Explore the vast range of titles available.

Objectives. We examined purging for weight control, diet pill use, and obesity across sexual orientation identity and ethnicity groups. Methods. Anonymous survey data were analyzed from 24 591 high school students of diverse ethnicities in the federal Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System Survey in 2005 and 2007. Self-reported data were gathered on gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation identity, height, weight, and purging and diet pill use in the past 30 days. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds of purging, diet pill use, and obesity associated with sexual orientation identity in gender-stratified models and examined for the presence of interactions between ethnicity and sexual orientation. Results. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) identity was associated with substantially elevated odds of purging and diet pill use in both girls and boys (odds ratios [OR] range =  1.9–6.8). Bisexual girls and boys were also at elevated odds of obesity compared to same-gender heterosexuals (OR = 2.3 and 2.1, respectively). Conclusions. Interventions to reduce eating disorders and obesity that are appropriate for LGB youths of diverse ethnicities are urgently needed.

Patients with rare conditions such as cardiac amyloidosis (CA) are difficult to identify, given the similarity of disease manifestations to more prevalent disorders. The deployment of approved therapies for CA has been limited by delayed diagnosis of this disease. Artificial intelligence (AI) could enable detection of rare diseases. Here we present a pipeline for CA detection using AI models with electrocardiograms (ECG) or echocardiograms as inputs. These models, trained and validated on 3 and 5 academic medical centers (AMC) respectively, detect CA with C-statistics of 0.85–0.91 for ECG and 0.89–1.00 for echocardiography. Simulating deployment on 2 AMCs indicated a positive predictive value (PPV) for the ECG model of 3–4% at 52–71% recall. Pre-screening with ECG enhance the echocardiography model performance at 67% recall from PPV of 33% to PPV of 74–77%. In conclusion, we developed an automated strategy to augment CA detection, which should be generalizable to other rare cardiac diseases. Cardiac amyloidosis is difficult to identify, given low prevalence and similarity of the symptoms to more prevalent disorders. Here the authors present a multi-modality, artificial intelligence-enabled pipeline, that enables automated detection of cardiac amyloidosis from inexpensive and accessible measures.

In 1992, the UN banned the use of large‐scale pelagic driftnets on the high seas (UNGA Resolution 46/215). Three decades later, however, drift gillnets remain one of the primary fishing gears in the Indian Ocean, accounting for approximately 30% of tuna catches in this ocean. Recent estimates indicate that several million small cetaceans have been killed in Indian Ocean gillnets over the past few decades. National agencies and the regional fisheries management organization charged with managing tuna fisheries, the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, have yet to effectively document the bycatch of small cetaceans in these fisheries. Here, we review current information on cetacean bycatch in Indian Ocean drift gillnets and propose potential solutions to this important conservation issue.

Objective To test a multidisciplinary approach to reduce heart failure (HF) readmissions that tailors the intensity of care transition intervention to the risk of the patient using a suite of electronic medical record (EMR)-enabled programmes. Methods A prospective controlled before and after study of adult inpatients admitted with HF and two concurrent control conditions (acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and pneumonia (PNA)) was performed between 1 December 2008 and 1 December 2010 at a large urban public teaching hospital. An EMR-based software platform stratified all patients admitted with HF on a daily basis by their 30-day readmission risk using a published electronic predictive model. Patients at highest risk received an intensive set of evidence-based interventions designed to reduce readmission using existing resources. The main outcome measure was readmission for any cause and to any hospital within 30 days of discharge. Results There were 834 HF admissions in the pre-intervention period and 913 in the post-intervention period. The unadjusted readmission rate declined from 26.2% in the pre-intervention period to 21.2% in the post-intervention period (p=0.01), a decline that persisted in adjusted analyses (adjusted OR (AOR)=0.73; 95% CI 0.58 to 0.93, p=0.01). In contrast, there was no significant change in the unadjusted and adjusted readmission rates for PNA and AMI over the same period. There were 45 fewer readmissions with 913 patients enrolled and 228 patients receiving intervention, resulting in a number needed to treat (NNT) ratio of 20. Conclusions An EMR-enabled strategy that targeted scarce care transition resources to high-risk HF patients significantly reduced the risk-adjusted odds of readmission.

