Background: Standard interviews are used by most residency programs in the United States for asse... more Background: Standard interviews are used by most residency programs in the United States for assessment of aptitude of the non-cognitive competencies, but variability of interviewer skill, interviewer bias, interviewer leniency or stringency, and context specificity limit reliability. Aim: To investigate reliability and acceptability of five-station multiple mini-interview (MMI) model for resident selection into an internal medicine residency program in the United States. Setting: One independent academic medical center. Participants: Two hundred and thirty-seven applicants and 17 faculty interviewers. Program description: Five, 10-min MMI stations with five different interviewers blinded to the candidate's records and one traditional 20-min interview with the program director. Candidates were rated on two items: interpersonal and communication skills, and overall performance. Program evaluation: Generalizability data showed that the reliability of our process was high (0.9). The results of anonymous surveys demonstrated that both applicants and interviewers consider the MMI as a fair and more effective tool to evaluate non-cognitive traits, and prefer the MMI to standard interviews. Discussion: The MMI process for residency interviews can generate reliable interview results using only five stations, and it is acceptable and preferred over standard interview modalities by the applicants and faculty members of one US residency program.
The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) increases with age. New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have... more The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) increases with age. New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been increasingly studied for VTE prophylaxis in patients with elective postarthroplasty. Although the elderly population accounts for a significant proportion of patients requiring VTE prophylaxis, safety and efficacy of NOACs in this subgroup for VTE prophylaxis has not been well studied. Relevant studies were identified through electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov (from inception to 12 August 2014). Phase III randomized controlled trials that compared NOACs against low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in the prevention of VTE prophylaxis in patients with elective postarthroplasty were included. We defined our elderly population as adults of at least 75 years and assessed the reported safety and efficacy outcomes with NOACs in this population. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) were calculated and between-study heterogeneity was assessed using the I statistic. In nine trials involving 29 403 patients, the risk of VTE or VTE-related deaths in elderly patients with elective postarthroplasty was similar with NOACs compared with LMWH (OR 0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.30-1.26; P = 0.18; I = 44%) but bleeding risk was significantly lower (OR 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.53-0.94; P = 0.02; I = 0%). Analysis of individual NOACs showed superior efficacy but similar safety for apixaban when compared with LMWH. Efficacy and safety profiles of rivaroxaban and dabigatran were similar to LMWH. In elderly patients with elective postarthroplasty, NOACs have similar efficacy but superior safety when compared with enoxaparin for VTE prophylaxis.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2014
Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney... more Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury, and pre-treatment with hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors ('statins') have shown promise in prevention.
Objective: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of varen... more Objective: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of varenicline in smokeless tobacco cessation.
Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common clinical condition with presentations that may vary fro... more Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common clinical condition with presentations that may vary from asymptomatic subsegmental emboli to massive vascular obstruction and shock with high risk of death. Identifying patients at highest risk for death is critical to select those who would benefit most from thrombolytic therapy. New and evolving clinical prediction models, serum tests, and imaging modalities are being used to improve our ability to identify potential thrombolytic candidates. We review the evolution of the present guidelines on the management of PE, specifically regarding the evolving role of thrombolytics; outcomes following thrombolytic therapy, including mortality, hemorrhage, hemodynamic improvement, and prevention of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension; and our strategy for risk stratification of pulmonary embolism.
A 62-year-old Caucasian woman, with remote history of painful skin blistering and hypertrichosis,... more A 62-year-old Caucasian woman, with remote history of painful skin blistering and hypertrichosis, recent history of travel to Mexico and increased alcohol consumption, presented with progressively worsening jaundice and fatigue. Physical examination was remarkable for severe generalised jaundice, scleral icterus and erythematous facial blistering and scarring. Laboratory workup revealed markedly elevated total and direct bilirubin, mildly elevated transaminases, severe iron overload and increased urine coproporphyrin. Porphyria cutanea tarda was diagnosed, and she was treated with supportive measures including hydration and alcohol cessation. Pathology of her liver demonstrated mild iron overload and severe fatty infiltration. Hospital follow-up revealed complete resolution of jaundice and fatigue and near-normalisation of liver function tests.
