The COVID-19 Pandemic Led To A Large Decline In Physician Gross Revenue Across All Specialties In 2020.

US health care use declined during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although utilization is known to have recovered in 2021 and 2022, it is unknown how revenue in 2020-22 varied by physician specialty and practice setting. This study linked medical claims from a large national federation of commercial health plans to physician and practice data to estimate pandemic-associated impacts on physician revenue (defined as payments to eligible physicians) by specialty and practice characteristics.

Effects of parenteral nutrition + best supportive nutritional care vs. best supportive nutritional care alone on quality of life in patients with pancreatic cancer-a secondary analysis of PANUSCO.

Purpose: Parenteral nutrition (PN) can be an effective treatment to improve the nutritional status of patients with pancreatic cancer, but the effects of PN on quality of life (QoL) are still understudied. Therefore, we aimed at investigating whether the best supportive nutritional care (BSNC) in combination with PN at home compared to BSNC alone changed QoL in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy over a period of 7 weeks.

Methods: n = 12 patients in the PANUSCO study received nutritional counseling only (control group (CG)) and n = 9 patients were also given supportive PN (intervention group (IG)).

S100 proteins as potential predictive biomarkers of abatacept response in polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) comprises a heterogeneous group of conditions that can cause marked disability and diminished quality of life. Data on predictors of clinical response are insufficient to guide selection of the appropriate biologic agent for individual patients. This study aimed to investigate the propensity of S100A8/9 and S100A12 as predictive biomarkers of abatacept response in polyarticular-course juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA).

Bone health in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are prone to reduced bone mineral density and elevated overall fracture risk. Osteopenia affects up to 40% of patients with IBD (high regional variability). Besides disease activity, IBD specialists must consider possible side effects of medication and the presence of associated diseases and extraintestinal manifestations.

Effect of local prolonged-release incisional doxycycline on surgical site infection prophylaxis in abdominal colorectal surgery: the SHIELD 1 randomized clinical trial.

Introduction: Despite advanced infection control practices including preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical site infection (SSI) remains a challenge. This study aimed to test whether local administration of a novel prolonged-release doxycycline-polymer-lipid encapsulation matrix (D-PLEX) before wound closure, concomitantly with standard of care (SOC), reduces the incidence of incisional SSI after elective abdominal colorectal surgery.

Materials And Methods: This was a phase 3 randomized, controlled, double-blind, multinational study (SHIELD 1) between June 2020 to June 2022.

Real-World Treatment Patterns and Survival Outcomes for Patients with Non-Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer in Sweden: A Nationwide Registry Analysis from the I-O Optimise Initiative.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with ~40-50% of patients diagnosed with non-metastatic disease (stages IA-IIIC). The treatment landscape is evolving rapidly as immunotherapies and targeted therapy are introduced in the non-metastatic setting, creating a need to assess patient outcomes prior to their introduction. This real-world study using Swedish National Lung Cancer Registry data examined outcomes (overall survival (OS) and time to next treatment or death (TTNTD)) and treatment patterns for adults diagnosed with non-metastatic NSCLC.

Wildfire, deforestation and health in tropical rainforest areas: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Wildfires and deforestation potentially have direct effects on multiple health outcomes as well as indirect consequences for climate change. Tropical rainforest areas are characterised by high rainfall, humidity and temperature, and they are predominantly found in low-income and middle-income countries. This study aims to synthesise the methods, data and health outcomes reported in scientific papers on wildfires and deforestation in these locations.

A comparative ethical analysis of the Egyptian clinical research law.

Background: In this study, we examined the ethical implications of Egypt's new clinical trial law, employing the ethical framework proposed by Emanuel et al. and comparing it to various national and supranational laws. This analysis is crucial as Egypt, considered a high-growth pharmaceutical market, has become an attractive location for clinical trials, offering insights into the ethical implementation of bioethical regulations in a large population country with a robust healthcare infrastructure and predominantly treatment-naïve patients.

Surgery in patients with infective endocarditis and prognostic importance of patient frailty.

Purpose: Surgery is required in 20-50% of patients with infective endocarditis (IE). Frailty increases surgical risk; however, the prognostic implications of frailty in patients undergoing IE-related surgery remain poorly understood. We aimed to assess the association between frailty and all-cause mortality or rehospitalization after discharge (≥ 14 days).

Primary and specialty palliative care utilization at a regional Burn center.

There is little research informing appropriate specialty palliative care consultation over primary palliative care practice, or the ability of the burn surgeon to perform skills such as effective goals of care discussions. We sought to characterize patterns of palliative care utilization and hypothesized that greater modified Baux (mBaux) and systemic organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores would correlate with increased specialty palliative involvement but have no relationship with primary palliative involvement. A retrospective chart review was conducted at a regional burn center between 2020-2021 including patients admitted with burns or inhalation injury and a mBaux score over 60, detailing circumstances of palliative consultation and goals of care discussions.

Trial of Early Minimally Invasive Removal of Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Background: Trials of surgical evacuation of supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhages have generally shown no functional benefit. Whether early minimally invasive surgical removal would result in better outcomes than medical management is not known.

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized trial involving patients with an acute intracerebral hemorrhage, we assessed surgical removal of the hematoma as compared with medical management.