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999; P = .02 and = .01, respectively). No association was detected between the total and visceral fat area and mortality.

Reduced abdominal subcutaneous fat, but not the total or visceral fat composition was associated with higher all-cause and cardiac-cause mortality after cardiovascular surgery in East Asian patients, consisting mainly of normal or overweight patients.

Reduced abdominal subcutaneous fat, but not the total or visceral fat composition was associated with higher all-cause and cardiac-cause mortality after cardiovascular surgery in East Asian patients, consisting mainly of normal or overweight patients.

Prolonged air leak (PAL) following pulmonary surgery remains a clinical challenge and sometimes needs surgical reintervention. An autologous blood patch (ABP) may provide a noninvasive method to cease air leak. Its value, however, is debatable. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize evidence regarding the efficacy of ABP in patients with PAL.

A comprehensive search for published studies was performed in the Medline database, Embase and the Cochrane library. Randomized controlled trials, case-control studies and case series in which a postoperative ABP was performed were included. Findings from these studies were tabulated and data was synthesized graphically. PROSPERO registration number CRD42020157591.

A total of 8 studies was included in the analysis, comprising 151 patients. Studies demonstrated heterogeneity in ABP timing and practice and an intermediate to high risk of bias was scored. The majority of studies demonstrated a beneficial effect of the ABP, with a high rate of success of over 89%. One randomized trial did not find a difference in time to cease of air leak following ABP compared with conservative tube thoracostomy. The overall complication rate was 10%.

Quality of included studies is limited due to lack of comparison groups. Synthesized data in this review demonstrates a high rate of successful procedures and acceptable complication rates, which seems to be encouraging to justify a large randomized clinical trial on the use of ABP for patients who suffer from PAL following thoracic surgery.

Quality of included studies is limited due to lack of comparison groups. Synthesized data in this review demonstrates a high rate of successful procedures and acceptable complication rates, which seems to be encouraging to justify a large randomized clinical trial on the use of ABP for patients who suffer from PAL following thoracic surgery.Raised in a small Georgia town, Charles Ross Hatcher, Jr. was trained by surgical legends Alfred Blalock and Francis Moore and developed into a superior cardiac surgeon at Emory University. Years before others, as President of the STSA (1983-84) and the STS (1986-87), he recognized and spoke of the challenges facing medicine and our specialty. He focused in the last half of his career on the delivery of value in patient-centered healthcare and participation in the governance of healthcare.Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is an infectious disease caused by an intracellular protozoan belonging to Leishmania species. Vorapaxar Interleukin (IL)-22 plays an important role in inflammatory response, chemotaxis, regulation of cellular proliferation and tissue repair. Considering the role of IL-22 in control of leishmaniasis and the effect of its single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on respective function and production, this study aimed to investigate the probable association of IL-22 SNPs with VL. The study was carried out on 110 patients with VL, 102 healthy individuals with negative leishmanin skin test (negative control group (NCG)), and 144 healthy individuals with positive leishmanin skin test (LSTPG). Four SNPs in IL-22 including rs2227501, rs2227503, rs2227513 and rs1026786 were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR- RFLP) in the study groups. The frequency of A allele and AA genotype at rs1026786 were significantly higher in the LSTPG group than in the patients (P = 0.013 and P = 0.001, respectively). Conversely, the frequency of AG genotype was significantly higher in the patients and the NCG than in the LSTPG group (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.002, respectively). For rs2227503, the frequency of AG genotype was significantly higher in the LSTPG group than in the NCG (P = 0.025). The haplotype TGAA frequency was significantly higher in the NCG, compared to patients and LSTPG group (P = 0.004 and P = 0.023, respectively). The frequencies of haplotypes TAAG and TGAG were significantly higher in the patients than in the LSTPG group (P = 0.046 and P = 0.014, respectively). The TAAA/TAAG frequency was significantly higher in the patients than in the LSTPG group (P = 0.013). Inheritance of rs1026786 A allele and AA genotype of IL-22 could be a possible protective factor against VL, whereas the inheritance of the haplotypes TAAG and TGAG may predispose Iranian population to the disease.

In the United States, people with serious illness often experience gaps and discontinuity in care. Gaps are frequently exacerbated by limited mobility, need for social support, and challenges managing multiple comorbidities. The Advanced Illness Care (AIC) Program provides nurse practitioner-led, home-based care for people with serious or complex chronic illnesses that specifically targets palliative care needs and coordinates with patients’ primary care and specialty health care providers. We sought to investigate the effect of the AIC Program on hospital encounters [hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits], hospice conversion, and mortality.

Retrospective nearest-neighbor matching.

Patients in AIC who had ≥1 inpatient stay within the 60days prior to AIC enrollment to fee-for-service Medicare controls at 9 hospitals within one health system.

We matched on demographic characteristics and comorbidities, with exact matches for diagnosis-related group and home health enrollment. Outcomes weg care needs and gaps in care early, patients may avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and receive timely hospice services as they approach the end of life.