Anticipatory prescribing in community end-of-life care in the UK and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic: online survey.

Background: Anticipatory prescribing (AP) of injectable medications in advance of clinical need is established practice in community end-of-life care. Changes to prescribing guidelines and practice have been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aims And Objectives: To investigate UK and Ireland clinicians' experiences concerning changes in AP during the COVID-19 pandemic and their recommendations for change.

A questionnaire study of the negative outcomes for UK health professional volunteers in low and middle income countries.

Introduction: Past research has reported considerable benefits of international health professional volunteering for British healthcare professionals; however, there are also some negative outcomes reported. Negative outcomes reportedly happen on a personal, professional and organisational level. However, there is little evidence of the frequency they might occur.

The outcome of kidney transplant from living donors with pelvi-ureteric junction dysfunction.

Purpose: To assess the effect of receiving a kidney with PUJ dysfunction on the recipient renal graft function.

Methodology: 198 patients, who underwent renal transplantation from 1st January 2004 to 31st December 2014 in a single Center in the North West of England, were retrospectively reviewed using a computerized database. Split kidney function and the PUJ dysfunction for the donors were assessed using Tc-99 m MAG3 renogram.

The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey: an analysis of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in 25 UK medical schools relating to timing, duration, teaching formats, teaching content, and problem-based learning.

Background: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL).

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation discussions with patients admitted to acute oncology wards: A national audit of current practice.

Objectives: To map current practice regarding discussions around resuscitation across England and Scotland in patients with cancer admitted acutely to hospital and to demonstrate the value of medical students in rapidly collecting national audit data.

Methods: Collaborators from the Macmillan medical student network collected data from 251 patient encounters across eight hospitals in England and Scotland. Data were collected to identify whether discussion regarding resuscitation was documented as having taken place during inpatient admission to acute oncology.

Incidence and risk factors of acute kidney injury after total joint arthroplasty; a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a common complication post-arthroplasty, although it has not been extensively studied. We carried out a retrospective study to determine the incidence and risk factors of AKI in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA).

Method: We reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent elective TJA from December 2014 to January 2017 at the Salford Royal Hospital, UK.

A cross-sectional study of periportal fibrosis and Schistosoma mansoni infection among school-aged children in a hard-to-reach area of Madagascar.

Background: A cross-sectional survey was performed to estimate the prevalence of periportal fibrosis in children based on ultrasound examination in the Marolambo district of the Atsinanana region of Madagascar. This is a remote area known to have a high prevalence of intestinal schistosomiasis.

Methods: School-aged children (5-14 y) were selected from six villages for parasitological and sonographic examination.

Liver Embolisation for Patients with Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Systematic Review.

Background: Liver embolisation is one of the treatment options available for patients diagnosed with neuro-endocrine neoplasms (NEN). It is still uncertain whether the benefits of the various types of embolisation treatments truly outweigh the complications in NENs. This systematic review assesses the available data relating to liver embolisation in patients with NENs.

Global mapping of interventions to improve quality of life using mind-body therapies during 1990-2018.

Objectives: Mind-body therapies (MBT) are a range of practices which improve well-being and have shown promising results in a variety of illness. To inform the application of MBT in health promotion, and intervention designs, we conducted a global review of publication growth and content analysis of studies examining the impacts of MBT on quality of life (QoL) of different patient groups.

Design: Data from 1990 to 2018 was collected from the Web of Science (WoS).

Long-term strength and functional status in inclusion body myositis and identification of trajectory subgroups.

Introduction: Objective information on longitudinal disease progression in inclusion body myositis (IBM) is lacking.

Methods: Longitudinal dynamometry and functional status data were collated from a cohort of IBM patients. Annual change was calculated by means of linear modeling.

Endometrial cancer prevention in high-risk women.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynaecological malignancy, and its incidence is rising alongside the growing prevalence of obesity. Effective risk-reducing interventions hijacking the key mechanisms driving endometrial carcinogenesis may affect EC diagnoses if aimed at those at greatest risk. An understanding of the key risk factors and their role in tumourigenesis is critical in developing such prevention strategies.

