Recent Publications by CFE Educators

OBJECTIVES

To describe barriers to recovery at home for vulnerable older adults after leaving the hospital.

DESIGN

Standard qualitative research techniques, including purposeful sampling of participants according to age, sex, race, and English proficiency, were used to ensure a wide breadth of experiences. All participants were interviewed in their native language (English, Spanish, or Chinese). Two investigators independently coded interviews using the constant comparative method. The entire research team, with diverse backgrounds in primary care, hospital medicine, geriatrics, and nursing, performed thematic analysis.

SETTING

Urban public safety-net teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Vulnerable older adults (low income and health literacy, limited English proficiency) enrolled in a larger discharge interventional study.

MEASUREMENTS

Qualitative data (participant quotations) were organized into themes.

RESULTS

Twenty-four individuals with a mean age of 63 (range 55-84), 66% male, 67% nonwhite, 16% Spanish speaking, 16% Chinese speaking were interviewed. An overarching theme of "missing pieces" was identified in the plan for postdischarge recovery at home, from which three specific subthemes emerged: functional limitations and difficulty with mobility and self-care tasks, social isolation and lack of support from family and friends, and challenges from poverty and the built environment at home. In contrast, participants described mostly supportive experiences with traditional focuses of transition, care such as following prescribed medication and diet regimens.

CONCLUSION

Hospital-based discharge interventions that focus on traditional aspects of care may overlook social and functional gaps in postdischarge care at home for vulnerable older adults. Postdischarge interventions that address these challenges may be necessary to reduce readmissions in this population.

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the US with 700,000 annual cases. Although most cases of gonorrhea are localized, approximately 0.5-3% become disseminated. Here we discuss a rare case of a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who developed septic shock from disseminated gonorrhea infection (DGI). Our patient is a 24-year-old woman with SLE, mixed connective tissue disease with cutaneous vasculitis, and lupus nephritis who presented with several weeks of malaise and generalized body aches associated with a diffuse rash along her fingers, palms, and trunk. Infectious workup was unrevealing with the exception of a positive gonorrhea test obtained from a cervical swab. Given her symptoms of tenosynovitis, the appearance of her skin lesions, and her positive gonorrhea test, she was diagnosed with septic shock secondary to DGI. With antibiotic treatment, the patient reported a dramatic improvement of the pain in her swollen joints and her rash receded. Patients diagnosed with SLE carry an increased risk of gonorrhea regardless of whether or not they are being treated for their SLE. Although it is well-documented that SLE is associated with severe DGI, few describe it resulting in overt septic shock.

A growing body of evidence indicates that integrating family planning (FP) services into HIV care is effective at improving contraceptive uptake among HIV-positive women in resource-poor settings, yet little research has examined HIV-positive men's experiences with such integration. We conducted in-depth interviews with 21 HIV-positive men seeking care at HIV clinics in Nyanza, Kenya. All clinics were intervention sites for a FP/HIV service integration cluster-randomized trial. Grounded theory was used to code and analyze the data. Our findings highlight men's motivations for FP, reasons why men prefer obtaining their FP services, which include education, counseling, and commodities, at HIV care clinics, and specific ways in which integrated FP/HIV services fostered male inclusion in FP decision-making. In conclusion, men appear invested in FP and their inclusion in FP decision-making may bolster both female and male agency. Men's positive attitudes towards FP being provided at HIV care clinics supports the programmatic push towards integrated delivery models for FP and HIV services.

Intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has been established as an effective treatment of superficial bladder cancer (Parker and Kommu, 2013). However, major side effects, including pneumonitis, sepsis, and even death, may occur in 5% of patients (Gonzalez et al., 2003). Here we present a case of severe disseminated Mycobacterium bovis following intravesical BCG administration. Our patient is a 76-year-old gentleman with newly diagnosed superficial transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder who recently received his first intravesical BCG treatment. He initially presented with hemoptysis and was found to have extensive patchy infiltrates bilaterally. He was treated for pneumonia with antibiotics and then with steroids for hypersensitivity pneumonitis but continued to deteriorate. Due to the temporal proximity of his exposure to BCG, we administered treatment for presumed disseminated BCG infection with rifampin, isoniazid, and ethambutol. Within a 48-hour period, the patient improved dramatically. The reported cases of infection from intravesical BCG illustrate an insidious onset with initial symptoms of low-grade fevers and cystitis but may progress to pneumonitis. If the symptoms persist for more than 7 days or if there is clinical deterioration, RIPE therapy (with rifampin, isoniazid, pyridoxine, and ethambutol) and a fluoroquinolone should be administered for a 6-9-month course along with steroids for 4-6 weeks (Naudžiunas et al., 2012).

