Association of Home Respiratory Equipment and Supply Use with Health Care Resource Utilization in Children.

OBJECTIVE: To compare health care use and spending in children using vs not using respiratory medical equipment and supplies (RMES). STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study of 20 352 children age 1-18 years continuously enrolled in Medicaid in 2013 from 12 states in the Truven Medicaid MarketScan Database; 7060 children using RMES were propensity score matched with 13 292 without RMES. Home RMES use was identified with Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System and International Classification of Diseases codes. RMES use was regressed on annual per-member-per-year Medicaid payments, adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, including underlying respiratory and other complex chronic conditions. RESULTS: Of children requiring RMES, 47% used oxygen, 28% suction, 22% noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation, 17% tracheostomy, 8% ventilator, 5% mechanical in-exsufflator, and 4% high-frequency chest wall oscillator. Most children (93%) using RMES had a chronic condition; 26% had ≥6. The median per-member-per-year payments in matched children with vs without RMES were $24 359 vs $13 949 (P < .001). In adjusted analyses, payment increased significantly (P < .001 for all) with mechanical in-exsufflator (+$2657), tracheostomy (+$6447), suction (+$7341), chest wall oscillator (+$8925), and ventilator (+$20 530). Those increased payments were greater than the increase associated with a coded respiratory chronic condition (+$2709). Hospital and home health care were responsible for the greatest differences in payment (+$3799 and +$3320, respectively) between children with and without RMES. CONCLUSION: The use of RMES is associated with high health care spending, especially with hospital and home health care. Population health initiatives in children may benefit from consideration of RMES in comprehensive risk assessment for health care spending.

Social Work Services Utilization by Children with Medical Complexity.

OBJECTIVES: Children with medical complexity (CMC) are a growing population in pediatric primary care practices, and families caring for these children face increased medical, developmental, education and social needs. The objective of this study was to quantify hospital-wide social work services utilization by CMC compared to non-medically-complex children (non-CMC) to inform the development of family-centered care models that support these vulnerable patients and families. METHODS: Social work department records from a tertiary children's hospital were used to compare CMC aged 0-17 (n = 564) with age- and sex-matched non-CMC (n = 1128) over a 16-month retrospective period. The main outcomes measures were the proportion of patients who used social work services and mean number of hours of services provided per patient, both by social work providers in the primary care setting and throughout the hospital. RESULTS: A greater percentage of CMC used social work services than non-CMC (60.3 vs. 18.9%), and CMC used more hours per child (5.50 h/child vs. 0.69). In multivariate analysis, medical complexity was associated with 6.23-fold greater odds of using social work services (95% CI 4.94-7.85) and with 8.07 times more hours of services per child (95% CI 6.30-10.34), independent of primary health insurance, age, or sex. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that CMC use significantly more social work services in the medical setting. This must be considered when designing proactive medical home models to provide high quality family-centered care for this population, and further research is needed to elucidate the factors that drive this utilization.

Anti-epileptogenesis: Electrophysiology, diffusion tensor imaging and behavior in a genetic absence model.

The beneficial effects of chronic and early pharmacological treatment with ethosuximide on epileptogenesis were studied in a genetic absence epilepsy model comorbid for depression. It was also investigated whether there is a critical treatment period and treatment length. Cortical excitability in the form of electrical evoked potentials, but also to cortico-thalamo-cortical network activity (spike-wave discharges, SWD and afterdischarges), white matter changes representing extra cortico-thalamic functions and depressive-like behavior were investigated. WAG/Rij rats received either ethosuximide for 2 months (post natal months 2-3 or 4-5), or ethosuximide for 4 months (2-5) in their drinking water, while control rats drank plain water. EEG measurements were made during treatment, and 6 days and 2 months post treatment. Behavioral test were also done 6 days post treatment. DTI was performed ex vivo post treatment. SWD were suppressed during treatment, and 6 days and 2 months post treatment in the 4 month treated group, as well as the duration of AD elicited by cortical electrical stimulation 6 days post treatment. Increased fractional anisotropy in corpus callosum and internal capsula on DTI was found, an increased P8 evoked potential amplitude and a decreased immobility in the forced swim test. Shorter treatments with ETX had no large effects on any parameter. Chronic ETX has widespread effects not only within but also outside the circuitry in which SWD are initiated and generated, including preventing epileptogenesis and reducing depressive-like symptoms. The treatment of patients before symptom onset might prevent many of the adverse consequences of chronic epilepsy.

Renal outcomes of neonates with early presentation of posterior urethral valves: a 10-year single center experience.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate renal outcomes and early predictive factors in infants with congenital posterior urethral valves who required catheter or surgical urinary tract decompression within the first 7 days of life. STUDY DESIGN: A 10-year retrospective study at a single hospital. Primary outcomes were estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and development of end stage renal disease (ESRD). RESULTS: Of 35 infants, 50% developed eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 15% progressed to ESRD. Nadir creatinine, need for invasive ventilation in the newborn period, and need for surgical diversion after catheter diversion were associated with worse outcomes. 50% of infants requiring invasive ventilation as neonates developed eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 in childhood. CONCLUSIONS: Half of infants with early presentation and intervention developed significant renal insufficiency in childhood, similar to children with later presentation or who had fetal intervention. Invasive ventilation in the newborn period and need for surgical urinary diversion are associated with worse outcomes.

