A new airtight sampling method for sulfur hexafluoride (SF) in groundwater.

In the past 20 years, sulfur hexafluoride (SF) has been considered a highly reliable tracer for assessing modern water (< 65 yrs old) in groundwater. However, modern-air contamination may introduce complications in interpreting data obtained using current sampling methods. A new airtight methodology isolates the sample from modern ambient air; thus, returning more reproducible and reliable results when compared to two traditional (air-sensitive and non-airtight) methods.

Bariatric surgery prior to pancreas transplantation: a retrospective matched case-control study.

Background: The clinical impact of bariatric surgery (BS) prior to pancreas transplantation (PTx) is unclear.

Setting: University of Minnesota Hospital, Minneapolis, MN.

Methods: This was a single center retrospective case-controlled study of all patients January 1, 1998 and May 1, 2024 with a history of BS prior to PTx.

Assessing the Need for Repeat EEG in Pediatric Patients with Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy After Anti-Seizure Medication Withdrawal Following Seizure Freedom.

Background: Most patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy have good seizure control on antiseizure medications. Although idiopathic generalized epilepsy subtypes such as juvenile absence epilepsy and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy have a high risk of relapse, childhood absence epilepsy may have seizure remission. After 2 years of seizure freedom in childhood absence epilepsy, typically antiseizure medications are discontinued, but follow-up protocols are unclear.

"Catching Chain" With Medicaid: The Impact of Medicaid Access on Opioid Overdose Mortality in Adults Released From State Detention.

Objective: To combat the heightened risk of opioid overdose death for individuals with criminal justice involvements, enhanced access to Medicaid remains paramount. This study examines the effect of a 2017 policy change in Pennsylvania that allowed for suspension, rather than termination, of Medicaid coverage while in prison on post-release opioid overdose mortality risk (OOMR) for adults released from Pennsylvania prisons.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilizes administrative records from the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections for adults ≥18 years diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD) released in either 2015 or 2018.

National trends in catheter angiography and cerebrovascular imaging in a group of privately insured patients in the US.

Background: Despite the increasing use of non-invasive imaging, DSA remains the gold standard for cerebrovascular imaging. However, trends in DSA utilization are poorly understood. The goal of this study was to describe DSA utilization in a large claims database in the US over a 13 year period.

The limitations of using Medicaid administrative data in abortion research.

Objectives: To identify limitations of abortion data in national Medicaid claims files by comparing abortion counts in Medicaid claims data with state abortion estimates.

Study Design: We used procedure (Current Procedural Terminology/Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System) and drug (National Drug Code) codes to identify abortion claims in 2009 and 2010 Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX) and 2020 Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System Analytic File (TAF) data. We compared the number of abortions in MAX and TAF to the number of expected abortions covered by Medicaid overall and by state.

Characterising incident opioid use among incident users of prescription sedative hypnotics: A national cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate co-prescribing of sedatives hypnotics and opioids.

Design: Retrospective study evaluating the association of patient characteristics and comorbidities with coprescribing.

Setting And Participants: Using the national Merative MarketScan Database between 2005 and 2018, we identified patients who received an incident sedative prescription with or without subsequent, incident opioid prescriptions within a year of the sedative prescription in the USA.

Injectable Penile Enhancement Procedures: A Review of Agents, Risks, and Complications.

Penile dysmorphophobic disorder describes men who feel their normal penile size is inadequate. Penile fillers have been used to address penile size dissatisfaction. However, unpredictability of these procedures can yield unfavorable outcomes.

Rates and Risk Factors for 30-Day Morbidity After One-Stage Vertical Banded Gastroplasty Conversions: A Retrospective Analysis.

The vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) is a historic restrictive bariatric operation often requiring further surgery. In this investigation utilizing the 2021 Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) national dataset, we aim to better define the outcomes of VBG conversions. We queried the 2021 MBSAQIP dataset for patients who underwent a conversion from a VBG to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) or sleeve gastrectomy (SG).

Obese patients with new onset atrial fibrillation/flutter have higher risk of hospitalization, cardioversions, and ablations.

Obesity significantly increases the risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial flutter (AFL) and evidence from randomized trials indicates that weight loss may reduce the burden of AF/AFL in obese patients; however, the relationship between obesity and healthcare resource utilization in AF/AFL patients is lacking. We sought to assess this relationship in patients with newly diagnosed AF/AFL in a nationally representative cohort of the United States by using the MarketScan® claims database. International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision [ICD 10] diagnosis codes were used to select individuals with a new diagnosis of AF/AFL in 2017 and 2018, adjudicate baseline variables and to classify them according to obesity status.

