Adverse Events and Complications Associated With Intrathecal Drug Delivery Systems: Insights From the Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) Database.

Background: Modern intrathecal drug delivery systems (IDDS) are technologically advanced to deliver medication through various automated and patient-controlled programs. They also are associated with unique complications ranging from post-operative complications, medication-related adverse events (AE), device malfunction, to refill associated AE.

Objectives: To systematically analyze real-world complications and AE reported on the Food and Drug Administration's Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience database (MAUDE) associated with IDDS among patients predominantly with chronic pain disorders.

Temporal Trends and Outcomes of Left Ventricular Aneurysm After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

There are limited data on the prevalence and an outcome of left ventricular (LV) aneurysms following acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Using the National Inpatient Sample during 2000 to 2017, a retrospective cohort of AMI admissions was evaluated for LV aneurysms. Complications included ventricular arrhythmias, mechanical, cardiac arrest, pump failure, LV thrombus, and stroke.

Complement activation in pauci-immune necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis: results of a proteomic analysis.

Background: Complement activation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV), although it remains unclear which pathway is activated. Whether pauci-immune necrotizing crescentic glomerulonephritis (pauci-immune GN) with negative ANCA serology is part of the spectrum of AAV or a different disease entity is essentially unknown.

Methods: We used proteomic analysis to delineate the complement profile in a series of 13 kidney biopsies of patients with pauci-immune GN, with either proteinase 3 (PR3) (five patients) or myeloperoxidase (MPO) antibodies (four patients) or with consistently negative ANCA serology (four patients).

Coincidental Impact of Transcatheter Patent Foramen Ovale Closure on Migraine with and without Aura - A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis.

Background: We analyzed the literature to assess the coincidental impact on migraines of transcatheter patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure performed for secondary stroke prevention.

Methods: We searched Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane database for studies published up until August 2013. We included English-language studies that provided information on complete resolution or improvement in migraine headaches following PFO closure.

Acute coronary syndromes without coronary plaque rupture.

The latest advances in plaque imaging have provided clinicians with opportunities to treat acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and provide individualized treatment recommendations based not only on clinical manifestations, angiographic characteristics, and biomarker data, but also on the findings of plaque morphology. Although a substantial proportion of ACS events originate from plaques with an intact fibrous cap (IFC), clinicians predominantly equate ACS with plaque rupture arising from thin-cap fibroatheromas. In this Review, we discuss the recent advances in our understanding of plaque morphology in ACS with IFC, reviewing contemporary data from intravascular imaging.