A framework for exclusion of alternative diagnoses in sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous syndrome that arises from a persistent immune response to a triggering antigen(s). There is no "gold standard" test or algorithm for the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, making the diagnosis one of exclusion. The presentation of the disease varies substantially between individuals, in both the number of organs involved, and the manifestations seen in individual organs.

Partnering With Patients With Sarcoidosis to Implement a Community Advisory Board.

Background: Community advisory boards (CABs) are increasingly recognized as a means of incorporating patient experience into clinical practice and research. The power of CABs is derived from engaging with community members as equals throughout the research process. Despite this, little is known of community member experience and views on best practices for running a CAB in a rare pulmonary disease.

Cardiac Sarcoidosis.

Cardiac involvement is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with sarcoidosis. It is important to distinguish between clinical manifest diseases from clinically silent diseases. Advanced cardiac imaging studies are crucial in the diagnostic pathway.

Perception of burden of oral and inhaled corticosteroid adverse effects on asthma-specific quality of life.

Background: A multistakeholder core outcome set created for asthma trials showed that asthma-specific quality of life (QoL) was a critically meaningful outcome. However, the definition and measurement methods were undetermined. The adverse effects (AEs) of corticosteroids may be a vital clinical trial outcome.

Health Disparities: Interventions for Pulmonary Disease - A Narrative Review.

There is expansive literature documenting the presence of health disparities, but there are disproportionately few studies describing interventions to reduce disparity. In this narrative review, we categorize interventions to reduce health disparity in pulmonary disease within the US health care system to support future initiatives to reduce disparity. We identified 211 articles describing interventions to reduce disparity in pulmonary disease related to race, income, or sex.

Barriers to Care among Patients with Sarcoidosis: A Qualitative Study.

Lower-income patients with sarcoidosis experience worse outcomes than those with higher incomes. The reasons for these disparities are not well understood. To identify patient-reported barriers to and facilitators of self-empowered care among patients with sarcoidosis residing in high- and low-median-income zip-code areas.

Income and Other Contributors to Poor Outcomes in U.S. Patients with Sarcoidosis.

Socioeconomic factors are associated with worse disease severity at presentation in sarcoidosis, but the relative importance of socioeconomic variables on morbidity and disease burden has not been fully elucidated. To determine the association between income and sarcoidosis outcomes after controlling for socioeconomic and disease-related factors. Using the Sarcoidosis Advanced Registry for Cures database, we analyzed data from 2,318 patients with sarcoidosis in the United States to determine the effect of income and other variables on outcomes.

Infliximab for Refractory Cardiac Sarcoidosis.

Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is frequently difficult to treat. Infliximab (IFX) is useful for extracardiac sarcoidosis, but its use in CS has been limited due to concerns about cardiotoxicity and an FDA blackbox warning about use in heart failure. We reviewed 36 consecutive patients treated with infliximab for CS refractory to standard therapies.

Emergency physicians' knowledge of the total charges of medical care.

Study Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate emergency medical physician's knowledge of the charges for the entirety of medical care provided to patients they treated and discharged from the emergency department (ED).

Methods: The study was administered in an academic ED. Patients were eligible for the study if they were discharged from the ED by the attending who first evaluated them.

The double-bromodomain proteins Bdf1 and Bdf2 modulate chromatin structure to regulate S-phase stress response in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Bromodomain proteins bind acetylated histones to regulate transcription. Emerging evidence suggests that histone acetylation plays an important role in DNA replication and repair, although its precise mechanisms are not well understood. Here we report studies of two double bromodomain-containing proteins, Bdf1 and Bdf2, in fission yeast.