Varenicline and Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smokers Admitted to Hospitals: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Varenicline is the most effective sole pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation. If used in combination with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), cessation rates may be further improved, but the efficacy and safety of the combination need to be evaluated.

Objective: To examine whether hospitalized smokers treated with varenicline and NRT lozenges achieve higher prolonged smoking abstinence rates compared with those treated with varenicline alone.

Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among community pharmacists in Lahore regarding antibiotic dispensing without prescription: A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: The irrational dispensing practices are responsible for antibiotic abuse and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists (CPs) regarding dispensing antibiotics without prescription (DAwP).

Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted between March 1, 2023, and March 31, 2023, in community pharmacy settings of Lahore, Pakistan.

Challenges of enbloc mid-sacrectomy as redo surgery for sacral chordoma: a case report.

Enbloc Sacrectomy is the procedure of choice for aggressive sacral lesions but not widely practiced in Pakistan, both by Neurosurgeons and Orthopaedic surgeons. Only one case has been mentioned in indexed local literature so far and that too not operated in Pakistan. The case of a 27 year old neurologically intact male is presented.

Multi-domain prognostic models used in middle-aged adults without known cognitive impairment for predicting subsequent dementia.

Background: Dementia, a global health priority, has no current cure. Around 50 million people worldwide currently live with dementia, and this number is expected to treble by 2050. Some health conditions and lifestyle behaviours can increase or decrease the risk of dementia and are known as 'predictors'.

Effectiveness of Interventions Targeting Treatable Traits for the Management of Obstructive Airway Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: The management of obstructive airway diseases (OADs) is complex. The treatable traits (TTs) approach may be an effective strategy for managing OADs.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of interventions targeting TTs for managing OADs.

Isolated late intradural cauda equina metastasis of renal cell carcinoma.

Background: The cauda equina (CE) is the most common site for intradural extramedullary metastasis from systemic malignancies such as lung, breast, and thyroid carcinomas. However, renal cell carcinomas (RCC), with their high metastatic potential, are rarely responsible for CE metastatic lesions. Here, we report an intradural cauda equina mass, as the first and only site of metastasis of a renal cell carcinoma.

Extra-axial Desmoplastic Medulloblastoma in Adult Cerebellopontine Angle: Case Report and Noninvasive Molecular Subgrouping Utilizing Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Radiomics Nomogram.

Cerebellopontine angle (CPA) is an atypical site for adult medulloblastoma (MB) with only 12 cases reported in pure extra-axial location. None was predicted on preoperative imaging while the most common misdiagnosis was petrous meningioma. We add the 13 case to this list, attempting to reiterate the radiological features for preoperative prediction of this rare pathology on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Primary Intraosseous Xanthogranuloma in Adult Cervical Spine: A Case Report of Benign Cause of Lytic Bone Lesion.

Lytic lesions in adult spine are a common manifestation of aggressive disease such as primary bone tumor, metastasis, myeloma, or infectious pathology. Xanthoma arising in the spine with purely intraosseous component is an extremely rare occurrence with only six cases reported in the adult population, none in the cervical region. We report the first case of primary xanthoma of the cervical spine in a 50-year-old male solely confined to osseous compartment.

Treatable traits in an English cohort: prevalence and predictors of future decline in lung function and quality of life in COPD.

Background: "Treatable traits (TTs)" is a precision medicine approach for facilitating multidimensional assessment of every patient with chronic airway disease, in order to determine the core traits associated with disease outcomes where targeted treatments may be applied.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of TTs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and which traits predict future decline in lung function and quality of life (QoL).

Methods: A 4-year longitudinal evaluation was conducted using data from 3726 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).

Perspective of community pharmacists about community-based antimicrobial stewardship programs. A multicenter cross-sectional study from China.

: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) are commonly used worldwide to tackle antimicrobial resistance. The current study aimed to investigate the perspective of pharmacists on community-based ASPs in China.: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in the capital cities of three different provinces of China between March 2019 and July 2019.

Antibiotic Prescribing Practices and Errors among Hospitalized Pediatric Patients Suffering from Acute Respiratory Tract Infections: A Multicenter, Cross-Sectional Study in Pakistan.

The noncompliance of treatment guidelines by healthcare professionals, along with physiological variations, makes the pediatric population more prone to antibiotic prescribing errors. The present study aims to evaluate the prescribing practices and errors of the most frequently prescribed antibiotics among pediatric patients suffering from acute respiratory tract infections who had different lengths of stay (LOS) in public hospitals. Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in five tertiary-care public hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan, between 1 January 2017 and 30 June 2017.

Capacity and willingness to use information technology for managing chronic diseases among patients: A cross-sectional study in Lahore, Pakistan.

