A reduced rectoanal gradient, compared with age- and sex-matched asymptomatic individuals, was the most important parameter on anorectal manometry to predict impaired evacuation by balloon expulsion test or defecography and should be considered probable evidence of a defecatory disorder.
Risultati per: Test genetico per prevenire l’infarto.
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Effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines against Omicron and Delta variants in a matched test-negative case-control study among US veterans
Objective
To estimate the effectiveness of messenger RNA (mRNA) booster doses during the period of Delta and Omicron variant dominance.
Design
We conducted a matched test-negative case–control study to estimate the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of three and two doses of mRNA vaccines against infection (regardless of symptoms) and against COVID-19-related hospitalisation and death.
Setting
Veterans Health Administration.
Participants
We used electronic health record data from 114 640 veterans who had a SARS-CoV-2 test during November 2021–January 2022. Patients were largely 65 years or older (52%), male (88%) and non-Hispanic white (59%).
Main outcome measures
First positive result for a SARS-CoV-2 PCR or antigen test.
Results
Against infection, booster doses had higher estimated VE (64%, 95% CI 63 to 65) than two-dose vaccination (12%, 95% CI 10 to 15) during the Omicron period. For the Delta period, the VE against infection was 90% (95% CI 88 to 92) among boosted vaccinees, higher than the VE among two-dose vaccinees (54%, 95% CI 50 to 57). Against hospitalisation, booster dose VE was 89% (95% CI 88 to 91) during Omicron and 94% (95% CI 90 to 96) during Delta; two-dose VE was 63% (95% CI 58 to 67) during Omicron and 75% (95% CI 69 to 80) during Delta. Against death, the VE with a booster dose was 94% (95% CI 90 to 96) during Omicron and 96% (95% CI 87 to 99) during Delta.
Conclusions
Among an older, mostly male, population with comorbidities, we found that an mRNA vaccine booster was highly effective against infection, hospitalisation and death. Although the effectiveness of booster vaccination against infection was moderately higher against Delta than against the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant, effectiveness against severe disease and death was similarly high against both variants.
Brain Injury Screening Tool (BIST): test-retest reliability in a community adult sample
Objective
To determine the test–retest reliability of the Brain Injury Screening Tool (BIST), which was designed to support the initial assessment of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) across a variety of contexts, including primary and secondary care.
Design
Test–retest design over a 2-week period.
Setting
Community based.
Participants
Sixty-eight adults (aged 18–58 years) who had not experienced an mTBI within the last 5 years and completed the BIST on two different occasions.
Measures
Participants were invited to complete the 15-item BIST symptom scale and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) online at two time-points (baseline and 2 weeks later). To account for large variations in mood affecting symptom reporting, change scores on the subscales of the DASS-21 were calculated, and outliers were removed from the analysis.
Results
The BIST total symptom score and subscale scores (physical-emotional, cognitive and vestibular) demonstrated moderate to good test–retest reliability with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging between 0.51 and 0.83. There were no meaningful differences between symptom reporting on the total scale or subscales of the BIST between time1 and time2 at the p
Indocyanine green clearance test in liver transplantation: defining cut-off levels for graft viability assessment during organ retrieval and for the prediction of post-transplant graft function recovery – the Liver Indocyanine Green (LivInG) Trial Study Protocol
Introduction
Viability assessment of the graft is essential to lower the risk of liver transplantation (LT) failure and need for emergency retransplantation, however, this still relies mainly on surgeon’s experience. Post-LT graft function recovery assessment is also essential to aid physicians in the management of LT recipients and guide them through challenging decision making.
This study aims to trial the use of indocyanine green clearance test (IGT) in the donor as an objective tool to assess graft viability and in the recipient to assess graft function recovery after LT.
Methods and analysis
This is an observational prospective single-centre study on consecutive liver transplant donors and recipients.
Primary objective
To determine the capability of IGT of predicting graft viability at the time of organ retrieval. Indocyanine green will be administered to the donor and the plasma disappearance rate (PDR) measured using the pulsidensitometric method. Some 162 IGT donor procedures will be required (α, 5%; β, 20%) using an IGT-PDR cut-off value of 13% to achieve a significant discrimination between viable and non-viable grafts.
Secondary objective
IGT-PDR will be measured at different time-points in the LT recipient: during the anhepatic phase, after graft reperfusion, at 24 hours, on day 3 and day 7 after LT. The slope of IGT values from the donor to the recipient will be evaluated for correlation with the development of early allograft dysfunction.
