Rucaparib a Winner for PFS, But Not for OS, in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
NEW YORK — Rucaparib (Rubraca) turned in mixed results for survival outcomes in patients with recurrent ovarian carcinoma, according to an ARIEL3 trial update. There was a benefit for progression-free survival (PFS), as treatment with the PARP inhibitor was tied to longer time-to-second disease progression (PFS2) in patients with BRCA-mutated disease (26.1 months versus 18.4 […]
After Cardiac Arrest, No ‘Best’ Blood Pressure, Oxygen Target
BARCELONA — Shifting blood pressure and oxygen targets failed to budge outcomes for comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the BOX trial showed. A higher mean arterial blood-pressure target of 77 mm Hg — hypothesized to potentially maintain better cerebral perfusion — had no impact on the proportion of patients who died or left the […]
The Immune Signature of Long COVID
In this exclusive video, Harlan Krumholz, MD, director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut, discusses a recent preprint on distinguishing long COVID through immune profiling. Krumholz, a cardiologist, is also the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine and a professor in the […]
Smaller Airways Set the Stage for Worse COPD Outcomes in Women
Smaller airways in women may explain their worse respiratory outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a large cohort study suggested. For never-smokers and ever-smokers alike, CT imaging revealed that men had thicker airway walls than women, who also had smaller airway lumen dimensions after accounting for height and total lung capacity. “It is plausible […]
Growing ‘mortality gap’ detected between Democratic and Republican counties
A new study highlights how closely connected politics and health outcomes have grown over time. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital examined mortality rates and federal and state election data for all counties in the U.S. from 2001 to 2019. The team found what they call a “mortality gap” — a widening difference between age-adjusted […]
Removing barriers to opioid use disorder treatment shows success during pandemic
Pandemic-era changes to prescribing guidelines for the lifesaving drug buprenorphine led to improved treatment outcomes for patients with opioid use disorder in Philadelphia, according to a recently published study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports from researchers at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health. The authors analyzed data from medical records and […]
Frozen eggs more efficient option than IVF for women starting families later
The largest U.S. report of elective fertility preservation outcomes to date found that 70 percent of women who froze eggs when they were younger than 38 — and thawed at least 20 eggs at a later date — had a baby. Led by experts at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the NYU Langone Fertility […]
Does Grandma Need Surgery for That Broken Wrist?
Patient-reported outcomes 2 years after treatment for distal wrist fractures didn’t differ significantly in older patients irrespective of the therapy chosen, including simple casting, a randomized trial showed. That was true even for participants who chose casting and experienced malunion during recovery with visible, permanent deformity, according to Kevin C. Chung, MD, MS, of the […]
COVID Makes Everything Worse in Pregnancy
Pregnant women with COVID-19 had worse outcomes across the board, especially if the mother-to-be was also co-infected with HIV, according to a study from Botswana. Adverse birth outcomes, such as premature delivery and stillbirth, were observed in 31% of women who tested positive for COVID-19 compared with 26% of women who did not (adjusted RR […]
In Early Prostate Cancer, Black Men Do Better With Radiotherapy Than White Men
Black men with localized prostate cancer had better treatment- and disease-specific outcomes than white men when treated with definitive radiotherapy, according to the results of a meta-analysis. Even though Black men were more likely to present with high-risk features, they were less likely to experience biochemical recurrence (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.96, […]