Project description:BackgroundAspirin (ASA) is the drug of choice in patients with coronary artery disease for primary and secondary prevention. This poses a problem for those patients reporting hypersensitivity to this drug or class of drugs.HypothesisDesensitization to ASA may be carried out safely and effectively in patients with reported ASA or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) hypersensitivity needing ASA for cardiac indications. Our 7-step protocol is one choice for a rapid desensitization protocol.MethodsA retrospective chart review was conducted evaluating ASA desensitization in patients with reported ASA or NSAID hypersensitivity and a cardiac indication for ASA.ResultsIn 160 evaluations over 15 years, 89 desensitizations were performed in both the inpatient and outpatient setting with only 16 reactions (18%). Eleven of these 16 patients (68.7%) were able to take daily ASA. Twenty-six desensitization procedures were performed with our 7-step rapid desensitization protocol in 10 inpatients and 16 outpatients with 3 reactions (18.75% of reactions). Initial reaction to ASA involving angioedema and reacting to ASA within the past year increased the risk of having a reaction to desensitization.ConclusionsDesensitization may be safely performed in patients with reported ASA or NSAID hypersensitivity and a cardiac indication for ASA. Our 7-step rapid protocol may be used in both the inpatient and outpatient setting to desensitize these patients. Patients who had angioedema with ASA ingestion or a reaction to ASA within the past year are at higher risk for reaction during the desensitization protocol. The authors have no funding, financial relationships, or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Project description:BackgroundHypersensitivity to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may limit the use of aspirin in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Aspirin desensitization, which is a resource-intensive process, can offer such patients access to aspirin through the induction of temporary tolerance to aspirin. However, there is limited information on aspirin desensitization response in patients undergoing aspirin desensitization for cardiac indications in Asia.ObjectiveTo characterize patients who have undergone aspirin desensitization, evaluate their responses to the procedure, and identify risk factor(s) associated with failure of aspirin desensitization.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of medical records of patients who underwent aspirin desensitization in Singapore General Hospital between 1 June 2014 and 31 October 2017. Chi-square or Fisher exact test were used to analyze categorical data while independent samples t test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used for continuous data where appropriate. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors of aspirin desensitization failure.ResultsAll 214 patients in our study had cardiovascular indications for aspirin, with angioedema being the most common type of index reaction experienced with NSAIDs (n = 104, 48.6%). One hundred sixty-five patients (77.1%) achieved successful aspirin desensitization. In the selected sample analysis of patients with true NSAID hypersensitivity (n = 163), an index reaction of angioedema to NSAIDs was found to be significantly associated with a higher risk of failing aspirin desensitization (odds ratio, 7.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.94-26.71).ConclusionMajority of the patients who underwent aspirin desensitization in our institution were able to achieve tolerance to aspirin. An index reaction of angioedema to NSAIDs was identified as a risk factor for aspirin desensitization failure. This information can aid in the risk stratification of patients undergoing aspirin desensitization and ensure efficient resource allocation for this procedure.
Project description:PurposeMany hospitalized patients experience barriers to effective patient-provider communication that can negatively impact their care. These barriers include difficulty physically accessing the nurse call system, communicating about pain and other needs, or both. For many patients, these barriers are a result of their admitting condition and not of an underlying chronic disability. Speech-language pathologists have begun to address patients' short-term communication needs with an array of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies.MethodThis study used a between-groups experimental design to evaluate the impact of providing patients with AAC systems so that they could summon help and communicate with their nurses. The study examined patients' and nurses' perceptions of the patients' ability to summon help and effectively communicate with caregivers.ResultsPatients who could summon their nurses and effectively communicate-with or without AAC-had significantly more favorable perceptions than those who could not.ConclusionsThis study suggests that AAC can be successfully used in acute care settings to help patients overcome access and communication barriers. Working with other members of the health care team is essential to building a "culture of communication" in acute care settings.Supplemental materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.9990962.
