Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM® ) in gestational diabetes mellitus and coagulation in healthy term pregnancy: A prospective observational study in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM® ) is a point-of-care test of coagulation. ROTEM® -defined hypercoagulability has been identified in pregnant women and in non-pregnant patients with diabetes mellitus. Pregnancy is known to be a hypercoagulable state, but the influence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) on coagulation is unknown. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the combined effect of pregnancy and GDM on coagulation using ROTEM® and to compare this to healthy pregnant women presenting for elective caesarean delivery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethics approval was granted for recruitment of women presenting for elective caesarean delivery. Women with pre-existing conditions affecting coagulation were excluded. Group N included health pregnant women at term and Group G included pregnant women at term with GDM. Data regarding GDM management and glycaemic control were collected. Poor glycaemic control was defined by markers of accelerated fetal growth and elevated fasting or postprandial blood glucose levels. The ROTEM® parameters (extrinsically activated thromboelastometric test (EXTEM) / fibrin polymerisation test (FIBTEM) amplitude at five minutes, coagulation time, maximum clot firmness and clot formation time) were compared between the two groups using Student's t-test. RESULTS: There were 75 women in Group N and 21 women in Group G. Mean age and median body mass index values were comparable for both groups. There were no statistical differences found between the EXTEM and FIBTEM parameters analysed for the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: There was no association between GDM and increased hypercoagulability as demonstrated by ROTEM® parameters in healthy pregnant women presenting for elective caesarean delivery at term.

Sustained Clinical Improvement in a Subset of Patients With Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Treated With Epstein-Barr Virus-Specific T Cell Therapy.

Background: Increasing evidence indicates a role for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). EBV-infected autoreactive B cells might accumulate in the central nervous system because of defective cytotoxic CD8+ T cell immunity. We have previously reported results of a phase I clinical trial of autologous EBV-specific T cell therapy in MS 6 months after treatment. Objective: To investigate longer-term outcomes in MS patients who received autologous EBV-specific T cell therapy. Methods: We assessed participants 2 and 3 years after completion of T cell therapy. Results: We collected data from all 10 treated participants at year 2 and from 9 participants at year 3. No serious treatment-related adverse events were observed. Four participants had at least some sustained clinical improvement at year 2, including reduced fatigue in three participants, and reduced Expanded Disability Status Scale score in two participants. Three participants experienced a sustained improvement in at least some symptoms at year 3. More sustained improvement was associated with higher EBV-specific CD8+ T cell reactivity in the administered T cell product. Conclusion: Autologous EBV-specific T cell therapy is well-tolerated, and some degree of clinical improvement can be sustained for up to 3 years after treatment.

The influence of obesity on coagulation in healthy term pregnancy as assessed by rotational thromboelastometry.

BACKGROUND: Rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM® ) is a point-of-care coagulation test which has been used to demonstrate hypercoagulability in pregnant populations and obese populations. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the combined effect of pregnancy and obesity on coagulation using ROTEM® in healthy pregnant women of varying body mass indices (BMIs) presenting for elective caesarean delivery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ethics approval was granted for recruitment of women presenting for elective caesarean delivery. Women with any condition affecting coagulation were excluded. The ROTEM® parameters of extrinsically activated thromboelastometric test / fibrin polymerisation test (EXTEM/FIBTEM) amplitude at five minutes (A5), coagulation time (CT), maximum clot firmness (MCF) and clot formation time (CFT) were compared between three different groups: normal weight, overweight and obese women. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-five women presenting for elective caesarean delivery met inclusion criteria and were divided into three groups; normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2 , n = 86), overweight (BMI 25-29.9 kg/m2 , n = 54) and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 , n = 45). They had a mean (SD) age of 32.7 ± 5.0 years and the median (interquartile range) BMI of 21.9 kg/m2 (20.5-23.0), 27.0 kg/m2 (26.0-28.5), 36.0 kg/m2 (32.2-41.8) for the normal weight, overweight and obese groups respectively. Forty-one (22.2%) women were nulliparous. Across the three groups for FIBTEM A5 (P = 0.018), FIBTEM MCF (P = 0.032), FIBTEM CFT (P = 0.047) and EXTEM MCF (P = 0.015) there was evidence of increasing coagulability with increasing BMI. However, following Bonferroni correction, this was no longer significant. CONCLUSIONS: There is no association between BMI and ROTEM® parameters in pregnant women presenting for elective caesarean delivery at term.

