Articles: cations.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2022
Association Between Left Ventricular Relative Wall Thickness and Acute Kidney Injury After Noncardiac Surgery.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) after major noncardiac surgery is commonly attributed to cardiovascular dysfunction. Identifying novel associations between preoperative cardiovascular markers and kidney injury may guide risk stratification and perioperative intervention. Increased left ventricular relative wall thickness (RWT), routinely measured on echocardiography, is associated with myocardial dysfunction and long-term risk of heart failure in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF); however, its relationship to postoperative complications has not been studied. We evaluated the association between preoperative RWT and AKI in high-risk noncardiac surgical patients with preserved LVEF. ⋯ Left ventricular RWT is a novel cardiovascular factor associated with AKI within 7 days after high-risk noncardiac surgery among patients with preserved LVEF. Application of this commonly available measurement of risk stratification or perioperative intervention warrants further investigation.
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Previous literature on race/ethnicity and pain has rarely included all major US racial groups or examined the sensitivity of findings to different pain operationalizations. Using data from the 2010 to 2018 National Health Interview Surveys on adults 18 years or older (N = 273,972), we calculated the weighted prevalence of 6 definitions of pain to provide a detailed description of chronic pain in White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and multiracial groups. We also estimated modified Poisson models to obtain relative disparities, net of demographic and socioeconomic (SES) factors including educational attainment, family income, and home ownership; finally, we calculated average predicted probabilities to show prevalence disparities in absolute terms. ⋯ Blacks report lower prevalence of less severe pain definitions than Whites but slightly higher prevalence of severe pain. Net of SES, however, Blacks experienced significantly lower pain across all definitions. Overall, racial disparities are larger than previously recognized once all major racial groups are included, and these disparities are largely consistent across different operationalizations of pain.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Sep 2022
Multidrug-resistant infections in solid organ transplant recipients: a focus on risk factors, prevention and treatment strategies.
Solid organ transplantation is the best therapeutic option for patients with end-stage organ disease and, according to the data from international registries, there has been a steady increase in numbers and results. However, post‑transplant infections remain a fearsome complication with, in the last decade, an increasing incidence of episodes due to antibiotic‑resistant bacteria and opportunistic agents. In this paper, we summarized the most relevant and updated knowledge concerning infections from multidrug‑resistant germs in solid organ transplant recipients, focusing on risk factors, treatment and prevention strategies, and antimicrobial pharmacokinetics relevant to this population of patients.
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Classification of musculoskeletal pain based on underlying pain mechanisms (nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic pain) is challenging. In the absence of a gold standard, verification of features that could aid in discrimination between these mechanisms in clinical practice and research depends on expert consensus. This Delphi expert consensus study aimed to: (1) identify features and assessment findings that are unique to a pain mechanism category or shared between no more than 2 categories and (2) develop a ranked list of candidate features that could potentially discriminate between pain mechanisms. ⋯ Consensus was reached for 196 of 292 features presented to the panel (clinical examination-134 features, quantitative sensory testing-34, imaging and diagnostic testing-14, and pain-type questionnaires-14). From the 196 features, consensus was reached for 76 features as unique to nociceptive (17), neuropathic (37), or nociplastic (22) pain mechanisms and 120 features as shared between pairs of pain mechanism categories (78 for neuropathic and nociplastic pain). This consensus study generated a list of potential candidate features that are likely to aid in discrimination between types of musculoskeletal pain.
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Current prognostic models for brain metastases (BMs) have been constructed and validated almost entirely with data from patients receiving up-front radiotherapy, leaving uncertainty about surgical patients. ⋯ We developed and internally validated a prediction model that accurately predicts 6-month survival after neurosurgical resection for BM and allows for meaningful risk stratification. Future efforts should focus on external validation of our model.