Integrating LGBTQ+ health into medical education.

BACKGROUND: LGBTQ+ people experience significant barriers in accessing health care including inadequate provider knowledge and stigma in health care settings. Undergraduate medical education programs have increased efforts to integrate LGBTQ+ health topics, such as comprehensive sexual history taking and gender-affirming practices, into their curriculums to provide clinically inclusive care for LGBTQ+ patients. APPROACH: A Topic Steward was appointed to oversee the integration of LGBTQ+ health topics throughout the existing undergraduate medical curriculum. The aim was to expand the LGBTQ+ health curriculum for undergraduate medical students through teaching comprehensive sexual history taking; offering specialty-specific LGBTQ+ health education through clerkships; describing the difference between sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender expression; describing the difference between sexual orientation and sexual behaviour; identifying health care disparities that LGBTQ+ people experience; and developing an inclusive approach to providing medical care for LGBTQ+ patients. EVALUATION: The program started in July 2017 with UCSFSOM students in their first, second, or third years (~150 medical students per year) participating in the integrated curriculum that included didactic lectures, small group discussions, and LGBTQ+ clerkship opportunities. The hours of LGBTQ+ health curriculum at the UCSFSOM increased from 4.5 hours to 15-20 hours in approximately 2 years under the Topic Steward approach. IMPLICATIONS: The next step is to develop standardised tools for assessing LGBTQ+ health competencies for medical students. This involves integrating more questions regarding LGBTQ+ health topics in traditional exams at UCSFSOM and developing specialty-specific assessment instruments that other medical schools could administer to test core competencies in LGBTQ+ health.

Anesthetic management of pediatric patients with Niemann-Pick disease type C for intrathecal 2-hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin injection.

BACKGROUND: Niemann-Pick disease type C is an autosomal-recessive, lysosomal storage disorder with variable age of onset and a heterogeneous clinical presentation that includes neurological, psychiatric, and visceral findings. Serial intrathecal injections of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin are being evaluated as a treatment modality for Niemann-Pick disease type C with a subset of patients requiring anesthesia for this procedure. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of anesthesia provided for patients undergoing intrathecal injection of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin. METHODS: A retrospective review of pediatric patients who received serial intrathecal injections of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin with anesthesia at two tertiary care centers was conducted from December 2015 through April 2019. Data were extracted for analysis included preoperative comorbidities, demographics, vital signs, intraoperative anesthesia course, airway management technique, venous access, postoperative course, and perioperative complications. In total, 19 patients were identified and a total of 394 anesthetic encounters were included in this study. RESULTS: All 394 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin administration procedures were successfully performed, and there were no changes made in the anesthetic plan during the anesthesia encounters. Three hundred forty-nine anesthetics were performed utilizing inhalation induction and mask maintenance, and 45 anesthetics were performed with placement of a supraglottic airway device due to patient body habitus and provider preference. The incidence of a major adverse event (aspirations, arterial desaturation) was 5/394 (1.3%, 95% CI 0.05%-3.1%). Minor adverse events (emesis, delirium, hypotension, seizure, and airway obstruction) were observed in 19/394 encounters (4.8%, 95% CI 3.0%-7.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that general anesthesia induced via inhalation induction and maintained with volatile anesthetic via mask or supraglottic airway is a safe and effective option for pediatric patients with Niemann-Pick disease type C undergoing serial intrathecal injections of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, supporting this technique as a viable option for anesthetic care in these patients.

Pneumothorax after tracheostomy closure with successful nonsurgical management.

A 3-year-old girl presented for routine closure of her tracheostomy site. She was intubated easily for the procedure, and the wound was closed with a drain in place. In recovery, the mother noticed fullness in the patient's submandibular region, and on examination, the girl had subcutaneous emphysema in the neck bilaterally. She returned to the operating room for exploration, and air was released from the surgical site. The wound was again closed with a drain in place, and the patient was extubated uneventfully. After arriving to the pediatric intensive care unit for monitoring, the patient acutely developed respiratory distress and was found to have pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax and was emergently intubated. She was observed closely, and the following day, the pneumothorax improved, and she successfully extubated without further complication.

