Risk factors for rifampicin resistance tuberculosis among patients attending Directly Observed Treatments Centres in Southwestern Nigeria.

Introduction: tuberculosis (TB) remains a disease of global health importance. GeneXpert has emerged as a useful tool for the diagnosis of drug resistant TB (DR-TB). We determined the risk factors associated with DR-TB among presumptive pulmonary TB patients.

Bacteriophage therapy for multidrug-resistant infections: current technologies and therapeutic approaches.

Bacteriophage (phage) therapy has emerged as a promising solution to combat the growing crisis of multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections. There are several international centers actively engaged in implementation of phage therapy, and recent case series have reported encouraging success rates in patients receiving personalized, compassionate phage therapy for difficult-to-treat infections. Nonetheless, substantial hurdles remain in the way of more widespread adoption and more consistent success.

Handling missing values in patient-reported outcome data in the presence of intercurrent events.

Introduction: As patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are increasingly used in the evaluation of medical treatments, it is important that PROs are carefully analyzed and interpreted. This may be challenging due to substantial missing values. The missingness in PROs is often closely related to patients' disease status.

Diagnostic and epidemiological landscape of anaerobic bacteria in Europe, 2020-2023 (ANAEuROBE).

Introduction: Despite being implicated in a wide spectrum of community- and healthcare-acquired infections, anaerobes have not yet been incorporated into systematic surveillance programs in Europe.

Methods: We conducted a multicentre retrospective observational study analysing all anaerobic strains isolated from blood cultures in 44 European Hospital Centres over a 4-year period (2020-2023). Diagnostic approach, epidemiology, and antimicrobial susceptibility according to EUCAST v.

Evaluation and Diagnosis of Longitudinal Melanonychia: A Clinical Review by a Nail Expert Group.

Longitudinal melanonychia (LM), a brown-black band on one or multiple nails, is commonly encountered in clinical practice. Benign LM may be due to exogenous (external, blood, bacterial, mycotic) or endogenous (melanin) pigment. Histopathologically, melanin-derived LM may result from overproduction of melanin by a normal number of melanocytes (melanocytic activation) due to physiologic, local, systemic, iatrogenic, syndromic, and drug-induced causes, or from benign (nail matrix nevus and lentigo) or malignant (nail unit melanoma [NUM]) melanocyte hyperplasia.

Person-centred health outcomes in the routine care for people with progressive pulmonary fibrosis: the COCOS-IPF project's European survey on healthcare professionals' views and practices.

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) are interstitial lung diseases (ILD) that carry a high burden and mortality. IPF/PPF experts and patients call for standardized care, outcome harmonization and holistic management in these complex and devastating diseases, with a focus on person-centeredness. In this cross-sectional international survey study, we aimed to gather information on the person-centred health outcomes European healthcare professionals (HCPs) already use or deem important for use in routine care for IPF/PPF.

Cataract Surgery Training in Germany: A Survey by the European Board of Ophthalmology.

Introduction: Phacoemulsification is a fundamental surgical skill for ophthalmology residents and the most commonly performed operation in the ever-evolving field of ophthalmology. A comprehensive study conducted between 2018 and 2022 showed wide variation in the experiences of European residents. The aim of this study was to study the data from Germany in the European data context.

Challenges and enablers for scaling up interventions targeting non-communicable diseases: a qualitative study applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to 19 research projects worldwide.

Introduction: Scaling up interventions targeting non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is a global health priority, and implementation research can contribute to that effort. In 2019, the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases funded 27 implementation research studies to improve evidence for scaling up interventions targeting prevention and/or control of hypertension and/or diabetes in low-resource settings. We examined these studies to improve the understanding of the implementation factors, including challenges and facilitators, that influence the early implementation phase of scale-up research projects targeting NCDs.

Urinary sodium analysis: The key to effective diuretic titration? European Journal of Heart Failure expert consensus document.

In patients with heart failure, neurohumoral activation leads to increased renal sodium avidity across the entire renal tubules, resulting in a positive sodium and water balance, leading to decompensated heart failure requiring intravenous diuretics. As the dose of diuretic therapy required to achieve euvolaemia is difficult to estimate due to considerable intra- and interindividual differences, the European Society of Cardiology recommends assessment of the diuretic response within hours either via evaluation of the urinary sodium concentration or via urinary volume after initial diuretic administration. All diuretic agents enhance sodium excretion to a different extent depending on their side of action across the renal tubules, and renal adaptation mechanisms due to neurohumoral stimulation.

Neoadjuvant triplet immune checkpoint blockade in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive primary adult brain tumor that rapidly recurs after standard-of-care treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. While immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies have transformed outcomes in many tumor types, particularly when used neoadjuvantly or as a first-line treatment, including in melanoma brain metastases, they have shown limited efficacy in patients with resected or recurrent GBM. The lack of efficacy has been attributed to the scarcity of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and low tumor mutation burden typical of GBM tumors, plus exclusion of large molecules from the brain parenchyma.

