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Simple Summary: For patients with solid tumor brain metastases that progress after whole-brain radiotherapy, there are limited treatment options. The aim of our prospective trial was to examine the usage of bevacizumab as salvage therapy in this specific patient population, with primary endpoints being radiologic response, survival, safety, and quality of life. Our data show that bevacizumab was well tolerated, maintained quality of life, and improved overall survival with radiologic response. Patients with solid tumor brain metastases that progress after whole-brain radiation have limited options. This prospective trial investigated the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of bevacizumab as salvage therapy in this population. Eligible patients received bevacizumab 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks until progression. The primary endpoint was radiologic response using Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria. The secondary endpoints were progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), duration of response, and safety. Quality of life (QOL) was studied using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Brain (FACT-Br) scale. Twenty-seven patients were enrolled, with twenty-four having evaluable data for response. The majority of histologies (n = 21, 78%) were breast cancer. The remaining histologies were non-small-cell lung cancer (n = 4, 15%), neuroendocrine cancer (n = 1, 3%), and papillary fallopian serous adenocarcinoma (n = 1, 3%). Eighteen patients had radiologic response, with two patients demonstrating partial response (8.33%) and sixteen patients demonstrating stable disease (66.7%). The median duration of response was 203 days. PFS at 6 months was 46%, median PFS was 5.3 m, and median OS was 9.5 m. Treatment was well tolerated, with six patients experiencing grade 3 lymphopenia and hypertension. There was one grade 3 thromboembolism. QOL was not negatively impacted. Bevacizumab is a safe and feasible salvage treatment with durable response and favorable overall survival for patients with progressive brain metastases after whole-brain radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a clinical neurodegenerative dementia syndrome characterized by early, selective, and progressive language impairment. PPA onset is gradual, providing time to potentially identify additional or alternative expressive communication modes; however, reports of communication mode use and effectiveness by persons with PPA have not been described. This study characterized the use, frequency, and perceived effectiveness of communication modes reported by individuals with PPA. Method: Forty-one participants with mild-to-moderate PPA completed a structured interview detailing the type, frequency, and perceived effectiveness of 12 potential communication modes, categorized by technology required (no-tech, low-tech, and high-tech). The ratio of modes used was compared across technology categories with a repeated-measures generalized linear model assuming a binomial distribution with an overall Wald chi-square statistic, followed by pairwise post hoc t-test comparisons. Results: Of the 12 communication modes assessed, participants reported using a median of eight (range: 5-10). All participants affirmed using speech, facial expressions, and talking on the phone. Frequency and perceived effectiveness ratings for these three modes were endorsed at the "some/most of the time" level for more than 80% of the participants. No-tech mode use was significantly higher than reported high-tech and low-tech modes (p = .004 and p < .0001, respectively). Even so, while some high-tech modes (apps) and some low-tech modes (nonelectronic augmentative and alternative communication) had fewer users, effectiveness ratings were moderate to high for all but one user. Conclusions: Persons with mild-to-moderate language impairment due to PPA report using a range of communication modes with moderate-to-high frequency and perceived effectiveness. These outcomes provide practical information when considering mode refinement or expansion during intervention to maximize communication participation. Barriers to modality use may include low awareness or access, which could be queried by future studies and supported by speech and language interventions. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21614262 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Controversy exists about an association between angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), and thiazides (TZs) and the risk of malignant melanoma (MM), and non-melanoma skin cancer-basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if an association exists for ACEI, ARB, or TZ exposure and skin cancers.Methods: This was a matched cohort study using a large electronic medical records repository, the Northwestern Medicine Enterprise Data Warehouse (NMEDW). The exposed population consisted of patients with a documented order for an ACEI, ARB, or TZ with no prior history of skin cancer. The control population consisted of matched patients without documented exposure to ACEI, ARB, or TZ and no previous skin cancer. Incident MM, BCC, or SCC diagnosis by ICD-9 codes was recorded. Odds ratios (ORs) were obtained by using logistic regression analyses.Results: Among the 27,134 patients exposed to an ACEI, 87 MM, 533 BCC, and 182 SCC were detected. Among the 13,818 patients exposed to an ARB, 96 MM, 283 BCC, and 106 SCC were detected. Among the 15,166 patients exposed to a TZ, 99 MM, 262 BCC, and 130 SCC were detected. Significant associations using ORs from logistic regression