The Working Group on Civilian Biodefense has developed consensus-based recommendations for measures to be taken by medical and public health professionals following the use of plague as a biological weapon against a civilian population.

The working group included 25 representatives from major academic medical centers and research, government, military, public health, and emergency management institutions and agencies.

MEDLINE databases were searched from January 1966 to June 1998 for the Medical Subject Headings plague, Yersinia pestis, biological weapon, biological terrorism, biological warfare, and biowarfare. Review of the bibliographies of the references identified by this search led to subsequent identification of relevant references published prior to 1966. In addition, participants identified other unpublished references and sources. Additional MEDLINE searches were conducted through January 2000.

The first draft of the consensus statement was a synthesis of information obtained in the formal evidence-gathering process. The working group was convened to review drafts of the document in October 1998 and May 1999. The final statement incorporates all relevant evidence obtained by the literature search in conjunction with final consensus recommendations supported by all working group members.

An aerosolized plague weapon could cause fever, cough, chest pain, and hemoptysis with signs consistent with severe pneumonia 1 to 6 days after exposure. Rapid evolution of disease would occur in the 2 to 4 days after symptom onset and would lead to septic shock with high mortality without early treatment. Early treatment and prophylaxis with streptomycin or gentamicin or the tetracycline or fluoroquinolone classes of antimicrobials would be advised.

Plague as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. Working Group on Civilian Biodefense.

JAMA

Dilated cardiomyopathy is conventionally defined as the presence of left ventricular or biventricular dilatation or systolic dysfunction in the absence of abnormal loading conditions (eg, primary valve disease) or significant coronary artery disease sufficient to cause ventricular remodelling. This definition has been recognised as overly restrictive, as left ventricular hypokinesis without dilation could be the initial presentation of dilated cardiomyopathy. The causes of dilated cardiomyopathy comprise genetic (primary dilated cardiomyopathy) or acquired factors (secondary dilated cardiomyopathy). Acquired factors include infections, toxins, cancer treatment, endocrinopathies, pregnancy, tachyarrhythmias, and immune-mediated diseases. 5-15% of patients with acquired dilated cardiomyopathy harbour a likely pathogenic or pathogenic gene variant (ie, gene mutation). Therefore, the diagnostic tests and therapeutic approach should always consider both genetic and acquired factors. This Seminar will focus on the current multidimensional diagnostic and therapeutic approach and discuss the underlying pathophysiology that could drive future treatments aiming to repair or replace the existing gene mutation, or target the specific inflammatory, metabolic, or pro-fibrotic drivers of genetic or acquired dilated cardiomyopathy.

Dilated cardiomyopathy: causes, mechanisms, and current and future treatment approaches.

Lancet

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare condition characterized by fevers, rash, and arthralgia/arthritis. Most doctors treating AOSD in the Netherlands treat &lt;5 patients per year. Currently, there is no internationally accepted treatment guideline for AOSD.

To conduct a Delphi panel aimed at reaching consensus about diagnostic and treatment strategies for patients with AOSD and to use the outcomes as a basis for a treatment algorithm.

The Delphi panel brought together 18 AOSD experts: rheumatologists, internists and paediatricians. The Delphi process consisted of 3 rounds. In the first two rounds, online list of questions and statements were completed. In the third round, final statements were discussed during a virtual meeting and a final vote took place. Consensus threshold was set at 80%. Two targeted literature searches were performed identifying the level of evidence of the consensus-based statements.

Consensus was reached on 29 statements, including statements related to diagnosis and diagnostic tests, definition of response and remission, the therapy, the use of methotrexate, and tapering of treatment. The panel consented on reduction of the use of glucocorticoids to avoid side-effect, and preferred the use of biologics over conventional treatment. The role of interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 blocking agents was considered important in the treatment of AOSD.

In this Delphi panel, a high level of consensus was achieved on recommendations for diagnosis and therapy of AOSD that can serve as a basis for a treatment guideline.

Management of adult-onset Still's disease: evidence- and consensus-based recommendations by experts.

Rheumatology

Midline incisional hernia guidelines: the European Hernia Society.

