Assessment of Health Care Exposures and Outcomes in Adult Patients With Sepsis and Septic Shock.

Importance: Current information on the characteristics of patients who develop sepsis may help in identifying opportunities to improve outcomes. Most recent studies of sepsis epidemiology have focused on changes in incidence or have used administrative data sets that provided limited patient-level data. Objective: To describe sepsis epidemiology in adults. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study reviewed the medical records, death certificates, and hospital discharge data of adult patients with sepsis or septic shock who were discharged from the hospital between October 1, 2014, and September 30, 2015. The convenience sample was obtained from hospitals in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Emerging Infections Program in 10 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee). Patients 18 years and older with discharge diagnosis codes for severe sepsis or septic shock were randomly selected. Data were analyzed between May 1, 2018, and January 31, 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: The population's demographic characteristics, health care exposures, and sepsis-associated infections and pathogens were described, and risk factors for death within 30 days after sepsis diagnosis were assessed. Results: Among 1078 adult patients with sepsis (569 men [52.8%]; median age, 64 years [interquartile range, 53-75 years]), 973 patients (90.3%) were classified as having community-onset sepsis (ie, sepsis diagnosed within 3 days of hospital admission). In total, 654 patients (60.7%) had health care exposures before their hospital admission for sepsis; 260 patients (24.1%) had outpatient encounters in the 7 days before admission, and 447 patients (41.5%) received medical treatment, including antimicrobial drugs, chemotherapy, wound care, dialysis, or surgery, in the 30 days before admission. A pathogen associated with sepsis was found in 613 patients (56.9%); the most common pathogens identified were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Clostridioides difficile. After controlling for other factors, an association was found between underlying comorbidities, such as cirrhosis (odds ratio, 3.59; 95% CI, 2.03-6.32), immunosuppression (odds ratio, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.81-3.52), vascular disease (odds ratio, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.10-2.15), and 30-day mortality. Conclusions and Relevance: Most adults experienced sepsis onset outside of the hospital and had recent encounters with the health care system. A sepsis-associated pathogen was identified in more than half of patients. Future efforts to improve sepsis outcomes may benefit from examination of health maintenance practices and recent health care exposures as potential opportunities among high-risk patients.

Lymphovascular invasion: assessment and prognostic impact in melanoma and breast cancer.

The presence of lymphovascular invasion is a recognised poor prognostic factor in a wide range of tumour types. Vascular invasion was historically identified through haematoxylin and eosin staining, however this technique is non-specific and differentiates poorly between blood and lymphatic vessels. Newer techniques using immunohistochemistry allow more sensitive and specific identification of lymphovascular invasion and are able to accurately differentiate between lymphatic and blood vessels. This review will discuss the current methods available for the assessment of lymphovascular invasion. Additionally, it will focus on the role of lymphovascular invasion in breast cancer and melanoma, discussing the relative importance of lymphatic and blood vessel invasion in each tumour type.

Change, humanity, and the nature of exile: workforce planning and the future of the health service.

There have been many changes in the practice of medicine in the UK in the recent past, including major changes in training and trainees' hours, treatment options and patient expectations. These, in combination with a need for better accountability and improved continuing medical education, have increased the demands on senior doctors, and made apparent the need for increased medical resource. There would seem to be four areas through which this is being addressed - increased production of doctors; changes in medical training; changes in medical practice, and retention of seniors in post. This paper examines some of the perceived advantages and potential disadvantages of these approaches. It concludes that if the health service is to have a viable long-term future, its survival in the short term depends on maintaining within the service the skills of those seniors who have borne the brunt of recent change.