were found for MM and TZs (OR 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-3.82); BCC and ARBs (OR 2.86; 95% CI 2.13-3.83), ACEIs (OR 2.23; 95% CI 1.78-2.81) and TZs (OR 2.11; 95% CI 1.60-2.79); SCC and ARBs (OR 2.22; 95% CI 1.37-3.61), ACEIs (OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.37-2.76), and TZs (OR 4.11; 95% CI 2.66-6.35).Conclusions: A safety signal for ACEIs, ARBs, and TZs and BCC and SCC, as well as for TZs and MM, was detected. An increased awareness and education, especially for those who are at high risk for skin cancer, are warranted for patients and healthcare providers. Further exploration of such associations for these commonly used drug classes is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physician recommendation of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is a critical facilitator of screening completion. Providing patients a choice of screening options may increase CRC screening completion, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities.Objective: Our purpose was to assess the effectiveness of physician-only and physician-patient interventions on increasing rates of CRC screening discussions as compared to usual care.Design: This study was quasi-experimental. Clinics were allocated to intervention or usual care; patients in intervention clinics were randomized to receipt of patient intervention.Participants: Patients aged 50 to 75 years, due for CRC screening, receiving care at either a federally qualified health care center or an academic health center participated in the study.Intervention: Intervention physicians received continuous quality improvement and communication skills training. Intervention patients watched an educational video immediately before their appointment.Main Measures: Rates of patient-reported 1) CRC screening discussions, and 2) discussions of more than one screening test.Key Results: The physician-patient intervention (n = 167) resulted in higher rates of CRC screening discussions compared to both physician-only intervention (n = 183; 61.1 % vs.50.3 %, p = 0.008) and usual care (n = 153; 61.1 % vs. 34.0 % p = 0.03). More discussions of specific CRC screening tests and discussions of more than one test occurred in the intervention arms than in usual care (44.6 % vs. 22.9 %,p = 0.03) and (5.1 % vs. 2.0 %, p = 0.036), respectively, but discussion of more than one test was uncommon. Across all arms, 143 patients (28.4 %) reported discussion of colonoscopy only; 21 (4.2 %) reported discussion of both colonoscopy and stool tests.Conclusions: Compared to usual care and a physician-only intervention, a physician-patient intervention increased rates of CRC screening discussions, yet discussions overwhelmingly focused solely on colonoscopy. In underserved patient populations where access to colonoscopy may be limited, interventions encouraging discussions of both stool tests and colonoscopy may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Low-Vt ventilation lowers mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) but is underused. Little is known about clinician attitudes toward and perceived barriers to low-Vt ventilation use and their association with actual low-Vt ventilation use.Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess clinicians' attitudes toward and perceived barriers to low-Vt ventilation (Vt <6.5 ml/kg predicted body weight) in patients with ARDS, to identify differences in attitudes and perceived barriers among clinician types, and to compare attitudes toward and perceived barriers to actual low-Vt ventilation use in patients with ARDS.Methods: We conducted a survey of critical care physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists at four non-ARDS Network hospitals in the Chicago region. We compared survey responses with performance in a cohort of 362 patients with ARDS.Results: Survey responses included clinician attitudes toward and perceived barriers to low-Vt ventilation use. We also measured low-Vt ventilation initiation by these clinicians in 347 patients with ARDS initiated after ARDS onset as well as correlation with clinician attitudes and perceived barriers. Of 674 clinicians surveyed, 467 (69.3%) responded. Clinicians had positive attitudes toward and perceived few process barriers to ARDS diagnosis or initiation of low-Vt ventilation. Physicians had more positive attitudes and perceived fewer barriers than nurses or respiratory therapists. However, use of low-Vt ventilation by all three clinician groups was low. For example, whereas physicians believed that 92.5% of their patients with ARDS warranted treatment with low-Vt ventilation, they initiated low-Vt ventilation for a median (interquartile range) of 7.4% (0 to 14.3%) of their eligible patients with ARDS. Clinician attitudes and perceived barriers were not correlated with low-Vt ventilation initiation.Conclusions: Clinicians had positive attitudes toward low-Vt ventilation and perceived few barriers to using it, but attitudes and perceived process barriers were not correlated with actual low-Vt ventilation use, which was low. Implementation strategies should be focused on examining other issues, such as ARDS recognition and process solutions, to improve low-Vt ventilation use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to simplify and improve patient colonoscopy bowel preparation instruction sheet in hospital systems. It reviewed bowel preparation quality by comparing patients who received standard bowel preparation instruction and their result with patients who received simplified instruction. Results showed that simplified instructions being significantly more prepared with low cancellation rates.

