High Medical Risk Research Articles

Pay more attention to the precise assessment of extraordinary agent wounds

Although the extraordinary agent wound is not common, the difficulties of its diagnosis, treatment, and the high medical risk as well as the indeterminacy of its prognosis bring great challenges to the clinicians. It is mainly attributed to the complexities of extraordinary agent wounds and the deficiency in the assessment technic of wound. Therefore, it is necessary and important to establish a precise assessment method to benefit the surgical planning, pre-estimation of peri-operative risk, and the doctor-patient communication. Based on the relative scientific research and our recent clinical research data, we bring forth our opinions on the current status and the development trend of the assessment of extraordinary agent wounds in this article.

Demographic, Medical, and Psychosocial Predictors of Pregnancy Anxiety.

Pregnancy anxiety is associated with risk of preterm birth and an array of other birth, infant, and childhood outcomes. However, previous research has not helped identify those pregnant women at greatest risk of experiencing this specific, contextually-based affective condition. We examined associations between demographic, medical, and psychosocial factors and pregnancy anxiety at 24-26 weeks of gestation in a prospective, multicentre cohort study of 5271 pregnant women in Montreal, Canada. Multivariate analyses indicated that higher pregnancy anxiety was independently related to having an unintended pregnancy, first birth, higher medical risk, and higher perceived risk of complications. Among psychosocial variables, higher pregnancy anxiety was associated with lower perceived control of pregnancy, lower commitment to the pregnancy, more stressful life events, higher perceived stress, presence of job stress, lower self-esteem and more social support. Pregnancy anxiety was also higher in women who had experienced early income adversity and those who did not speak French as their primary language. Psychosocial variables explained a significant amount of the variance in pregnancy anxiety independently of demographic and medical variables. Women with pregnancy-related risk factors, stress of various kinds, and other psychosocial factors experienced higher pregnancy anxiety in this large Canadian sample. Some of the unique predictors of pregnancy anxiety match those of earlier US studies, while others point in new directions. Screening for high pregnancy anxiety may be warranted, particularly among women giving birth for the first time and those with high-risk pregnancies.

Parenting behavior at 2years predicts school-age performance at 7years in very preterm children.

Parenting influences child development, but it is unclear whether early parenting behavior can influence school-age outcomes in very preterm (VPT) children, and/or if certain groups of VPT children may be more affected by early parenting behavior. These research questions were examined. Participants were 147 children born <30weeks' gestation or birth weight <1250g and their primary caregiver. At term corrected age (CA), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to determine presence and severity of brain abnormality and medical data collected. High medical risk was defined as the presence of at least one of sepsis, necrotizing enterocolitis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, moderate to severe white matter abnormality on MRI, or postnatal corticosteroids. At 2years CA, parent-child interaction was assessed, and at 7years CA, general intelligence (IQ), language, executive function, academic skills, and social-emotional functioning were assessed. Higher levels of parent-child synchrony, and parent facilitation, sensitivity and positive affect at 2years were associated with better child outcomes at 7years, while higher levels of intrusiveness and negative affect were associated with poorer outcomes. Many of these relationships remained after controlling for early child cognitive development. Interactions between child medical risk (higher/lower) and parenting were limited to child reading, math, and executive functioning outcomes, with stronger relationships for lower medical risk children. The contribution of early parenting to VPT children's school-age performance is significant, with stronger effects for lower medical risk children in some outcomes. These findings support the premise that parenting strategies should be included in the NICU and early interventions programs for VPT infants.

