Acceptability of sexual history questions in a gender-neutral risk assessment for blood donation.

BACKGROUND: Currently in Australia, men are deferred from donating blood if they have had sex with another man within the past 3 months. However, a proposed gender-neutral assessment (GNA) process will ask all donors questions about sex with new or multiple recent partners, with deferral based on responses to a question about anal sex. Understanding the acceptability of such questions among existing and potential blood donors is paramount for successful implementation of GNA. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We used data from a nationally representative survey to estimate the levels of comfort with the proposed GNA questions among the Australian population and subgroups, defined by self-reported ethnicity and religion. Respondents were aged over 18 and living in Australia. Results were weighted to represent the population. RESULTS: Most of the 5178 respondents described themselves as comfortable with answering questions about new partners (73.1%) or anal sex (64.0%) to donate blood. However, 2.2% and 4.5% indicated that questions about new sex partners and anal sex, respectively, would stop them from donating, and 4.4% and 7.7% respectively, said they were "completely uncomfortable." By religion, the least comfortable were Muslim or Eastern Orthodox respondents, and by country of birth, the least comfortable were those born in the Middle East, followed by those born in Southern Europe and Asia. DISCUSSION: GNA appears to be broadly acceptable in the Australian context, but our findings suggest that key GNA questions are less acceptable in some population subgroups, indicating a need for targeted campaigns that consider cultural sensitivities.

Endogenous humoral determinants of vascular endothelial dysfunction as triggers of acute poisoning complications.

The vascular endothelium is not only the semipermeable membrane that separates tissue from blood but also an organ that regulates inflammation, vascular tone, blood clotting, angiogenesis and synthesis of connective tissue proteins. It is susceptible to the direct cytotoxic action of numerous xenobiotics and to the acute hypoxia that accompanies acute poisoning. This damage is superimposed on the preformed state of the vascular endothelium, which, in turn, depends on many humoral factors. The probability that an exogenous toxicant will cause life-threatening dysfunction of the vascular endothelium, thereby complicating the course of acute poisoning, increases with an increase in the content of endogenous substances in the blood that disrupt endothelial function. These include ammonia, bacterial endotoxin, indoxyl sulfate, para-cresyl sulfate, trimethylamine N-oxide, asymmetric dimethylarginine, glucose, homocysteine, low-density and very-low-density lipoproteins, free fatty acids and products of intravascular haemolysis. Some other endogenous substances (albumin, haptoglobin, haemopexin, biliverdin, bilirubin, tetrahydrobiopterin) or food-derived compounds (ascorbic acid, rutin, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, etc.) reduce the risk of lethal vascular endothelial dysfunction. The individual variability of the content of these substances in the blood contributes to the stochasticity of the complications of acute poisoning and is a promising target for the risk reduction measures. Another feasible option may be the repositioning of drugs that affect the function of the vascular endothelium while being currently used for other indications.

Predicting Gonadal Germ Cell Cancer in People with Disorders of Sex Development; Insights from Developmental Biology.

The risk of gonadal germ cell cancer (GGCC) is increased in selective subgroups, amongst others, defined patients with disorders of sex development (DSD). The increased risk is due to the presence of part of the Y chromosome, i.e., GonadoBlastoma on Y chromosome GBY region, as well as anatomical localization and degree of testicularization and maturation of the gonad. The latter specifically relates to the germ cells present being at risk when blocked in an embryonic stage of development. GGCC originates from either germ cell neoplasia in situ (testicular environment) or gonadoblastoma (ovarian-like environment). These precursors are characterized by presence of the markers OCT3/4 (POU5F1), SOX17, NANOG, as well as TSPY, and cKIT and its ligand KITLG. One of the aims is to stratify individuals with an increased risk based on other parameters than histological investigation of a gonadal biopsy. These might include evaluation of defined susceptibility alleles, as identified by Genome Wide Association Studies, and detailed evaluation of the molecular mechanism underlying the DSD in the individual patient, combined with DNA, mRNA, and microRNA profiling of liquid biopsies. This review will discuss the current opportunities as well as limitations of available knowledge in the context of predicting the risk of GGCC in individual patients.

[Dermatosurgery in the age of novel oral anticoagulants/direct oral anticoagulants]. / Dermatochirurgie im Zeitalter der neuen oralen Antikoagulanzien/direkten oralen Antikoagulanzien.