Primary HIV infection can occur in 40-90% of individuals recently infected with HIV. Variable sym... more Primary HIV infection can occur in 40-90% of individuals recently infected with HIV. Variable symptoms usually suggestive of a flu-like illness as well as high-level HIV viraemia and steep decline in CD4 cell count are often noted. We report a case of a previously healthy homosexual man who presented with symptoms suspicious of primary HIV infection as well as non-productive cough associated with chest CT finding of diffuse ground glass appearance in lungs. Recent HIV seroconversion was confirmed. Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia was made on transbronchial lung biopsy. The symptoms improved rapidly after initiation of treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. It is important to recognise that although Pneumocystis pneumonia is generally seen in the setting of AIDS, it can occasionally also occur during primary HIV infection.
Portfolios are effective instruments for assessment of teaching skills among professional teacher... more Portfolios are effective instruments for assessment of teaching skills among professional teachers and have recently been adapted in medical education. However, scoring rubrics are needed to effectively guide assessors. Portfolio assessors reviewed and made assessment comments about the resident-as-teacher sections of 11 internal medicine residents' electronic portfolios and discussed their assessments in an assessor group discussion. We performed qualitative analyses of written and oral comments. Major themes were identified, and member checking and triangulation with the literature was performed to evaluate the trustworthiness of the qualitative analysis. Three faculty educators reviewed and commented on 241 uploaded e-portfolio documents accompanying reflections. Three major themes were identified: Application of Teaching Skills, Presentation Skills, and Insights as a Teacher. Themes and subthemes matched closely to several components of the conceptual framework of effective presentations formulated in Glassick standards for scholarly work, as well as themes found in assessments of professional teachers' portfolios. Assessments of portfolios by experienced faculty educators appear to be useful for identifying many important facets of formal teaching presentations and may be useful for creation of a scoring rubric.
Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney... more Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury, and pretreatment with hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) have shown promise in prevention. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed including randomized controlled trials of short-term high-dose statins (compared with either low-dose statin or placebo) for CIAKI prevention in patients undergoing coronary angiography. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) were calculated, and between-study heterogeneity was assessed using the I(2) statistic. We used a random-effects model meta-analysis to pool the OR. Twelve RCTs, including 5,564 patients, were included. CIAKI occurred in 94 of 2,769 patients (3.4%) pretreated with high-dose statins and 213 of 2,795 patients (7.6%) in the low-dose or no-statin group (OR 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33 to 0.55, I(2) = 19%, p <0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that the occurrence of CIAKI did not differ in patients with diabetes (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.85, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.004) or in patients with documented renal insufficiency (creatinine clearance <60 ml/min/m(2); OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.96, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.03). In conclusion, pretreatment with high-dose statins, compared with low-dose statins or placebo, in patients undergoing coronary angiography reduces the incidence of CIAKI. This benefit was seen irrespective of the presence of diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Future studies should identify optimum dosing protocols for each statin.
New evidence now questions the efficacy of Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counter pulsation for... more New evidence now questions the efficacy of Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counter pulsation for patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock. Although this therapy was once 'strongly recommended' by European Society of Cardiology 1 and given a 1B recommendation by the American Heart Association 2 , both have since downgraded this procedure (AHA: level 2a recommendation, ESC: level 2b recommendation) in light of pooled analyses that failed to show benefit. 3 More recently, a randomized trial, , the IABP-SHOCK II trial, failed to show either an in-hospital or one year mortality benefit in this population. 4,5 We sought to analyze more evidence regarding in-hospital survival for patients with STEMI complicated by cardiogenic shock in a larger, non-randomized population.
