Citations

Background Ketamine has demonstrated efficacy in treatment-resistant depression, primarily in psychiatric or outpatient populations. Its use in ICU patients remains underexplored, with limited data beyond case reports and small series. This study evaluated the association between subanesthetic ketamine infusions and improvement in depressive symptoms and hemodynamic changes in ICU patients. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of adults admitted to the ICU who received IV ketamine (0.3-0.75 mg/kg over 40 min on three consecutive days) for depressive symptoms. Changes in depressive symptoms were assessed using routine clinical documentation by physicians, nurses, and occupational and physical therapists. Hemodynamic parameters (blood pressure and heart rate) were recorded before and up to 120 min after infusion. The primary outcome was to evaluate depressive symptoms while the secondary outcome was to assess hemodynamic changes post transfusion. Results Thirty-four patients met criteria, including 18 solid organ transplant recipients. Median age was 59 years; 61.8% were male. Ketamine was associated with improvement in apparent sadness (90.0% vs 52.2%, P < .05) and reported sadness (95.0% vs 59.1%, P < .05). In transplant recipients, improvement in apparent sadness remained significant (80.0% vs 41.7%, P < .05). Hemodynamic parameters remained stable; heart rate increased transiently at 15-30 min post-infusion, returning to baseline by 60-90 min. Adverse effects observed were anxiety (12.5%), restlessness and/or agitation (10.4%), and dissociation (8.16%). Conclusion Subanesthetic ketamine improved specific depressive symptoms in critically ill ICU patients without significant hemodynamic instability. These findings support its potential as a rapid-acting antidepressant in the ICU, warranting further prospective trials.

Abstract Early pregnancy loss can have a profound impact on the lives of women and their families, but the experience is often underacknowledged, with the diverse and complex needs of these women not always being met. Health care providers are in a unique position to provide support, helping each woman navigate through what is often a significant event in her lifetime. In response to these gaps, a large academic medical center in the upper Midwest established the Early Pregnancy Care (EPC) Clinic in 2019 as a subclinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The goal of the EPC Clinic is to standardize the management of early pregnancy loss and related concerns to ensure each woman receives timely, holistic, and patient‐centered care that fully encompasses the physical and emotional needs of the patient and her family. The EPC Clinic is run by a small, dedicated team of certified nurse‐midwives and registered nurses in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team, providing comprehensive care to women with a confirmed early pregnancy loss, first trimester bleeding, pregnancy of unknown location, inconclusive viability, or a history of a prior early pregnancy loss, including ectopic and molar pregnancies. Team members coordinate timely visits and evaluation, offer comprehensive management options, and provide bereavement care and resources. Follow‐up care is arranged to monitor each woman's physical and emotional recovery following a loss, including check‐ins with consistent members of the team to maintain continuity of care. Anecdotal evidence as well as Press‐Ganey surveys obtained from patients and their families have demonstrated the exceptional value of the EPC Clinic. In this article, we outline our EPC Clinic's components and processes and discuss strategies that may benefit other health care systems aspiring to develop similar programs to improve early pregnancy loss care and the patient experience.

INTRODUCTION: Immunoglobulin G4-related sclerosing cholangitis (IgG4-SC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are cholestatic disorders, which may be difficult to differentiate. Importantly, PSC is an untreatable progressive fibroinflammatory disease, whereas IgG4-SC responds to immunosuppression if recognized in a timely manner. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to identify and define the performance of clinical, biochemical, radiographic, and histologic features to differentiate between these 2 diseases. METHODS: A systematic search for comparative studies of IgG4-SC and PSC through November 2023 (with repeat evaluation for interval literature in December 2024) was performed and data extraction performed in duplicate. Pooled proportions, odds ratios, means, and standardized mean differences of pertinent diagnostic features were calculated using random-effects inverse-variance models. RESULTS: We identified 38 studies comparing patients with IgG4-SC and PSC. IgG4-SC patients were more likely to have pancreatic disease ( P < 0.001) but less likely to have inflammatory bowel disease ( P < 0.001) than those with PSC. Serum IgG4 was significantly higher in IgG4-SC ( P < 0.001), as anticipated. Radiographically, IgG4-SC demonstrated long distal strictures ( P = 0.02) and symmetric ductal thickening ( P < 0.001), whereas PSC showed a beaded appearance ( P = 0.038). With the exception of IgG4 staining, histologic features including periductal fibrosis were similar between these entities, although sample size was limited for these features. DISCUSSION: Our meta-analysis shows that IgG4-SC and PSC present with similar clinical and radiographic features and possibly comparable histology. A history of unusual pancreatitis and elevated IgG4 (serum or tissue) prompts assessment for more specific radiographic features which if present warrant a therapeutic treatment trial.