Nationwide trends in intensive care unit utilization in the elective endovascular treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Objective: Multiple studies suggest routine post-operative intensive care unit (ICU) stays after endovascular treatment (EVT) of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) is unnecessary, though rates of ICU utilization nationwide are unknown. We aim to evaluate rates and characteristics of ICU utilization in patients undergoing elective endovascular repair of UIAs.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study utilizing a nationwide private-payer database in the United States to evaluate the ICU utilization in patients undergoing elective endovascular repair of UIAs between 2005 and 2019.

Opioid Overdose Hospitalizations During COVID-19: The Experience of Pennsylvania.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic placed extreme burden on hospitals, while opioid overdose is another challenging public health issue. This study aimed to examine the trends and outcomes of opioid overdose hospitalizations in Pennsylvania during 2018 to 2021.

Design: We identified opioid overdose hospitalizations in the state of Pennsylvania using the state-wide hospital discharge database (PHC4) 2018 to 2021.

Relationships Between Alcohol Policies and Infant Morbidities and Injuries.

Introduction: Previous research has found that policies specifically focused on pregnant people's alcohol use are largely ineffective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the relationships between general population policies regulating alcohol physical availability and outcomes related to pregnant people's alcohol use, specifically infant morbidities and injuries.

Methods: Outcome data were obtained from Merative MarketScan, a longitudinal commercial insurance claims data set.

Timing of treatment for opioid use disorder among birthing people.

Background: The number of pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) has increased over time. Although effective treatment options exist, little is known about the extent to which women receive treatment during pregnancy and at what stage of pregnancy care is initiated.

Methods: Using a national private health insurance claims database, we identified women aged 13-49 who gave birth in 2006-2019 and had an OUD or nonfatal opioid overdose (NFOO) diagnosis during the year prior to or at delivery.

Racial and ethnic disparities in emergency department transfers to public hospitals.

Objective: To examine racial/ethnic differences in emergency department (ED) transfers to public hospitals and factors explaining these differences.

Data Sources And Study Setting: ED and inpatient data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project for Florida (2010-2019); American Hospital Association Annual Survey (2009-2018).

Study Design: Logistic regression examined race/ethnicity and payer on the likelihood of transfer to a public hospital among transferred ED patients.

Clinical outcomes associated with antidepressant use in inflammatory bowel disease patients and a matched control cohort.

Antidepressant medications (AMs) are frequently used in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Many AMs enhance serotonin (5-HT) availability, but this phenomenon may actually worsen IBD. We hypothesized that use of 5-HT-enhancing AMs would be associated with poor clinical outcomes in these disorders.

Prediction of 30-Day Morbidity and Mortality After Conversion of Sleeve Gastrectomy to Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: Use of an Artificial Neural Network.

Background: Conversion of sleeve gastrectomy to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is indicated primarily for unsatisfactory weight loss or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This study aimed to use a comprehensive database to define predictors of 30-day reoperation, readmission, reintervention, or mortality. An artificial neural network (ANN) was employed to optimize prediction of the composite endpoint (occurrence of 1+ morbid event).

Factors associated with disagreement between clinician app-based ultra-brief Confusion Assessment Method and reference standard delirium assessments.

Background: Recently, the Ultra-Brief Confusion Assessment Method (UB-CAM), designed to help physicians and nurses to recognize delirium, showed high, but imperfect, accuracy compared with Research Reference Standard Delirium Assessments (RRSDAs). The aim of this study is to identify factors associated with disagreement between clinicians' app-based UB-CAM assessments and RRSDAs.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a prospective diagnostic test study.

Impact of the Affordable Care Act on Prescription Contraceptive Use and Costs Among Privately Insured Women, 2006-2020.

Background: In the years immediately following the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s contraceptive coverage requirement, out-of-pocket costs fell for all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive methods and use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) increased. This analysis examines whether these trends have continued through 2020 for privately insured women.

Methods: Using 2006-2020 MarketScan data, we examined trends in prescription contraceptive use and out-of-pocket costs among women 13 to 49 years old.

Effect of beta-blocker therapy on weight loss outcomes after sleeve gastrectomy & Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Background: Patients taking beta-blockers (BBs) commonly experience weight gain. There is limited research exploring how BBs impact weight loss after bariatric surgery.

Objectives: We examined how BBs impact 12-month weight loss in patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB).

Uninsured immigrants in the United States significantly delayed the initiation of prenatal care after the changes to the Public Charge Rule.

Objective: We estimated the impact of the changes made to the Public Charge Rule on the initiation of prenatal care among uninsured immigrants in the United States.

Study Design: We used a difference-in-differences approach to analyse the impact of the changes made to the Public Charge Rule (first difference) on initiation of prenatal care between uninsured and privately insured immigrants (second difference).

Methods: We used the natality data by the National Center for Health Statistics as the main data source, which includes all singleton births in a hospital to an immigrant birthing person aged from 15 to 44.