Compared to Vitamin K antagonists (VKA), novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) appear to be safer in ... more Compared to Vitamin K antagonists (VKA), novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) appear to be safer in terms of major bleeding risks with added advantage of having fixed dosing schedules when used in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to study the differences as sources and severity of anticoagulant-associated haemorrhage in patients with AF in the year preceding introduction of NOACs (first cohort) as compared to post approval of the NOACs (second cohort) by retrospectively reviewing the hospital admissions, as well as the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic interactions between time periods. There were 359 patients for the first cohort and 405 patients for the second cohort, including 57 patients prescribed NOACs. There was no significant difference in age, deaths, source of bleeding, or rate of pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interaction between the two time periods. Comparing all VKA patients to patients prescribed NOAC's, there were non-significant but higher rates of intracerebral bleed, significantly higher rates of pharmacokinetic (194 (25.4%) versus 0 (0%), p<.001) and similar rates of pharmacodynamic interactions (505 (66.1%) versus 39 (68.4%), p=.70). Drug-renal interactions were seen in 7 of the 57 (12.3%) NOAC-treated patients, in which all seven had acute renal failure that may have prolonged the effects of the anticoagulants. NOACs hold promise in that drug interactions are far less common than those seen in VKAs, and intracerebral bleeds appear to be less common in randomised trials as well as our review. For patients on dabigatran or rivaroxaban, consideration should be given to serial monitoring of renal function.
Several studies have been conducted to study the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in the atrial... more Several studies have been conducted to study the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in the atrial fibrillation periprocedural ablation period with similar rates of thromboembolism and major bleeding risks compared with warfarin or dabigatran. We sought to systematically review this evidence using pooled data from multiple studies. Studies comparing rivaroxaban with warfarin or dabigatran in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation were identified through electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, clinicaltrials.gov, and the Cochrane library up to March 2014. Study-specific risk ratios (RRs) were calculated and combined using a random-effects model meta-analysis. In an analysis involving 3,575 patients, thromboembolism (composite of stroke, transient ischemic attack, and systemic and pulmonary emboli) occurred in 3 of 789 patients (0.4%) in the rivaroxaban group and 10 of 2,786 patients (0.4%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.26 to 1.96, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.51). Major hemorrhage occurred in 9 of 749 patients (1.2%) in the rivaroxaban group and 22 of 975 patients (2.3%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.02, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.06). Furthermore, direct efficacy and safety comparisons between rivaroxaban and dabigatran showed nonsignificant differences in rates of thromboembolism (0.5% vs 0.4%, respectively, RR 1.12, 95% CI 0.25 to 4.99, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.88) and major bleeding (1.0% vs 1.6%, respectively, RR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.16 to 3.15, I(2) = 22%, p = 0.66). In conclusion, our study suggests that patients treated with rivaroxaban during periprocedural catheter ablation have similar rates of thromboembolic events and major hemorrhage. Similar results were seen in direct comparisons between dabigatran and rivaroxaban.
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) was first described in 2004. Due to its novelty, CHS is of... more Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) was first described in 2004. Due to its novelty, CHS is often unrecognized by clinicians leading to expensive workup of these patients with cyclical symptoms. It may take up to 9 years to diagnose CHS. CHS is characterized by cyclical nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, and an unusual compulsion to take hot showers in the presence of chronic use of cannabinoids. Cannabicyclohexanol is a synthetic cannabinoid, popularly known as K2 spice. It is a popular marijuana alternative among teenagers and young adults since it is readily available as herbal incense. Unlike marijuana, many users know that K2 is not detected in conventional urine drug screens, allowing those users to conceal their intake from typical detection methods. Serum or urine gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry is diagnostic, though not widely available. Thus, it is imperative for clinicians to recognize CHS, even with negative UDS, to provide cost-effective care. We present a 38-year-old man with a 10-year history of cannabis, and 1-year history of K2 abuse admitted with 1-week history of episodes of nausea, vomiting of clear fluids, and epigastric discomfort. Symptoms are relieved only by hot showers. Extensive laboratory, radiologic, and endoscopic evaluation was unrevealing. CHS was diagnosed, based on proposed criteria by Simonetti et al.
