[Clinical distribution and drug resistance characteristics of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae].

To explore the clinical distribution and drug resistance characteristics of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), in order to provide reference for the prevention and treatment of CRKP infection. Retrospective analysis was performed on 510 clinical isolates of CRKP from January 2017 to December 2021, and strain identification and drug sensitivity tests were conducted by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer and VITEK-2 Compact microbial drug sensitivity analyzer. The carbapenemase phenotype of CRKP strain was detected by carbapenemase inhibitor enhancement test. The CRKP strain was further categorized by immunochromogenic method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for gene detection. The results showed that 302 strains (59.2%) were derived from sputum, 127 strains (24.9%) from urine and 47 strains (9.2%) from blood. 231 (45.3%) were mainly distributed in intensive care, followed by 108 (21.2%) in respiratory medicine and 79 (15.5%) in neurosurgery. Drug susceptibility test result shows that the resistant rate of tigecycline increased from 1.0% in 2017 to 10.1% in 2021, the difference was statistically significant (χ2=14.444,P<0.05). The results of carbapenemase inhibitor enhancement test showed that 461 carbapenemase strains (90.4%) of 510 CRKP strains, including 450 serinase strains (88.2%), 9 metalloenzyme strains (1.8%), and 2 strains (0.4%) produced both serine and metalloenzyme. 49 strains (9.6%) did not produce enzymes. Further typing by immunochromogenic assay showed that 461 CRKP strains were KPC 450 (97.6%) and IMP 2 (0.4%). 7 NDM (1.5%); 2 strains of KPC+NDM (0.4%); PCR results were as follows: 450 strains of blaKPC (97.6%), 2 strains of blaIMP (0.4%), 7 strains of blaNDM (1.5%), and 2 strains of blaKPC+NDM (0.4%). In conclusion, CRKP strains mainly originated from sputum specimens and distributed in intensive care department, and the drug resistance characteristics were mainly KPC type in carbapenemase production. Clinical microbiology laboratory should strengthen the monitoring of CRKP strains, so as to provide reference for preventing CRKP infection and reducing the production of bacterial drug resistance.

Central Triage of Acute Stroke Patients Across a Distributive Stroke Network Is Safe and Reduces Transfer Denials.

Background and Purpose: Mechanical thrombectomy has dramatically increased patient volumes transferred to comprehensive stroke centers (CSCs), resulting in transfer denials for patients who need higher level of care only available at a CSC. We hypothesized that a distributive stroke network (DSN), triaging low severity acute stroke patients to a primary stroke center (PSC) upon initial telestroke consultation, would safely reduce transfer denials, thereby providing additional volume to treat severe strokes at a CSC. Methods: In 2017, a DSN was implemented, in which mild stroke patients were centrally triaged, via telestroke consultation, to a PSC based upon a simple clinical severity algorithm, while higher acuity/severity strokes were triaged to the CSC. In an observational cohort study, data on acute ischemic stroke patients presenting to regional community hospitals were collected pre- versus post-DSN implementation. Safety outcomes and rate of CSC transfer denials were compared pre-DSN versus post-DSN. Results: The pre-DSN cohort (n=150), triaged to the CSC, had a similar rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage and discharge location compared with the post-DSN cohort (n=150), triaged to the PSC. Time to stroke unit admission was faster post-DSN (2 hours 40 minutes) versus pre-DSN (3 hours 29 minutes; P<0.001). Transfer denials were reduced post-DSN (3.8%) versus pre-DSN (1.8%; P=0.02), despite an increase in telestroke consultation volume over the same period (median, 3 calls per day pre-DSN versus 5 calls per day post-DSN; P=0.001). No patients who were triaged to the PSC required subsequent transfer to the CSC. Conclusions: A DSN, triaging mild ischemic stroke patients from community hospitals to a PSC, safely reduced transfer denials to the CSC, allowing greater capacity at the CSC to treat higher acuity stroke patients.

Access to and safety of COVID-19 convalescent plasma in the United States Expanded Access Program: A national registry study.