Late Longitudinal Comparison of Endovascular and Open Popliteal Aneurysm Repairs

We sought to define suitable anatomy predicting durable exclusion of popliteal artery aneurysms (PAAs) and define optimal patient selection criteria for endovascular repair (ER). Seventy-five PAAs were repaired in 66 patients (64 male and 2 female) over the past 13 years. Fifty-two aneurysms (69%) were treated with open surgical exclusion and/or bypass using autologous vein (69%) or polytetrafluorethylene (31%) conduit. Extended bypass targets required inflow from the common femoral artery in 15% of limbs and outflow via a tibial artery in 31%. Since May 2001, ER was considered in patients with high medical risk, limited vessel tortuosity, absence of significant occlusive disease (ankle-brachial index > 0.9), and PAA not involving below knee segments. Interventions were performed via antegrade femoral access in 23 limbs (31%) using commercially available endografts. Device diameters ranged between 7 and 13 mm, with a median of 2 devices per PAA, and mean treatment length was 22 cm (range, 5-36 cm). All patients were followed with duplex ultrasound surveillance and were prescribed clopidogrel and/or aspirin. Patients treated endovascularly were older (82 vs. 70 years old, P = 0.01), but had shorter length of stay (2 vs. 12 days, P = 0.01) and lower complication rates (8% vs. 17%, P = 0.02). Mean surveillance interval was 39 months with similar 4-year survival (67.9% open and 73.7% endovascular). Primary and secondary patencies were 67.2%, 67.2% after ER and 65.5%, 78.4% for open at 4 years, respectively. Four of 6 endovascular failures were thrombosis within 4 months of intervention and had conversions to open repair (OR). Secondary interventions were required after 48.1% of endovascular and 54.1% of ORs. Three limbs were lost in the series (2 open and 1 endovascular). Similar outcomes can be expected after endovascular and open PAA repair with adherence to specific anatomic and technical selection requisites.

Total Hip Arthroplasty With a Non-Modular Conical Stem and Transverse Subtrochanteric Osteotomy in Treatment of High Dislocated Hips

Conventional stems may be unsuitable for hypoplastic femurs associated with severe dysplasia, meanwhile, custom-made or modular stems in total hip arthroplasty are often complex and expensive. This series included 21 Crowe type IV dysplastic hips in which a non-modular cementless conical stem was implanted with transverse subtrochanteric femoral osteotomy. Follow up averaged 40months. Twenty hips survived with mean Harris hip score improved from 52 to 90. One hip failed for stem loosening. The average leg lengthening was 3.8cm with transient sciatic nerve palsy occurring in three hips. Femoral offset averaged 3.3cm postoperatively. The non-modular conical stem not only obviated the complexities, high medical cost and potential risk at the neck-stem interface associated with stem modularity, but also simplified surgical technique.

Multi-Organ Exchange: The Whole Is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

Kidney exchange, where candidates with organ failure trade incompatible but willing donors, is a life-saving alternative to the deceased donor waitlist, which has inadequate supply to meet demand. While fielded kidney exchanges see huge benefit from altruistic kidney donors (who give an organ without a paired needy candidate), a significantly higher medical risk to the donor deters similar altruism with livers. In this paper, we begin by proposing the idea of liver exchange, and show on demographically accurate data that vetted kidney exchange algorithms can be adapted to clear such an exchange at the nationwide level. We then explore cross-organ donation where kidneys and livers can be bartered for each other. We show theoretically that this multi-organ exchange provides linearly more transplants than running separate kidney and liver exchanges; this linear gain is a product of altruistic kidney donors creating chains that thread through the liver pool. We support this result experimentally on demographically accurate multi-organ exchanges. We conclude with thoughts regarding the fielding of a nationwide liver or joint liver-kidney exchange from a legal and computational point of view.

Outcomes of carotid endarterectomy versus stenting in comparable medical risk patients