This three arm study was designed to make CRC screening with FOBTs more accessible, understandable and actionable for patients cared for in predominantly rural Federally Qualified Health Centers. Patients in an enhanced version of usual care received an annual CRC recommendation and FOBT kit; those in the education arm additionally received brief literacy and culturally appropriate education and those in the nurse arm received the education by a nurse manager who followed up by telephone. Baseline FOBT rates in this population were 3 %. We evaluated if FOBT rates could be sustained over 3 years. A three-arm, quasi-experimental evaluation was conducted among eight clinics in Louisiana. Screening efforts included: (1) enhanced usual care, (2) literacy-informed education of patients, and (3) education plus nurse support. Overall, 961 average-risk patients, ages 50-85, eligible for routine CRC screenings were recruited. The primary outcome was completing three annual FOBT tests. Of 961 patients enrolled, 381 (39.6 %) participants did not complete a single FOBT, 60.4 % completed at least one FOBT of which 318 (33.1 %) completed only one, 162 (16.9 %) completed two and 100 (10.4 %) completed three FOBTs over the 3-year period (the primary study outcome). The primary outcome, return of three FOBT kits over the 3-year period, was achieved by 4.7 % in enhanced care, 11.4 % in education and 13.6 % in the nurse arm ( p = 0.005). Overall 3-year FOBT screening rates were not sustained with any of the three interventions, despite reports of promising interim results at years 1 and 2. New strategies for sustaining FOBT screening over several years must be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study about the effectiveness of different approaches to encourage the completion of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) in the third year of the intervention. A quasi-experimental intervention was made in predominantly rural Federally Qualified Health Centers from 2008-2011. Details about the post hoc analyses of the results analyzed by health literacy skills are mentioned.

We aimed to determine whether (18) F-florbetapir amyloid positron emission tomography imaging shows a clinically concordant, left-hemisphere-dominant pattern of deposition in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Elevated cortical amyloid (Aβ(+) ) was found in 19 of 32 PPA patients. Hemispheric laterality of amyloid burden was compared between Aβ(+) PPA and an Aβ(+) amnestic dementia groups (n = 22). The parietal region showed significantly greater left lateralized amyloid uptake in the PPA group than the amnestic group (p < 0.007), consistent with the left lateralized pattern of neurodegeneration in PPA. These results suggest that the cortical distribution of amyloid may have a greater clinical concordance than previously reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the growing body of evidence demonstrating the significant implications of health literacy on a myriad of outcomes, researchers continue to incorporate health literacy metrics in studies. With this proliferation in measurement of health literacy in research, it has become increasingly important to understand how various health literacy tools perform in specific populations. Our objective was to compare the performance of two widely used tests, the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) and the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) among and between a sample of English and Spanish-speaking patients. Adults (N = 402) ages 50–75 years participating in a trial to promote colorectal cancer screening completed in-person interviews which included both measures of health literacy. In the full sample, the tests were moderately correlated (r = 0.69,p < .0001); however, there was a stronger correlation among those completing the test in Spanish (r = 0.83) as compared with English (r = 0.58,p < .0001). English speakers more often were categorized as having adequate literacy by the S-TOFHLA as compared with the NVS, whereas Spanish speakers scored consistently low on both instruments. These findings indicate that the categorization of participants into levels of literacy is likely to vary, depending on whether the NVS or S-TOFHLA is used for assessment, a factor which researchers should be aware of when selecting literacy assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Our previous three-arm comparative effectiveness intervention in community clinic patients who were not up-to-date with screening resulted in mammography rates over 50% in all arms. Objective: Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the three interventions on improving biennial screening rates among eligible patients. Methods: A three-arm quasi-experimental evaluation was conducted in eight community clinics from 2008 to 2011. Screening efforts included (1) enhanced care: Participants received an in-person recommendation from a research assistant (RA) in year 1, and clinics followed usual clinic protocol for scheduling screening mammograms; (2) education intervention: Participants received education and in-person recommendation from an RA in year 1, and clinics followed usual clinic protocol for scheduling mammograms; or (3) nurse support: A nurse manager provided in-person education and recommendation, scheduled mammograms, and followed up with phone support. In all arms, mammography was offered at no cost to uninsured patients. Results: Of 624 eligible women, biennial mammography within 24-30 months of their previous test was performed for 11.0% of women in the enhanced-care arm, 7.1% in the education- intervention arm, and 