scholarly journals Cardiac Arrests and Deaths Associated with Malignant Hyperthermia in North America from 1987 to 2006

2008 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Green Larach ◽  
Barbara W. Brandom ◽  
Gregory C. Allen ◽  
Gerald A. Gronert ◽  
Erik B. Lehman

Background The authors determined associated cardiac arrest and death rates in cases from Canada and the United States as reported to The North American Malignant Hyperthermia (MH) Registry and analyzed factors associated with a higher risk of poor outcomes. Methods The authors searched the database for AMRA (adverse metabolic/musculoskeletal reaction to anesthesia) reports with inclusion criteria as follows: event date between January 1, 1987, and December 31, 2006; "very likely" or "almost certain" MH as ranked by MH Clinical Grading Scale; location in Canada or the United States; and one or more anesthetic agents given. The exclusion criterion was a pathologic condition other than MH independently judged by the authors. Severe MH outcomes were analyzed as regards clinical history and presentation, using Wilcoxon rank sum tests for continuous variables and Pearson exact chi-square tests for categorical variables. A Bonferroni correction adjusted for multiple comparisons. Results Of 291 events, 8 (2.7%) resulted in cardiac arrests and 4 (1.4%) resulted in death. The median age in cases of cardiac arrest/death was 20 yr (range, 2-31 yr). Associated factors were muscular build (odds ratio, 18.7; P = 0.0016) and disseminated intravascular coagulation (odds ratio, 49.7; P < 0.0001). Increased risk of cardiac arrest/death was related to a longer time period between anesthetic induction and maximum end-tidal carbon dioxide (216 vs. 87 min; P = 0.003). Unrelated factors included patient or family history, anesthetic management, and the MH episode. Conclusions Modern US anesthetic practice did not prevent MH-associated cardiac arrest and death in predominantly young, healthy patients undergoing low- to intermediate-risk surgical procedures.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 1179173X1882526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baksun Sung

Background: Numerous studies have reported that shorter time to first cigarette (TTFC) is linked to elevated risk for smoking-related morbidity. However, little is known about the influence of early TTFC on self-reported health among current smokers. Hence, the objective of this study was to examine the association between TTFC and self-reported health among US adult smokers. Methods: Data came from the 2012-2013 National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS). Current smokers aged 18 years and older (N = 3323) were categorized into 2 groups based on TTFC: ≤ 5 minutes (n = 1066) and >5 minutes (n = 2257). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control selection bias. Results: After adjusting for sociodemographic and smoking behavior factors, current smokers with early TTFC had higher odds for poor health in comparison with current smokers with late TTFC in the prematching (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.65; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.31-2.08) and postmatching (AOR = 1.60; 95% CI = 1.22-2.09) samples. Conclusions: In conclusion, smokers with early TTFC were associated with increased risk of poor health in the United States. To reduce early TTFC, elaborate efforts are needed to educate people about harms of early TTFC and benefits of stopping early TTFC.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anas M Al Zubaidi ◽  
Graham Bevan ◽  
Mariam Rana ◽  
Abdul Rahman Al Armashi ◽  
Mustafa Alqaysi ◽  
...  

Background: African Americans are at increased risk of fatal cardiac arrests, but population-based studies exploring contemporary epidemiology are not available. We sought to identify the trend in race-specific mortality from cardiac arrest in the United States. Methods: Using the multiple cause of death database, we identified all patients (Caucasians or African Americans) who died of cardiac arrest (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision code I46.x listed as underlying cause of death) between 1999 and 2018. Age-adjusted mortality rates were standardized to the 2000 US census data, and stratified by age group (<35 years, 35-64 years, and ≥ 65 years). Results: A total of 311,065 cardiac arrest deaths were identified, with an overall age-adjusted mortality of 53.6 per million (Caucasian: 49.1 per million, African American: 90.6 per million). Overall, age-adjusted mortality decreased from 80.1 per million persons (1999) to 44.3 per million persons (2012), followed by 8.8% increase to 48.2 (2018). Between 2012 and 2018, African Americans had higher rates of increase (10.9%) compared with Caucasians (6.9%). Largest disparities in relative changes between 2012 and 2018 occurred in patients younger than 35 years (African American: 35%, Caucasians -11%), and patients ≥ 65 years (African Americans: 8%, Caucasians 4%), figure. Conclusions: Although the mortality due to cardiac arrest has declined in the US between 1999 and 2012, a recent increase has been noted between 2012 and 2018, particularly among younger African Americans. Studies should focus on identifying causes of disparities and identifying methods to reduce the racial gap.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Kishan Mahabir ◽  
Jamil J. Merchant ◽  
Christopher Smith ◽  
Alisha Garibaldi