Heart failure is a syndrome with a pathophysiological basis that can be traced to dysfunction in several interconnected molecular pathways. Identification of biomarkers of heart failure that allow measurement of the disease on a molecular level has resulted in enthusiasm for their use in prognostication and selection of appropriate therapies. However, despite considerable amounts of information available on numerous biomarkers, inconsistent research methodologies and lack of clinical correlations have made bench-to-bedside translations rare and left the literature with countless publications of varied quality. There is a need for a systematic and collaborative approach aimed at definitively studying the clinical benefits of novel biomarkers. In this review, on the basis of input from academia, industry, and governmental agencies, we propose a systematized approach based on adherence to specific quality measures for studies looking to augment current prediction model or use biomarkers to tailor therapeutics. We suggest that study quality, rather than results, should determine publication and propose a system for grading biomarker studies. We outline the need for collaboration between clinical investigators and statisticians to introduce more advanced statistical methodologies into the field of biomarkers that would allow for data from a large number of variables to be distilled into clinically actionable information. Lastly, we propose the creation of a heart failure biomarker consortium that would allow for a comprehensive list of biomarkers to be concomitantly analyzed in a pooled sample of randomized clinical trials and hypotheses to be generated for testing in biomarker-guided trials. Such a consortium could collaborate in sharing samples to identify biomarkers, undertake meta-analyses on completed trials, and spearhead clinical trials to test the clinical utility of new biomarkers.

Raoultella planticola has been considered a relatively harmless Gram-negative bacteria, rarely associated with clinical infection. However, in recent years, the frequency at which severe infection by R. planticola and drug-resistant strains are reported in literature has increased. Here, we present one case of acute cholecystitis caused by R. planticola, and review all previously reported cases of the infection in an attempt to identify new trends in biological and clinical features of R. planticola infections.

OBJECTIVE

To determine variability in urethral stricture surveillance. Urethral strictures impact quality of life and exact a large economic burden. Although urethroplasty is the gold standard for durable treatment, strictures recur in 8%-18%. There are no universally accepted guidelines for posturethroplasty surveillance. We performed a literature search to evaluate variability in surveillance protocols, analyzed costs, and reviewed performance of each commonly used modality.

METHODS

MEDLINE search was performed using the keywords "urethroplasty," "urethral stricture," and "stricture recurrence" to ascertain commonly used surveillance strategies for stricture recurrence. We included English language articles from the past 10 years with at least 10 patients, and age >18 years. Cost data were calculated based on standard 2013 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services physician's fees.

RESULTS

Surveillance methods included retrograde urethrogram or voiding cystourethrogram, cystourethroscopy, urethral ultrasound, American Urological Association Symptom Score, and postvoid residual and urine flowmetry (UF) measurement. Most protocols call for a retrograde urethrogram or voiding cystourethrogram at the time of catheter removal. After this, UF or PVR, cystoscopy, urine culture, or a combination of UF and American Urological Association Symptom Score was performed at variable intervals. The first-year follow-up cost of anterior urethral surgery ranged from $205 to $1784. For posterior urethral surgery, follow-up cost for the first year ranged from $404 to $961.

CONCLUSION

Practice variability for surveillance of urethral stricture recurrence after urethroplasty leads to significant differences in cost.

INTRODUCTION

Prophylactic thyroidectomy can be curative for patients with hereditary medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) caused by RET proto-oncogene mutations. Calcitonin is a sensitive tumor marker used to follow patients. We suggest that thyroglobulin (Tg) levels should also be monitored postoperatively in these patients.

METHODS

We reviewed patients with RET mutations who underwent prophylactic thyroidectomy between 1981 and 2011 at an academic endocrine surgery center. Patients were excluded if they had no postoperative Tg levels recorded.

RESULTS

Of the 22 patients who underwent prophylactic thyroidectomy, 14 were included in the final analysis. The average age at thyroidectomy was 9.8 years (range, 4-29). Tg levels were detectable 1.5 months to 31 years postoperatively in 11 patients (79%), all of whom were 15 years old at thyroidectomy. Median thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was 2.5 mIU/L and 13.4 mIU/L in patients with undetectable and detectable Tg, respectively. Of those with detectable Tg, 5 had cervical ultrasonographic examination: Two showed no residual tissue in the thyroid bed, and 3 showed remnant thyroid tissue.

CONCLUSION

Tg levels can identify patients with remnant thyroid tissue after prophylactic thyroidectomy. Ultrasonography can determine whether thyroid tissue remains posterolaterally that is at risk of MTC recurrence. Maintaining normal TSH may prevent growth of remaining thyroid follicular cells.