Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research
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The study aimed to investigate the changes in the levels of serum bone turnover markers (BTMs) and bone mineral density (BMD) Z-score in pediatric patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) after intravenous bisphosphonate therapy and their association with age and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). This retrospective study analyzed data from 10 pediatric OI patients treated with intravenous zoledronic acid for over 1 year. Patients' clinical data were collected. ⋯ No correlation was found between PINP level and age, eGFR, or BMD (all p > 0.05). Bisphosphonate treatment can improve BMD and decrease bone turnover (indicated by decreased levels of PINP) in pediatric OI patients. PINP may serve as an independent indicator for monitoring the efficacy of bisphosphonate treatment in pediatric OI patients, particularly in those under the age of 6, where standardized BMD Z-score criteria are lacking.
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Generative AI (GenAI) is a disruptive technology likely to generate a major impact on faculty and learners in medical education. This work aims to measure the perception of GenAI among medical educators and to gain insights into its major advantages and concerns in medical education. A survey invitation was distributed to medical education faculty of colleges of allopathic and osteopathic medicine within a single university during the fall of 2023. ⋯ There is general agreement that plagiarism and lack of regulations are two major areas of concern. Consensus-based guidelines at the institutional and/or national level need to start to be implemented to govern the appropriate use of GenAI while maintaining ethics and transparency. Faculty responses reflect an optimistic and favorable outlook on GenAI's impact on student learning.
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Acinetobacter baumannii, a notable drug-resistant bacterium, often induces severe infections in healthcare settings, prompting a deeper exploration of treatment alternatives due to escalating carbapenem resistance. This study meticulously examined clinical, microbiological, and molecular aspects related to in-hospital mortality in patients with carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CRAB) bloodstream infections (BSIs). From 292 isolates, 153 cases were scrutinized, reidentified through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), and evaluated for antimicrobial susceptibility and carbapenemase genes via multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). ⋯ However, empirical antibiotic therapy appropriateness and specific microbiological data had minimal predictive efficacy. This research offers foundational data for assessing mortality risks associated with CRAB BSI and underscores the importance of stringent infection control practices in the wake of the scarcity of new effective antibiotics against resistant strains. The advanced models and insights generated in this study serve as significant resources for managing the repercussions of A. baumannii infections, contributing substantially to the clinical understanding and management of such infections in healthcare environments.
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Point-of-care tools to assess advanced liver fibrosis, including the NFS, BARD, FIB-4, and APRI, are of major interest due to their noninvasive nature. However, these tools have not been investigated extensively in the Latina population. Given that the highest rate of NAFLD in Latinos and the most severe presentation of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is more common in women, we hypothesize that ethnicity may play a role in predicting liver fibrosis, particularly in women. ⋯ Some clinical variables were associated with fibrosis but not univocally in each tool. We did not find differences in the outcome of the four models when holding all other factors and examining ethnicity alone between Latina and White women. Although we did not include data on liver histology, this is the first study examining the role of ethnicity in predicting the severity of fibrosis using established noninvasive scores and documenting no association between Latina ethnicity and the severity of fibrosis in women with NAFLD.
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Multidisciplinary pulmonary embolism response teams (PERTs) have shown that timely triage expedites treatment. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) may help improve pulmonary embolism (PE) management with early CT pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) screening and accelerate PERT coordination. This study aimed to test the clinical validity of an FDA-approved PE AI algorithm. ⋯ A high rate of discordant AI auto-detection of suspected PE raises concerns about its diagnostic accuracy. This can lead to increased workloads for PERT consultants, alarm/notification fatigue, and automation bias. The AI direct notification process to the PERT team did not improve PERT triage efficacy.