Nonradiology Health Care Professionals Significantly Benefit From AI Assistance in Emergency-Related Chest Radiography Interpretation.

BACKGROUND: Chest radiographs (CXRs) are still of crucial importance in primary diagnostics, but their interpretation poses difficulties at times. RESEARCH QUESTION: Can a convolutional neural network-based artificial intelligence (AI) system that interprets CXRs add value in an emergency unit setting? STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 563 CXRs acquired in the emergency unit of a major university hospital were retrospectively assessed twice by three board-certified radiologists, three radiology residents, and three emergency unit-experienced nonradiology residents (NRRs). They used a two-step reading process: (1) without AI support; and (2) with AI support providing additional images with AI overlays. Suspicion of four suspected pathologies (pleural effusion, pneumothorax, consolidations suspicious for pneumonia, and nodules) was reported on a five-point confidence scale. Confidence scores of the board-certified radiologists were converted into four binary reference standards of different sensitivities. Performance by radiology residents and NRRs without AI support/with AI support were statistically compared by using receiver-operating characteristics (ROCs), Youden statistics, and operating point metrics derived from fitted ROC curves. RESULTS: NRRs could significantly improve performance, sensitivity, and accuracy with AI support in all four pathologies tested. In the most sensitive reference standard (reference standard IV), NRR consensus improved the area under the ROC curve (mean, 95% CI) in the detection of the time-critical pathology pneumothorax from 0.846 (0.785-0.907) without AI support to 0.974 (0.947-1.000) with AI support (P < .001), which represented a gain of 30% in sensitivity and 2% in accuracy (while maintaining an optimized specificity). The most pronounced effect was observed in nodule detection, with NRR with AI support improving sensitivity by 53% and accuracy by 7% (area under the ROC curve without AI support, 0.723 [0.661-0.785]; with AI support, 0.890 [0.848-0.931]; P < .001). Radiology residents had smaller, mostly nonsignificant gains in performance, sensitivity, and accuracy with AI support. INTERPRETATION: We found that in an emergency unit setting without 24/7 radiology coverage, the presented AI solution features an excellent clinical support tool to nonradiologists, similar to a second reader, and allows for a more accurate primary diagnosis and thus earlier therapy initiation.

Artificial Intelligence to Assess Tracheal Tubes and Central Venous Catheters in Chest Radiographs Using an Algorithmic Approach With Adjustable Positioning Definitions.

PURPOSE: To develop and validate an artificial intelligence algorithm for the positioning assessment of tracheal tubes (TTs) and central venous catheters (CVCs) in supine chest radiographs (SCXRs) by using an algorithm approach allowing for adjustable definitions of intended device positioning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Positioning quality of CVCs and TTs is evaluated by spatially correlating the respective tip positions with anatomical structures. For CVC analysis, a configurable region of interest is defined to approximate the expected region of well-positioned CVC tips from segmentations of anatomical landmarks. The CVC/TT information is estimated by introducing a new multitask neural network architecture for jointly performing type/existence classification, course segmentation, and tip detection. Validation data consisted of 589 SCXRs that have been radiologically annotated for inserted TTs/CVCs, including an experts' categorical positioning assessment (reading 1). In-image positions of algorithm-detected TT/CVC tips could be corrected using a validation software tool (reading 2) that finally allowed for localization accuracy quantification. Algorithmic detection of images with misplaced devices (reading 1 as reference standard) was quantified by receiver operating characteristics. RESULTS: Supine chest radiographs were correctly classified according to inserted TTs/CVCs in 100%/98% of the cases, thereby with high accuracy in also spatially localizing the medical device tips: corrections less than 3 mm in >86% (TTs) and 77% (CVCs) of the cases. Chest radiographs with malpositioned devices were detected with area under the curves of >0.98 (TTs), >0.96 (CVCs with accidental vessel turnover), and >0.93 (also suboptimal CVC insertion length considered). The receiver operating characteristics limitations regarding CVC assessment were mainly caused by limitations of the applied CXR position definitions (region of interest derived from anatomical landmarks), not by algorithmic spatial detection inaccuracies. CONCLUSIONS: The TT and CVC tips were accurately localized in SCXRs by the presented algorithms, but triaging applications for CVC positioning assessment still suffer from the vague definition of optimal CXR positioning. Our algorithm, however, allows for an adjustment of these criteria, theoretically enabling them to meet user-specific or patient subgroups requirements. Besides CVC tip analysis, future work should also include specific course analysis for accidental vessel turnover detection.

