Correlation Between and Nursing Satisfaction With CIWA-Ar, mMINDS, and SEWS Scoring Tools for the Assessment of Severe Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome in ICU Patients.

Background: Management of alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) requires bedside assessments of symptom severity to guide therapies. Commonly used assessment tools are the Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment for Alcohol (CIWA-Ar), the modified Minnesota Detoxification Scale (mMINDS) and the Severity of Ethanol Withdrawal Scale (SEWS).

Objective: To determine strength of correlation between the CIWA-Ar, mMINDS, and SEWS for bedside assessment of severe AWS and to survey nurses regarding ease of use of each tool.

Pragmatic Use of Catheter-Directed Thrombolysis in Venous Thromboembolism and a Comparative Evaluation With Traditional Therapies in Submassive Pulmonary Embolism.

Background: Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) is a novel treatment for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Limited data describe pragmatic use of CDT and compare CDT to other VTE therapies.

Objective: Assess the use of CDT and comparatively evaluate CDT, anticoagulation, and systemic thrombolysis in submassive pulmonary embolism (PE).

Azole-resistant Aspergillus and Echinocandin-resistant Candida - What are the treatment options?

Purpose Of Review: This review summarizes current treatment options for echinocandin-resistant spp. (ERC) and azole-resistant (ARAF), emphasizing recent data, clinical reports, and consensus statements.

Recent Findings: Advances in ERC and ARAF treatment are limited to specific antifungal combinations and dose optimization but remain reliant on amphotericin products.

Metastatic Invasive Liver Abscess Syndrome in Denver, Colorado.

Background: has gained recognition for its association with invasive liver abscess syndrome (ILAS). ILAS is associated with a hypervirulent strain of and can impact immunocompetent as well as immunocompromised patients.

Case Report: A 42-year-old Hispanic male with no significant past medical history was admitted with complaints of subjective fevers and worsening fatigue.

Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events among patients receiving omalizumab: Results from EXCELS, a prospective cohort study in moderate to severe asthma.

Background: EXCELS, a postmarketing observational cohort study, was a commitment to the US Food and Drug Administration to assess the long-term safety of omalizumab in an observational setting, focusing predominantly on malignancies.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine a potential association between omalizumab and cardiovascular (CV)/cerebrovascular (CBV) events in EXCELS.

Methods: Patients (≥12 years of age) with moderate to severe allergic asthma and who were being treated with omalizumab (n = 5007) or not (n = 2829) at baseline were followed up for ≤5 years.

A randomized trial of the efficacy and safety of quilizumab in adults with inadequately controlled allergic asthma.

Background: Quilizumab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody, targets the M1-prime segment of membrane-expressed IgE, leading to depletion of IgE-switched and memory B cells. In patients with mild asthma, quilizumab reduced serum IgE and attenuated the early and late asthmatic reaction following whole lung allergen challenge. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of quilizumab in adults with allergic asthma, inadequately controlled despite high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and a second controller.

Efficacy and safety of omalizumab in patients with chronic idiopathic/spontaneous urticaria who remain symptomatic on H1 antihistamines: a randomized, placebo-controlled study.

ASTERIA I was a 40-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous omalizumab as add-on therapy for 24 weeks in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria/spontaneous urticaria (CIU/CSU) who remained symptomatic despite H1 antihistamine treatment at licensed doses. Patients aged 12-75 years with CIU/CSU who remained symptomatic despite treatment with approved doses of H1 antihistamines were randomized (1:1:1:1) in a double-blind manner to subcutaneous omalizumab 75 mg, 150 mg, or 300 mg or placebo every 4 weeks for 24 weeks followed by 16 weeks of follow-up. The primary end point was change from baseline in weekly itch severity score (ISS) at week 12.

Study to Assess Outcome After Open and Closed Carpal Tunnel Decompression.

Carpal tunnel decompression (CTD) is the most commonly performed surgical procedure within a hand unit. We have analyzed data on outcomes after carpal decompression performed by both open and closed techniques to assess whether outcomes differed between the 2 procedures. Data were jointly gathered from 2 units.

Incidence of malignancy in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma treated with or without omalizumab.