A prospective randomized comparison of airway seal using the novel vision-guided insertion of LMA-Supreme® and LMA-Protector®.

The laryngeal mask airways supreme (LMA-Supreme™) and protector (LMA-Protector™) are generally placed blindly, often resulting in a less than optimal position and vision-guided placement has been recommended. This prospective, randomized controlled study compared the efficacy of airway seal by measuring the oropharyngeal leak pressure in 100 surgical patients who underwent a variety of non-thoracic surgery under general anaesthesia, suitable with a supraglottic airway device. Patients were allocated to either the LMA-Supreme (n = 50) or LMA-Protector (n = 50) group. All insertions were performed under vision of a videolaryngoscope using an 'insert-detect-correct-as-you-go' technique with standardized corrective measures. Our primary endpoint, mean oropharyngeal leak pressure, was significantly higher in the LMA-Protector (31.7 ± 2.9 cm H2O) compared to the LMA-Supreme (27.7 ± 3.5 cm H2O) group (mean difference 4.0 cm H2O, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.7-5.3 cm H2O, p < 0.001) after achieving a near-optimal fibreoptic position in the LMA-Protector (94%) and LMA-Supreme (96%) groups. No statistically significant differences were shown for secondary outcomes of alignment, number of insertion attempts and malpositions, and final anatomical position as scored by fibreoptic evaluation. Corrective manoeuvres were required in virtually all patients to obtain a correct anatomically positioned LMA. Position outcomes of the two devices were similar except for the proportion of procedures with folds in the proximal cuff (90% LMA-Supreme vs. 2% LMA-Protector, p < 0.001), the need for intracuff pressure adjustments (80% LMA-Supreme vs. 48% LMA-Protector, p = 0.001) and size correction (18% LMA-Supreme vs. 4% LMA-Protector, p = 0.025). In conclusion, a higher oropharyngeal leak pressure can be achieved with LMA-Protector compared to LMA-Supreme with optimal anatomical position when insertion is vision-guided.

Operating room greening initiatives - the old, the new, and the way forward: A narrative review.

Healthcare waste is a rampant issue in Australian hospitals. The operating room (OR) contributes disproportionately to total hospital waste. There has been considerable research in the literature concentrating on strategies to improve OR and hospital waste accumulation, in an attempt to provide guidance and direction on how to reduce the healthcare ecological footprint. We reviewed the literature for leading greening initiatives currently utilised in the OR in Australia and internationally. This narrative literature review focuses on the trend of OR greening initiatives over the last 25 years, comparing different innovative approaches, the successes and setbacks, and the financial implications of initiatives. A variety of measures that hospital management, surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other healthcare personnel can take to reduce the ecological footprint of their healthcare facility are outlined. Greening initiatives include reducing, recycling, reusing, rethinking and researching, as well as novel technology and smarter architectural design. We also evaluated the barriers to improving waste management, which include lack of leadership, misconceptions among staff, and an overall resistance to change. In conclusion, in a world where greenhouse gas emissions cause unprecedented climate change and landfill space is finite, it is incumbent upon hospitals to help reduce the environmental impact of their facility. Reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions would moderate the incidence of human disease, save money for the healthcare system and society as a whole, and contribute to a safer and healthier world we all would like to live in.

The Gold in Garbage: Implementing a Waste Segregation and Recycling Initiative.

Generally, ORs produce approximately one-fifth to one-third of all waste in a hospital. Before our quality improvement project was performed in our tertiary care facility, all OR waste was disposed of as clinical waste. Disposal of clinical waste is more costly than disposal of general waste. Therefore, accurately segregating waste can have significant financial incentives. Our quality improvement project involved the implementation of processes that segregated general waste in the OR from clinical waste and translated to an almost 60% reduction of waste disposal costs for OR waste. Further, we implemented a recycling program that reclaimed a portion of the general waste. In total, our efforts reduced the amount of clinical waste produced by the OR by 82%, and the amount of total OR waste was reduced by more than 50%.