Implementing Artificial Intelligence for Emergency Radiology Impacts Physicians' Knowledge and Perception: A Prospective Pre- and Post-Analysis.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of implementing an artificial intelligence (AI) solution for emergency radiology into clinical routine on physicians' perception and knowledge. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective interventional survey was performed pre-implementation and 3 months post-implementation of an AI algorithm for fracture detection on radiographs in late 2022. Radiologists and traumatologists were asked about their knowledge and perception of AI on a 7-point Likert scale (-3, "strongly disagree"; +3, "strongly agree"). Self-generated identification codes allowed matching the same individuals pre-intervention and post-intervention, and using Wilcoxon signed rank test for paired data. RESULTS: A total of 47/71 matched participants completed both surveys (66% follow-up rate) and were eligible for analysis (34 radiologists [72%], 13 traumatologists [28%], 15 women [32%]; mean age, 34.8 ± 7.8 years). Postintervention, there was an increase that AI "reduced missed findings" (1.28 [pre] vs 1.94 [post], P = 0.003) and made readers "safer" (1.21 vs 1.64, P = 0.048), but not "faster" (0.98 vs 1.21, P = 0.261). There was a rising disagreement that AI could "replace the radiological report" (-2.04 vs -2.34, P = 0.038), as well as an increase in self-reported knowledge about "clinical AI," its "chances," and its "risks" (0.40 vs 1.00, 1.21 vs 1.70, and 0.96 vs 1.34; all P 's ≤ 0.028). Radiologists used AI results more frequently than traumatologists ( P < 0.001) and rated benefits higher (all P 's ≤ 0.038), whereas senior physicians were less likely to use AI or endorse its benefits (negative correlation with age, -0.35 to 0.30; all P 's ≤ 0.046). CONCLUSIONS: Implementing AI for emergency radiology into clinical routine has an educative aspect and underlines the concept of AI as a "second reader," to support and not replace physicians.

Clinically focused multi-cohort benchmarking as a tool for external validation of artificial intelligence algorithm performance in basic chest radiography analysis.

Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms evaluating [supine] chest radiographs ([S]CXRs) have remarkably increased in number recently. Since training and validation are often performed on subsets of the same overall dataset, external validation is mandatory to reproduce results and reveal potential training errors. We applied a multicohort benchmarking to the publicly accessible (S)CXR analyzing AI algorithm CheXNet, comprising three clinically relevant study cohorts which differ in patient positioning ([S]CXRs), the applied reference standards (CT-/[S]CXR-based) and the possibility to also compare algorithm classification with different medical experts' reading performance. The study cohorts include [1] a cohort, characterized by 563 CXRs acquired in the emergency unit that were evaluated by 9 readers (radiologists and non-radiologists) in terms of 4 common pathologies, [2] a collection of 6,248 SCXRs annotated by radiologists in terms of pneumothorax presence, its size and presence of inserted thoracic tube material which allowed for subgroup and confounding bias analysis and [3] a cohort consisting of 166 patients with SCXRs that were evaluated by radiologists for underlying causes of basal lung opacities, all of those cases having been correlated to a timely acquired computed tomography scan (SCXR and CT within < 90 min). CheXNet non-significantly exceeded the radiology resident (RR) consensus in the detection of suspicious lung nodules (cohort [1], AUC AI/RR: 0.851/0.839, p = 0.793) and the radiological readers in the detection of basal pneumonia (cohort [3], AUC AI/reader consensus: 0.825/0.782, p = 0.390) and basal pleural effusion (cohort [3], AUC AI/reader consensus: 0.762/0.710, p = 0.336) in SCXR, partly with AUC values higher than originally published ("Nodule": 0.780, "Infiltration": 0.735, "Effusion": 0.864). The classifier "Infiltration" turned out to be very dependent on patient positioning (best in CXR, worst in SCXR). The pneumothorax SCXR cohort [2] revealed poor algorithm performance in CXRs without inserted thoracic material and in the detection of small pneumothoraces, which can be explained by a known systematic confounding error in the algorithm training process. The benefit of clinically relevant external validation is demonstrated by the differences in algorithm performance as compared to the original publication. Our multi-cohort benchmarking finally enables the consideration of confounders, different reference standards and patient positioning as well as the AI performance comparison with differentially qualified medical readers.