BACKGROUND: The United States (US) Expanded Access Program (EAP) to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) convalescent plasma was initiated in response to the rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19. While randomized clinical trials were in various stages of development and enrollment, there was an urgent need for widespread access to potential therapeutic agents. The objective of this study is to report on the demographic, geographical, and chronological characteristics of patients in the EAP, and key safety metrics following transfusion of COVID-19 convalescent plasma. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Mayo Clinic served as the central institutional review board for all participating facilities, and any US physician could participate as a local physician-principal investigator. Eligible patients were hospitalized, were aged 18 years or older, and had-or were at risk of progression to-severe or life-threatening COVID-19; eligible patients were enrolled through the EAP central website. Blood collection facilities rapidly implemented programs to collect convalescent plasma for hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Demographic and clinical characteristics of all enrolled patients in the EAP were summarized. Temporal patterns in access to COVID-19 convalescent plasma were investigated by comparing daily and weekly changes in EAP enrollment in response to changes in infection rate at the state level. Geographical analyses on access to convalescent plasma included assessing EAP enrollment in all national hospital referral regions, as well as assessing enrollment in metropolitan areas and less populated areas that did not have access to COVID-19 clinical trials. From April 3 to August 23, 2020, 105,717 hospitalized patients with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 were enrolled in the EAP. The majority of patients were 60 years of age or older (57.8%), were male (58.4%), and had overweight or obesity (83.8%). There was substantial inclusion of minorities and underserved populations: 46.4% of patients were of a race other than white, and 37.2% of patients were of Hispanic ethnicity. Chronologically and geographically, increases in the number of both enrollments and transfusions in the EAP closely followed confirmed infections across all 50 states. Nearly all national hospital referral regions enrolled and transfused patients in the EAP, including both in metropolitan and in less populated areas. The incidence of serious adverse events was objectively low (<1%), and the overall crude 30-day mortality rate was 25.2% (95% CI, 25.0% to 25.5%). This registry study was limited by the observational and pragmatic study design that did not include a control or comparator group; thus, the data should not be used to infer definitive treatment effects. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the EAP provided widespread access to COVID-19 convalescent plasma in all 50 states, including for underserved racial and ethnic minority populations. The study design of the EAP may serve as a model for future efforts when broad access to a treatment is needed in response to an emerging infectious disease. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT#: NCT04338360.

Distribution of High-Sensitivity Troponin Taken Without Conventional Clinical Indications in Critical Care Patients and Its Association With Mortality.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the distribution of high-sensitivity troponin in a consecutive cohort of patients in critical care units, regardless of clinical indication, and its association with clinical outcomes. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Single-center teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients admitted to two adult critical care units (general critical care unit and neuroscience critical care unit) over a 6-month period. INTERVENTIONS: All patients had high-sensitivity troponin tests performed at admission and tracked throughout their critical care stay, regardless of whether the supervising team felt there was a clinical indication. The results were not revealed to patients or clinicians unless clinically requested. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: There were 1,033 patients in the study cohort (general critical care unit 750 and neuroscience critical care unit 283). The median high-sensitivity troponin was 21 ng/L (interquartile range, 7-86 ng/L), with 560 patients (54.2%) above the upper limit of normal as defined by the manufacturer. Admission high-sensitivity troponin concentrations above the upper limit of normal in general critical care unit and neuroscience critical care unit were associated with increasing age, comorbidity, markers of illness severity, and the need for organ support. On adjusted analysis, the high-sensitivity troponin concentration remained an independent predictor of critical care mortality in general critical care unit and neuroscience critical care unit. CONCLUSIONS: High-sensitivity troponin elevation, taken outside the context of conventional clinical indications, was common in the critically ill. Such elevations were associated with increasing age, comorbidity, illness severity, and the need for organ support. Admission high-sensitivity troponin concentration is an independent predictor of critical care mortality and as such may represent a novel prognostic biomarker at admission.

