Publications by authors named "Schuurmans M"

Background: Combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) patients generally have a poorer prognosis compared to those with either pulmonary fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)/emphysema alone, as demonstrated by several studies. Our study aimed to identify undiagnosed CPFE cases within a lung transplantation cohort initially diagnosed with interstitial lung fibrosis or COPD/emphysema. It was hypothesized that the patient cohort might contain overlooked CPFE cases, and CPFE patients would exhibit a higher incidence of pre-transplant pulmonary hypertension and post-transplant chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD).

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Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is defined by the typical triad of severe thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia and endorgan dysfunction and can be characterized by the pathophysiology of ischemia-inducing microthrombi in arterioles and capillaries possibly leading to severe organ dysfunction up to acutely life-threatening endorgan damage. In terms of etiology, management, therapy and prognosis, the following manifestations are distinguished: thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), shigatoxin-induced hemolytic-uremic syndrome (STEC-HUS), secondary comorbidity-related TMA and atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome (aHUS). We present the case of a 49 year old lung transplant recipient developing aHUS.

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Background: The persistent knowledge-practice gap in nursing, where competencies gained through continuing professional development fail to integrate into practice, remains a significant challenge. Effective transfer of acquired knowledge and skills to the workplace is essential for bridging this gap. However, there is a lack of comprehensive, validated instruments to assess factors influencing training transfer in nursing practice.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent advancements in lung transplantation have led to increased complexity in patient selection and management, particularly regarding comorbidities and frailty, which are key factors affecting post-transplant outcomes.
  • A study at the University Hospital Zurich analyzed 68 lung transplant patients to determine how preoperative assessments of comorbidity and frailty predict postoperative results, employing a frailty index and categorizing patient data.
  • Results indicated that higher comorbidity levels were associated with significantly increased mortality, and higher frailty scores correlated with longer hospitalization durations and worse overall outcomes, but limitations included a small sample size.
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  • Acute allograft rejection after lung transplantation raises the risk of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, a serious post-transplant complication affecting patient mortality.
  • The study reviewed multiple databases for research comparing surveillance bronchoscopy (SB) and clinically indicated bronchoscopy (CIB) in detecting acute rejection among lung transplant patients.
  • Results indicated that neither SB nor CIB was superior in detecting acute rejection overall, prompting a need for larger studies to clarify their effectiveness, especially regarding minimal rejection cases.
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Aim And Objectives: To provide an in-depth insight into the barriers, facilitators and needs of district nurses and nurse assistants on using patient outcomes in district nursing care.

Background: As healthcare demands grow, particularly in district nursing, there is a significant need to understand how to systematically measure and improve patient outcomes in this setting. Further investigation is needed to identify the barriers and facilitators for effective implementation.

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This report describes the characterization of Burkholderia cenocepacia isolates belonging to sequence type (ST)-250, detected in eight patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) in Switzerland. We retrospectively analyzed 18 isolates of B. cenocepacia ST-250 isolated between 2003 and 2015 by whole-genome sequencing and evaluated clinical and epidemiological data.

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Introduction: Healthcare organisations face multiple challenges, often conceptualised as appropriate care. It requires change on different levels: healthcare systems (macro), healthcare organisations (meso), and healthcare professionals (micro). This study focuses on bottom-up changes initiated by healthcare professionals.

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Objectives: Lung transplant is the ultimate treatment of many end-stage lung diseases. Calcineurin inhibitors, crucial in immunosuppression for lung transplant recipients, are linked to secondary hypertension, necessitating antihypertensive treatment. In addition, lung transplant recipients frequently experience orthostatic hypotension, occasionally stemming from autonomic dysfunction, but also commonly attributed as a negative side effect of antihypertensive treatment.

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Background: The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors in combination with calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), antimetabolites and corticosteroids for immunosuppression after lung transplantation (TPL) have gained importance in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The goal of this study was to characterize lung transplant recipients (LTR) treated with mTOR inhibitors, with a special focus on kidney function.

Methods: LTR transplanted at the University Hospital Zurich between December 1992 and April 2022 were analyzed.

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Background: Bivalent messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, designed to combat emerging severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, incorporate ancestral strains and a new variant. Our study assessed the immune response in previously vaccinated individuals of the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS) and the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS) following bivalent mRNA vaccination.

