The association of cannabis use on inpatient psychiatric hospital outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The associations between cannabis use and psychosis are well documented in numerous studies. There is a need to evaluate the impact of cannabis use on inpatient psychiatric utilization and outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of cannabis use on psychiatric hospital outcomes. METHODS: This study was conducted between April 20, 2015 and October 20, 2015. All patients (n = 120) admitted to Denver Health with psychotic symptoms were administered a urine toxicology screening testing for the presence of 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH, the active metabolite of cannabis). Patients with positive tests were compared to those with negative tests on several measures, including length of stay, presence or lack of 30-day readmission, Brief Psychotic Rating Scale (BPRS) score, and use of antipsychotics and/or sedatives/anxiolytics. RESULTS: There were 120 patients. Twenty nine were women and 91 were men. Patients testing positive for THC-COOH had a shorter length of stay compared to patients testing negative for THC-COOH, after adjusting for age, prior psychiatric admissions, history of a psychotic-spectrum disorder, and comorbid additional substance use (p = 0.02). There were no differences in 30-day readmissions, 30-day post-discharge presentation to the Denver Health psychiatric emergency department, BPRS scores, and medication administration. CONCLUSION: Patients presenting with psychotic symptoms and cannabis use require shorter inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations. This study is the first to quantify this observation and highlights the need for future clinical decision-making tools that would ideally correlate cannabis use with the degree of potential need for expensive and scarce mental health resources, such as psychiatric hospitalization.

YouTube as a source of health information: Analysis of sun protection and skin cancer prevention related issues.

Although social media ubiquitously supplementstraditional information sources such as newspapers,magazines, radio, and television, investigation of onlinehealth information related to sun protection and skincancer prevention has been scarce and largely limitedto English language sources. Using the search terms"sun protection," "sunscreen," "skin cancer prevention,""tanning bed" and "vitamin D," we investigated 281YouTube videos presented in 6 languages: English,German, French, Spanish, Swedish, and Danish. Foreach video, we used a four-sectioned checklist toassess general information, popularity, expert drivenmeasures, and heuristic driven measures. Differencesbetween languages were detected: English languagevideos were most frequently viewed (median numberof views: 5488 compared to 248 -1591 in otherlanguages). Approximately 60% of videos revealednegative effects of solar ultraviolet (UV)-exposure.The majority of videos (75%) targeted adults. Videoson tanning beds and sunscreen contained false ormisleading information 40% and 20% of the time,respectively. We confirm observations made withrespect to other medical disciplines that the generalquality of YouTube contributions is often inferiorand does not deliver sustainable information. Othersources of information should be included whensearching for health information online.

Survival outcomes in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with drug-eluting bead chemoembolization.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to determine the overall survival rates in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who undergo treatment with drug-eluting bead (DEB) therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A retrospective review of the clinical HCC database of a single institution was undertaken for patients treated between September 2008 and December 2011. Demographic information, laboratory and imaging findings, procedural details, and outcomes after treatment were obtained. The primary outcome was overall survival, which was stratified by Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage, Child-Pugh class, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, serum bilirubin level, and ethnicity. Multiple secondary independent variables were also measured. RESULTS. Of 239 consecutive patients treated during the prescribed time frame, 43 patients met the inclusion criteria. Thirty patients met the criteria for BCLC stage C, and 13 met the criteria for BCLC stage D based largely on ECOG score. Eight patients had venous invasion or portal venous thrombosis, and four had limited extrahepatic metastases. Eight patients had Child-Pugh class C liver disease but remained candidates for liver transplant based on the Milan criteria. The median overall survival was 596 days; 23 patients are still alive, 12 of whom underwent liver transplant. The only independent variables affecting survival were serum bilirubin value of 2.0 mg/dL or greater (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.96; 95% CI, 1.46-10.7; p = 0.007) and Child-Pugh class B or C disease (HR = 3.33; 95% CI, 1.07-10.34; p = 0.037). CONCLUSION. The use of DEBs for TACE therapy is safe and effective in carefully selected patients with advanced HCC.

Consultation-Liaison Case Conference: Assessment and Management of a Physician With Thoughts of Suicide.

We present the case of a physician who engages with a peer response team and discloses suicidal ideation while himself seeing patients in the hospital. Top experts in consultation-liaison psychiatry provide guidance for this clinical case based on their experience and a review of the available literature. Key teaching topics include a general approach to suicide risk assessment, peer response programs for healthcare workers, and ethical and clinical considerations in treating colleagues. Consultation-liaison psychiatrists should be familiar with suicide risk management, take a pro-active approach to addressing modifiable risk factors, and keep in mind unique challenges of treating colleagues referred for care.

Downstaging disease in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma outside of Milan criteria: strategies using drug-eluting bead chemoembolization.

