Emergency Care EMTALA Alterations During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

The coronavirus 2019 pandemic has affected almost every aspect of health care delivery in the United States, and the emergency medicine system has been hit particularly hard while dealing with this public health crisis. In an unprecedented time in our history, medical systems and clinicians have been asked to be creative, flexible, and innovative, all while continuing to uphold the important standards in the US health care system. To continue providing quality services to patients during this extraordinary time, care providers, organizations, administrators, and insurers have needed to alter longstanding models and procedures to respond to the dynamics of a pandemic. The Emergency Medicine Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986, or EMTALA, is 1 example of where these alterations have allowed health care facilities and clinicians to continue their work of caring for patients while protecting both the patients and the clinicians themselves from infectious exposures at the same time.     

续筋接骨方治疗骨折临床观察

目的研究续筋接骨方治疗骨折的临床疗效。方法选取2018年1月—2018年6月在辽宁中医药大学附属第三医院就诊的骨折患者60例,所有患者按照随机数字表法分为对照组与观察组,每组30例。观察组口服续筋接骨方联合正骨后小夹板固定治疗,对照组患者采用正骨后小夹板固定治疗。分析2组患者干预3个月后的血清骨代谢指标、骨密度、生活质量改善情况以及疗效判定。结果干预前,2组的血清Ⅰ型前胶原羧基端肽β特殊序列(β-CTX)、血清Ⅰ型前胶原氨端肽原(PINP)、骨特异性碱性磷酸酶(ALP)水平、钙、磷及骨密度比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);干预后,2组的β-CTX、PINP、骨特异性ALP水平、钙、磷及骨密度较干预前改善,观察组的改善效果优于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。干预前,2组的物质生活、社会功能、躯体健康以及心理健康评分比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);干预后,2组的物质生活、社会功能、躯体健康以及心理健康评分较干预前升高,观察组的各项生活质量评分高于对照组,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。观察组的治疗恢复率高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论续筋接骨方可以改善骨折患者骨代谢功能及生活质量。     

Imaging Features of Pulmonary Immune-related Adverse Events

Pulmonary immune-related adverse events represent rare but potentially severe side effects of immunotherapies. Diagnosis is often challenging, as symptoms and imaging features are not specific and may mimic other lung diseases, thus potentially delaying appropriate patient management. In this setting, an accurate imaging evaluation is essential for a prompt detection and correct management of these drug-induced lung diseases. The purpose of this article is to review the different types of pulmonary immune-related adverse events, describe their imaging characteristics on both high-resolution computed tomography and positron emission tomography/computed tomography and stress their underlying diagnostic challenge by presenting the mimickers.     

Enlarged high frequency oscillations of the median nerve somatosensory evoked potential and survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

ObjectiveA large N20 and P25 of the median nerve somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) predicts short survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We investigated whether high frequency oscillations (HFOs) over N20 are enlarged and associated with survival in ALS.MethodsA total of 145 patients with ALS and 57 healthy subjects were studied. We recorded the median nerve SEP and measured the onset-to-peak amplitude of N20 (N20o-p), and peak-to-peak amplitude between N20 and P25 (N20p-P25p). We obtained early and late HFO potentials by filtering SEP between 500 and 1 kHz, and measured the peak-to-peak amplitude. We followed up patients until endpoints (death or tracheostomy) and analyzed the relationship between SEP or HFO amplitudes and survival using a Cox analysis.ResultsPatients showed larger N20o-p, N20p-P25p, and early and late HFO amplitudes than the control values. N20p-P25p was associated with survival periods (p = 0.0004), while early and late HFO amplitudes showed no significant association with survival (p = 0.4307, and p = 0.6858, respectively).ConclusionsThe HFO amplitude in ALS is increased, but does not predict survival.SignificanceThe enlarged HFOs in ALS might be a compensatory phenomenon to the hyperexcitability of the sensory cortex pyramidal neurons.     

Incidence,Treatment and Outcomes of Cervical Cancer in Low- and Middle-income Countries

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in developing nations. It has had a tremendous impact on the lifetime of millions of women over the last century and continues to do so. In this collaborative clinicians' review, we highlight the incidence, treatment and clinical outcomes of cervical cancer in low-income (LICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Asia, South America, South Africa and Eastern Europe. With the cervical cancer burden and locally advanced cancers being high, the majority of LICs/LMICs have been striving to adhere to optimal evaluation and treatment guidelines. However, the huge gap in resource availability, rural versus urban disparity and access to resources have led to poor compliance to evaluation, treatment and post-treatment rehabilitation. To mitigate the overwhelming numbers, various treatment strategies like neoadjuvant chemotherapy, hypofractionation radiation schedules (both external and brachytherapy) have been attempted with no major success. Also, the compliance to concurrent chemoradiation in various regions is a major challenge. With the burden of advanced cancers, the lack of palliative care services and their integration in cancer care is still a reality.