Abstract Introduction Growing interest in the medicinal properties of cannabis has led to an increase in its use to treat medical conditions, and the establishment of state-specific medical cannabis programs. Despite medical cannabis being legal in 33 states and the District of Colombia, there remains a paucity of data characterizing the patients accessing medical cannabis programs. Methods We retrospectively reviewed a registry with data from 33 medical cannabis evaluation clinics in the United States, owned and operated by CB2 Insights. Data were collected primarily by face-to-face interviews for patients seeking medical cannabis certification between November 18, 2018 and March 18, 2020. Patients were removed from the analysis if they did not have a valid date of birth, were less than 18, or did not have a primary medical condition reported; a total of 61,379 patients were included in the analysis. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics expressed as a mean (standard deviation (SD)) or median (interquartile range (IQR)) as appropriate for continuous variables, and number (percent) for categorical variables. Statistical tests performed across groups included t-tests, chi-squared tests and regression. Results The average age of patients was 45.5, 54.8% were male and the majority were Caucasian (87.5%). Female patients were significantly older than males (47.0 compared to 44.6). Most patients reported cannabis experience prior to seeking medical certification (66.9%). The top three mutually exclusive primary medical conditions reported were unspecified chronic pain (38.8%), anxiety (13.5%) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (8.4%). The average number of comorbid conditions reported was 2.7, of which anxiety was the most common (28.3%). Females reported significantly more comorbid conditions than males (3.1 compared to 2.3). Conclusion This retrospective study highlighted the range and number of conditions for which patients in the US seek medical cannabis. Rigorous clinical trials investigating the use of medical cannabis to treat pain conditions, anxiety, insomnia, depression and PTSD would benefit a large number of patients, many of whom use medical cannabis to treat multiple conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S472-S473
Author(s):  
Bakri Kulla ◽  
patrick Haggerty

Abstract Background Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the primary cause of infectious diarrhea in the United States. With an estimated 453,000-500,000 burden cases that are associated with 15,000-30,000 deaths annually in the United States. Because of its prevalence, there is a projected 3.2-4.8 billion dollar annual cost for inpatient care related to CDI. For these reasons, accurate and timely detection of CDI is crucial to reduce the morbidity, mortality, and medical costs. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study. Adult patients, aged 18 through 80 years, admitted between 9/1/2016 and 9/30/2017, who presented with diarrhea and received a CDI algorithm test. To assess bivariate associations between true positive and indeterminate positive groups, categorical variables were compared using Chi-Square or Fisher’s exact tests when appropriate, and continuous variables were analyzed using independent samples t-tests. Results The study included 1031 stool samples, of which 853 (82.7%) were CDI negative and 178 (17.3%) were CDI positive. Of the full sample, 265 (25.7%) were GDH (+), 94 (9.1%) were toxin (+), and 84 (8.1%) were PCR (+). In order to examine patient-level variables, the first positive from each patient was included to ensure independence of data points, resulting in 830 unique tests and patients. The true positive rate of this sub-sample was 9.4% (n = 78) and indeterminate positive rate was 8.7% (n = 72). An important findings of the study is that of the patients who were GDH (+)/toxin (-), 87 (50.9%) were PCR (-) and 84 (49.1%) were PCR (+).Table 1 Conclusion The study found that of the patients who are GDH (+) and Toxin (-), the PCR test serves as a proxy for the CDI test. In addition, we demonstrated that whether the patient was true positive by the GDH/Toxin test or indeterminate positive, the outcomes were the same. The only difference was the antibiotic selections for treatment. Performing PCR tests as a part of three-step algorithm prevented nearly half of discrepant patients from being unnecessarily treated with antibiotics and placed on enteric precaution, thereby extending their hospital stay. Finally, by preventing unnecessary antibiotic use, isolation and hospital length of stay, it is proposed that the three-step algorithm effectively reduces hospital cost. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262199385
Author(s):  
Rebecca G. Fortgang ◽  
Shirley B. Wang ◽  
Alexander J. Millner ◽  
Azure Reid-Russell ◽  
Anna L. Beukenhorst ◽  
...  

