153 results match your criteria: "University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences[Affiliation]"

Background: Understanding why children die is important for grieving parents and for informing system improvements aimed at prevention and future care. Many countries have child death review (CDR) process, but little is known about how best to engage parents. The aim of this study was to use experience-based co-design to create a toolkit to support parental involvement in CDR.

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Article Synopsis
  • Travel to resource-limited areas can increase the risk of infections from multi-drug resistant bacteria like ESBL-PE and CRE, which lead to serious health issues.
  • A study examined the prevalence of these bacteria in British service personnel by analyzing 239 fecal samples and discovered a 16.7% presence of ESBL-PE, but no CRE cases were found.
  • While the rate of ESBL-PE in service personnel is similar to that in civilian populations in England, different genetic variations of the bacteria were observed, highlighting the need for ongoing monitoring to track infection risks.
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Previous surveys of UK dermatology trainees have identified key patterns regarding future career intentions that can help to inform workforce planning as consultant vacancies continue to grow. We invited all doctors training in dermatology, as well as all dermatology doctors who have completed training between 2018-2023 to complete separate surveys over a six-week period. These surveys explored: career locations, working patterns, pull factors towards particular posts, and push factors away from NHS consultant posts.

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Background: Modern general practice is characterised by increased demand and growing multi-disciplinarity, including ring-fenced funding for additional non-clinical roles. However, for practice receptionists training has remained unchanged for decades, yet primary care is under greater pressure than ever with receptionists becoming a growing focal point of abuse and unprecedented numbers leaving the role.

Aim: To present the evidence of the range of tasks that receptionists continue to perform, describing their impact on primary care delivery and how the role might be better supported.

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Purpose: The calliper function is used for manual measurements of full thickness macular holes (FTMHs). We aimed to investigate whether a reproducible difference could be detected beyond interobserver variability between two commonly used manufacturers in their manual calliper facility in spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) for metrics related to FTMH.

Methods: This is a non-interventional, retrospective, observational study.

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Background: There is a need to empower parents and carers of young infants to recognise signs of serious illness and to act on these appropriately. Compiling the signs and symptoms of serious illness in infants found in clinical guidelines will support the evidence-based update of the 30+-year-old content of the Baby Check App to empower parents and carers.

Objective: To systematically review clinical guidelines for signs and symptoms related to serious illness in infants aged 6 months and below.

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A woman in her 40s presented with exertional dyspnoea with an absence of haemoptysis, cough, fever and weight loss. The patient had a medical history of extensive endometriosis. Investigations revealed a large right-sided pleural effusion.

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  • The study investigates the differences between high-immunogenic (HI-PDAC) and low-immunogenic (LI-PDAC) pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumors, focusing on how the immune environment affects their responses to treatments.
  • Using spatial proteomic and transcriptomic analyses from 220 PDAC patients, researchers discovered that HI-PDAC tumors have more immune-active environments with higher levels of T-cells and immune-related markers compared to LI-PDAC tumors, which display immune evasion.
  • The findings suggest that HI-PDAC patients tend to have better outcomes but also show signs of immune exhaustion, indicating that understanding these immune dynamics could help improve treatment strategies for PDAC, particularly with immune checkpoint therapies.
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Allogeneic stem cell transplantation is a centrally important curative strategy in adults with acute myeloid leukaemia; however, relapse occurs in a significant proportion of patients and remains the leading cause of treatment failure. The prognosis for patients who relapse post-transplant remains poor, and the development of new strategies with the ability to reduce disease recurrence without increasing transplant toxicity remains a priority. In this review, within the context of our understanding of disease biology and the graft-versus-leukaemia (GVL) effect, we will discuss established, evolving and novel approaches for increasing remission rates, decreasing measurable residual disease pretransplant, future methods to augment the GVL effect and the opportunities for post-transplant maintenance.

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Objective: To assess the effects of COVID-19 vaccines in women before or during pregnancy on SARS-CoV-2 infection-related, pregnancy, offspring and reactogenicity outcomes.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Data Sources: Major databases between December 2019 and January 2023.

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Background: This systematic review aims to synthesise the qualitative evidence exploring parents' experiences of children with acquired brain injury (ABI) undergoing neurorehabilitation during the first year post-injury.

Methods: A systematic review of qualitative research was conducted using thematic synthesis with Thomas and Harden's approach. The population, exposure and outcome model was used for the search strategy.

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Opinion paper on the diagnosis and treatment of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis.

JHEP Rep

January 2024

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research, University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences, Birmingham, UK.

Background & Aims: Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) relates to a group of rare, debilitating, liver disorders which typically present in early childhood, but have also been reported in adults. Without early detection and effective treatment, PFIC can result in end-stage liver disease. The aim of the paper was to put forward recommendations that promote standardisation of the management of PFIC in clinical practice.

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Article Synopsis
  • * This systematic review seeks to address the research gap by identifying the long-term health effects of knife crime on victims, ultimately aiding stakeholders and policymakers in developing better public health interventions and awareness campaigns.
  • * The study will use a comprehensive search strategy across multiple databases, involving the review and analysis of UK quantitative research, with plans for data management and bias assessment to ensure robust findings.
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Objective: To summarise evidence on the effectiveness of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) gel and Leucocyte and Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) gel as agents promoting ulcer healing compared with the standard wound dressing techniques alone.

Design: Systematic review.

Eligibility Criteria: Individual patient randomised controlled trials on skin ulcers of all types excluding traumatic lesions.

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Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia has high mortality and is associated with significant healthcare costs. In older adults with community-acquired pneumonia neutrophil dysfunction has been identified and is associated with poor outcomes for patients. Immunometabolism is a rapidly developing field which links immune cell function to metabolism.

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Introduction: Despite of recent advancement in the burns wound management, burn wound infection (BWI) is still one of the major cause of burns mortality. Patients who survive their burns injury still suffers from BWI related complication like delayed wound healing and poor scarring. BWI has been treated by application of topical antimicrobial agents or systemic antibiotics.

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Background: The retention of doctors is an important issue for the National Health Service; yet evidence suggests that the proportion of doctors wanting to leave UK medicine is increasing. Some of these doctors chose to continue their medical careers in other countries, however, some decided to leave the profession entirely.

Objectives: This was the first study to interview a cohort of UK doctors who have left the medical profession to embark on alternative careers.

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Introduction: Social cognition is problematic in Huntington's disease (HD). Despite the observations of clinicians and families, there is minimal empirical literature about how it presents in daily life and the impact on social functioning. This protocol forms the basis of a scoping review to synthesise both the quantitative knowledge and qualitative experiences of the HD community so that a visual and narrative map can address what is known and what is not known for the benefit of the community and clinicians and academics alike.

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