Four years' experience with a clinical intervention program: cost avoidance and impact of a clinical coordinator

Four years of data are reported on the drug cost avoidance and the net cost savings associated with a clinical pharmacy intervention program. In 1986 the pharmacy department at a 324-bed nonprofit community medical center began a clinical intervention program by adding one full-time equivalent for providing clinical services. A new clinical pharmacist position was created in 1988. A reorganization in 1989 resulted in further increases in staffing, including the creation of a clinical coordinator position to oversee the intervention program, and in administrative time. Staff pharmacists self-report a broad range of interventions on a clinical documentation form. During the period 1986-1989, monthly data on the number of types of interventions recommended, the percentage of recommendations accepted by the medical staff, and drug cost avoidance were tabulated. Cost avoidance was calculated by subtracting the cost of therapy ordered by the physician from the cost of therapy initiated as a result of the intervention. Net drug cost savings were calculated by subtracting from cost avoidance the cost of pharmacist time required for performing the interventions. The average number of interventions per month ranged from 170 in 1986 to 292 in 1990. During an 18-month period before the clinical coordinator was added, average monthly cost avoidance and net savings were $4932 and $3739, respectively. Average monthly cost avoidance increased to $6244 and savings to $4644 in a 12-month period after the clinical coordinator was added. A four-year study of a clinical intervention program showed that the dollar value and impact outlasted the initial success expected for such programs.     

Synthesis and in vitro LTD4 antagonist activity of bicyclic and monocyclic cyclopentylurethane and cyclopentylacetamide N-arylsulfonyl amides

The dissociation constants (KB) at the LTD4 receptor on guinea pig trachea of a series of monocyclic and bicyclic cyclopentylurethane and cyclopentylacetamide N-arylsulfonyl amides have been measured. The KB was found to be remarkably tolerant of changes in the electronic constitution and lipophilicity of the bicyclic ring system (template). Thus, N-[4[[6-[[(cyclopentyloxy)carbonyl]amino]benzimidazol-1- yl]methyl]-3-methoxybenzoyl]benzenesulfonamide (11a) and N-[4-[[5-[[(cyclopentyloxy)carbonyl]amino]benzo[b]thien-3- yl]methyl]-3-methoxybenzoyl]benzene-sulfonamide (25a) had closely similar affinities (pKB, 9.20 and 9.31, respectively; LTE4 as agonist). It has been shown that the hetero-ring of the template need not be aromatic in order to achieve high affinity, since indoline 31 and 2,3-dihydrobenz-1,4-oxazines 37a-c had pKBs greater than 9. Further, it has been shown that an o-aminophenone (see 42 and Figure 3) can function as a template; the template in 42 [see iii] is bicyclic by virtue of the presence of an intramolecular hydrogen bond. In contrast, when the template is a phenyl ring (48), receptor affinity is markedly reduced. These findings support the notion that central bicyclic ring system in this family of peptidoleukotriene antagonists is a molecular feature which helps to preorganize the acylamino and acidic chains and thereby facilitate the molecular recognition event.     

Infective conjunctivitis and corneal scarring in three brothers with sex linked hypogammaglobulinaemia (Bruton''s disease).

The ocular findings in three brothers with Bruton's disease are reported. All three boys had purulent conjunctivitis, but the two older brothers also developed marked corneal scarring with visual impairment. Haemophilus influenzae was cultured from conjunctival swabs; it was resistant to neomycin but sensitive to chloramphenicol. Tear analysis showed that the three subjects had normal levels of lysozyme but no detectable IgA.     

High levels of B-cell activating factor in patients with active chronic graft-versus-host disease.