In medically high-risk patients the choice between carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) can be difficult. The purpose of this study was to compare risk-stratified outcomes of CAS and CEA. Patients who underwent isolated primary CEA (n= 11,336) or primary CAS (n= 544) at 29 centers in the Vascular Study Group of New England were analyzed (2003-2013); patients with previous ipsilateral CEA or CAS, or concomitant coronary artery bypass graft were excluded. A medical risk score based on predicted 5-year mortality was developed for each patient using a Cox proportional hazards model. Patients in the highest risk score quartile were termed high-risk (vs normal-risk for the other three quartiles). Medically high-risk patients had a 5-year survival of 65% and comprised 23% of CEA and 25% of CAS patients. Risk-stratified outcomes were compared within neurologically symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Among asymptomatic patients, rates of in-hospital stroke and/or death were not different between CAS and CEA in normal and high-risk cohorts, ranging from 0.7% in normal-risk CEA patients to 1.6% in high-risk CAS patients. In symptomatic patients, significantly worse outcomes were seen with CAS compared with CEA in normal-risk and high-risk patients. Normal-risk symptomatic patients had a stroke or death rate of 1.3% with CEA, but 5.2% with CAS (P< .01). In high-risk symptomatic patients, the stroke or death rate was 1.5% with CEA and 9.3% with CAS (P< .01). No significant differences were seen between asymptomatic CEA and CAS within risk strata across secondary outcome measures of stroke, death, or myocardial infarction, and ipsilateral stroke, major stroke, or death. However, symptomatic high-risk CAS patients had significantly greater rates of all secondary outcomes compared with CEA except death, and symptomatic normal-risk CAS patients had only significantly greater rates of death and stroke, death, or myocardial infarction. In the Vascular Study Group of New England, asymptomatic normal- and high-risk patients do equally well after CEA or CAS. However, normal- and high-risk symptomatic patients have substantially worse outcomes with CAS compared with CEA. High medical risk alone might be an insufficient indication for CAS in symptomatic patients.

Behavioural outcomes at 3 years of age among late preterm infants admitted to neonatal intensive care: a cohort study

ObjectiveExamine the behavioural outcomes at age 3 years of late preterm infants (LPIs) who were admitted to neonatal intensive care (NIC) in comparison with LPIs who were not admitted.MethodThis cohort...

Dilation of the Internal Carotid Artery at the Entrance to the Carotid Canal following Carotid Artery Stenting Predicts Postprocedural Hyperperfusion

Objective: Ischemic stroke and hyperperfusion (HP) are the most frequent and important complications in carotid artery stenosis surgery. Carotid artery stenting (CAS) has replaced carotid endarterectomy in high medical risk patients. Prior to CAS, initial angiographic findings disclose a small caliber internal carotid artery (IC) due to stenosis, but after the stenosis is relieved, the diameter of the IC becomes enlarged. We investigated whether a change in the IC diameter was related to ischemic complication and HP using cerebral blood flow single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Methods: From February 2008 to December 2009 we consecutively performed 39 CAS on 35 patients. We retrospectively analyzed the relationship between changes at the level before the entry to the petrous bone canal of the IC and stenosis of the etiological artery, improvement in stenosis, HP and postintervention diffusion-weighted image high-intensity lesions. Statistical analyses comprised Wilcoxon/Kruskal-Wallis analysis, analysis of variance and a multivariate logistic analysis. Results: A total of 9 cases showed HP in SPECT. Severity of IC stenosis and change in the IC at the level before the entry to the petrous bone canal were related with statistical significance to HP. Other factors did not correlate with HP. Conclusion: Procedure-related dilation of the IC at the level before the entry to the petrous bone canal occurred due to release of the etiological stenosis. This finding can also support the prediction of HP.

Treatment of acute visceral aortic pathology with fenestrated/branched endovascular repair in high-surgical-risk patients

