Proposal for a definition for response to treatment, inactive disease and damage for JIA associated uveitis based on the validation of a uveitis related JIA outcome measures from the Multinational Interdisciplinary Working Group for Uveitis in Childhood (MIWGUC).

Background: JIA-associated uveitis (JIAU) is a serious, sight-threatening disease with significant long-term complications and risk of blindness, even with improved contemporary treatments. The MIWGUC was set up in order to propose specific JIAU activity and response items and to validate their applicability for clinical outcome studies.

Methods: The group consists of 8 paediatric rheumatologists and 7 ophthalmologists.

Predicted Risk of Mortality Score predicts 30-day readmission after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Objective: Quality metrics and reimbursement models focus on 30-day readmission rates after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Certain preoperative variables are associated with higher rates of readmission. The purpose of this study was to determine whether STS Predicted Risk of Mortality (PROM) scores predict 30-day readmission following CABG.

EXPRESS: A Multidisciplinary Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) - Experience from a national multicenter consortium.

Background: We provide the first multicenter analysis of patients cared for by eight Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams (PERTs) in the United States (US); describing the frequency of team activation, patient characteristics, pulmonary embolism (PE) severity, treatments delivered, and outcomes.

Methods: We enrolled patients from the National PERT Consortium™ multicenter registry with a PERT activation between 18 October 2016 and 17 October 2017. Data are presented combined and by PERT institution.

The Value of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients Undergoing Cytoreductive Nephrectomy with Thrombectomy.

Background: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an established signature of inflammation used for evaluating renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Objective: To determine the utility of NLR and its relationship with known risk factors associated with poor survival in patients with metastatic RCC and tumor thrombus undergoing cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Prognostic variables were reviewed for patients undergoing CN with thrombectomy between 2000 and 2014 from six different institutions.

Musculoskeletal outcomes and the effect of radiation to the vertebral bodies on growth trajectories for long-term survivors of high-risk neuroblastoma.

Objective: Here, we report musculoskeletal outcomes and the impact of radiotherapy dose on vertebral body growth for an institutional series of long-term survivors of high-risk neuroblastoma.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 23 patients who were disease-free and at least 36 months from the end of treatment. The patients were initially treated from July 2003 to May 2012.

Quadriceps tendon autograft for arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction: use it now, use it often.

Traditional bone-patellar tendon-bone and hamstring tendon ACL grafts are not without limitations. A growing body of anatomic, biomechanical and clinical data has demonstrated the utility of quadriceps tendon autograft in arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction. The quadriceps tendon autograft provides a robust volume of tissue that can be reliably harvested, mitigating the likelihood of variably sized grafts and obviating the necessity of allograft augmentation.

Errors in Electronic Health Record-Based Data Query of Statin Prescriptions in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease in a Large, Academic, Multispecialty Clinic Practice.

Background: With the recent implementation of the Medicare Quality Payment Program, providers face increasing accountability for delivering high-quality care. Such pay-for-performance programs aim to leverage systematic data captured by electronic health record (EHR) systems to measure performance; however, the fidelity of EHR query for assessing performance has not been validated compared with manual chart review. We sought to determine whether our institution's methodology of EHR query could accurately identify cases in which providers failed to prescribe statins for eligible patients with coronary artery disease.

Pathologic Predictors of Survival During Lymph Node Dissection for Metastatic Renal-Cell Carcinoma: Results From a Multicenter Collaboration.

Purpose: To determine the therapeutic value of lymph node dissection (LND) during cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) and assess predictors of cancer-specific survival (CSS) in metastatic renal-cell carcinoma.

Patients And Methods: We identified 293 consecutive patients treated with CN at 4 academic institutions from March 2000 to May 2015. LND was performed in 187 patients (63.

Emerging Therapies for Stage III Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and Immunotherapy.

The current standard of care for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) includes radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery in certain individualized cases. In unresectable NSCLC, chemoradiation has been the standard of care for the past three decades. Local and distant failure remains high in this group of patients, so dose escalation has been studied in both single institution and national clinical trials.

A novel presentation of Mycobacterium avium complex in a recipient of a lung transplant: a case report.

Background: Lung transplantation remains an important potential therapeutic option for end-stage lung disease. It can improve quality of life and in some cases be a life-lengthening therapy. Despite the possible benefits, there are also many potential complications following transplantation.

Are oral and maxillofacial surgery residents being adequately trained to care for pediatric patients?

Objective: To evaluate whether current oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) residents are receiving adequate training and experience to perform specific surgical procedures and anesthesia for pediatric patients.

Study Design: A 17-question survey was sent electronically to fellows of the American Academy of Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons. Descriptive data for individual surgeons, their associated residency programs, and the quantity of specific pediatric procedures they performed were collected.

Reducing STAT Portable Chest Radiograph Turnaround Times: A Pilot Study.

Background: Our health system orders a high number of STAT priority portable chest radiographs (62%) compared to Routine (35%) and Today (3%). Retrospective chart review of 1000 chest radiographs ordered with the STAT priority revealed that 38% of studies did not indicate clinical urgency. Given the high number or STAT priority portable chest radiographs ordered, prioritizing acquisition and interpretation of true STATs has become challenging for technologists and radiologists, leading to process inefficiencies, long turnaround times (TATs), communication failures, and patient-safety errors.

Assessing Foraminal Stenosis in the Cervical Spine: A Comparison of Three-Dimensional Computed Tomographic Surface Reconstruction to Two-Dimensional Modalities.

Study Design: Retrospective radiographic study.

Objective: The optimal radiographic modality for assessing cervical foraminal stenosis is unclear. Determination on conventional axial cuts is made difficult due in part to the complex, oblique orientation of the cervical neuroforamen.

Quality and Cost in Thoracic Surgery.

The value of health care is defined as health outcomes (quality) achieved per dollars spent (cost). The current national health care landscape is focused on minimizing spending while optimizing patient outcomes. With the introduction of minimally invasive thoracic surgery, there has been concern about added cost relative to improved outcomes.

Lifestyle as Medicine: The Case for a True Health Initiative.

The power of lifestyle as medicine was perceived thousands of years ago. There is now consistent and compelling science to support the important influence of lifestyle on health. Approximately 80% of chronic disease and premature death could be prevented by not smoking, being physically active, and adhering to a healthful dietary pattern.