48.0% in the nurse-support arm ( p<0.0001). The incremental cost was $1,232 per additional woman undergoing screening with nurse support vs. enhanced care and $1,092 with nurse support vs. education. Conclusions: Biennial mammography screening rates were improved by providing nurse support but not with enhanced care or education. However, this approach was not cost-effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To contrast barriers to co­lon cancer (CRC) screening and Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) completion between rural and urban safety-net pa­tients. Methods: Interviews were admin­istered to 972 patients who were not up-to-date with screening. Results: Rural patients were more likely to believe it was helpful to find CRC early (89.7% vs 66.1%, p < .0001), yet were less likely to have received a screening recommenda­tion (36.4% vs. 45.8%, p = .03) or FOBT information (14.5% vs 32.3%, p < .0001) or to have completed an FOBT (22.0% vs 45.8%, p < .0001). Conclusions: Interven­tions are needed to increase screening recommendation, education and comple­tion, particularly in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Few studies have examined differences between rural and urban women in mammography barriers, knowledge, and experiences. Exploring differences can help inform tailored interventions. Methods: Women, aged ≥40, who had not been screened in the past 2 years were recruited from eight federally qualified health centers across Louisiana. They were given a structured interview assessing mammography knowledge, beliefs, barriers, experiences, and literacy. Results: Of the 1189 patients who participated, 65.0% were African American, 61.6% were rural, and 44.0% had low literacy. Contrary to guidelines, most believed mammography should be done annually (74.3%) before age 40 (70.5%). Compared to urban women, rural participants were more likely to believe mammography will find small breast lumps early (34.4% vs. 6.5%, p<0.0001) and strongly disagree that mammography is embarrassing (14.6% vs. 8.4%, p=0.0002) or that they are afraid of finding something wrong (21.2% vs.12.3%, p=0.007). Rural women were more likely to report a physician recommendation for mammography (84.3% vs. 76.5%, p=0.006), but they were less likely to have received education (57.2% vs. 63.6%, p=0.06) or to have ever had a mammogram (74.8% vs. 78.1%, p=0.007). In multivariate analyses controlling for race, literacy, and age, all rural/urban differences remained significant, except for receipt of a mammogram. Conclusions: Most participants were unclear about when they should begin mammography. Rural participants reported stronger positive beliefs, higher self-efficacy, fewer barriers, and having a physician recommendation for mammography but were less likely to receive education or screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine the effect of common components of primary care-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening interventions on fecal occult blood test (FOBT) completion within rural and urban community clinics, including: (1) physician's spoken recommendation, (2) providing information or education about FOBTs, and (3) physician providing the FOBT kit; to determine the relative effect of these interventions; and to compare the effect of each intervention between rural and urban clinics. Methods: We conducted structured interviews with patients aged 50 years and over receiving care at community clinics that were noncompliant with CRC screening. Self-report of ever receiving a physician's recommendation for screening, FOBT information or education, physician providing an FOBT kit, and FOBT completion were collected. Findings: Participants included 849 screening-eligible adults; 77% were female and 68% were African American. The median age was 57; 33% lacked a high school diploma and 51% had low literacy. In multivariable analysis, all services were predictive of rural participants completing screening (physician recommendation: P= .002; FOBT education: P= .001; physician giving FOBT kit: P < .0001). In urban clinics, only physician giving the kit predicted FOBT completion ( P < .0001). Compared to urban patients, rural patients showed a stronger relationship between FOBT completion and receiving a physician recommendation (risk ratio [RR]: 5.3 vs 2.1; P= .0001), receiving information or education on FOBTs (RR: 3.8 vs 1.9; P= .0002), or receiving an FOBT kit from their physician (RR: 22.3 vs 10.1; P= .035). Conclusions: Participants who receive an FOBT kit from their physician are more likely to complete screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Classical aphasiology, based on the study of stroke sequelae, fuses speech fluency and grammatical ability. Nonfluent (Broca's) aphasia often is accompanied by agrammatism; whereas in the fluent aphasias grammatical deficits are not typical. The assumption that a similar relationship exists in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) has led to the dichotomisation of this syndrome into fluent and nonfluent subtypes. Aims: This study compared elements of fluency and grammatical production in the narrative speech of individuals with PPA to determine if they can be dissociated from one another. Methods & Procedures: Speech samples from 37 individuals with PPA, clinically assigned to agrammatic (N = 11), logopaenic (N = 20), and semantic (N = 6) subtypes, and 13 cognitively healthy control participants telling the “Cinderella Story” were analysed for fluency—i.e., words per minute (WPM) and mean length of utterance in words (MLU-W)—and grammaticality, i.e., the proportion of grammatically correct