Publications by authors named "R W Mercer"
Blood culture bottle shortage mitigation efforts: analysis of impact on ordering and patient impact.
Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol
January 2025
Objective Design: In June of 2024, Becton Dickinson experienced a blood culture bottle shortage for their BACTEC system, forcing health systems to reduce usage or risk exhausting their supply. Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS) in Richmond, VA decided that it was necessary to implement austerity measures to preserve the blood culture bottle supply.
Setting: VCUHS includes a main campus in Richmond, VA as well as two affiliate hospitals in South Hill, VA (Community Memorial Hospital (CMH)) and Tappahannock Hospital in Tappahannock, VA.
The radiological manifestations of calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) revolve around two main axes: the asymptomatic form and CPPD disease. The latter is a consequence of an immune response to calcium phosphate crystals. Chondrocalcinosis is broadly considered the radiographic manifestation of CPPD regardless of whether it is asymptomatic or associated with inflammatory arthritis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ontario has publicly funded biosimilar bevacizumab for first-line metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) since 2019. Clinical trials demonstrate comparable efficacy and safety of bevacizumab biosimilars to originator bevacizumab. The objective of this study was to assess real-world safety and effectiveness of the implementation of bevacizumab biosimilars compared with originator bevacizumab in patients with mCRC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Clinical practice guideline recommendations are often informed by systematic reviews. This review aimed to appraise the reporting and methodological quality of systematic reviews informing clinical practice recommendations relevant to vascular surgery.
Data Sources: MEDLINE and Embase.
Article Synopsis
- - The study analyzed body composition changes in NBA athletes throughout different seasonal phases (preseason, pre all-star, post all-star, and offseason) using DXA scans from 62 players over 11 years, focusing on factors like age and player height.
- - Results indicated that players generally increase lean mass (LM) and decrease fat mass (FM) during the in-season phases, with older athletes showing a greater gain in LM, while height was positively correlated with both LM and FM increases.
- - The research introduced a custom region of interest (ROI) technique for accurate assessments of taller athletes and highlighted the need for personalized body composition evaluations, which can inform strategies for strength, nutrition, and player development in professional basketball. *