Background The Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) is a clinician‐reported outcome measure of scalp hair loss in alopecia areata (AA). Objectives To characterise the magnitudes of change in SALT scores corresponding to meaningful treatment benefits from the patient's perspective. Methods Anchor‐based methods for the estimation of meaningful within‐patient change thresholds were applied to pooled data from a randomised, double‐blind trial of ritlecitinib. Anchors included a patient‐reported measure of change in AA severity, the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGI‐C) and three items comprising the Patient Satisfaction with Hair Growth (P‐Sat) questionnaire. After reviewing Pearson correlations between change‐from‐baseline SALT scores and each anchor to confirm adequate association, potential thresholds were computed as mean change‐from‐baseline SALT scores among patients who reported moderate improvement on the PGI‐C and/or moderate satisfaction on each of three P‐Sat items at week 24. Results Six hundred and fifty participants (86% adults, 14% adolescents) had mean (standard deviation) SALT scores of 90.6 (14.3) at baseline, suggesting a sample with primarily severe AA. Correlations between SALT change‐from‐baseline scores and the patient‐reported items supported their use as anchors. Estimates based on patients reporting moderate improvement in AA (n = 102) on the PGI‐C and those reporting moderate satisfaction on the P‐Sat item related to the amount of hair growth at week 24 (n = 122) were −42.2 (26.1) and −43.1 (26.8), respectively. Supportive estimates based on the remaining P‐Sat items were similar in magnitude. Conclusions Among patients with severe AA, SALT change‐from‐baseline scores of 42 or 43 represent meaningful improvements. While the achievement of low SALT scores of ≤10–≤20 have been used to characterise efficacy in clinical trials, the amount of change required to meet this endpoint far exceeds the estimates in this study. The treatment goals of individual patients must be considered when evaluating benefit in both clinical trials and clinical practice. Applying anchor‐based methods, we used pooled data from a randomised, double‐blind trial of ritlecitinib to estimate meaningful within‐patient change thresholds for the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT), a clinician‐reported measure of scalp hair loss in alopecia areata (AA). Based on patients reporting moderate improvement in AA on the Patient Global Impression of Change and reporting moderate satisfaction on the Patient Satisfaction with Hair Growth at Week 24, estimates of meaningful SALT change from baseline scores were 42 and 43, respectively.

Background Physicians consider ease of use, satisfaction, and preferences when prescribing an inhaler device. These factors may impact appropriate usage and compliance. Methods The objectives were to quantify the relative importance of inhaler attributes in patients currently using Combivent Respimat by eliciting preferences for performance and convenience attributes assessed by items in the Patient Satisfaction and Preference Questionnaire (PASAPQ). Using a pharmacy database, 19,964 adults in the United States who filled ≥2 Combivent Respimat prescriptions were identified. Of those, 8150 patients were randomly selected to receive invitation letters. The online cross-sectional survey included the PASAPQ and best-worst scaling (BWS) questions. The PASAPQ measures satisfaction with medication attributes across two domains: performance and convenience. BWS questions asked participants to select the most and least important device attributes. A descriptive statistics analysis of the PASAPQ and a random-parameters logit model of BWS responses were conducted. Results The survey was completed by 503 participants. Most were female (57.3%), white (88.5%), and 51–70 years old (67.6%). Approximately 47% reported a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnosis, 21.9% asthma, 8.2% other lung disease, and 23.1% more than one lung disease. PASAPQ scores indicated that the majority were satisfied or very satisfied; up to 20% reported being dissatisfied with Combivent Respimat. The three most important inhaler attributes were Feeling that your medicine gets into your lungs , Inhaler works reliably , and Inhaler makes inhaling your medicine easy. The most important attributes corresponded to six of seven items in the PASAPQ performance domain. Conclusions Most participants reported satisfaction with Combivent Respimat. Performance attributes were more important than convenience attributes.

