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“The SIRS was significantly superior to the qSOFA for sepsis diagnosis, and the qSOFA was slightly better than the SIRS in predicting hospital mortality. The association of both criteria could provide a better model to initiate or escalate therapy in patients with sepsis”.

Fri, March 30 – 10 Stories of The Day!

30 Mar, 2018 | 02:02h | UTC

1 – Duration of Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Stage III Colon Cancer – New England Journal of Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Quick Take Video Summary: Duration of Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer (free)

Commentaries: Colon cancer chemo could be halved after surgery – Cancer Research UK, via MedicalXpress (free) AND Global cancer trial sets new standard for post-surgery chemotherapy – National Cancer Institute, via MedicalXpress (free)

2 – Long-term Thromboembolic Risk in Patients With Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery and Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation – JAMA Cardiology (free for a limited period)

Commentaries: Postoperative A-fib Not as Bad as Nonsurgical A-fib for Thromboembolism – TCTMD (free) AND Fib after CABG linked to minimal long-term stroke risk – Cardiovascular Business (free)

3 – Venous Thromboembolism Prevention in Emergency General Surgery: A Review – JAMA Surgery (free for a limited period)

Commentary: VTE Risk Up in Most Emergency General Surgery Patients – Physician’s Weekly (free)

4 – Behavioral interventions as a treatment for epilepsy: A multicenter randomized controlled trial – Neurology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Can Learning Stress-Reducing Techniques Help Reduce Seizures? – American Academy of Neurology, via NewsWise (free) AND Stress Reduction Techniques Cut Seizure Rate in Severe Epilepsy – Medscape (free registration required) AND Stress-Reducing Techniques Lead to Fewer Seizures – MedPage Today (free registration required)

5 – IOC consensus statement: dietary supplements and the high-performance athlete – British Journal of Sports Medicine (free)

6 – What We Know (and Don’t Know) About How to Lose Weight – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“One conclusion from a much-discussed study: The best diet is the one you can stick to”.

7 – High red and processed meat consumption is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and insulin resistance – Journal of Hepatology (link to abstract – $ for full-text) (via @kamleshkhunti see Tweet)

Commentaries: High Consumption Of Red And Processed Meat Linked to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease And Insulin Resistance – EASL (free) AND More People Can Afford Meat Now, And Hepatologists Claim That Is Causing Liver Disease – Science 2.0 (free)

8 – Patent foramen ovale closure vs. medical therapy for cryptogenic stroke: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials – European Heart Journal (free)

“5-study EHJ meta analysis confirms value of PFO closure after cryptogenic stroke. “Number Needed to Close”: 178 pts to prevent one stroke over 1 year. Size matters (no effect for small shunts, “NNC” 96 for large shunts)” (via @Steph_Achenbach see Tweet)

9 – Report: Multi-drug resistant gonorrhoea in England: 2018 – Public Health England (free)

Commentaries: In world first, UK reports high-level gonorrhea resistance – CIDRAP (free) AND First case of super-resistant gonorrhea reported – CNN (free)

10 – The Effect of Door-to-Diuretic Time on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Acute Heart Failure – JACC Heart Failure (free)

Commentaries: Quicker Diuretics Not Associated With Better Outcomes in Acute Heart Failure – TCTMD (free) AND Door-to-Diuretic Time in Acute Heart Failure – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free) AND Door-to-diuretic time didn’t affect mortality from heart failure in Korean registry – ACP Hospitalist (free)

“Overall, there isn’t strong evidence of benefit from early use of diuretics and “the overriding consideration should remain ‘get it right’ rather than ‘do it fast,’” the editorial concluded”. (from ACP)

Wed, March 28 – 10 Stories of The Day!

