Update on management of craniopharyngiomas

Journal of Neuro-Oncology - Craniopharyngiomas are locally-aggressive tumors arising along the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. Treatment is nuanced as a result of their proximity and adherence to...     

Method’s corner: Allergist’s guide to network meta-analysis

Network meta-analyses (NMAs) simultaneously estimate the effects of multiple possible treatment options for a given clinical presentation. For allergists to benefit optimally from NMAs, they must understand the process and be able to interpret the results. Through a worked example published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, we summarize how to identify credible NMAs and interpret them with a focus on recent innovations in the GRADE approach (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). NMAs build on traditional systematic reviews and meta-analyses that consider only direct paired comparisons by including indirect evidence, thus allowing the simultaneous assessment of the relative effect of all pairs of competing alternatives. Our framework informs clinicians of how to identify credible NMAs and address the certainty of the evidence. Trustworthy NMAs fill a critical gap in providing key inferences using direct and indirect evidence to inform clinical decision making when faced with more than two competing courses of treatment options. This document will help allergists to identify trustworthy NMAs to enhance patient care.     

The role of payment and financing in achieving health equity

Objective

The aim was to identify healthcare payment and financing reforms to promote health equity and ways that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) may promote those reforms.

Data Sources and Study Setting

AHRQ convened a payment and financing workgroup–the authors of this paper–as part of its Health Equity Summit held in July 2022. This workgroup drew from its collective experience with healthcare payment and financing reform, as well as feedback from participants in a session at the Health Equity Summit, to identify the evidence base and promising paths for reforms to promote health equity.

Study Design

The payment and financing workgroup developed an outline of reforms to promote health equity, presented the outline to participants in the payment and financing session of the July 2022 AHRQ Health Equity Summit, and integrated feedback from the participants.

Data Collection/Extraction Methods

This paper did not require novel data collection; the authors collected the data from the existing evidence base.

Principal Findings

The paper outlines root causes of health inequity and corresponding potential reforms in five domains: (1) the differential distribution of resources between healthcare providers serving different communities, (2) scarcity of financing for populations most in need, (3) lack of integration/accountability, (4) patient cost barriers to care, and (5) bias in provider behavior and diagnostic tools.

Conclusions

Additional research is necessary to determine whether the proposed reforms are effective in promoting health equity.     

Patient Blood Management in der Geburtsvorbereitung,Geburtshilfe und postpartalen Phase

Die Anaesthesiologie - Die Implementierung eines Patient Blood Management (PBM) wird zunehmender Standard in der operativen Medizin. Seit einiger Zeit gilt das Interesse auch den vulnerablen...     

医疗领域人工智能应用的研究进展＊

人工智能引发了医疗领域的数字革命，在推动行业发展方面具有极大潜力。本研究围绕临床诊疗、医学研究和公共卫生三个基本场景，聚焦人工智能与传统中医药的交叉与融合，并着重介绍人工智能在疾病诊断、决策支持、医学研究以及重大公共卫生事件中的应用。虽然人工智能在诸多方面显示出独特优势，但仍存在透明度不高、缺乏安全性评估和相关法律法规监管等问题需要谨慎解决，以促进人工智能技术在医疗领域的推广。     

模拟环境下间隔学习对临床技能习得与保持的影响研究进展

临床技能习得与保持一直是医学教育发展面临的重要问题,而随着医学教育的发展与改革,模拟环境下的间隔学习模式受到广泛关注。文章对模拟环境下间隔学习对临床技能习得与保持的影响研究进展进行综述:首先,阐述间隔学习可能的机制;然后,揭示间隔学习在国内外模拟教育的应用现状。文章指出间隔学习在临床技能教学实践中需要注意"加大临床投入,重视临床实践""深入理论基础,完善实证研究""基于我国现状,由浅入深探究"。     

褐藻胶对肝豆状核变性小鼠肝脏的保护作用机制研究

[摘要] 目的：研究褐藻胶对肝豆状核变性（HLD）小鼠肝脏的保护作用机制。方法：健康雄性昆明小鼠，应用铜负荷饮食法建立HLD模型。治疗组每天给予褐藻胶灌胃，对照组动物同步给予等体积的生理盐水灌胃，每日1次，连续4周。电感耦合等离子体质谱法检测尿铜含量；生化法检测血清丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）和门冬氨酸氨基转移酶（AST）活性、血清总蛋白和白蛋白含量；HE染色观察肝细胞病理变化；Masson染色观察肝纤维化程度；TUNEL检测肝细胞凋亡；免疫组化检测肝细胞铜蓝蛋白（CER）表达水平。结果：经褐藻胶治疗后，高剂量组小鼠的尿铜含量较模型组显著降低（P<0.05），血清ALT、AST活性较模型组显著降低（P<0.05）。肝细胞变性指数、肝纤维化程度和凋亡细胞指数较模型组均显著减少（P<0.05），肝细胞CER表达水平较模型组显著升高（P<0.05）。结论：褐藻胶可能通过增强肝细胞CER的表达和促进Cu2+的排泄，减轻肝细胞变性凋亡和肝纤维化损害，改善HLD小鼠的肝功能。