Impact of Medical Cannabis on Patient-Reported Symptoms for Patients With Cancer Enrolled in Minnesota's Medical Cannabis Program.

PURPOSE: Minnesota's medical cannabis program is unique, in that it routinely collects patient-reported scores on symptoms. This article focuses on changes in symptom severity reported by patients with cancer during their first 4 months of program participation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with cancer in Minnesota's medical cannabis program reported symptoms (anxiety, lack of appetite, depression, disturbed sleep, fatigue, nausea, pain, and vomiting) at their worst over the last 24 hours before each medical cannabis purchase. Baseline scores on each of the eight symptoms were statistically compared with the average symptom scores reported in the first 4 months of program participation. Symptom scores were also calculated as percent change from baseline, with patients achieving and maintaining at least a 30% reduction in symptoms reported in this article. Patients also reported intensity of adverse effects. RESULTS: A significant reduction in scores was found across all symptoms when comparing baseline scores with the average score submitted within the first 4 months of program participation (all Ps < .001). The proportion of patients achieving 30% or greater symptom reduction within the first 4 months of program participation varied from 27% (fatigue) to 50% (vomiting), with a smaller proportion both achieving and maintaining those improvements. Adverse effects were reported in a small proportion of patients (10.5%). CONCLUSION: Patients with cancer enrolled in Minnesota's medical cannabis program showed significant reduction across all eight symptoms assessed within 4 months of program participation. Medical cannabis was well tolerated, and some patients attained clinically meaningful and lasting levels of improvement.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults Associated With Low Cardiovascular Mortality With Contemporary Management Strategies.

BACKGROUND: Youthful age has been considered the time of greatest risk for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), largely because of the possibility of sudden death. The last 2 decades have witnessed more reliable identification of at-risk patients and utilization of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for prevention of sudden death, and other contemporary treatment options. Whether such management advances have significantly altered the considerable mortality rate for young HCM patients remains unresolved. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied long-term outcome in 474 consecutive HCM patients between 7 and 29 years of age presenting at 2 referral institutions. Over 7.1±5.1 years of follow-up (6.0 [3.0, 10.0]), 452 patients (95%) survived, with 95% experiencing no or mild symptoms. HCM-related death occurred in 18 patients (3%; 0.54%/y): arrhythmic sudden death (n=12), progressive heart failure and heart transplant complications (n=5), or postoperatively (n=1). In contrast, aborted life-threatening events occurred in 63 other high-risk patients (13%) with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator interventions for ventricular tachyarrhythmias (n=31), resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (n=20), or heart transplant for advanced heart failure (n=12), 1.8%/y, 3-fold higher than HCM mortality. Five- and 10-year survival (considering only HCM deaths) was high (97% and 94%, respectively), virtually identical to that reported in middle-aged adult HCM patients (98% and 94%, P=0.23). CONCLUSIONS: In a large hospital-based cohort of young HCM patients, representing an age group considered at greatest risk, low mortality rates can be achieved with the application of contemporary cardiovascular treatment strategies, largely because of reliable identification of high-risk patients who benefited from implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for sudden death prevention, thereby creating the opportunity for extended longevity and good quality of life.

Peripheral artery disease is an independent predictor of mortality after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation in patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction.

The impact of peripheral artery disease (PAD) on survival in implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients is poorly understood. Thus, we assessed the risk of PAD in our adult ICD patients with left ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction [EF] ≤35%). Survival was estimated with Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test; a Cox proportional hazards model assessed the effects of clinical variables on survival. Average age and EF of 1399 patients were 67.0 ± 12.1 years and 23.8% ± 7.2%, respectively. The ICD patients with PAD had significantly worse survival than those without (unadjusted P < .0001). The multivariate predictors of survival at implant were (hazard ratio, HR [95% confidence interval]) age (HR 1.05 [1.04-1.07] P < .0001), PAD (HR 2.07 [1.53-2.80] P < .0001), class III/IV heart failure (HR 1.36 [1.06-1.76] P = .016), creatinine 1.4-2.0 mg/dL (HR 1.36 [1.05-1.76] P = .019), and creatinine ≥2.0 mg/dL (HR 2.01 [1.42-2.85] P < .0001). The PAD is an independent predictor of mortality and should be considered in the preimplant risk assessment.

Failure of a novel silicone-polyurethane copolymer (Optim™) to prevent implantable cardioverter-defibrillator lead insulation abrasions.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine if Optim™, a unique copolymer of silicone and polyurethane, protects Riata ST Optim and Durata implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads (SJM, St Jude Medical Inc., Sylmar, CA, USA) from abrasions that cause lead failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: We searched the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Manufacturers and User Device Experience (MAUDE) database on 13 April 2012 using the simple search terms 'Riata ST Optim™ abrasion analysis' and 'Durata abrasion analysis'. Lead implant time was estimated by subtracting 3 months from the reported lead age. The MAUDE search returned 15 reports for Riata ST Optim™ and 37 reports for Durata leads, which were submitted by SJM based on its analyses of returned leads for clinical events that occurred between December 2007 and January 2012. Riata ST Optim™ leads had been implanted 29.1 ± 11.7 months. Eight of 15 leads had can abrasions and three abrasions were caused by friction with another device, most likely another lead. Four of these abrasions resulted in high-voltage failures and one death. One failure was caused by an internal insulation defect. Durata leads had been implanted 22.2 ± 10.6 months. Twelve Durata leads had can abrasions, and six leads had abrasions caused by friction with another device. Of these 18 can and other device abrasions, 13 (72%) had electrical abnormalities. Low impedances identified three internal insulation abrasions. CONCLUSIONS: Riata ST Optim™ and Durata ICD leads have failed due to insulation abrasions. Optim™ did not prevent these abrasions, which developed ≤ 4 years after implant. Studies are needed to determine the incidence of these failures and their clinical implications.