands: the IBD-South Limburg cohort.

Background: The importance of fatigue in chronic disease has been increasingly recognized; however, little is known about fatigue in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of fatigue and the impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients included in a population-based IBD cohort in the Netherlands.

Methods: IBD patients, diagnosed between January 1st, 1991, and January 1st, 2003, were followed up for a median of 7.

Effect of in vitro culture of human embryos on birthweight of newborns.

Background: In animal models, in vitro culture of preimplantation embryos has been shown to be a risk factor for abnormal fetal outcome, including high and low birthweight. In the human, mean birthweight of singletons after in vitro fertilization (IVF) is considerably lower than after natural conception, but it is not known whether culture conditions play a role in this.

Methods: We compared pregnancy rates and perinatal outcomes from singleton pregnancies resulting from a total of 826 first IVF treatment cycles in which oocytes and embryos were randomly allocated to culture in either of two commercially available sequential media systems.

Effectiveness of nurse-delivered cardiovascular risk management in primary care: a randomised trial.

Background: A substantial part of cardiovascular disease prevention is delivered in primary care. Special attention should be paid to the assessment of cardiovascular risk factors. According to the Dutch guideline for cardiovascular risk management, the heavy workload of cardiovascular risk management for GPs could be shared with advanced practice nurses.

Mortality in inflammatory bowel disease in the Netherlands 1991-2002: results of a population-based study: the IBD South-Limburg cohort.

Background: The aim was to evaluate overall and disease-specific mortality in a population-based inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort in the Netherlands, as well as risk factors for mortality.

Methods: IBD patients diagnosed between 1 January 1991 and 1 January 2003 were included. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated overall and with regard to causes of death, gender, as well as age, phenotype, smoking status at diagnosis, and medication use.

Affective symptoms as predictors of Alzheimer's disease in subjects with mild cognitive impairment: a 10-year follow-up study.

Background: Affective symptoms are common in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but there is disagreement whether these symptoms are predictive for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the predictive accuracy of affective symptoms for AD during a follow-up study in subjects with MCI, and whether the predictive accuracy was modified by age, the presence of amnestic MCI or the length of follow-up.

Method: Newly referred subjects (n=263) with MCI older than 55 years were selected from a memory clinic and followed up after 2, 5 and 10 years.

A simple analysis of a simple crossover trial with a dichotomous outcome measure.

For the two-treatment two-period crossover trial with a dichotomous outcome measure a simple and straightforward analysis is proposed: compute the treatment difference for each of the treatment sequences AB and BA, and then average over the sequence groups. The mean difference is used in the statistical test and in the computation of the 95 per cent confidence interval. The method is generalized to the case of a crossover trial including more than two treatments.

The influence of six cardiovascular polymorphisms on a first event of ischemic heart disease is modified by sex and age.

Objective: To examine the contribution of six cardiovascular polymorphisms to the occurrence of a first event of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in a primary care population with a high prevalence of hypertension. Furthermore, we specified the data for sex and age.

Methods: In this cross sectional case-control study, patients with a first event of IHD (157) and event-free controls (571) were studied.

Sex-specific effect of the alpha-adducin (G460W) and AGTR1 (A1166C) polymorphism on carotid intima-media thickness.

Objective: In a primary care population covering a broad spectrum of cardiovascular risk (HIPPOCRATES project) the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and six cardiovascular polymorphisms were analyzed in a cross-sectional study.

Methods: CIMT was assessed in 618 participants, who were genotyped for the AGTR1 (A1166C), AGT (M235T), ACE (4656(rpt)), NOS3 (E298D), GNB3 (C825T) and ADD1 (G460W) polymorphisms. Linear regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between CIMT and the polymorphisms.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in South Limburg (the Netherlands) 1991-2002: Incidence, diagnostic delay, and seasonal variations in onset of symptoms.

Background And Aims: Increasing incidence in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has been suggested. Recent data on population based incidence rates within Europe are however scarce. Primary aim was to investigate prospectively the incidence of IBD within a well-defined geographical and administrative area of the Netherlands, the South Limburg IBD registry.

Associations between term birth dimensions and prenatal exposure to essential and trans fatty acids.

Background: Certain essential long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) are considered important for fetal growth and brain development, whereas industrial trans fatty acids (mainly 18:1trans) have been associated with negative effects. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between term birth dimensions and prenatal exposure to some of these fatty acids, reflected by neonatal fatty acid concentrations at birth.

Methods: Data of up to 700 infant-mother pairs from the Maastricht Essential Fatty Acid Birth Cohort were used for the present study.

New benzophenone O-glucoside from Hypericum ellipticum.

Examination of the acetone extract of the aerial parts of Hypericum ellipticum afforded a new acetylated benzophenone glucoside (3'-O-beta-D-3",4",6"-triacetylglucopyranosyl-2,4,5',6-tetrahydroxybenzophenone) together with catechin and epicatechin. The structure of the benzophenone glucoside was determined by 2D NMR spectroscopic data. The compound inhibited the proliferation of CNS tumor cell line (SF-268) and lipid peroxidation in in vitro assays.

Influence of watchful waiting on satisfaction and anxiety among patients seeking care for unexplained complaints.

Purpose: We undertook a study to determine whether test-ordering strategy and other consultation-related factors influence satisfaction with and anxiety after a consultation among patients seeking care for unexplained complaints.

Methods: A cluster-randomized clinical trial was conducted in family medicine practices in the Netherlands. Participants were 498 patients with unexplained complaints seen by 63 primary care physicians.

The contribution of six polymorphisms to cardiovascular risk in a Dutch high-risk primary care population: the HIPPOCRATES project.

This study was designed to examine the contribution of six polymorphisms to the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a Dutch primary care population with a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. In this cross-sectional case-control study, 232 patients with CVD and 571 event-free controls were studied. Patients were genotyped for the AGTR1 (A1166C), AGT (M235T), ACE (4656rpt), NOS3 (E298D), GNB3 (C825T) and ADD1 (G460W) polymorphisms.

Influence of phenotype at diagnosis and of other potential prognostic factors on the course of inflammatory bowel disease.

Objectives: Disease course in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is variable and difficult to predict. To optimize prognosis, it is of interest to identify phenotypic characteristics at disease onset and other prognostic factors that predict disease course. The aim of this study was to evaluate such factors in a population-based IBD group.