Background And Objectives: The information technology is a pivotal source of communication between patients and healthcare providers for managing chronic diseases. The objective of this study is to assess the capacity and willingness of patients to use information technology for managing chronic diseases.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was employed.

Influence of Education Level of Older Patients on Polypharmacy, Potentially Inappropriate Medications Listed in Beer's Criteria, and Unplanned Hospitalization: A Cross-Sectional Study in Lahore, Pakistan.

: To evaluate influence of education level of older patients on polypharmacy, potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) listed in Beer's Criteria, and unplanned hospitalization. : A cross-sectional study was conducted among older people aged ≥65 years between 1 December 2017 and 28 February 2018. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were employed.

Antimicrobial use by WHO methodology at primary health care centers: a cross sectional study in Punjab, Pakistan.

Background: To investigate the antimicrobial (AM) use and prescribing patterns at primary health care centers (PHCCs) in Punjab, Pakistan.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology for AM usage from January, 2017 to June, 2017. Standard data collection forms designed by the WHO were used to collect the data from 32 PHCCs (16 rural healthcare centers (RHCs) and 16 basic health units (BHUs)) in Punjab province of Pakistan.

Assessment of prescribing potentially inappropriate medications listed in Beers criteria and its association with the unplanned hospitalization: a cross-sectional study in Lahore, Pakistan.

Background And Objectives: Due to physiological and pharmacological variations, geriatrics are at high risk of experiencing life-threatening outcomes related to the use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). Thus, the present study aims to evaluate prescribing practices of PIMs among elderly patients who may lead to unplanned hospitalization and associated risk factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in different hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan.

Attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to practice-based research: A cross-sectional survey of hospital pharmacists in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.

Background And Objectives: Practice-based research (PBR) is of pivotal importance for hospital pharmacists which not only up-grades the profession but also improves the patient care. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR among hospital pharmacists in Pakistan.

Methods: A descriptive, cross sectional study design was employed.

Causality and preventability assessment of adverse drug reactions and adverse drug events of antibiotics among hospitalized patients: A multicenter, cross-sectional study in Lahore, Pakistan.

Background And Objectives: Adverse drug events (ADEs) are the fifth leading cause of death and thus responsible for a large number of hospital admissions in all over the globe. This study was aimed to assess the antibiotics associated preventability of ADEs and causality of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among hospitalized patients.

Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in four tertiary care public sector hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan.

Causality and preventability assessment of adverse drug events of antibiotics among inpatients having different lengths of hospital stay: a multicenter, cross-sectional study in Lahore, Pakistan.

Background: A large number of hospital admissions are attributed to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and they are the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. The present study aimed to assess the causality and preventability of adverse drug events (ADEs) of antibiotics among inpatients having different lengths of hospital stay.

Methods: A prospective, observational study was conducted in four tertiary-care public sector hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan.

Availability and affordability of biologic versus non-biologic anticancer medicines: a cross-sectional study in Punjab, Pakistan.

Objectives: Prime focus of this study was to evaluate the availability and affordability of originator brands (OBs) and lowest price generics (LPGs) of prescribed biologic and non-biologic anticancer medicines.

Design, Settings And Participants: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey was conducted in 22 cancer-care hospitals (18 public hospitals and 4 private hospitals) and 44 private pharmacies in Punjab, Pakistan. Sampling population consisted of 4483 patients with cancer aged ≥18 years.

Knowledge of community pharmacists about antibiotics, and their perceptions and practices regarding antimicrobial stewardship: a cross-sectional study in Punjab, Pakistan.

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge of community pharmacists about antibiotics, and their perceptions and practices toward antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in Punjab, Pakistan.

Materials And Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among community pharmacists in Punjab, Pakistan from April 1, 2017 to May 31, 2017. A self-administered and pretested questionnaire was used for data collection.

Availability of anticancer medicines in public and private sectors, and their affordability by low, middle and high-income class patients in Pakistan.

Background: Availability and affordability of anticancer medicines is a matter of great concern especially for low and middle income countries e.g., Pakistan.

Drug utilization patterns among elderly hospitalized patients on poly-pharmacy in Punjab, Pakistan.

Background: Reports from drug utilization reviews are important tools employed in the assessment of healthcare practices. The objective of this study was to evaluate drug utilization patterns among elderly hospitalized patients on poly-pharmacy regimens in Pakistan.

Methods: A descriptive, non-experimental, cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2015 to March 2016 in six tertiary-care hospitals in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

The reasons why Pakistan might be at high risk of Crimean Congo haemorrhagic fever epidemic; a scoping review of the literature.

Pakistan has faced a number of significant healthcare challenges over the past decade. In 2000, one of these events - a deadly epidemic of Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) - struck Pakistan. The people of Pakistan are at a very high risk of acquiring CCHF, due to a number of factors which emerge from a scoping review of the literature.