Real-world use of medical therapy in moderate asymptomatic carotid stenosis.

OBJECTIVE: Despite level 1 evidence demonstrating the benefit of carotid endarterectomy for the prevention of stroke in patients with severe asymptomatic carotid stenosis (ACS), there has been a trend toward recommending optimal medical therapy (OMT) alone. This recommendation has been promulgated based on the observation that modern advances in OMT reduce the overall stroke risk in the general population, but the success of this treatment strategy is dependent on patient and provider adherence. In current practice, patients with moderate ACS are nearly all treated with OMT alone. The objective of this study was to evaluate adherence to OMT in a cohort of patients with moderate ACS undergoing treatment with OMT alone. METHODS: Consecutive carotid duplex ultrasound examinations were reviewed for the years 2019 and 2020. Those with moderate (50%-69%) ACS based on Society for Vascular Surgery guidelines were included in the study. Patients were assessed for OMT at the time of the index duplex, the first follow-up visit, and at each subsequent follow-up visit until the end of the study. OMT was defined as abstinence from smoking, aspirin or other antiplatelet use, and statin or other lipid-lowering therapy. Patients were stratified based on their ability to achieve OMT, and each component was evaluated to identify shortfalls in therapy. RESULTS: A total of 323 duplex ultrasound examinations with moderate ACS in 255 patients were identified. Of the 255 patients, 143 (56.1%) were on OMT at the time of the first duplex; that number increased to 163 (63.9%) by the first follow-up visit and 175 (68.6%) by the completion of the study. There were 112 (43.9%) patients who were not on OMT at the time of the index duplex, 43 (38.4%) of whom achieved OMT over a median follow-up time of 2.7 years. By the end of follow-up, 86 (76.8%) were taking aspirin or another antiplatelet medication, 93 (83.0%) were on statin or other lipid-lowering therapy, and 74 (66.1%) were abstinent from smoking. Pre-duplex smoking was independently associated with failure to achieve OMT (hazard ratio: 0.452, P = .017). CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with moderate ACS who were not previously on OMT, the rate of OMT achievement is poor. Although advances in lipid management through statin therapy have been praised for their role in improving the effectiveness of OMT, smoking cessation represents an important target for improving uptake and as a result effectiveness of OMT.

Cell-Mediated Therapies to Facilitate Operational Tolerance in Liver Transplantation.

Cell therapies using immune cells or non-parenchymal cells of the liver have emerged as potential treatments to facilitate immunosuppression withdrawal and to induce operational tolerance in liver transplant (LT) recipients. Recent pre-clinical and clinical trials of cellular therapies including regulatory T cells, regulatory dendritic cells, and mesenchymal cells have shown promising results. Here we briefly summarize current concepts of cellular therapy for induction of operational tolerance in LT recipients.

A Study of Assessment of Knowledge of Childhood Autism among Medical Students in Mumbai.

AIMS: This study is to study the knowledge and awareness on autism among medical students and the factors which impact their knowledge on autism. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: For the study, a multicenter cross-sectional research has been carried out among medical students in seven medical colleges in Mumbai. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 201 final-year medical students from seven medical colleges in Mumbai completed the knowledge on childhood autism among healthcare workers (KCAHW) survey and a semi-structured pro forma. Of the 201 students, 152 are from the public medical colleges and 37 from the private medical colleges. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data collected have been represented in the form of frequency and percentage. SPSS 20.0 is used to analyze the mean distribution of KCAHW scores. A value of P < 0.05 is regarded as statistically significant. RESULTS: The total mean score in the KCAHW questionnaire is 11.85 ± 3.15 out of 19. This is considered as poor knowledge. Our study reveals that students' knowledge on autism is limited. Knowledge gaps identified in certain autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms are associated with the obsessive and compulsive repetitive pattern of behavior and that autism is associated with epilepsies. CONCLUSIONS: It is thus important that these children displaying ASD symptoms are diagnosed correctly and at the earliest. To enable this, doctors in all fields must be able to accurately identify the diagnostic features of autism both within and outside the four walls of the hospital.