Prospective evaluation of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk diffusion on Mueller-Hinton rapid-SIR directly on blood cultures

Background

With the worldwide spread of antibiotic resistance, delivering antibiotic susceptibility test (AST) results in a timely manner represents a major challenge. In cases of sepsis, rapid AST may facilitate early optimization of empiric antibiotic therapy. Disc diffusion is a well-standardized AST method, however 16 to 24?h are required to achieve an overall AST profile according to antimicrobial societies.

Influence of Pulmonary Hypertension on Intrahospital Mortality in Lung Transplantation for Interstitial Lung Disease

Background

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a comorbidity associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of PH on intrahospital mortality in lung transplantation (LT) for ILD.

Bundled Payment “Creep”: Institutional Redesign for Primary Arthroplasty Positively Affects Revision Arthroplasty

Background

Revision total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is associated with increased readmissions, complications, and expense compared to primary TJA. Bundled payment methods have been used to improve value of care in primary TJA, but little is known of their impact in revision TJA patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a care redesign for a bundled payment model for primary TJA on quality metrics for revision patients, despite absence of a targeted intervention for revisions.

Prevalence and outcomes of atrial fibrillation in a European healthcare area gained through the processing of a health information technology system

Introduction

Today's healthcare policies rely heavily on data that has been gathered from multiple small studies in intrinsically varied populations. We sought to describe the prevalence, comorbidities and outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the population of a specific region where all healthcare centers have implemented a common information technology (IT) structure.

Reversión de sobrepeso y obesidad en población infantil de Vilafranca del Penedès: Programa ACTIVA’T (2012)

Objective

To assess a 6-month nutritional and physical activity intervention program on the nutritional status of overweight or obese and not very active 8-14 years old children by means of a controlled pre-post design (ACTIVA’T program).

Impact of Multifocality and Multilocation of Positive Surgical Margin After Radical Prostatectomy on Predicting Oncological Outcome

Objective

To assess the impact of focality and location of positive surgical margins (PSM) on long-term outcomes after radical prostatectomy (RP) for prostate cancer (PCa), including biochemical recurrence (BCR), metastasis and overall mortality.

Effects of cancer screening restart strategies after COVID-19 disruption

Background Many breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening programmes were disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the effects of five restart strategies after the disruption on required screening capacity and cancer burden.Methods Microsimulation models simulated five restart strategies for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening. The models estimated required screening capacity, cancer incidence, and cancer-specific mortality after a disruption of 6 months. The restart strategies varied in whether screens were caught up or not and, if so, immediately or delayed, and whether the upper age limit was increased.Results The disruption in screening programmes without catch-up of missed screens led to an increase of 2.0, 0.3, and 2.5 cancer deaths per 100 000 individuals in 10 years in breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer, respectively. Immediately catching-up missed screens minimised the impact of the disruption but required a surge in screening capacity. Delaying screening, but still offering all screening rounds gave the best balance between required capacity, incidence, and mortality.Conclusions Strategies with the smallest loss in health effects were also the most burdensome for the screening organisations. Which strategy is preferred depends on the organisation and available capacity in a country.Subject terms: Health policy, Population screening, Cancer screening, Cancer screening     

Tractography of the Cerebellar Peduncles in Second- and Third-Trimester Fetuses

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Little is known about microstructural development of cerebellar white matter in vivo. This study aimed to investigate developmental changes of the cerebellar peduncles in second- and third-trimester healthy fetuses using motion-corrected DTI and tractography.MATERIALS AND METHODS:3T data of 81 healthy fetuses were reviewed. Structural imaging consisted of multiplanar T2-single-shot sequences; DTI consisted of a series of 12-direction diffusion. A robust motion-tracked section-to-volume registration algorithm reconstructed images. ROI-based deterministic tractography was performed using anatomic landmarks described in postnatal tractography. Asymmetry was evaluated qualitatively with a perceived difference of >25% between sides. Linear regression evaluated gestational age as a predictor of tract volume, ADC, and fractional anisotropy.RESULTS:Twenty-four cases were excluded due to low-quality reconstructions. Fifty-eight fetuses with a median gestational age of 30.6 weeks (interquartile range, 7 weeks) were analyzed. The superior cerebellar peduncle was identified in 39 subjects (69%), and it was symmetric in 15 (38%). The middle cerebellar peduncle was identified in all subjects and appeared symmetric; in 13 subjects (22%), two distinct subcomponents were identified. The inferior cerebellar peduncle was not found in any subject. There was a significant increase in volume for the superior cerebellar peduncle and middle cerebellar peduncle (both, P < .05), an increase in fractional anisotropy (both, P < .001), and a decrease in ADC (both, P < .001) with gestational age. The middle cerebellar peduncle had higher volume (P < .001) and fractional anisotropy (P = .002) and lower ADC (P < .001) than the superior cerebellar peduncle after controlling for gestational age.CONCLUSIONS:A robust motion-tracked section-to-volume registration algorithm enabled deterministic tractography of the superior cerebellar peduncle and middle cerebellar peduncle in vivo and allowed characterization of developmental changes.

