Nurse Decision-making for Suspected Urinary Tract Infections in Nursing Homes: Potential Targets to Reduce Antibiotic Overuse

ObjectivesTo determine what information is most important to registered nurses' (RNs) decisions to call clinicians about suspected urinary tract infections (UTIs) in nursing home residents.DesignWeb-based discrete choice experiment with 19 clinical scenarios.Setting and ParticipantsOnline survey with a convenience sample of RNs (N = 881) recruited from a health care research panel.MethodsClinical scenarios used information from 10 categories of resident characteristics: UTI risk, resident type, functional status, mental status, lower urinary tract status, body temperature, physical examination, urinalysis, antibiotic request, and goals of care. Participants were randomized into 2 deliberation conditions (self-paced, n = 437 and forced deliberation, n = 444). The degree to which evidence- and non–evidence-based information was important to decision-making was estimated using unconditional multinomial logistic regression.ResultsFor all nurses (22.8%) and the self-paced group (24.1%), lower urinary tract status had the highest importance scores for the decision to call a clinician about a suspected UTI. For the forced-deliberation group, body temperature was most important (23.7%), and lower urinary tract status was less important (21%, P = .001). The information associated with the highest odds of an RN calling about a suspected UTI was painful or difficult urination [odds ratio (OR) 4.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.16–5.65], obvious blood in urine (OR 4.66, 95% CI 3.99–5.44), and temperature at 101.5° (OR 3.80, 95% CI 3.28–4.42). For the self-paced group, painful or difficult urination (OR 5.65, 95% CI 4.53–7.04) had the highest odds, whereas obvious blood in urine (OR 4.39, 95% CI 3.53–5.47) had highest odds for the forced-deliberation group.Conclusions and ImplicationsThis study highlighted the importance of specific resident characteristics in nurse decision-making about suspected UTIs. Future antimicrobial stewardship efforts should aim to not only improve the previously studied overprescribing practices of clinicians, but to improve nurses' assessment of signs and symptoms of potential infections and how they weigh resident information.     

ABCB4基因突变合并巨细胞病毒感染致婴儿胆汁淤积症的诊治分析并文献复习

目的探讨ABCB4基因突变合并巨细胞病毒(CMV)感染致婴儿胆汁淤积症(IC)患儿的临床特征、基因检测结果和诊治方案。 方法选择2019年8月3日,于中山大学附属第七医院就诊并确诊为ABCB4基因突变合并CMV感染致IC的1例婴儿(女性,生后9个月)为研究对象。回顾性分析其临床病例资料,包括临床特征、实验室检查结果及基因检测结果。同时,检索国内外数据库中ABCB4基因突变所致IC患儿的相关文献,并进行文献复习。本研究遵循的程序符合2013年新修订的《世界医学协会赫尔辛基宣言》要求。 结果本例IC患儿在本院诊治结果如下。①病史采集：系G₂P₂,足月顺产,外观无异常,否认新生儿黄疸病史,生后2个月龄时出现皮肤及巩膜呈暗绿色,伴反复呕奶,当地医院治疗并诊断为胆汁淤积性肝病、CMV感染和泌尿系统感染,抗病毒治疗2周后好转出院。出院时,其血清总胆汁酸(sTBA)为152.8 μmol/L,CMV-DNA<4×10² copies/mL,口服熊去氧胆酸胶囊10 mg/(kg·d)治疗后,皮肤暗绿色逐渐消退,大、小便正常。出院后定期监测肝功能,sTBA、γ-谷氨酰转肽酶(GGT)仍然较正常值增高。②实验室检查：血清CMV免疫球蛋白(Ig)G抗体呈阳性、CMV IgM抗体呈阴性,CMV-DNA<55×10² copies/mL。基因检测结果：患儿及其父亲均携带ABCB4基因杂合变异。治疗结果：经口服熊去氧胆酸胶囊10 mg/(kg·d)及谷胱甘肽片0.1 g/次× 3次/d治疗后,对患儿定期复查sTBA、GGT。随访到18个月龄时,其各项指标逐渐恢复正常范围。③文献复习结果：共计检索到8篇国内外报道的因ABCB4基因突变引起IC相关文献,纳入14例IC患儿,均被诊断为进行性家族性肝内胆汁淤积3型(PFIC3),伴肝大,sTBA、GGT水平升高等。14例IC患儿中,共检测到ABCB4基因突变位点20个。其中,9例IC患儿接受熊去氧胆酸治疗,7例随访结果显示临床症状及实验室检查指标有所好转。 结论携带ABCB4基因突变,可引起IC。对于sTBA升高、肝酶异常的病因不明确、治疗效果不佳IC患儿,建议完善基因检测进一步排查ABCB4基因突变所致胆汁淤积症。     

Assessment of the Long-Term Impact of Pancreatoduodenectomy on Health-Related Quality of Life Using the EORTC QLQ-PAN26 Module

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Long-term pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) survivors have previously reported favorable quality of life (QoL). However, there has been a paucity of studies utilizing...     

A world-wide survey on kidney transplantation practices in breast cancer survivors: The need for new management guidelines

Kidney transplantation reduces mortality in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Decisions about performing kidney transplantation in the setting of a prior cancer are challenging, as cancer recurrence in the setting of immunosuppression can result in poor outcomes. For cancer of the breast, rapid advances in molecular characterization have allowed improved prognostication, which is not reflected in current guidelines. We developed a 19-question survey to determine transplant surgeons’ knowledge, practice, and attitudes regarding guidelines for kidney transplantation in women with breast cancer. Of the 129 respondents from 32 states and 14 countries, 74.8% felt that current guidelines are inadequate. Surgeons outside the United States (US) were more likely to consider transplantation in a breast cancer patient without a waiting period (p = .017). Within the US, 29.2% of surgeons in the Western region would consider transplantation without a waiting period, versus 3.6% of surgeons in the East (p = .004). Encouragingly, 90.4% of providers surveyed would consider eliminating wait-times for women with a low risk of cancer recurrence based on the accurate prediction of molecular assays. These findings support the need for new guidelines incorporating individualized recurrence risk to improve care of ESRD patients with breast cancer.     

