Search

Abstract Background Tools to enhance physician searches of Medline and other bibliographic databases have potential to improve the application of new knowledge in patient care. This is particularly true for articles about glomerular disease, which are published across multiple disciplines and are often difficult to track down. Our objective was to develop and test search filters for PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Embase that allow physicians to search within a subset of the database to retrieve articles relevant to glomerular disease. Methods We used a diagnostic test assessment framework with development and validation phases. We read a total of 22,992 full text articles for relevance and assigned them to the development or validation set to define the reference standard. We then used combinations of search terms to develop 997,298 unique glomerular disease filters. Outcome measures for each filter included sensitivity, specificity, precision, and accuracy. We selected optimal sensitive and specific search filters for each database and applied them to the validation set to test performance. Results High performance filters achieved at least 93.8% sensitivity and specificity in the development set. Filters optimized for sensitivity reached at least 96.7% sensitivity and filters optimized for specificity reached at least 98.4% specificity. Performance of these filters was consistent in the validation set and similar among all three databases. Conclusions PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Embase can be filtered for articles relevant to glomerular disease in a reliable manner. These filters can now be used to facilitate physician searching.

Introduction: Steroids In caRdiac Surgery trial (SIRS) is a large international randomised controlled trial of methylprednisolone or placebo in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with the use of a cardiopulmonary bypass pump. At the time of surgery, compared with placebo, methylprednisolone divided into two intravenous doses of 250 mg each may reduce the risk of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods and analysis: With respect to the study schedule, over 7000 substudy eligible patients from 81 centres in 18 countries were randomised in December 2013. The authors will use a logistic regression to estimate the adjusted OR of methylprednisolone versus placebo on the primary outcome of AKI in the 14 days following surgery (a postoperative increase in serum creatinine of ≥50%, or ≥26.5 µmol/L, from the preoperative value). The stage of AKI will also be considered, as will the outcome of AKI in those with and without preoperative chronic kidney disease. After receipt of grant funding, the authors began to record additional perioperative serum creatinine measurements in consecutive patients enrolled at substudy participating centres, and patients were invited to enroll in a 6-month serum creatinine collection. In these trial subpopulations, the authors will consider the outcome of AKI defined in alternate ways, and the outcome of a 6-month change in kidney function from the preoperative value. Ethics and dissemination: The authors were competitively awarded a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for this SIRS AKI substudy. Ethics approval was obtained for additional serum creatinine recordings in consecutive patients enrolled at participating centres. The additional kidney data collection first began for patients enrolled after 1 March 2012. In patients who provided consent, the last 6-month kidney outcome data will be collected in 2014. The results will be reported no later than 2015. Clinical Trial Registration: Number NCT00427388. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Optimised use of kidney function information might improve cardiac risk prediction in noncardiac surgery., Methods: In 35,815 patients from the VISION cohort study and 9219 patients from the POISE-2 trial who were ≥45 yr old and underwent nonurgent inpatient noncardiac surgery, we examined (by age and sex) the association between continuous nonlinear preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the composite of myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery, nonfatal cardiac arrest, or death owing to a cardiac cause within 30 days after surgery. We estimated contributions of predictive information, C-statistic, and net benefit from eGFR and other common patient and surgical characteristics to large multivariable models., Results: The primary composite occurred in 4725 (13.2%) patients in VISION and 1903 (20.6%) in POISE-2; in both studies cardiac events had a strong, graded association with lower preoperative eGFR that was attenuated by older age (P interaction <0.001 for VISION; P interaction =0.008 for POISE-2). For eGFR of 30 compared with 90 ml min -1 1.73 m -2 , relative risk was 1.49 (95% confidence interval 1.26-1.78) at age 80 yr but 4.50 (2.84-7.13) at age 50 yr in female patients in VISION. This differed modestly (but not meaningfully) in men in VISION (P interaction =0.02) but not in POISE-2 (P interaction =0.79). eGFR contributed the most predictive information and mean net benefit of all predictors in both studies, most C-statistic in VISION, and third most C-statistic in POISE-2., Conclusions: Continuous preoperative eGFR is among the best cardiac risk predictors in noncardiac surgery of the large set examined. Along with its interaction with age, preoperative eGFR would improve risk calculators., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00512109 (VISION) and NCT01082874 (POISE-2)., Competing Interests: Declarations of interest Roche Diagnostics provided troponin T assays and financial support for the VISION study. Bayer Pharma provided the aspirin used in the POISE-2 study, and Boehringer Ingelheim provided the clonidine and financial support for the POISE-2 study. Dr Devereaux reports grants from Roche Diagnostics and Abbott Diagnostics during the conduct of the study, and grants from Roche, Octopharma, Philips Healthcare, Stryker, Covidien, and Boehringer Ingelheim outside the submitted work. Dr Meyhoff is founder of a start-up company, WARD24/7 ApS, with the aim of pursuing the regulatory and commercial activities of the WARD-project (Wireless Assessment of Respiratory and circulatory Distress, a project developing a clinical support system for continuous wireless monitoring of vital signs) and has filed a patent for ‘Wireless Assessment of Respiratory and circulatory Distress (WARD), EP 21184712.4 and EP 21205557.8’. Dr Borges reports grants from Roche Diagnostics outside the scope of this work., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Guidance regarding appropriate and cost-effective use of prescription drugs is published in the Ontario Drug Benefit Formulary in the form of "therapeutic notes." We conducted a cross-sectional study of all residents of Ontario aged 66 and older who received a new prescription for one of two drugs, aliskiren or sitagliptin, between December 1, 2008 and March 31, 2012 to determine how frequently such guidance is followed. Approximately half of initial prescriptions for aliskiren and sitagliptin were prescribed in a manner that did not conform to the therapeutic note recommendations (51.4% and 49.3%, respectively). Given this high rate of non-conformance, policy makers may wish to use other mechanisms to influence prescriber behaviour to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare., (Copyright © 2014 Longwoods Publishing.)

