patient communication

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can now be cured with well-tolerated direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy. However, a potential barrier to HCV elimination is the emergence of resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) that reduce the efficacy of antiviral drugs, but real-world studies assessing the clinical impact of RASs are limited. Here, an analysis of the impact of RASs on retreatment outcomes for different salvage regimens in patients nationally who failed first-line DAA therapy is reported...

INTRODUCTION: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) presents substantial challenges in patient care due to its intricate multisystem nature, comorbidities, and global prevalence. The heterogeneity among patient populations, coupled with the absence of FDA-approved diagnostics and therapeutics, further complicates research into disease etiology and patient managment. Integrating longitudinal multi-omics data with clinical, health,textual, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical data offers a promising avenue to address these complexities, aiding in the identification of underlying causes and providing insights into effective therapeutics and diagnostic strategies...

The sortilin-related receptor 1 ( SORL1 ) gene, encoding the cellular endosomal sorting-related receptor with A-type repeats (SORLA), is now established as a causal gene for Alzheimer's disease. As the latest addition to the list of causal genes, the pathophysiological effects and biomarker potential of SORL1 variants remain relatively undiscovered. Metabolic dysfunction is, however, well described in patients with Alzheimer's disease and is used as an imaging biomarker in clinical diagnosis settings. To understand the metabolic consequences of loss-of-function SORL1 mutations, we applied two metabolic MRI technologies, sodium (23 Na) MRI and MRI with hyperpolarized [1-13 C]pyruvate, in minipigs and mice with compromised expression of SORL1 ...

Patients with severe cardiopulmonary morbidity present a unique challenge to peri- and intraoperative providers. Inducing general anesthesia in this patient population poses the risk of adverse events that could lead to poor surgical outcomes, prolonged debilitation, or death. Therefore, it is important that anesthesiologists become comfortable with preoperative evaluation as well as alternative strategies to providing surgical anesthesia. This case report details the clinical course of a patient with severe cardiopulmonary morbidity who underwent open inguinal hernia repair without oral or intravenous sedation after receiving multi-level paravertebral blocks in addition to isolated ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve blocks...

Introduction Influenza is a major global health concern, with its rapid spread and mutation rate posing significant challenges in public health education and communication. Effective patient education materials (PEMs) are crucial for informed decision-making and improved health outcomes. This study evaluates the efficacy of online influenza PEMs using traditional readability tools and introduces the Contextual Health Education Readability Score (CHERS) to address the limitations of existing methods that do not capture the diverse array of visual and thematic means displayed...

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a critical condition associated with high mortality rates. Hypertension is a significant risk factor for SAH development and recurrence following coil embolization for a ruptured aneurysm. While reduction of salt consumption is crucial for managing hypertension, it often compromises food taste. Anodal electrical taste stimulation (ETS) has been proposed to enhance taste perception without altering salt content. We present the case of a 69-year-old female SAH patient with a ruptured aneurysm at the anterior communicating artery who underwent coil embolization and in whom we tested ETS's efficacy in enhancing the salt taste perception on day 42 after the procedure...

INTRODUCTION: Breaking bad news is one of the most difficult responsibilities in medical practice. Although medical staff in clinical practice often encounter situations that necessitate the announcement of unpleasant news, there is a lack of training regarding their communication with patients and their families. Effective interaction between medical staff and pregnant women constitutes a crucial component of breaking down unpleasant news. This research aimed to investigate the knowledge and attitude of health professionals, particularly obstetricians, and midwives, regarding the announcement of bad news during prenatal screening...

AIM: Diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor (DLGNT) is an innovative, rare entity. It mostly affects children and adolescents. We wanted to highlight the diagnosis, follow-up, and treatment options for this entity by examining pediatric patients diagnosed with DLGNT by molecular pathological evaluation and next generation sequencing at our center. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, patients diagnosed with DLGNT between January 2017 and December 2022 are outlined according to their demographic data, radiological data, pathology results, treatments, and follow-up data...

OBJECTIVE: People detained in short-term police custody often have complex health conditions that may necessitate emergency care, yet little is known about their management in EDs. The present study aimed to understand ED doctors' experiences and perceptions regarding the appropriateness and management of detainee transfers from police watch-houses to the EDs. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive study, using semi-structured interviews undertaken with ED doctors working in five purposively sampled EDs across Queensland, Australia...