An Artificial Intelligence-Based Chest X-ray Model on Human Nodule Detection Accuracy From a Multicenter Study.

Importance: Most early lung cancers present as pulmonary nodules on imaging, but these can be easily missed on chest radiographs. Objective: To assess if a novel artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm can help detect pulmonary nodules on radiographs at different levels of detection difficulty. Design, Setting, and Participants: This diagnostic study included 100 posteroanterior chest radiograph images taken between 2000 and 2010 of adult patients from an ambulatory health care center in Germany and a lung image database in the US. Included images were selected to represent nodules with different levels of detection difficulties (from easy to difficult), and comprised both normal and nonnormal control. Exposures: All images were processed with a novel AI algorithm, the AI Rad Companion Chest X-ray. Two thoracic radiologists established the ground truth and 9 test radiologists from Germany and the US independently reviewed all images in 2 sessions (unaided and AI-aided mode) with at least a 1-month washout period. Main Outcomes and Measures: Each test radiologist recorded the presence of 5 findings (pulmonary nodules, atelectasis, consolidation, pneumothorax, and pleural effusion) and their level of confidence for detecting the individual finding on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 representing lowest confidence; 10, highest confidence). The analyzed metrics for nodules included sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and receiver operating characteristics curve area under the curve (AUC). Results: Images from 100 patients were included, with a mean (SD) age of 55 (20) years and including 64 men and 36 women. Mean detection accuracy across the 9 radiologists improved by 6.4% (95% CI, 2.3% to 10.6%) with AI-aided interpretation compared with unaided interpretation. Partial AUCs within the effective interval range of 0 to 0.2 false positive rate improved by 5.6% (95% CI, -1.4% to 12.0%) with AI-aided interpretation. Junior radiologists saw greater improvement in sensitivity for nodule detection with AI-aided interpretation as compared with their senior counterparts (12%; 95% CI, 4% to 19% vs 9%; 95% CI, 1% to 17%) while senior radiologists experienced similar improvement in specificity (4%; 95% CI, -2% to 9%) as compared with junior radiologists (4%; 95% CI, -3% to 5%). Conclusions and Relevance: In this diagnostic study, an AI algorithm was associated with improved detection of pulmonary nodules on chest radiographs compared with unaided interpretation for different levels of detection difficulty and for readers with different experience.

Interpretation of Thoracic Radiography Shows Large Discrepancies Depending on the Qualification of the Physician-Quantitative Evaluation of Interobserver Agreement in a Representative Emergency Department Scenario.

(1) Background: Chest radiography (CXR) is still a key diagnostic component in the emergency department (ED). Correct interpretation is essential since some pathologies require urgent treatment. This study quantifies potential discrepancies in CXR analysis between radiologists and non-radiology physicians in training with ED experience. (2) Methods: Nine differently qualified physicians (three board-certified radiologists [BCR], three radiology residents [RR], and three non-radiology residents involved in ED [NRR]) evaluated a series of 563 posterior-anterior CXR images by quantifying suspicion for four relevant pathologies: pleural effusion, pneumothorax, pneumonia, and pulmonary nodules. Reading results were noted separately for each hemithorax on a Likert scale (0-4; 0: no suspicion of pathology, 4: safe existence of pathology) adding up to a total of 40,536 reported pathology suspicions. Interrater reliability/correlation and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed for statistical analysis. (3) Results: While interrater reliability was good among radiologists, major discrepancies between radiologists' and non-radiologists' reading results could be observed in all pathologies. Highest overall interrater agreement was found for pneumothorax detection and lowest agreement in raising suspicion for malignancy suspicious nodules. Pleural effusion and pneumonia were often suspected with indifferent choices (1-3). In terms of pneumothorax detection, all readers mainly decided for a clear option (0 or 4). Interrater reliability was usually higher when evaluating the right hemithorax (all pathologies except pneumothorax). (4) Conclusions: Quantified CXR interrater reliability analysis displays a general uncertainty and strongly depends on medical training. NRR can benefit from radiology reporting in terms of time efficiency and diagnostic accuracy. CXR evaluation of long-time trained ED specialists has not been tested.

Reduction of missed thoracic findings in emergency whole-body computed tomography using artificial intelligence assistance.