Analysis of EGFR, KRAS, and PIK3CA gene mutation rates and clinical distribution in patients with different types of lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: To analyze and evaluate EGFR, KRAS, and PIK3CA gene mutation rates and clinical distribution in patients with different types of lung cancer METHOD: A total of 221 lung cancer patients treated in our hospital between January 2016 and June 2019 were enrolled. Tissue and whole blood samples were collected and analyzed to determine the mutation status of EGFR, KRAS, and PIK3CA genes. The gene exon mutation rates were determined. Relevant clinical data, such as age, gender, tumor sample type, treatment method, pathologic type, and lung cancer stage were recorded and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The EGFR gene mutation rates in exons E18-E21 were 2.3%, 17.6%, 3.6%, and 20.4%, respectively. E18, E19, and E20 mutations were commonly detected in adenosquamous carcinoma, and E21 mutations were commonly detected in adenocarcinoma. Mutations in exons E18-E21 were frequently detected in patients with lung cancer stages IA, IB, IIA, or IIB, respectively. The KRAS gene mutation rate in lung cancer patients in exon E2 was higher in whole blood and tissue samples than other exon mutations, while the KRAS gene mutation rate in exons E2 and E3 was significantly higher in patients with lung cancer stages IIB and IA, respectively. PIK3CA gene mutations in exons E9 and E20 occurred in patients < 60 years of age. Exon E9-positive mutations were more common in men or patients with squamous cell carcinoma, while exon E20-positive mutations were more common in females. CONCLUSION: The EGFR, KRAS, and PIK3CA gene exon mutation rates differ and were shown to be correlated with different clinical indicators, which have significance in clinical treatment.

Emergency department clinical leads' experiences of implementing primary care services where GPs work in or alongside emergency departments in the UK: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: To manage increasing demand for emergency and unscheduled care NHS England policy has promoted services in which patients presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs) with non-urgent problems are directed to general practitioners (GPs) and other primary care clinicians working within or alongside emergency departments. However, the ways that hospitals have implemented primary care services in EDs are varied. The aim of this study was to describe ED clinical leads' experiences of implementing and delivering 'primary care services' and 'emergency medicine services' where GPs were integrated into the ED team. METHODS: We conducted interviews with ED clinical leads in England (n = 19) and Wales (n = 2). We used framework analysis to analyse interview transcripts and explore differences across 'primary care services', 'emergency medicine services' and emergency departments without primary care services. RESULTS: In EDs with separate primary care services, success was reported when having a distinct workforce of primary care clinicians, who improved waiting times and flow by seeing primary care-type patients in a timely way, using fewer investigations, and enabling ED doctors to focus on more acutely unwell patients. Some challenges were: trying to align their service with the policy guidance, inconsistent demand for primary care, accessible community primary care services, difficulties in recruiting GPs, lack of funding, difficulties in agreeing governance protocols and establishing effective streaming pathways. Where GPs were integrated into an ED workforce success was reported as managing the demand for both emergency and primary care and reducing admissions. CONCLUSIONS: Introducing a policy advocating a preferred model of service to address primary care demand was not useful for all emergency departments. To support successful and sustainable primary care services in or alongside EDs, policy makers and commissioners should consider varied ways that GPs can be employed to manage variation in local demand and also local contextual factors such as the ability to recruit and retain GPs, sustainable funding, clear governance frameworks, training, support and guidance for all staff. Whether or not streaming to a separate primary care service is useful also depended on the level of primary care demand.

Incidence, clinical distribution, and patient characteristics of childhood cancer in Saudi Arabia: A population-based analysis.

PURPOSE: Information regarding the incidence and patterns of childhood malignancies is disproportionately overrepresented by high-income countries, representing mainly the Caucasian population. There is a need to evaluate and disseminate information for other ethnicities, particularly from the Middle East. METHODS: Data from the National Cancer Registry, Saudi Arabia (SA-NCR), for pediatric patients (age 0-14 years) diagnosed between 2005 and 2009 and for similar patients at our institution during the same period were analyzed. Population numbers reported in the 2007 national census were used to calculate the annual incidence of childhood cancer. RESULTS: Data from SA-NCR on 3885 patients were included in this analysis. The median age was 5.58 years, and 57.3% were males. The annual age-specific cancer incidence rate (ASR) for children in SA is 99.83 per million population; ASR per million for lymphoid leukemia is 25.75, 12.05 for brain tumors, and 9.82 for Hodgkin lymphoma. Of all childhood cancers in SA, 35% were treated at our institution. The five-year overall survival for these 1350 patients is 74.6% (median follow-up 7.52 years [95% confidence interval: 7.36-7.68]). Significant differences in the distribution of childhood malignancy subtypes were evident compared with other countries. CONCLUSION: We have reported differences in the cancer ASR and cancer subtype distribution for children in SA as compared with the worldwide incidence and with other populations. This paper provides a comprehensive epidemiological overview of childhood cancer in SA, which could be extrapolated to other regional Arab populations.