Ethics and dissemination
This research protocol was approved by Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS Ethics Committee (reference number: 0048466/20, study ID: 3656) and by the Italian National Transplant Center (CNT) (reference number: Prot.11/CNT2021). Liver recipients will be required to provide written informed consent. Results will be published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented in congresses.
Trial registration number
NCT05228587.
La corsa al tampone fai da te: 2 milioni di test in 7 giorni
Il fenomeno, in forte crescita da metà giugno, è trainato dall’ondata estiva dei contagi
Uso dei test del DNA tumorale circolante per i pazienti con cancro
Test genetici nella gestione del cancro alla prostata
Diagnostic Performance of a Noninvasive Breath Test for Colorectal Cancer: COBRA1 Study
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer globally.1 When diagnosed early, the 5-year survival rate is 92%,2 yet 23% of CRCs are diagnosed at an advanced stage3 in the United Kingdom with a 5-year survival rate of 10%.2 Early CRC has symptoms that are shared with common benign conditions.4 Colonoscopy capacity is limited, and referring all symptomatic patients for colonoscopy would overwhelm available resources. An intermediate triage test to identify patients at risk of CRC could streamline referral pathways.
Infarto cardiaco: scoperto un ormone chiave per riparare il cuore
Features and predictive value of 6-min walk test outcomes in interstitial lung disease: an observation study using wearable monitors
Objectives
To describe 6-min walk test (6MWT) outcomes, and to investigate their correlations with cardiopulmonary and lung function among patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) which was not limited to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Methods
We collected patients’ demographic data and obtained minute-by-minute 6MWT outcomes. Modified Borg scale was employed to assess patients’ dyspnoea, whereas New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification and pulmonary function test were used to evaluate patients’ cardiopulmonary functions.
Results
Heart rate (HR) exhibited a continuous upward trend, while SpO2 exhibited an overall downward with a slight increase at the fifth minute. The SpO2 nadir for 70 patients (9.3%) was lower than 80%. Further, the SpO2 nadir for 78.27% of the participants appeared at the end of the fourth minute. The 6-min walk distance (6MWD) had the strongest correlation with NYHA classification (r=0.82, p
Infarto, arriva la proteina «spugna» che pulisce le arterie del cuore
Mentre i farmaci esistenti agiscono riducendo la sintesi di colesterolo e prevenendo la formazione di nuovi accumuli, questa terapia ha un obiettivo più ambizioso e mai raggiunto prima: aggredire le placche già presenti
Evaluation of change in emergency care knowledge and skills among front-line healthcare providers in Ukraine with the Basic Emergency Care course: a pretest/post-test study
Objective
Evaluate the change in participant emergency care knowledge and skill confidence after implementation of the WHO-International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course.
Design
Pretest/post-test quasi-experimental study.
Setting
Mechnikov Hospital in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Participants
Seventy-nine participants engaged in the course, of whom 50 (63.3%) completed all assessment tools. The course was open to healthcare providers of any level who assess and treat emergency conditions as part of their practice. The most common participant profession was resident physician (24%), followed by health educator (18%) and prehospital provider (14%).
Interventions
The 5-day WHO-ICRC BEC course.
Primary and secondary outcome measures
Change in pre-course and post-course knowledge and skill confidence assessments. Open-ended written feedback was collected upon course completion and analysed for common themes.
Results
Participant knowledge assessment scores improved from 19 (IQR 15–20) to 22 (IQR 19–23) on a 25-point scale (p
COVID-19 among staff and their family members of a healthcare research institution in Bangladesh between March 2020 and April 2021: a test-negative case-control study
Objective
To identify factors associated with COVID-19 positivity among staff and their family members of icddr,b, a health research institute located in Bangladesh.
Setting
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Participants
A total of 4295 symptomatic people were tested for SARS-CoV-2 by reverse-transcription PCR between 19 March 2020 and 15 April 2021. Multivariable logistic regression was done to identify the factors associated with COVID-19 positivity by contrasting test positives with test negatives.