The safety and feasibility of fenestrated/branched endovascular repair of acute visceral aortic disease in high-risk patients is unknown. The purpose of this report is to describe our experience with surgeon-modified endovascular aneurysm repair (sm-EVAR) for the urgent or emergent treatment of pathology involving the branched segment of the aorta in patients deemed to have prohibitively high medical and/or anatomic risk for open repair. A retrospective review was performed on all patients treated with sm-EVAR for acute indications. Planning was based on three-dimensional computed tomographic angiogram reconstructions and graft configurations included various combinations of branch, fenestration, or scallop modifications. Sixteen patients (mean age [± standard deviation], 68 ± 10 years; 88% male) deemed high risk for open repair underwent urgent or emergent repair using sm-EVAR. Indications included degenerative suprarenal or thoracoabdominal aneurysm (six), presumed or known mycotic aneurysm (four), anastomotic pseudoaneurysm (three), false lumen rupture of type B dissection (two), and penetrating aortic ulceration (one). Nine (56%) had previous aortic surgery and all patients were either American Society of Anesthesiologists class IV (n = 9) or IV-E (n = 7). A total of 40 visceral vessels (celiac, 10; superior mesenteric artery, 10; right renal artery, 10; left renal artery, 10) were revascularized with a combination of fenestrations (33), directional graft branches (six), and graft scallops (one). Technical success was 94% (n = 15/16), with one open conversion. Median contrast use was 126 mL (range, 41-245) and fluoroscopy time was 70 minutes (range, 18-200). Endoleaks were identified intraoperatively in four patients (type II, n = 3; type IV, n = 1), but none have required remediation. Mean length of stay was 12 ± 15 days (median, 5.5; range, 3-59). Single complications occurred in five (31%) patients as follows: brachial sheath hematoma (one), stroke (one), ileus (one), respiratory failure (one), and renal failure (one). An additional patient experienced multiple complications including spinal cord ischemia (one) and multiorgan failure resulting in death (n = 1; in-hospital mortality, 6.3%). The majority of patients were discharged to home (63%; n = 10) or short-term rehabilitation units (25%; n = 4), while one patient required admission to a long-term acute care setting. There were no reinterventions at a median follow-up of 6.2 (range, 1-16.1) months. Postoperative computed tomographic angiogram was available for all patients and demonstrated 100% branch vessel patency, with one type III endoleak pending intervention. There were two late deaths at 1.4 and 13.4 months due to nonaortic-related pathology. Urgent or emergent treatment of acute pathology involving the visceral aortic segment with fenestrated/branched endograft repair is feasible and safe in selected high-risk patients; however, the durability of these repairs is yet to be determined.

Endovascular Treatment versus Open Repair for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms: The Influence of Fitness in Decision Making

Two methods of repair are currently available for an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), open aneurysm repair and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). The decision making depends on the balance of risks and benefits. The treating physician must take into account the patient's life expectancy, the patient's fitness, the anatomic suitability that makes endovascular repair possible, and finally the patient's preference. The patient's fitness is an important variable predicting the outcome of AAA surgical reconstruction. The hypothesis is that the impact of risk factors upon perioperative mortality might differ between patients undergoing open repair and endovascular repair. The purpose of this review article is to investigate whether fitter patients with a large AAA benefit more from having endovascular rather than open repair. According to the available data, there is emerging evidence that patients at high medical risk for open repair may benefit from EVAR while in low risk patients with suitable anatomy for EVAR, both techniques have similar effects. There is rising evidence that a patient with ruptured AAA would benefit more from an endovascular procedure if eligible, and thus fitness in such emergencies is not the first priority but anatomical suitability for EVAR.

Results of polytetrafluoroethylene-covered nitinol stents crossing the inguinal ligament