Current guidelines generally recommend continuation of blood thinning drugs in dermatologic surgery and the previously used "bridging" with subcutaneous or intravenous heparin is obsolete. While the guidelines are increasingly implemented in daily practice, there is still uncertainty concerning the use of the novel direct oral anticoagulants (NOAC = DOAC). In this review, we analyze current developments and formulate concise recommendations for continuation during skin surgery under consideration of individual risk.

Documentation of individualized preoperative risk assessment: a multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: Individual surgical risk assessment (ISRA) enhances patient care experience and outcomes by informing shared decision-making, strengthening the consent process, and supporting clinical management. Neither the use of individual pre-surgical risk assessment tools nor the rate of individual risk assessment documentation is known. The primary endpoint of this study was to determine the rate of physician documented ISRAs, with or without a named ISRA tool, within the records of patients with poor outcomes. Secondary endpoints of this work included the effects of age, sex, race, ASA class, and time and type of surgery on the rate of documented presurgical risk. METHODS: The records of non-obstetric surgical patients within 22 community-based private hospitals in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming, between January 1 and December 31, 2017, were evaluated. A two-sample proportion test was used to identify the difference between surgical documentation and anesthesiology documentation of risk. Logistic regression was used to analyze both individual and group effects associated with secondary endpoints. RESULTS: Seven hundred fifty-six of 140,756 inpatient charts met inclusion criteria (0.54%, 95% CI 0.50 to 0.58%). ISRAs were documented by 16.08% of surgeons and 4.76% of anesthesiologists (p < 0.0001, 95% CI -0.002 to 0.228). Cardiac surgeons documented ISRAs more frequently than non-cardiac surgeons (25.87% vs 16.15%) [p = 0.0086, R-squared = 0.970%]. Elective surgical patients were more likely than emergency surgical patients (19.57 vs 12.03%) to have risk documented (p = 0.023, R-squared = 0.730%). Patients over the age of 65 were more likely than patients under the age of 65 to have ISRA documentation (20.31 vs 14.61%) [p = 0.043, R-squared = 0.580%]. Only 10 of 756 (1.3%) records included documentation of a named ISRA tool. CONCLUSIONS: The observed rate of documented ISRA in our sample was extremely low. Surgeons were more likely than anesthesiologists to document ISRA. As these individualized risk assessment discussions form the bedrock of perioperative informed consent, the rate and quality of risk documentation must be improved.

An end to lifetime blood donation ban in Israel for MSM would be a major step toward a science-based policy that reduces stigma.

In recent years, countries around the world have revised their blood donation policies regarding gay and bisexual men, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). The United States lifted the lifetime ban on MSM from donating blood in 2015, replacing it with a 1 year deferral policy allowing MSM to donate if they abstain from sex for 12 months. Other countries followed suit, while Italy and Spain have implemented deferral policies based on individual risk assessments regardless of sexual orientation. If Israel were to adopt a one year deferral policy for MSM, as recommended by Drs. Ginsberg et al. in this issue, the increase in risk to the blood supply would be minimal. Moving to a 1 year deferral policy would be an important step forward, but it could still be seen as stigmatizing to gay and bisexual men. We recommend that Israel consider a deferral policy based on individual risk assessment rather than a blanket deferral for all MSM. MSM can engage in low- and high-risk sexual behaviors. Those who consistently engage in low-risk behaviors, such as using condoms and pre-exposure prophylaxis consistently, pose little risk to the blood supply. An individual risk assessment policy would screen potential donors of all sexual orientations for low-, medium-, and high-risk behaviors. Potential donors identified as high-risk, such as injection drug users, would justifiably be subject to lengthy or permanent bans. MSM who engage in low-risk sexual behaviors would be allowed to donate without deferral. Medium-risk donors, such as men who have recently had unprotected anal sex with another man, would be subject to a deferral period of 1 month, which is in line with the window period of current HIV screening technology. Most fourth generation HIV tests can detect HIV within a month, and the nucleic acid test used to screen blood can detect HIV in just 9-11 days. Various studies have developed questions for ascertaining HIV risk among MSM which could be used in blood donor questionnaires. Using tablets or other technology that enhances privacy to conduct the blood donor questionnaire could improve collection of this sensitive information.