sentences, open-to-closed-class word ratio, noun-to-verb ratio, and correct production of verb inflection, noun morphology, and verb argument structure. Between-group differences were analysed for each variable. Correlational analyses examined the relation between WPM and each grammatical variable, and an off-line measure of sentence production. Outcomes & Results: Agrammatic and logopaenic groups both had lower scores on the fluency measures and produced significantly fewer grammatical sentences than did semantic and control groups. However, only the agrammatic group evinced significantly impaired production of verb inflection and verb argument structure. In addition some semantic participants showed abnormal open-to-closed and noun-to-verb ratios in narrative speech. When the sample was divided on the basis of fluency, all the agrammatic participants fell in the nonfluent category. The logopaenic participants varied in fluency but those with low fluency showed variable performance on measures of grammaticality. Correlational analyses and scatter plots comparing fluency and each grammatical variable revealed dissociations within PPA participants, with some nonfluent participants showing normal grammatical skill. Conclusions: Grammatical production is a complex construct comprising correct usage of several language components, each of which can be selectively affected by disease. This study demonstrates that individuals with PPA show dissociations between fluency and grammatical production in narrative speech. Grammatical ability, and its relationship to fluency, varies from individual to individual, and from one variant of PPA to another, and can even be found in individuals with semantic PPA in whom a fluent aphasia is usually thought to accompany preserved ability to produce grammatical utterances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: ObjectiveTo evaluate the importance of surgeon caseload, lesion type, and biopsy type on outcomes in breast conservation therapy (BCT).: BackgroundBreast conservation therapy has low rates of morbidity and mortality and is being performed with increasing frequency. Its primary advantage is cosmetic, and the amount of breast tissue resected is the main determinant of cosmetic outcomes.: Study designTwo hundred seventeen consecutive patients undergoing breast conservation therapy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for mammographically detected breast cancer were evaluated. The volume of tissue excised was compared with the volume of the tumor as a ratio. Univariate and multivariate analyses of the relationships between the specimen-to-tumor-volume ratio (STVR) and histologic diagnosis, biopsy type, surgeon caseload, and lesion type were examined.: ResultsThe mean (log scale) STVR was significantly lower when the mammographic lesion was identified as a mass or architectural distortion versus calcifications (p < 0.001 in multivariate analysis). Mean log (STVR) was also decreased for higher-caseload surgeons (p = 0.02). Core biopsy before lumpectomy was associated with significantly increased mean log (STVR) (83 versus 50, p = 0.05) without significantly increasing the rate of negative margins.: ConclusionsMammographic lesion type and biopsy method were associated with the amount of tissue excised relative to tumor size as measured by STVR. In addition, surgeons with higher caseloads were better able to perform needle localization lumpectomy to negative margins while limiting the volume of normal breast tissue excised. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

One of the foci of Martin Donner's work was the neural control of swallowing. This present investigation continues that work by examining oropharyngeal swallowing in 8 patients identified with a single, small, left-basal ganglion/internal capsule infarction and 8 age-matched normal subjects. Stroke patients were assessed with a bedside clinical and radiographic swallowing assessment, and normal subjects received only the radiographic study. Results revealed disagreement between the bedside and radiographic assessments in one of the 8 stroke patients. Stroke and normal subjects differed significantly on some swallow measures on various bolus viscosities, but behaved the same as normal subjects on a number of measures. Differences in swallowing in the stroke subjects were not enough to prevent them from eating orally. The significant differences seen in the basal ganglia/internal capsule stroke subjects may result from damage to the sensorimotor pathways between the cortex and brainstem. These differences emphasize the importance of cortical input to the brainstem swallowing center in maintaining the systematic modulations characteristic of normal swallowing physiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to determine whether swallow rehabilitation outcomes were affected by the type of evaluation procedure utilized by the clinician. The two evaluation techniques compared were the bedside examination and videofluoroscopy (the modified barium swallow). Ten institutions participated in this study, enrolling a total of 103 partial laryngectomized patients, 21 in the bedside arm and 82 in the videofluoroscopy arm. Data on recovery of oral intake were collected weekly. All patients received an X-ray study of swallow at 3 months after the operation. Mean time to oral intake of food was significantly lower in patients assessed with bedside examination. Overall swallow measures of transit times and swallow efficiencies after 3 months revealed significantly better function in the videofluoroscopy group. Results are discussed in terms of the visibility of swallow