BACKGROUND: Radiology reporting of emergency whole-body computed tomography (CT) scans is time-critical and therefore involves a significant risk of pathology under-detection. We hypothesize a relevant number of initially missed secondary thoracic findings that would have been detected by an artificial intelligence (AI) software platform including several pathology-specific AI algorithms. METHODS: This retrospective proof-of-concept-study consecutively included 105 shock-room whole-body CT scans. Image data was analyzed by platform-bundled AI-algorithms, findings were reviewed by radiology experts and compared with the original radiologist's reports. We focused on secondary thoracic findings, such as cardiomegaly, coronary artery plaques, lung lesions, aortic aneurysms and vertebral fractures. RESULTS: We identified a relevant number of initially missed findings, with their quantification based on 105 analyzed CT scans as follows: up to 25 patients (23.8%) with cardiomegaly or borderline heart size, 17 patients (16.2%) with coronary plaques, 34 patients (32.4%) with aortic ectasia, 2 patients (1.9%) with lung lesions classified as "recommended to control" and 13 initially missed vertebral fractures (two with an acute traumatic origin). A high number of false positive or non-relevant AI-based findings remain problematic especially regarding lung lesions and vertebral fractures. CONCLUSIONS: We consider AI to be a promising approach to reduce the number of missed findings in clinical settings with a necessary time-critical radiological reporting. Nevertheless, algorithm improvement is necessary focusing on a reduction of "false positive" findings and on algorithm features assessing the finding relevance, e.g., fracture age or lung lesion malignancy.

Evaluation of patients with respiratory infections during the first pandemic wave in Germany: characteristics of COVID-19 versus non-COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: Characteristics of COVID-19 patients have mainly been reported within confirmed COVID-19 cohorts. By analyzing patients with respiratory infections in the emergency department during the first pandemic wave, we aim to assess differences in the characteristics of COVID-19 vs. Non-COVID-19 patients. This is particularly important regarding the second COVID-19 wave and the approaching influenza season. METHODS: We prospectively included 219 patients with suspected COVID-19 who received radiological imaging and RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters as well as RT-PCR results were used for subgroup analysis. Imaging data were reassessed using the following scoring system: 0 - not typical, 1 - possible, 2 - highly suspicious for COVID-19. RESULTS: COVID-19 was diagnosed in 72 (32,9%) patients. In three of them (4,2%) the initial RT-PCR was negative while initial CT scan revealed pneumonic findings. 111 (50,7%) patients, 61 of them (55,0%) COVID-19 positive, had evidence of pneumonia. Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia showed higher body temperature (37,7 ± 0,1 vs. 37,1 ± 0,1 °C; p = 0.0001) and LDH values (386,3 ± 27,1 vs. 310,4 ± 17,5 U/l; p = 0.012) as well as lower leukocytes (7,6 ± 0,5 vs. 10,1 ± 0,6G/l; p = 0.0003) than patients with other pneumonia. Among abnormal CT findings in COVID-19 patients, 57 (93,4%) were evaluated as highly suspicious or possible for COVID-19. In patients with negative RT-PCR and pneumonia, another third was evaluated as highly suspicious or possible for COVID-19 (14 out of 50; 28,0%). The sensitivity in the detection of patients requiring isolation was higher with initial chest CT than with initial RT-PCR (90,4% vs. 79,5%). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 patients show typical clinical, laboratory and imaging parameters which enable a sensitive detection of patients who demand isolation measures due to COVID-19.

Macrophage ablation significantly reduces uptake of imaging probe into organs of the reticuloendothelial system.

BACKGROUND: Macrophages engulf particulate contrast media, which is pivotal for biomedical imaging. PURPOSE: To introduce a macrophage ablation animal model by showing its power to manipulate the kinetics of imaging probes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The kinetics of a particulate computed tomography (CT) contrast media was compared in macrophage ablative mice and normal mice. Liposomes (size 220 µg), loaded with clodronate, were injected into the peritoneum of three C57BL/6 mice. On the third day, 200 µL of the particulate agent ExiTron nano 6000 were injected into three macrophage-ablative mice and three control mice. CT scans were acquired before and 3 min, 1 h, 6 h, and 24 h after the ExiTron application. The animals were sacrificed, and their spleens and livers removed. Relative CT values (CTV) were measured and analyzed. RESULTS: Liver and spleen enhancement of treated mice and controls were increasing over time. The median peak values were different with 225 CTV for treated mice and 582 CTV for controls in the liver (P = 0.032) and 431 CTV for treated and 974 CTV in controls in the spleen (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: Macrophage ablation leads to a decrease of enhancement in organs containing high numbers of macrophages, but only marginal changes in macrophage-poor organs. Macrophage ablation can influence the phagocytic activity and thus opens new potentials to investigate and manipulate the uptake of imaging probes.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Upcoming Influenza Season-Does an Expert's Computed Tomography Assessment Differentially Identify COVID-19, Influenza and Pneumonias of Other Origin?

