A clinical pathway for community-acquired pneumonia: an observational cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Six hospitals instituted a voluntary, system-wide, pathway for community acquired pneumonia (CAP). We proposed this study to determine the impact of pathway antibiotics on patient survival, hospital length of stay (LOS), and total hospital cost.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data were collected for adults from six U.S. hospitals with a principal CAP discharge diagnosis code, a chest infiltrate, and medical notes indicative of CAP from 2005-2007. Pathway and non-pathway cohorts were assigned according to antibiotics received within 48 hours of admission. Pathway antibiotics included levofloxacin 750 mg monotherapy or ceftriaxone 1000 mg plus azithromycin 500 mg daily. Multivariable regression models assessed 90-day mortality, hospital LOS, total hospital cost, and total pharmacy cost.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall, 792 patients met study criteria. Of these, 505 (64%) received pathway antibiotics and 287 (36%) received non-pathway antibiotics. Adjusted means and p-values were derived from Least Squares regression models that included Pneumonia Severity Index risk class, patient age, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and admitting hospital as covariates. After adjustment, patients who received pathway antibiotics experienced lower adjusted 90-day mortality (<it>p </it>= 0.02), shorter mean hospital LOS (3.9 vs. 5.0 days, <it>p </it>< 0.01), lower mean hospital costs ($2,485 vs.$3,281, <it>p </it>= 0.02), and similar mean pharmacy costs ($356 vs.$442, <it>p </it>= 0.11).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Pathway antibiotics were associated with improved patient survival, hospital LOS, and total hospital cost for patients admitted to the hospital with CAP.</p

Comprehensive and Integrated Genomic Characterization of Adult Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Sarcomas are a broad family of mesenchymal malignancies exhibiting remarkable histologic diversity. We describe the multi-platform molecular landscape of 206 adult soft tissue sarcomas representing 6 major types. Along with novel insights into the biology of individual sarcoma types, we report three overarching findings: (1) unlike most epithelial malignancies, these sarcomas (excepting synovial sarcoma) are characterized predominantly by copy-number changes, with low mutational loads and only a few genes (, , ) highly recurrently mutated across sarcoma types; (2) within sarcoma types, genomic and regulomic diversity of driver pathways defines molecular subtypes associated with patient outcome; and (3) the immune microenvironment, inferred from DNA methylation and mRNA profiles, associates with outcome and may inform clinical trials of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Overall, this large-scale analysis reveals previously unappreciated sarcoma-type-specific changes in copy number, methylation, RNA, and protein, providing insights into refining sarcoma therapy and relationships to other cancer types

External validation of a multivariable claims-based rule for predicting in-hospital mortality and 30-day post-pulmonary embolism complications

Abstract Background Low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) patients may be candidates for outpatient treatment or abbreviated hospital stay. There is a need for a claims-based prediction rule that payers/hospitals can use to risk stratify PE patients. We sought to validate the In-hospital Mortality for PulmonAry embolism using Claims daTa (IMPACT) prediction rule for in-hospital and 30-day outcomes. Methods We used the Optum Research Database from 1/2008-3/2015 and included adults hospitalized for PE (415.1x in the primary position or secondary position when accompanied by a primary code for a PE complication) and having continuous medical and prescription coverage for ≥6-months prior and 3-months post-inclusion or until death. In-hospital and 30-day mortality and 30-day complications (recurrent venous thromboembolism, rehospitalization or death) were assessed and prognostic accuracies of IMPACT with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results In total, 47,531 PE patients were included. In-hospital and 30-day mortality occurred in 7.9 and 9.4 % of patients and 20.8 % experienced any complication within 30-days. Of the 19.5 % of patients classified as low-risk by IMPACT, 2.0 % died in-hospital, resulting in a sensitivity and specificity of 95.2 % (95 % CI, 94.4–95.8) and 20.7 % (95 % CI, 20.4–21.1). Only 1 additional low-risk patient died within 30-days of admission and 12.2 % experienced a complication, translating into a sensitivity and specificity of 95.9 % (95 % CI, 95.3–96.5) and 21.1 % (95 % CI, 20.7–21.5) for mortality and 88.5 % (95 % CI, 87.9–89.2) and 21.6 % (95 % CI, 21.2–22.0) for any complication. Conclusion IMPACT had acceptable sensitivity for predicting in-hospital and 30-day mortality or complications and may be valuable for retrospective risk stratification of PE patients

Risk of Ischemic Stroke in Patients Newly Diagnosed With Heart Failure: Focus on Patients Without Atrial Fibrillation

© 2018 The Authors Background: Heart failure (HF) is associated with an incremental risk of stroke, but limited real-world data exist in patients with HF without atrial fibrillation (AF). Objectives: To quantify the incremental risk of ischemic stroke among newly diagnosed patients with HF and without AF. Methods: Adults with HF and ≥18 months of enrollment before their index HF (ie, baseline period) were identified in Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Databases (January 2010–April 2015). Patients without AF during baseline and without an ischemic stroke within 14 days of the index date were propensity score matched 1:1 to individuals with neither HF nor AF and observed for ischemic stroke. A similar analysis was performed for the overall HF population. Incidence rates were compared using incidence rate ratios between HF and non-HF cohorts; Kaplan-Meier analyses with log-rank tests were used to compare incidence rates over time. Results: A total of 66,414 patients with HF were identified, of which 52,005 did not have AF. Patients with HF without AF had significantly higher rates of ischemic stroke than patients without HF without AF during follow-up (incidence rate ratio 1.91 [95% confidence interval 1.75–2.09], P \u3c .001). Ischemic stroke rates remained significantly higher for patients with HF over time among individuals without AF (P \u3c .001 for log-rank test at 12, 24, and 36 months). Similar results were found for the overall HF population. Conclusions: Even in the absence of AF, patients with HF are at heightened risk of ischemic stroke compared with patients without HF