Women Happier With Vaginal Tape Slings for Stress Urinary Incontinence
Women with stress urinary incontinence were more satisfied with outcomes when treated with a tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) procedure rather than bulking therapy with transurethral polyacrylamide hydrogel injection. However, a high percentage of women in both groups appeared to be satisfied with outcomes over the long-term. More women were objectively cured with TVT, but most […]
Buprenorphine for OUD Tied to Better Outcomes for Mother and Baby
Buprenorphine treatment was linked with better outcomes for mother and infant, according to a study of pregnant individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). Among 14,463 maternal-infant dyads, there was a statistically significant lower rate of adverse pregnancy outcomes among those who were treated with buprenorphine compared to those who did not receive treatment (25.4% vs […]
Latest COVID Shots Protect Against Serious Outcomes
The recently updated COVID vaccines showed protection against serious virus-related outcomes in immunocompetent adults, data from the CDC’s IVY and VISION networks showed. From September 2023 to January 2024, vaccine effectiveness (VE) against COVID-related emergency department or urgent care encounters landed at 47% (95% CI 44-50), while protection against hospitalizations associated with the coronavirus ranged […]
Surgical Volumes Matter for Outcomes at Ambulatory Centers, Too
As seen for hospital-based procedures, ambulatory surgical outcomes were significantly better on average at centers with relatively high volumes, Medicare data indicated. Odds of hospital admission or emergency department visit within 7 days of an ambulatory surgical procedure were 21% greater in low- versus high-volume centers (95% CI 9%-36%), according to Jeffrey H. Silber, MD, […]
No Improved Outcomes for HF Patients With Sleep Apnea Using ASV Breathing Devices
Breathing machines with adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV) did not improve survival or other clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF) and reduced ejection fraction and sleep-disordered breathing, the phase III ADVENT-HF trial found. Investigators found no difference between patients randomized to standard care plus bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) device therapy with ASV and those […]
ASCT Tops CAR T-Cell Therapy for Relapsed LBCL in Complete Remission
SAN DIEGO — Autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) led to improved outcomes as compared with CAR T-cell therapy for patients with relapsed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) in complete remission, a retrospective analysis showed. Patients who underwent ASCT had fewer relapses at 2 years (27.8% vs 48.0%) and better progression-free survival (PFS, 66.2% vs 47.8%), and overall […]
Conservative Oxygenation Outperforms Liberal Targets for Critically Ill Kids
Conservative oxygenation targets in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) improved outcomes and reduced costs for ventilated patients, a randomized clinical trial found. The rank-based endpoint of duration of organ support or death before day 30 was significantly lower among children randomized to conservative oxygenation as opposed to liberal targets (probabilistic index 0.53, 95% CI […]
Opinion | Transitioning Cancer Survivors Away From Oncologic Care
Dinan is an associate professor of epidemiology and an oncology outcomes researcher. October was Breast Cancer Awareness month and the sudden influx of pink in our homes, on our televisions, in our workplaces, and in local businesses reminded us that we still lose far too many of our loved ones to cancer, not only in […]
RET Inhibitor Posts Frontline Wins in Medullary Thyroid Cancer, NSCLC
MADRID — First-line treatment with the RET inhibitor selpercatinib (Retevmo) achieved superior outcomes in both medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results from two phase III trials presented here. In the LIBRETTO-531 trial, selpercatinib resulted in superior progression-free survival (PFS) and treatment failure-free survival (TFFS) compared with the […]
Weight-Loss Drug Benefit Spans HFpEF, HFmrEF
CLEVELAND — Semaglutide 2.4 mg (Wegovy) improved outcomes across the range of moderately reduced and preserved ejection fraction in heart failure (HFmrEF, HFpEF) related to obesity, a prespecified secondary analysis of the STEP-HFpEF trial showed. The benefits were consistent across subgroups, reported Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA, of the Baylor Scott and White Research Institute […]