(1) Background: Time-consuming SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR suffers from limited sensitivity in early infection stages whereas fast available chest CT can already raise COVID-19 suspicion. Nevertheless, radiologists' performance to differentiate COVID-19, especially from influenza pneumonia, is not sufficiently characterized. (2) Methods: A total of 201 pneumonia CTs were identified and divided into subgroups based on RT-PCR: 78 COVID-19 CTs, 65 influenza CTs and 62 Non-COVID-19-Non-influenza (NCNI) CTs. Three radiology experts (blinded from RT-PCR results) raised pathogen-specific suspicion (separately for COVID-19, influenza, bacterial pneumonia and fungal pneumonia) according to the following reading scores: 0-not typical/1-possible/2-highly suspected. Diagnostic performances were calculated with RT-PCR as a reference standard. Dependencies of radiologists' pathogen suspicion scores were characterized by Pearson's Chi2 Test for Independence. (3) Results: Depending on whether the intermediate reading score 1 was considered as positive or negative, radiologists correctly classified 83-85% (vs. NCNI)/79-82% (vs. influenza) of COVID-19 cases (sensitivity up to 94%). Contrarily, radiologists correctly classified only 52-56% (vs. NCNI)/50-60% (vs. COVID-19) of influenza cases. The COVID-19 scoring was more specific than the influenza scoring compared with suspected bacterial or fungal infection. (4) Conclusions: High-accuracy COVID-19 detection by CT might expedite patient management even during the upcoming influenza season.

Impact of Confounding Thoracic Tubes and Pleural Dehiscence Extent on Artificial Intelligence Pneumothorax Detection in Chest Radiographs.

OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that published performances of algorithms for artificial intelligence (AI) pneumothorax (PTX) detection in chest radiographs (CXRs) do not sufficiently consider the influence of PTX size and confounding effects caused by thoracic tubes (TTs). Therefore, we established a radiologically annotated benchmarking cohort (n = 6446) allowing for a detailed subgroup analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively identified 6434 supine CXRs, among them 1652 PTX-positive cases and 4782 PTX-negative cases. Supine CXRs were radiologically annotated for PTX size, PTX location, and inserted TTs. The diagnostic performances of 2 AI algorithms ("AI_CheXNet" [Rajpurkar et al], "AI_1.5" [Guendel et al]), both trained on publicly available datasets with labels obtained from automatic report interpretation, were quantified. The algorithms' discriminative power for PTX detection was quantified by the area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC), and significance analysis was based on the corresponding 95% confidence interval. A detailed subgroup analysis was performed to quantify the influence of PTX size and the confounding effects caused by inserted TTs. RESULTS: Algorithm performance was quantified as follows: overall performance with AUROCs of 0.704 (AI_1.5) / 0.765 (AI_CheXNet) for unilateral PTXs, AUROCs of 0.666 (AI_1.5) / 0.722 (AI_CheXNet) for unilateral PTXs smaller than 1 cm, and AUROCs of 0.735 (AI_1.5) / 0.818 (AI_CheXNet) for unilateral PTXs larger than 2 cm. Subgroup analysis identified TTs to be strong confounders that significantly influence algorithm performance: Discriminative power is completely eliminated by analyzing PTX-positive cases without TTs referenced to control PTX-negative cases with inserted TTs. Contrarily, AUROCs increased up to 0.875 (AI_CheXNet) for large PTX-positive cases with inserted TTs referenced to control cases without TTs. CONCLUSIONS: Our detailed subgroup analysis demonstrated that the performance of established AI algorithms for PTX detection trained on public datasets strongly depends on PTX size and is significantly biased by confounding image features, such as inserted TTS. Our established, clinically relevant and radiologically annotated benchmarking cohort might be of great benefit for ongoing algorithm development.

