Effectiveness of Empagliflozin vs Dapagliflozin for Kidney Outcomes in Type 2 Diabetes.

Importance: No large randomized clinical trial has directly compared empagliflozin with dapagliflozin, leaving their comparative effectiveness regarding kidney outcomes unknown.

Objective: To compare kidney outcomes between initiation of empagliflozin vs dapagliflozin in adults with type 2 diabetes who were receiving antihyperglycemic treatment.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This target trial emulation used nationwide, population-based routinely collected Danish health care data to compare initiation of empagliflozin vs dapagliflozin in adults with type 2 diabetes who received antihyperglycemic treatment between June 1, 2014, and October 31, 2020.

High Cirrhosis Surgical Volume Centers have Reduced Postoperative Mortality in Patients with Cirrhosis Undergoing Major Surgery.

Patients with cirrhosis have increased surgical risk and require care team expertise. We explored the association between center cirrhosis surgical volume and post-operative mortality in a large VA dataset. In this retrospective cohort study of 14,500 major surgeries in patients with cirrhosis, we found in adjusted analysis that high-volume centers (>16 surgeries in past year) had a 36% reduced hazard of post-operative mortality through 90 days versus low-volume centers (<9 surgeries in past year; hazard ratio 0.

Palovarotene in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva: review and perspective.

Introduction: Palovarotene is a retinoic acid receptor gamma agonist that was studied in phase-2 and phase-3 clinical trials for the inhibition of new heterotopic ossification (HO) in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). Despite numerous setbacks and regulatory delays, palovarotene is now the first approved FOP treatment in the U.S.

Long-term safety of lentiviral or gammaretroviral gene-modified T cell therapies.

Long-term risks of gene therapy are not fully understood. In this study, we evaluated safety outcomes in 783 patients over more than 2,200 total patient-years of observation from 38 T cell therapy trials. The trials employed integrating gammaretroviral or lentiviral vectors to deliver engineered receptors to target HIV-1 infection or cancer.

Transitioning from the safety of the womb to the outside world for neonates with life-threatening cardiovascular conditions: The IMmediate Postpartum Access to Cardiac Therapy (IMPACT) Procedure.

The IMmediate Postpartum Access to Cardiac Therapy (IMPACT) procedure is a multidisciplinary, collaborative, highly coordinated clinical service in which a planned delivery and intensive neonatal care are offered for conditions where there is a high likelihood of postnatal instability. This process includes prenatal consultation with the parent(s), involving each service engaged with the delivery, postnatal resuscitation, and procedural care. A Cesarean section delivery is planned in an operating room with immediate access to a multifunctional procedural suite where the neonate can undergo rapid cardiac evaluation and initiation of interventional treatments which can have a positive, life-saving impact.

Stabilizing Pediatric Patients During Psychiatric Boarding: A Quality Improvement Project.

Background And Objectives: Psychiatric boarding has implications for youth, their families, and hospital systems. We undertook a quality improvement (QI) project to address boarding at our institution. We aimed to stabilize patients who were boarding in our emergency department (ED) observation unit and to decrease the percentage of patients admitted to psychiatric facilities.

Reliability of remote video ratings of the scale for assessment and rating of ataxia.

Introduction: The Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) is a widely used clinical rating scale in ataxia. Remote video assessments of SARA examinations are increasingly used to reduce variability through centralized ratings. Remote video assessments have a high agreement with in-person ratings, but the intra- and inter-rater reliability of remote video ratings has not been examined.

Femur osteoid osteoma in children: are there location-dependent differences in MRI findings?

Background: Osteoid osteomas are most commonly found in the femur and preferentially affect the pediatric population. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of femoral osteoid osteomas are not well described.

Objective: To systematically characterize pretreatment MRI findings of clinically confirmed femur osteoid osteomas in children and determine location-dependent differences.

Transferrin Saturation, Serum Iron, and Ferritin in Heart Failure: Prognostic Significance and Proteomic Associations.