physiology with the two assessment techniques, the accuracy of therapy planning with the bedside examination versus videofluoroscopy and the ability of head and neck cancer patients to tolerate some aspiration without developing aspiration pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This trial tested a multicomponent intervention to increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among underserved patients. Participants were randomized to: (1) physician + patient intervention, (2) physician-only intervention, or (3) usual care (UC). Study outcomes included patient knowledge, physician recommendation of CRC screening, and screening completion via colonoscopy or stool tests. Among 538 participants, those exposed to the physician + patient intervention had significantly increased knowledge over patients [End Page 1612] in physician-only (p=.0008) or UC arms (p=.0003). However, there were no statistically significant differences in completion of CRC screening, with 10%, 20%, and 16% of UC, physician-only, and physician + patient participants screened, respectively. In UC, all completed screenings were colonoscopy, whereas in the physician-only and physician + patient arms, 39% and 46% of completed tests were via stool test, respectively. The multicomponent intervention did not increase overall CRC screening, yet results underscore the need to provide patients options for completing CRC screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To inform goals of care discussions at the time of palliative radiation therapy (RT) consultation, we sought to characterize intensive care unit (ICU) outcomes for patients treated with palliative RT compared to all other patients with metastatic cancer admitted to the ICU.Methods and Materials: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with metastatic cancer admitted to an ICU in a tertiary medical center from January 2010 to September 2015. We compared in-hospital mortality between patients who received palliative RT in the 12 months before admission and all other patients with metastatic cancer. We used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the association between receipt of palliative RT and in-hospital mortality, adjusting for patient characteristics and acute illness severity.Results: Among 1424 patients with metastatic cancer, 11.3% (n=161) received palliative RT before ICU admission. In-hospital mortality was 36.7% for palliative RT patients, compared with 16.6% for other patients with metastatic cancer (P<.001). Receipt of palliative RT was associated with increased in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 2.08, 95% confidence interval 1.34-3.21, P=.001), after adjusting for patient characteristics and severity of critical illness. Only 34 patients (21.1%) treated with palliative RT received additional cancer-directed treatment after ICU admission.Conclusions: For patients with metastatic cancer, prior treatment with palliative RT is associated with increased in-hospital mortality after ICU admission. Nearly half of patients previously treated with palliative RT either died during hospitalization or were discharged with hospice care, and few received further cancer-directed therapy. Palliative RT referral may represent an opportunity to discuss end-of-life treatment preferences with patients and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Low tidal volume ventilation lowers mortality in the acute respiratory distress syndrome. Previous studies reported poor low tidal volume ventilation implementation. We sought to determine the rate, quality, and predictors of low tidal volume ventilation use.Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.Setting: One academic and three community hospitals in the Chicago region.Patients: A total of 362 adults meeting the Berlin Definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome consecutively admitted between June and December 2013.Measurements and Main Results: Seventy patients (19.3%) were treated with low tidal volume ventilation (tidal volume < 6.5 mL/kg predicted body weight) at some time during mechanical ventilation. In total, 22.2% of patients requiring an FIO2 greater than 40% and 37.3% of patients with FIO2 greater than 40% and plateau pressure greater than 30 cm H2O received low tidal volume ventilation. The entire cohort received low tidal volume ventilation 11.4% of the time patients had acute respiratory distress syndrome. Among patients who received low tidal volume ventilation, the mean (SD) percentage of acute respiratory distress syndrome time it was used was 59.1% (38.2%), and 34% waited more than 72 hours prior to low tidal volume ventilation initiation. Women were less likely to receive low tidal volume ventilation, whereas sepsis and FIO2 greater than 40% were associated with increased odds of low tidal volume ventilation use. Four attending physicians (6.2%) initiated low tidal volume ventilation within 1 day of acute respiratory distress syndrome onset for greater than or equal to 50% of their patients, whereas 34 physicians (52.3%) never initiated low tidal volume ventilation within 1 day of acute respiratory distress syndrome onset. In total, 54.4% of patients received a tidal volume less than 8 mL/kg predicted body weight, and the mean tidal volume during the first 72 hours after acute respiratory distress syndrome onset was never less than 8 mL/kg predicted body weight.Conclusions: More than 12 years after publication of the landmark low tidal volume ventilation study, use remains poor. Interventions that improve adoption of low tidal volume ventilation are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]