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NEWS:
Physicians Create Guide For Identifying, Treating Vaping Lung Illness
As lung injuries from vaping continue to rise across the United States, Rochester physicians and New York health leaders developed a new tool to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI).
The diagnostic/treatment algorithm, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, complements and expands upon early guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for managing the condition. It was created by pulmonary and toxicology experts at the University of Rochester and the New York State Department of Health.
"This illness has been vexing for physicians across the country and we continue to see people suffering from the dangerous effects of vaping," said Daniel Croft, M.D., M.P.H., pulmonologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center's Strong Memorial Hospital. "We expect the guide will help minimize missed
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New Technique Lays Foundation For Regenerative Cardiac Therapies
Scientists have devised a technique to sort out which heart cells can replicate and which cannot, a critical step toward treatments that may one day help the heart heal itself after injury.
The method, published in the journal Circulation Research, removes a significant roadblock to developing ways to regrow healthy cardiac muscle tissue, a feat not currently possible.
“This new technique solves a longstanding problem that for years has stymied our ability to develop regenerative treatments for the heart,” said Stefan Jovinge, M.D., Ph.D., the study’s senior author and director of the DeVos Cardiovascular Research Program at Van Andel Institute and Spectrum Health. “It’s a major step forward that we aim to translate into improved patient care.”
For decades, scientists have searched for ways to harness the heart’s regenerative potential to fix damage related to heart attack and heart f
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Reversed Halo Signs Manifest In Septic Pulmonary Embolism Due To IV Drug Use
According to an article published ahead-of-print in the January 2020 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), the reversed halo sign was frequently observed on the chest CT scans of patients with IV substance use disorder-related septic pulmonary embolism (PE).
Of the 62 patients (54.8% women; 32.8 ± 8.3 [SD] years) who met Harvard Medical School radiologist Renata R. Almeida and colleagues' inclusion criteria--IV substance use disorder, findings of septic PE on chest CT scans, and confirmation of infection--59.7% (37/62) had reversed halo signs (κ = 0.837-0.958, p < 0.0001).
Moreover, the mean number of unique reversed halo signs per patient was 2.1 ± 1.7, with 46.7% of patients having more than one reversed halo sign.
Noting that the reversed halo sign was an early and reliable imaging finding observed in most cases of CT-based diagnosis of septic PE secondary to IV sub
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Three-Drug Combo Improves Lung Function In Most Common Genetic Form Of Cystic Fibrosis
A phase three clinical trial that UT Southwestern participated in determined that a three-drug combination improved lung function and reduced symptoms in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who have a single copy of the most common genetic mutation for the disease.
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration approved the therapy based on the results of this international study, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. A companion investigation appearing simultaneously in The Lancet reported on people with one or two copies of the mutation.
Dr. Raksha Jain, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, is corresponding author of the NEJM article and an investigator on The Lancet study. Dr. Jain is presenting both studies at the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Nashville this week.
CF is a chronic, progressive, and frequently f
