Current Medical Research and Opinion

OBJECTIVE: Infection with the hepatitis delta virus (HDV), a unique RNA virus that requires hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens for its assembly, replication, and transmission, causes severe viral hepatitis. Compared to HBV monoinfection, HDV infection increases the risk of severe liver disease, necessity for liver transplant, and mortality. Global HDV prevalence estimates vary from 5% to 15% among persons with HBV, but screening guidelines for HDV are inconsistent; some recommend risk-based screening, while others recommend universal screening for all people with HBV...

Objectives: To describe and compare real-world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes among individuals with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) receiving second-line therapies (rituximab, romiplostim, or eltrombopag). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a large administrative claims database (January 2013-May 2020) among continuously enrolled patients ≥18 years prescribed second-line ITP therapies. The index date was the date of the first claim of the study medications. Treatment patterns and outcomes were measured during the 12-month follow-up period...

Introduction: Due to a dearth of evidence, we examined the effectiveness of brief-intensive CBT on symptom severity and catastrophic cognition in patients with panic disorder (PD). Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 155 patients were assigned to either the experimental group (2 successive days of brief-intensive CBT-3 hours per day) or the control group (regular pharmacotherapy only). After excluding ineligible participants, 20 patients in the brief intensive CBT group and 18 patients in the control group completed the study and were included in the final analysis...

Objective: The investigation of the real-world use of the extemporaneous combination of nebivolol and amlodipine (NA-EXC) in adult patients diagnosed with hypertension in Europe. Methods: Retrospective analysis of data extracted from seven databases of patient medical records and prescriptions from Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, and Poland, to determine the prevalence and incidence of NA-EXC use and to estimate the number of patients potentially eligible for a single-pill combination of the two antihypertensives...

Background: Although pulmonary hypertension (PH) and Eisenmenger's syndrome (ES) are common complications in adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), the frequency of diagnostic tests and the incidence of PH/ES in patients with ACHD in Japanese clinical practice are unclear. Therefore, we sought to clarify the frequency of diagnostic tests and incidence of PH/ES in patients with ACHD using the Medical Data Vision (MDV) database, the largest anonymized database of diagnosis procedure combination hospitals in Japan...

Objectives: Pressure-Enabled Drug Delivery (PEDD), a method using pressure to advance catheter-delivered drug distribution, can improve treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver metastases, but real-world evidence is limited. We compared baseline patient characteristics, clinical complexity, and post-procedure healthcare resource utilization (HRUs) and clinical complications for PEDD and non-PEDD procedures. Methods: This study used a retrospective, longitudinal, cohort design of claims data from Clarivate's Real World Data Repository, which includes 98% of US payers with over 300 million unique patients from all US states...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities that may limit or prevent adherence to topical ocular hypotensive therapy in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG). METHODS: The UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) database of primary and secondary care and prescription records was analyzed to identify patients with a first (index) diagnosis of OAG during 2016-2020. The primary care records of these patients were screened for diagnostic terms linked to prespecified (qualifying) comorbidities considered to have the potential to impact patients' ability to instill eye drops...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy endpoints of HbA1c and body weight loss after switching from the GLP-1 receptor agonists, semaglutide or dulaglutide, to treatment with the GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist (RA) tirzepatide. METHODS: Models were developed and validated to describe the HbA1c and weight loss time course for semaglutide (SUSTAIN 1-10), dulaglutide (AWARD-11) and tirzepatide (SURPASS 1-5, phase 3 global T2D program). The impact of switching from once weekly GLP-1 RAs to tirzepatide was described by simulating the efficacy time course...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to retrospectively investigate the patient characteristics, treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), and healthcare costs related to management of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) in Japan. METHODS: Cohorts of NF1 patients with or without plexiform neurofibromas (PN) were identified from the Medical Data Vision database in 2008-2019. Baseline characteristics, NF1 medications, HCRU, and associated costs were assessed using descriptive statistics...

BACKGROUND: Cloninger's psychobiosocial model of personality proposes that consistent patterns of health behavior are determined by the complex interaction of different neurobiological processes of the patient's temperament and character dimensions. Poor medication adherence is a pervasive problem among glaucoma patients and can lead to increased morbidity and disability. The objective of the present study was to investigate the association between Cloninger's personality dimensions and medication adherence among glaucoma patients...

