COVID-19 mortality among veterans with serious mental illness in the veterans health administration.

Objective: Persons with serious mental illness (SMI: schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder) experience increased risk of mortality after contracting COVID-19 based on the results of several international evaluations. However, information about COVID-19 mortality risk among patients with SMI in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been limited, precluding identification of protective factors. The current evaluation was conducted to assess COVID-19 mortality risk among VHA patients with SMI and to evaluate potential protective factors in mitigating mortality risk following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.

Hospital Catchment Areas Characteristics and Geographic Regions Associated With Higher COVID-19 Veterans Health Administration Hospitalization During the Omicron Surge.

Context: Surges in the ongoing coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and accompanying increases in hospitalizations continue to strain hospital systems. Identifying hospital-level characteristics associated with COVID-19 hospitalization rates and clusters of hospitalization "hot spots" can help with hospital system planning and resource allocation.

Objective: To identify (1) hospital catchment area-level characteristics associated with higher COVID-19 hospitalization rates and (2) geographic regions with high and low COVID-19 hospitalization rates across catchment areas during COVID-19 Omicron surge (December 20, 2021-April 3, 2022).

Engaging Veterans With Serious Mental Illness in Primary Care.

Background: Veterans with serious mental illness (SMI) are at substantial risk for premature mortality. Engagement in primary care can mitigate these mortality risks. However, veterans with SMI often become disengaged from primary care.

Addressing drivers of healthcare utilization for neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome.

Objective: Aim to reduce healthcare utilization (HU) for infants at risk of neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) by 30% in 1 year and sustain for 2 years.

Study Design: Baseline data from three Level I & II newborn nurseries from January 2016 to June 2018 informed PDSA cycles from August 2018 to December 2021. Shewhart process control charts evaluated length of stay (LOS), pharmacologic treatment (PT) rates, direct cost (DC), process, and balancing measures for special cause variation (SCV).

Optimizing Data on Race and Ethnicity for Veterans Affairs Patients.

Introduction: Maintaining accurate race and ethnicity data among patients of the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system has historically been a challenge. This work expands on previous efforts to optimize race and ethnicity values by combining multiple VA data sources and exploring race- and ethnicity-specific collation algorithms.

Materials And Methods: We linked VA patient data from 2000 to 2018 with race and ethnicity data from four administrative and electronic health record sources: VA Medical SAS files (MedSAS), Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), VA Centers for Medicare extracts (CMS), and VA Defense Identity Repository Data (VADIR).

Recovering From Intimate Partner Violence Through Strengths and Empowerment: Findings From a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Recovering from Intimate Partner Violence through Strengths and Empowerment (RISE) is a brief, variable-length (1-6 sessions), modular, individualized psychosocial counseling intervention for women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Pilot findings demonstrated the potential helpfulness, acceptability, and feasibility of RISE; however, a randomized clinical trial (RCT) is needed to support program effectiveness. This RCT enrolled 60 women who experienced IPV within the prior year.

COVID-19 Infection in the Veterans Health Administration: Gender-specific Racial and Ethnic Differences.

Purpose: Racial/ethnic minoritized groups, women, and economically disadvantaged groups are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated racial/ethnic differences by gender in correlates of COVID-19 infection among veterans seeking health care services at the Veterans Health Administration. Little is known about gender-specific factors associated with infection among veterans.

The Role of Community-Level Factors on Disparities in COVID-19 Infection Among American Indian/Alaska Native Veterans.

Objectives: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study examines whether neighborhood characteristics mediate AI/AN versus White-non-Hispanic Veteran COVID-19 infection disparities, and whether mediation differs based on proximity to reservations.

Methods: Using Veteran Health Administration's (VHA) national database of VHA users evaluated for COVID-19 infection (3/1/2020-8/25/2020), we examined whether census tract neighborhood characteristics (percent households overcrowded, without complete plumbing, without kitchen plumbing, and neighborhood socioeconomic status [n-SES]) mediated racial disparities in COVID-19 infection, using inverse odds-weighted logistic models controlling for individual-level characteristics.

Variations by race/ethnicity and time in Covid-19 testing among Veterans Health Administration users with COVID-19 symptoms or exposure.

Racial/ethnic disparities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalization and mortality have emerged in the United States, but less is known about whether similar differences exist in testing, and how this changed as COVID-19 knowledge and policies evolved. We examined racial/ethnic variations in COVID-19 testing over time among veterans who sought care for COVID-19 symptoms or exposure. In the national population of all Veterans who sought Veterans Health Administration (VHA) care for COVID-19 symptoms or exposure (n = 913,806), we conducted multivariate logistic regressions to explore race/ethnicity-by-time period differences in testing from 3/1/2020-11/25/2020, and calculated predicted probabilities by race/ethnicity and time period.

Time Trends in Racial/Ethnic Differences in COVID-19 Infection and Mortality.

Studies documenting coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) racial/ethnic disparities in the United States were limited to data from the initial few months of the pandemic, did not account for changes over time, and focused primarily on Black and Hispanic minority groups. To fill these gaps, we examined time trends in racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection and mortality. We used the Veteran Health Administration's (VHA) national database of veteran COVID-19 infections over three time periods: 3/1/2020-5/31/2020 (spring); 6/1/2020-8/31/2020 (summer); and 9/1/2020-11/25/2020 (fall).

EFFECT OF LASER PHOTOCOAGULATION ON MACULAR EDEMA ASSOCIATED WITH MACULAR HOLES.

