Organ Donation After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Scientific Statement From the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.

AIM OF THE REVIEW: Improving rates of organ donation among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who do not survive is an opportunity to save countless lives. The objectives of this scientific statement were to do the following: define the opportunity for organ donation among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; identify challenges and opportunities associated with organ donation by patients with cardiac arrest; identify strategies, including a generic protocol for organ donation after cardiac arrest, to increase the rate and consistency of organ donation from this population; and provide rationale for including organ donation as a key clinical outcome for all future cardiac arrest clinical trials and registries. METHODS: The scope of this International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation scientific statement was approved by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation board and the American Heart Association, posted on ILCOR.org for public comment, and then assigned by section to primary and secondary authors. A unique literature search was completed and updated for each section. RESULTS: There are a number of defining pathways for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to become organ donors; however, modifications in the Maastricht classification system need to be made to correctly identify these donors and to report outcomes with consistency. Suggested modifications to the minimum data set for reporting cardiac arrests will increase reporting of organ donation as an important resuscitation outcome. There are a number of challenges with implementing uncontrolled donation after cardiac death protocols, and the greatest impediment is the lack of legislation in most countries to mandate organ donation as the default option. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation has the potential to increase organ donation rates, but more research is needed to derive neuroprognostication rules to guide clinical decision-making about when to stop extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to evaluate cost-effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: All health systems should develop, implement, and evaluate protocols designed to optimize organ donation opportunities for patients who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and failed attempts at resuscitation.

Selective parenchymal clamping in open partial nephrectomy: Early experience with a low cost, reusable novel parenchymal clamp.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to present our initial experience with a novel parenchymal clamp (NPC) developed to allow partial nephrectomies (PN) to be performed without whole kidney ischaemia. We compare patients who underwent PN with the NPC with those undergoing standard PNs. Methods: The NPC applies pressure only to the portion of the parenchyma containing the small renal mass (≤3.5 cm) and interrupts regional blood flow.A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients that underwent open PN within our unit. Minimum follow-up was 12 months. Patient and disease characteristics, perioperative outcomes and renal function estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR) were compared. Results: Data were collected on 63 patients, of whom 33 had their procedure performed with the NPC. Demographic characteristics and comorbidity profiles were not significantly different between groups (p between 1.0 and 0.08). RENAL nephrometry scores were 5.6 in the NPC group versus 6.2 in the standard PN group (p = 0.146).Perioperative, operative and postoperative data did not show significant differences. There was no difference in the rates of Clavien-Dindo III or above complications between the two groups (NPC 3/33 vs. standard PN 5/30, p = 0.416). There was also no statistically significant difference to changes in renal functional at 12 months (change -5.2 and -6.4, p = 0.712). Conclusions: Despite the limited sample size and follow-up, this study establishes the safety of the NPC. In the future, we intend to perform a prospective study on the laparoscopic version.

Organ Donation After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Scientific Statement From the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation.

AIM OF THE REVIEW: Improving rates of organ donation among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who do not survive is an opportunity to save countless lives. The objectives of this scientific statement were to do the following: define the opportunity for organ donation among patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; identify challenges and opportunities associated with organ donation by patients with cardiac arrest; identify strategies, including a generic protocol for organ donation after cardiac arrest, to increase the rate and consistency of organ donation from this population; and provide rationale for including organ donation as a key clinical outcome for all future cardiac arrest clinical trials and registries. METHODS: The scope of this International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation scientific statement was approved by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation board and the American Heart Association, posted on ILCOR.org for public comment, and then assigned by section to primary and secondary authors. A unique literature search was completed and updated for each section. RESULTS: There are a number of defining pathways for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to become organ donors; however, modifications in the Maastricht classification system need to be made to correctly identify these donors and to report outcomes with consistency. Suggested modifications to the minimum data set for reporting cardiac arrests will increase reporting of organ donation as an important resuscitation outcome. There are a number of challenges with implementing uncontrolled donation after cardiac death protocols, and the greatest impediment is the lack of legislation in most countries to mandate organ donation as the default option. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation has the potential to increase organ donation rates, but more research is needed to derive neuroprognostication rules to guide clinical decision-making about when to stop extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to evaluate cost-effectiveness. CONCLUSIONS: All health systems should develop, implement, and evaluate protocols designed to optimise organ donation opportunities for patients who have an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and failed attempts at resuscitation.

A retrospective study to assess the morbidity associated with transurethral prostatectomy in patients on antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs.

UNLABELLED: What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? There is controversy over the use of anti-platelet and anti-coagulant drugs in men undergoing TURP with contradictory evidence on the effect of the drugs on bleeding following the operation, particularly for aspirin. If anti-platelet or anti-coagulant drugs are not stopped for TURP, there is an unacceptable burden of bleeding. If the drugs are stopped there is an unacceptable rate of cardiovascular events. OBJECTIVE: • To determine the morbidity associated with perioperative management of antiplatelet (AP) or anticoagulant (AC) medication and transurethral prostatectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: • A retrospective review was performed on 163 consecutive patients undergoing transurethural prostatectomy. • Patients were grouped according to the perioperative management of AP and AC medications: control patients not prescribed any AP/AC drugs (group 1), those on AP/AC who had ceased them perioperatively (group 2) and those whose AP/AC were continued (group 3). • Warfarin was withheld perioperatively for all patients. • Morbidity associated with increased blood loss and cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events was recorded and differences were analysed with SPSS version 16 software. RESULTS: • There was a statistically significant increase in bleeding-associated morbidity in group 2 (13/65) and group 3 (6/7) compared with the controls (9/91) (P < 0.01). • Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events were only seen in group 2 (6/65), statistically significantly higher than the event rate in the other groups (P ≤ 0.01). • All cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events occurred in patients prescribed these medications for secondary prevention. CONCLUSION: • Patients taking AP or AC medications have a higher rate of perioperative bleeding compared with those who are not taking any. • However, for patients prescribed AP or AC medication for secondary prevention, withholding these medications results in an increased rate of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications. • Careful consideration of the risks and other management options should be undertaken before performing transurethural prostatectomy in this high risk group of patients.