Identifying comorbid obstructive sleep apnea in chronic musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). Understanding the characteristics of the CMP population with comorbid OSA is important for proper screening and management. This systematic review compiles evidence on methods used to identify OSA in patients with CMP and identifies the characteristic features of patients with CMP and comorbid OSA.

Apical Access Management in Transapical Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement.

Background: The role of the surgical technique and anatomy in transapical mitral valve replacement (TA-TMVR) are scarcely investigated.

Methods: Computed tomography scans, surgical reports and planning slides of 127 patients undergoing TA-TMVR with the Tendyne valve system at 15 centers, participating at a European observational study, were retrospectively analyzed and compared between patients with (cohort A) and without (cohort B) apical access complications (AAC).

Results: A total of 8 (6.

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided tissue sampling: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) Technical and Technology Review.

This Technical and Technology Review from the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) represents an update of the previous document on the technical aspects of endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided sampling in gastroenterology, including the available types of needle, technical aspects of tissue sampling, new devices, and specimen handling and processing. Among the most important new recommendations are:ESGE recommends end-cutting fine-needle biopsy (FNB) needles over reverse-bevel FNB or fine-needle aspiration (FNA) needles for tissue sampling of solid pancreatic lesions; FNA may still have a role when rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) is available.ESGE recommends EUS-FNB or mucosal incision-assisted biopsy (MIAB) equally for tissue sampling of subepithelial lesions ≥20 mm in size.

Challenges, current innovations, and opportunities for managing type 2 diabetes in frail older adults: a position paper of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS)-Special Interest Group in Diabetes.

Purpose: This position paper aims to address the challenges of managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in frail older adults, a diverse and growing demographic with significant variability in health status. The primary research questions are: How can frailty assessment be effectively integrated into diabetes care? What strategies can optimize glycaemic control and outcomes for frail older adults? How can innovative tools and technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), improve the management of this population?

Methods: The paper uses the 5 I's framework (Identification, Innovation, Individualization, Integration, Intelligence) to integrate frailty into diabetes care, proposing strategies such as frailty tools, novel therapies, digital technologies, and AI systems. It also examines metabolic heterogeneity, highlighting anorexic-malnourished and sarcopenic-obese phenotypes.

The 2024 ILTS-ILCA consensus recommendations for liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Liver transplantation (LT) provides the best long-term survival outcomes for patients with liver cancer. As a result, the field of transplant oncology has grown greatly over the past few decades, and many centers have expanded their criteria to allow increased access to LT for liver malignancies. Center-level guidelines and practices in transplant oncology significantly vary across the world, leading to debate regarding the best course of treatment for this patient population.

Escalation of Oxygenation Modalities and Mortality in Critically Ill Immunocompromised Patient With Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure: A Clustering Analysis of a Prospectively Multicenter, Multinational Dataset.

Objectives: Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in immunocompromised patients remains the leading cause of admission to the ICU, with high case fatality. The response to the initial oxygenation strategy may be predictive of outcome. This study aims to assess the response to the evolutionary profiles of oxygenation strategy and the association with survival.

An Lgr5-independent developmental lineage is involved in mouse intestinal regeneration.

Collagenase/dispase treatment of intestinal tissue from adult mice generates cells growing in matrigel as stably replatable cystic spheroids in addition to differentiated organoids. Contrary to classical EDTA-derived organoids, these spheroids display poor intestinal differentiation and are independent of Rspondin/Noggin/EGF for growth. Their transcriptome resembles strikingly that of fetal intestinal spheroids, with downregulation of crypt base columnar cell (CBC) markers (Lgr5, Ascl2, Smoc2, Olfm4).

Cataract surgery in megalocornea: A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of published literature.

Megalocornea is a rare condition characterized by an enlarged anterior chamber and an extended ciliary ring, often accompanied by early cataracts and zonular anomalies. This systematic review evaluates the outcomes of cataract surgery in patients with megalocornea, focusing on surgical techniques, intraocular lens (IOL) implantation, complications, and visual outcomes. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus.

New Insights in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders Thanks to Electrophysiological Tools.

Substance use disorders (SUD) still represent a huge worldwide health problem, as, despite withdrawal, medication, social support and psychotherapy, the relapse rate (around 80% at one year following treatment) remains tremendously high. Therefore, an important challenge consists in finding new complementary add-on tools to enhance quality of care. In this report we focus on new insights reported through the use of three electrophysiological tools (quantitative electroencephalography (EEG), QEEG; cognitive event-related potentials, ERPs; and neurofeedback) suggesting that their use might be helpful at the clinical level in the management of various forms of SUDs.

Gene score to quantify systemic inflammation in patients with acutely decompensated cirrhosis.

Background And Aims: Quantifying systemic inflammation (SI) in acutely decompensated cirrhosis (ADC) is of major importance because SI is a driver of the most severe forms of ADC, including acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Blood biomarkers of SI already evaluated in ADC failed to appropriately assess SI in ADC. We aimed to investigate whether gene expression related to circulating immune cells could quantify SI in ADC.