Placement of arterial endoprostheses across the inguinal ligament is generally thought to be contraindicated for fear of device kinking, fracture, or occlusion and possible obliteration of the deep femoral artery (DFA). We present a series of selected patients who underwent insertion of polytetrafluoroethylene-covered nitinol stents (Viabahn stent grafts. W. L. Gore and Associates Inc, Flagstaff, Ariz) crossing the middle common femoral artery (CFA) on an emergency basis or who were considered high risk for open surgery. We treated 16 patients with 17 lesions adjacent to or within the CFA with stent grafts that originated in the common iliac (two) or external iliac (15) artery and terminated in the distal CFA (12), DFA (three), or superficial femoral (two) artery. Stent grafts were placed on an elective (10) or emergency (seven) basis for arterial occlusive disease (10), bleeding (six), and aneurysmal disease (one). Comorbidities favoring endovascular treatment were high medical risk (10) previous scarring (four), morbid obesity (two), and dense arterial calcification precluding open surgical repair (one). The DFA was deliberately sacrificed in one of the 17 cases. No patient suffered major complications after the procedure. All grafts remained patent based on duplex ultrasound imaging during follow-up (mean, 12.3 months; range, 1-58 months). Two patients required an additional endovascular intervention to treat inflow or outflow stenoses during follow-up, yielding a 2-year primary patency rate of 93.8% and assisted primary patency rate of 100%. These results suggest that selective placement of Viabahn stent grafts across the inguinal ligament to treat arterial occlusive disease or bleeding may prove to be safe, effective, and associated with acceptable patency rates. This strategy helps avoid complicated open arterial surgery in high-risk patients with associated multiple medical risk factors or hostile scarred groins.

Invited commentary

The utilization of lower extremity endovascular interventions for the treatment of both claudication and critical limb ischemia has dramatically increased in the last decade. Part of this increase may be accounted for because of technological advances and part may be due to more aggressive treatment of patients considered high medical risk who would have previously been precluded from more traditional open bypass procedures. Dr Al-Nouri and colleagues have provided a detailed analysis of their institutional experience with endovascular interventions in the superficial femoral artery. Despite the small size of the study group and the cohort heterogeneity, their results have produced some important treatment options and essential patient messages that can be used by the peripheral interventionalist. First, patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) by definition generally represent a group of persons with a heavier burden of atherosclerotic disease. As a result, these unfortunate patients also have more concomitant comorbidities than persons with claudication alone. Taking steps to reduce perioperative risk such as maximizing atherosclerotic risk factor management medically, using local or regional anesthetic modalities, employing advanced wound care techniques, or even discussing observation or primary amputation alone are all fundamental to patient care and communication. Thus, management of CLI requires a multidisciplinary team approach and detailed patient communication and understanding of the possible negative outcomes. Conversely, claudicants tend to have less diffuse peripheral vascular disease, better tibial runoff vessels, and also in many situations, better functional outcomes. Even though failed superficial femoral artery (SFA) interventions in patients with lifestyle-limiting claudication (especially TransAtlantic Inter-Society [TASC] C and D compared with A and B lesions) may not necessarily lead to amputation or bypass, the authors recommend primary bypass in those with adequate autogenous conduit. Second, both a clear assessment of the extent of lower extremity atherosclerotic disease and an extensive armamentarium of potential interventions are keys to success. In Dr Al-Nouri's series, 36% of the patients had claudication alone, whereas the other 64% had either rest pain or tissue loss. While an isolated intervention in the SFA may be adequate for improved flow in a claudicant, a person with CLI needs restoration of in-line, pulsatile flow to heal a wound or alleviate rest pain. As these patients have more diffuse disease with multiple arterial segments involved, a combination of interventions may be necessary. In cases with poor tibial runoff or a heavily diseased SFA, failure rates of isolated SFA interventions will be higher. It is not surprising that this study demonstrated that interventions performed in CLI patients with more advanced TASC C and D lesions were more likely to fail and need either bypass or amputation. With more advanced SFA disease, these patients probably had coexisting tibial disease and more heavily calcified vessels. It would be interesting to see Dr Al-Nouri's results in the treatment of multisegment disease in patients with CLI. Nonetheless, Dr Al-Nouri and colleagues had a 40% and 46% secondary patency rate for TASC C and D lesion interventions, respectively, and a 93% overall limb salvage rate. They conclude that in patients with claudication and advanced lesions, perhaps open bypass should be the treatment of choice. However, in patients with CLI, an aggressive approach to limb salvage, whether open or endovascular based upon medical risk, may be a justifiable and acceptable suggestion to primary amputation. Failed superficial femoral artery intervention for advanced infrainguinal occlusive disease has a significant negative impact on limb salvageJournal of Vascular SurgeryVol. 56Issue 1PreviewEndovascular treatment of superficial femoral artery (SFA) lesions is a well-established practice. The repercussions of failed SFA interventions are unclear. Our goal was to review the efficacy of SFA stenting and define negative effects of its failure. Full-Text PDF Open Archive

