US Health Care System in 2035: The Neurology Future Forecasting Series.

Evolution of the US health care system has been punctuated by periods of rapid change. In the coming decades there will be meaningful and potentially disruptive developments in health care delivery mechanisms, the policy environment, and the populations for whom we provide care. Neurologists will need to adapt to changing patient expectations, market dynamics, and regulatory structures to thrive in the future health care environment. This article describes a forecast of potential changes in the US health care system by 2035, an assessment of the implications for the field of neurology, and a rationale for long-term strategic planning to prepare.

Leading with inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Stronger together.

Inclusion is the deliberate practice of ensuring that each individual is heard, all personal traits are respected, and all can make meaningful contributions to achieve their full potential. As coronavirus disease 2019 spreads globally and across the United States, we have viewed this pandemic through the lens of equity and inclusion. Here, we discuss how this pandemic has magnified preexisting health and social disparities and will summarize why inclusion is an essential tool to traverse this uncertain terrain and discuss strategies that can be implemented at organizational and individual levels to improve inclusion and address inequities moving forward.

Atypical presentation of GNE myopathy with asymmetric hand weakness.

GNE myopathy is a rare autosomal recessive muscle disease caused by mutations in GNE, the gene encoding the rate-limiting enzyme in sialic acid biosynthesis. GNE myopathy usually manifests in early adulthood with distal myopathy that progresses slowly and symmetrically, first involving distal muscles of the lower extremities, followed by proximal muscles with relative sparing of the quadriceps. Upper extremities are typically affected later in the disease. We report a patient with GNE myopathy who presented with asymmetric hand weakness. He had considerably decreased left grip strength, atrophy of the left anterior forearm and fibro-fatty tissue replacement of left forearm flexor muscles on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. The patient was an endoscopist and thus the asymmetric hand involvement may be associated with left hand overuse in daily repetitive pinching and gripping movements, highlighting the possible impact of environmental factors on the progression of genetic muscle conditions.

Defining the risk of elective cyclosporine withdrawal in stable kidney transplant recipients.

Although it is known that elective cyclosporine (CsA) withdrawal increases the risk for acute rejection, few studies have been large enough to identify risk factors for acute rejection after CsA withdrawal. We examined risk factors for acute rejection in 464 kidney transplant recipients who underwent elective CsA withdrawal. The incidence of acute rejection within 6 months of CsA withdrawal was 20/141 (14.2%) in the period January 1986 to May 1989, but only 14/323 (4.5%) since May 1989 (p = 0.0002). Among those transplanted since May 1989, the incidence was 5/20 (25%) for those with both 2 HLA-B and 2 HLA-DR mismatches, compared with only 9/298 (3.0%) for those with fewer mismatches (p < 0.0001). In Cox proportional hazards analysis, risk factors for acute rejection within 6 months, or at any time after elective CsA withdrawal, were date of transplant January 1986 to May 1989 (compared with more recently May 1989 to March 1999), younger age, obesity, as well as B and DR mismatches. Recipient race (83% were white), acute rejection during the first year before withdrawal (31%), mycophenolate mofetil (17%), and other variables failed to predict postwithdrawal acute rejection. We concluded that avoiding CsA withdrawal in the relatively small number of recipients with both 2 HLA-B and 2 HLA-DR mismatches could further reduce our already low incidence of acute rejection following elective CsA withdrawal.