METHODS: In the international RE-COVERY DVT/PE observational study (enrollment January 2016 to May 2017), we sought to characterize the patient population and describe the prescribed anticoagulant. Patient characteristics and anticoagulants administered after objective diagnosis of VTE were recorded at the baseline visit and again at hospital discharge or at 14 days after the diagnosis, whichever was later.
RESULTS: A total of 6095 patients were included, 50.2% were male, and the mean age was 61.5 years. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (35%), diabetes mellitus (11%), cancer (11%), prior VTE(11%), and trauma/surgery (7%). Overall, 77% of patients received oral anticoagulants, with 54% on NOACs and 23% on vitamin K antagonists (VKAs); 20% received parenteral anticoagulation only. NOACs comprised about 60% of anticoagulant treatment in Europe and Asia but substantially less in Latin America (29%) and the Middle East (21%). For NOAC therapies, the distribution (as a percentage of the total cohort) was rivaroxaban 25.6%, dabigatran 15.5%, apixaban 11.3%, and edoxaban 1.7%. Treatment with NOACs was less frequent in patients who had cancer, chronic renal disease, heart failure, or stroke.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings enhance our understanding of baseline characteristics and the initial management of patients with VTE in routine practice.
METHODS: A multi-center, prospective colonoscopy study involving 16 Asia-Pacific regions was performed from 2008 to 2015. Consecutive self-referred CRC screening participants aged 40-70 years were recruited, and each subject received one direct optical colonoscopy. The prevalence of CRC, ACN, and colorectal adenoma was compared among subjects with different FDRs affected using Pearson's χ2 tests. Binary logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the risk of these lesions, controlling for recognized risk factors including age, gender, smoking habits, alcohol drinking, body mass index, and the presence of diabetes mellitus.
RESULTS: Among 11,797 asymptomatic subjects, the prevalence of CRC was 0.6% (none: 0.6%; siblings: 1.1%; mother: 0.5%; father: 1.2%; ≥2 members: 3.1%, P<0.001), that of ACN was 6.5% (none: 6.1%; siblings: 8.3%; mother: 7.7%; father: 8.7%; ≥2 members: 9.3%, P<0.001), and that of colorectal adenoma was 29.3% (none: 28.6%; siblings: 33.5%; mother: 31.8%; father: 31.1%; ≥2 members: 38.1%, P<0.001). In multivariate regression analyses, subjects with at least one FDR affected were significantly more likely to have CRC (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.02-7.89), ACN (AOR=1.55-2.06), and colorectal adenoma (AOR=1.31-1.92) than those without a family history. The risk of CRC (AOR=0.90, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.34-2.35, P=0.830), ACN (AOR=1.07, 95% CI 0.75-1.52, P=0.714), and colorectal adenoma (AOR=0.96, 95% CI 0.78-1.19, P=0.718) in subjects with either parent affected was similar to that of subjects with their siblings affected.
CONCLUSIONS: The risk of colorectal neoplasia was similar among subjects with different FDRs affected. These findings do not support the need to discriminate proband identity in screening participants with affected FDRs when their risks of colorectal neoplasia were estimated.
METHODS: We identified drugs as precipitants of ACLF among prospective cohort of patients with ACLF from the Asian Pacific Association of Study of Liver (APASL) ACLF Research Consortium (AARC) database. Drugs were considered precipitants after exclusion of known causes together with a temporal association between exposure and decompensation. Outcome was defined as death from decompensation.
RESULTS: Of the 3,132 patients with ACLF, drugs were implicated as a cause in 329 (10.5%, mean age 47 years, 65% men) and other nondrug causes in 2,803 (89.5%) (group B). Complementary and alternative medications (71.7%) were the commonest insult, followed by combination antituberculosis therapy drugs (27.3%). Alcoholic liver disease (28.6%), cryptogenic liver disease (25.5%), and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) (16.7%) were common causes of underlying liver diseases. Patients with drug-induced ACLF had jaundice (100%), ascites (88%), encephalopathy (46.5%), high Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) (30.2), and Child-Turcotte-Pugh score (12.1). The overall 90-day mortality was higher in drug-induced (46.5%) than in non-drug-induced ACLF (38.8%) (P = 0.007). The Cox regression model identified arterial lactate (P < 0.001) and total bilirubin (P = 0.008) as predictors of mortality.
DISCUSSION: Drugs are important identifiable causes of ACLF in Asia-Pacific countries, predominantly from complementary and alternative medications, followed by antituberculosis drugs. Encephalopathy, bilirubin, blood urea, lactate, and international normalized ratio (INR) predict mortality in drug-induced ACLF.
METHODOLOGY: This was a retrospective analysis of all OHCA cases collected from the Pan-Asian Resuscitation Outcomes Study (PAROS) registry in 7 countries in Asia between 2009 and 2012. We included OHCA cases of presumed cardiac etiology, aged 18-years and above and resuscitation attempted by EMS. We performed multivariate logistic regression analyses to assess the relationship between initial and subsequent shockable rhythm and survival and neurological outcomes. 2-stage seemingly unrelated bivariate probit models were developed to jointly model the survival and neurological outcomes. We adjusted for the clustering effects of country variance in all models.
RESULTS: 40,160 OHCA cases met the inclusion criteria. There were 5356 OHCA cases (13.3%) with initial shockable rhythm and 33,974 (84.7%) with initial non-shockable rhythm. After adjustment of baseline and prehospital characteristics, OHCA with initial shockable rhythm (odds ratio/OR=6.10, 95% confidence interval/CI=5.06-7.34) and subsequent conversion to shockable rhythm (OR=2.00,95%CI=1.10-3.65) independently predicted better survival-to-hospital-discharge outcomes. Subsequent shockable rhythm conversion significantly improved survival-to-admission, discharge and post-arrest overall and cerebral performance outcomes in the multivariate logistic regression and 2-stage analyses.
CONCLUSION: Initial shockable rhythm was the strongest predictor for survival. However, conversion to subsequent shockable rhythm significantly improved post-arrest survival and neurological outcomes. This study suggests the importance of early resuscitation efforts even for initially non-shockable rhythms which has prognostic implications and selection of subsequent post-resuscitation therapy.