Urinary stone disease - assessment and management.

Background Urinary stones affect one in 10 Australians. The majority of stones pass spontaneously, but some conditions, particularly ongoing pain, renal impairment and infection, mandate intervention. Objective This article explores the role of the general practitioner in the assessment and management of urinary stones. Discussion The assessment of acute stone disease should determine the location, number and size of the stone(s), which influence its likelihood of spontaneous passage. Conservative management, with the addition of alpha blockers to facilitate passage of lower ureteric stones, should be attempted in cases of uncomplicated renal colic. Septic patients require urgent drainage and antibiotics. Other indications for referral and intervention include ongoing pain, renal impairment and stone size unlikely to pass spontaneously. There are many ways to eliminate stones, but laser lithotripsy is being used with increasing frequency. Up to 50% of people with a first presentation of stone disease will have a recurrence within 5 years. General advice for stone prevention consists of increasing fluid intake, especially water (sufficient to maintain dilute urine output), avoiding added salt and maintaining a well balanced low oxalate diet. Some patients may require a more detailed metabolic assessment and specific dietary advice.

A Rapid Review of Burns First Aid Guidelines: Is There Consistency Across International Guidelines?

We conducted a rapid review of current international and Australian/New Zealand guidelines on first aid for burns to identify any critical variation and any recent major changes in the literature that would warrant a significant change to current recommendations. A search was conducted to identify Australian/New Zealand and international first aid guidelines for burn care using guideline databases, and we compared key recommendations from each guideline relating to burns first aid. A literature search of relevant databases (Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, PROSPERO international register of systematic reviews, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases) was conducted to identify existing and in-progress research published on the topic of first aid for burn injuries. Seven guidelines were identified from the Australia/New Zealand region, and 11 international guidelines were identified from the United States of America and Europe. All Australian and New Zealand guidelines recommended a cooling duration of 20 minutes and made some mention of when to refer a burn for medical evaluation, while international guidelines saw cooling duration variation, a number of guidelines failed to mention referral criteria. The review of published systematic reviews and clinical trials revealed a lack of new evidence in the last six years. Our rapid review identified key variation between first aid guidelines for burns that would benefit from the development of an international consensus on management. We identified no new significant evidence that would alter guideline recommendations and did not identify any upcoming reviews or clinical trials on this subject.

Does magnetic resonance imaging-guided biopsy improve prostate cancer detection? A comparison of systematic, cognitive fusion and ultrasound fusion prostate biopsy.

BACKGROUND: The increase in the use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging for the detection of prostate cancer has led to the rapid adoption of MRI-guided biopsies (MRGBs). To date, there is limited evidence in the use of MRGB and no direct comparisons between the different types of MRGB. We aimed to assess whether multiparametric MRGBs with MRI-US transperineal fusion biopsy (FB) and cognitive biopsy (CB) improved the management of prostate cancer and to assess if there is any difference in prostate cancer detection with FB compared with CB. METHODS: Patients who underwent an MRGB and a systematic biopsy (SB) from June 2014 to August 2016 on the Central Coast, NSW, Australia, were included in the study. The results of SB were compared with MRGB. The primary outcome was prostate cancer detection and if MRGB changed patient management. RESULTS: A total of 121 cases were included with a mean age of 65.5 years and prostate-specific antigen 7.4 ng/mL. Seventy-five cases (62%) had a Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System 4-5 lesions and 46 (38%) had a Prostate Imaging and Reporting Data System 3 lesions. Fifty-six cases underwent CB and 65 underwent FB.Of the 93 patients with prostate cancer detected, 19 men (20.5%) had their management changed because of the MRGB results. Eight men (9%) had prostate cancer detected on MRGB only and 12 men (13%) underwent radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy based on the MRGB results alone.There was a trend to a higher rate of change in management with FB compared with CB (29% vs. 18%). CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first Australian studies to assess the utility of MRGB and compare FB with CB. MRGB is a useful adjunct to SB, changing management in over 20% of our cases, with a trend toward FB having a greater impact on patient management compared with CB.

Comparison of urinary stone and stent encrustation: biochemical analysis.

PURPOSE: To compare biochemical analysis of stent encrustation with that of urinary stones from the same patient. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Any patient presenting from February to December 2000 with a symptomatic ureteral or renal calculus that necessitated stenting and delayed calculus retrieval was enrolled in the study. The stent and stone were sent to the same laboratory for qualitative and semiquantitative chemical analysis. A total of 50 stents and matched calculi were available for comparison; four stents were excluded because they had insufficient encrustation for analysis. RESULTS: Two patients had open ureterolithotomy; the remainder were treated by endoscopic or percutaneous means. Every stone containing calcium oxalate had a stent that was positive for calcium oxalate. Four uric acid stones were available for comparison, and three of the four matched stents tested positive for uric acid. CONCLUSION: Biochemical analysis of urinary stent encrustation is a good predictor of urinary stone composition, especially for calcium oxalate-containing stones. Uric acid stent encrustation is likely to occur in patients with uric acid stones.