Predicting Early Mortality Among Implantable Defibrillator Patients Treated With Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

BackgroundThe beneficial effects of a cardiac resynchronization defibrillator (CRT-D) in patients with heart failure, low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and wide QRS have clearly been established. Nevertheless, mortality remains high in some patients. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a risk score to identify patients at high risk for early mortality who are implanted with a CRT-D.Methods and ResultsFor predictive modelling, 1282 consecutive patients from 5 centers (74% male; median age 66 years; median LVEF 25%; New York Heart Association class III–IV 60%; median QRS-width 160 ms) were randomly divided into a derivation and validation cohort. The primary endpoint is mortality at 3 years. Model development was performed using multivariate logistic regression by checking log likelihood, Akaike information criterion, and Bayesian information criterion. Model performance was validated using C statistics and calibration plots. The risk score included 7 independent mortality predictors, including myocardial infarction, LVEF, QRS duration, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, hyponatremia, and anemia. Calibration-in-the-large was suboptimal, reflected by a lower observed mortality (44%) than predicted (50%). The validated C statistic was 0.71 indicating modest performance.ConclusionA risk score based on routine, readily available clinical variables can assist in identifying patients at high risk for early mortality within 3 years after CRT-D implantation.     

医疗联合体异质行动者网络构建研究

医疗联合体是分级诊疗制度建立的重要部分,但在实践过程中医联体作用并未达到预期目标。本文通过查阅文献,采用行动者网络理论中的"转译"作为逻辑分析工具。通过"转译"分析区域医联体网络构建过程中遇到的障碍、参与者间的利益矛盾。研究认为,医联体涉及众多异质行动者,存在诸多矛盾和障碍,通过分析网络内各行动者的作用、利益和障碍,总结出政府的持续关注、上下级医院的协同合作以及充分利用网络技术是构建医联体并发挥作用的关键。本研究也会对政府在医联体中的正确定位,制定与优化相关医联体、分级诊疗机制和医保等政策具有参考价值。     

Melde- und Informationssystem für bedeutsame Vorkommnisse bei Strahlenanwendungen in der Medizin: Struktur,Zuständigkeiten und Meldekriterien

The increasing frequency and complexity of medical radiation exposures to humans inevitably result in higher risks of harmful unintended or accidental radiation exposures. To ensure a high level of protection and its continuous improvement, the Directive 2013/59/Euratom thus requires to systematically record and analyze both events and near-miss events as well as, in the case of their significance, to disseminate information regarding lessons learned from these events promptly and nationwide to improve radiation protection in medicine. These requirements have been transposed into German legislation by the new radiation protection law and radiation protection ordinance that entered into force simultaneously on December 31^th, 2018. The reporting and information system as provided by these regulations as well as the tasks, duties and powers of the parties involved are presented in the first part of this review article. In the second part, the established application-specified criteria for the significance – and thus the notification requirement - of (near-miss) events are itemized and explicated.