Artificial Intelligence Algorithm Detecting Lung Infection in Supine Chest Radiographs of Critically Ill Patients With a Diagnostic Accuracy Similar to Board-Certified Radiologists.

OBJECTIVES: Interpretation of lung opacities in ICU supine chest radiographs remains challenging. We evaluated a prototype artificial intelligence algorithm to classify basal lung opacities according to underlying pathologies. DESIGN: Retrospective study. The deep neural network was trained on two publicly available datasets including 297,541 images of 86,876 patients. PATIENTS: One hundred sixty-six patients received both supine chest radiograph and CT scans (reference standard) within 90 minutes without any intervention in between. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Algorithm accuracy was referenced to board-certified radiologists who evaluated supine chest radiographs according to side-separate reading scores for pneumonia and effusion (0 = absent, 1 = possible, and 2 = highly suspected). Radiologists were blinded to the supine chest radiograph findings during CT interpretation. Performances of radiologists and the artificial intelligence algorithm were quantified by receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis. Diagnostic metrics (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy) were calculated based on different receiver-operating characteristic operating points. Regarding pneumonia detection, radiologists achieved a maximum diagnostic accuracy of up to 0.87 (95% CI, 0.78-0.93) when considering only the supine chest radiograph reading score 2 as positive for pneumonia. Radiologist's maximum sensitivity up to 0.87 (95% CI, 0.76-0.94) was achieved by additionally rating the supine chest radiograph reading score 1 as positive for pneumonia and taking previous examinations into account. Radiologic assessment essentially achieved nonsignificantly higher results compared with the artificial intelligence algorithm: artificial intelligence-area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.737 (0.659-0.815) versus radiologist's area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.779 (0.723-0.836), diagnostic metrics of receiver-operating characteristic operating points did not significantly differ. Regarding the detection of pleural effusions, there was no significant performance difference between radiologist's and artificial intelligence algorithm: artificial intelligence-area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.740 (0.662-0.817) versus radiologist's area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.698 (0.646-0.749) with similar diagnostic metrics for receiver-operating characteristic operating points. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the minor level of performance differences between the algorithm and radiologists, we regard artificial intelligence as a promising clinical decision support tool for supine chest radiograph examinations in the clinical routine with high potential to reduce the number of missed findings in an artificial intelligence-assisted reading setting.

Facebook Groups as a Powerful and Dynamic Tool in Medical Education: Mixed-Method Study.

BACKGROUND: Social networking sites, in particular Facebook, are not only predominant in students' social life but are to varying degrees interwoven with the medical curriculum. Particularly, Facebook groups have been identified for their potential in higher education. However, there is a paucity of data on user types, content, and dynamics of study-related Facebook groups. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the role of study-related Facebook group use, characterize medical students that use or avoid using Facebook groups (demographics, participation pattern, and motivation), and analyze student posting behavior, covered topics, dynamics, and limitations in Facebook groups with regards to educational usage. METHODS: Using a multi-method approach (interviews, focus groups, and qualitative and quantitative analysis of Facebook posts), we analyzed two representative Facebook groups of medical preclinical semesters at Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich. Facebook primary posts and replies over one semester were extracted and evaluated by using thematic content analysis. We developed and applied a coding scheme for studying the frequency and distribution of these posts. Additionally, we interviewed students with various degrees of involvement in the groups, as well as "new minorities," students not registered on Facebook. RESULTS: Facebook groups seem to have evolved as the main tool for medical students at LMU to complement the curriculum and to discuss study-related content. These Facebook groups are self-organizing and quickly adapt to organizational or subject-related challenges posed by the curriculum. A wide range of topics is covered, with a dominance of organization-related posts (58.35% [6916/11,853] of overall posts). By measuring reply rates and comments per category, we were able to identify learning tips and strategies, material sharing, and course content discussions as the most relevant categories. Rates of adequate replies in these categories ranged between 78% (11/14) and 100% (13/13), and the number of comments per post ranged from 8.4 to 13.7 compared with the average overall reply rate of 68.69% (1167/1699) and 3.9 comments per post. User typology revealed social media drivers (>30 posts per semester) as engines of group function, frequent users (11-30 posts), and a majority of average users acting rather as consumers or lurkers (1-10 posts). CONCLUSIONS: For the moment, the medical faculty has no active involvement in these groups and therefore no influence on accuracy of information, professionalism, and ethical issues. Nevertheless, faculty could in the future benefit by extracting relevant information, identifying common problems, and understanding semester-related dynamics.