PURPOSE: Recent studies suggest that donor B cells as well as T cells contribute to immune pathology in patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). B-cell activating factor (BAFF) promotes survival and differentiation of activated B cells. Thus, we tested whether BAFF correlated with chronic GVHD disease activity and time of onset after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Patients who had undergone allogeneic HSCT between 1994 and 2005 for hematologic malignancies were studied. ELISA was used to measure plasma BAFF levels and flow cytometry was used to assess BAFF receptor expression on B cells in patients with or without chronic GVHD. RESULTS: In 104 patients, BAFF levels were significantly higher in patients with active chronic GVHD compared with those without disease (P = 0.02 and 0.0004, respectively). Treatment with high-dose prednisone (>or=30 mg/d) was associated with reduced BAFF levels in patients with active chronic GVHD (P = 0.0005). Serial studies in 24 patients showed that BAFF levels were high in the first 3 months after HSCT but subsequently decreased in 13 patients who never developed chronic GVHD. In contrast, BAFF levels remained elevated in 11 patients who developed chronic GVHD. Six-month BAFF levels >or=10 ng/mL were strongly associated with subsequent development of chronic GVHD (P < 0.0001). Following transplant, plasma BAFF levels correlated inversely with BAFF receptor expression on B cells (P = 0.01), suggesting that soluble BAFF affected B cells through this receptor. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that elevated BAFF levels contribute to B-cell activation in patients with active chronic GVHD.     

Antibiotic prophylaxis for facial fractures. A prospective, randomized clinical trial

Although antibiotics are widely used in an attempt to decrease the incidence of infections after facial fractures, no systematic prospective study of their efficacy has been performed. In this study, all adult patients with facial fractures who had not received antibiotics were asked to participate in a clinical trial. There were 101 patients with facial fractures enrolled into the study and randomized prospectively into two groups. One group received no antibiotics. The other group received cefazolin sodium, 1 g intravenously, one hour prior to the surgical procedure, and a similar dose eight hours later. Of the 101 patients enrolled in the study, 79 had mandibular fractures, 18 had zygoma fractures, and four had Le Fort fractures. When all facial fractures were considered, perioperative intravenous cefazolin reduced the incidence of postoperative infections; 42.2% in the no-antibiotic group became infected, and 8.9% in the antibiotic group became infected. On the basis of this study, we conclude that cefazolin, used perioperatively, diminished the incidence of postoperative infections in facial fractures.     

The complex enterprise of modelling prenatal exposure to cigarettes: what is ‘enough’?

While there is a burgeoning body of research linking smoking during pregnancy to problem behaviour in offspring, a major criticism of this work has been the crude measurement of exposure in these studies (e.g. retrospective, self-reported only) that could lead to biased estimates. To address this issue, we used a pregnancy cohort with repeated prospective measures of exposure as well as biological assays to generate estimates of exposure patterns using a range of modelling techniques. In this paper we report on the analytical approaches we have developed, including patterns of exposure over time and best-estimate approaches that combine self-report and cotinine measures, and compare their predictive value in relation to different dimensions of fetal growth as a first step towards examining the utility of greater precision of exposure measurement.
Surprisingly, in this sample the more complex assessments of exposure, including biological measures, generally did not perform better than simple indicators of exposure based on repeated self-report measures, with one exception: a combined self-report cotinine 'best estimate' of third trimester exposure was uniquely associated with lower brain : body ratio. Further study is needed using more sophisticated cotinine assays and testing prediction of a range of outcomes to ascertain whether these findings represent true differences or are specific to the sample, methods and outcomes used. Such research will inform the development of guidelines for adequate exposure characterisation in developmental studies.     

Using stories to battle unintentional injuries: Narratives in safety and health communication

After 14 years of rising death rates due to unintentional injuries in the U.S., it is time to ask how safety messages can be redesigned to have a greater impact on risky behavior. To this end, many researchers have called for a new, narrative approach to prevention messages—based on persuasive stories about people who have suffered injuries and illnesses in the past. Still, there is scant evidence that story-based communications are more effective than equivalent non-narrative messages at changing actual (rather than self-reported) safety and health behavior. Our research examined the impact of injury stories on actual safety behavior in a controlled experimental setting at a US university. Teams of participants assembled a product (a child's swing) using written instructions. The instructions contained safety messages targeting assembly mistakes that have been linked to serious injuries in children who play on swings. Participant teams were randomly assigned to three conditions: assembly instructions containing story-based safety messages, instructions with concrete (but non-anecdotal) safety messages, and instructions with traditional abstract safety messages. After adjustment for covariates, story-based messages resulted in a 19 percent improvement in safety behavior, compared with non-narrative communications. Importantly, injury stories did not create undue fear of the message object, demonstrating that brief anecdotes about accident victims can convince people to take reasonable precautions without creating unwarranted alarm about risks.     