Purpose: To report the outcomes of laser therapy to barricade eccentric full-thickness macular hole with associated cystoid macular edema.

Methods: We report two patients who developed an eccentric full-thickness macular hole with persistent cystoid macular edema after pars plan vitrectomy with and without internal limiting membrane peel for epiretinal membrane and the results of argon laser therapy.

Results: Barricade argon laser therapy was applied concentric to the full-thickness macular hole.

Retinal stem cell transplantation: Balancing safety and potential.

Stem cell transplantation holds great promise as a potential treatment for currently incurable retinal degenerative diseases that cause poor vision and blindness. Recently, safety data have emerged from several Phase I/II clinical trials of retinal stem cell transplantation. These clinical trials, usually run in partnership with academic institutions, are based on sound preclinical studies and are focused on patient safety.

Early Plasma Matrix Metalloproteinase Profiles. A Novel Pathway in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Rationale: MMPs (Matrix metalloproteinases) and their endogenous tissue inhibitors may contribute to lung injury through extracellular matrix degradation and modulation of inflammation and fibrosis.

Objectives: To test for an association between MMP pathway proteins and inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and clinical outcomes.

Methods: We measured MMPs in plasma collected on acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) Day 1 from 235 children at five hospitals between 2008 and 2017.

BULL'S EYE MACULOPATHY WITH MUTATIONS IN RDS/PRPH2 AND ROM-1.

Purpose: To report a case of bull's eye maculopathy associated with mutations in RDS/PRPH2 and ROM-1 genes.

Methods: We present a case report of a patient with a characteristic maculopathy and describe the multimodal retinal imaging findings including spectral domain optical coherence tomography and fundus autofluorescence and full-field electrophysiology. The results of genetic testing are also reported.

Income Inequality and the Differential Effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences in US Children.

Objective: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect health and development across the life course. Despite a general understanding that adversity is associated with lower income, we know less about how ACEs manifest at different income levels and how these income-related patterns affect children's health and development.

Methods: Data from the 2011 to 2012 National Survey of Children's Health were used to examine the prevalence of 9 ACEs in US children, across 4 levels of household income, and in relationship to 5 parent-reported measures of child health.

OCCULT MACULAR DYSTROPHY WITH MUTATIONS IN THE RP1L1 AND KCNV2 GENES.

Purpose: To report a case of occult macular dystrophy associated with mutations in the RP1L1 and KCNV2 genes.

Methods: Case report. Multimodal retinal imaging and the results of genetic testing are described.

Imaging of local recurrence in prostate cancer.

Diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa) recurrence after therapy with curative intent currently depends primarily on biochemical serum analyses. When recurrence is suspected, further treatment decisions rely heavily on the confirmation of disease presence and determination of its extent. This is complicated by the fact that benign conditions can mimic biochemical recurrence, and serum studies do not reliably discriminate between local and distant recurrence.

Subretinal Transplantation of Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium for the Treatment of Macular Degeneration: An Assessment at 4 Years.

Advanced macular degeneration is an important cause of vision loss in the United States with over 2 million people affected by the disease. Despite substantial progress in the development of new therapies for wet AMD, the severe visual impairment associated with geographic atrophy in dry AMD or Stargardt disease remains untreatable. Recently, two phase I/II studies involving 18 patients with these diseases have demonstrated that it is possible to safely implant human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE (hESC-RPE) in an attempt to rescue photoreceptors and visual function.

ULTRA-WIDEFIELD FUNDUS IMAGING: A Review of Clinical Applications and Future Trends.

Purpose: To review the basic principles of ultra-widefield fundus imaging and discuss its clinical utility for a variety of retinal and choroidal disorders.

Methods: A systematic review of the PubMed database was performed using the search terms Optos, optomap, panoramic, ultra-widefield, wide-angle, and ellipsoid mirror. This yielded 158 publications of which 128 were selected based on content and relevance.

Restriction spectrum imaging improves MRI-based prostate cancer detection.

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic performance of restriction spectrum imaging (RSI), with that of conventional multi-parametric (MP) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for prostate cancer (PCa) detection in a blinded reader-based format.

Methods: Three readers independently evaluated 100 patients (67 with proven PCa) who underwent MP-MRI and RSI within 6 months of systematic biopsy (N = 67; 23 with targeting performed) or prostatectomy (N = 33). Imaging was performed at 3 Tesla using a phased-array coil.

In vivo prostate cancer detection and grading using restriction spectrum imaging-MRI.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is emerging as a robust, noninvasive method for detecting and characterizing prostate cancer (PCa), but limitations remain in its ability to distinguish cancerous from non-cancerous tissue. We evaluated the performance of a novel MRI technique, restriction spectrum imaging (RSI-MRI), to quantitatively detect and grade PCa compared with current standard-of-care MRI.

Methods: In a retrospective evaluation of 33 patients with biopsy-proven PCa who underwent RSI-MRI and standard MRI before radical prostatectomy, receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed for RSI-MRI and each quantitative MRI term, with area under the ROC curve (AUC) used to compare each term's ability to differentiate between PCa and normal prostate.

RESOLUTION OF A GIANT PIGMENT EPITHELIAL DETACHMENT WITH HALF-DOSE AFLIBERCEPT.

Purpose: To describe the use of half-dose anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy in a patient with giant pigment epithelial detachments.

Methods: Observational case report. A 76-year-old woman with neovascular age-related macular degeneration presented with massive bilateral pigment epithelial detachments measuring over 1000 μm in height.