Background: The Epidemiologic Study of Xolair (omalizumab): Evaluating Clinical Effectiveness and Long-term Safety in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Asthma (EXCELS) assessed the long-term safety of omalizumab in a clinical practice setting as part of a phase IV US Food and Drug Administration postmarketing commitment.

Objective: We sought to evaluate long-term safety in omalizumab-treated and nonomalizumab-treated patients. Primary outcome measures focused on assessment of malignancies.

Transplantation-related mortality, graft failure, and survival after reduced-toxicity conditioning and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in 100 consecutive pediatric recipients.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) with myeloablative conditioning is associated with a 10%-40% risk of day +100 transplantation-related mortality (TRM). We evaluated the feasibility and safety of reduced-toxicity conditioning and allo-HSCT in 100 consecutive children and adolescent recipients (mean age, 9.2 ± 6.

Four disruptive strategies for removing drug discovery bottlenecks.

Drug discovery is shifting focus from industry to outside partners and, in the process, creating new bottlenecks. Technologies like high throughput screening (HTS) have moved to a larger number of academic and institutional laboratories in the USA, with little coordination or consideration of the outputs and creating a translational gap. Although there have been collaborative public-private partnerships in Europe to share pharmaceutical data, the USA has seemingly lagged behind and this may hold it back.

Longitudinal changes in asthma control with omalizumab: 2-year interim data from the EXCELS Study.

Background: Asthma guidelines emphasize the importance of achieving and maintaining asthma control; however, many patients with moderate to severe asthma fail to achieve adequate control.

Objective: This 2-year interim analysis evaluated the longitudinal effects of omalizumab on asthma control in patients treated in real-world clinical practice settings.

Methods: EXCELS is an ongoing observational cohort study of approximately 5000 omalizumab-treated and 2500 non-omalizumab-treated patients aged ≥12 years with moderate to severe asthma.

Adenovirus infection in paediatric allogeneic stem cell transplantation recipients is a major independent factor for significantly increasing the risk of treatment related mortality.

Adenovirus infection is a significant complication in paediatric AlloSCT recipients with a mortality rate for disseminated adenovirus that may exceed 80%. We sought to determine the incidence, risk factors, and associated outcomes of adenovirus infection in 123 consecutive paediatric AlloSCT recipients. Adenovirus was diagnosed by antigen detection or viral culture, and was defined by isolation of virus with presence of correlating clinical symptoms.

A comparison of immune reconstitution and graft-versus-host disease following myeloablative conditioning versus reduced toxicity conditioning and umbilical cord blood transplantation in paediatric recipients.

Immune reconstitution appears to be delayed following myeloablative conditioning (MAC) and umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) in paediatric recipients. Although reduced toxicity conditioning (RTC) versus MAC prior to allogeneic stem cell transplantation is associated with decreased transplant-related mortality, the effects of RTC versus MAC prior to UCBT on immune reconstitution and risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) are unknown. In 88 consecutive paediatric recipients of UCBT, we assessed immune cell recovery and immunoglobulin reconstitution at days +100, 180 and 365 and analysed risk factors associated with acute and chronic GVHD.

Baseline characteristics of patients enrolled in EXCELS: a cohort study.

Background: The Epidemiologic Study of Xolair (omalizumab): Evaluating Clinical Effectiveness and Long-term Safety in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Asthma (EXCELS) is a unique opportunity to evaluate the prospective, long-term clinical safety and effectiveness of the anti-IgE antibody omalizumab (Xolair) in real-world clinical practice.

Objectives: To describe the study design and study cohorts of EXCELS at baseline and to compare the characteristics of this population with other large asthma cohorts.

Methods: Patients with moderate-to-severe persistent asthma and a positive skin test result or in vitro reactivity to a perennial aeroallergen were eligible for EXCELS.

Sequential administration of sargramostim and filgrastim in pediatric allogeneic stem cell transplantation recipients undergoing myeloablative conditioning.

G-CSF and GM-CSF both hasten myeloid engraftment post-MA-alloSCT; however, GM-CSF is earlier acting and less expensive. The objective was to evaluate efficacy/safety of sequential administration of GM-CSF followed by G-CSF in children post-MA-alloSCT. From January 2001 to June 2005, 31 children received 32 MA-alloSCT: mean age 6.