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the role of the brain-sparing effect (BSE) on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in fetal growth restriction (FGR). METHODS: In this retrospective study, 127 pregnant women were divided into two groups considering the cerebroplacental ratio (CPR): FGR with abnormal CPR group ( n  = 74) and the appropriate for gestational age with normal Doppler group ( n  = 53). CPR was computed using the pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) to quantitate the waveforms [middle cerebral artery (MCA) PI/umbilical artery (UA) PI and MCA RI/UA RI: a result <1 was taken into account as abnormal]...

BACKGROUND: Accurate identification of delirium in sepsis patients is crucial for guiding clinical diagnosis and treatment. However, there are no accurate biomarkers and indicators at present. We aimed to identify which combinations of cognitive impairment-related biomarkers and other easily accessible assessments best predict delirium in sepsis patients. METHODS: 101 sepsis patients were enrolled in a prospective study cohort. S100B, NSE, and BNIP3 L biomarkers were detected in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid and patients' optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD)...

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and dependent cannabis use or cannabis use disorder (CUD+) are independent risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Usage of cannabis for pain increased in IBD patients. However, associated cardiovascular safety remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) associated with CUD + in hospitalized IBD patients. METHODS: We analyzed the National Inpatient Sample 2020 using ICD-10-CM codes; hospitalized IBD patients were identified and divided based on CUD's presence or absence...

Different stakeholders, such as authors, research institutions, and healthcare professionals (HCPs) may determine the impact of peer-reviewed publications in different ways. Commonly-used measures of research impact, such as the Journal Impact Factor or the H-index, are not designed to evaluate the impact of individual articles. They are heavily dependent on citations, and therefore only measure impact of the overall journal or researcher respectively, taking months or years to accrue. The past decade has seen the development of article-level metrics (ALMs), that measure the online attention received by an individual publication in contexts including social media platforms, news media, citation activity, and policy and patent citations...

BACKGROUND: Cardiac morphology and function, which are conventionally evaluated by echocardiography, are often abnormal in decompensated cirrhosis. We aimed to evaluate the association of echocardiography-related parameters with prognosis in cirrhosis. METHODS: This retrospective study included 104 decompensated cirrhotic patients, in whom cardiac structure and function were measured by echocardiography, including mitral inflow early diastolic velocity/mitral inflow late diastolic velocity (E/A), left atrium diameter, left ventricular end-diastolic dimension, interventricular septal thickness, left ventricular posterior wall thickness, right atrial transverse diameter, right atrial longitudinal diameter, right ventricular dimension (RVD), stroke volume, cardiac output, left ventricular ejection fraction, and fractional shortening...

Objective: Limited real-world evidence exists to better understand the patient experience of living with symptoms and impacts of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). This study aimed to (1) describe patient-reported perspectives of NASH symptoms and impacts on patients' daily lives and (2) develop a patient-centered conceptual NASH model. Methods: A cross-sectional study using semi-structured qualitative interviews was conducted among adults (≥18 years) in the United States living with NASH. Eligible participants were diagnosed with NASH, had mild to advanced fibrosis (F1-F3), and no other causes of liver disease...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Plain language resources (PLR) are lay summaries of clinical trial results or plain language summaries of publications, in digital/visual/language formats. They aim to provide accurate information in jargon-free, and easy-to-understand language that can meet the health information needs of the general public, especially patients and caregivers. These are typically developed by the study sponsors or investigators, or by national public health bodies, research hospitals, patient organizations, and non-profit organizations...

OBJECTIVES: Preeclampsia (PE) poses a serious threat to the health of the pregnant woman and her developing fetus due to the difficulty in diagnosing the condition. The disease can develop and worsen suddenly without noticeable signs and symptoms. Thus, there is an urgent need for a simple Point of Care Test (POCT) that improves accessibility to testing and can be used as an aid in the diagnosis of PE. CercaTest Red is a noninvasive detection kit for impending preeclampsia using urine from pregnant women...