Methods: Eligible SHCS and STCS participants received approved bivalent mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (mRNA-1273.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) negatively impacts survival for lung transplant patients, with extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) as a potential treatment to slow its progression.
  • A study at the University Hospital Zurich analyzed 105 patients who received ECP, revealing that younger patients in the earlier stages of CLAD had the best outcomes, while those in advanced stages had significantly lower survival rates.
  • The research concluded that starting ECP treatment early, especially in patients with recurrent acute allograft dysfunction, led to improved long-term survival.
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Objectives: Presently, the management of direct oral anticoagulants lacks specific guidelines for patients before and after transplant, particularly for lung transplant recipients. We aimed to consolidate the existing literature on direct oral anticoagulants and explore their implications in lung transplant recipients.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search in PubMed and Google Scholar databases for studies published between January 2000 and December 2022, using specific search terms.

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Infections with Scedosporium spp. are emerging in the past two decades and are associated with a high mortality rate. Microbiological detection can be associated with either colonization or infection.

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Background: After basic immunization with 2 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses, only a small proportion of patients who are severely immunocompromised generate a sufficient antibody response. Hence, we assessed the additional benefit of a third SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in patients with different levels of immunosuppression.

Methods: In this observational extension of the COVERALL trial (Corona Vaccine Trial Platform), we recruited patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study and the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (ie, lung and kidney transplant recipients).

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Background: Good data quality is essential when rare disease registries are used as a data source for pharmacovigilance studies. This study investigated data quality of the Swiss cystic fibrosis (CF) registry in the frame of a European Cystic Fibrosis Society Patient Registry (ECFSPR) project aiming to implement measures to increase data reliability for registry-based research.

Methods: All 20 pediatric and adult Swiss CF centers participated in a data quality audit between 2018 and 2020, and in a re-audit in 2022.

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: Community-acquired respiratory virus (CARV) infections pose a serious risk for lung transplant recipients (LTR) as they are prone to severe complications. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Switzerland in 2020, the government implemented hygiene measures for the general population. We investigated the impact of these measures on the transmission of CARV in lung transplant recipients in Switzerland.

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Background: The immunogenicity of the standard influenza vaccine is reduced in solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients, so new vaccination strategies are needed in this population.

Methods: Adult SOT recipients from 9 transplant clinics in Switzerland and Spain were enrolled if they were >3 months after transplantation. Patients were randomized (1:1:1) to a MF59-adjuvanted or a high-dose vaccine (intervention), or a standard vaccine (control), with stratification by organ and time from transplant.

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Background: Studies investigating the impact of sinus surgery for cystic fibrosis (CF) patients performed early after lung transplantation (Ltx) are scarce. Recent studies evaluating frequency of respiratory infections and graft outcomes are not available.

Objectives/hypothesis: To determine whether there is a difference in allograft infection, allograft function and overall survival among CF lung transplant recipients with and without concomitant sinus surgery.

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Extension of the COVERALL (COrona VaccinE tRiAL pLatform) randomized trial showed noninferiority in antibody response of the third dose of Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine (95.3% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 91.9%-98.

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Background: Nurse-preceptors regularly struggle to evaluate students' readiness to take care of patients unsupervised, even with sophisticated workplace-based assessment tools. Preceptors' gut feelings are not always captured well, but are critical for judgement of readiness for learner entrustment with care tasks. Studies in medical education report features that clinicians consider important when trusting students with clinical responsibilities that might also apply in nursing.

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: Remote patient monitoring (RPM) of vital signs and symptoms for lung transplant recipients (LTRs) has become increasingly relevant in many situations. Nevertheless, RPM research integrating multisensory home monitoring in LTRs is scarce. We developed a novel multisensory home monitoring device and tested it in the context of COVID-19 vaccinations.

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Achieving adequate immunosuppression for lung transplant recipients in the first year after lung transplantation is a key challenge. Prophylaxis of allograft rejection must be balanced with the adverse events associated with immunosuppressive drugs, for example infection, renal failure, and diabetes. A triple immunosuppressive combination is standard, including a steroid, a calcineurin inhibitor, and an antiproliferative compound beginning with the highest levels of immunosuppression and a subsequent tapering of the dose, usually guided by therapeutic drug monitoring and considering clinical results, bronchoscopy sampling results, and additional biomarkers such as serum viral replication or donor-specific antibodies.

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