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Objective:To evaluate whether incorporating mandatory prior authorization for Clostridioides difficile testing into antimicrobial stewardship pharmacist workflow could reduce testing in patients with alternative etiologies for diarrhea.Design:Single center, quasi-experimental before-and-after study.Setting:Tertiary-care, academic medical center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.Patients:Adult and pediatric patients admitted between September 11, 2019 and December 10, 2019 were included if they had an order placed for 1 of the following: (1) C. difficile enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in patients hospitalized >72 hours and received laxatives, oral contrast, or initiated tube feeds within the prior 48 hours, (2) repeat molecular multiplex gastrointestinal pathogen panel (GIPAN) testing, or (3) GIPAN testing in patients hospitalized >72 hours.Intervention:A best-practice alert prompting prior authorization by the antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) for EIA or GIPAN testing was implemented. Approval required the provider to page the ASP pharmacist and discuss rationale for testing. The provider could not proceed with the order if ASP approval was not obtained.Results:An average of 2.5 requests per day were received over the 3-month intervention period. The weekly rate of EIA and GIPAN orders per 1,000 patient days decreased significantly from 6.05 ± 0.94 to 4.87 ± 0.78 (IRR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.56–0.93; P = .010) and from 1.72 ± 0.37 to 0.89 ± 0.29 (IRR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.37–0.77; P = .001), respectively.Conclusions:We identified an efficient, effective C. difficile and GIPAN diagnostic stewardship approval model.

Secondary AML is associated with a disproportionately poor prognosis, consistently shown to exhibit inferior response rates, event-free survival, and overall survival in comparison with de novo AML. Secondary AML may arise from the evolution of an antecedent hematologic disorder, or it may arise as a complication of prior cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiation therapy in the case of therapy-related AML. Because of the high frequency of poor-risk cytogenetics and high-risk molecular features, such as alterations in TP53, leukemic clones are often inherently chemoresistant. Standard of care induction had long remained conventional 7 + 3 until its reformulation as CPX-351, recently FDA approved specifically for secondary AML. However, recent data also suggests relatively favorable outcomes with regimens based on high-dose cytarabine or hypomethylating agents. With several investigational agents being studied, the therapeutic landscape becomes even more complex, and the treatment approach involves patient-specific, disease-specific, and therapy-specific considerations.

Background Current literature has demonstrated the utility of the MRSA nasal screen as a de-escalation tool to decrease unnecessary anti-MRSA antibiotic therapy. However, data on the applicability of this test in patients with hematologic malignancy is lacking. Methods This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with or without history of hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT), with pneumonia and MRSA nasal screening with respiratory cultures obtained. The primary outcome was to determine the negative predictive value (NPV) of the MRSA nasal screen for MRSA pneumonia. Secondary outcomes included sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) of the MRSA nasal screen and prevalence of MRSA pneumonia. Results Of 98 patients with AML and pneumonia, the prevalence of MRSA pneumonia was 4.1% with confirmed positive MRSA respiratory cultures observed in 4 patient cases. In patients with confirmed MRSA pneumonia, 3 had positive MRSA nasal screens while 1 had a false negative result, possibly due to a long lag time (21 days) between MRSA nasal screen and pneumonia diagnosis. Overall, the MRSA nasal screen demonstrated 75% sensitivity and 100% specificity, with a PPV of 100% and a NPV of 98.9%. Conclusions Given the low prevalence, empiric use of anti-MRSA therapy in those AML and HCT patients with pneumonia may not be warranted in clinically stable patients. For patients in whom empiric anti-MRSA antibiotics are initiated, nasal screening for MRSA may be utilized to de-escalate anti-MRSA antibiotics in patients with AML with or without HCT.

