Comparative effectiveness of non-compounded polidocanol 1% endovenous microfoam (Varithena) ablation versus endovenous thermal ablation utilizing a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Objective: We compared the effectiveness and safety of polidocanol 1% endovenous microfoam ablation vs endovenous thermal ablation with radiofrequency or laser energy for treatment of venous insufficiency caused by lower extremity truncal vein incompetence via network meta-analysis of published comparative evidence.

Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review following best practices, including a prospective protocol. We screened studies published in English from 2000 to 2023 for randomized and nonrandomized studies reporting direct or indirect comparisons between polidocanol 1% endovenous microfoam and endovenous thermal ablation.

Contemporary Costs Associated With Transcatheter Versus Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Medicare Beneficiaries.

Background: In patients with severe aortic stenosis, treatment with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been shown to be cost-effective in the high-risk surgical population and cost-saving in the intermediate-risk population when compared with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in early pivotal clinical trials. Whether TAVR is associated with comparable or lower costs when compared with SAVR in contemporary clinical practice is unknown.

Methods: Using data from the Medicare Dataset Standard Analytic Files 5% Fee for Service database, patients receiving either TAVR or SAVR between 2016 and 2018 were identified.

Predicted loss and gain of function mutations in ACO1 are associated with erythropoiesis.

Hemoglobin is the essential oxygen-carrying molecule in humans and is regulated by cellular iron and oxygen sensing mechanisms. To search for novel variants associated with hemoglobin concentration, we performed genome-wide association studies of hemoglobin concentration using a combined set of 684,122 individuals from Iceland and the UK. Notably, we found seven novel variants, six rare coding and one common, at the ACO1 locus associating with either decreased or increased hemoglobin concentration.