28 Mar, 2018 | 00:45h | UTC

1 – Special Report: The IARC Perspective on Colorectal Cancer Screening – New England Journal of Medicine (free)

Commentaries: The IARC perspective on colorectal cancer screening – eCancer News (free) AND WHO Group Says Evidence Favors Most Forms of Colorectal Cancer Screening – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free)

2 – European evidence-based guidelines on pancreatic cystic neoplasms – Gut (free)

3 – The Assessment of Pain in Older People: UK National Guidelines – Age and Ageing (free)

4 – Fast and accurate view classification of echocardiograms using deep learning – npj Digital Medicine (free)

Commentaries: AI is Quicker, More Effective Than Humans in Analyzing Heart Scans – University of California San Francisco (free) AND Study: AI faster, more accurate than humans at analyzing heart scans – UPI (free) AND AI model 98% accurate in ECG classification—outperforming cardiologists – Health Imaging (free)

5 – Efficacy of foot orthoses for the treatment of plantar heel pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis – British Journal of Sports Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Pricey orthotic insoles aren’t worth the cost – UPI (free) AND Custom-Made Foot Orthotics No Benefit for Plantar Heel Pain – Physician’s Briefing (free) AND Custom-made foot orthoses appear to be no better than over-the-counter insoles or other treatments – MedicalXpress (free) AND Foot orthotics may not be superior to conservative treatment for relieving plantar heel pain – ACP Internist (free)

6 – Electronic Health Record Usability Issues and Potential Contribution to Patient Harm – JAMA (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: EHR Usability Linked to Possible Patient Harms, Study Finds – AJMC (free) AND EHRs May Be Tied to Potential Patient Harm, Study Suggests – Medscape (free registration required)

7 – The human microbiome: why our microbes could be key to our health – The Guardian (free) (via @trished see Tweet)

8 – The Truth Wears Off: Is there something wrong with the scientific method? – The New Yorker (free)

“An excellent New Yorker article on regression to the mean. Extremely relevant to the practice of evidence-based medicine” (via @rajshekharucms see Tweet)

9 – Tele-Monitoring Can Reduce Medical Appointments For Low-Risk Pregnancies – Kaiser Health News (free)

Related commentary: How Mayo Clinic Is Simplifying Prenatal Care for Low-Risk Patients – Harvard Business Review (a few articles per month are free)

10 – Global prevalence, treatment, and prevention of hepatitis B virus infection in 2016: a modelling study – The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology (free registration required)

Commentaries: Delineating the global challenges of hepatitis B virus infection – The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology (free registration required) AND 1 in 20 people with hepatitis B receive care worldwide, study says – UPI (free) AND Scientists warn 90% of hepatitis B sufferers remain unaware of silent killer – The Guardian (free)

Mon, March 26 – 10 Stories of The Day!

26 Mar, 2018 | 00:01h | UTC

1 – #WorldTBDay (March 24, 2018) – 1 – World TB Day, 24 March 2018 – World Health Organization (free resources)

See also: WHO publications on tuberculosis

2 – #WorldTBDay (March 24, 2018) – The World Health Organization standards for tuberculosis care and management – European Respiratory Journal (free)

Original Guideline: Compendium of WHO guidelines and associated standards: ensuring optimum delivery of the cascade of care for patients with tuberculosis (free PDF)

“My dream of placing all recent and still valid older WHO TB guidelines into a short compendium, to facilitate life of users, is now accomplished. With this booklet, one can access immediately all WHO standards of TB care”. (via @M_Raviglione see Tweet)

3 – #WorldTBDay (March 24, 2018) – The impact of social protection and poverty elimination on global tuberculosis incidence: a statistical modelling analysis of Sustainable Development Goal 1 – The Lancet Global Health (free)

Commentaries: Predicting the effect of improved socioeconomic health determinants on the tuberculosis epidemic – The Lancet Global Health (free) AND Eradicating poverty would dramatically reduce TB cases, study finds – The Guardian (free)

Ending extreme poverty and expanding social protection is estimated to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis by 84.3%.

4 – Guideline: Physical activity and the environment – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (free)

5 – Richard Smith: The dangers of textbooks – The BMJ Opinion (free)

6 – The fraction of cancer attributable to modifiable risk factors in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom in 2015 – British Journal of Cancer (free)

Commentaries: New calculations confirm lifestyle changes could prevent 4 in 10 cancer cases – Cancer Research UK (free) AND More than 2,500 cancer cases a week could be avoided – Cancer Research UK (free) AND Four in 10 cancer cases could be prevented by lifestyle changes – The Guardian (free)

