Room for Improvement: Rates of Birth Cohort Hepatitis C Screening in Primary Care Practices-A WWAMI Region Practice and Research Network Study.

Introduction: An estimated 2.4 million people in the United States live with hepatitis C. Though there are effective treatments for chronic hepatitis C, many infected individuals remain untreated because 40% to 50% of individuals with chronic hepatitis C are unaware of their hepatitis C status. In 2013, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that adults born between 1945 and 1965 should be offered one-time hepatitis C screening. The purpose of this study is to describe rates of birth cohort hepatitis C screening across primary care practices in the WWAMI region Practice and Research Network (WPRN). Methods: Cross-sectional observational study of adult patients born between 1945 and 1965 who also had a primary care visit at 1 of 9 participating health systems (22 primary care clinics) between July 31, 2013 and September 30, 2015. Data extracted from the electronic health record systems at each clinic were used to calculate the proportion of birth cohort eligible patients with evidence of hepatitis C screening as well as proportions of screened patients with positive hepatitis C screening test results. Results: Of the 32 139 eligible patients, only 10.9% had evidence of hepatitis C screening in the electronic health record data (range 1.2%-49.1% across organizations). Among the 4 WPRN sites that were able to report data by race and ethnicity, the rate of hepatitis C screening was higher among African Americans (39.9%) and American Indians/Alaska Natives (23.2%) compared with Caucasians (10.7%; P < .001). Discussion: Rates of birth cohort hepatitis C screening are low in primary care practices. Future research to develop and test interventions to increase rates of birth cohort hepatitis C screening in primary care settings are needed.

Increased prevalence of preeclampsia among women undergoing procedural intervention for renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia.

BACKGROUND: Renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia (RA-FMD) has a higher prevalence among women and a presumed hormonal etiology. Although preeclampsia has a clinical presentation similar to symptomatic RA-FMD and occurs exclusively in women, associations between these 2 diseases have not been characterized. To explore epidemiologic associations between RA-FMD and preeclampsia, we administered a validated screening instrument for preeclampsia to a cohort of women with a history of pregnancy who had previously been treated with procedural intervention for symptomatic RA stenosis. METHODS: Women with a history of pregnancy who had previously undergone procedural intervention (including angioplasty and/or bypass) for symptomatic RA stenosis were identified from a prospectively maintained operative registry and screened for remote history of preeclampsia using a validated survey instrument. Univariable associations between RA-FMD and preeclampsia among participants with a history of pregnancy were evaluated using t-tests for continuous factors and chi-squared tests for dichotomous factors. Multivariable associations were evaluated using logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 144 women were identified who met the study inclusion criteria, including 94 with atherosclerotic RA stenosis and 50 with RA-FMD. Sixty-nine patients were contacted, 59 consented to participate, and 52 had a history of pregnancy (and therefore were at risk for preeclampsia). Participants completed the survey instrument at a mean of 7.1 ± 3.1 vs. 6.9 ± 3.6 years after RA procedural intervention, respectively. Survey responses indicated a history of preeclampsia in 19/52 (36.5%) of participants overall, including 14/27 (51.9%) with RA-FMD versus 5/20 (20.0%) with RA atherosclerosis (P = 0.02). Preeclampsia remained associated with FMD in a multivariable model adjusting for smoking status, age at time of surgery, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (odds ratio [OR] 9.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.49-60.6, P = 0.017); age at the time of surgery (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.04-7.42, P = 0.041) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (OR 3.31, 95% CI 1.29-8.52, P = 0.013) were also associated with FMD in the multivariable model. CONCLUSIONS: Women with a history of procedural intervention for symptomatic RA stenosis have an overall prevalence of preeclampsia which greatly exceeds that expected in the general population, and our results suggest that preeclampsia is specifically associated with RA-FMD. Further investigation is needed to characterize the mechanistic relationships between FMD and preeclampsia and may have potential to decrease related cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Three-dimensional MRI volumetric measurements of the normal fetal colon.

OBJECTIVE: The use of fetal MRI markedly improves characterization of abdominal congenital anomalies. Accurate prenatal diagnosis of the level and cause of congenital intestinal obstruction is desired for optimal parental counseling and perinatal care. Because accurate diagnosis would be aided by nomograms of colonic volume, this study was conducted to determine normal colonic volumes at different gestational ages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study consisted of a review of 83 fetal MRI examinations performed on fetuses with no gastrointestinal abnormalities. MRI was performed with a 1.5-T system. Axial, sagittal, and coronal T1-weighted fast gradient-refocused echo images were acquired at TR/TE, 165/2.6; flip angle, 90 degrees; matrix size, 384 x 192; slice thickness, 5 mm; field of view, 38 cm(2). Two investigators determined the region of interest in the colon by outlining areas of high signal intensity of meconium slice by slice. They then calculated colonic luminal volume in the regions of interest. Colonic luminal volumes were reported relative to gestational age and abdominal circumference. Normative curves were generated, and interobserver and intraobserver analyses were performed. RESULTS: Seventeen of the 83 fetuses (20%) were excluded because of movement artifacts on the images. Normal colonic luminal volume increased exponentially with gestational age and abdominal circumference. The range of colonic luminal volumes at 20-37 weeks' gestational age was 1.1-65 mL. Variation of volume was greater at advanced gestational age. Interobserver and intraobserver correlation was good. CONCLUSION: This study yielded preliminary volumetric measurements of the normal fetal colon at 20-37 weeks of gestational age that suggest the fetal colon grows exponentially.