Hypercoagulation after Hospital Discharge in Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis: A Prospective Study.

Background & Aims: Venous thromboembolism is a serious complication during and following hospitalization with acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC). We evaluated serial thrombotic profiles of patients with ASUC from the point of hospitalization up to 12 weeks post-discharge and compared these with control patients with quiescent UC.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients with ASUC and 25 control patients with quiescent ulcerative colitis (UC) were recruited.

Management, outcomes and predictors of mortality of Cryptococcus infection in patients without HIV: a multicentre study in 46 hospitals from Australia and New Zealand.

Background: Limited data exist regarding outcomes of cryptococcosis in patients without HIV with few studies having compared outcomes of Cryptococcus gattii, versus C. neoformans, infection.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in 46 Australian and New Zealand hospitals to determine the outcomes of cryptococcosis in patients without HIV diagnosed between 2015 and 2019, and compared outcomes of C.

The roles of immuno-modulator treatment and echocardiographic screening in rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease control: research from Aotearoa, New Zealand.

This review summarises advances in research from Aotearoa, New Zealand (NZ) that have potential to reduce the inequitable distribution of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). ARF incidence and RHD prevalence are unacceptably inequitable for Māori and Pacifica. Recent qualitative research has demonstrated mismatches between the lived experience of those with ARF/RHD and health service experience they encounter.

Unilateral posterior scleral defect was not associated with altered ocular biomechanics.

Technologies that describe the biomechanics of the eye are of emerging importance in glaucoma and keratoconus. A defect in the wall of the eye would be expected to affect biomechanics, resulting in the dispersion of mechanical energy and more viscous rather than elastic behaviour. Here, a mildly myopic man in his 50s was noted to have a deep conduit beside the right optic disc which appeared to pass posteriorly to the optic nerve sheath or orbit.

Low utilization of skilled delivery services in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a case for facility delivery improvement.

Maternal mortality remains a pressing global challenge, with sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) disproportionately affected. Despite efforts to improve access to skilled delivery services, utilization remains low, especially in rural areas. This paper synthesizes the extant literature and empirical evidence from rural Ghana to highlight the critical issue of low-skilled delivery services uptake in rural SSA.

Optimization of a Sterile Processing Department Using Lean Six Sigma Methodology, Staffing Enhancement, and Capital Investment.

Background: Many hospitals and surgery centers have focused improvement efforts on operating room inefficiencies. A common inefficiency is missing and unusable surgical instrumentation, which can result in case delays and decreased effectiveness. Lean Six Sigma methodology, a set of process improvement tools focused on the reduction of waste and variation, has been used to identify and correct root causes of missing and unusable instrumentation.

Co-occurrence of cancer and diabetes in a high-income country: Age-period-cohort projections 2020-2044.

Background: Cancer and diabetes are increasingly prevalent, and it is not unusual for an individual to have both conditions at the same time. This occurrence has significant ramifications to the person, the clinical team providing care, and the broader health system.

Research Design And Methods: For the period 2006-2019, we used national-level diabetes (Virtual Diabetes Register) and cancer (New Zealand Cancer Registry) data on nearly five million individuals over 44 million person-years of follow-up.

A national retrospective cohort study comparing of cefepime versus piperacillin-tazobactam on the development of severe acute kidney injury in patients with septic shock.

Background: Cefepime and piperacillin-tazobactam are commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat patients with potential gram-negative bacterial sepsis. Piperacillin-tazobactam has been shown to be associated with acute kidney injury (AKI). However, it has not been compared to cefepime in patients with septic shock.

Improved costs and turnaround time for Treponema pallidum detection utilising a real-time PCR assay developed for the Hologic Panther Fusion system.

The aims of this study were to evaluate the performance and workflow characteristics of a laboratory-developed test to detect Treponema pallidum on the Hologic Panther Fusion system compared with an existing commercial assay. A Hologic Panther Fusion-based real-time polymerase chain reaction assay was optimised for T. pallidum (TP RT-PCR) using previously published primer and probe sequences and validated with a simplified preprocessing protocol.

Rural general surgery in Western Australia: a diverse state of play.

Background: Rural general surgeons require a diverse skillset to manage the varied work required in regional settings. Access to appropriate surgical services is important but challenging due to a lack of resident rural surgeons and increasing surgical subspecialisation.

Method: This is a retrospective multi-centre study on procedures undertaken within the General Surgery departments of two regional centres in Western Australia; Albany Health Campus (AHC) and Bunbury Regional Hospital (BRH).