Tracheal Microbiota in Patients With a Tracheostomy Before, During and After an Acute Respiratory Infection.

Examining tracheal microbiota before, during and after acute respiratory infection in patients with a tracheostomy demonstrated large baseline intrapatient microbiota variability and a significant bloom of Haemophilus and Moraxella on day 1 of acute respiratory infection symptoms. The tracheal microbiota community composition changed significantly from baseline to 1 month after acute respiratory infection.

A preliminary biomechanical evaluation in a simulated spinal fusion model. Laboratory investigation.

OBJECT: A preliminary in vitro biomechanical study was conducted to determine if the pressure at a bone graft-mortise interface and the load transmitted along a ventral cervical plate could be used as parameters to assess fusion status. METHODS: An interbody bone graft and a ventral plate were placed at the C3-4 motion segment in six fresh cadaveric goat spines. Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) was used to simulate early bone fusion at the bone graft site. The loads along the plate and the simultaneous pressures induced at the graft-endplate interfaces were monitored during simulated stages of bone healing. Each specimen was nondestructively tested in compression loading while the pressures and loads at the graft site were recorded continuously. Each specimen was tested under five conditions (Disc, Graft, Plate, PMMA, and Removal). RESULTS: The pressure at the interface of the bone graft and vertebral endplate did not change significantly with the addition of the ventral plate. The interface pressure and segmental stiffness did increase following PMMA augmentation of the bone graft (simulating an intermediate phase of bone fusion). The load transmitted along the ventral plate in compression increased after the addition of the bone graft, but decreased after PMMA augmentation. Thus, there was an increase in pressure at the graft-endplate interface and a decrease in load transferred along the ventral plate after the simulation of bone fusion. Upon removal of the ventral plate, the simulated fusion bore most of the axial load, thus explaining a further increase in graft site pressure. CONCLUSIONS: These observations support the notions of load sharing and the redistribution of loads occurring during and after bone graft incorporation. In the clinical setting, these parameters may be useful in the assessment of fusion after spine surgery. Although feasibility has been demonstrated in this preliminary study, further research is needed.

The temporal dynamics of the tracheal microbiome in tracheostomised patients with and without lower respiratory infections.

BACKGROUND: Airway microbiota dynamics during lower respiratory infection (LRI) are still poorly understood due, in part, to insufficient longitudinal studies and lack of uncontaminated lower airways samples. Furthermore, the similarity between upper and lower airway microbiomes is still under debate. Here we compare the diversity and temporal dynamics of microbiotas directly sampled from the trachea via tracheostomy in patients with (YLRI) and without (NLRI) lower respiratory infections. METHODS: We prospectively collected 127 tracheal aspirates across four consecutive meteorological seasons (quarters) from 40 patients, of whom 20 developed LRIs and 20 remained healthy. All aspirates were collected when patients had no LRI. We generated 16S rRNA-based microbial profiles (~250 bp) in a MiSeq platform and analyzed them using Mothur and the SILVAv123 database. Differences in microbial diversity and taxon normalized (via negative binomial distribution) abundances were assessed using linear mixed effects models and multivariate analysis of variance. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Alpha-diversity (ACE, Fisher and phylogenetic diversity) and beta-diversity (Bray-Curtis, Jaccard and Unifrac distances) indices varied significantly (P<0.05) between NLRI and YLRI microbiotas from tracheostomised patients. Additionally, Haemophilus was significantly (P = 0.009) more abundant in YLRI patients than in NLRI patients, while Acinetobacter, Corynebacterium and Pseudomonas (P<0.05) showed the inverse relationship. We did not detect significant differences in diversity and bacterial abundance among seasons. This result disagrees with previous evidence suggesting seasonal variation in airway microbiotas. Further study is needed to address the interaction between microbes and LRI during times of health and disease.

In Vivo Assessment of Bone Graft/Endplate Contact Pressure in a Caprine Interbody Pseudarthrosis Model: A Preliminary Biomechanical Characterization of the Fusion Process for the Development of a Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Biosensor.

BACKGROUND: In this preliminary study we used a goat model to quantify pressure at an interbody bone graft interface. Although the study was designed to assess fusion status, the concept behind the technology could lead to early detection of implant failure and potential hazardous complications related to motion-preservation devices. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of in vivo pressure monitoring as a strategy to determine fusion status. METHODS: Telemetric pressure transducers were implanted, and pressure at the bone graft interfaces of cervical interbody fusion autografts placed into living goats (Groups A and B) was evaluated. Group A constituted the 4-month survival group and Group B the 6-month survival group. One goat served as the study control (Group C) and was not implanted with a pressure transducer. An additional six cadaveric goat cervical spines (Group D) were obtained from a local slaughterhouse and implanted with bone grafts and ventral plates and used for in vitro biomechanical comparison to the specimens from Groups A and B. RESULTS: All goats demonstrated an increase in interface pressure within the first 10 days postoperatively, with the largest relative change in pressure occurring between the sixth and ninth days. The goats from Groups A and B had a 200% to 400% increase in relative pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Although this was a pilot study to assess pressure as an indicator for a fusion or pseudarthrosis, the preliminary data suggest that early bone healing is detectable by an increase in pressure. Thus, pressure may serve as an indicator of fusion status by detecting altered biomechanical parameters.