Preventing Adverse Drug Reactions After Hospital Discharge (PADR-AD): Protocol for a randomised-controlled trial in older people

BackgroundAdverse drug reactions (ADRs) and adverse drug events (ADEs) in older people contribute to a significant proportion of hospital admissions and are common following discharge. Effective interventions are therefore required to combat the growing burden of preventable ADRs. The Prediction of Hospitalisation due to Adverse Drug Reactions in Elderly Community Dwelling Patients (PADR-EC) score is a validated risk score developed to assess the risk of ADRs in people aged 65 years and older and has the potential to be utilised as part of an intervention to reduce ADRs.ObjectivesThis trial was designed to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce ADR incidence in older people and to obtain further information about ADRs and ADEs in the 12–24 months following hospital discharge.MethodsThe study is an open-label randomised-controlled trial to be conducted at the Royal Hobart Hospital, a 500-bed public hospital in Tasmania, Australia. Community-dwelling patients aged 65 years and older with an unplanned overnight admission to a general medical ward will be recruited. Following admission, the PADR-EC ADR score will be calculated by a research pharmacist, with the risk communicated to clinicians and discussed with participants. Following discharge, nominated general practitioners and community pharmacists will receive the risk score and related medication management advice to guide their ongoing care of the patient. Follow-up with participants will occur at 3 and 12 and 18 and 24 months to identify ADRs and ADEs. The primary outcome is moderate-severe ADRs at 12 months post-discharge, and will be analysed using the cumulative incidence proportion, survival analysis and Poisson regression.SummaryIt is hypothesised that the trial will reduce ADRs and ADEs in the intervention population. The study will also provide valuable data on post-discharge ADRs and ADEs up to 24 months post-discharge.     

Therapeutic plasma exchange in pediatric patients with acute demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system: A single-center experience

BackgroundTherapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an extracorporeal treatment that can be used in adult and pediatric patients with acute demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system. In this study, the efficacy and safety of TPE was evaluated in 10 pediatric patients who underwent TPE that were unresponsive to corticosteroid treatment.MethodsRecords of 10 pediatric patients who underwent TPE in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) between May 2017 and June 2020 were used. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Gait Scale (GS), and Visual Outcome Scale (VOS) were applied to the patients before and after TPE.ResultsOf the 10 patients who underwent TPE, five were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), three with transverse myelitis (TM), and two with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). The median age of the patients was 13.3 years (IQR 8-15), and the median day from symptom onset to onset of TPE was 12.5 days (IQR 7-28). A total of 104 TPE sessions were performed successfully. While no complications were encountered in three patients during the sessions, the most common complication was hypofibrinogenemia. The decrease in EDSS and GS scores was found to be consistent with the clinical response of the patients. There was no statistically significant decrease in the VOS.ConclusionsWith this study, we can say that TPE is a feasible, effective, and safe treatment modality in children with acute demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system.     

Computed tomography reference dimensions for identification of stented surgical mitral bioprostheses valve size

BackgroundSelection of the transcatheter heart valve size for a mitral valve-in-valve procedure is based on the type and manufacturer’s labelled size. However, accurate information of surgical heart valve (SHV) size may not be available in the patient’s medical record. The purpose of this study is to establish reference data for computed tomography (CT) dimensions of commonly used mitral SHV in order to determine the manufacturer’s labelled size from a cardiac CT data set.MethodsCT datasets of 105 patients with surgical mitral bioprosthesis and available manufacturer labeled datasets were included in the analysis. CT derived valve dimensions were assessed by two observers using multiplanar reformats aligned with the basal sewing ring. A circular region of interest was used in a standardized fashion to minimize influence of image acquisition and reconstruction parameters. Interobserver variability was assessed by Bland-Altman analysis.ResultsThe CT-derived dimensions were stratified by valve size and type, and SHV properties were demonstrated for 5 common valve types. Variability of measurements was small and inter-observer limits of agreement were narrow. Stratified by SHV type, no overlap was noted for CT-derived dimensions among different SHV sizes . A reference table of CT characteristics of surgical mitral bioprosthesis types was created.ConclusionThe study provides reference CT data for determining the manufacturers’ labeled SHV size across a range of commonly used mitral SHVs. The findings will be important to help identify types of surgical mitral bioprosthesis utilizing CT characteristics for patients without SHV size documentation.     

新生儿肺部超声在早产儿肺部感染评价中的价值

目的 探讨新生儿肺部超声在早产儿肺部感染评价中的价值。 方法 选取肺部感染早产儿80例为观察组，无肺部感染的早产儿80例为对照组，均给予新生儿肺部超声检查，比较2组肺部超声评分、氧合指数、呼吸指数，比较观察组不同病情、预后患儿肺部超声评分、氧合指数、呼吸指数,分析肺部超声评分和氧合指数、呼吸指数的相关性。 结果 观察组肺部超声评分、氧合指数低于对照组，呼吸指数高于对照组，差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。观察组极危重患儿肺部超声评分、氧合指数低于危重和非危重患儿，呼吸指数高于危重和非危重患儿，危重患儿肺部超声评分、氧合指数低于非危重患儿，呼吸指数高于非危重患儿，差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。肺部超声评分与呼吸指数呈负相关（r=-0.455，P＜0.05），与氧合指数呈正相关（r=0.470，P＜0.05）。观察组死亡患儿肺部超声评分、氧合指数低于存活患儿，呼吸指数高于存活患儿，差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。肺部超声评分预测患儿预后的ROC曲线下面积为0.874，高于呼吸指数和氧合指数（P＜0.05），其截断值为20分时，敏感度和特异度为88.50%和75.00%。 结论 新生儿肺部超声在早产儿肺部感染评价中有较好的效果，值得临床使用。     

Process evaluation of implementation strategies to reduce potentially inappropriate medication prescribing in older population: A scoping review

ObjectivesSeveral implementation strategies can reduce potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) prescribing. Although use of PIMs has declined in recent years, it remains prevalent. Various strategies exist to improve the appropriateness of medication use. However, little is known about the processes of these different implementation strategies. This scoping review aims to investigate how the process evaluation of implementation strategies for reducing PIM prescribing in the older population has been studied.MethodsWe searched for process evaluations of implementation strategies for reducing PIM prescribing in PUBMED, SCOPUS and Web of Science published between January 2000 and November 2019 in English. We applied the following inclusion criteria: patients aged ≥65 years, validated PIM criteria, and implementation process evaluated. The review focuses on decision support for health care professionals. We described the findings of the process evaluations, and compared the authors’ concepts of process evaluation of the included publications to those of Proctor et al.( 2010).ResultOf 9131 publications screened, 29 met our inclusion criteria. Different process evaluation conceptualizations were identified. Most process evaluations took place in the initial stages of the process (acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, and feasibility) and sustainability and implementation costs were seldom evaluated. None of the included publications evaluated fidelity.Multifaceted interventions were the most studied implementation strategies. Medication review was more common in acceptability evaluations, multidisciplinary interventions in adoption evaluations, and computerized systems and educational interventions in feasibility evaluations. Process evaluations were studied from the health care professionals’ viewpoint in most of the included publications, but the management viewpoint was missing.DiscussionThe conceptualization of process evaluation in the field of PIM prescribing is indeterminate. There is also a current gap in the knowledge of sustainability and implementation costs. Clarifying the conceptualization of implementation process evaluation is essential in order to effectively translate research knowledge into practice.