Reaching out to Patients with Long COVID to Better Understand Their Life Experiences and How to Support Their Recovery: A Patient-Oriented Knowledge Sharing Session.

This article reports on participants' experiences with long COVID-19 (LC) (symptoms, impact, healthcare use, and perceived needs) and satisfaction with a patient-oriented knowledge-sharing session organized by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, researchers, and a patient partner. Twenty-six participants completed a pre-session survey. On average, they were 21 months post-COVID-19 infection (SD 10.

Risk of Treatment Failure for Prosthetic Joint Infections: Retrospective Chart Review in an Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Program.

Background: Prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) are a major complication of total joint replacement surgeries. Treatment includes surgical intervention with prolonged courses of IV antibiotics in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programs. The risk of PJI treatment failure is high and may be associated with various clinical factors.

Characteristics and reproducibility of novel sleep EEG biomarkers and their variation with sleep apnea and insomnia in a large community-based cohort.

Study Objectives: New electroencephalogram (EEG) features became available for use in polysomnography and have shown promise in early studies. They include a continuous index of sleep depth (odds-ratio-product: ORP), agreement between right and left sleep depth (R/L coefficient), dynamics of sleep recovery following arousals (ORP-9), general EEG amplification (EEG Power), alpha intrusion and arousal intensity. This study was undertaken to establish ranges and reproducibility of these features in subjects with different demographics and clinical status.

Comparing two measures of sleep depth/intensity.

Study Objectives: To compare delta spectral power (delta) and odds ratio product (ORP) as measures of sleep depth during sleep restriction with placebo or a drug that increases delta.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from a study of 41 healthy participants randomized to receive placebo or gaboxadol 15 mg during sleep restriction. Participants underwent in-laboratory sleep studies on two baseline, four sleep restriction (5-h), and two recovery nights.

Ocular syphilis in an immunocompetent man.

A healthy 47-year-old immunocompetent man from Northern Canada presented for ophthalmologic assessment after experiencing one month of right-sided photopsias, floaters, and a right lower nasal quadrant visual field defect. Optic disc swelling, vitritis, chorioretinitis, peripheral retinal infiltrates and hemorrhages were noted in the right eye. A broad right inferior arcuate and nasal visual field defect were also present.

Evidence-based Canadian guidelines for tele-retina screening for diabetic retinopathy: recommendations from the Canadian Retina Research Network (CR2N) Tele-Retina Steering Committee.

Objective: The purpose of this report is to develop a consensus for Canadian national guidelines specific to a tele-medicine approach to screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR) using evidence-based and clinical data.

Methods: Canadian Tele-Screening Grading Scales for DR and diabetic macular edema (DME) were created primarily based on severity grading scales outlined by the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Severity Scale (ICDR) and the Scottish DR Grading Scheme 2007. Other grading scales used in international screening programs and the clinical expertise of the Canadian Retina Research Network members and retina specialists nationwide were also used in the creation of the guidelines.

Mechanism of excessive wake time when associated with obstructive sleep apnea or periodic limb movements.

Study Objectives: It is uncertain whether obstructive apnea (OSA) or periodic limb movements (PLMs) contribute to excessive wake time (EWT) when EWT and these disorders coexist. We hypothesized that such EWT is an independent disorder related to central regulation of sleep depth. Accordingly, we compared sleep depth in patients with EWT and OSA/PLMs (EWT+P) with patients with EWT and no OSA/PLMs (EWT-NP) and patients with a normal wake time.

Development of national system performance metrics for tissue donation, production, and distribution activity.

Canada's federal, provincial, and territorial governments gave Canadian Blood Services a mandate for organ and tissue donation and transplantation, including system performance, data and analytics. In 2012 Canadian Blood Services facilitated an eye and tissue banking workshop focused on standardized specifications and practices. At the workshop, the Canadian tissue community directed Canadian Blood Services to facilitate the development and implementation of a national data stream and analytics.

Crossover clinical trial of pain relief in cataract surgery.

Purpose: To determine the effects of intra-operative Korean traditional music on pain experienced by Korean patients undergoing sequential bilateral cataract surgery.

Methods: This was a two-sequence, two-period, and two-treatment crossover study. Fifty-two patients with cataracts were divided into two groups by block randomization, and bilateral cataract surgery was performed.

Data on respiratory variables in critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure placed on proportional assist ventilation with load adjustable gain factors (PAV+).

The data show respiratory variables in 108 critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure placed on proportional assist ventilation with load adjustable gain factors (PAV+) after at least 36 h on passive mechanical ventilation. PAV+ was continued for 48 h until the patients met pre-defined criteria either for switching to controlled modes or for breathing without ventilator assistance. Data during passive mechanical ventilation and during PAV+ are reported.

The underemployed ophthalmologist-results of a survey of recent ophthalmology graduates.

Objective: To survey recent graduates of Canadian ophthalmology residency programs with regard to current employment, fellowship, job finding strategies, operating room time and resources, scope of practice, and reasons for difficulty in finding a job.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Participants: Graduates of Canadian ophthalmology residency programs between 2009 and 2013 inclusive.

Driving pressure during assisted mechanical ventilation: Is it controlled by patient brain?

Tidal volume (VT) is the controlled variable during passive mechanical ventilation (CMV) in order to avoid ventilator-induced-lung-injury. However, recent data indicate that the driving pressure [ΔP; VT to respiratory system compliance (Crs) ratio] is the parameter that best stratifies the risk of death. In order to study which variable (VT or ΔP) is controlled by critically ill patients, 108 previously studied patients were assigned to receive PAV+ (a mode that estimates Crs and permits the patients to select their own breathing pattern) after CMV, were re-analyzed.

Safety and comparative costs of preoperative assessments for cataract surgery: traditional mandatory assessment versus a novel graded assessment system.

Purpose: We conducted this study to evaluate the safety and costs of traditional mandatory preoperative assessment for cataract surgery patients compared with a novel graded preoperative assessment system.

Methods: Patients were recruited at a high-volume surgical centre from May to November 2013. Patients completed a health-related questionnaire which allowed for a graded preoperative assessment of all participants.

Influence of neighbourhood-level crowding on sleep-disordered breathing severity: mediation by body size.

Neighbourhood-level crowding, a measure of the percentage of households with more than one person per room, may impact the severity of sleep-disordered breathing. This study examined the association of neighbourhood-level crowding with apnoea-hypopnoea index in a large clinical sample of diverse adults with sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep-disordered breathing severity was quantified as the apnoea-hypopnoea index calculated from overnight polysomnogram; analyses were restricted to those with apnoea-hypopnoea index ≥5.

Short-term potentiation in the control of pharyngeal muscles in obstructive apnea patients.

Study Objectives: To determine if activation of the genioglossus (GG) muscle during obstructive apnea events involves short-term potentiation (STP) and is followed by sustained activation beyond the obstructive phase (after-discharge).

Design: Physiological study.

Setting: Sleep laboratory in a tertiary hospital.

Ophthalmology human resource projections: are we heading for a crisis in the next 15 years?

Background: Ophthalmology residency positions have increased in recent years. This study looks at whether the expansion is enough to avoid shortages in the future.

Methods: The Canadian Medical Association Physician Resource Evaluation Template was used to project the supply of ophthalmologists up to 2016, assuming a status quo scenario in terms of attrition and gain factors.

The Manitoba Cataract Waiting List Program.

This article describes the Manitoba Cataract Waiting List Program. This program uses a centralized database to track and prioritize all patients waiting for cataract surgery. It provides an objective and reliable measure of the length of the wait, and patients on the waiting list are treated in a more equitable fashion through application of a uniform method of prioritization.