Does coffee affect the validity of an oral abbreviated fat tolerance test in healthy adults?

Objectives: Postprandial triglycerides (TG), or levels of fat in the blood after a meal, are an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1). A clinically feasible test to assess postprandial TG has been developed, known as the Abbreviated Fat Tolerance Test (AFTT) (2), however the impact of coffee consumption prior to an AFTT on postprandial TG is largely unknown. Notably, approximately half of Americans consume at least one cup of coffee before or with breakfast (3), therefore understanding whether coffee intake impacts AFTT results is practical. This study aimed to investigate the effect of coffee consumption prior to an AFTT on postprandial TG, in order to determine whether coffee intake prior to an AFTT affects its validity. Methods: Participants completed 2 randomized AFTTs separated by at least 1 week, but not exceeding 2 weeks. For each AFTT, participants arrived into the laboratory following a 10-hour overnight fast and consumed either 1 cup of water or black coffee. Thirty-minutes later, a baseline blood draw was collected. Immediately following, participants consumed a standardized high-fat shake (73% fat; 9 kcal/kg body mass), vacated the laboratory, and returned 4 hours later for a follow-up blood draw. Results: Six healthy individuals (3 Women, 3 Men; age 21.3 ± 3.2; BMI 25.9 ± 1.6) completed the present study. Two-way ANOVA of TG revealed a significant overall time effect (p = 0.008), but not time x trial interaction (p = 0.87) or overall trial effect (p = 0.27). Absolute change in TG was not different between trials (p = 0.61). Conclusion: In our small study sample, coffee intake prior to an AFTT did not affect postprandial TG. Therefore, coffee intake prior to an AFTT may not affect the validity of the AFTT. Further research should investigate the effects of coffee consumption prior to an AFTT on the validity of the AFTT in a larger, more diverse study population.Lew Wentz FoundationNutritional Science

Reversible cardiomyopathy in a patient with Marfan’s syndrome. Case report

Marfan´s syndrome is a multisystemic, autosomal dominant congenital abnormality of variable penetrance that affects the integrity of connective tissue. In the cardiovascular system, the dysfunction of the physiology of the aortic root and the myocardial fibrosis originates non-ischemic cardiomyopathy independent of valve lesions. Few data have been reported on the prevalence of arrhythmias and its impact on heart function. We present a 21-year-old man with Marfan’s syndrome and heart failure with frequent supraventricular arrhythmias and aortic root dilation. After ablation in the posteroseptal area of the mitral ring and Tirone David Surgery, there was clinical improvement, the left ventricular ejection fraction increased dramatically from 33% to 46%, the left ventricular end-diastolic volume decreased from 90 ml/m2 to 77 ml/m2 and the NT-proBNP decrease from 1100 pg/mL at 180 pg/mL.Marfan´s syndrome is a multisystemic, autosomal dominant congenital abnormality of variable penetrance that affects the integrity of connective tissue. In the cardiovascular system, the dysfunction of the physiology of the aortic root and the myocardial fibrosis originates non-ischemic cardiomyopathy independent of valve lesions. Few data have been reported on the prevalence of arrhythmias and its impact on heart function. We present a 21-year-old man with Marfan’s syndrome and heart failure with frequent supraventricular arrhythmias and aortic root dilation. After ablation in the posteroseptal area of the mitral ring and Tirone David Surgery, there was clinical improvement, the left ventricular ejection fraction increased dramatically from 33% to 46%, the left ventricular end-diastolic volume decreased from 90 ml/m2 to 77 ml/m2 and the NT-proBNP decrease from 1100 pg/mL at 180 pg/mL

Miocardiopatía reversible en un paciente con síndrome de Marfan. Reporte de caso

Marfan´s syndrome is a multisystemic, autosomal dominant congenital abnormality of variable penetrance that affects the integrity of connective tissue. In the cardiovascular system, the dysfunction of the physiology of the aortic root and the myocardial fibrosis originates non-ischemic cardiomyopathy independent of valve lesions. Few data have been reported on the prevalence of arrhythmias and its impact on heart function. We present a 21-year-old man with Marfan’s syndrome and heart failure with frequent supraventricular arrhythmias and aortic root dilation. After ablation in the posteroseptal area of the mitral ring and Tirone David Surgery, there was clinical improvement, the left ventricular ejection fraction increased dramatically from 33% to 46%, the left ventricular end-diastolic volume decreased from 90 ml/m2 to 77 ml/m2 and the NT-proBNP decrease from 1100 pg/mL at 180 pg/mL.El síndrome de Marfan es una anomalía congénita multisistémica, autosómica dominante y de pene-trancia variable que afecta a la integridad del tejido conectivo. En el sistema cardiovascular, también se ha descrito la disfunción de la fisiología de la raíz aórtica y la fibrosis miocárdica que origina una miocardiopatía no isquémica independiente de las lesiones valvulares. Se han comunicado pocos datos sobre la prevalencia de arritmias y su repercusión en la función cardiaca. Presentamos el caso de un varón de 21 años con síndrome de Marfan e insuficiencia cardiaca con frecuentes arritmias supraventriculares y dilatación de la raíz aórtica. Después de la ablación en la zona posteroseptal del anillo mitral y la cirugía de Tirone David, hubo mejoría clínica, la fracción de eyección ventricular izquierda aumentó espectacularmente del 33 al 46%, el volumen telediastólico ventricular izquierdo disminuyó de 90 a 77 mL/m* y el NT-proBNP disminuyó de 1100 a 180 pg/mL

Reinforcing medical authority: clinical ethics consultation and the resolution of conflicts in treatment decisions