The 5-year overall survival (OS) in patients ≥ 60 years old with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains

Objectives The incidence of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in adults with malignancy is 7%-14% compared with 1%-2% in the general hospitalized population. Despite the increased incidence of CDI in this population, a major concern is the propensity of CDI to recur, leading to delays in therapy impacting outcomes. We conducted a retrospective case-control study to identify risk factors for recurrent CDI (rCDI) and to determine the impact of rCDI on adult patients with a haematological malignancy. Methods Adult haematology patients with CDI from June 2010 to December 2014 were divided into two groups: rCDI and non-rCDI. Multivariable models using logistic regression were constructed to identify risk factors for rCDI. Results A total of 100 patients in our study yielded a 41% recurrence rate. CDI impacted chemotherapy significantly more in the rCDI group (53.7% versus 11.9%, P

Purpose: The shift from infusion to oral oncolytic therapy presents challenges to oncology practitioners. The purpose of this study was to describe how a statewide quality-improvement collaborative can enhance quality of care for patients receiving oral oncolytic therapy. Methods: The Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium hosted a series of learning sessions focused on oral oncolytic quality improvement, providing multiple resources to oncology community practices. The first five participating practices reported which of the evidence-based Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium resources provided were implemented at their site. They also performed prepost self-assessments in October 2013 and April 2015 and another in December 2017 to assess sustainability. Concordance with the ASCO Quality Oncology Practice Initiative oral chemotherapy standards, including documentation (five measures), patient education (seven measures), and follow-up/monitoring (four measures), was compared. Results: All practices showed improvement between 2013 and 2015 in documentation (32% to 88%; P = .03), patient education (37% to 100%; P could not be calculated), and monitoring (40% to 80%; P > .2). Overall, a significant improvement in concordance was observed (36% to 91%; P = .03). Use of resources from each practice varied, and practices that used more resources showed greater improvements. There was a slight decrease in overall concordance between 2015 and 2017, which was not found to be significant (91% to 84%; P = .53). Conclusion: Use of tools from a quality-improvement collaborative improved concordance with national standards of care. Large-scale deployment of this model program may provide a clinically efficient and effective mechanism to enhance widespread change.

Patients with secondary acute myeloid leukemia (sAML) have poor outcomes, with CR/CRi rates of 25-35% with standard 7 + 3 induction chemotherapy, while single center non-comparative analyses suggest promising outcomes with FLAG. We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study assessing outcomes in treatment-naïve patients with sAML treated with fludarabine, high-dose cytarabine, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (FLAG, n = 40) compared with 7 + 3 (n = 66). Median patient age was 63 years (range: 27-82) in the FLAG group and 60 years (range: 21-76) in the 7 + 3 group (P = 0.968). Patients treated with FLAG achieved higher overall response rates (CR + CRi + MLFS) compared to 7 + 3 (70% vs. 48%, P = 0.043). FLAG was well tolerated, with only one induction death (30-day mortality rate, 3% vs. 8%, P = 0.405) and no cases of cerebellar toxicity. Duration of neutropenia was significantly shorter with FLAG (median 16 vs. 23 days, P 0.001). Half of the FLAG-treated patients proceeded to consolidative therapy compared with only 27% of those who received 7 + 3 (P = 0.022). Overall survival was comparable between groups (8.5 mos, FLAG vs. 9.1 mos, 7 + 3; P = 0.798). Thus, FLAG may represent a low-cost treatment strategy in sAML that produces higher response rates and promising survival outcomes with minimal treatment-related toxicity. Further studies are required to prospectively compare FLAG to the newly FDA-approved CPX-351 in sAML.

The Cockcroft-Gault (CG) equation has become perhaps the most popular practical approach for estimating renal function among health care professionals. Despite its widespread use, clinicians often overlook not only the limitations of the original serum creatinine (SCr) based equation, but also may not appreciate the validity of the many variations used to compensate for these limitations. For cirrhotic patients in particular, the underlying pathophysiology of the disease contributes to a falsely low SCr, thereby overestimating renal function with use of the CG equation in this population. We reviewed the original CG trial from 1976 along with data surrounding clinician specific alterations to the CG equation that followed through time. These alterations included different formulas for body weight in obese patients and the “rounding up” approach in patients with low SCr. Additionally, we described the pathophysiology and hemodynamic changes that occur in cirrhosis; and reviewed several studies that attempted to estimate renal function in this population. The evidence we reviewed regarding the most accurate manipulation of the original CG equation to estimate creatinine clearance (CrCl) was inconclusive. Unfortunately, the homogeneity of the patient population in the original CG trial limited its external validity. Elimination of body weight in the CG equation actually produced the estimate closest to the measure CrCl. Furthermore, “rounding up” of SCr values often underestimated CrCl. This approach could lead to suboptimal dosing of drug therapies in patients with low SCr. In cirrhotic patients, utilization of SCr based methods overestimated true renal function by about 50% in the literature we reviewed.