Early Transcranial Doppler Evaluation of Cerebral Autoregulation Independently Predicts Functional Outcome After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral autoregulation (CA) impairment after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has been associated with delayed cerebral ischemia and an unfavorable outcome. We investigated whether the early transient hyperemic response test (THRT), a transcranial Doppler (TCD)-based CA evaluation method, can predict functional outcome 6 months after aneurysmal SAH. METHODS: This is a prospective observational study of all aneurysmal SAH patients consecutively admitted to a single center between January 2016 and February 2017. CA was evaluated within 72 h of hemorrhage by THRT, which describes the changes in cerebral blood flow velocity after a brief compression of the ipsilateral common carotid artery. CA was considered to be preserved when an increase ≥ 9% of baseline systolic velocity was present. According to the modified Rankin Scale (mRS: 4-6), the primary outcome was unfavorable 6 months after hemorrhage. Secondary outcomes included cerebral infarction, vasospasm on TCD, and an unfavorable outcome at hospital discharge. RESULTS: Forty patients were included (mean age = 54 ± 12 years, 70% females). CA was impaired in 19 patients (47.5%) and preserved in 21 (52.5%). Impaired CA patients were older (59 ± 13 vs. 50 ± 9, p = 0.012), showed worse neurological conditions (Hunt&Hess 4 or 5-47.4% vs. 9.5%, p = 0.012), and clinical initial condition (APACHE II physiological score-12 [5.57-13] vs. 3.5 [3-5], p = 0.001). Fourteen patients in the impaired CA group and one patient in the preserved CA group progressed to an unfavorable outcome (73.7% vs. 4.7%, p = 0.0001). The impaired CA group more frequently developed cerebral infarction than the preserved CA group (36.8% vs. 0%, p = 0.003, respectively). After multivariate analysis, impaired CA (OR 5.15 95% CI 1.43-51.99, p = 0.033) and the APACHE II physiological score (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.01-2.76, p = 0.046) were independently associated with an unfavorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Early CA impairment detected by TCD and admission APACHE II physiological score independently predicted an unfavorable outcome after SAH.

[Impact of an automated dispensing system for medical devices in cardiac surgery department]. / Impact de l'implantation d'armoires sécurisées dédiés aux dispositifs médicaux dans un service de chirurgie cardiaque.

To secure medical devices' management, the implementation of automated dispensing system in surgical service has been realized. The objective of this study was to evaluate security, organizational and economic impact of installing automated dispensing system for medical devices (ASDM). The implementation took place in a cardiac surgery department. Security impact was assessed by comparing traceability rate of implantable medical devices one year before and one year after installation. Questionnaire on nurses' perception and satisfaction completed this survey. Resupplying costs, stocks' evolution and investments for the implementation of ASDM were the subject of cost-benefit study. After one year, traceability rate is excellent (100%). Nursing staffs were satisfied with 87.5% by this new system. The introduction of ASDM allowed a qualitative and quantitative decrease in stocks, with a reduction of 30% for purchased medical devices and 15% for implantable medical devices in deposit-consignment. Cost-benefit analysis shows a rapid return on investment. Real stock decrease (purchased medical devices) is equivalent to 46.6% of investment. Implementation of ASDM allows to secure storage and dispensing of medical devices. This system has also an important economic impact and appreciated by users.

Fresh-Frozen Plasma: Ordering Patterns and Utilization in the Operating Rooms of a Tertiary Referral Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Blood product transfusion is the most commonly performed hospital procedure. Intraoperative blood product utilization varies between institutions and anesthesiologists. In the United States in 2011, nearly 4 million plasma units were transfused. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of intraoperative plasma ordering patterns and utilization (thawing and transfusing) was performed at a tertiary, academic hospital between January 2015 and March 2016. RESULTS: Over 15 months, 46,002 operative procedures were performed. In 1540 of them, plasma was thawed or transfused: 8297 plasma units were thawed and 3306 of those units were transfused. These 3306 plasma units were transfused in 749 cases with a median of 2 plasma units (interquartile range, 2-4) transfused. The percentage of average monthly procedures with plasma thawed and none transfused was 51.3% (confidence interval, 49.0%-53.6%). The cardiac surgery service requested the greatest number of plasma units to be thawed (2143) but only transfused 712 (33.2%) of them. Of all plasma units not transfused, 45% were generated by procedures with 1 to 4 units of plasma thawed; 95.7% of these units were thawed as even integers (ie, 2, 4). CONCLUSIONS: For operative procedures, far more plasma was thawed than was transfused and this practice occurred across surgical specialties and anesthesiologists. Considering the plasma that was not transfused, 45% occurred in procedures with 4 or fewer units of plasma requested suggesting these low-volume requests were a primary source of potential waste. Further studies are needed to examine associations between plasma utilization and clinical outcomes.