7 – Vaccine waning and mumps re-emergence in the United States – Science Translational Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Mumps resurgence likely due to waning vaccine-derived immunity – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (free) AND Mumps Vaccine Effectiveness Declines Over Time. But There’s A Solution – Forbes (free) AND Mumps Vaccine Protection Wanes Over Time, Study Finds – CommonHealth (free) AND Mumps Is On the Rise. A Waning Vaccine Response May Be Why – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)

“a booster dose at age 18 should be a straight-forward solution to the problem based on models of how mumps spreads” (from Forbes)

8 – Facing the Shortage of IV Fluids — A Hospital-Based Oral Rehydration Strategy – New England Journal of Medicine (free)

Commentary: Boston Hospital May Have a Solution to IV Bag Shortage – Medscape (free registration required)

9 – Metabolic Slowing and Reduced Oxidative Damage with Sustained Caloric Restriction Support the Rate of Living and Oxidative Damage Theories of Aging – Cell Metabolism (free for a limited period)

Commentaries: Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people – Nature News (free) AND Will Cutting Calories Make You Live Longer? – Wired (free) AND Calorie restriction trial in humans suggests benefits for age-related disease – Cell Press, via ScienceDaily (free)

10 – Myocarditis in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors – Journal of the American College of Cardiology (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Myocarditis a Risk with Checkpoint Inhibitors – CRTOnline.org (free) AND Myocarditis in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)

Tue, March 27 – 10 Stories of The Day!

27 Mar, 2018 | 02:13h | UTC

1 – Global increase and geographic convergence in antibiotic consumption between 2000 and 2015 – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (free)

Commentaries: Calls to rein in antibiotic use after study shows 65% increase worldwide – The Guardian (free) AND Global antibiotic use rises, fueled by economic growth – CIDRAP (free) AND Surge In Antibiotics Is A Boon For Superbugs – NPR (free) AND As antibiotics fail, global consumption of antibiotics skyrockets, further driving drug resistance – MedicalXpress (free)

2 – Newly Revised: Curriculum for Educators and Residents (Version 4.0) – American College of Physicians (free)

News release: ACP introduces updated High Value Care Curriculum for educators and residents – ACP Internist (free)

“The High Value Care Curriculum (HVC) was jointly developed by ACP and the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) to train physicians to be good stewards of limited health care resources”.

3 – Ethical Obligations Regarding Short-Term Global Health Clinical Experiences: An American College of Physicians Position Paper – Annals of Internal Medicine (free)

Commentaries: Ethical Guidance for Volunteer Medical Trips Issued by ACP – Medscape (free registration required) AND Ethical Duties ID’d for Short-Term Global Health Experiences – Physician’s Briefing (free)

4 – Viewpoint: Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis: An Increasing Public Health Concern – JAMA (free for a limited period)

5 – Antibiotic Therapy Duration in US Adults With Sinusitis – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Sinus Infections: Majority of Antibiotics Prescriptions Longer Than Recommended – MedicalResearch.com (free) AND CDC Study Says Sinus Infections Are Treated With Antibiotics Longer Than Necessary – AJMC (free) AND Most Courses of Antibiotics for Sinusitis Are Too Long – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free)

6 – Clinical Updates: Palliative radiotherapy – The BMJ (free)

Clinical Update for non-specialists on the benefits, practicalities, and side effects of palliative radiotherapy.

7 – Richard Lehman’s journal reviews, 26 March 2018 – The BMJ Opinion (free)

Richard Lehman reviews the latest research in the top medical journals.

8 – The dark truth about chocolate – The Guardian (free)

“Grand health claims have been made about chocolate, but while it gives us pleasure, can it really be good for us?”

9 – Viewpoint: Individualizing Blood Pressure Targets for People With Diabetes and Hypertension: Comparing the ADA and the ACC/AHA Recommendations – JAMA (free for a limited period)

10 – Association of E-Cigarette Use With Smoking Cessation Among Smokers Who Plan to Quit After a Hospitalization: A Prospective Study – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)

Commentaries: Some e-cigarette users may struggle to quit smoking – Reuters (free) AND Expert reaction to ecigs and smoking cessation – Science Media Centre (free) AND Could E-Cigarettes Foil Smoking Cessation Efforts After Hospital Discharge? – NEJM Physician’s First Watch (free)

“The study is consistent with the hypothesis that smokers need to use e-cigarettes regularly and daily and switch completely from cigarettes to e-cigarettes for them to have the greatest chance of help” (from Reuters)

Selected Articles from the Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2018

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:50h | UTC

Selected Articles from the Annual Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine 2018 – BMC (free) (via @CritCareReviews)

Guideline: Tracheotomy in the intensive care unit

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:48h | UTC

Tracheotomy in the intensive care unit: guidelines from a French expert panel – Annals of Intensive Care (free)

Systematic Review: Are shorter courses of systemic steroids as effective as conventional longer courses in the treatment of patients with flare-ups of COPD?