Background: Standard interviews are used by most residency programs in the United States for asse... more Background: Standard interviews are used by most residency programs in the United States for assessment of aptitude of the non-cognitive competencies, but variability of interviewer skill, interviewer bias, interviewer leniency or stringency, and context specificity limit reliability. Aim: To investigate reliability and acceptability of five-station multiple mini-interview (MMI) model for resident selection into an internal medicine residency program in the United States. Setting: One independent academic medical center. Participants: Two hundred and thirty-seven applicants and 17 faculty interviewers. Program description: Five, 10-min MMI stations with five different interviewers blinded to the candidate's records and one traditional 20-min interview with the program director. Candidates were rated on two items: interpersonal and communication skills, and overall performance. Program evaluation: Generalizability data showed that the reliability of our process was high (0.9). The results of anonymous surveys demonstrated that both applicants and interviewers consider the MMI as a fair and more effective tool to evaluate non-cognitive traits, and prefer the MMI to standard interviews. Discussion: The MMI process for residency interviews can generate reliable interview results using only five stations, and it is acceptable and preferred over standard interview modalities by the applicants and faculty members of one US residency program.
The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) increases with age. New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have... more The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) increases with age. New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been increasingly studied for VTE prophylaxis in patients with elective postarthroplasty. Although the elderly population accounts for a significant proportion of patients requiring VTE prophylaxis, safety and efficacy of NOACs in this subgroup for VTE prophylaxis has not been well studied. Relevant studies were identified through electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov (from inception to 12 August 2014). Phase III randomized controlled trials that compared NOACs against low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in the prevention of VTE prophylaxis in patients with elective postarthroplasty were included. We defined our elderly population as adults of at least 75 years and assessed the reported safety and efficacy outcomes with NOACs in this population. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) were calculated and between-study heterogeneity was assessed using the I statistic. In nine trials involving 29 403 patients, the risk of VTE or VTE-related deaths in elderly patients with elective postarthroplasty was similar with NOACs compared with LMWH (OR 0.62, 95% confidence interval 0.30-1.26; P = 0.18; I = 44%) but bleeding risk was significantly lower (OR 0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.53-0.94; P = 0.02; I = 0%). Analysis of individual NOACs showed superior efficacy but similar safety for apixaban when compared with LMWH. Efficacy and safety profiles of rivaroxaban and dabigatran were similar to LMWH. In elderly patients with elective postarthroplasty, NOACs have similar efficacy but superior safety when compared with enoxaparin for VTE prophylaxis.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2014
Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney... more Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury, and pre-treatment with hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors ('statins') have shown promise in prevention.
Objective: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of varen... more Objective: Conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effectiveness and safety of varenicline in smokeless tobacco cessation.
Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common clinical condition with presentations that may vary fro... more Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common clinical condition with presentations that may vary from asymptomatic subsegmental emboli to massive vascular obstruction and shock with high risk of death. Identifying patients at highest risk for death is critical to select those who would benefit most from thrombolytic therapy. New and evolving clinical prediction models, serum tests, and imaging modalities are being used to improve our ability to identify potential thrombolytic candidates. We review the evolution of the present guidelines on the management of PE, specifically regarding the evolving role of thrombolytics; outcomes following thrombolytic therapy, including mortality, hemorrhage, hemodynamic improvement, and prevention of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension; and our strategy for risk stratification of pulmonary embolism.
A 62-year-old Caucasian woman, with remote history of painful skin blistering and hypertrichosis,... more A 62-year-old Caucasian woman, with remote history of painful skin blistering and hypertrichosis, recent history of travel to Mexico and increased alcohol consumption, presented with progressively worsening jaundice and fatigue. Physical examination was remarkable for severe generalised jaundice, scleral icterus and erythematous facial blistering and scarring. Laboratory workup revealed markedly elevated total and direct bilirubin, mildly elevated transaminases, severe iron overload and increased urine coproporphyrin. Porphyria cutanea tarda was diagnosed, and she was treated with supportive measures including hydration and alcohol cessation. Pathology of her liver demonstrated mild iron overload and severe fatty infiltration. Hospital follow-up revealed complete resolution of jaundice and fatigue and near-normalisation of liver function tests.
