Comparative effectiveness of vancomycin and metronidazole on event-free survival after initial infection in patients with Clostridioides difficile-a German multicentre cohort study.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine the comparative effectiveness of vancomycin and metronidazole in a confirmatory analysis of event-free survival (EFS) after initial infection in patients with Clostridioides difficile from a German multicentre cohort study.

Methods: The IBIS multicentre cohort enrolled patients with an index episode of C. difficile infection between August 2017 and September 2020.

The value of AI-based analysis of fractional flow reserve of volume computed tomographically detected coronary artery stenosis with regard to their hemodynamic relevance.

Purpose: The aim of our work was to demonstrate the importance of artificial intelligence-based analysis of fractional flow reserves of computed tomographically detected coronary artery stenosis with regard to their hemodynamic relevance in patients with unclear chest pain and suspected stable coronary heart disease with a low to medium pre-test probability.

Material And Methods: The collective of our retrospective analysis includes 63 patients in whom coronary artery stenosis was detected by volume computed tomographic examination in "one beat, whole heart" mode in the period from March to October 2022. In these patients, the fractional flow reserve was also determined by computed tomography, which was modulated by the use of artificial intelligence.

Sublesional fat grafting leads to a temporary improvement of wound healing in chronic leg ulcers: A prospective, randomised clinical trial.

Chronic wounds remain a therapeutic and financial challenge for physicians and the health care systems. Innovative, inexpensive and effective treatment methods would be of immense value. The sublesional fat grafting could be such treatment, although effectiveness and safety have only been assessed in a few randomised clinical trials.

The influence of the SARS-CoV-2 lockdown on patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases on their adherence to immunomodulatory medication: a cross sectional study over 3 months in Germany.

Objectives: To evaluate the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the adherence of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) to their immunomodulatory medication during the three-month lockdown in Germany.

Methods: From 16th March until 15th June 2020, IRD patients from private practices and rheumatology departments were asked to answer a questionnaire addressing their behaviour with respect to their immunomodulating therapy. Eight private practices and nine rheumatology departments that included rheumatology primary care centres and university hospitals participated.

Multitasking behaviors and provider outcomes in emergency department physicians: two consecutive, observational and multi-source studies.

Background: Multitasking is a key skill for emergency department (ED) providers. Yet, potentially beneficial or debilitating effects for provider functioning and cognition are underexplored. We therefore aimed to investigate the role of multitasking for ED physicians' work stress and situation awareness (SA).

Cardiac adaptations in elite female football- and volleyball-athletes do not impact left ventricular global strain values: a speckle tracking echocardiography study.

Cardiac adaptations to exercise on an elite level have been well studied. Strain analysis by speckle tracking echocardiography has emerged as a tool for sports cardiologists to assess the nature of hypertrophy in athletes' hearts. In prior studies, strain values generally did not change in physiological adaptations to exercise but were reduced in pathological hypertrophy.

Clinical assessment and ultrasonography in the follow-up of enthesitis in patients with spondyloarthritis: a multicenter ultrasound study in daily clinical practice.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score (MASES) and an established ultrasound enthesitis score following treatment change in patients with spondyloarthritis and enthesitis with respect to the sensitivity to change and health-related quality of life.

Materials And Methods: About 145 patients with active ankylosing spondylitis (n=65), psoriatic arthritis without (n=66) or with (n=14) axial involvement undergoing intensification of their treatment were included in this multicenter study. At baseline, after 3 and 6 months, 13 entheses were scored by MASES, ultrasonography was performed for 14 entheses.

Diagnosis of Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS): The Salerno Experts' Criteria.

Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity (NCGS) is a syndrome characterized by intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms related to the ingestion of gluten-containing food, in subjects that are not affected by either celiac disease or wheat allergy. Given the lack of a NCGS biomarker, there is the need for standardizing the procedure leading to the diagnosis confirmation. In this paper we report experts' recommendations on how the diagnostic protocol should be performed for the confirmation of NCGS.

Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of Boswellia serrata in maintaining remission of Crohn's disease: good safety profile but lack of efficacy.

Background: Complementary therapies are frequently used by patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-term therapy with a new Boswellia serrata extract (Boswelan, PS0201Bo) in maintaining remission in patients with Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: In 22 German centers a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, parallel study was performed.

Secondary endovascular and conversion procedures for failed endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: can we still be optimistic?

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence, etiology, and outcome of secondary endovascular and "open" conversion procedures after failed endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR). From January 1997 until December 2005, 625 patients with an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm were treated by elective EVAR, with 98.7% (n = 617) primary EVAR success.

Surgical outcome of degenerative versus postreconstructive extracranial carotid artery aneurysms.

Objectives: Extracranial carotid artery aneurysms (ECAAs) are rare vascular lesions, and large series with short-term and long-term outcomes are seldom reported. This study compared the clinical presentation and conventional treatment outcomes of different ECAA types according to their etiology.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 55 consecutive patients (47 men, 8 women) with 61 ECAAs who were treated from January 1986 to December 2007 by conventional surgical techniques.

Endovascular treatment of iatrogenic and traumatic carotid artery dissection.

This paper reports on the early and midterm results of endovascular treatment of acute carotid artery dissections, its specific problems, and its limitations. We encountered seven patients with symptomatic extracranial carotid artery dissection, three cases of which occurred after carotid endarterectomy, two after carotid angioplasty and stenting, and two after trauma. Balloon-expandable and self-expanding stents were placed using a transfemoral approach.

Vacuum assisted wound closure in postoperative periprosthetic groin infections: a new gold standard?

Aim: This study was designed to control the results of conservative treatment using vacuum assisted wound closure (VAWC) applied exclusively to cases of deep groin infections with involvement of alloplastic graft material.

Methods: During a 2 year period 10 patients with 11 deep inguinal infections involving alloplastic graft material were treated with supportive VAWC. Intraoperative management included extensive debridement, sartorius myoplastic and VAWC application.

The role of epidural spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of Buerger's disease.

Purpose: This clinical, retrospective study is evaluated the effect of epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in the treatment of Buerger's disease.

Methods: The clinical criteria of Shionoya were used to diagnose 29 patients (22 men, 7 women; mean age 33.7 years) with Buerger's disease.

Spinal cord stimulation in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease: results of a single-center study of 258 patients.

This report is of a retrospective study of data from 258 patients who received spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease as a result of arteriosclerosis. The patients' clinical outcomes were monitored over a period of 18 months. In patients with a low baseline transcutaneous oxygen pressure (TcPO(2)) value of <10 mm Hg, limb survival at 18 months of follow-up (estimated by use of Kaplan-Meier survival analysis) was 77.