Ibrutinib for therapy of steroid-refractory chronic graft vs. host disease: A multicenter real-world analysis.

To examine activity of ibrutinib in steroid-refractory chronic GVHD (SR-cGVHD) after FDA approval, we conducted a multicenter retrospective study. Data were standardly collected (N=270 from 19 centers). Involved organs included skin (75%), eye (61%), mouth (54%), joint/fascia (47%), GI (26%), lung (27%), liver (19%), genital (7%), other (4.

Implementation of delirium screening in the emergency department: A qualitative study with early adopters.

Introduction: Delirium affects 15% of older adults presenting to emergency departments (EDs) but is detected in only one-third of cases. Evidence-based guidelines for ED delirium screening exist, but are underutilized. Frontline staff perceptions about delirium and time and resource constraints are known barriers to ED delirium screening uptake.

Reductions in anxiety, depression and insomnia in health care workers using a non-pharmaceutical intervention.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant medical and psychological challenges worldwide, and not only exceeded the capacity of hospitals and intensive care units but also an individuals' ability to cope with life. Health-care workers have continued to provide care for patients despite exhaustion, fear of transmission to themselves and their family, illness or death of friends and colleagues, and losing many patients. They have also faced additional stress and anxiety due to long shifts combined with unprecedented population restrictions, including personal isolation.

Less Invasive Approach to Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation May Improve Survival in High-Risk Patients.

Objective: Despite improvement in outcomes after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation over the past 2 decades, high-risk recipients continue to have a prohibitive rate of morbidity and mortality. We hypothesized that a less invasive approach to LVAD implantation would be associated with improved survival compared to a conventional approach in this high-risk cohort.

Methods: All consecutive LVAD recipients (2013 to 2017) that underwent centrifugal LVAD implantation were retrospectively reviewed.

Less invasive left ventricular assist device implantation may reduce right ventricular failure.

Objectives: Right ventricular (RV) failure after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation continues to be a morbid complication. In this study, we hypothesized that a less invasive approach to implantation would preserve RV function relative to a conventional sternotomy (CS) approach.

Methods: All patients (2013-2017) who underwent LVAD implantation were reviewed.

American Association for the Surgery of Trauma emergency general surgery guidelines gap analysis.

Background: Emergency general surgery (EGS) has been rapidly adopted as one of the major components of acute care surgery. Although heterogenous, the most common disease states that comprise EGS often have published guidelines containing recommendations for their diagnosis and management. Not all diseases included within EGS however have published guidelines and existing guidelines may have important gaps in their recommendations.

Society of Gynecologic Oncology Future of Physician Payment Reform Task Force report: The Endometrial Cancer Alternative Payment Model (ECAP).

Health care in the United States is in the midst of a significant transformation from a "fee for service" to a "fee for value" based model. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 has only accelerated this transition. Anticipating these reforms, the Society of Gynecologic Oncology developed the Future of Physician Payment Reform Task Force (PPRTF) in 2015 to develop strategies to ensure fair value based reimbursement policies for gynecologic cancer care.

Geographic disparities in the distribution of the U.S. gynecologic oncology workforce: A Society of Gynecologic Oncology study.

A recent ASCO workforce study projects a significant shortage of oncologists in the U.S. by 2020, especially in rural/underserved (R/US) areas.

Findings and Impact of Early Imaging After Partial Nephrectomy.

Introduction: American Urological Association guidelines for surveillance of renal-cell carcinoma after partial nephrectomy recommend imaging within 3-12 months of surgery. Imaging following partial nephrectomy may be difficult to interpret due to the surgical defect, the use of surgical material, and normal postoperative fluid collections. Our primary objective was to evaluate the frequency of indeterminate postoperative imaging results and how those radiographic findings altered patient management.

Estimation of tumour regression and growth rates during treatment in patients with advanced prostate cancer: a retrospective analysis.

Background: We applied mathematical models to clinical trial data available at Project Data Sphere LLC (Cary, NC, USA), a non-profit universal access data-sharing warehouse. Our aim was to assess the rates of cancer growth and regression using the comparator groups of eight randomised clinical trials that enrolled patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Methods: In this retrospective analysis, we used data from eight randomised clinical trials with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer to estimate the growth (g) and regression (d) rates of disease burden over time.

An Argument for Change in Tobacco Treatment Options Guided by the ASAM Criteria for Patient Placement.

Tobacco use is a major threat to public health in the United States, and the number one cause of preventable death. Although most smokers try to quit unaided, robust data indicate that pairing behavioral support to US Food Drug Administration-approved cessation medications significantly increase cessation rates. Those who do receive assistance in quitting usually receive very low intensity treatment, regardless of the severity of their dependence or their medical and environmental circumstances.

The Association of Central-Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections With Central-Line Utilization Rate and Maintenance Bundle Compliance Among Types of PICUs.