There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic may cause increased risk of suicide. In the current study, we tested whether suicidal thinking has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether such thinking was predicted by increased feelings of social isolation. In a sample of 55 individuals recently hospitalized for suicidal thinking or behaviors and participating in a 6-month intensive longitudinal smartphone monitoring study, we examined suicidal thinking and isolation before and after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency in the United States. We found that suicidal thinking increased significantly among adults (odds ratio [ OR] = 4.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [3.28, 4.90], p < .001) but not adolescents ( OR = 0.84, 95% CI = [0.69, 1.01], p = .07) during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased feelings of isolation predicted suicidal thinking during the pandemic phase. Given the importance of social distancing policies, these findings support the need for digital outreach and treatment.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0260057
Author(s):  
Daniel Sabido Jamorabo ◽  
Amrin Khander ◽  
Vasilios Koulouris ◽  
Jeremy Eli Feith ◽  
William Matthew Briggs ◽  
...  

Introduction Determine the consistency, accessibility, and adequacy of parental leave policies for adult and pediatric medicine fellowship programs. Methods We administered a 40-question survey to fellowship program directors (PDs) and trainees in adult and pediatric cardiology, hematology/oncology, gastroenterology, and pulmonology/critical care fellowship programs in the United States. We used Chi-square tests to compare proportions for categorical variables and t-tests to compare means for continuous variables. Results A total of 190 PDs from 500 programs (38.0%) and 236 trainees from 142 programs (28.4%) responded. Most respondents did not believe that parental leave policies were accessible publicly (322/426; 75.6%), on password-protected intranet (343/426; 80.5%), or upon request (240/426; 56.3%). The PDs and trainees broadly felt that parental leave for fellows should be 5–10 weeks (156/426; 36.6%) or 11–15 weeks (165/426; 38.7%). A majority of PDs felt that there was no increased burden upon other fellows (122/190; 64.2%) or change in overall well-being (110/190; 57.9%). When asked about the biggest barrier to parental leave support, most PDs noted time constrains of fellowship (101/190; 53.1%) and the limited number of fellows (43/190; 22.6%). Trainees similarly selected the time constraints of training (88/236; 37.3%), but nearly one-fifth chose the culture in medicine (44/236; 18.6%). There were no statistically significant differences in answers based on the respondents’ sex, specialty, or subspecialty. Discussion Parental leave policies are broadly in place, but did not feel these were readily accessible, standardized, or of optimum length. PDs and trainees noted several barriers that undermine support for better parental leave policies, including time constraints of fellowship, the limited number of fellows for coverage, and workplace culture. Standardization of parental leave policies is advisable to allow trainees to pursue fellowship training and care for their newborns without undermining their educational experiences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 244-244
Author(s):  
Prasanth Lingamaneni ◽  
Binav Baral ◽  
Krishna Rekha Moturi ◽  
Trilok Shrivastava ◽  
Omnia Darweesh ◽  
...  

244 Background: Options for clinically localized prostate cancer include radical prostatectomy, radiation therapy and active surveillance. Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) is increasingly being used, and now accounts for the majority of radical prostatectomies performed in the United States. The aim of our study was to evaluate differences in the patient population undergoing open versus robot-assisted prostatectomy, and to compare 60-day readmissions after index hospitalization for radical prostatectomy. Methods: We utilized the Nationwide Readmission database (NRD) to obtain data on patients with prostate cancer admitted in 2016 and 2017 for radical prostatectomy in the United States. We used T-test to compare means of continuous variables and chi-square test to compare proportions of categorical variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used evaluate risk factors for 60-day unplanned readmissions. Results: A total of 115,551 patients met the inclusion criteria, of which 80.1% underwent RARP. Patients undergoing RARP were slightly older (64.8 vs 63.1 years, p < 0.0001), more likely to have private insurance (51.7% vs 44.3%, p < 0.0001) and undergo surgery at a teaching hospital (83% vs 74.6%, p < 0.0001). Importantly, open prostatectomy (OP) patients had higher rates of co-morbidities, including, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, obstructive lung disease, heart failure, coronary artery disease and malnutrition (p < 0.01 for these co-morbidities). Hospital stay was longer in those who underwent OP (3.1 vs 1.7 days, p < 0.0001), and they were more likely to be discharged to nursing facility (3.0% vs 0.4%, p < 0.0001) or with home health care (10.9% vs 4.8%, p < 0.0001). Hospitalization charges were higher in the RARP population ($60k vs 57k, p = 0.04). Inpatient mortality was low in both groups (0.3% for OP and ~0% for RARP, p < 0.001). 60-day readmission rate was higher in those who underwent OP (9.3% vs 5.0%, p > 0.0001). Overall, the three leading causes for readmission included sepsis (10.6%), post-procedure infection (8.4%) and venous thromboembolism (VTE, 8.3%). Even after adjustment for age and comorbidities, those who underwent OP had higher risk of all-cause readmission (aOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.25-1.53, p < 0.001) and readmissions for sepsis (aOR 1.36, 95% CI 1.02-1.81, p = 0.03) and post-procedure infection (aOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.06-1.81, p = 0.02). Risk of readmission for VTE was similar in both groups. Conclusions: Nationwide, there are differences in demographics and comorbid illness burden in prostate cancer patients selected for open and robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Better short-term outcomes in the RARP cohort may be partially attributed to lower comorbidity burden in this group. However, despite adjustment for comorbidities, higher risk for all-cause readmissions and readmissions for infectious complications persisted in the OP group.