Prevalence of Opisthorchis viverrini-Like Fluke Infection in Ducks in Binh Dinh Province, Central Vietnam

Following the first report of Opisthorchis viverrini infection in a domestic duck in Phu My District of Binh Dinh Province, Central Vietnam, many other cases were observed in the province. We determined the infection rate and intensity of O. viverrini infection in ducks in 4 districts of the province. A total of 178 ducks were randomly selected from 34 farms for examination of flukes in the liver and gall bladder. An infection rate of 34.3% (range 20.7-40.4% among districts) was found; the intensity of infection was 13.8 worms per infected duck (range 1-100). These findings show the role of ducks as a host for O. viverrini, duck genotype, which is sympatric with the human O. viverrini genotype in this province. It also stresses the need for investigations on the zoonotic potential and the life cycle of this parasite.

Alterações fisiológicas da morte encefálica em potenciais doadores de órgãos e tecidos para transplantes / Physiological changes of brain death in potential donors of organs and tissues for transplantation

Objetivou-se descrever as alterações fisiológicas da morte encefálica em potenciais doadores de órgãos e tecidos para transplantes. Estudo exploratório descritivo com dados prospectivos e abordagem quantitativa realizado nas unidades de emergência e terapia intensiva adulto de um hospital de Pernambuco no período de abril a outubro de 2011. A população constou de 32 potenciais doadores de órgãos e tecidos para transplantes. Após aprovação do Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa, os dados foram coletados, tabulados e analisados pela estatística descritiva pelo software SPSS 15.0 e apresentados em forma de tabelas. As alterações fisiológicas foram: hipotensão arterial (100%), hipotermia (75,0%), hipernatremia (62,5%), diabetes insipidus (37,5%), hiperglicemia (32,3%), infecção (25,0%), hipertensão arterial (9,4%) e úlcera de córnea (3,1%). Acredita-se que o conhecimento dessas alterações possibilita à equipe de saúde direcionar o cuidado ao potencial doador segundo as suas necessidades e, assim, manter o órgão/tecido viável para transplante.

The objective was to describe the physiologic changes of brain death in potential donors of organs and tissues for transplantation. Exploratory descriptive study with prospective data and quantitative approach carried out in emergency and intensive care units hospital adult, in the period from April to October 2011. The population consisted of 32 potential donors of organs and tissues for transplantation. After approval of Ethics Committee, data were collected, tabulated and analyzed by descriptive statistics by SPSS 15.0 software and presented in tables. Physiological changes were: hypotension (100%), hypothermia (75%), hypernatremia (62,5%), diabetes insipidus (37,5%), hyperglycemia (32,3%), infection (25,0%), hypertension (9,4%) and corneal ulcer (3,1%). It was found that knowledge of these changes allows the team of health care to direct the potential donors according to their needs and thus keep the organ/tissue viable for transplant.

El objetivo del estudio fue describir los cambios fisiológicos de la muerte cerebral en los potenciales donadores de órganos y tejidos para trasplante. Investigación exploratoria, descriptiva, con datos prospectivos y enfoque cuantitativo, hecho en las unidades de emergencia y de cuidados intensivos de adultos de un hospital de Pernambuco en el periodo de abril a octubre de 2011. La población fue formada por 32 potenciales donadores de órganos y tejidos para trasplante. Después de la aprobación en el Comité Ético de Investigación, los datos han sido recogidos, tabulados y analizados mediante estadística descriptiva por el programa informático SPSS 15.0, siendo presentados en forma de tablas. Los cambios fisiológicos fueron: hipotensión (100%), hipotermia (75,0%), hipernatremia (62,5%), diabetes insípida (37,5%), infección (25,0%), hipertensión arterial (9,4%) y la úlcera de córnea (3,1%). Se cree que el conocimiento de estos cambios permite al equipo de atención de la salud dirigir sus acciones al potencial donador de acuerdo a sus necesidades y así mantener los órganos/tejidos viables para el trasplante.