Citations

A practical patterned approach to neonatal bowel obstructions helps radiologists localize the obstruction and perform the appropriate imaging examination to accurately make the diagnosis and help guide proper management.

Abstract Accurate prediction of risk of progression from smoldering (SMM) to active multiple myeloma (MM) is paramount to individualized early therapeutic strategies with minimum risk of overtreatment. Current risk stratification models do not account for evolving biomarker trajectories. We assembled the largest cohort to date of 2,270 SMM patients from six international centers with longitudinal clinical and biological data to train and validate the PANGEA 2.0 risk models. Four evolving biomarkers were significantly associated with shorter time-to-progression: M-protein increase ≥0.2g/dL, involved:uninvolved serum free light chain ratio increase ≥20, creatinine increase >25%, and hemoglobin decrease ≥1.5g/dL. PANGEA 2.0 outperforms established models including the 20/2/20 and IMWG models by more accurately predicting progression (C-statistics=0.69–0.84), even without biomarker history (C-statistics=0.69–0.83) or recent bone marrow biopsy. PANGEA 2.0 is an easy-to-use, open-access tool (https://ghobrial.shinyapps.io/pangea_2_calculator) to improve and individualize SMM risk stratification. Validation tools are available to compare PANGEA 2.0 to established models (https://ghobrial.shinyapps.io/pangea_validation).

Abstract Background: Thrombocytopenia commonly occurs in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) receiving continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) and is associated with poor outcomes. While previous studies have examined static platelet counts and relative declines, the prognostic significance of platelet trajectory patterns before and after CRRT initiation remains unclear. This study investigates the association between platelet count trajectories and in-hospital mortality in critically ill adult patients with AKI receiving CRRT. Methods: This study is a single-center retrospective cohort study utilizing electronic health record (EHR) data from critically ill adults (≥18 years) with AKI who received CRRT at the University of Alabama at Birmingham between January 2012 and December 2023. Platelet trajectories were assessed using mixed-effects models incorporating all platelet measurements within seven days before and after CRRT initiation. The slopes of platelet count change were categorized as descending (≤ -10 × 10³/μL/day), stable (-10 to 10), or ascending (≥ 10), creating a total of nine trajectory patterns by combining the three pre-CRRT and three during-CRRT categories. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, which was analyzed in relation to these trajectory patterns using logistic regression models adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, medications, and use of other organ support devices as covariates. Results: The study included 2,226 critically ill adults with AKI on CRRT, encompassing 8,569 patient-days before and 11,699 patient-days after CRRT initiation for platelet slope calculation. The median age was 59 years (IQR 48–69) and the median SOFA score at CRRT initiation was 12 (9–14). The in-hospital mortality rate was 57.8%. Before CRRT initiation, the most common trajectory was descending (46.2%), while after CRRT initiation, the stable pattern was most prevalent (58.3%). All patterns with a descending platelet trajectory during-CRRT were significantly associated with higher in-hospital mortality (aOR 1.92 [95% CI: 1.16–3.21] for ascending-descending; 1.49 [1.07–2.08] for stable-descending; 1.52 [1.04–2.23] for descending-descending). In contrast, all patterns with stable or increasing platelet counts during-CRRT tended to have lower mortality. Conclusions: A descending platelet trajectory after CRRT initiation was independently associated with increased in-hospital mortality.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Upper limb motor recovery is limited and affects functional outcomes in stroke survivors. Recent randomized controlled trials have assessed the role of combining vagus nerve stimulation with standard neurorehabilitation. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of pairing implanted vagus nerve stimulation (I-VNS) with rehabilitation therapy in ischemic stroke patients and to provide a framework for its integration into standard clinical practice. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL Plus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for articles published from inception to July 2024. Randomized controlled trials and follow-up studies assessing the efficacy and/or safety of I-VNS in stroke rehabilitation were included. The outcomes included upper limb motor function and adverse events related to intervention. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool, and a random-effects model was generated for the meta-analysis using the Meta package in R. RESULTS: The final analysis included 8 studies, with a cumulative sample size of n = 498 patients who underwent I-VNS–paired rehabilitation for upper extremity weakness in unilateral supratentorial stroke. The intervention group (I-VNS) included 245 patients (49.1%) whereas the control group had 252 patients (50.6%). The mean age was 59.0 ± 10.01 years in the intervention group and 61.0 ± 9.7 years in the control group. The intervention group included 155 male patients (63.2%), and the control group had 165 male patients (64.4%). The meta-analyses showed statistically significant improvement in upper limb motor function in the I-VNS–paired rehabilitation group with a mean difference of 2.73 (95% CI: 1.32-4.13; P = .04) in the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for Upper Extremity score. Only one study reported a serious adverse event. CONCLUSION: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the current literature provides high-level evidence that I-VNS–paired rehabilitation improves functional outcomes and has a favorable safety profile in patients with poststroke upper extremity weakness.

