Adoptive T-cell immunotherapy holds great promise for the treatment of viral complications in immunocompromised patients resistant to standard anti-viral strategies. We present a retrospective analysis of 78 patients from 19 hospitals across Australia and New Zealand, treated over the last 15 years with "off-the-shelf" allogeneic T cells directed to a combination of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), BK polyomavirus (BKV), John Cunningham virus (JCV) and/or adenovirus (AdV) under the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration's Special Access Scheme. Most patients had severe post-transplant viral complications, including drug-resistant end-organ CMV disease, BKV-associated haemorrhagic cystitis and EBV-driven post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChildren with Down syndrome (DS) are at increased risk of developing haematological malignancies, in particular acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. The microenvironment established by abnormal haematopoiesis driven by trisomy 21 is compounded by additional genetic and epigenetic changes that can drive leukaemogenesis in patients with DS. GATA-binding protein 1 () somatic mutations are implicated in the development of transient abnormal myelopoiesis and the progression to myeloid leukaemia of DS (ML-DS) and provide a model of the multi-step process of leukaemogenesis in DS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Remote self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) programs improve racial health equity among postpartum people with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) who receive recommended blood pressure ascertainment after hospital discharge.1-3 However, as prior studies have been conducted within racially diverse but ethnically homogeneous populations,1-3 the effect of SMBP programs on ethnicity-based inequities is less understood.4 We examined whether SMBP rates differed among Hispanic versus non-Hispanic participants in remote SMBP programs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is limited research that identifies and examines multi-level barriers to medication adherence among adults with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); Identify multi-level barriers to medication adherence among adults with SCD; and Examine the relationship between multi-level barriers and medication adherence levels. A cross-sectional study included 130 adults (ages ≥ 18 years old) living with SCD who receive treatment/care from one of the 10 adult SCD clinics within the Networking California for sickle cell care initiative. Study measures included the medication adherence report scale (Professor Rob Horne), Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire (Professor Rob Horne), and patient reported outcomes measurement information system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) therapy is accompanied by treatment-related toxicities (TRTs) and impaired quality of life. In Australia and New Zealand, children with ALL are treated with either Children's Oncology Group (COG) or international Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster (iBFM) Study Group-based therapy. We conducted a prospective registry study to document symptomatic TRTs (venous thrombosis, neurotoxicity, pancreatitis and bone toxicity), compare TRT outcomes to retrospective TRT data, and measure the impact of TRTs on children's general and cancer-related health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and parents' emotional well-being.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) is a neurotoxic state characterized by seizures, headache, vision change, paresis, and altered mental status. PRES has an important place in medicine due to the wide variety of causative diseases, infections, and medications that precipitate its mysterious onset. Although exposure to medications, particularly immunosuppressants, cancer chemotherapy, and biologic drugs, is a common occurrence in patients who develop PRES, Mepolizumab has never before been associated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany autoimmune diseases can affect the central nervous system, and their varying clinical presentations often confound a straightforward diagnosis. In this report, we describe a unique presentation of CLIPPERS syndrome. To our knowledge, this is the first case to demonstrate significant supratentorial involvement with symmetric and non-confluent lesions in the medial orbitofrontal cortex; additionally, this is the second case to describe an association between diagnoses of hypothyroidism and CLIPPERS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFalls are the leading cause of injuries and death among the elderly in the United States (U.S.).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Process evaluation within clinical trials provides an assessment of the study implementation's accuracy and quality to explain causal mechanisms and highlight contextual factors associated with variation in outcomes.
Objectives: This study aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators of implementing early mobilisation (EM) within a trial.
Methods: This is a qualitative process evaluation study within the Trial of Early Activity and Mobilisation (TEAM) phase 3 randomised controlled trial.
J Occup Environ Med
September 2019
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the updated 2019 CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard (CDC ScoreCard), which includes four new modules.
Methods: We pilot tested the updated instrument at 93 worksites, examining question response concurrence between two representatives from each worksite. We conducted cognitive interviews and site visits to evaluate face validity, and refined the instrument for public distribution.
This case study describes a multistage approach applied to evaluation of an employee wellness program at Northwell Health. The paper describes a framework that other large employers may adopt in their wellness program evaluations. Evaluators worked with Northwell to develop, tailor, and apply a structure-process-outcome framework aligned with the organization's specific goals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To examine changes in internal and external cultures of health scores and relate those changes to employees' health risks, health care utilization, and costs for 21 large employers (N = 641,901).
Methods: We measured the relationship between changes in internal and external culture of health scores and changes in employee health risks, health care utilization, and costs.
Results: Improvements in a company's internal culture of health predicted lower levels of obesity, poor diet, and tobacco use but higher stress for employees reporting high baseline risk.
Objective: The aim of the study was to develop tools that quantify employers' investment in building cultures of health (COH)-inside and outside company walls.
Methods: Two COH instruments were developed through literature reviews and expert consultation. The first focused on internal culture of health (COH-INT), that is, programs, policies, and attributes of the physical and social environments that support employees' health and well-being.
Objective: The aim of the study was to declare a call to action to improve mental health in the workplace.
Methods: We convened a public health summit and assembled an Advisory Council consisting of experts in the field of occupational health and safety, workplace wellness, and public policy to offer recommendations for action steps to improve health and well-being of workers.
Results: The Advisory Council narrowed the list of ideas to four priority projects.
Objective: The intracarotid sodium amytal procedure (the "Wada test") has for many years been the gold standard for language and memory lateralization and remains an important part of presurgical analysis for patients with medically intractable seizures. Due to shortages in the key sedative (amobarbital), neuropsychologists have turned to alternatives such as propofol. Our aim was to investigate the safety and efficacy of propofol relative to amobarbital in the Wada test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to provide a current picture of the state of workplace health promotion (wellness) programs in the U.S. from both employer and employee perspectives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudy Objectives: Describe common symptoms, comorbidities, functional limitations, and treatment responsiveness among patients with narcolepsy. Investigate the effect of pediatric onset of narcolepsy symptoms on time to diagnosis of narcolepsy and presence of comorbid depression.
Methods: Cross-sectional survey of 1,699 people in the United States with self-reported diagnosis of narcolepsy.
Background: In response to 2012 guidance in which the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) stated the importance of patient-centric measures in regulatory benefit-risk assessments, the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) initiated a project. The project was used to develop a framework to help the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and industry sponsors understand how patient preferences regarding benefit and risk might be integrated into the review of innovative medical devices.
Methods: A public-private partnership of experts from medical device industry, government, academia and non-profits collaborated on development of the MDIC patient centered benefit-risk framework.
J Healthc Sci Humanit
January 2016
Despite major advances and technological improvements in public health and medicine, health disparities persist by race and ethnicity, income and educational attainment, and in some cases are increasing (Jackson & Garcia, 2014). These health disparities among these populations have even worsened or remained about the same since the landmark 1985 Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black & Minority Health released by then Secretary Margaret M. Heckler.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe premier position of medical research on the U.S. national policy agenda offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance the science of patient input and marks a turning point in the evolution of patient engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In 2009, a retrospective study reported the detection of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in clinical isolates derived from individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS). While many efforts to confirm this observation failed, one report detected polytropic murine leukemia virus (pMLV), instead of XMRV. In both studies, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based methods were employed which could provide the basis for the development of a practical diagnostic tool.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArctic oases are regions of atypical warmth and relatively high biological production and diversity. They are small in area (<5 km(2) ) and uncommon in occurrence, yet they are relatively well studied due to the abundance of plant and animal life contained within them. A notable exception is the lack of research on freshwater ecosystems within polar oases.
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