Disparate Patterns of Prenatal Care Utilization Stratified by Medical and Psychosocial Risk

To evaluate patterns of prenatal care utilization stratified by medical and psychosocial risk. A retrospective cohort of 786 pregnant women who subsequently delivered live births from 1999 to 2003 at the University of Michigan were classified into high medical, high psychosocial, high medical and high psychosocial (dual high risk) and low-risk pregnancies. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses assessed the association between risk and prenatal care utilization using the Kotelchuck Index. Of 786 pregnancies, 202 (25.7%) were high medical risk, 178 (22.7%) were high psychosocial risk, 227 (28.9%) were dual high risk and 179 (22.8%) were low-risk. Over 31% of dual high risk and 25% of high medical risk pregnancies received "adequate plus" prenatal care versus 10% of high psychosocial risk pregnancies. In multivariate analyses, adjusted for risk, race and insurance, high psychosocial risk pregnancies (OR = 1.69; 95% CI 1.06-2.72) were significantly more likely to receive inadequate prenatal care than care of greater intensity. Many high psychosocial risk pregnancies do not receive adequate prenatal care.

The role of the Heart Failure Survival Score and psychosocial stress in predicting event-free survival in patients referred for heart transplantation

We read with interest the article “Selecting patients for heart transplantation: Comparison of the Heart Failure Survival Score (HFSS) and the Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM)” by Goda et al. Their study showed that the HFSS and the SHFM are similarly predictive of event-free survival in heart transplant (HTx) candidates enrolled at a single center in the USA. We also found that a HFSS denoting high medical risk predicts time until death, urgent transplantation, and implantation of ventricular assist devices (VAD) in patients newly listed for an HTx with Eurotransplant; in that same study, we have also shown that low HFSS risk predicts de-listing due to clinical improvement. The article by Goda et al prompted us to examine the HFSS as a predictor of event-free survival in our multisite study of 318 German-speaking patients. Following the analytic approach employed by Goda et al, we combined death, VAD implantation, and urgent HTx into one outcome, and stratified the HFSS into low ( 8.10), medium (7.20–8.09), and high ( 7.19) risk. Overall, our findings (Figure 1) are similar to those reported by Goda et al, showing a significant decrease of event-free survival with increasing medical risk (1-year event-free survival for the low-, medium-, and high-risk groups of 70%, 57%, and 37%, respectively, vs 89%, 72%, and 60% in the Goda et al sample). The overall lower event-free survival rates in our sample may be due to (a) differences in HFSS, indicating a worse health status in our sample than in Goda et al’s sample (mean HFSS: 7.84 0.92, 8.04 0.89, respectively; p 0.001), and (b) the fact that urgent HTx, the most frequently observed outcome in our patients, occurred soon after listing. Moreover, in our prior work, we also showed that psychosocial stress (depression and social isolation) predicted outcomes, such as VAD implantation and urgent HTx, independent of the HFSS. Therefore, we now evaluate low psychosocial stress (neither depressed nor socially integrated), medium (either depressed or socially isolated), and high psychosocial stress (depressed and socially isolated) as predictors of event-free survival. Incidentally, the three psy-

Evaluating Depression Care Management in a Community Setting: Main Outcomes for a Medicaid HMO Population with Multiple Medical and Psychiatric Comorbidities

The authors describe the implementation of a depression care management (DCM) program at Colorado Access, a public sector health plan, and describe the program's clinical and system outcomes for members with chronic medical conditions. High medical risk, high cost Medicaid health plan members were identified and systematically screened for depression. A total of 370 members enrolled in the DCM program. Longitudinal analyses revealed significantly reduced depression severity scores at 3, 6, and 12 months after intervention as compared to baseline depression scores. At 12 months, 56% of enrollees in the DCM program had either a 50% reduction in PHQ-9 scores or a PHQ-9 score < 10. Longitudinal economic analyses comparing 12 months before and after intervention revealed a significant but modest increase in ER visits, outpatient office visits, and overall medical and pharmacy costs when adjusted for months enrolled in DCM. Limitations and recommendations for the integrated depression care management are discussed.

