Publications by authors named "Lax A"
Background: The US Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense (VA/DoD) clinical guidelines recommend extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) as a treatment option for moderate-to-severe alcohol use disorder (AUD); however, contemporary real-world outcomes related to this guideline are lacking. This retrospective, observational, descriptive study examined treatment patterns and healthcare resource use (HCRU) among veterans with an AUD diagnosis who initiated XR-NTX.
Methods: Veterans with incident AUD who initiated XR-NTX between 8/2014 and 11/2018 were identified.
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a musculoskeletal disorder characterized by articular cartilage degeneration and chronic inflammation, affecting one in five people over 40 years old. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of traditional and novel minimally invasive treatment options and role of artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline the diagnostic process of KOA. This literature review provides insights into the mechanisms of action, efficacy, complications, technical approaches, and recommendations to intra-articular injections (corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid, and plate rich plasma), genicular artery embolization (GAE), and genicular nerve ablation (GNA).
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- - The study investigates the impact of prostate-specific antigen doubling time (PSADT) on patients with biochemical recurrence (BCR) of nonmetastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (nmCSPC), analyzing data from the Veterans Health Administration between 2006 and 2020.
- - Patients were grouped based on rapid (≤9 months) and less rapid (>9 to ≤15 months) PSADT; rapid PSADT correlated with significantly shorter times to first treatment and worse outcomes in terms of metastasis, metastasis-free survival, and overall survival.
- - The findings suggest that patients with rapid PSADT typically started secondary treatment within a year of BCR, and early treatment appears to yield better outcomes compared to historical data
Neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) comprise a heterogeneous group of conditions characterized by extreme progressive muscle weakness leading to respiratory failure. Noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) has emerged as a cornerstone in the management of respiratory complications associated with NMDs. This review aims to elucidate the role of NMV in respiratory function, improving quality of life, and prolonging survival in individuals with NMD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep-related breathing disorders (SBD) are conditions of abnormal and difficult respiration during sleep, including chronic snoring, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), central sleep apnea (CSA), sleep-related hypoventilation disorders and sleep-related hypoxemia. Some of them have a limited impact on health, but others (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical use of doxorubicin (Dox), an anthracycline with potent anti-tumor effects, is limited because of its highly chemotherapy-induced cardiotoxicity (CIC). After myocardial infarction (MI), we have recently identified Yin Yang-1 (YY1) and histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) as two factors involved in the overexpression of the isoform soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) protein, which acts as a decoy receptor blocking the favorable effects of IL-33. Therefore, high levels of sST2 are associated with increased fibrosis, remodeling, and worse cardiovascular outcomes.
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- - Non-invasive ventilatory support (NVS) is commonly used for neuromuscular disease patients to prevent respiratory failure, but conventional methods with masks can be uncomfortable for extended use.
- - The study explored intermittent abdominal pressure ventilation (IAPV), which uses a portable device and a corset, in 28 patients across three Italian centers, focusing on its effectiveness in improving respiratory issues and quality of life.
- - Results showed significant improvements in hypoxemia and hypercapnia after using IAPV, and quality of life increased over time, suggesting IAPV could be a valuable alternative for patients who struggle with traditional NVS methods.
Article Synopsis
- * Results showed that infliximab and adalimumab, particularly their originator versions, were the most preferred first-line therapies, with effectiveness being the key reason for this preference among physicians.
- * The study highlighted that while most patients received monotherapy with a single biologic (90.6% for UC; 83.2% for CD), there was a notable persistence in treatment duration for infliximab compared to ad
Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) infusion settings may impact healthcare resource use (HRU) and reimbursement amounts. Adults with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma receiving CAR-T therapy were identified from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 100% fee-for-service Medicare database and stratified into inpatient (IP; = 380) and outpatient (OP; = 50) cohorts based on CAR-T infusion setting. During the first month post-infusion, OP cohort had significantly fewer IP visits, IP days, intensive care unit (ICU) stays, ICU days, and significantly more OP, emergency room (ER) visits, than IP cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Chronic hypoparathyroidism is associated with higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease compared with the general population. This study evaluated changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over a 5-year period in adult patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism treated with recombinant parathyroid hormone (1-84), rhPTH(1-84), compared with a historical control cohort of patients who did not receive rhPTH(1-84).
Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism treated with rhPTH(1-84) in the REPLACE (NCT00732615), RELAY (NCT01268098), RACE (NCT01297309), and HEXT (NCT01199614 and continuation study NCT02910466) clinical trials.
Objective: This study assessed the risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over a period of up to 5 years in adult patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism treated with recombinant human parathyroid hormone (1-84) (rhPTH[1-84]) compared with a historical control cohort of patients not treated with rhPTH(1-84).
Design: Retrospective cohort study of patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism treated with rhPTH(1-84) derived from the REPLACE (NCT00732615), RELAY (NCT01268098), RACE (NCT01297309) and HEXT (NCT01199614, and its continuation study NCT02910466) clinical trials and a historical control cohort who did not receive PTH selected from an electronic medical record database.
Patients: One hundred and eighteen patients treated with rhPTH(1-84) and 497 patient controls.
Background: Initiation to Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can be implemented in an inpatient or outpatient setting.
Aims: We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of adaptation (the number of needed sessions) to home-based NIV compared to an outpatient one in ALS in terms of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) improvement. NIV acceptance (mean use of ≥5 h NIV per night for three consecutive nights during the adaptation trial), adherence (night-time NIV usage for ≥150 h/month), quality of life (QoL), and caregiver burden were secondary outcomes.
HLA allelic distribution was analysed in a cohort of 96 Northern Italian subjects (53M/43F) (mean age 59.9 ± 13.3 years) from Lombardy who developed COVID-19 during the first two pandemic waves to investigate possible correlations between HLA molecules and disease severity.
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- Azithromycin, a common antibiotic for respiratory infections, was compared to amoxicillin-clavulanate in terms of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular mortality among US Veterans treated for respiratory or ear-nose-throat infections.
- The study analyzed data from over 790,000 prescriptions and found no significant difference in cardiovascular death risk between azithromycin and amoxicillin-clavulanate within 1-5 days after treatment.
- Overall results indicated no association between either antibiotic and increased cardiovascular mortality, nor any significant difference in noncardiovascular or cardiac death rates.
Objective: To compare treatment patterns of United States (US) veterans stable on innovator infliximab (IFX) who switched to an IFX biosimilar (switchers) or remained on innovator IFX (continuers).
Methods: US Veterans Healthcare Administration data (01/2012-12/2019) were used to identify adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), plaque psoriasis (PsO), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), or Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (i.e.
Donation after circulatory death (DCD) represents a promising opportunity to overcome the relative shortage of donors for heart transplantation. However, the necessary period of warm ischemia is a concern. This study aims to determine the critical warm ischemia time based on in vivo biochemical changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Whereas in most cases COVID-19 is asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic, extremely severe clinical forms are observed. In this case, complex immune dysregulations and an excessive inflammatory response are reported and are the main cause of morbidity and mortality.
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- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) significantly impairs lung function and quality of life, but lacks specific biomarkers for diagnosis and severity assessment.
- This study used Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and multivariate statistics to analyze saliva samples from 15 COPD patients and 15 healthy subjects, revealing distinct biological markers associated with COPD.
- The analysis demonstrated over 98% accuracy in classifying saliva samples, indicating the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a diagnostic tool for COPD.
The pandemic of COVID-19 is continuously spreading, becoming a worldwide emergency. Early and fast identification of subjects with a current or past infection must be achieved to slow down the epidemiological widening. Here we report a Raman-based approach for the analysis of saliva, able to significantly discriminate the signal of patients with a current infection by COVID-19 from healthy subjects and/or subjects with a past infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeft ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI) is related to adverse outcome. It has been shown that an up-regulation of plasma soluble ST2 (sST2) levels are associated with lower pre-discharge left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, adverse cardiovascular outcomes and mortality outcome after MI. The mechanisms involved in its modulation are unknown and there is not specific treatment capable of lowering plasma sST2 levels in acute-stage HF.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Limited data are available on the real-world effectiveness and safety of systemic therapies for advanced (surgically unresectable and/or metastatic) epithelioid sarcoma (ES).
Methods: A retrospective medical records review was conducted in patients with advanced ES who were initiating first-line or ≥2 lines of systemic therapy (2000-2017) at 5 US cancer centers. The real-world overall response rate (rwORR), the duration of response (rwDOR), the disease control rate (rwDCR) (defined as stable disease for ≥32 weeks or any duration of response), and progression-free survival (rwPFS) were assessed by radiology reports.