JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Data on the effectiveness and safety of long-term opioid therapy for chronic pain are limited. Opioid adherence monitoring includes urine drug testing. Determining whether a patient's opioid prescription should be discontinued after an unexpected urine test result can be clinically complex. ⋯ The underlying causes for worrisome behaviors such as urine drug test results that are negative for the prescribed opioid should be fully investigated. Subsequent opioid prescriptions should be based on the revised risk and benefit assessment.
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Herpes zoster reactivation disproportionately affects patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is unclear whether anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy elevates herpes zoster risk. ⋯ Among patients with RA and other inflammatory diseases, those who initiated anti-TNF therapies were not at higher risk of herpes zoster compared with patients who initiated nonbiologic treatment regimens.
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Risk stratification of patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy is primarily based on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Superior prognostic factors may improve patient selection for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and other management decisions. ⋯ Assessment of midwall fibrosis with LGE-CMR imaging provided independent prognostic information beyond LVEF in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. The role of LGE-CMR in the risk stratification of dilated cardiomyopathy requires further investigation.