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Iatrogenic injury of the vertebral artery (VA) in the context of surgical approaches to the cervical spine has been cited as a relatively rare complication with varying degrees of severity ranging from minimal injury to acute stroke and can result in death. It is estimated that ~50% of cases of iatrogenic VA injury are preventable after postoperatively examining a patient's preoperative imaging. Despite the low incidence (<2%) of this complication, the potential associated morbidity demonstrates the importance of meticulous preoperative vascular consideration...

Integration of molecular data with histologic, radiologic, and clinical features is imperative for accurate diagnosis of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Whole transcriptome RNA sequencing (RNAseq), a genome-wide and non-targeted approach, allows for the detection of novel or rare oncogenic fusion events that contribute to the tumorigenesis of a substantial portion of pediatric low- and high-grade glial and glioneuronal tumors. We present two cases of pediatric glioneuronal tumors occurring in the occipital region with a CLIP2::MET fusion detected by RNAseq...

BACKGROUND: The molecular mechanism of fetal cystic hygroma (CH) is still unclear, and no study has previously reported the transcriptome changes of single cells in CH. In this study, single-cell transcriptome sequencing (scRNA-seq) was used to investigate the characteristics of cell subsets in the lesion tissues of CH patients. METHODS: Lymphoid tissue collected from CH patients and control donors for scRNA-seq analysis. Differentially expressed gene enrichment in major cell subpopulations as well as cell-cell communication were analyzed...

Glioblastoma (GBM) remains an untreatable malignant tumor with poor patient outcomes, characterized by palisading necrosis and microvascular proliferation. While single-cell technology made it possible to characterize different lineage of glioma cells into neural progenitor-like (NPC-like), oligodendrocyte-progenitor-like (OPC-like), astrocyte-like (AC-like) and mesenchymal like (MES-like) states, it does not capture the spatial localization of these tumor cell states. Spatial transcriptomics empowers the study of the spatial organization of different cell types and tumor cell states and allows for the selection of regions of interest to investigate region-specific and cell-type-specific pathways...

BACKGROUND: Substantial work has been done to update or create evidence-based practices (EBPs) in the changing health care landscape. However, the success of these EBPs is limited by low levels of clinician implementation. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to describe the use of standardized/simulated patient/person (SP) methodology as a framework to develop implementation bundles to increase the effectiveness, sustainability, and reproducibility of EBPs across health care clinicians...

BACKGROUND: Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) admissions put a substantial burden on hospitals, most of the patients' contacts with health services are in outpatient care. Traditionally, outpatient care has been difficult to capture in population-based samples. In this study we describe outpatient service use in COPD patients and assess associations between outpatient care (contact frequency and specific factors) and next-year COPD hospital admissions or 90-day readmissions...

BACKGROUND: The integration of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) within the professional pharmacy program, contributes to assessing the readiness of pharmacy students for Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs) and real-world practice. METHODS: In a study conducted at an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)-accredited Doctor of Pharmacy professional degree program, 69 students in their second professional year (P2) were engaged in OSCEs...

BACKGROUND: Poor nurse-patient relationship poses an obstacle to care delivery, jeopardizing patient experience and patient care outcomes. Measuring nurse-patient relationship is challenging given its multi-dimensional nature and a lack of well-established scales. PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a multi-dimensional scale measuring nurse-patient relationship in China. METHODS: A preliminary scale was constructed based on the existing literature and Delphi consultations with 12 nursing experts...

BACKGROUND: While communication is an essential skill for providing effective medical care, it is infrequently taught or directly assessed, limiting targeted feedback and behavior change. We sought to evaluate the impact of a multi-departmental longitudinal residency communication coaching program. We hypothesized that program implementation would result in improved confidence in residents' communication skills and higher-quality faculty feedback. METHODS: The program was implemented over a 3-year period (2019-2022) for surgery and neurology residents at a single institution...

BACKGROUND: Mental health (MH) is extremely relevant when referring to people living with a chronic disease, such as people living with HIV (PLWH). In fact - although life expectancy and quality have increased since the advent of antiretroviral therapy (ART) - PLWH carry a high incidence of mental disorders, and this burden has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this scenario, UNAIDS has set new objectives for 2025, such as the linkage of at least 90% of PLWH to people-centered, context-specific MH services...

BACKGROUND: Intersectoral cooperation between physicians in private practice and hospitals is highly relevant for ensuring the quality of medical care. However, the experiences and potential for optimization at this interface from the perspective of physicians in private practice have not yet been systematically investigated. The aim of this questionnaire survey was to record participants' experiences with regard to cooperation with university hospitals and to identify the potential for optimizing intersectoral cooperation...