ABSTRACT
Background The natural history of recurrent pericarditis (RP) and its associated co-morbidity are not well understood. The RESONANCE registry (NCT04687358) was implemented to collect observational data from real-world clinical practice to better understand the presentation, management and outcomes of patients with RP. Methods Enrollment of adult and pediatric patients began March 2021 and continues at 22 participating centers across the US. Patients with RP episodes <=3 years prior to enrollment and currently on treatment were considered to have active disease. Patients with RP related to trauma, malignancy and connective tissue disease were excluded. The current analysis reports interim demographic and disease characteristics at enrollment for the active cohort with complete data records. Results As of 15 August 2022, complete data records were available for 100 adult and 2 pediatric patients. To date, the majority of patients are female (62%, n=64). Mean (SD) age was 47 (15) years. The primary cause of the initial acute pericarditis event was idiopathic/viral (68%, n=70) or post-cardiac injury syndrome (8%, n=8). Median (Q1,Q3) duration of disease at enrollment was 2.7 (1.0, 5.2) years. 70% (n=71) of patients had experienced at least one recurrence in the one-year retrospective period. Comorbidities were low (15%;n=16);of these, 25% (n=4) had hypertension, 25% (n=4) had cardiac arrhythmia, 25% (n=4) had depression, 12.5% (n=2) had COVID-19 and 12.5% (n=2) had anxiety. Concomitant medical management data will be presented. Conclusion RESONANCE is a novel national multicenter registry collecting data relevant for informing treatment strategies for RP. Initial data from the first 103 patients suggest a preponderance of women with active RP;overall, patients are relatively young without significant comorbidities versus other acquired cardiovascular diseases. As enrollment and data collection expands, RESONANCE is designed to reveal important characteristics for RP which can guide clinical practice and improve quality of life of patients with RP.Copyright © 2023 American College of Cardiology Foundation
ABSTRACT
There is a growing collection of literature that documents the persistence problem in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) disciplines, which is especially significant for students who belong to minority groups. The GAIN (Guide, Advance, Interact, Network) peer-mentoring program was created for undergraduate students pursuing mechanical engineering at Loyola Marymount University, as one step forward in combating this issue. The intent of this in-person program was to increase students' motivation to persist towards their STEM degree primarily by strengthening their belongingness to engineering. In this study, initial data from the prematurely ended Spring 2020 pilot of the program (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) is analyzed with the intention of contributing to the body of knowledge on best practices in developing supportive resources for engineering students. In particular, qualitative and quantitative analyses are performed on the responses to highlighted questions from two surveys. These efforts uncover insights into what criteria students feel are most important in matching them with a mentee or mentor, what types of challenges they have faced in college, and what they hope to get out of the mentoring relationship. Demographic data was also collected to allow for the exploration of any differences in student responses based on personal information, such as ethnicity, gender, and academic class standing. These results are used to inform the improvement and redesign of GAIN to be effective in a virtual setting. Furthermore, this paper highlights the importance of building multidisciplinary teams to strengthen the recruitment and impact of out-of-class educational interventions. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021