Result
Forty-three per cent of the participants were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The median age was high in positive cases (37 years vs 34 years). Among the positive cases, 97% were recovered, 2.1% had reinfections, 24 died and 41 were active cases as of 15 April 2021. Multivariable regression analysis showed that age more than 60 years (adjusted OR (aOR)=2.1, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.3; p
Combined Oral Triglyceride and Glucose Tolerance Test After Acute Ischemic Stroke to Predict Recurrent Vascular Events: The Berlin “Cream&Sugar” Study
Stroke, Ahead of Print. Background:Elevated triglyceride and glucose levels are associated with an increased cardiovascular disease risk including ischemic stroke. It is not known whether the response to a combined oral triglyceride and glucose challenge after ischemic stroke improves identification of patients with increased risk for recurrent vascular events.Methods:The prospective, observational Berlin “Cream&Sugar” study was conducted at 3 different university hospital sites of the Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, between January 24, 2009 and July 31, 2017. Patients with first-ever ischemic stroke were recruited 3 to 7 days after stroke. An oral triglyceride tolerance test (OTTT) and consecutive blood tests before (t0) as well as 3 (t1), 4 (t2), and 5 hours (t3) after OTTT were performed in fasting patients. An oral glucose tolerance test was performed in all nondiabetic patients 3 hours after the start of OTTT. Outcomes of the study were recurrent fatal or nonfatal stroke as well as a composite vascular end point including stroke, transient ischemic attack, myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, and cardiovascular death assessed 1 year after stroke. Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios and corresponding 95% CIs between patients with high versus low levels of triglyceride and glucose levels.Results:Overall 755 patients were included; 523 patients completed OTTT and 1-year follow-up. Patients were largely minor strokes patients with a median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score of 1 (0–3). Comparing highest versus lowest quartiles of triglyceride levels, neither fasting (adjusted hazard ratiot0, 1.24 [95% CI, 0.45–3.42]) nor postprandial triglyceride levels (adjusted hazard ratiot3, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.16–1.25]) were associated with recurrent stroke. With regard to recurrent vascular events, results were similar for fasting triglycerides (adjusted hazard ratiot0, 1.09 [95% CI, 0.49–2.43]), however, higher postprandial triglyceride levels were significantly associated with a lower risk for recurrent vascular events (adjusted hazard ratiot3, 0.42 [95% CI, 0.18–0.95]). No associations were observed between fasting and post–oral glucose tolerance test blood glucose levels and recurrent vascular risk. All findings were irrespective of the diabetic status of patients.CONCLUSIONS:In this cohort of patients with first-ever‚ minor ischemic stroke, fasting triglyceride or glucose levels were not associated with recurrent stroke at one year after stroke. However, higher postprandial triglyceride levels were associated with a lower risk of recurrent vascular events which requires further validation in future studies. Overall, our results do not support the routine use of a combined OTTT/oral glucose tolerance test to improve risk prediction for recurrent stroke.
Correction to: Test Accuracy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Screening for Early Poststroke Neurocognitive Disorder: The Nor-COAST Study
Stroke, Volume 53, Issue 5, Page e218-e218, May 1, 2022.
Abstract WMP91: Angiographic Predictors Of Balloon Test Occlusion Outcomes
Stroke, Volume 53, Issue Suppl_1, Page AWMP91-AWMP91, February 1, 2022. Introduction:Balloon test occlusion (BTO) with adjunctive single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has been utilized to predict clinical tolerance after permanent internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion. Cerebrovascular anatomical characteristics might predict BTO outcomes and identify patients susceptible to test failure.Methods:We performed a single center retrospective study of patients who underwent catheter based cerebral angiogram and ICA BTO from July 2013 to June 2020. SPECT imaging was completed in all the patients who passed the clinical BTO; technetium 99m-ethyl cysteinate dimer was injected intravenously after 15-30 min of occlusion and induced hypotension. The diameter of each of the vessels of the Circle of Willis was measured angiographically. The severity of hypoperfusion on SPECT imaging was classified as none, mild, low intermediate, high intermediate, and severe.Results:A total of 57 patients underwent BTO; neoplasia was the most common indication (n=43, 75%). Twelve patients (21.1%) developed neurologic symptoms and clinically failed the BTO; 45 patients (78.9%) passed and proceeded to SPECT. Contralateral dominant vertebral artery (p=0.02), smaller ACom (p=0.002) and ipsilateral PCom (p=0.03) diameters were correlated with clinical BTO failure. Smaller ACom was most predictive with an AUC of 0.907. The Youden index identified an ACom diameter threshold of 1.1 mm, which demonstrated a sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of 77.8% (OR 0.026, 95% CI 0.003 – 0.226, ROC=0.847) for the prediction of BTO failure. Patients with severe SPECT asymmetry had significantly smaller caliber ACom arteries (ACom median diameter 0.95 mm vs. rest of cohort median 1.4; p=0.0073).Conclusions:BTO outcomes may be predicted using angiographic findings. A small (