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:50h | UTC

Are shorter courses of systemic steroids as effective as conventional longer courses in the treatment of patients with flare-ups of COPD? – Cochrane Library (free)

“Information from a new large study has increased our confidence that five days of oral corticosteroids is likely to be sufficient for treatment of adults with acute exacerbations of COPD”.

Venous thromboembolism in over 16s: reducing the risk of hospital-acquired deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:51h | UTC

Guideline: Venous thromboembolism in over 16s: reducing the risk of hospital-acquired deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism – National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (free)

For hypertension and diabetes, lower treatment targets not necessarily better

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:47h | UTC

For hypertension and diabetes, lower treatment targets not necessarily better – American Family Physician Community Blog (free)

Cardiology World Erupts Into Controversy Over Change In Major Clinical Trial

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:49h | UTC

Cardiology World Erupts Into Controversy Over Change In Major Clinical Trial – Cardiobrief (free)

Practical Guide on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:46h | UTC

The 2018 European Heart Rhythm Association Practical Guide on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in patients with atrial fibrillation – European Heart Journal (free for a limited period)

News release: New EHRA Practical Guide on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants launched (free)

Violence and Mental Health: Opportunities for Prevention and Early Detection

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:45h | UTC

Report: Violence and Mental Health: Opportunities for Prevention and Early Detection – National Academies Press (free PDF)

New Tool: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Tracker

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:47h | UTC

New Tool: Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Tracker – Our World in Data (free)

Commentary: The U.N. Set 17 Goals To Make The World A Better Place. How’s It Doing? – NPR (free)

“The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are targets for global development adopted in September 2015, set to be achieved by 2030. Here we present data across all available indicators from the Our World in Data database tracking progress towards these goals around the world”.

Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:42h | UTC

FDA In Brief: FDA updates public information about known risk of lymphoma from breast implants (free) AND Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma – FDA Update (free)

Commentaries: More Cases Are Reported of Unusual Cancer Linked to Breast Implants – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Implant-Related Lymphoma Cases Rise – More than 400 cases reported to FDA – MedPage Today (free)

“Some 400 to 500 women worldwide have an unusual type of lymphoma linked to breast implants with textured surfaces. Experts say women considering implants should be told”. (via @NYTHealth see Tweet)

When antibiotics turn toxic

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:43h | UTC

When antibiotics turn toxic – Nature News (free)

“Commonly prescribed drugs called fluoroquinolones cause rare, disabling side effects. Researchers are struggling to work out why”.

Associations of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids From Plant and Animal Sources With Total and Cardiovascular Mortality Risk

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:44h | UTC

Associations of Monounsaturated Fatty Acids From Plant and Animal Sources With Total and Cardiovascular Mortality Risk – Circulation (link to abstract – presented at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention | Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2018)

Commentaries: Mono-unsaturated fats from plants, not animals may reduce risk of death from heart disease and other causes – AHA / ASA Newsroom (free) AND These plant-based fats could help you live longer – Medical News Today (free)

Imaging is the only way to diagnose blood clots in pregnancy

23 Mar, 2018 | 02:39h | UTC

The DiPEP (Diagnosis of PE in Pregnancy) biomarker study: An observational cohort study augmented with additional cases to determine the diagnostic utility of biomarkers for suspected venous thromboembolism during pregnancy and puerperium – British Journal of Haematology (free)

Commentary: Imaging is the only way to diagnose blood clots in pregnancy – NIHR Signal (free)

“No blood test can accurately tell if a pregnant or recently pregnant woman has a blood clot. All pregnant women with a suspected clot should continue to have imaging investigations” (via @NIHR_DC see Tweet)