PTH and bone material strength in hypoparathyroidism as measured by impact microindentation.

PTH levels might be associated with bone material strength as measured by impact microindentation. Resistance to microfracture is decreased in hypoparathyroidism and appears to be associated with more severe disease and to improve with PTH replacement. INTRODUCTION: PTH is a key regulator of bone structure and remodeling. When PTH is absent in hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT), bone mass is increased and remodeling is decreased. In addition to bone structure and remodeling, bone material properties contribute to fracture resistance. Yet little is known about the relationship between PTH and bone material properties. Impact microindentation provides a clinical assessment of microfracture resistance, measured as the bone material strength index (BMSi). METHODS: Case-control cross-sectional study of PTH levels and in vivo BMSi measurement by impact microindentation at the anterior tibia in HypoPT patients (n = 17) and in controls matched for age, sex, and menopausal status (n = 17), with follow-up in a subgroup of HypoPT patients (n = 5) after recombinant human parathyroid hormone (1-84) [rhPTH(1-84)] treatment. RESULTS: BMSi was positively associated with PTH levels in controls (r = 0.58, p = 0.02) and was 11% lower (p = 0.01) in HypoPT patients as compared with controls. In HypoPT, lower BMSi was associated with a trend toward greater supplemental calcium doses (p = 0.07). BMSi increased after rhPTH(1-84) treatment in the HypoPT patients who underwent repeat microindentation. CONCLUSIONS: PTH levels might be associated with bone material strength, although other factors might be contributory. In HypoPT, resistance to microfracture is decreased and may be associated with greater supplemental calcium doses and might increase with PTH replacement. It remains to be determined whether changes in bone remodeling and microarchitecture contribute to the effects of PTH on microfracture resistance.

Cardiac effects of echinocandin preparations - three case reports.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Echinocandins are antifungal agents, routinely used in invasive candida infections in critically ill patients. Their excellent anticandidal activity and their low frequency of reported adverse events and drug interactions make them first-line guideline treatments of candidiasis especially in intensive care units (ICU). We report on three ICU patients who developed cardiac insufficiency and hemodynamic instability during administration of loading doses of an echinocandin. CASE SUMMARY: Three ICU patients showed a substantial drop in their cardiac index or a deterioration of the mean arterial pressure following start of echinocandin administration. The patients were 75 years (female), 71 years (male) and 66 years (male) old. One patient received caspofungin, and two patients received anidulafungin as empirical antifungal treatment for severe sepsis. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Our cases suggest that the observed cardiac impairment could be associated with echinocandin administration. Therefore, we recommend close hemodynamic monitoring of critically ill patients receiving echinocandins.

[AKTIN - The German Emergency Department Data Registry - real-time data from emergency medicine : Implementation and first results from 15 emergency departments with focus on Federal Joint Committee's guidelines on acuity assessment]. / Das AKTIN-Notaufnahmeregister ­ kontinuierlich aktuelle Daten aus der Akutmedizin : Ergebnisse des Registeraufbaus und erste Datenauswertungen aus 15 Notaufnahmen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vorgaben des Gemeinsamen Bundesausschusses zur Ersteinschätzung.

BACKGROUND: Emergency care in Germany is in transition. Emergency departments (EDs) treat their patients based on symptoms and acuity. However, this perspective is not reflected in claims data. The aim of the AKTIN project was to establish an Emergency Department Data Registry as a data privacy-compliant infrastructure for the use of routine medical data. METHODS: Data from the respective documentation systems are continuously transmitted to local data warehouses using a standardized interface. They are available for several applications such as internal reports but also multicentre studies, in compliance with data privacy regulations. Based on a 12-months period we evaluate the population with focus on acuity assessment (triage) and vital parameters in combination with presenting complaints. RESULTS: For the period April 2018 to March 2019, 436,149 cases from 15 EDs were available. A triage level is documented in 86.0% of cases, and 70.5% were triaged within 10 min of arrival. Ten EDs collected a presenting complaint regularly (82.3%). The respective documentation of vital signs shows plausible patterns. CONCLUSIONS: The AKTIN registry provides an almost real-time insight into German EDs, regardless of the primary documentation system and health insurance claims data. The Federal Joint Committee's requirements are largely met. Standardized presenting complaints allow for symptom-based analyses as well as health surveillance.

Secure Electronical Communications and Data Transfers in a Clinical Environment.

As part of the German Project AKTIN, data security arises as an important issue. The context of this issue was detailed and the requirements were determined, with special focus on the hospital's point of view. The solution is illustrated in this poster. Further use cases in other medical or study context are also discussed.

LOINC in prehospital emergency medicine in Germany - experience of the `DIRK´-project.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of patients picked up by emergency services can be improved by data transfer ahead of arrival. Care given to emergency patients can be assessed and improved through data analysis. Both goals require electronic data transfer from the emergency medical services (EMS) to the hospital information system. Therefore a generic semantic standard is needed. OBJECTIVES: Objective of this paper is to test the suitability of the international nomenclature Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) to encode the core data-sets for rescue service protocols (MIND 2 and MIND 3). Encoding diagnosis and medication categories using ICD-10 and ATC were also assessed. METHODS: Protocols were broken down into concepts, assigned to categories, translated and manually mapped to LOINC codes. Each protocol was independently encoded by two healthcare professionals and in case of discrepancies a third expert was consulted to reach a consensus. RESULTS: Currently 39% of parameters could be mapped to LOINC. Additional use of other coding systems such as International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) for diagnoses and Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC) for medications increases the rate of 'mappable' parameters to 56%. CONCLUSIONS: Although the coverage is low, mapping has shown that LOINC is suitable to encode concepts of the rescue services. In order to create a generic semantic model to be applied in the field our next step is to request new LOINC codes for the missing concepts.