In the second half of pregnancy, the cerebellum is growing rapidly and is extremely vulnerable.¹ Despite the increasingly recognized association of antenatal and perinatal cerebellar injury with adverse motor and neurologic outcomes later in life,^2-5 little is known about normal cerebellar developmental in the later part of gestation, in particular with regard to changes in microstructure. In fact, most existing fetal MR imaging data addresses primarily changes in cerebellar volume with gestational age (GA) or changes in volume and their association with specific diseases such as congenital heart disease.^6-8In vivo evaluation of cerebellar microstructure using fetal MR imaging has been limited by the technical challenges related to imaging the gravid abdomen, particularly patient motion. However, data from ex vivo MR imaging studies are promising. For instance, Takahashi et al^9,10 performed high-resolution ex vivo DTI of fetal specimens and demonstrated the feasibility of using tractography to outline the cerebellar peduncles prenatally. Even though tractography of the cerebellar peduncles has been sporadically reported in vivo in technical articles or general review articles on fetal DTI,¹¹ the GA-related microstructural changes that occur in the cerebellar peduncles in the second half of pregnancy remain largely unexplored.Recent advances in hardware and software have improved fetal MR imaging substantially. The use of 3T magnets, which have been shown to be safe, results in improvement of the SNR and spatial resolution, which is advantageous to image the small structures of the fetal brain.^12,13 In addition, postprocessing algorithms that enable reconstruction of motion-corrected fetal DTI data are increasingly available and have been used by several groups to characterize the development of the supratentorial white matter tracts in vivo.^14-16 We hypothesize that fetal DTI performed at 3T and processed with a robust section-to-volume motion-correction and registration¹⁴ algorithm will enable tractography of the cerebellar peduncles in fetuses in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. We aimed to characterize fetal cerebellar tract microstructure and to investigate tract-specific developmental changes.     

Postprocedural Antiplatelet Treatment after Emergent Carotid Stenting in Tandem Lesions Stroke: Impact on Stent Patency beyond Day 1

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Postprocedural dual-antiplatelet therapy is frequently withheld after emergent carotid stent placement during stroke thrombectomy. We aimed to assess whether antiplatelet regimen variations increase the risk of stent thrombosis beyond postprocedural day 1.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Retrospective review was undertaken of all consecutive thrombectomies for acute stroke with tandem lesions in the anterior circulation performed in a single comprehensive stroke center between January 9, 2011 and March 30, 2020. Patients were included if carotid stent patency was confirmed at day 1 postprocedure. The group of patients with continuous dual-antiplatelet therapy from day 1 was compared with the group of patients with absent/discontinued dual-antiplatelet therapy.RESULTS:Of a total of 109 tandem lesion thrombectomies, 96 patients had patent carotid stents at the end of the procedure. The early postprocedural stent thrombosis rate during the first 24 hours was 14/96 (14.5%). Of 82 patients with patent stents at day 1, in 28 (34.1%), dual-antiplatelet therapy was either not initiated at day 1 or was discontinued thereafter. After exclusion of cases without further controls of stent patency, there was no significant difference in the rate of subacute/late stent thrombosis between the 2 groups: 1/50 (2%) in patients with continuous dual-antiplatelet therapy versus 0/22 (0%) in patients with absent/discontinued dual-antiplatelet therapy (P = 1.000). In total, we observed 88 patient days without any antiplatelet treatment and 471 patient days with single antiplatelet treatment.CONCLUSIONS:Discontinuation of dual-antiplatelet therapy was not associated with an increased risk of stent thrombosis beyond postprocedural day 1. Further studies are warranted to better assess the additional benefit and optimal duration of dual-antiplatelet therapy after tandem lesion stroke thrombectomy.

In around 15% of endovascular procedures for anterior circulation stroke,¹ there is a tight stenosis or occlusion of the cervical carotid artery in addition to the intracranial artery occlusion. The optimal endovascular management of tandem lesions has yet to be defined; however, there is mounting evidence^2,3 that emergent stent placement in the carotid artery associated with at least 1 antiplatelet agent could lead to better recanalization rates and improved clinical outcomes. A more definitive answer should be provided by the Thrombectomy In TANdem lesions (TITAN) randomized multicenter trial,⁴ designed to assess the safety and efficacy of emergent internal carotid artery stent placement in tandem lesion thrombectomy. This study recently enrolled the first patient in early 2020.In patients undergoing emergent carotid stent placement, there is no consensus regarding the optimal periprocedural antiplatelet therapy. Many groups^5,6 chose to avoid dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) during the first 24 hours in an attempt to reduce the risk of hemorrhagic transformation. Conversely, less aggressive antiplatelet regimens might increase the risk of carotid stent thrombosis.Stent thrombosis was recently identified as a predictor of unfavorable clinical outcome.^7,8 To date, available data regarding stent patency rates remain scarce. Most case series of endovascular management for tandem lesions^5,9-11 do not report postprocedural stent patency, while some publications^12-15 offer partial data for a subgroup of patients for whom carotid imaging controls were available. Reported rates of stent thrombosis ranged between 1.2% and 22.0%.^{6-8,12-14,16,17}To date, no study has attempted to differentiate between early (first 24 hours) and subacute/late postprocedural stent thrombosis. During the first 24 hours, protection against stent thrombosis is conferred by antiplatelet agents administered during the procedure (periprocedural antiplatelets). Beyond 24 hours, the recommended antiplatelet regimen is DAPT for 4–12 weeks,^9,17 but in reality, antiplatelets are often tailored in view of neurological and extra-neurological hemorrhagic events. It is currently unknown whether discontinuation of DAPT is associated with an increased risk of late stent thrombosis.Thus, we aimed to describe the variations in the postprocedural antiplatelet regimen in a large consecutive cohort of tandem lesion thrombectomies with emergent carotid artery stent placement and to assess whether discontinuation of DAPT was associated with an increased risk of carotid stent thrombosis.