Background: Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS) was defined as prognostically relevant myocardial injury due to ischemia that occurs during or within 30 days after noncardiac surgery. The study's four objectives were to determine the diagnostic criteria, characteristics, predictors, and 30-day outcomes of MINS., Methods: In this international, prospective cohort study of 15,065 patients aged 45 yr or older who underwent in-patient noncardiac surgery, troponin T was measured during the first 3 postoperative days. Patients with a troponin T level of 0.04 ng/ml or greater (elevated "abnormal" laboratory threshold) were assessed for ischemic features (i.e., ischemic symptoms and electrocardiography findings). Patients adjudicated as having a nonischemic troponin elevation (e.g., sepsis) were excluded. To establish diagnostic criteria for MINS, the authors used Cox regression analyses in which the dependent variable was 30-day mortality (260 deaths) and independent variables included preoperative variables, perioperative complications, and potential MINS diagnostic criteria., Results: An elevated troponin after noncardiac surgery, irrespective of the presence of an ischemic feature, independently predicted 30-day mortality. Therefore, the authors' diagnostic criterion for MINS was a peak troponin T level of 0.03 ng/ml or greater judged due to myocardial ischemia. MINS was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.87; 95% CI, 2.96-5.08) and had the highest population-attributable risk (34.0%, 95% CI, 26.6-41.5) of the perioperative complications. Twelve hundred patients (8.0%) suffered MINS, and 58.2% of these patients would not have fulfilled the universal definition of myocardial infarction. Only 15.8% of patients with MINS experienced an ischemic symptom., Conclusion: Among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery, MINS is common and associated with substantial mortality.

The classification of thrombotic microangiopathy has evolved and expanded due to treatment and advances in understanding of the diseases associated with this clinical presentation. The three clinical forms of thrombotic microangiopathy-thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and disseminated intravascular coagulation-encompass a wide range of disorders that can be classified as either primary (idiopathic) or secondary to another identifiable disease or clinical context. Identification of an inhibitor to a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with a thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13) in the idiopathic and acute forms of TTP, recognition of the absence of ADAMTS13 inhibition in diarrheal HUS, identification of complement abnormalities in atypical HUS, and a better understanding of the role of plasma therapy, rituximab, and eculizumab therapy have all had a major effect on current understanding of the thrombotic microangiopathies. In this Attending Rounds, a patient with a thrombotic microangiopathy is presented, along with discussion highlighting the difficulty of differentiating TTP from HUS and disseminated intravascular coagulation, the need for a prompt diagnosis, and the role for plasma therapy in appropriately selected patients. The discussion attempts to provide a simple clinical approach to the diagnosis, treatment options, and future course of adults and children suffering from a thrombotic microangiopathy.