British Journal of Surgery

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is a disorder caused by the failure of the pancreas to deliver a minimum/threshold level of specific pancreatic digestive enzymes to the intestine, leading to the maldigestion of nutrients and macronutrients, resulting in their variable deficiencies. EPI is frequently underdiagnosed and, as a result, patients are often not treated appropriately. There is an urgent need to increase awareness of and treatment for this condition. The aim of this American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Clinical Practice Update Expert Review was to provide Best Practice Advice on the epidemiology, evaluation, and management of EPI.

This Expert Review was commissioned and approved by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute Clinical Practice Updates Committee (CPUC) and the AGA Governing Board to provide timely guidance on a topic of high clinical importance to the AGA membership, and underwent internal peer review by the CPUC and external peer review through standard procedures of Gastroenterology. These Best Practice Advice statements were drawn from a review of the published literature and from expert opinion. Because systematic reviews were not performed, these Best Practice Advice statements do not carry formal ratings regarding the quality of evidence or strength of the presented considerations. Best Practice Advice Statements BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 1: EPI should be suspected in patients with high-risk clinical conditions, such as chronic pancreatitis, relapsing acute pancreatitis, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, cystic fibrosis, and previous pancreatic surgery. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 2: EPI should be considered in patients with moderate-risk clinical conditions, such as duodenal diseases, including celiac and Crohn's disease; previous intestinal surgery; longstanding diabetes mellitus; and hypersecretory states (eg, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome). BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 3: Clinical features of EPI include steatorrhea with or without diarrhea, weight loss, bloating, excessive flatulence, fat-soluble vitamin deficiencies, and protein-calorie malnutrition. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 4: Fecal elastase test is the most appropriate initial test and must be performed on a semi-solid or solid stool specimen. A fecal elastase level &lt;100 &#x3bc;g/g of stool provides good evidence of EPI, and levels of 100-200 &#x3bc;g/g are indeterminate for EPI. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 5: Fecal elastase testing can be performed while on pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 6: Fecal fat testing is rarely needed and must be performed when on a high-fat diet. Quantitative testing is generally not practical for routine clinical use. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 7: Response to a therapeutic trial of pancreatic enzymes is unreliable for EPI diagnosis. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 8: Cross-sectional imaging methods (computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging, and endoscopic ultrasound) cannot identify EPI, although they play an important role in the diagnosis of benign and malignant pancreatic disease. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 9: Breath tests and direct pancreatic function tests hold promise, but are not widely available in the United States. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 10: Once EPI is diagnosed, treatment with pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) is required. If EPI is left untreated, it will result in complications related to fat malabsorption and malnutrition, having a negative impact on quality of life. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 11: PERT formulations are all derived from porcine sources and are equally effective at equivalent doses. There is a need for H2 or proton pump inhibitor therapy with non-enteric-coated preparations. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 12: PERT should be taken during the meal, with the initial treatment of at least 40,000 USP units of lipase during each meal in adults and one-half of that with snacks. The subsequent dosage can be adjusted based on the meal size and fat content. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 13: Routine supplementation and monitoring of fat-soluble vitamin levels are appropriate. Dietary modifications include a low-moderate fat diet with frequent smaller meals and avoiding very-low-fat diets. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 14: Measures of successful treatment with PERT include reduction in steatorrhea and associated gastrointestinal symptoms; a gain of weight, muscle mass, and muscle function; and improvement in fat-soluble vitamin levels. BEST PRACTICE ADVICE 15: EPI should be monitored and baseline measurements of nutritional status should be obtained (body mass index, quality-of-life measure, and fat-soluble vitamin levels). A baseline dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan should be obtained and repeated every 1-2 years.

AGA Clinical Practice Update on the Epidemiology, Evaluation, and Management of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency: Expert Review.

Gastroenterology

Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is considered a rare variant of Guillain-Barr&#xe9; syndrome (GBS), a group of acute-onset immune-mediated neuropathies characterized by the classic triad of ataxia, areflexia, and ophthalmoparesis. The present review aimed to provide a detailed and updated profile of all aspects of the syndrome through a collection of published articles on the subject, ranging from the initial description to recent developments related to COVID-19.

We searched PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases and gray literature, including references from the identified studies, review studies, and conference abstracts on this topic. We used all MeSH terms pertaining to "Miller Fisher syndrome," "Miller Fisher," "Fisher syndrome," and "anti-GQ1b antibody."

