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Background: Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy is an increasingly viable alternative for patients who are not candidates for heart transplantation or who are waiting for a suitable donor. We aimed to determine whether there is an association between sex, race/ethnicity, insurance coverage, and neighborhood income and access to/outcomes of LVAD implantation. We further analyzed whether access to LVAD improved in states that did versus did not expand Medicaid.Methods and Results: Retrospective cohort study using State Inpatient Databases to identify patients 18 to 85 years of age admitted for heart failure, cardiogenic shock, or LVAD implantation from 2012 to 2015. Logistic regression analyses adjusting for age, all the sociodemographic factors above, medical comorbidities, and a hospital random effect were used to quantify odds of receipt of LVADs, as well as outcomes conditional on receiving an LVAD, for the sociodemographic groups of interest. A total of 925 770 patients were included; 3972 (0.43%) received LVADs. After adjusting for age, comorbidities, and hospital effects, women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.45 [0.41-0.49]), black patients (aOR, 0.83 [0.74-0.92]), and Hispanic patients (aOR, 0.74 [0.64-0.87]) were less likely to receive LVADs than whites. Medicare (aOR, 0.79 [0.72-0.86]), Medicaid (aOR, 0.52 [0.46-0.58]), and uninsured patients (aOR, 0.17 [0.11-0.25]) were less likely to receive LVADs than the privately insured, and patients in low-income ZIP codes were less likely than those in higher income areas (aOR, 0.71 [0.65-0.77]). Among those who received LVADs, women (aOR, 1.78 [1.38-2.30]), patients of unknown race or race other than white, black, or Hispanic (aOR, 1.97 [1.42-2.74]), and uninsured patients (aOR, 4.86 [1.92-12.28]) had higher rates of in-hospital mortality. Medicaid expansion was not associated with an increase in LVAD implantation.Conclusions: There are meaningful sociodemographic disparities in access and outcomes for LVAD implantation. Medicaid expansion was not associated with an increase in LVAD rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) models are increasingly used in the drug research and development, especially in anti-cancer drugs. Between 2001 and 2020, a total of 89 small-molecule targeted antitumor drugs were approved in China and the United States, some of which already included PBPK modeling in their application or approval packages. This article intended to review the prevalence and application of PBPK model in these drugs., Method: Article search was performed in the PubMed to collect English research articles on small-molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs using PBPK modeling. The selected articles were classified into nine categorizes according to the application areas and further analyzed., Result: From 2001 to 2020, more than 60% of small-molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs (54/89) were studied using PBPK model with a wide range of application. Ninety research articles were included, of which 48 involved enzyme-mediated drug-drug interaction (DDI). Of these retrieved articles, Simcyp, GastroPlus, and PK-Sim were the most widely model building platforms, which account for 63.8%, 15.2%, and 8.6%, respectively., Conclusion: PBPK modeling is commonly and widely used to research small-molecule targeted anti-cancer drugs., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Polypharmacy is one of the most important health issues for its potential impacts on disease burden and healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to update a comprehensive picture of prevalence and trends in polypharmacy over 20 years in U.S. adults., Methods: Participants included 55,081 adults aged ≥ 20 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, January 1, 1999, through December 31, 2018. The simultaneously use of ≥ 5 drugs in one individual was defined as polypharmacy. National prevalence and trends in polypharmacy were evaluated among U.S. adults within different demo-socioeconomic status and pre-existing diseases., Results: From 1999-2000 to 2017-2018, the overall percentages of adults with polypharmacy remained on the rise, increasing from 8.2% (7.2-9.2%) to 17.1% (15.7-18.5%) (average annual percentage change [AAPC] = 2.9%, P = .001). The polypharmacy prevalence was considerably higher in the elderly (from 23.5% to 44.1%), in adults with heart disease (from 40.6% to 61.7%), and in adults with diabetes (from 36.3% to 57.7%). Also, we observed a greater increase rate of polypharmacy in men (AAPC = 4.1%, P < .001), in the Mexican American (AAPC = 6.3%, P < .001), and in the non-Hispanic Black (AAPC = 4.4%, P < .001)., Conclusions: From 1999-2000 to 2017-2018, the prevalence of polypharmacy is continually increasing in U.S. adults. The polypharmacy was especially higher in the older, in patients with heart disease, or diabetes. The high prevalence urges the healthcare providers and health policymakers to manage polypharmacy among specific population groups., (© 2023. The Author(s).)