Successful navigation of late career transitions

The purpose of this educational review was to describe the challenges that may face the anesthesiologist near the end of their career and to propose strategies that will enable the individual to continue to be a productive and valued member of their Department, both clinically and by other contributions.     

Adjuvant agents in regional anaesthesia

The addition of adjuvant agents to intrathecal and epidural anaesthetic techniques is well established, in particular opioids and clonidine. These adjuvants are utilized to improve the quality of anaesthesia and analgesia. Several other adjuvants have been studied but ongoing concerns surrounding safety and efficacy may limit their use in clinical practice. Epinephrine has for many years been administered in combination with local anaesthetic although more recently a diverse range of adjuvants have been added to peripheral nerve block solutions, again with the aim of prolonging surgical anaesthesia. The evidence to support or refute the benefit of these agents is increasing, as is our understanding of which agents have demonstrable efficacy and safety at clinically appropriate doses. Clinicians must be aware that many adjuvants are not licensed for central neuraxial or perineural use and should be aware of the risks, in particular of neurotoxicity and unwanted side effects.     

Three-year outcomes from the CRADLE study in de novo pediatric kidney transplant recipients receiving everolimus with reduced tacrolimus and early steroid withdrawal

CRADLE was a 36-month multicenter study in pediatric (≥1 to <18 years) kidney transplant recipients randomized at 4 to 6 weeks posttransplant to receive everolimus + reduced-exposure tacrolimus (EVR + rTAC; n = 52) with corticosteroid withdrawal at 6-month posttransplant or continue mycophenolate mofetil + standard-exposure TAC (MMF + sTAC; n = 54) with corticosteroids. The incidence of composite efficacy failure (biopsy-proven acute rejection [BPAR], graft loss, or death) at month 36 was 9.8% vs 9.6% (difference: 0.2%; 80% confidence interval: −7.3 to 7.7) for EVR + rTAC and MMF + sTAC, respectively, which was driven by BPARs. Graft loss was low (2.1% vs 3.8%) with no deaths. Mean estimated glomerular filtration rate at month 36 was comparable between groups (68.1 vs 67.3 mL/min/1.73 m²). Mean changes (z-score) in height (0.72 vs 0.39; P = .158) and weight (0.61 vs 0.82; P = .453) from randomization to month 36 were comparable, whereas growth in prepubertal patients on EVR + rTAC was better (P = .050) vs MMF + sTAC. The overall incidence of adverse events (AEs) and serious AEs was comparable between groups. Rejection was the leading AE for study drug discontinuation in the EVR + rTAC group. In conclusion, though AE-related study drug discontinuation was higher, an EVR + rTAC regimen represents an alternative treatment option that enables withdrawal of steroids as well as reduction of CNIs for pediatric kidney transplant recipients. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01544491.     

Pretransplant solid organ malignancy and organ transplant candidacy: A consensus expert opinion statement

Patients undergoing evaluation for solid organ transplantation (SOT) often have a history of malignancy. Although the cancer has been treated in these patients, the benefits of transplantation need to be balanced against the risk of tumor recurrence, especially in the setting of immunosuppression. Prior guidelines of when to transplant patients with a prior treated malignancy do not take in to account current staging, disease biology, or advances in cancer treatments. To develop contemporary recommendations, the American Society of Transplantation held a consensus workshop to perform a comprehensive review of current literature regarding cancer therapies, cancer stage-specific prognosis, the kinetics of cancer recurrence, and the limited data on the effects of immunosuppression on cancer-specific outcomes. This document contains prognosis based on contemporary treatment and transplant recommendations for breast, colorectal, anal, urological, gynecological, and nonsmall cell lung cancers. This conference and consensus documents aim to provide recommendations to assist in the evaluation of patients for SOT given a history of a pretransplant malignancy.     

