Citations

Abstract Introduction Transsubclavian venous implantation of the Aveir leadless cardiac pacemaker (LCP) has not been previously reported. Methods and Results Three cases of transsubclavian implantation of the Aveir LCP are reported. Two cases were postbilateral orthotopic lung transplant, without appropriate femoral or jugular access due to recent ECMO cannulation and jugular central venous catheters. In one case, there was strong patient preference for same‐day discharge. Stability testing confirmed adequate fixation and electrical testing confirmed stable parameters in all cases. All patients tolerated the procedure well without significant immediate complications. Conclusions We demonstrate the feasibility of transsubclavian implantation of the Aveir LCP.

(1) Background: Cardiomyopathy in celiac disease or celiac cardiomyopathy (CCM) is a serious and potentially life-threatening disease that can occur in both adults and children. However, data supporting the causal relationship between celiac disease (CD) and cardiomyopathy (CMP) are still inconsistent. The aim of this study was to review and synthesize data from the literature on this topic and potentially reveal a more evidence-based causal relationship. (2) Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used to search Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases from database inception until September 2023. A total of 1187 original articles were identified. (3) Results: We identified 28 CCM patients (19 adult and 9 pediatric) with a mean age of 27.4 ± 18.01 years. Adult patients with CCM were predominantly male (84.2%) while pediatric patients were predominantly female (75%). The most common comorbidities associated with CCM were anemia (75%) and pulmonary hemosiderosis (20%). In 35% of patients, CCM occurred before the diagnosis of CD, while in 48% of patients, CCM and CD were diagnosed at the same time. Diagnosis of CD preceded diagnosis of CCM in only 18% of patients. Diagnosis of CCM is often delayed with an average, from the onset of symptoms to diagnosis, of 16 months. All patients were treated with a gluten-free diet in addition to guideline-directed medical therapy. At 11-month follow-up, cardiovascular improvement was seen in 60.7% of patients. Pediatric mortality was 33.3%, while adult mortality was 5.3%. (4) Conclusions: Clinicians should be aware of the possible association between CD and CMP, and we recommend CD work-up in all patients with CMP who have concomitant anemia. While we identified only 28 cases in the literature, many cases might go unreported due to a lack of awareness regarding CCM. A high degree of clinical suspicion and a prompt diagnosis of CCM are essential to minimizing the risks of morbidity and mortality, as the combination of a gluten-free diet and guideline-directed medical therapy can improve clinical outcomes.

Mixture analysis is an emerging statistical tool in epidemiological research that seeks to estimate the health effects associated with mixtures of several exposures. This approach acknowledges that individuals experience many simultaneous exposures and it can estimate the relative importance of components in the mixture. Health effects due to mixtures may vary over space driven by to political, demographic, environmental, or other differences. In such cases, estimating a global mixture effect without accounting for spatial variation would induce bias in effect estimates and potentially lower statistical power. To date, no methods have been developed to estimate spatially varying chemical mixture effects. We developed a Bayesian spatially varying mixture model that estimates spatially varying mixture effects and the importance weights of components in the mixture, while adjusting for covariates. We demonstrate the efficacy of the model through a simulation study that varies the number of mixtures (one and two) and spatial pattern (global, one‐dimensional, radial) and magnitude of mixture effects, showing that the model is able to accurately reproduce the spatial pattern of mixture effects across a diverse set of scenarios. Finally, we apply our model to a multi‐center case‐control study of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in Detroit, Iowa, Los Angeles, and Seattle. We identify significant spatially varying positive and inverse associations with NHL for two mixtures of pesticides in Iowa and do not find strong spatial effects at the other three centers. In conclusion, the Bayesian spatially varying mixture model represents a novel method for modeling spatial variation in mixture effects.

Teamwork in graduate medical education (GME) is often hindered in clinical learning environments where discontinuity among residents, supervisors, and other health care professionals is typical. Teaming is a conceptual approach to teamwork in dynamic environments with constantly changing team members and goals. Teaming is built on principles of project management and team leadership, which together provide an attractive strategy for addressing teamwork challenges in GME. Indeed, teaming is now a requirement of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Clinical Learning Environment Review program. However, many clinician-educators and leaders may be unfamiliar with teaming and how to integrate it into their GME programs. In this article, the teaming framework is described with a specific example of how it can be applied to improve hospital ward rounds, a common setting of teamwork breakdown. The goal of this article is to educate and encourage GME leaders as they learn new ways to implement teaming to improve patient care and education in their programs.