Physical functions assessed by lower limb performance-based and self-reported outcome measures for knee musculoskeletal conditions: A scoping review.

Background: Physical function assessment is key for the management of knee musculoskeletal conditions. There are a wide variety of self-reported outcome measures (SROMs) and performance-based outcome measures (PBOMs) to assess physical function of individuals with knee conditions. However, the content of these measures has not been explored.

Reducing ethnic inequities: Patterns of asthma medication use and hospital discharges in Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background And Objective: In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) widespread transition to budesonide/formoterol maintenance and/or reliever regimens in clinical practice is temporally associated with reduced rates of asthma hospitalization. It is unknown whether this association is observed in Māori, the indigenous population of NZ, who experience a disproportionate burden from asthma. We investigated patterns in asthma medication use and hospital admissions in Māori in NZ.

Use of Freestyle Libre 2.0 in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus and elevated HbA: Extension phase results after a 12-week randomized controlled trial.

Aim: To investigate extension phase outcomes with intermittently scanned continuous glucose monitoring (isCGM 2.0) in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and elevated HbA (7.5-12.

Gender equity in authorship of emergency medicine publications in Australasia.

Objective: To evaluate gender authorship trends in the official journal of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM), Emergency Medicine Australasia (EMA).

Methods: A bibliometric review of author gender in EMA during the 10-year period 2013-2022. The gender of first/last authors were determined by www.

Dry-powder inhaler use in primary school-aged children with asthma: a systematic review.

Objective: Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children. Dry-powder inhalers (DPIs) are effective for medication delivery in adults and adolescents, and provide a lower environmental footprint and more portability than a metered dose inhaler (MDI) with a spacer. They require a specific technique, and it is necessary to ascertain whether they can be used in younger age groups.

Effects of very early hyperoxemia on neurologic outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A secondary analysis of the TTM-2 trial.

Purpose: Hyperoxemia is common in patients resuscitated after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and may increase the risk of mortality. However, the effect of hyperoxemia on functional outcome, specifically related to the timing of exposure to hyperoxemia, remains unclear.

Methods: The secondary analysis of the Target Temperature Management 2 (TTM-2) randomized trial.

Diagnosis of in a fledgling kererū ().

In early summer, a wild fledgling kererū () was admitted to a wildlife hospital in Dunedin after falling from its nest and being found on the ground. The bird was underweight, weighing only 391 g (expected weight > 450 g), and determined to be in poor body condition based on palpation of pectoral muscle mass. There was bilateral periorbital swelling and ocular discharge with caseous material blocking the choana.

The Impact of Clinical Features on Survival and Relapse of Patients Diagnosed With T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - a Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background: T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) remains understudied compared to B-cell ALL, especially in Latin America. Different biology and response to chemotherapy have been described.

Methods: This retrospective multi-site cohort study analyzed data from 152 newly diagnosed T-ALL patients aged 15 years and above, between January 2010 and June 2022.

Straight to the heart: Protecting the patient's heart during chemotherapy.

How do we protect the heart during chemotherapy with the anthracycline drug class? Tackling this question, Liu et al. combined pluripotent stem cell models, CRISPR genetic screens, and molecular modeling to identify indisulam as a potential cardioprotective drug in this issue of Cell Stem Cell.

Characteristics and outcomes of adults with acute brain injuries admitted to intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand from 2013 to 2022.

Background: The characteristics and outcomes of patients with acute brain injuries admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) are insufficiently described.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the epidemiology of acute brain injury in ICU patients in ANZ.

Methods: A binational retrospective cohort study was conducted using the ANZ Intensive Care Society Adult Patient Database.

Impact of a national dementia research consortium: The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA).

The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) was created by the Canadian federal government through its health research funding agency, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), in 2014, as a response to the G7 initiative to fight dementia. Two five-year funding cycles (2014-2019; 2019-2024) have occurred following peer review, and a third cycle (Phase 3) has just begun. A unique construct was mandated, consisting of 20 national teams in Phase I and 19 teams in Phase II (with research topics spanning from basic to clinical science to health resource systems) along with cross-cutting programs to support them.

Co-Designing Case Scenarios and Survey Strategies to Examine the Classification and Reporting of Restrictive Care Practices in Adult Mental Health Inpatient Settings: Perspectives From International Stakeholders.

There is a global initiative to reduce the use of restrictive care practices in mental health settings. Variations in the reported rates across regions complicate the understanding of their use and tracking trends over time. However, it remains unclear whether these discrepancies reflect real differences in the implementation of these practices or are sourced from inconsistencies in incident classification and reporting methods.