PURPOSE: To assess downstaging rates in patients with United Network for Organ Sharing stage T3N0M0 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with doxorubicin-eluting bead transarterial chemoembolization to meet Milan criteria for transplantation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-center retrospective review of 239 patients treated with doxorubicin-eluting bead (DEB) chemoembolization between September 2008 and December 2011 was undertaken. Baseline and follow-up computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging was assessed for response based on the longest enhancing axial dimension of each tumor (ie, modified Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors measurements), and medical records were reviewed. Fisher exact tests and exact logistic regression were used to test the association of patient and disease characteristics with downstaging. RESULTS: After exclusions, 22 patients remained in the analysis, 17 of whom (77%) had their HCC downstaged to meet Milan criteria. Among those whose disease was downstaged, seven underwent transplantation, one remained listed for transplantation, six had disease progression beyond Milan criteria, two underwent conventional transarterial chemoembolization, and one underwent radiofrequency ablation. The seven patients who received transplants were still living, but recurrent HCC developed in two. Baseline age (P = .25), Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (P = .77), and α-fetoprotein (AFP) level (P = 1.00) were similar between patients with and without downstaged HCC. No associations were observed between the odds of downstaging and sex (P = .21), Child-Pugh class (P = .14), Child-Pugh class controlling for baseline tumor multiplicity (P = .15), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (P = 1.00), tumor burden (P = .31), multiple tumors (P = .31), or hepatitis C virus infection (P = 1.00). Fifteen patients who did not receive transplants were alive at 1 year, with two progression-free. Baseline AFP levels differed between those who survived 1 year and those who did not (P = .02), but did not differ by progression-free survival status (P = .62). CONCLUSIONS: T3N0M0 HCC treatment with DEB chemoembolization has a high likelihood (77%) of downstaging the disease to meet Milan criteria.

Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Real World Experience Post-FDA-Humanitarian Use Device Approval.

Background: While case series have established the efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it has been our experience that few OCD patients present without comorbidities that affect outcomes associated with DBS treatment. Here we present our experience with DBS therapy for OCD in patients who all have comorbid disease, together with the results of our programming strategies. Methods: For this case series, we assessed five patients who underwent ventral capsule/ventral striatum (VC/VS) DBS for OCD between 2015 and 2019 at the University of Colorado Hospital. Every patient in this cohort exhibited comorbidities, including substance use disorders, eating disorder, tic disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. We conducted an IRB-approved, retrospective study of programming modifications and treatment response over the course of DBS therapy. Results: In addition to patients' subjective reports of improvement, we observed significant improvement in the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (44%), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (53%), the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (27%), and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating scales (34.9%) following DBS. With respect to co-morbid disease, there was a significant improvement in a patient with tic disorder's Total Tic Severity Score (TTSS) (p = 0.005). Conclusions: DBS remains an efficacious tool for the treatment of OCD, even in patients with significant comorbidities in whom DBS has not previously been investigated. Efficacious treatment results not only from the accurate placement of the electrodes by the surgeon but also from programming by the psychiatrist.

Resilience, Resistance: A Commentary on the Historical Origins of Resilience and Wellness Initiatives.

There is an increasing focus on physician wellness as an indicator of health system quality, and terms related to wellness, such as "burnout" and "resilience," have blossomed in the international discourse. An emphasis on the current concept of resilience shifts the responsibility for systemic problems to the individual. Examining the history of the term "resilience" reveals its origins in ecological studies and its subsequent mobilization by economic theorists and politics. Understanding this historical context when considering wellness initiatives may help providers recognize which interventions and changes to individual behaviors or systems might be useful; it also encourages providers to focus on political action (local and national) to facilitate change.

The Opioid Epidemic and Psychiatry: The Time for Action Is Now.

The number of people with opioid use disorder and the number of overdose deaths in the United States have increased dramatically over the past 20 years. U.S. Congress passed the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which was signed into law in 2018, authorizing almost $8 billion to address the crisis. As experts in the treatment of central nervous systems disorders, psychiatrists can play a leading role in expanding treatment for people with opioid use disorder and in advocating for policy changes to support community treatment for this group.

Adaptation in Delivering Integrated Care: The Tension Between Care and Evidence-Based Practice.

Clinical practice is assumed to be informed and supported by evidence-based clinical research. Nonetheless, clinical practice often deviates from the research evidence base, sometimes leading and sometimes lagging. Two examples from integrated care in mental health care (care for serious mental illness and collaborative mental health care in primary care settings) illustrate the natural space and therefore tension between evidence and implementation that needs to be better understood. Using the tools and perspectives of both examples, the authors present a framework for the connected relationship between practice and research that is founded on measurement and uses iterative adaptation guided by oversight of and feedback from the stakeholders in this process.

A 27-Year-Old Man With Acute Severe Low Back Pain and Bilateral Leg Swelling That Prompted Renting a Wheelchair for Mobility.

A 27-year-old man with OSA, posttraumatic stress disorder, and chronic mechanical back pain presented with a 3-day history of acute atraumatic worsening of his low back pain as well as right groin numbness that was exacerbated by walking. He also complained of bilateral leg "heaviness," pain, and swelling, all becoming so severe that he rented a wheelchair for mobility.