Abstract Background Some centres advocate preoperative radiotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer and arterial involvement despite a lack of Level 1 evidence on survival benefit. Although it has been suggested that preoperative radiotherapy may increase the risk of postpancreatectomy haemorrhage (PPH) and morbidity, evidence is again lacking. This study investigated the association between preoperative radiotherapy and both PPH and major morbidity following arterial divestment/resection during pancreatic adenocarcinoma resection after chemotherapy. Methods Consecutive patients diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and &gt; 180° arterial involvement who were treated with preoperative chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy followed by pancreatic resection with arterial divestment/resection were included in the study. Logistic regression analyses including propensity score-based overlap weighting were performed to investigate associations between radiotherapy and in-hospital PPH grade B/C and major morbidity, expressed as adjusted risk differences (aRDs). Results Overall, 246 patients undergoing pancreatic resection with arterial resection (169, 69%) or divestment (77, 31%) were included. Radiotherapy was not associated with PPH (aRD 6%; 95% confidence interval (c.i.) −3 to 14), regardless of arterial divestment (aRD 3%; 95% c.i. −5 to 11) or arterial resection (aRD 12%; 95% c.i. 1 to 23; Pinteraction = 0.189). Radiotherapy was associated with a 14% (95% c.i. 2 to 25) higher risk of major morbidity, especially after arterial resection (aRD 27%; 95% c.i. 11 to 43) compared with arterial divestment (aRD −12%; 95% c.i. −35 to 11; Pinteraction = 0.006) and after external beam radiotherapy (aRD 21%; 95% c.i. 8 to 32) compared with stereotactic body radiotherapy (aRD −12%; 95% c.i. −27 to 6; Pinteraction = 0.0001). Ninety-day mortality was increased, albeit not significantly, after preoperative radiotherapy (10 (8%) versus 3 (3%) deaths with versus without preoperative radiotherapy, respectively; P = 0.067). Conclusions Radiotherapy before resection of pancreatic cancer with &gt; 180° arterial involvement was associated with an increased risk of postoperative major morbidity when arterial resection, but not arterial divestment, was performed. This risk should be taken into account when considering preoperative radiotherapy in patients who may require arterial resection.

Abstract Background The increased use of superior mesenteric artery (SMA) divestment has been a driver behind the increased resection rate for locally advanced pancreatic cancer following preoperative therapy. This has also resulted in an increase in the rate of postoperative neurogenic diarrhoea, but knowledge about postoperative neurogenic diarrhoea is lacking. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence, risk factors, management, and outcomes of neurogenic diarrhoea after SMA divestment/resection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Methods This multicentre retrospective study included consecutive patients undergoing pancreatic adenocarcinoma resection, including SMA divestment/resection, after preoperative chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy between 2016 and 2022. Primary endpoints were the incidence of postoperative neurogenic diarrhoea, associated factors, treatment strategies, and outcomes. Secondary endpoints were the rate of adjuvant chemotherapy and the impact of neurogenic diarrhoea on overall survival (OS). Results Overall, 291 patients who underwent pancreatic resection with concomitant SMA divestment (240, 82%) or resection (51, 18%) were included in the study. Postoperative neurogenic diarrhoea was diagnosed in 193 patients. The adjusted risk of developing neurogenic diarrhoea was 59% (95% confidence interval (c.i.) 46 to 73) after ≤ 180° SMA divestment, 80% (95% c.i. 67 to 93) after &gt; 180° SMA divestment, and 77% (95% c.i. 66 to 88) after SMA resection. Postoperative neurogenic diarrhoea was treated with non-opioid drugs (29, 15%), non-opium opioids (140, 73%), opium tincture (69, 36%), and/or octreotide (49, 25%), and normalized in 51% of patients. After adjusting for confounders, neurogenic diarrhoea was not significantly associated with OS (hazard ratio 0.83; 95% c.i. 0.55 to 1.25). Conclusion Neurogenic diarrhoea occurred in two-thirds of patients following resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma with concomitant SMA divestment/resection, particularly after &gt; 180° SMA divestment or SMA resection. Although challenging to manage, neurogenic diarrhoea is not associated with impaired OS. Evidence-based treatment strategies are needed for adequate management.

Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) continues to pose a major public health challenge. Since its launch in 2004, the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has played a pivotal role in advancing the field by providing a comprehensive, open‐access, longitudinal dataset that integrates neuroimaging, biomarker, genetic, and clinical data related to AD. We used standard literature search methods to identify ∼1830 publications from 2023 to mid‐2025 that used ADNI data or samples. This review highlights key ADNI studies with direct clinical applications. We describe how these have impacted the development and validation of plasma biomarkers, improved clinical trials, assessed AD therapies, and developed methods for diagnosis and prediction using clinical, fluid, and imaging biomarkers. These contributions are underlain by an improved understanding of biological mechanisms of disease progression in AD and highlight ADNI's central role in advancing translational research and accelerating progress toward more effective, individualized care for patients with AD.

Background: Religious affiliation has traditionally served as a coping strategy during stressful events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Pregnant women faced heightened stress during the pandemic due to concerns about their health as well as that of their fetus. This study examined the prevalence of self-reported religious affiliation among SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnant women and investigated differences in psychiatric diagnoses and pregnancy outcomes based on religious affiliation. Methods: The study included all asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic SARS-CoV-2-positive pregnant women who received care at the Mayo Health System from March 2020 through October 2021 and completed the routine religious affiliation questionnaire. Those selecting “none” were categorized as having no religious affiliation (RA−), whereas those selecting a specific religion were categorized as religiously affiliated (RA+). Results: Among 609 women, 49.6% were RA+ and 50.4% were RA−. RA+ women were more likely to be white, married, college-educated, and have fewer prior abortions. There were no significant differences in rates of depression, anxiety, psychotropic medication use, substance use, or pregnancy and labor complications between RA+ and RA− groups. Conclusions: Half of the women in this cohort reported no religious affiliation. Previously reported protective associations between religiosity and mental health were not observed when religious affiliation alone was examined.

Background: Localized soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is primarily treated with surgical resection with or without radiotherapy (RT), while the role of chemotherapy (CT) as a radiosensitizer remains unclear. We report our single-institution experience with combined chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in treating localized STS. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with localized STS treated at Mayo Clinic with mitomycin, cisplatin, and doxorubicin (MitoAP) concurrently with RT between 1/1/85 and 12/12/19. Results: We identified 179 patients (median age 58 years; median tumor size 9.5 cm), with 83.8% of tumors located in the extremities or trunk. Among them, 77.1% received perioperative CT in addition to CCRT, with 95% of those treated in the neoadjuvant setting. Median RT dose was 50 Gray. The 5-year disease-specific survival (DSS) was 77.9% (95% confidence interval, CI: 70.8–83.4%). The addition of perioperative CT to CCRT was associated with improved DSS compared with CCRT alone (p = 0.01, Hazard Ratio, HR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.27–0.85). Median post-CCRT tumor viability was 30% and did not differ by CT use (p = 0.39), but varied significantly by histology (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Our institutional protocol utilizing two cycles of MitoAP with RT was well tolerated. DSS in our cohort was similar to historical data using perioperative RT alone, suggesting no clear benefit from CCRT. However, the majority of patients in our cohort were classified as high risk, which may have attenuated a potential survival benefit in the absence of appropriate comparative controls. Furthermore, additional perioperative CT to CCRT was associated with improved DSS and differential histology-specific responses in tumor viability, suggesting that a more aggressive neoadjuvant and perioperative approach may be beneficial in selected patients.