Presenting or Spinning Facts? Deconstructing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Statement on the Importance of Reopening Schools Under COVID-19.

Credible, reliable and consistent information to the public, as well as health professionals and decision makers, is crucial to help navigate uncertainty and risk in times of crisis and concern. Traditionally, information and health communications issued by respected and established government agencies have been regarded as factual, unbiased and credible. The U.

Developing patient-centred MRI safety culture: a quality improvement report.

Objective: Despite having a detailed MRI-safety questionnaire check at the point of referral, we have encountered a significant number of near-misses with patients being identified with MRI-Unsafe devices at the time of appointments, making this an important safety hazard.

Methods And Materials: A two-part survey was performed to assess referrer compliance of asking MRI-questionnaires. 120 outpatients across 3 MRI sites were interviewed at the time of appointment to confirm whether their referrers completed the MRI questionnaires with them at the time of referral.

Interim heterogeneity changes measured using entropy texture features on T2-weighted MRI at 3.0 T are associated with pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in primary breast cancer.

Objectives: To investigate whether interim changes in hetereogeneity (measured using entropy features) on MRI were associated with pathological residual cancer burden (RCB) at final surgery in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for primary breast cancer.

Methods: This was a retrospective study of 88 consenting women (age: 30-79 years). Scanning was performed on a 3.

Relation between clopidogrel active metabolite levels and different platelet aggregation methods in patients receiving clopidogrel and aspirin.

Clopidogrel is a prodrug that undergoes bioconversion via cytochrome P450 system to form an active metabolite (AM) that binds to the platelet ADP receptor. The antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel is commonly assessed by measuring the aggregatory response to 5 μM ADP by light transmission aggregation (LTA) or multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA) or by the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein platelet reactivity index (VASP-PRI). To determine which of these three tests of platelet ADP receptor pathway inhibition most closely correlates with clopidogrel AM levels.

Aspirin response variability after major orthopedic surgery.

Introduction: Variability in platelet response to aspirin has been reported in patients undergoing cardiac surgery but has rarely been described in other operative settings and its mechanism remains uncertain. We performed a prospective cohort study to investigate the variability in platelet response to aspirin and to explore its mechanism in patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery.

Materials And Methods: Twelve aspirin-treated patients undergoing elective hip or knee replacement were recruited.

The effect of prothrombotic blood abnormalities on risk of deep vein thrombosis in users of hormone replacement therapy: a prospective case-control study.

Background: Few studies have assessed the effect of prothrombotic blood abnormalities on the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Methods: We studied postmenopausal women with suspected DVT in whom HRT use and prothrombotic blood abnormalities were sought. Cases had unprovoked DVT and controls had no DVT and without DVT risk factors.

Suboptimal effect of a three-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (Profilnine-SD) in correcting supratherapeutic international normalized ratio due to warfarin overdose.

Background: Plasma transfusion is standard therapy for urgent warfarin reversal in the United States. "Four-factor" prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC), available in Europe, has advantages over plasma therapy for warfarin reversal; however, only "three-factor" PCCs (containing relatively low Factor [F]VII) are available in the United States.

Study Design And Methods: The efficacy of a three-factor PCC for urgent warfarin reversal was evaluated in 40 patients presenting with supratherapeutic international normalized ratio (ST-INR > 5.

"ProC Global": a functional screening test that predicts recurrent venous thromboembolism.

Abnormalities of the Protein C (PC) pathway are found in the majority of patients with thrombophilia. ProC Global is a coagulation assay that reflects the net effect of the PC pathway by measuring the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) of patient and control plasma, before and after activation of endogenous PC by Protac, a snake venom. Previous studies have suggested that abnormalities in this test are associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

A diagnostic strategy involving a quantitative latex D-dimer assay reliably excludes deep venous thrombosis.

Background: Because clinical diagnosis is inaccurate, objective testing is usually considered necessary when patients present with suspected deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

Objective: To determine whether a negative result on a quantitative latex D dimer assay eliminates the need for further investigation in patients with a low or moderate pretest probability of DVT.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Long-term treatment with sodium warfarin results in decreased femoral bone strength and cancellous bone volume in rats.

The issue of whether long-term sodium warfarin therapy results in decreased bone density is controversial. To address this question, we randomized rats to once daily subcutaneous injections of either sodium warfarin (0.20 or 0.

Aspirin-resistant thromboxane biosynthesis and the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death in patients at high risk for cardiovascular events.

Background: We studied whether aspirin resistance, defined as failure of suppression of thromboxane generation, increases the risk of cardiovascular events in a high-risk population.

Methods And Results: Baseline urine samples were obtained from 5529 Canadian patients enrolled in the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation (HOPE) Study. Using a nested case-control design, we measured urinary 11-dehydro thromboxane B2 levels, a marker of in vivo thromboxane generation, in 488 cases treated with aspirin who had myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death during 5 years of follow-up and in 488 sex- and age-matched control subjects also receiving aspirin who did not have an event.

Evaluation of frozen plasma calibrants for enhanced standardization of the international normalized ratio (INR): a multi-center study.

Local ISI calibration has been proposed to improve INR accuracy and inter-laboratory precision. We evaluated the affect of local PT calibration on INR precision and accuracy using six levels of frozen plasma calibrants prepared and pooled from normal donors and patients stabilized on sodium warfarin (coumarin) based oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT). Reference prothrombin time (PT) and INR values were assigned to these calibrants in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) procedure using rTF 95 international reference preparation (IRP) of thromboplastin (human recombinant).