Background: Iron deficiency (ID) is currently defined as a serum ferritin level <100 or 100 to 299 ng/mL with transferrin saturation (TSAT) <20%. Serum ferritin and TSAT are currently used to define absolute and functional ID. However, individual markers of iron metabolism may be more informative than current arbitrary definitions of ID.

Development of a Brief Client Satisfaction and Quality Improvement Tool for Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs: Opportunities for Enhancing Client Perspectives.

Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) are evidence-informed strategies to promote recovery among victims of violence. Limited tools exist to capture client-reported perspectives of program relevance, responsiveness, acceptability, and impact. We conducted a quality improvement project to develop an HVIP-specific tool that can be used to collect information regarding client satisfaction with services to inform ongoing and future program improvement efforts.

Predicting right ventricular failure after left ventricular assist device implant: A novel approach.

Aims: Right ventricular (RV) failure (RVF) after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Modern, data-driven approaches for defining and predicting RVF have been under-utilized.

Methods: Two hundred thirty-two patients were identified with a mean age of 55 years; 40 (17%) were women, 132 were (59%) Caucasian and 74 (32%) were Black.

Efficacy of Using Photobiomodulation Therapy in Allergic Rhinitis: A Placebo-Controlled Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Recent studies have extensively explored new non-invasive and side-effect-free therapeutic strategies for the treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR). Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) utilizes photons from the red to infrared spectrum to modulate biological processes, exhibiting anti-inflammatory and regenerative properties. The objective of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of PBMT in patients with AR.

Development and validation of the Food Noise Questionnaire.

Objective: Food noise has received attention in the media, although no validated questionnaires exist to measure it. This study developed and tested the reliability and validity of the Food Noise Questionnaire (FNQ).

Methods: Participants (N = 400) successfully completed, the FNQ and a demographic questionnaire and self-reported weight and height.

The ACTION VAD Registry: A Collective Five-Year Experience.

Background: The Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION) began in 2018 as a collaborative learning health system committed to improving outcomes in pediatric heart failure, including children and adults with congenital heart disease, supported with ventricular assist devices (VADs). This report describes patient and device characteristics, and outcomes through 1-year post-implant.

Methods: The ACTION VAD registry report was created from data submitted to the ACTION learning network from April 2018-June 2023.

Radiotherapy toxicities: mechanisms, management, and future directions.

For over a century, radiotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment. Technological advancements aim to deliver high doses to tumours with increased precision while minimising off-target effects to organs at risk. Despite advancements such as image-guided, high-precision radiotherapy delivery, long-term toxic effects on healthy tissues remain a great clinical challenge.

Prenatally Diagnosed Absent Septum Pellucidum and Septo-Optic Dysplasia: A Narrative Review and Practical Recommendations for Pediatric Neurologists.

Evaluation of the cavum septum pellucidum is required in standard second-trimester screening fetal anatomy ultrasound scans. The absence of septum pellucidum triggers further evaluation and referral for subspecialty counseling. Absence of septum pellucidum is linked to other midline anomalies including septo-optic dysplasia.

Structural insights into the role of the proline rich region in tau function.

Tau plays an important role in modulating axonal microtubules in neurons, while intracellular tau aggregates are found in many neurodegenerative disorders. Tubulin binding sites are found in tau's proline-rich region (PRR), microtubule binding repeats (MTBRs), and pseudo-repeat (R'). Tau phosphorylation sites, which cluster with high frequency within the PRR, regulate tubulin interactions and correlates with disease.

Proceedings of the 2024 Santa Fe Bone Symposium: Update on the Management of Osteoporosis and Rare Bone Diseases.

The 24 Annual Santa Fe Bone Symposium (SFBS) was held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, on August 2-3, 2024. This was a "hybrid" meeting, with in-person and real-time remote participants representing a broad range of geographical locations and medical disciplines. The focus was on new developments in the care of patients with osteoporosis, other metabolic bone diseases, and inherited skeletal disorders.