Placenta: A silent witness: Clinical and forensic importance of placental examination

There is no doubt that obstetrics carries high medical liability risk. In many countries, gynecologists-obstetricians who attend childbirths and perform complex obstetric procedures are faced with increasing malpractice insurance premiums and litigation risk. The american College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (aCOG) publishes its survey of Professional Liability since 1983, with the objective to analyze the effect that malpractice litigation has had on the practice of obstetrics and gynecology in the United states1. according to the 2003 aCOG survey, 76.3% of the members who answered the questionnaire have been involved in a lawsuit at least once in their professional career; gynecologists/obstetricians have been sued a total of 2.64 times per individual over the course of their careers1,2. In the 2006 aCOG survey, 89% of respondents indicated that they had been sued during their careers. The average number of claims per obstetrician was 2.6 (3). The aCOG’s 2009 survey on Professional Liability showed that nearly 91% of gynecologists/obstetricians had experienced at least one liability claim filed against them during their professional careers, with an average of 2.69 claims per physician. In 2009, 62% percent of the total reported claims were for obstetric care as opposed to gynecology, the same as in the 2006 survey3,4. In the 2003 aCOG survey, fetal monitoring, neurologically impaired children, neonatal death, shoulder dystocia, uterine rupture, and “decision-to-incision” time were identified as clinical factors frequently present in obstetric malpractice cases1. In both 2006 and 2009 surveys the reasons for claim were neurologically impaired infant (in 31% of cases in both surveys), stillbirth/neonatal death (with 16 % of cases in both surveys), and delay or failure in diagnosis (in 11% of cases in 2009 vs. 14% in 2006)3,4. In all the surveys, neurological impair is the leading cause of the reasons for liability claim, with the cerebral palsy being the most serious damage. The possible etiologies have been discussed for years, and although the damage to neural tissue is undebatable, there is still no agreement upon the timing of the damage. some authors think that 90% of the cases of cerebral palsy are not due to intrapartum events, while in the opinion of others most of the devastating events occurred in the perinatal period5,6. It is still impossible to firmly determine in each single case whether the hypoxic insult has developed during delivery, in the first few hours after birth, or was already present before the labor began, as a consequence of long lasting hypoxia during pregnancy. Careful gross and histopathological examination of the placenta in chosen cases can elucidate the events that occurred some time before labor, and help to connect and reconstruct the course of disease7,8.

Endovascular Management as First Therapy for Chronic Total Occlusion of the Lower Extremity Arteries:Comparison of Balloon Angioplasty, Stenting, and Directional Atherectomy

To evaluate the role of endovascular therapy in the management of infrainguinal arterial chronic total occlusions (CTOs). Data on all patients with CTOs treated at a single center from 2004 to 2010 were extracted from a prospectively maintained database for retrospective analysis. Patient demographics, angiographic studies, noninvasive vascular test results, and clinical outcomes were evaluated. In this time frame, 481 patients (283 men; mean age 71.7±11.5 years, range 52-85) with claudication (n = 177) or critical limb ischemia (CLI, n = 304) were treated for 688 CTOs. Lesions were segregated according to location [SFA (n = 193), popliteal (n = 67), tibial (n = 217), and multilevel (n = 211)] and analyzed based on treatment mode (angioplasty, angioplasty with stenting, or atherectomy) and clinical indication. Primary patency, assisted primary patency, and secondary patency, as well as limb salvage rates for CLI patients, were calculated. At 2 years in claudicants with CTOs confined to the SFA, primary patency ranged from 44% to 58% and secondary patency to 92% depending on treatment type; there were no significant differences among the treatments. However, in CLI patients with SFA CTOs, atherectomy produced better outcomes at 2 years (p = 0.002 for primary and p = 0.012 for secondary patency) than angioplasty alone. The limb salvage rates ranged from 73% to 91% (no differences among treatment types). In diabetics, CTOs treated with angioplasty and stent had improved secondary patency rates over angioplasty alone. The endovascular management of CTO results in reasonable primary patency; moreover, secondary patency at 2 years is excellent. Endovascular therapy should be the first-line option for many patients with peripheral artery disease, including those with CLI, claudicants with poor bypass conduit, or patients at high medical risk for surgery. The presence of CTOs does not appear to change these recommendations. Although multiple reinterventions may be required, endovascular therapies can be considered a primary therapy for many patients with CTO.