An extensive bibliography was researched and summarized in the review from an initial profile of MFS since its description to the recent accounts of diagnosis in COVID-19 patients. MFS is an immune-mediated disease with onset most frequently following infection. Anti-ganglioside GQ1b antibodies, detected in ~85% of patients, play a role in the pathogenesis of the syndrome. There are usually no abnormalities in MFS through routine neuroimaging. In rare cases, neuroimaging shows nerve root enhancement and signs of the involvement of the central nervous system. The most consistent electrophysiological findings in MFS are reduced sensory nerve action potentials and absent H reflexes. Although MFS is generally self-limited and has excellent prognosis, rare recurrent forms have been documented.

This article gives an updated narrative review of MFS with special emphasis on clinical characteristics, neurophysiology, treatment, and prognosis of MFS patients.

Miller Fisher syndrome: an updated narrative review.

Frontiers in Neurology

The treatment of intraoperative hypotension with phenylephrine may impair cerebral perfusion through vasoconstriction, which has been linked to postoperative delirium. We hypothesized that intraoperative administration of phenylephrine, compared to ephedrine, is associated with higher odds of postoperative delirium.

103,094 hospitalized adults undergoing general anesthesia for non-cardiac, non-neurosurgical procedures between 2008 and 2020 at two tertiary academic healthcare networks in Massachusetts, USA were included in this multicenter hospital registry study. The primary exposure was the administration of phenylephrine versus ephedrine during surgery, and the primary outcome was postoperative delirium within seven days. Multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusted for a priori defined confounding variables including patient demographics, comorbidities, and procedural factors including magnitude of intraoperative hypotension were applied.

78,982 (76.6%) patients received phenylephrine, and 24,112 (23.4%) patients received ephedrine during surgery. 770 patients (0.8%) developed delirium within seven days. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) total intraoperative dose of phenylephrine was 1.0 (0.2-3.3) mg and 10.0 (10.0-20.0) mg for ephedrine. In adjusted analyses, the administration of phenylephrine, compared to ephedrine, was associated with higher odds of developing postoperative delirium within seven days (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj] 1.35; 95%CI 1.06-1.71; adjusted absolute risk difference [ARDadj] 0.2%; 95%CI 0.1%-0.3%; p=0.015). A keyword and manual chart review-based approach in a subset of 45,465 patients further validated these findings (delirium incidence 3.2%, ORadj 1.88; 95%CI 1.49-2.37; p&lt;0.001). Fractional polynomial regression analysis further indicated a dose-dependent effect of phenylephrine (adjusted coefficient 0.08; 95%CI 0.02-0.14; p=0.013, per each mcg/kg increase in the cumulative phenylephrine dose).

The administration of phenylephrine compared to ephedrine during general anesthesia was associated with higher odds of developing postoperative delirium. Based on our data, clinical trials are warranted to determine whether favoring ephedrine over phenylephrine for treatment of intraoperative hypotension can reduce delirium after surgery.

Intraoperative use of phenylephrine versus ephedrine and postoperative delirium: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Anesthesiology

Laparotomy incisions provide easy and rapid access to the peritoneal cavity in case of emergency surgery. Incisional hernia (IH) is a late manifestation of the failure of abdominal wall closure and represents frequent complication of any abdominal incision: IHs can cause pain and discomfort to the patients but also clinical serious sequelae like bowel obstruction, incarceration, strangulation, and necessity of reoperation. Previous guidelines and indications in the literature consider elective settings and evidence about laparotomy closure in emergency settings is lacking. This paper aims to present the World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) project called ECLAPTE (Effective Closure of LAParoTomy in Emergency): the final manuscript includes guidelines on the closure of emergency laparotomy.

ECLAPTE: Effective Closure of LAParoTomy in Emergency-2023 World Society of Emergency Surgery guidelines for the closure of laparotomy in emergency settings.

World Journal of Emergency Surgery : WJES

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy characterized by the abnormal clonal proliferation of plasma cells that may result in focal bone lesions, renal failure, anemia, and/or hypercalcemia. Recently, the diagnosis and treatment of MM have evolved due to a better understanding of disease pathophysiology, improved risk stratification, and new treatments. The incorporation of new drugs, including proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs, anti-CD38 antibodies and high-dose chemotherapy followed by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, has resulted in a significant improvement in patient outcomes and QoL. In this review, we summarize differential diagnoses and therapeutic advances in MM.

Plague as a biological weapon: medical and public health management. Working Group on Civilian Biodefense.

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