Community care staff attitudes towards delivering a falls prevention exercise intervention to community care clients

Millions of older people world-wide receive community care services in their home to assist them to live independently. These services often include personal care, domestic assistance and social support which are delivered by non-university trained staff, and are frequently long term. Older people receiving community care services fall 50% more often than individuals of similar age not receiving services. Yet, few ongoing community care services include exercise programs to reduce falls in this population. We conducted an earlier study to examine the feasibility of community care staff delivering a falls prevention program. A critical finding was that while some of the assessment and support staff responsible for service delivery delivered the falls prevention exercise program to one or two clients, others delivered to none. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative sub-study was to understand reasons for this variation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participating support staff and assessors from 10 community care organisations. Staff who had successfully delivered the intervention to their clients perceived themselves as capable and that it would benefit their clients. Older clients who were positive, motivated and wanted to improve were perceived to be more likely to participate. Staff who had worked at their organisation for at least 5 years were also more likely to deliver the program compared to those that had only worked up to 2 years. Staff that did not deliver the intervention to anyone were more risk averse, did not feel confident enough to deliver the program and perceived their clients as not suitable due to age and frailty. Experienced staff who are confident and have positive ageing attitudes are most likely to deliver falls prevention programs in a home care organisation.     

Pilot study of an HLA-A2 peptide vaccine using flt3 ligand as a systemic vaccine adjuvant

A pilot vaccine study was conducted to test the safety and immunological efficacy of four monthly immunizations of an MHC class I peptide vaccine, the E75 HLA-A2 epitope from HER-2/neu, using flt3 ligand as a systemic vaccine adjuvant. Twenty HLA-A2-expressing subjects with advanced stage prostate cancer were randomly assigned to one of four immunization or treatment schedules: (a) Flt3 ligand (20 g/kg per day) administered subcutaneously daily for 14 days on a 28-day cycle, monthly for four months; (b) flt3 ligand course as above with the E75 peptide vaccine administered on day 7 of each flt3 ligand cycle; (c) flt3 ligand course as above with the E75 peptide vaccine administered on day 14 of each flt3 ligand cycle; or (d) E75 peptide admixed with granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor and administered intradermally once every 28 days, as has previously been reported. The primary endpoints of the study were the determination of safety and immunological efficacy in generating E75-specific T cells as determined by peptide-specific interferon-gamma ELIspot. Adverse events included one grade 3 skin reaction and the development of grade 2 autoimmune hypothyroidism in two subjects with preexisting subclinical autoimmune hypothyroidism. Dendritic cells were markedly increased in the peripheral blood of subjects receiving flt3 ligand with each repetitive cycle, but augmentation of antigen-presenting cells within the dermis was not observed. Apart from a single subject, no significant peptide-specific T-cell responses were detected by ELIspot, whereas delayed-type hypersensitivity responses were detectable in control subjects and in subjects receiving peptide vaccine early in the course of flt3 ligand administration. The absence of robust peripheral immune responses in the current study may be attributable to the small numbers of subjects or differences in the subject population. In addition, the inability of flt3 ligand to augment the number of peripheral skin antigen-presenting cells may have contributed to the absence of robust peptide-specific immunity detectable in the peripheral blood of immunized subjects treated with flt3 ligand.     

Mutualism between the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria and its gut microbiota

The desert locust Schistocerca gregaria contains a relatively simple but abundant gut microbiota which originated from the insect's diet. The gut bacterial population is dominated by Enterobacteriaceae with a major component of enterococci. Microbial metabolism of secondary plant chemicals in the locust gut produces phenolics useful to the locust host. Some products are antimicrobial and contribute to host defense against pathogens, others are employed by the host as components of the aggregation pheromone. This dual benefit suggests a closer degree of integration between the locust and its microbial community than was previously suspected.     

Characterization and Function of Spinal Excitatory Interneurons with Commissural Projections in Xenopus laevis embryos

The multipolar somata of dorsolateral commissural (dlc) interneurons (Roberts and Clarke, 1982) lie in a superficial dorsolateral position in the spinal cord of Xenopus laevis embryos. By applying horseradish peroxidase to one-half of the 100 microm diameter spinal cord, these neurons have been backfilled. Their dendritic branching pattern, commissural axonal projection and distribution near the time of hatching is described. Using Lucifer yellow-filled microelectrodes a population of sensory interneurons with dlc morphology has been identified. They have multipolar somata in a dorsolateral superficial position, obliquely projecting dendrites and a ventral commissural axon. They receive presumed monosynaptic excitation in response to electrical stimulation of sensory neurites in the skin on the same side as the soma. During fictive swimming activity in curarized embryos the dlc interneurons are rhythmically inhibited in time with ventral root discharge on the same side. Dlc interneurons can fire multiple impulses and can turn on fictive swimming when stimulated by intracellular current injection. Skin stimulation is followed by excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) in contralateral ventral rhythmic neurons. These EPSPs are reduced by the application of NMDA receptor antagonist. We conclude that dlc interneurons are excited by primary skin afferent Rohon - Beard neurons, carry sensory information across the spinal cord to excite neurons on the opposite side by release of an excitatory amino acid transmitter and participate in reflexes and in the initiation of swimming.