Neurology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000013130
Author(s):  
Adam P. Ostendorf ◽  
Stephanie M. Ahrens ◽  
Fred Alexander Lado ◽  
Susan T. Arnold ◽  
Shasha Bai ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives:Patients with drug resistant epilepsy (DRE) may benefit from specialized testing and treatments to better control seizures and improve quality of life. Most evaluations and procedures for DRE in the United States are performed at epilepsy centers accredited by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers (NAEC). On an annual basis, the NAEC collects data from accredited epilepsy centers on hospital-based epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) size and admissions, diagnostic testing, surgeries, and other services. This article highlights trends in epilepsy center services from 2012 through 2019.Methods:We analyzed data reported in 2012, 2016, and 2019 from all level 3 and level 4 NAEC accredited epilepsy centers. Data were described using frequency for categorical variables and median for continuous variables and were analyzed by center level and center population category. EMU beds, EMU admissions, epileptologists, and aggregate procedure volumes were also described using rates per population per year.Results:During the period studied, the number of NAEC accredited centers increased from 161 to 256, with the largest increases in adult- and pediatric-only centers. Growth in EMU admissions (41%), EMU beds (26%), and epileptologists (109%) per population occurred. Access to specialized testing and services broadly expanded. The largest growth in procedure volumes occurred in laser interstitial thermal therapy (LiTT) (61%), responsive neurostimulation (RNS) implantations (114%) and intracranial monitoring without resection (152%) over the study period. Corpus callosotomies and vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) implantations decreased (-12.8% and -2.4% respectively), while growth in temporal lobectomies (5.9%), extratemporal resections (11.9%), and hemispherectomies/otomies (13.1%) lagged center growth (59%), leading to a decrease in median volumes of these procedures per center.Discussion:During the study period, the availability of specialty epilepsy care in the U.S. improved as the NAEC implemented its accreditation program. Surgical case complexity increased while aggregate surgical volume remained stable or declined across most procedure types, with a corresponding decline in cases per center. This article describes recent data trends and current state of resources and practice across NAEC member centers and identifies several future directions for driving systematic improvements in epilepsy care.


Author(s):  
Hung-Chih Chen ◽  
Hung-Yu Lin ◽  
Michael Chia-Yen Chou ◽  
Yu-Hsun Wang ◽  
Pui-Ying Leong ◽  
...  

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) via the national health insurance research database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. All patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes (n = 47,353) in the NHIRD (2000–2012) were enrolled in the study. The case group consists of participants with diabetic ophthalmic complications; 1:1 matching by age (±1 year old), sex, and diagnosis year of diabetes was used to provide an index date for the control group that corresponded to the case group (n = 5550). Chi-square test for categorical variables and Student’s t-test for continuous variables were used. Conditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of DR. The total number of HCQ user was 99 patients (1.8%) in the case group and 93 patients (1.7%) in the control group. Patients with hypertension (aOR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.11–1.31) and hyperlipidemia (aOR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.52–1.79) significantly increased the risk of diabetic ophthalmic complications (p < 0.001). Conversely, the use of HCQ and the presence of rheumatoid diseases did not show any significance in increased risk of DR. HCQ prescription can improve systemic glycemic profile, but it does not decrease the risk of diabetic ophthalmic complications.


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