Long-term mortality of Dutch COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care medicine: a retrospective analysis from a national quality registry.

Objective: To describe the 12-month mortality of Dutch COVID-19 intensive care unit patients, the total COVID-19 population and various subgroups on the basis of the number of comorbidities, age, sex, mechanical ventilation, and vasoactive medication use.

Methods: We included all patients admitted with COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and March 29, 2022, from the Dutch National Intensive Care (NICE) database. The crude 12-month mortality rate is presented via Kaplan-Meier survival curves for each patient subgroup.

Reference intervals of work ability and productivity loss and their use in patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

Objectives: To establish reference intervals (RIs) for work ability, at-work productivity loss and overall productivity loss in the general working population and to compare work ability and at-work productivity loss of patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (iRMD) with this population.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis among patients with iRMDs and population controls without iRMDs having paid work and participating in a Dutch cohort study. They reported on three work outcomes: work ability (0-10), at-work productivity loss and overall productivity loss (0%-100%).

Synovitis scoring in hand osteoarthritis with ultrasonography: the performance of the Global OMERACT/EULAR Ultrasound Synovitis Score (GLOESS) is comparable to synovial thickening alone.

Background: Inflammation is increasingly recognised as a treatment target in hand osteoarthritis, and therefore correct measurement of local inflammation is essential. This study aimed to assess ultrasound scoring of synovitis and the additional value of the Global OMERACT/EULAR Ultrasound Synovitis Score (GLOESS) in hand osteoarthritis.

Methods: Data from the randomised, double-blinded Hand Osteoarthritis Prednisolone Efficacy (HOPE) trial were used.

Differential impact of lifestyle factors on 2-hour glucose values in individuals with type 2 diabetes: potential for more personalized interventions.

Introduction: Lifestyle determinants of 2-hour glucose concentration in people with type 2 diabetes and interindividual differences need to be identified.

Research Design And Methods: 38 participants with type 2 diabetes, treated with lifestyle advice and/or metformin, tracked their physical activity, sleep and dietary intake, while continuously monitoring interstitial glucose concentrations for 11 periods of four consecutive days each. A linear mixed-effects model was used to quantify the effect of sleep, stress, current glucose, carbohydrate intake and exercise on glucose levels 2 hours later.

[Quick decisionmaking for acute pulmonary embolism patients].

Treatment options for patients with severe pulmonary embolism (PE) have increased substantially over the past decade. Although systemic thrombolysis is still the reperfusion therapy of choice for hemodynamically unstable PE patients, several new catheter guided reperfusion therapies have emerged as possibly safer alternatives. These therapies are increasingly implemented in clinical practice even though their efficacy and safety are yet to be proven by clinical outcome studies.

Metastatic conjunctival melanoma: a multicentre international study.

Background: To reveal clinical findings related to metastatic conjunctival melanoma.

Methods: 10 ophthalmic oncology centres (9 countries and 4 continents) shared data to create a large clinical case series. The main outcome measures were the incidence and cumulative risk of systemic metastasis, study mortality rates and Kaplan-Meier patient mortality after developing conjunctival melanoma metastasis.

GUIDANCE study: guided growth of the proximal femur to prevent further hip migration in patients with cerebral palsy-study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Up to one-third of patients with cerebral palsy (CP) develop hip migration. Current standard care for early hip migration is bilateral adductor-psoas tenotomy; however, the failure rate is relatively high with 34%-74% of patients with CP requiring secondary hip surgery. Using temporary medial hemiepiphysiodesis of the proximal femur (TMH-PF), the morphology of the hip can be changed.

Patient experiences with person-centred and integrated chronic care, focussing on patients with low socioeconomic status: a qualitative study.

Background: effectiveness of single disease management programs (DMP) in general practice may be limited for patients with low socioeconomic status (SES), as DMPs insufficiently take into account the specific problems and needs of this population. A Person-Centred Integrated Care (PC-IC) approach focusing on patient's needs could address these problems.

Aim: to explore experiences of patients with (multiple) chronic diseases with regard to the acceptability of a general practice-based PC-IC approach, with a focus on patients with low SES, and to establish which modifications are needed to tailor the approach to this group.

Ethical challenges in conducting maternal-fetal surgery trials. A systematic review.

Objective: To present the ethical challenges embedded in published maternal-fetal surgery (MFS) trials and their potential solutions.

Method: Systematic review of normative and empirical literature. We selected articles based on predefined inclusion criteria.

[How to certify death and the cause of death].

In this article 10 important questions for physicians and other health care providers who are confronted with death during practice of their profession are answered. In the vast majority of cases, the attending physician can perform postmortem examination of those deceased. This article describes how an postmortem examination should be carried out correctly, what to do in unclear circumstances surrounding death and when an unnatural death should be considered.

Improving the sustainability and quality of kidney health care through life cycle assessments, quality improvement, education and technical innovations: the KitNewCare approach.

The European Union (EU)-funded KitNewCare consortium aims to create and manage a comprehensive EU-wide programme focusing on sustainability in Kidney Care. Around 850 million people have chronic kidney disease (CKD) worldwide and by 2030, 6 million will need kidney replacement therapy, mainly haemodialysis. As the world population gets older, projections for the end of the century worsen.

Ethical considerations on the moral status of the embryo and embryo-like structures†.

The current article provides an ethical reflection on the moral status of the human embryo, which is a crucial factor in determining permissible actions involving embryos and the extent of their protection. It advocates for the extension of the research period for embryos to 28-days post fertilization. It also states that integrated embryo-like structures (ELSs) should not currently be given the same moral status as natural embryos.

Intravenous Lidocaine for Refractory Pain in Patients With Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma and Chronic Pancreatitis: A Multicenter Prospective Nonrandomized Pilot Study.

Introduction: Refractory pain is a major clinical problem in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). New, effective therapies to reduce pain are urgently needed. Intravenous lidocaine is used in clinical practice in patients with PDAC and CP, but its efficacy has not been studied prospectively.