Objective: Central-line-associated bloodstream infections comprise 25% of device-associated infections. Compared with other units, PICUs demonstrate a higher central-line-associated bloodstream infections prevalence. Prior studies have not investigated the association of central-line-associated bloodstream infections prevalence, central-line utilization, or maintenance bundle compliance between specific types of PICUs.

Comparison and consensus guidelines for delineation of clinical target volume for CT- and MR-based brachytherapy in locally advanced cervical cancer.

Objective: To create and compare consensus clinical target volume (CTV) contours for computed tomography (CT) and 3-Tesla (3-T) magnetic resonance (MR) image-based cervical-cancer brachytherapy.

Methods And Materials: Twenty-three experts in gynecologic radiation oncology contoured the same 3 cervical cancer brachytherapy cases: 1 stage IIB near-complete response (CR) case with a tandem and ovoid, 1 stage IIB partial response (PR) case with tandem and ovoid with needles, and 1 stage IB2 CR case with a tandem and ring applicator. The CT contours were completed before the MRI contours.

Regenerative tissue matrix as an interpositional spacer following excision of a cuboid-navicular tarsal coalition: a case study.

This article describes the use of an acellular human dermal regenerative tissue matrix as an interpositional spacer to maintain the distance between the cuboid and navicular, and to prevent recurrence, following surgical excision of a cuboid-navicular tarsal coalition in an adult female. The use of this acellular matrix as an interpositional spacer has previously been documented for use in association with arthroplasty for the treatment of hallux rigidus. After more than 3 years of follow-up, the patient was progressing well and there was no evidence of recurrent coalition or consolidation of the resection site.

Only large reductions in concentrations of natriuretic peptides (BNP and NT-proBNP) are associated with improved outcome in ambulatory patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Concentrations of B-type natriuretic peptides (BNPs), including N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), can be used to estimate prognosis in chronic heart failure. Large biologic variability, however, limits the usefulness of serial measurements in individual patients. As a result, the magnitude of change in peptide concentrations that is clinically meaningful remains to be established.

Mitral regurgitation surgery in heart failure due to ischemic cardiomyopathy: a 24-year experience.

Background And Aim Of The Study: The long-term benefits of mitral regurgitation (MR) surgery in ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) are controversial. Herein are reported the results and trends of this surgical approach over the past 24-year period.

Methods: Patients were identified in refractory heart failure due to ICM with NYHA functional class III/IV symptoms, left ventricular ejection fraction < or =35% and MR who underwent mitral surgery between 1979 and 2002.

Myelosuppression associated with novel therapies in patients with multiple myeloma: consensus statement of the IMF Nurse Leadership Board.

Novel therapies for multiple myeloma include the immunomodulatory drugs lenalidomide and thalidomide and the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, which have increased response rates and survival times. However, the agents can cause myelosuppression, which, if not managed effectively, can be life threatening and interfere with optimal therapy and quality of life. The International Myeloma Foundation's Nurse Leadership Board developed a consensus statement that includes toxicity grading, strategies for monitoring and managing myelosuppression associated with novel therapies, and educational recommendations for patients and their caregivers.

Prognostic implications of preoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement: is there an argument for concomitant arrhythmia surgery?

Background: The prognostic significance of preoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) at the time of aortic valve replacement is unknown, as is the potential role for concomitant arrhythmia surgery.

Methods: We performed a cohort comparison of patients with preoperative AF (n = 129) and preoperative sinus rhythm (SR, n = 252) undergoing aortic valve surgery between 1993 and 2002; patients were matched for age, gender, and left ventricular ejection fraction. Follow-up (mean interval, 4.

Is bronchoscopic lung biopsy helpful in the management of patients with diffuse lung disease?

Few studies have evaluated how the results of bronchoscopic lung biopsy (BLB) affect clinical management. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of BLB in the overall management of patients with diffuse pulmonary diseases. The study was a retrospective analysis of patients who underwent fluoroscopy-guided BLB over a 2-yr period.

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 associated nephropathy (HIVAN): epidemiology, pathogenesis, histology, diagnosis, and medical management.

Human immunodeficiency virus-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) is a very distinct, unique, clinico-pathological syndrome, and a structural type of renal failure that is the most common cause of chronic renal failure in patients who are HIV-seropositive. Early referral and a long-term, primary care approach can improve patient outcomes. Careful adjustments of prescription doses with regularly scheduled, and at times frequent, laboratory testing will yield, optimal health, improve the quality of life, and most importantly, will decrease the incidence of morbidity and mortality in those individuals afflicted with both HIV and HIVAN.

Induced hypothermia in neurocatastrophes: feeling the chill.

Reducing core temperature to protect the injured brain has become a new therapeutic measure. The scientific underpinnings based on animal experiments seem sound. Evidence of the therapy's effect in human trials is insufficient or even possibly absent, but the techniques to produce moderate hypothermia are available, without apparent significant complications, and are relatively easy to use for neurointensivists.