Primary HIV infection can occur in 40-90% of individuals recently infected with HIV. Variable sym... more Primary HIV infection can occur in 40-90% of individuals recently infected with HIV. Variable symptoms usually suggestive of a flu-like illness as well as high-level HIV viraemia and steep decline in CD4 cell count are often noted. We report a case of a previously healthy homosexual man who presented with symptoms suspicious of primary HIV infection as well as non-productive cough associated with chest CT finding of diffuse ground glass appearance in lungs. Recent HIV seroconversion was confirmed. Diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia was made on transbronchial lung biopsy. The symptoms improved rapidly after initiation of treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. It is important to recognise that although Pneumocystis pneumonia is generally seen in the setting of AIDS, it can occasionally also occur during primary HIV infection.
Portfolios are effective instruments for assessment of teaching skills among professional teacher... more Portfolios are effective instruments for assessment of teaching skills among professional teachers and have recently been adapted in medical education. However, scoring rubrics are needed to effectively guide assessors. Portfolio assessors reviewed and made assessment comments about the resident-as-teacher sections of 11 internal medicine residents' electronic portfolios and discussed their assessments in an assessor group discussion. We performed qualitative analyses of written and oral comments. Major themes were identified, and member checking and triangulation with the literature was performed to evaluate the trustworthiness of the qualitative analysis. Three faculty educators reviewed and commented on 241 uploaded e-portfolio documents accompanying reflections. Three major themes were identified: Application of Teaching Skills, Presentation Skills, and Insights as a Teacher. Themes and subthemes matched closely to several components of the conceptual framework of effective presentations formulated in Glassick standards for scholarly work, as well as themes found in assessments of professional teachers' portfolios. Assessments of portfolios by experienced faculty educators appear to be useful for identifying many important facets of formal teaching presentations and may be useful for creation of a scoring rubric.
Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney... more Contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CIAKI) is a leading cause of hospital-acquired acute kidney injury, and pretreatment with hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) have shown promise in prevention. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed including randomized controlled trials of short-term high-dose statins (compared with either low-dose statin or placebo) for CIAKI prevention in patients undergoing coronary angiography. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) were calculated, and between-study heterogeneity was assessed using the I(2) statistic. We used a random-effects model meta-analysis to pool the OR. Twelve RCTs, including 5,564 patients, were included. CIAKI occurred in 94 of 2,769 patients (3.4%) pretreated with high-dose statins and 213 of 2,795 patients (7.6%) in the low-dose or no-statin group (OR 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.33 to 0.55, I(2) = 19%, p <0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that the occurrence of CIAKI did not differ in patients with diabetes (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.85, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.004) or in patients with documented renal insufficiency (creatinine clearance <60 ml/min/m(2); OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.96, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.03). In conclusion, pretreatment with high-dose statins, compared with low-dose statins or placebo, in patients undergoing coronary angiography reduces the incidence of CIAKI. This benefit was seen irrespective of the presence of diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Future studies should identify optimum dosing protocols for each statin.
New evidence now questions the efficacy of Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counter pulsation for... more New evidence now questions the efficacy of Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counter pulsation for patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock. Although this therapy was once 'strongly recommended' by European Society of Cardiology 1 and given a 1B recommendation by the American Heart Association 2 , both have since downgraded this procedure (AHA: level 2a recommendation, ESC: level 2b recommendation) in light of pooled analyses that failed to show benefit. 3 More recently, a randomized trial, , the IABP-SHOCK II trial, failed to show either an in-hospital or one year mortality benefit in this population. 4,5 We sought to analyze more evidence regarding in-hospital survival for patients with STEMI complicated by cardiogenic shock in a larger, non-randomized population.