Crohn's disease (CD) is an idiopathic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology with genetic, immunologic, and environmental influences. The incidence of CD has steadily increased over the past several decades. The diagnosis and treatment of patients with CD has evolved since the last practice guideline was published. These guidelines represent the official practice recommendations of the American College of Gastroenterology and were developed under the auspices of the Practice Parameters Committee for the management of adult patients with CD. These guidelines are established for clinical practice with the intent of suggesting preferable approaches to medical problems as established by interpretation and collation of scientifically valid research, derived from extensive review of published literature. When exercising clinical judgment, health care providers should incorporate this guideline along with patient's needs, desires, and their values to care for patients fully and appropriately with CD. Shared decision-making with the patient is advocated. This guideline is intended to be flexible, not necessarily indicating the only acceptable approach, and should be distinguished from standards of care that are inflexible and rarely violated. To evaluate the level of evidence and strength of recommendations, we used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. The Committee reviews guidelines in depth, with participation from experienced clinicians and others in related fields. The final recommendations are based on the data available at the time of the production of the document and may be updated with pertinent scientific developments later.

PURPOSE To report the results of the multicenter, open-label IRAKLIA trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05405166 ) of isatuximab subcutaneous (SC) versus intravenous (IV), plus pomalidomide and dexamethasone, in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM), to our knowledge, the first phase III MM trial using an on-body injector (OBI). METHODS Patients with ≥1 prior line of therapy were randomly assigned 1:1 to Isa OBI (1,400 mg) or IV (10 mg/kg) once weekly in cycle (C)1 and then every 2 weeks, plus pomalidomide (4 mg once daily, day [D]1-21) and dexamethasone (40 mg once weekly [age ≥75: 20 mg]) and treated until progression, unacceptable toxicity, or patient request. Coprimary end points were overall response rate (ORR; noninferiority margin, 0.839) and Isa C trough (C6D1 predose; noninferiority margin, 0.8). Noninferiority of OBI versus IV was demonstrated if both coprimary end points achieved noninferiority. RESULTS IRAKLIA randomly assigned 531 patients (OBI, n=263; IV, n=268). After 12-month median follow-up, the ORR was 71.1% (OBI) and 70.5% (IV; relative risk, 1.008 [95% CI, 0.903 to 1.126]; lower CI exceeded noninferiority margin). The mean (standard deviation) C6D1 C trough was 499 (259) μg/mL (OBI) and 340 (169) μg/mL (IV). The C trough geometric mean ratio (90% CI) was 1.532 (1.316 to 1.784); lower CI exceeded noninferiority margin. Grade ≥3 treatment-emergent adverse event incidences were 81.7% (OBI) and 76.1% (IV); infusion reaction incidences were 1.5% and 25.0%. Injection site reactions occurred in 0.4% of OBI injections (all grade 1-2); 99.9% of injections completed without interruption. CONCLUSION IRAKLIA demonstrated efficacy and pharmacokinetic noninferiority between Isa OBI and IV. No unexpected safety signal was observed, with excellent local tolerability of Isa OBI. Efficacy and safety were comparable with Isa IV in ICARIA-MM, except the lower OBI infusion reaction rate. These results support potential use of the OBI, designed to improve practice efficiency.

CARTITUDE-1 evaluated ciltacabtagene autoleucel (cilta-cel) in patients with heavily pretreated relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). We describe overall survival (OS), ≥5-year progression-free outcomes, associated biomarkers, and safety, with a median study follow-up of 61.3 months. For the 97 treated patients, median OS was 60.7 months (95% CI, 41.9 to not estimable). One third (32/97) of patients remain alive and progression-free for ≥5 years after a single cilta-cel infusion, without maintenance treatment. Twelve of these patients treated at a single center underwent serial minimal residual disease (MRD) and positron emission tomography-computed tomography assessments, and all (100%) were MRD-negative (at least 10 −5 threshold) and imaging-negative at year 5 or later after cilta-cel. Baseline characteristics, including the presence of high-risk cytogenetics and extramedullary disease, were generally comparable for the 32 patients who were progression-free for ≥5 years versus patients who had progressive disease by year 5. A trend of lower baseline tumor burden, higher fraction of naïve T-cells in the cilta-cel drug product, higher T cell-to-neutrophil ratio, higher hemoglobin and platelets at baseline, and higher effector-to-target ratio were associated with ≥5-year progression-free status. The safety profile of cilta-cel remained consistent with previous reports. To our knowledge, our data provide the first evidence that cilta-cel is potentially curative in patients with RRMM.