Oral thrombin inhibitor aggravates platelet adhesion and aggregation during arterial thrombosis.

In patients with atrial fibrillation, oral anticoagulation with oral thrombin inhibitors (OTIs), in contrast to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), associates with a modest increase in acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). Whether this observation is causatively linked to OTI treatment and, if so, whether OTI action is the result of a lower antithrombotic efficacy of OTI compared to VKA or reflects a yet undefined prothrombotic activity of OTI remain unclear. We analyzed platelet function in patients receiving OTI or dose-adapted VKA under static and flow conditions. In vivo, we studied arterial thrombosis in OTI-, VKA-, and vehicle-treated mice using carotid ligation and wire injury models. Further, we examined thrombus formation on human atherosclerotic plaque homogenates under arterial shear to address the relevance to human pathology. Under static conditions, aggregation in the presence of ristocetin was increased in OTI-treated blood, whereas platelet reactivity and aggregation to other agonists were only marginally affected. Under flow conditions, firm platelet adhesion and thrombus formation on von Willebrand factor, collagen, and human atherosclerotic plaque were increased in the presence of OTI in comparison to VKA. OTI treatment was associated with increased thrombus formation in injured carotid arteries of mice. Inhibition or ablation of GPIbα-thrombin interactions abolished the effect of OTI on thrombus formation, suggesting a mechanistic role of the platelet receptor GPIbα and its thrombin-binding site. The effect of OTI was also abrogated in the presence of aspirin. In summary, OTI treatment has prothrombotic activity that might contribute to the increase in ACS observed clinically in patients.

Simulating the physician as healthcare manager: An innovative course to train for the manager role.

INTRODUCTION: During their formal studies medical students acquire extensive medical expertise. However, the medical profession demands additional competencies, such as those involved in efficient resource allocation, business administration, development, organization, and process management in the healthcare system. At present students are not sufficiently prepared for the physician's role as manager. In response, we designed the seminar course, MeCuM-SiGma, to impart basic knowledge about healthcare policy and management to students of medicine. This project report describes our teaching strategies and the initial evaluation of this educational project. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: In this semester-long, seminar course introduced in 2010, medical students gather experience with the competencies mentioned above as well as learn basic management skills. The course is offered each winter semester, and students sign up to attend voluntarily; course coordination and organization is done on a voluntary basis by physicians and employees of the Mentoring Office (MeCuM-Mentor) at the Medical School of the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Germany. The course is open to all students enrolled at the two medical schools in Munich. During the first part of this elective, students learn about the basic principles of the German political and healthcare systems in case-based, problem-based tutorials led by trained tutors and in lectures held by experts. In the second part of the course students take on the roles of the University Hospital's executive board of directors and supervisory board to work on an existing hospital project as a group within the scope of a simulation. This phase of the course is accompanied by workshops conducted in cooperation with university-based and off-campus partners that address the procedural learning objectives (teamwork, project management, negotiation strategies, etc.). A suitable, authentic issue currently facing the hospital is selected in advance by the course organizers in coordination with the hospital's executive board. Students then work on this issue in the third and final phase of the course under the supervision of tutors and with assistance from hospital employees. At the end of the course the students formally present the results of their work to the hospital's executive and supervisory boards. RESULTS: The course undergoes written student evaluation, a round of oral feedback, evaluation of the final projects, and feedback from the hospital's executive and supervisory boards. All attendees to date have reported a substantial gain in general knowledge and increased knowledge about the healthcare system, and rate the relevance of the course as being high. The majority felt the content was important for their future practice of medicine. Overall, students evaluated the course very positively [overall rating on a six-point grading scale (1=excellent; 6=unsatisfactory): 1.28 (mean)±0.45 (standard deviation)]. DISCUSSION: The importance of the physician's role as manager in medical organizations and as a guiding force in the healthcare system is neglected in medical degree programs. Our seminar course attempts to address this shortcoming, is the object of great interest and receives positive evaluations from seminar participants, our cooperative partners and the executive and supervisory boards of the University Hospital in Munich.