Association between genetic polymorphisms and endometrial cancer risk: a systematic review.

Introduction: Endometrial cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women. Although there is a hereditary component to endometrial cancer, most cases are thought to be sporadic and lifestyle related. The aim of this study was to systematically review prospective and retrospective case-control studies, meta-analyses and genome-wide association studies to identify genomic variants that may be associated with endometrial cancer risk.

Distinct Immunological Landscapes Characterize Inherited and Sporadic Mismatch Repair Deficient Endometrial Cancer.

Around 30% of endometrial cancers (EC) are mismatch repair (MMR) deficient, mostly as a consequence of mutations acquired during tumorigenesis, but a significant minority is caused by Lynch syndrome (LS). This inherited cancer predisposition syndrome primes an anti-cancer immune response, even in healthy carriers. We sought to explore the intra-tumoral immunological differences between genetically confirmed LS-associated MMR-deficient (MMRd), sporadic MMR-deficient, and MMR-proficient (MMRp) EC.

Attending community-based lung cancer screening influences smoking behaviour in deprived populations.

Objectives: The impact of lung cancer screening on smoking is unclear, especially in deprived populations who are underrepresented in screening trials. The aim of this observational cohort study was to investigate whether a community-based lung cancer screening programme influenced smoking behaviour and smoking attitude in socio-economically deprived populations.

Material And Methods: Ever-smokers, age 55-74, registered at participating General Practices were invited to a community-based Lung Health Check (LHC).

Outcomes in patients ≥ 80 years with a diagnosis of a hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) malignancy.

Older patients are underrepresented in oncological clinical trials. The incidence of hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) malignancies is higher in older patients, but data on outcomes are lacking. This study assessed patient outcomes in those < 80 and ≥ 80 years with a HPB malignancy seen at a tertiary referral centre, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

Should we video OSCEs for student appeals?

Background: Those setting objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs) are likely to encounter candidates who dispute the examiners' scores and feedback. At our own institution, candidates have requested video recording to aid in later academic appeals. Before ceding to such requests, we wished to be certain that the marking of recorded OSCEs would give comparable results to live marking, and that technical challenges could be met within reasonable cost.

Ethical challenges of integration across primary and secondary care: a qualitative and normative analysis.

Background: This paper explores ethical concerns arising in healthcare integration. We argue that integration is necessary imperative for meeting contemporary and future healthcare challenges, a far stronger evidence base for the conditions of its effectiveness is required. In particular, given the increasing emphasis at the policy level for the entire healthcare infrastructure to become better integrated, our analysis of the ethical challenges that follow from the logic of integration itself is timely and important and has hitherto received insufficient attention.

Effect of Concomitant Atrial Fibrillation on In-Hospital Outcomes of Non-ST-Elevation-Acute Coronary Syndrome-Related Hospitalizations in the United States.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The present study examined the rates and trends of clinical outcomes and management strategies of non-ST-elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS) related hospitalizations in the United States, in patients with concomitant AF compared with those in sinus rhythm (SR). We analyzed the "Nationwide Inpatient Sample" database (2004 to 2014) for patients with a primary discharge diagnosis of NSTE-ACS, and further stratified the cohort on the basis of diagnoses into SR and AF groups.

Congenital cataracts in females caused by BCOR mutations; report of six further families demonstrating clinical variability and diverse genetic mechanisms.

Background: Pathogenic variants in the BCOR gene have been identified in males with X-linked recessive microphthalmia and in females with X-linked dominant oculofaciocardiodental (OFCD) syndrome. This latter condition has previously been regarded as rare but the increased availability of genetic testing in recent years has led to the identification of a greater number of patients.

Methods: We report the clinical and molecular findings in a series of 10 patients with pathogenic BCOR variants from 5 families, all seen in a single institution over a two year period.