Internal medicine journal
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Internal medicine journal · Jul 2020
Taking the pulse of Timor-Leste's cardiac needs: a 10-year descriptive time-trend analysis.
Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the world. The East Timor Hearts Fund is a charitable organisation involving Australian cardiologists providing outreach screening and access to cardiac interventions. ⋯ Demand for cardiac services in Timor-Leste is rising exponentially, with inequitable geographic coverage. Rheumatic and congenital cardiac diseases remain priorities for assessment, and paediatric case volume is increasing. Patients undergoing intervention experience good medical outcomes.
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The optimal duration of immunotherapy treatment for cancer patients is unknown. As the survival data from early immunotherapy trials mature we are beginning to appreciate how durable responses can be post-discontinuation. The purpose of this brief communication is to comment on treatment duration of immunotherapy in patients with melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer and to provide practice guidance in support of discontinuation.
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Internal medicine journal · Jul 2020
Contemporary trends in stroke complicating cardiac catheterisation.
Stroke remains an important complication of diagnostic cardiac catheterisation and percutaneous coronary intervention and is associated with high rates of in-hospital mortality. ⋯ The incidence and functional severity of stroke remains low despite evolving procedural practice with a stable incidence over time despite changes in procedural practice; however, post-procedural stroke confirms an increased mortality hazard.
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Internal medicine journal · Jul 2020
Patients with multiple myeloma over a large catchment of 2.5 million square kilometres: a Western Australia retrospective survival review.
Multiple myeloma is an incurable malignancy of plasma cells. We retrospectively reviewed the survival outcomes of patients with multiple myeloma in Western Australia (WA) public hospitals over a 10-year period. We did not detect a difference in survival between patients residing the metropolitan Perth and regional areas, despite a paucity of haematology services in regional WA due to low population density in a large geographic area. Patients with R-ISS Stage 3 had the poorest survival in our cohort with median survival of 24 months.