Project description:BackgroundPeanut oral immunotherapy is a promising approach to peanut allergy, but reactions are frequent, and some patients cannot be desensitized. The anti-IgE medication omalizumab (Xolair; Genentech, South San Francisco, Calif) might allow more rapid peanut updosing and decrease reactions.ObjectiveWe sought to evaluate whether omalizumab facilitated rapid peanut desensitization in highly allergic patients.MethodsThirty-seven subjects were randomized to omalizumab (n = 29) or placebo (n = 8). After 12 weeks of treatment, subjects underwent a rapid 1-day desensitization of up to 250 mg of peanut protein, followed by weekly increases up to 2000 mg. Omalizumab was then discontinued, and subjects continued on 2000 mg of peanut protein. Subjects underwent an open challenge to 4000 mg of peanut protein 12 weeks after stopping study drug. If tolerated, subjects continued on 4000 mg of peanut protein daily.ResultsThe median peanut dose tolerated on the initial desensitization day was 250 mg for omalizumab-treated subjects versus 22.5 mg for placebo-treated subject. Subsequently, 23 (79%) of 29 subjects randomized to omalizumab tolerated 2000 mg of peanut protein 6 weeks after stopping omalizumab versus 1 (12%) of 8 receiving placebo (P < .01). Twenty-three subjects receiving omalizumab versus 1 subject receiving placebo passed the 4000-mg food challenge. Overall reaction rates were not significantly lower in omalizumab-treated versus placebo-treated subjects (odds ratio, 0.57; P = .15), although omalizumab-treated subjects were exposed to much higher peanut doses.ConclusionOmalizumab allows subjects with peanut allergy to be rapidly desensitized over as little as 8 weeks of peanut oral immunotherapy. In the majority of subjects, this desensitization is sustained after omalizumab is discontinued. Additional studies will help clarify which patients would benefit most from this approach.
Project description:IntroductionEvery year, 1/10,000 children experiences a food-anaphylactic reaction. Most of these events, including attack-related deaths, may happen during the school hours. In the current study, we assessed the influence of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the school-staff's education on food allergy and anaphylaxis (FAA).MethodsThe target population of this intervention was non-university teaching centers from the local Regional Education Council, including both state and private institutions. The digital intervention was supported by the free-of-charge and open-source learning-management Aulatic Educational Platform. Structured questionnaires were developed to evaluate the educators' knowledge, feelings, and self-efficacy on FAA, in addition to a satisfaction and quality survey of the training program.ResultsA total of 1748 school-educators were virtually enrolled from May 2016 to June 2020 in one of the 8-week course editions, with 80.6% of attendees successfully completing the full training. All scores concerning school-staff's basic knowledge and self-efficacy on FAA significantly improved after the educational intervention, reaching a high level of satisfaction among participants (98.5%) over the 4-year educational program.ConclusionOur results highlighted the effectiveness of a focused e-learning activity to improve teachers and school caretakers in the management of food allergic scholars and anaphylactic reactions during the school hours. The use of ICTs tools should become an integrated part of curricular frameworks in non-university education, leading to a better care of FAA school children.
Project description:Interventions: desensitization
Primary outcome(s): the rate of oxaliplatin readministration without allergy
Study Design: Single arm Non-randomized
Project description:Patient safety is a new and challenging discipline in the Iranian health care industry. Among the challenges for patient safety improvement, education of medical and paramedical students is intimidating. The present study was designed to assess students' perceptions of patient safety, and their knowledge and attitudes to patient safety education. This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 2012 at Urmia University of Medical Sciences, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. 134 students studying medicine, nursing, and midwifery were recruited through census for the study. A questionnaire was used for collecting data, which were then analyzed through SPSS statistical software (version 16.0), using Chi-square test, Spearman correlation coefficient, F and LSD tests. A total of 121 questionnaires were completed, and 50% of the students demonstrated good knowledge about patient safety. The relationships between students' attitudes to patient safety and years of study, sex and course were significant (0.003, 0.001 and 0.017, respectively). F and LSD tests indicated that regarding the difference between the mean scores of perceptions of patient safety and attitudes to patient safety education, there was a significant difference among medical and nursing/midwifery students. Little knowledge of students regarding patient safety indicates the inefficiency of informal education to fill the gap; therefore, it is recommended to consider patient safety in the curriculums of all medical and paramedical sciences and formulate better policies for patient safety.