Compared to Vitamin K antagonists (VKA), novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) appear to be safer in ... more Compared to Vitamin K antagonists (VKA), novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) appear to be safer in terms of major bleeding risks with added advantage of having fixed dosing schedules when used in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to study the differences as sources and severity of anticoagulant-associated haemorrhage in patients with AF in the year preceding introduction of NOACs (first cohort) as compared to post approval of the NOACs (second cohort) by retrospectively reviewing the hospital admissions, as well as the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic interactions between time periods. There were 359 patients for the first cohort and 405 patients for the second cohort, including 57 patients prescribed NOACs. There was no significant difference in age, deaths, source of bleeding, or rate of pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interaction between the two time periods. Comparing all VKA patients to patients prescribed NOAC's, there were non-significant but higher rates of intracerebral bleed, significantly higher rates of pharmacokinetic (194 (25.4%) versus 0 (0%), p<.001) and similar rates of pharmacodynamic interactions (505 (66.1%) versus 39 (68.4%), p=.70). Drug-renal interactions were seen in 7 of the 57 (12.3%) NOAC-treated patients, in which all seven had acute renal failure that may have prolonged the effects of the anticoagulants. NOACs hold promise in that drug interactions are far less common than those seen in VKAs, and intracerebral bleeds appear to be less common in randomised trials as well as our review. For patients on dabigatran or rivaroxaban, consideration should be given to serial monitoring of renal function.
Several studies have been conducted to study the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in the atrial... more Several studies have been conducted to study the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in the atrial fibrillation periprocedural ablation period with similar rates of thromboembolism and major bleeding risks compared with warfarin or dabigatran. We sought to systematically review this evidence using pooled data from multiple studies. Studies comparing rivaroxaban with warfarin or dabigatran in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation were identified through electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, clinicaltrials.gov, and the Cochrane library up to March 2014. Study-specific risk ratios (RRs) were calculated and combined using a random-effects model meta-analysis. In an analysis involving 3,575 patients, thromboembolism (composite of stroke, transient ischemic attack, and systemic and pulmonary emboli) occurred in 3 of 789 patients (0.4%) in the rivaroxaban group and 10 of 2,786 patients (0.4%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.26 to 1.96, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.51). Major hemorrhage occurred in 9 of 749 patients (1.2%) in the rivaroxaban group and 22 of 975 patients (2.3%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.02, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.06). Furthermore, direct efficacy and safety comparisons between rivaroxaban and dabigatran showed nonsignificant differences in rates of thromboembolism (0.5% vs 0.4%, respectively, RR 1.12, 95% CI 0.25 to 4.99, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.88) and major bleeding (1.0% vs 1.6%, respectively, RR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.16 to 3.15, I(2) = 22%, p = 0.66). In conclusion, our study suggests that patients treated with rivaroxaban during periprocedural catheter ablation have similar rates of thromboembolic events and major hemorrhage. Similar results were seen in direct comparisons between dabigatran and rivaroxaban.
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) was first described in 2004. Due to its novelty, CHS is of... more Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) was first described in 2004. Due to its novelty, CHS is often unrecognized by clinicians leading to expensive workup of these patients with cyclical symptoms. It may take up to 9 years to diagnose CHS. CHS is characterized by cyclical nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, and an unusual compulsion to take hot showers in the presence of chronic use of cannabinoids. Cannabicyclohexanol is a synthetic cannabinoid, popularly known as K2 spice. It is a popular marijuana alternative among teenagers and young adults since it is readily available as herbal incense. Unlike marijuana, many users know that K2 is not detected in conventional urine drug screens, allowing those users to conceal their intake from typical detection methods. Serum or urine gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry is diagnostic, though not widely available. Thus, it is imperative for clinicians to recognize CHS, even with negative UDS, to provide cost-effective care. We present a 38-year-old man with a 10-year history of cannabis, and 1-year history of K2 abuse admitted with 1-week history of episodes of nausea, vomiting of clear fluids, and epigastric discomfort. Symptoms are relieved only by hot showers. Extensive laboratory, radiologic, and endoscopic evaluation was unrevealing. CHS was diagnosed, based on proposed criteria by Simonetti et al.
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Papers by Anthony Donato