Larger urethral catheter size leads to fossa navicularis stricture formation in robotic radical prostatectomy

Fossa navicularis strictures following radical prostatectomy are reported infrequently. We recently experienced a series of fossa strictures following robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RLP). We describe herein our experience to prevent fossa strictures and to determine its etiologic factors. From June 2002 to May 2006, 424 patients underwent robotic-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy with the da Vinci surgical system. Fossa strictures were diagnosed based on the acute onset of obstructive voiding symptoms and bougie calibration. During our series, we switched from the intra-operative use of an 18 French (F) catheter to that of a 22 F one to avoid inadvertent stapling of the urethra when dividing the dorsal venous complex. After we observed a high incidence of fossa strictures, we reverted back to 18 F catheters during surgery. All patients had an 18 F catheter indwelling for 1 week after surgery. Parameters were evaluated using Fisher’s exact test and Student’s t-test for means. The 18 F catheter group of patients (n = 293) developed one fossa stricture, whereas the 22 F catheter group (n = 131) developed nine fossa strictures (P < 0.01). The fossa stricture rate in the 18 F group was 0.3% versus 6.9% in the 22 F group. The two groups had no differences in age, body mass index, cardiovascular disease, American Urological Association symptom score, urinary bother score, preoperative prostate-specific antigen, operative time, estimated blood loss, cautery use, prostate size, or catheterization time. Based on these results, a larger urethral catheter size – 20 F versus 18 F – during the intra-operative dissection would appear to increase the risk for fossa stricture by more than 20-fold. Statement of disclosure Dr. Thomas Ahlering is a meeting participant and lecturer for Intuitive Surgical Corp. The other authors have no direct or indirect commercial financial incentives associated with publishing the article. No research or project support funding was received.     

Estrogen receptor beta polymorphisms are associated with bone mass in women and men: the Framingham Study.

ESR2 is expressed in bone cells, yet few studies have tested its variation for association with BMD, an important determinant of osteoporotic fractures. This was investigated in 723 men and 795 women from the Framingham study. Results show association of variation in this gene with BMD in both women and men. INTRODUCTION: Osteoporotic fracture risk is highly dependent on bone density, a quantitative multifactorial trait with a substantial genetic component. In contrast to the growing body of evidence that estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1) plays a role in bone metabolism, few studies have examined the estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) gene for association with BMD. An ESR2 CA repeat polymorphism, D14S1026, was associated with BMD in two small studies, each with <200 women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The objective of this investigation was to assess whether D14S1026 or four other intronic polymorphisms were associated with BMD in 723 men and 795 women (mean age, 60 years) from the offspring cohort of the population-based Framingham Study. BMD was measured at the femur (neck, trochanter, and Ward's area) and the lumbar spine (L(2)-L(4)). RESULTS: In both women and men, there was significant association of D14S1026 genotype with measures of femoral but not spinal BMD. In addition, genotypes of two common single nucleotide polymorphisms, rs1256031 and rs1256059, in strong linkage disequilibrium with one another but not with D14S1026, were associated with measures of femoral BMD in men. The rs1256031 genotypes had up to a 4.0% difference in mean femoral BMD. An inferred rs1256031-D14S1026-rs1256059 haplotype C-23CA-T was significantly associated with reduced femoral BMD in women (p = 0.03, 0.003, and 0.01 for neck, trochanter, and Ward's area, respectively). Haplotype-based BMD differences ranged from 3.0% to 4.3%. CONCLUSIONS: We have observed significant association of common ESR2 variants with measures of femoral BMD in both men and women.