Mediation analysis identifies causal factors that lead to increased rates of kidney transplant failure in patients with peripheral vascular disease.

Background: This study aims to identify causal mediators of one-year kidney transplant failure in patients with peripheral vascular disease.

Methods: Standard Transplant Analysis and Research database was queried for adults who underwent kidney transplantation from 1987 to 2021. Multi-organ transplant, prior transplant, and living donor kidneys were excluded.

A clinical challenge: delayed diagnosis of autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type II in a patient with thyroid eye disease.

A 35-year-old woman with thyroid eye disease (TED) was found to have autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type II (APS-II) 1 year after developing symptoms of this rare syndrome, during which she underwent 8 emergency department visits before receiving a targeted endocrinology workup. Thyroid disease is the second most common autoimmune syndrome associated with APS-II after primary adrenal insufficiency. Identification of this syndrome is critical as it can be life-threatening if left untreated.

Evaluating generalizability of oncology trial results to real-world patients using machine learning-based trial emulations.

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating anti-cancer agents often lack generalizability to real-world oncology patients. Although restrictive eligibility criteria contribute to this issue, the role of selection bias related to prognostic risk remains unclear. In this study, we developed TrialTranslator, a framework designed to systematically evaluate the generalizability of RCTs for oncology therapies.

Explainable Machine Learning to Predict Treatment Response in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated promise in the treatment of various cancers. Single-drug ICI therapy (immuno-oncology [IO] monotherapy) that targets PD-L1 is the standard of care in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1 expression ≥50%. We sought to find out if a machine learning (ML) algorithm can perform better as a predictive biomarker than PD-L1 alone.

Demographics of Ophthalmology and Optometry Practices and Changes in Utilization Patterns of Procedures and Services Following Private Equity Acquisition.

Purpose: To characterize private equity (PE) acquisition of ophthalmology and optometry practices and compare procedural utilization before and after acquisition.

Methods: Ophthalmologists and optometrists in practices acquired from 2012 to 2016 were identified and characterized using an internet archive with an additional search in 2017 to characterize doctor turnover. United States Census Bureau and Internal Revenue Service Data were used to determine population health insurance and adjusted gross income (AGI).