385 Background: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and immuno-oncology (IO) agents alone or in combination have revolutionized the landscape of management for untreated metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Baseline quality of life (QOL) outside of interventional clinical trials and rationale for management decisions in mRCC are poorly understood. Methods: In this prospective observational study of 800 mRCC pts in the US, pts must: have a diagnosis of mRCC (any histology) with no prior systemic therapy (ST) for mRCC; be age ≥19 at informed consent; be able to comply with completion of PROs. Exclusion criteria include being treated for active malignancy other than mRCC or not intending to follow up at a study site within PCORnet. Pts undergo consent and baseline assessments by the study site team, with subsequent follow up by the central coordinating center. The primary objective is to determine distinct patterns of change in QOL and symptom burden of mRCC pts. A key secondary objective is to identify patterns of clinical management in the real world setting of mRCC across treatment regimens. Minimally important differences are defined as 3- and 7-points for FKSI-19 and FACT-G respectively. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04919122. Results: As of 9/1/2023, 173 pts have been enrolled (126 ST, 47 no ST [NST]): 75% male, 87% white, 73% clear cell, 52% intermediate risk and 47% poor risk. 47% had radical nephrectomy and 22% another solid tumor. ST pts as compared to NST pts were more likely to be poor risk (52% vs 16%); but differences in baseline pain were not significant. Of ST pts, 44 were treated with IO-IO (ipilimumab + nivolumab), 50 with IO-TKI (cabozantinib + nivolumab 38%, axitinib + pembrolizumab 38%, lenvatinib + pembrolizumab 24%) and 32 other (IO alone 34%, TKI alone 31%, investigational drug 25%). Reasons for NST included active surveillance (AS, 50%), other (21%), local therapy (13%). Mean differences between ST and NST for baseline FKSI-19 and FACT-G were 5.7 (95% CI: 1.2 – 10.2) and 3.3 (-2.6 – 9.3). There were no differences in pain or PROs between IO-IO and IO-TKI pts. Mean differences in FKSI-19 and FACT-G between AS vs IO-IO were 10.6 (4.8 – 16.4) and 8.6 (1.1 – 16.0); and vs IO-TKI were 11.0 (4.9 – 17.0) and 10.3 (3.5 – 17.1). On physician surveys, primary reasons for treatment selection were (in order of % selected): complete response (CR), prolonged survival (OS), prognostic factors (Px), treatment-free interval for IO-IO; versus delaying progression (PFS), OS, CR, Px for IO-TKI. Conclusions: Our data suggest differences in baseline QoL in pts treated with ST vs NST, as well as AS vs IO-IO or IO-TKI, in the real world. Reasons for selection of ST regimen differed among combination regimen classes. Completion of ODYSSEY will clarify baseline and longitudinal differences in pain and PROs among management strategies and give novel insights into the rationale for real world management of untreated pts with mRCC. Clinical trial information: NCT04919122 .

Functional loss of TDP-43, an RNA binding protein genetically and pathologically linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), leads to the inclusion of cryptic exons in hundreds of transcripts during disease. Cryptic exons can promote the degradation of affected transcripts, deleteriously altering cellular function through loss-of-function mechanisms. Here, we show that mRNA transcripts harboring cryptic exons generated de novo proteins in TDP-43–depleted human iPSC–derived neurons in vitro, and de novo peptides were found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from patients with ALS or FTD. Using coordinated transcriptomic and proteomic studies of TDP-43–depleted human iPSC–derived neurons, we identified 65 peptides that mapped to 12 cryptic exons. Cryptic exons identified in TDP-43–depleted human iPSC–derived neurons were predictive of cryptic exons expressed in postmortem brain tissue from patients with TDP-43 proteinopathy. These cryptic exons produced transcript variants that generated de novo proteins. We found that the inclusion of cryptic peptide sequences in proteins altered their interactions with other proteins, thereby likely altering their function. Last, we showed that 18 de novo peptides across 13 genes were present in CSF samples from patients with ALS/FTD spectrum disorders. The demonstration of cryptic exon translation suggests new mechanisms for ALS/FTD pathophysiology downstream of TDP-43 dysfunction and may provide a potential strategy to assay TDP-43 function in patient CSF.