Abstract Context Metastatic pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas (mPPGL) are rare vascular neuroendocrine tumors that highly express vascular growth factors. Systemic treatment options in cases of unresectable multisite disease are limited. Multikinase inhibitors that inhibit angiogenesis, such as lenvatinib, have proven effective in several other malignancies, and may be a viable option for mPPGL. Objective We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of lenvatinib as salvage therapy in mPPGLs. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of mPPGL patients ≥ 18 years of age who received lenvatinib from 2015 to 2020 at a tertiary referral center. Patients were started on lenvatinib 20 mg daily and dose was adjusted according to tolerance or disease progression. Results Eleven patients were included. Median treatment duration was 14.7 months (95% CI, 2.3-NE). Treatment was discontinued due to disease progression, adverse events, or death. Overall survival at 12 months was 80.8% (95% CI, 42.3-94.9%) but its median was not reached. Median progression-free survival was 14.7 months (95% CI, 1.7-NE). Among the 8 patients with measurable disease, overall response rate was 63%, as 5/8 experienced a partial response and 3/8 had stable disease. Worsening hypertension and anemia were the most common adverse events. Conclusion Lenvatinib may be a viable treatment option for mPPGL, although at the potential risk of worsening hypertension. Larger, multicenter studies are needed to better characterize treatment efficacy.

Chronotropic incompetence (CI) is common in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and may be a key reason underlying exercise intolerance in these patients. However, the determinants of CI in HFpEF are unknown. We prospectively studied 157 patients with consecutive HFpEF who underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing and defined CI according to specific thresholds of the percent heart rate reserve (%HRR). CI was diagnosed as present if %HRR <80 if not taking a β blocker and <62 if taking β blockers. Participants who achieved inadequate exercise effort (respiratory exchange ratio ≤1.05) on cardiopulmonary exercise testing were excluded. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with CI. Of the 157 participants, 108 (69%) achieved a respiratory exchange ratio >1.05 and were included in the final analysis. Of these 108 participants, 70% were women, 62% were taking β blockers, and 38% had chronic kidney disease. Most patients with HFpEF met criteria for CI (81 of 108; 75%). Lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), higher B-type natriuretic peptide, and higher pulmonary artery systolic pressure were each associated with CI. A 1-SD decrease in GFR was independently associated with CI after multivariable adjustment (adjusted odds ratio 2.2, 95% confidence interval 1.1 to 4.4, p = 0.02). The association between reduced GFR and CI persisted when considering a variety of measures of chronotropic response. In conclusion, reduced GFR is the major clinical correlate of CI in patients with HFpEF, and further study of the relation between chronic kidney disease and CI may provide insight into the pathophysiology of CI in HFpEF.

Impaired left atrial (LA) function in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is associated with adverse outcomes. A subgroup of HFpEF may have LA myopathy out of proportion to left ventricular (LV) dysfunction; therefore, we sought to characterize HFpEF patients with disproportionate LA myopathy. In the prospective, multicenter, Prevalence of Microvascular Dysfunction in HFpEF study, we defined disproportionate LA myopathy based on degree of LA reservoir strain abnormality in relation to LV myopathy (LV global longitudinal strain [GLS]) by calculating the residuals from a linear regression of LA reservoir strain and LV GLS. We evaluated associations of disproportionate LA myopathy with hemodynamics and performed a plasma proteomic analysis to identify proteins associated with disproportionate LA myopathy; proteins were validated in an independent sample. Disproportionate LA myopathy correlated with better LV diastolic function but was associated with lower stroke volume reserve after passive leg raise independent of atrial fibrillation (AF). Additionally, disproportionate LA myopathy was associated with higher pulmonary artery systolic pressure, higher pulmonary vascular resistance, and lower coronary flow reserve. Of 248 proteins, we identified and validated 5 proteins (involved in cardiomyocyte stretch, extracellular matrix remodeling, and inflammation) that were associated with disproportionate LA myopathy independent of AF. In HFpEF, LA myopathy may exist out of proportion to LV myopathy. Disproportionate LA myopathy is a distinct HFpEF subtype associated with worse hemodynamics and a distinct proteomic signature, independent of AF.