[Effective implementation of change into routine work. Thinking over ways and means of a learning experience in cardiology]. / Introdurre I'innovazione nella quotidianità. Riflessioni sul metodo e sugli strumenti utilizzati in una esperienza formativa in cardiologia.

Effective implementation of change in patients' care is a substantive problem. Organizational learning is viewed as process of seeking, selecting, and adapting new "routines" to improve performance but learning from experience is not automatic, but rather may result from action and reflection within the organization.

Clinical distribution of carbapenem genotypes and resistance to ceftazidime-avibactam in Enterobacteriaceae bacteria.

Introduction: Bacterial resistance is a major threat to public health worldwide. To gain an understanding of the clinical infection distribution, drug resistance information, and genotype of CRE in Dongguan, China, as well as the resistance of relevant genotypes to CAZ-AVI, this research aims to improve drug resistance monitoring information in Dongguan and provide a reliable basis for the clinical control and treatment of CRE infection. Methods: VITEK-2 Compact automatic analyzer was utilized to identify 516 strains of CRE collected from January 2017 to June 2023. To determine drug sensitivity, the K-B method, E-test, and MIC methods were used. From June 2022 to June 2023, 80 CRE strains were selected, and GeneXpert Carba-R was used to detect and identify the genotype of the carbapenemase present in the collected CRE strains. An in-depth analysis was conducted on the CAZ-AVI in vitro drug sensitivity activity of various genotypes of CRE, and the results were statistically evaluated using SPSS 23.0 and WHONET 5.6 software. Results: This study identified 516 CRE strains, with the majority (70.16%) being K.pneumoniae, followed by E.coli (18.99%). Respiratory specimens had highest detection rate with 53.77% identified, whereas urine specimens had the second highest detection rate with 17.99%. From June 2022 to June 2023, 95% of the strains tested using the CRE GeneXpert Carba-R assay possessed carbapenemase genes, of which 32.5% were blaNDM strains and 61.25% blaKPC strains. The results showed that CRE strains containing blaKPC had a significantly higher rate of resistance to amikacin, cefepime, and aztreonam than those harboring blaNDM. Conclusions: The CRE strains isolated from Dongguan region demonstrated a high resistance rate to various antibiotics used in clinical practice but a low resistance rate to tigecycline. These strains produce Class A serine carbapenemases and Class B metals ß-lactamases, with the majority of them carrying blaNDM and blaKPC. Notably, CRE strains with blaKPC and blaNDM had significantly lower resistance rates to tigecycline. CAZ-AVI showed a good sensitivity rate with no resistance to CRE strains carrying blaKPC. Therefore, CAZ-AVI and tigecycline should be used as a guide for rational use of antibiotics in clinical practice to effectively treat CRE.

[Quality improvement and performance evaluation of Monitoring and Tracking Medical Materials Lot Number].

With various increasing health sector's demand of medical materials, monitoring and tracking medical materials lot number has become the most important thing of hospital's medical materials management. This paper discussed and researched deeply the actual operation problem through data analysis and charts comparison, put forward realizing barcodes wireless scanning, and synchronizing information in local area network, so to improve the barcode input accuracy. Achieve the ultimate goal of completing medical materials lot number traceability.