Achieving health equity in populations with congenital heart disease (CHD) requires recognizing existing disparities throughout the lifespan that negatively and disproportionately impact specific groups of individuals. These disparities occur at individual, institutional, or system levels and often result in increased morbidity and mortality for marginalized or racially minoritized populations (population subgroups (e.g., ethnic, racial, social, religious) with differential power compared to those deemed to hold the majority power in the population). Creating actionable strategies and solutions to address these health disparities in patients with CHD requires critically examining multilevel factors and health policies that continue to drive health inequities, including varying social determinants of health (SDOH), systemic inequities, and structural racism. In this comprehensive review article, we focus on health equity solutions and health policy considerations for minoritized and marginalized populations with CHD throughout their lifespan in the United States. We review unique challenges that these populations may face and strategies for mitigating disparities in lifelong CHD care. We assess ways to deliver culturally competent CHD care and to help lower-health-literacy populations navigate CHD care. Finally, we review system-level health policies that impact reimbursement and research funding, as well as institutional policies that impact leadership diversity and representation in the workforce.

AbstractDespite its high prevalence among dementias, Lewy body dementia (LBD) remains poorly understood with a limited, albeit growing, evidence base. The public‐health burden that LBD imposes is worsened by overlapping pathologies, which contribute to misdiagnosis, and lack of treatments. For this report, we gathered and analyzed public‐domain information on advocacy, funding, research outputs, and the therapeutic pipeline to identify gaps in each of these key elements. To further understand the current gaps, we also conducted interviews with leading experts in regulatory/governmental agencies, LBD advocacy, academic research, and biopharmaceutical research, as well as with funding sources. We identified wide gaps across the entire landscape, the most critical being in research. Many of the experts participated in a workshop to discuss the prioritization of research areas with a view to accelerating therapeutic development and improving patient care. This white paper outlines the opportunities for bridging the major LBD gaps and creates the framework for collaboration in that endeavor.Highlights A group representing academia, government, industry, and consulting expertise was convened to discuss current progress in Dementia with Lewy Body care and research. Consideration of expert opinion,natural language processing of the literature as well as publicly available data bases, and Delphi inspired discussion led to a proposed consensus document of priorities for the field.

Genetic variation at the transmembrane protein 106B gene ( TMEM106B) has been linked to risk of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 inclusions (FTLD-TDP) through an unknown mechanism. We found that presence of the TMEM106B rs3173615 protective genotype was associated with longer survival after symptom onset in a postmortem FTLD-TDP cohort, suggesting a slower disease course. The seminal discovery that filaments derived from TMEM106B is a common feature in aging and, across a range of neurodegenerative disorders, suggests that genetic variants in TMEM106B could modulate disease risk and progression through modulating TMEM106B aggregation. To explore this possibility and assess the pathological relevance of TMEM106B accumulation, we generated a new antibody targeting the TMEM106B filament core sequence. Analysis of postmortem samples revealed that the TMEM106B rs3173615 risk allele was associated with higher TMEM106B core accumulation in patients with FTLD-TDP. In contrast, minimal TMEM106B core deposition was detected in carriers of the protective allele. Although the abundance of monomeric full-length TMEM106B was unchanged, carriers of the protective genotype exhibited an increase in dimeric full-length TMEM106B. Increased TMEM106B core deposition was also associated with enhanced TDP-43 dysfunction, and interactome data suggested a role for TMEM106B core filaments in impaired RNA transport, local translation, and endolysosomal function in FTLD-TDP. Overall, these findings suggest that prevention of TMEM106B core accumulation is central to the mechanism by which the TMEM106B protective haplotype reduces disease risk and slows progression.