Objective: GCA is the commonest primary systemic vasculitis in adults, with significant health economic costs and societal burden. There is wide variation in access to secondary care GCA services, with 34% of hospitals in England not having any formal clinical pathway. Quality standards provide levers for change to improve services.
Methods: The multidisciplinary steering committee were asked to anonymously put forward up to five aspects of service essential for best practice. Responses were qualitatively analysed to identify common themes, subsequently condensed into domain headings, and ranked in order of importance. Quality standards and metrics for each domain were drafted, requiring a minimum 75% agreement.
Results: 13 themes were identified from the initial suggestions. Nine quality standards with auditable metrics were developed from the top 10 themes. Patient Access, glucocorticoid use, pathways, ultrasonography, temporal artery biopsy, PET scan access, rheumatology/ophthalmology expertise, education, multidisciplinary working have all been covered in these quality standards. Access to care is a strand that has run through each of the developed standards. An audit tool was developed as part of this exercise.
Conclusion: These are the first consensus auditable quality standards developed by clinicians from rheumatology and ophthalmology, nursing representatives and involvement of a patient charity. We hope that these standards will be adopted by commissioning bodies to provide levers for change from the improvement of patient care of individuals with GCA.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/kead025 | DOI Listing |
Mikrochim Acta
January 2025
Institute of Quality Standard and Testing Technology of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 10097, China.
For the first time a novel fluorescent La@ZrMOF nanomaterial was synthesized for the convenient and visual detection of ethephon (ETH) based on the ligand-metal charge transfer process. The fluorescence signal gradually enhanced as the concentration of ETH increased, accompanied by a change in the color from colorless to blue. The assay can be completed within 75 min with a detection limit of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Comput Assist Radiol Surg
January 2025
Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Purpose: During endovascular revascularization interventions for peripheral arterial disease, the standard modality of X-ray fluoroscopy (XRF) used for image guidance is limited in visualizing distal segments of infrapopliteal vessels. To enhance visualization of arteries, an image registration technique was developed to align pre-acquired computed tomography (CT) angiography images and to create fusion images highlighting arteries of interest.
Methods: X-ray image metadata capturing the position of the X-ray gantry initializes a multiscale iterative optimization process, which uses a local-variance masked normalized cross-correlation loss to rigidly align a digitally reconstructed radiograph (DRR) of the CT dataset with the target X-ray, using the edges of the fibula and tibia as the basis for alignment.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Cardiovascular Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical, and Research Center, University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Assessing myocardial viability is crucial for managing ischemic heart disease. While late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard for viability evaluation, it has limitations, including contraindications in patients with renal dysfunction and lengthy scan times. This study investigates the potential of non-contrast CMR techniques-feature tracking strain analysis and T1/T2 mapping-combined with machine learning (ML) models, as an alternative to LGE-CMR for myocardial viability assessment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Orthop Trauma Surg
January 2025
Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.
Background: Hand injuries are a leading cause of emergency department visits. Recent trends in hand trauma management reflect a shift toward outpatient care, driven by factors such as a shortage of skilled personnel or increasing cost pressures. This study analyzed these trends to propose updated management strategies for hand injuries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur Geriatr Med
January 2025
School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Purpose: As the global population of older adults rises, the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030) advocates for disease prevention, management, and enhancing overall wellbeing in older adults. We reviewed the MEDLINE literature under the MeSH term "music therapy" (MT), for its role in promoting healthy ageing.
Methods: A systematic search of the MEDLINE biomedical database (Ovid) was conducted using "MT" and "Ageing" as keywords, retrieving relevant full-text studies in English.
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