[Research of regional medical consumables reagent logistics system in the modern hospital].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the modern hospital and regional medical consumable reagents logistics system management. METHODS: The characteristics of regional logistics, through cooperation between medical institutions within the region, and organize a wide range of special logistics activities, to make reasonable of the regional medical consumable reagents logistics. To set the regional management system, dynamic management systems, supply chain information management system, after-sales service system and assessment system. By the research of existing medical market and medical resources, to establish the regional medical supplies reagents directory and the initial data. The emphasis is centralized dispatch of medical supplies reagents, to introduce qualified logistics company for dispatching, to improve the modern hospital management efficiency, to costs down. RESULTS: Regional medical center and regional community health service centers constitute a regional logistics network, the introduction of medical consumable reagents logistics services, fully embodies integrity level, relevance, purpose, environmental adaptability of characteristics by the medical consumable reagents regional logistics distribution. CONCLUSIONS: Modern logistics distribution systems can increase the area of medical consumables reagent management efficiency and reduce costs.

Geographic distribution, clinical epidemiology and genetic diversity of the human oncogenic retrovirus HTLV-1 in Africa, the world's largest endemic area.

The African continent is considered the largest high endemic area for the oncogenic retrovirus HTLV-1 with an estimated two to five million infected individuals. However, data on epidemiological aspects, in particular prevalence, risk factors and geographical distribution, are still very limited for many regions: on the one hand, few large-scale and representative studies have been performed and, on the other hand, many studies do not include confirmatory tests, resulting in indeterminate serological results, and a likely overestimation of HTLV-1 seroprevalence. For this review, we included the most robust studies published since 1984 on the prevalence of HTLV-1 and the two major diseases associated with this infection in people living in Africa and the Indian Ocean islands: adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and tropical spastic paraparesis or HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP). We also considered most of the book chapters and abstracts published at the 20 international conferences on HTLV and related viruses held since 1985, as well as the results of recent meta-analyses regarding the status of HTLV-1 in West and sub-Saharan Africa. Based on this bibliography, it appears that HTLV-1 distribution is very heterogeneous in Africa: The highest prevalences of HTLV-1 are reported in western, central and southern Africa, while eastern and northern Africa show lower prevalences. In highly endemic areas, the HTLV-1 prevalence in the adult population ranges from 0.3 to 3%, increases with age, and is highest among women. In rural areas of Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), HTLV-1 prevalence can reach up to 10-25% in elder women. HTLV-1-associated diseases in African patients have rarely been reported in situ on hospital wards, by local physicians. With the exception of the Republic of South Africa, DRC and Senegal, most reports on ATL and HAM/TSP in African patients have been published by European and American clinicians and involve immigrants or medical returnees to Europe (France and the UK) and the United States. There is clearly a huge underreporting of these diseases on the African continent. The genetic diversity of HTLV-1 is greatest in Africa, where six distinct genotypes (a, b, d, e, f, g) have been identified. The most frequent genotype in central Africa is genotype b. The other genotypes found in central Africa (d, e, f and g) are very rare. The vast majority of HTLV-1 strains from West and North Africa belong to genotype a, the so-called 'Cosmopolitan' genotype. These strains form five clades roughly reflecting the geographic origin of the infected individuals. We have recently shown that some of these clades are the result of recombination between a-WA and a-NA strains. Almost all sequences from southern Africa belong to Transcontinental a-genotype subgroup.

Malassezia overgrowth in dogs in northern Italy: frequency, body distribution, clinical signs and effects of pharmacologic treatments.

The present study describes Malassezia populations in clinically healthy dogs (HD) and dogs with Malassezia overgrowth (MO), and evaluates the correlation with clinical signs and previous treatments. Thirteen clinically HD and 84 dogs with MO were enrolled. Clinical history and previous treatments were recorded. After a complete physical and dermatological examination, Canine Atopic Dermatitis Extent and Severity Index_03 scores were calculated. Samples for cytology and mycological cultures were obtained from four body regions and from skin lesions. Malassezia overgrowth was diagnosed by cytology. A global score (GS) for quantitative evaluation of the population of Malassezia was calculated. In dogs with MO, the highest frequency of yeast detection was found in skin lesions (82%, P < 0.001). Sum of GS (GSs) obtained from dogs with MO (68, 0­621) was significantly higher compared to those of HD (3, 0­48, P < 0.001). GSs in dogs previously treated with antibiotics (312.5, 30­975) was significantly higher compared to those of dogs that not have received antibiotics (80, 0­975, P = 0.015). No difference was found between dogs treated and those not treated with steroids.

Developing the COVID-19 intensive care medical equipment distribution platform: outcomes and lessons learned.

