ABSTRACT
BackgroundA diagnosis of MND takes an average 10-16 months from symptom onset. Early diagnosis is important to access supportive measures to maximise quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant delays in NHS pathways; the majority of GP appointments now occur online with subsequent delays in secondary care assessment. Given the rapid progression of MND, patients may be disproportionately affected resulting in late stage new presentations. We used Monte Carlo simulation to model the pre-COVID-19 diagnostic pathway and then introduced plausible COVID-19 delays. MethodsThe diagnostic pathway was modelled using gamma distributions of time taken: 1) from symptom onset to GP presentation, 2) for specialist referral, and 3) for diagnosis reached after neurology appointment. We incorporated branches to simulate delays: when patients did not attend their GP and when the GP consultation did not result in referral. An emergency presentation was triggered when diagnostic pathway time was within 30 days of projected median survival. Total time-to-diagnosis was calculated over 100,000 iterations. The pre-COVID-19 model was estimated using published data and the Improving MND Care Survey 2019. We estimated COVID-19 delays using published statistics. ResultsThe pre-COVID model reproduced known features of the MND diagnostic pathway, with a median time to diagnosis of 399 days and predicting 5.2% of MND patients present as undiagnosed emergencies. COVID-19 resulted in diagnostic delays from 558 days when only primary care was 25% delayed, to 915 days when both primary and secondary care were 75%. The model predicted an increase in emergency presentations ranging from 15.4%-44.5%. InterpretationsThe model suggests the COVID-19 pandemic will result in later-stage diagnoses and more emergency presentations of undiagnosed MND. Late-stage presentations may require rapid escalation to multidisciplinary care. Proactive recognition of acute and late-stage disease with altered service provision will optimise care for people with MND. FundingThis research was supported and funded by a grant from the Reta Lila Weston Trust. NS was supported by the National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre.
ABSTRACT
This prospective, randomized study was performed at a single institution. Low-risk patients undergoing elective vascular procedures were enrolled (August 2007 to June 2009). Participants were randomized into 3 separate arms. They received cefazolin, cefazolin + vancomycin, or cefazolin + daptomycin prior to surgery. In total, 169 patients were included in the analysis. Mean age was 64 (range, 26-85), and the patients' comorbidities were similar across all groups. Only Szilagyi II and III infections were analyzed. Any infection/methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections was seen in 8 (12.9%)/2 (3.23%) in the cefazolin group, 7 (12.5%)/4 (7.14%) in the cefazolin + vancomycin group, and 2 (3.92%)/(0%) in the cefazolin + daptomycin group. In this study, population of low-risk patients undergoing elective vascular procedures, there was a trend toward fewer infectious complications in the cefazolin + daptomycin group. Adding anti-MRSA agents to the current standard prophylaxis regimen does not appear to reduce the incidence of MRSA infection in low-risk patients.
