Association of Preceding Antithrombotic Treatment With Acute Ischemic Stroke Severity and In-Hospital Outcomes Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

Importance: Antithrombotic therapies are known to prevent stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) but are often underused in community practice.

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of patients with acute ischemic stroke with known history of AF who were not receiving guideline-recommended antithrombotic treatment before stroke and to determine the association of preceding antithrombotic therapy with stroke severity and in-hospital outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Retrospective observational study of 94 474 patients with acute ischemic stroke and known history of AF admitted from October 2012 through March 2015 to 1622 hospitals participating in the Get With the Guidelines-Stroke program.

Intensive Care Unit Utilization and Mortality Among Medicare Patients Hospitalized With Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Importance: Intensive care unit (ICU) utilization may have important implications for the care and outcomes of patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).

Objectives: To examine interhospital variation in ICU utilization in the United States for older adults with hemodynamically stable NSTEMI and outcomes associated with ICU utilization among patients with low, moderate, or high mortality risk.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This study was a retrospective analysis of 28 018 Medicare patients 65 years or older admitted with NSTEMI to 346 hospitals participating in the Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network (ACTION)-Get With the Guidelines from April 1, 2011, through December 31, 2012.

Trends and In-Hospital Outcomes Associated With Adoption of the Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator in the United States.

Importance: Trends and in-hospital outcomes associated with early adoption of the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) in the United States have not been described.

Objectives: To describe early use of the S-ICD in the United States and to compare in-hospital outcomes among patients undergoing S-ICD vs transvenous (TV)-ICD implantation.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A retrospective analysis of 393 734 ICD implants reported to the National Cardiovascular Data Registry ICD Registry, a nationally representative US ICD registry, between September 28, 2012 (US Food and Drug Administration S-ICD approval date), and March 31, 2015, was conducted.

Differences in Clinical and Functional Outcomes of Atrial Fibrillation in Women and Men: Two-Year Results From the ORBIT-AF Registry.

Importance: Despite the frequency of atrial fibrillation (AF) in clinical practice, relatively little is known about sex differences in symptoms and quality of life and how they may affect treatment and outcomes.

Objective: To determine whether symptoms, quality of life, treatment, and outcomes differ between women and men with AF.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This observational cohort study included 10 135 patients with AF.

Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Use Among Medicare Patients With Low Ejection Fraction After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Importance: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are not recommended within 40 days of myocardial infarction (MI); thus, ICD implantation might not be considered during the post-MI care transition.

Objective: To examine ICD implantation rates and associated mortality among older MI patients with low ejection fraction (EF).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Retrospective observational study of Medicare beneficiaries with an EF of 35% or less after MI, treated at 441 US hospitals between 2007 and 2010, excluding patients with prior ICD implantation.

Adverse Events After Routine Immunization of Extremely Low-Birth-Weight Infants.

Importance: Immunization of extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is associated with adverse events, including fever and apnea or bradycardia, in the immediate postimmunization period. These adverse events present a diagnostic dilemma for physicians, leading to the potential for immunization delay and sepsis evaluations.

Objective: To compare the incidence of sepsis evaluations, need for increased respiratory support, intubation, seizures, and death among immunized ELBW infants in the 3 days before and after immunization.

Drug Dosing and Pharmacokinetics in Children With Obesity: A Systematic Review.

Importance: Obesity affects nearly one-sixth of US children and results in alterations to body composition and physiology that can affect drug disposition, possibly leading to therapeutic failure or toxic side effects. The depth of available literature regarding obesity's effect on drug safety, pharmacokinetics, and dosing in obese children is unknown.

Objective: To perform a systematic literature review describing the current evidence of the effect of obesity on drug disposition in children.

Clinical management of Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: a review.

Importance: Several management strategies may improve outcomes in patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia.

Objectives: To review evidence of management strategies for S. aureus bacteremia to determine whether transesophageal echocardiography is necessary in all adult cases and what is the optimal antibiotic therapy for methicillin-resistant S.