The Clinical and Economic Burden of Newly Diagnosed Hereditary Transthyretin (ATTRv) Amyloidosis: A Retrospective Analysis of Claims Data.

Introduction: Little is known about the burden of hereditary transthyretin (ATTRv) amyloidosis, a genetic, progressive, and fatal disease caused by extracellular deposition of transthyretin amyloid fibrils. The study's aim was to estimate costs and disease burden associated with ATTRv amyloidosis in a real-world setting.

Methods: Using IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental data, we identified patients at least 18 years of age with newly diagnosed ATTRv amyloidosis.

Gestational Diabetes Screening: The International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups Compared With Carpenter-Coustan Screening.

Objective: To evaluate whether one-step gestational diabetes screening recommended by The International Association of the Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) is associated with better maternal, perinatal, or neonatal outcomes than the two-step Carpenter-Coustan screening.

Methods: In this before-after retrospective cohort study conducted between July 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, we compared Carpenter-Coustan and IADPSG screening in patients with singleton pregnancies. All patients diagnosed with gestational diabetes received intensive teaching, home glucose monitoring, and medications as indicated.

Clinically Diagnosed Acute Diverticulitis in Outpatients: Misdiagnosis in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background: Physicians often diagnose diverticulitis and prescribe antibiotics in outpatients with abdominal pain and tenderness without other evidence.

Aim: We investigated the misattribution of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms to diverticulitis in outpatients.

Methods: In patients diagnosed with diverticulitis and dispensed antibiotics in an integrated healthcare system, we retrospectively compared 15,846 outpatients managed without computed tomography (CT) versus 3750 emergency department/inpatients who had CT.

Stem cell niche dynamics: from homeostasis to carcinogenesis.

The stem cell microenvironment is involved in regulating the fate of the stem cell with respect to self-renewal, quiescence, and differentiation. Mathematical models are helpful in understanding how key pathways regulate the dynamics of stem cell maintenance and homeostasis. This tight regulation and maintenance of stem cell number is thought to break down during carcinogenesis.