中国公众公共卫生安全素养量表的开发研究

目的开发公共卫生安全素养量表, 为我国公众的公共卫生安全素养测评提供适宜工具。方法通过理论构想、指标池构建、现场验证、题项缩减等步骤编制中国公共卫生安全素养初始量表, 转为"问卷星"电子问卷, 随机抽取4个省份共2 809名居民进行现场测试。利用经典测试理论(CTT)和项目反应理论(IRT)进行题项缩减。使用SPSS 23.0软件进行探索性因子分析(EFA)和单维性检验。使用R 4.1.1软件ltm和mirt包进行题项的心理测量学指标分析, 并绘制项目特征曲线(ICC)和信息函数曲线(IIC和TIF)。结果选用专家一致性系数最优的初始量表3, 共30个题项(B1～B30), 测试对象完成1个题项平均需9.8 s。根据CTT分析, 删除校正题项-总相关系数(CITC)<0.3及题项-维度相关系数(IDCC)<0.4的B2题项;删除CITC<0.3、IDCC<0.4及难度指数<0.2的B23题项;删除CITC<0.3及难度指数<0.2的B30题项。删除后量表总内部一致性信度(Cronbach’’sα)值为0.923。EFA提示删除14个因子载荷较小...     

Efficacy of m-Health for the detection of adverse events following immunization – The stimulated telephone assisted rapid safety surveillance (STARSS) randomised control trial

IntroductionPassive surveillance is recommended globally for the detection of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) but this has significant challenges. Use of Mobile health for vaccine safety surveillance enables a consumer-centred approach to reporting. The Stimulated Telephone Assisted Rapid Safety Surveillance (STARSS) a randomised control trial (RCT) sought to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of SMS for AEFI surveillance.MethodsMulti-centre RCT, participants were adult vaccinees or parents of children receiving any vaccine at a trial site. At enrolment randomisation occurred to one of two SMS groups or a control group. Prompts on days 2, 7 and 14 post-immunisation, were sent to the SMS group, to ascertain if a medical event following immunisation (MEFI) had occurred. No SMS’s were sent to the control participants. Those in the SMS who notified an MEFI were pre-randomised to complete a computer assisted telephone interview or a web based report to determine if an AEFI had occurred whilst an AEFI in the controls was determined by a search for passive reports. The primary outcome was the AEFI detection rate in the SMS group compared to controls.ResultsWe enrolled 6,338 participants, who were equally distributed across groups and who received 11,675 vaccines. The SMS group (4,225) received 12,675 surveillance prompts with 9.8% being non-compliant and not responding. In those that responded 90% indicated that no MEFI had been experienced and 184 had a verified AEFI. 6 control subjects had a reported AEFI. The AEFI detection rate was 13 fold greater in the SMS group when compared with controls (4.3 vs 0.3%).ConclusionWe have demonstrated that the STARSS methodology improves AEFI detection. Our findings should inform the wider use of SMS-based surveillance which is particularly relevant since establishing robust and novel pharmacovigilance systems is critical to monitoring novel vaccines which includes potential COVID vaccines.     

两种新冠病毒核酸检测系统检测结果的比对分析

目的 对不同新型冠状病毒(SARS-CoV-2)核酸检测方法进行比较和分析,探讨核酸提取扩增检测一体化的实时荧光定量PCR系统的应用价值。方法 2020年1月—10月于新型冠状病毒肺炎(coronavirus disease 2019,COVID-19)复核样本库中随机抽取确诊病例和排除病例的灭活咽拭子标本,共计10份。采用盲法随机编号,同时使用全自动医用PCR分析系统GeneXpert DX system和ABI QuantStudio Dx实时定量PCR检测系统进行检测,每组均进行平行检测,利用四格表法对结果进行一致性分析。结果 检测结束后揭盲,所有样本纳入统计分析,无剔除数据。经检测,两种方法对8例新冠病毒确诊病例咽拭子检测结果均为阳性,2例排除病例咽拭子检测结果均为阴性;两种方法检测结果一致性好(Kappa系数=1,P值=0.002);使用方法A检测前处理时间为30秒,结果报告时间为48分钟;在核酸检测过程中检测人员与样本接触时间短,气溶胶危险较低,试剂盒全程密封,实验完成后标本处理安全性高。结论 方法A与方法B在新型冠状病毒核酸检测中结果一致,方法A具备操作环节简单、生物安全风险系数小、检测更为快速等优点。