Despite substantial efforts in the past 15 years to professionalise the field of clinical ethics consultation, sociologists have not re‐examined past hypotheses about the role of such services in medical decision‐making and their effect on physician authority. In relation to those hypotheses, we explore two questions: (i) What kinds of issues does ethics consultation resolve? and (ii) what is the nature of the resolution afforded by these consults? We examined ethics consultation records created between 2011 and mid‐2015 at a large tertiary care US hospital and found that in most cases, the problems addressed are not novel ethical dilemmas as classically conceived, but are instead disagreements between clinicians and patients or their surrogates about treatment. The resolution offered by a typical ethics consultation involves strategies to improve communication rather than the parsing of ethical obligations. In cases where disagreements persist, the proposed solution is most often based on technical clinical judgements, reinforcing the role of physician authority in patient care and the ethical decisions made about that care.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154312/1/shil13003.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154312/2/shil13003_am.pd

Sociodemographic variation in the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in patients with stage IV lung, oesophageal, stomach and pancreatic cancer: evidence from population-based data in England during 2013-2014.

BACKGROUND: Sociodemographic inequalities in cancer treatment have been generally described, but there is little evidence regarding patients with advanced cancer. Understanding variation in the management of these patients may provide insights into likely mechanisms leading to inequalities in survival. METHODS: We identified 50,232 patients with stage IV lung, oesophageal, pancreatic and stomach cancer from the English national cancer registry. A generalised linear model with a Poisson error structure was used to explore variation in radiotherapy and chemotherapy within 6 months from diagnosis by age, sex, deprivation, ethnicity, cancer site, comorbidity and, additionally, performance status. RESULTS: There was substantial variation by cancer site, large gradients by age, and non-trivial associations with comorbidity and deprivation. After full adjustment, more deprived patients were consistently least likely to be treated with chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy and radiotherapy combined compared with less deprived patients with equally advanced disease stage (treatment rate ratio: 0.82 95% CI (0.78, 0.87) for CT, 0.78 95% CI (0.71, 0.85) for CTRT p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: There was marked variation in the management of patients with stage IV cancer. Routinely collected data could be used for surveillance across all cancers to help reduce treatment variation and optimise outcomes among patients with advanced cancer

Ethical challenges for accountable care organizations: a structured review.

BackgroundAccountable care organizations (ACOs) are proliferating as a solution to the cost crisis in American health care, and already involve as many as 31 million patients. ACOs hold clinicians, group practices, and in many circumstances hospitals financially accountable for reducing expenditures and improving their patients' health outcomes. The structure of health care affects the ethical issues arising in the practice of medicine; therefore, like all health care organizational structures, ACOs will experience ethical challenges. No framework exists to assist key ACO stakeholders in identifying or managing these challenges.MethodsWe conducted a structured review of the medical ACO literature using qualitative content analysis to inform identification of ethical challenges for ACOs.ResultsOur analysis found infrequent discussion of ethics as an explicit concern for ACOs. Nonetheless, we identified nine critical ethical challenges, often described in other terms, for ACO stakeholders. Leaders could face challenges regarding fair resource allocation (e.g., about fairly using ACOs' shared savings), protection of professionals' ethical obligations (especially related to the design of financial incentives), and development of fair decision processes (e.g., ensuring that beneficiary representatives on the ACO board truly represent the ACO's patients). Clinicians could perceive threats to their professional autonomy (e.g., through cost control measures), a sense of dual or conflicted responsibility to their patients and the ACO, or competition with other clinicians. For patients, critical ethical challenges will include protecting their autonomy, ensuring privacy and confidentiality, and effectively engaging them with the ACO.DiscussionACOs are not inherently more or less "ethical" than other health care payment models, such as fee-for-service or pure capitation. ACOs' nascent development and flexibility in design, however, present a time-sensitive opportunity to ensure their ethical operation, promote their success, and refine their design and implementation by identifying, managing, and conducting research into the ethical issues they might face

Ethical challenges for accountable care organizations: a structured review.

BackgroundAccountable care organizations (ACOs) are proliferating as a solution to the cost crisis in American health care, and already involve as many as 31 million patients. ACOs hold clinicians, group practices, and in many circumstances hospitals financially accountable for reducing expenditures and improving their patients' health outcomes. The structure of health care affects the ethical issues arising in the practice of medicine; therefore, like all health care organizational structures, ACOs will experience ethical challenges. No framework exists to assist key ACO stakeholders in identifying or managing these challenges.MethodsWe conducted a structured review of the medical ACO literature using qualitative content analysis to inform identification of ethical challenges for ACOs.ResultsOur analysis found infrequent discussion of ethics as an explicit concern for ACOs. Nonetheless, we identified nine critical ethical challenges, often described in other terms, for ACO stakeholders. Leaders could face challenges regarding fair resource allocation (e.g., about fairly using ACOs' shared savings), protection of professionals' ethical obligations (especially related to the design of financial incentives), and development of fair decision processes (e.g., ensuring that beneficiary representatives on the ACO board truly represent the ACO's patients). Clinicians could perceive threats to their professional autonomy (e.g., through cost control measures), a sense of dual or conflicted responsibility to their patients and the ACO, or competition with other clinicians. For patients, critical ethical challenges will include protecting their autonomy, ensuring privacy and confidentiality, and effectively engaging them with the ACO.DiscussionACOs are not inherently more or less "ethical" than other health care payment models, such as fee-for-service or pure capitation. ACOs' nascent development and flexibility in design, however, present a time-sensitive opportunity to ensure their ethical operation, promote their success, and refine their design and implementation by identifying, managing, and conducting research into the ethical issues they might face