Project description:Background: There is limited data on the mechanisms of aspirin desensitization in patients with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced urticaria/angioedema (NIUA). Objectives: To characterize the transcriptomic and metabolomic profiles of NIUA patients undergoing aspirin desensitization. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma were separated from the blood of NIUA patients undergoing aspirin desensitization for coronary artery disease and NSAID-tolerant controls. RNA was isolated from PBMCs and subjected to mRNA- and lncRNA-seq. Plasma samples were analyzed using LC-MS/MS for metabolite shifts using a semi-targeted metabolomics panel. Results: Eleven patients with NIUA and 10 healthy controls were recruited. The mRNA gene profiles of pre- versus post-desensitization and healthy control versus post-desensitization did not differ significantly. However, we identified 739 mRNAs and 888 lncRNAs as differentially expressed from pre-aspirin desensitization patients and controls. A 12-mRNA gene signature was trained using a machine learning algorithm to distinguish between controls, post-dose and pre-dose samples. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis identified 5 canonical pathways that were significantly enriched in pre-aspirin desensitization samples. Interleukin (IL)-22 was the most upregulated pathway. To investigate the potential regulatory roles of the differentially expressed lncRNA on the mRNAs, 9 lncRNAs and 12 mRNAs showed significantly correlated expression patterns in the IL-22 pathway. To validate the transcriptomics data, IL-22 was measured in the plasma samples of the subjects using ELISA. IL-22 was significantly higher in pre-aspirin desensitization patients compared to controls. In parallel, metabolomic analysis revealed stark differences in plasma profiles of pre-aspirin desensitization patients and healthy controls. In particular, 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (salicylic acid) was significantly lower in pre-aspirin desensitization patients compared to healthy controls. Conclusion: This is the first study to combine both transcriptomic and metabolomic approaches in patients with NIUA, which contributes to a deeper understanding about the pathogenesis of NIUA and may potentially pave the way towards a molecular diagnosis of NSAID hypersensitivity.
Project description:IntroductionFacilitated communication practice with simulated patients (SPs) is a highly effective form of communication training. Unfortunately, little guidance exists on writing SP cases.MethodsWe created a curriculum composed of a case-development workbook and case-writing session with input from national communication educators. In November 2017, we implemented the curriculum in a Teaching Communication Skills course for medical educators. Educators divided into four groups to write cases. Primary outcome was the number of criteria that cases fulfilled. Secondary outcomes were SP evaluation and educator-reported confidence and satisfaction.ResultsSeventeen medical educators (including 15 fellows) completed the curriculum. Four new cases were analyzed against 24 criteria and compared to eight cases written by educators following a previous curriculum. An SP evaluated ease of portrayal for all 12 cases on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = poor, 5 = excellent). Educators completed precurriculum and postcurriculum surveys. Compared to the previous curriculum, cases based on the new curriculum incorporated 26% more case criteria (70% or 16.8 criteria/case vs. 96% or 23.0 criteria/case, p < .01). Ease-of-portrayal rating improved but did not differ statistically (mean: 2.8 vs. 4.5, p = .11). A moderate correlation was found between number of included case criteria and Likert-scale rating (r s = .61, p = .03). Pre- and postcurriculum, educators reported significant increases in confidence (mean: 1.9 vs. 4.0, p < .01) and high curricular satisfaction (mean: 4.8).DiscussionA case-development workbook and case-writing session increased the quality of newly developed SP cases as assessed by prespecified case criteria.
Project description:BackgroundThere are no treatments currently available for peanut allergy. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is a novel approach to the treatment of peanut allergy.ObjectiveWe sought to investigate the safety, clinical effectiveness, and immunologic changes with SLIT in children with peanut allergy.MethodsIn this double-blind, placebo-controlled study subjects underwent 6 months of dose escalation and 6 months of maintenance dosing followed by a double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge.ResultsEighteen children aged 1 to 11 years completed 12 months of dosing and the food challenge. Dosing side effects were primarily oropharyngeal and uncommonly required treatment. During the double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge, the treatment group safely ingested 20 times more peanut protein than the placebo group (median, 1,710 vs 85 mg; P = .011). Mechanistic studies demonstrated a decrease in skin prick test wheal size (P = .020) and decreased basophil responsiveness after stimulation with 10(-2) μg/mL (P = .009) and 10(-3) μg/mL (P = .009) of peanut. Peanut-specific IgE levels increased over the initial 4 months (P = .002) and then steadily decreased over the remaining 8 months (P = .003), whereas peanut-specific IgG4 levels increased during the 12 months (P = .014). Lastly, IL-5 levels decreased after 12 months (P = .015). No statistically significant changes were found in IL-13 levels, the percentage of regulatory T cells, or IL-10 and IFN-γ production.ConclusionPeanut SLIT is able to safely induce clinical desensitization in children with peanut allergy, with evidence of immunologic changes suggesting a significant change in the allergic response. Further study is required to determine whether continued peanut SLIT is able to induce long-term immune tolerance.