Selection for early surgery in asymptomatic mitral regurgitation: A Markov model

BackgroundCurrent guidelines propose mitral valve repair in asymptomatic chronic mitral regurgitation (MR) when the likelihood of repair is 90% or more. As this figure is not evidence-based, we sought whether the results of a decision-analytic model could facilitate the selection between early surgery (ES) and watchful waiting (WW) based on current guidelines. MethodsA Markov model was developed to reflect the anticipated health states in MR (pre-operative, post-operative, post-complication and death). Risks and transitions were informed by the literature. Implications of the strategies for survival, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), cost and cost-effectiveness were calculated from a US healthcare provider perspective. ResultsIn the reference case (90% repair), QALY with ES was superior to WW (11.2 [0.4–21.3] vs 10.7 [95%CI: 1.0–21.3]) at an incremental cost-effectiveness of $54,659 ($45,030–$64,288) per QALY. Sensitivity analyses of health benefit showed the main variables influencing outcome were repair rate, operative mortality and risks of heart failure and death with medical management. At the registry repair rate (50%), outcomes of ES were worse than WW, and threshold analysis showed that a repair rate of 84% was required for ES to be superior. High medical risk (yearly heart failure risk 5.6±6.6% and mortality 2.5±4%) was the most favorable scenario for surgery; ES was more effective when mortality in the WW group was >3.5%/year. ConclusionA Markov model might be used to guide the selection of asymptomatic patients for mitral repair, based on local variations in risk and complications as well as repair rate.

Optimized patient transfer using an innovative multidisciplinary assessment in the Kanton Aargau (OPTIMA I): an observational survey in lower respiratory tract infections

Current medical scores have limited efficiency and safety profiles to enable assignment to the most appropriate treatment site in patients with lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs). We describe our current triage practice and assess the potential of a combination of CURB65 with proadrenomedullin (ProADM) levels for triage decisions.Consecutive patients with LRTIs presenting to our emergency department were prospectively followed and retrospectively classified according to CURB65 and ProADM levels (CURB65-A). Low medical risk patients were further subgrouped according to biopsychosocial and functional risks. We compared the proportion of patients virtually allocated to triage sites with actual triage decisions and assessed the added impact of ProADM in a subgroup.Overall, 93% of 146 patients were hospitalised. Among the 138 patients with available CURB65-A, 17.4% had a low medical risk indicating possible treatment in an outpatient or non-acute medical setting; 34.1% had an intermediate medical risk (short-hospitalisation); and 48.6% had a high medical risk (hospitalisation). Fewer patients were in a low CURB65-A class (I) than a low CURB65 class (0,1) (17.4% vs. 46.3%, p <0.001). Mean length of hospitalisation was 9.8 days including 3.6 days after reaching medical stability. In 60.3% of patients, hospitalisation was prolonged after medical stability mainly for medical reasons.Current rates of hospitalisation are high in patients with LRTI and length of stay frequently extended beyond time of medical stabilization. The lower proportion of patients reclassified as low risk by adding ProADM to the CURB65 score might improve confidence in the triage algorithm.