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Background: Incretin therapies, comprised of the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), have been increasingly utilized for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Previous studies have conflicting results regarding risk of pancreatitis associated with these agents-some suggest an increased risk and others find no correlation. Adverse event reporting systems indicate that incretin therapies are some of the most common drugs associated with reports of pancreatitis., Objectives: This study aimed to compare the odds of developing pancreatitis in veterans with T2DM prescribed an incretin therapy versus thiazolidinediones (TZDs: pioglitazone and rosiglitazone) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study analyzing veterans with T2DM first prescribed an incretin therapy or a TZD between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2021. A diagnosis of pancreatitis within 365 days of being prescribed either therapy was counted as a positive case. Data was collected and analyzed utilizing VA's Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI) and an adjusted odds ratio was calculated., Results: The TZD cohort consisted of 42 912 patients compared with the incretin cohort of 304 811 patients. The TZD cohort had a pancreatitis incidence rate of 1.94 cases per 1000 patients. The incretin cohort had a incidence rate of 2.06 cases per 1000 patients. An adjusted odds ratio found no statistical difference of pancreatitis cases between the TZD and incretin cohorts (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.94, 95% CI [0.75, 1.18])., Conclusion and Relevance: This retrospective cohort study of national VHA data found a relatively low incidence of pancreatitis in both cohorts, and an adjusted odds ratio found no statistical difference of pancreatitis in patients prescribed an incretin therapy compared with a control group. This data adds to growing evidence that incretin therapies do not seem to be associated with an increased risk of developing pancreatitis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Lisinopril-induced angioedema (LIA) is a rare but serious adverse drug event (ADE) with a published incidence of 0.1% to 0.7%. It is well known that ADEs are widely underreported; however, LIA is one of the most reported ADEs within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)., Objective: To estimate the effect of underreporting on the risk of LIA within VHA., Methods: The reported risk of LIA was calculated from reports submitted to the Veterans Affairs (VA) Adverse Drug Event Reporting System (VA ADERS) and the number of veterans prescribed lisinopril. To estimate underreporting, local chart review identified cases of LIA that were compared to reports submitted. The underreporting rate was then applied to the national reported risk., Results: Locally, 68 reports of LIA were submitted of the 21 262 patients prescribed lisinopril, for a reported risk of 0.32%. Nationwide, 14 289 reports of LIA were submitted of the 3 109 661 patients prescribed lisinopril, for a crude reported risk of 0.46%. Of the 324 patients identified for chart review, 240 patients were diagnosed with LIA, suggesting that at least 71.7% of cases were unreported. When this underreporting rate is extrapolated to the national reported risk, a better estimate of the risk of LIA within VHA could increase to 1.6%., Conclusion and Relevance: When estimating the effect of underreporting, the risk of LIA increases to approximately 1.6% or 1 in 63 patients. Because this ADE may affect more patients than previously understood, providers may wish to take LIA into consideration when prescribing lisinopril.

A significant proportion of patients presenting to hyperacute stroke units (HSUs) are diagnosed with non-stroke (NS). This study aimed to assess the rate and diagnoses of NS patients admitted to a HSU and the implications for clinical service provision. Admissions to the HSU at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, were retrospectively assessed (March 2007-September 2007). NS patients were identified by two parallel ascertainment methods and NS diagnosis was confirmed by case-note and discharge letter review. Of 375 presentations, 116 (31%) were due to NS. NS diagnosis was more likely for local referrals than from regional hospitals (41% versus 19%; P = 0.0002). Compared with stroke/transient ischaemic attack patients, NS patients were significantly younger, more likely to have an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan and had a shorter length of hospital stay. Common NS diagnoses were migraine (22%), functional neurological disorder (14%), syncope (12%) and seizure (6%). NS patients who had an MRI scan were more likely to have a length of stay ≥2 days (75% versus 53%; P = 0.03). NS makes up one-third of acute stroke-like presentations with a high frequency of neurological conditions. NS patients tend to be younger and require significant investigation. The increased use of MRI and neurological services has implications for providing a hyperacute stroke service.

Background and Aims: The syndrome of limbic encephalitis (LE) associated with antibodies against voltage-gated potassium channels (VGKC-LE) has recently been described. The number of published cases is however small. We therefore aimed to review all cases seen at our centre and compare with published cases., Methods: Retrospective cases of VGKC-LE were identified using a questionnaire to Neurologists at the Southern General hospital, Glasgow, and by reviewing patients with a positive VGKC antibody test (2002-2007). Case-note review of identified cases and a literature review of all published cases of VGKC-LE were performed., Results: Seven cases were identified (four female, age range 51-81). Patients presented sub-acutely with seizures and anterograde memory loss. Five patients had medial temporal lobe change on cranial imaging. No paraneoplastic cases were identified. 5/7 patients made some improvement with immunotherapy. In 2006, 3/18 (17%) patients with a coded discharge of encephalitis were diagnosed with VGKC-LE. The literature review revealed 40 patients with VGKC-LE. Age, gender or VGKC level did not predict likelihood for a significant recovery. Patients treated < or =5 months of symptom onset with immunotherapy were more likely to make a significant recovery (83% vs. 45%, p=0.04)., Conclusion: VGKC-LE is being increasingly diagnosed and is best identified early and treated with immunotherapy to offer the greatest chance of recovery. This series and literature review expands the current published evidence in VGKC-LE.

This report is of an atypical case of neuralgic amyotrophy with a Horner's syndrome, bilateral brachial plexus, lumbar plexus and phrenic nerve involvement. The diagnosis isconfirmed based on a classical history and examination findings with typical neurophysiological investigations for this condition. This report also highlights the novel use of positional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate patients with respiratory muscle weakness. This case report expands the recognised clinical features of neuralgicamyotrophy and the literature concerning atypical features of this condition is reviewed.

A report is presented of a patient who developed signs of cardiac failure 6 weeks after the birth of her fourth child. Detailed cardiac investigation indicated the diagnosis to be post-partum cardiomyopathy, a condition more commonly encountered in Negro women and comparatively rare in this country. The aetiology and mode of presentation are discussed.

The technique of wavefield backpropagation has been used quite extensively in the literature. We report on an analytical study of the resolution properties of this technique. Backpropagation as a form of holographic reconstruction suffers from poor axial resolution. We derive expressions for both the axial and the lateral resolutions. We also show that the axial resolution can be substantially improved by the use of multiple frequencies. We derive an expression relating the resolution and bandwidth.