During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the UK government took the decision to centralise the procurement, allocation and distribution of mission-critical intensive care unit (ICU) medical equipment. Establishing new supply chains in the context of global shortages presented significant challenges. This report describes the development of an innovative platform developed rapidly and voluntarily by clinical engineers, to mobilise the UK's shared medical equipment inventory, in order to match ICU capacity to dynamically evolving clinical demand. The 'Coronavirus ICU Medical Equipment Distribution' platform was developed to optimise ICU equipment allocation, distribution, collection, redeployment and traceability across the National Health Service. Although feedback on the platform has largely been very positive, the platform was built for a scenario that did not fully materialise in the UK and this affected the implementation approach. As such, it was not used to its full potential. Nonetheless, the platform and the insights derived and disseminated in its development have been extremely valuable. It provides a prototype for not only optimising system capacity in future pandemic scenarios but also a means for maximally exploiting the large amount of new equipment in the UK health system, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This early stage innovation has demonstrated that a system-wide pooled information resource can benefit the operations of individual organisations. It has also generated numerous lessons to be borne in mind in innovation projects.

Impact of range uncertainty on clinical distributions of linear energy transfer and biological effectiveness in proton therapy.

PURPOSE: Increased radiation response after proton irradiation, such as late radiation-induced toxicity, is determined by high dose and elevated linear energy transfer (LET). Steep dose-averaged LET (LETd ) gradients and elevated LETd occur at the end of proton range and might be particularly sensitive to uncertainties in range prediction. Therefore, this study quantified LETd distributions and the impact of range uncertainty in robust dose-optimized proton treatment plans and assessed the biological effect in normal tissues and tumors of patients. METHODS: For each of six cancer patients (two brain, head-and-neck, and prostate), two nominal treatment plans were robustly dose optimized using single- and multi-field optimization, respectively. For each plan, two additional scenarios with ±3.5% range deviation relative to the nominal plan were derived by global rescaling of stopping-power ratios. Dose and LETd distributions were calculated for each scenario using the beam parameters of the corresponding nominal plan. The variability in relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and probability of late radiation-induced brain toxicity (PIC ) was assessed. RESULTS: The optimization technique (single- vs multi-field) had a negligible impact on the LETd distributions in the clinical target volume (CTV) and in most organs at risk (OARs). LETd distributions in the CTV were rather homogeneous with arithmetic mean of LETd below 3.2 keV/µm and robust against range deviations. The RBE variability within the CTV induced by range uncertainty was small (≤0.05, 95% confidence interval). In OARs, LETd hotspots (>7 keV/µm) occurred and LETd distributions were inhomogeneous and sensitive to range deviations. LETd hotspots and the impact of range deviations were most prominent in OARs of brain tumor patients which translated in RBE values exceeding 1.1 in all brain OARs. The near-maximum predicted PIC in healthy brain tissue of brain tumor patients was smaller than 5% and occurred adjacent to the CTV. Range deviations induced absolute differences in PIC up to 1.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Robust dose optimization generates LETd distributions in the target volume robust against range deviations. The current findings support using a constant RBE within the CTV. The impact of range deviations on the considered probability of late radiation-induced toxicity in brain tissue was limited for robust dose-optimized treatment plans. Incorporation of LETd in robust optimization frameworks may further reduce uncertainty related to the RBE-weighted dose estimation in normal tissues.

Investigation of Relationship Between Spatial Distribution of Medical Equipment and Preventable Mortality.

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between the spatial distribution of the selected medical equipment and the preventable mortality rate in the regions of the Slovak Republic. The main analytical approach is carried out through the cluster analysis based on a Euclidean distance technique in order to get similarity of the administrative divisions in form of a district and a pseudot2 approach aimed at the determination of a number of the districts in a cluster. A number of medical equipment had a rising tendency from the year 2008. The most extreme position according to a localisation distribution of the computed tomographs and the magnetic resonance imaging scanners is held by the Kosice IV District at the level of 7.50630. From an angle of view of the preventable mortality, the Piestany District holds the most extreme position peaking at the level of 10.97969 for the female sex and the Kezmarok District with the value of 9.44088. The study has the significant dissemination outputs for health policy interventions, especially to draw up regional health plans for computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging deployment, mainly in locations with a high preventable mortality rate for both sexes.