Design and multicentric implementation of a generic software architecture for patient recruitment systems re-using existing HIS tools and routine patient data.

OBJECTIVE: (1) To define features and data items of a Patient Recruitment System (PRS); (2) to design a generic software architecture of such a system covering the requirements; (3) to identify implementation options available within different Hospital Information System (HIS) environments; (4) to implement five PRS following the architecture and utilizing the implementation options as proof of concept. METHODS: Existing PRS were reviewed and interviews with users and developers conducted. All reported PRS features were collected and prioritized according to their published success and user's request. Common feature sets were combined into software modules of a generic software architecture. Data items to process and transfer were identified for each of the modules. Each site collected implementation options available within their respective HIS environment for each module, provided a prototypical implementation based on available implementation possibilities and supported the patient recruitment of a clinical trial as a proof of concept. RESULTS: 24 commonly reported and requested features of a PRS were identified, 13 of them prioritized as being mandatory. A UML version 2 based software architecture containing 5 software modules covering these features was developed. 13 data item groups processed by the modules, thus required to be available electronically, have been identified. Several implementation options could be identified for each module, most of them being available at multiple sites. Utilizing available tools, a PRS could be implemented in each of the five participating German university hospitals. CONCLUSION: A set of required features and data items of a PRS has been described for the first time. The software architecture covers all features in a clear, well-defined way. The variety of implementation options and the prototypes show that it is possible to implement the given architecture in different HIS environments, thus enabling more sites to successfully support patient recruitment in clinical trials.

Inhibition of phosphotidylinositol-3 kinase pathway by a novel naphthol derivative of betulinic acid induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in cancer cells of different origin.

Betulinic acid (BA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid natural product reported to inhibit cell growth in a variety of cancers. However, the further clinical development of BA got hampered because of poor solubility and pharmacological properties. Interestingly, this molecule offer several hotspots for structural modifications in order to address its associated issues. In our endeavor, we selected C-3 position for the desirable chemical modification in order to improve its cytotoxic and pharmacological potential and prepared a library of different triazoline derivatives of BA. Among them, we previously reported the identification of a potential molecule, that is, 3{1N(5-hydroxy-naphth-1yl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4yl}methyloxy betulinic acid (HBA) with significant inhibition of cancer cell growth and their properties. In the present study, we have shown for the first time that HBA decreased the expression of phosphotidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) p110α and p85α and caused significant downregulation of pAKT and of NFκB using human leukemia and breast cancer cells as in vitro models. Further it was revealed that PI3K inhibition by HBA induced cell cycle arrest via effects on different cell cycle regulatory proteins that include CDKis cyclins and pGSK3ß. Also, this target-specific inhibition was associated with mitochondrial apoptosis as was reflected by the increased expression of mitochondrial bax, downregulated bcl2 and decreased mitochondrial levels of cytochrome c, together with reactive oxygen species generation and decline in mitochondrial membrane potential. The apoptotic effectors such as caspase 8, caspase 9 and caspase 3 were found to be upregulated besides DNA repair-associated enzyme, that is, PARP cleavage caused cancer cell death. Pharmacodynamic evaluation revealed that both HBA and BA were safe upto the dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight and with acceptable pharmacodynamic parameters. The in vitro data corroborated with in vivo anticancer activity wherein Ehrlich solid tumor showed that HBA as a more potent agent than BA without any body weight loss and mortality.

Short-term and long-term effects of electrical stimulation on skin properties.

BACKGROUND: Electrical stimulation (ES) has been used in treating different medical conditions; however, not much is known about the effect of this application on skin properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the short-term and long-term effects of ES on biophysical properties of the skin. METHODS: A pretest-posttest control design was used in the study. Thirteen men (N = 13, age (M ± SD), 19 ± 5.6 years) were free of skin abnormality on the volar aspect of both forearms. Four areas were allocated and marked with a layout template of two circles 2 cm in diameter and 2 cm apart. Areas 1 and 2 were allocated on the experimental forearm and area 3 and 4 on the control forearm. ES was applied for 15 minutes with two rubber electrodes 8 cm apart surrounding areas 1 and 2 on the experimental forearm three times a week for 2 weeks. Skin properties including transepidermal water loss (TEWL), melanin content, erythema, elasticity and pH were measured pre-ES, during ES and post-ES, and after 2 weeks of applying ES to find out the short-term and long-term effects on skin. RESULTS: The TEWL was increased during ES at 7, 15 and 15-minutes post-ES compared with the baseline (p < 0.01) and to the control forearm (p = 0.04) measurements, and no increase have been noticed of TEWL on the control forearm (p = 0.11). Also, we found no difference in the other skin properties (p > 0.05) on both forearms, and there were no long-term effects (p > 0.05) in any tested variable. CONCLUSION: Electrical stimulation caused temporary increase in TEWL with no effects on other skin properties.