Comparing the content of traditional faxed consultations to eConsults within an academic endocrinology clinic.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the content of traditional faxed referrals and electronic consultations (eConsults) and determine how many questions sent by traditional referral could be successfully addressed using eConsult. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, qualitative study of eConsults and faxed referrals sent to a tertiary diabetes and endocrinology clinic in Ottawa, Ontario. A convenience sample of 300 faxed referrals sent between March and July 2017 and 300 eConsults submitted between January and December 2017 were selected and coded using an established taxonomy to determine question type. Two endocrinologists reviewed the faxed referrals to assess whether they could have been addressed using eConsult. Responses to a mandatory closeout survey were reviewed for all eConsults, assessing the case's outcome, impact on decision to refer, and educational value. RESULTS: Most faxed consultations were requests for shared care in diabetes mellitus, whereas most eConsults requested help in diagnostic test interpretation. 25-27% of faxed consults were felt to be potentially amenable to eConsult. Referring provider behaviour was changed in 45.3% of eConsult cases through avoidance of face-to-face consultation. CONCLUSION: eConsult is a promising tool for PCPs to improve access to specialist opinion without necessitating a face-to-face visit.

New and old agents in the management of diabetic nephropathy.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Diabetic nephropathy is a long-standing complication of diabetes mellitus and is responsible for more than 40% of end-stage renal disease cases in developed countries. Unfortunately, conventional renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitor medications only partially protect against the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy. Moreover, RAAS inhibitors have failed as primary prevention therapy in type 1 diabetes. Thus, agents targeting alternative pathogenic mechanisms leading to diabetic nephropathy have been intensively investigated, which is the topic of this review. RECENT FINDINGS: Promising emerging agents have targeted neurohormonal activation (alternative components of the RAAS and neprilysin inhibition), tubuloglomerular feedback mechanisms (sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibition and incretin-based therapy) and renal inflammation/fibrosis. SUMMARY: Evidence demonstrating the potential of these agents to protect and prevent progression of diabetic nephropathy is summarized in this review. There are dedicated clinical trials ongoing with these therapies, which have the potential to change the clinical practice.

Transdermal contraception and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system in premenopausal women.

The oral contraceptive pill (OCP) activates the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) through first-pass hepatic metabolism. Although usually benign, RAAS activation may have detrimental effects on renal and hemodynamic function in some women. Since combined hormonal contraception with the transdermal patch (EVRA) does not undergo first-pass hepatic metabolism, we hypothesized that the RAAS response would be different from that of OCP subjects. Thirty-five nonsmoking, premenopausal women (15 control subjects, 10 OCP subjects, and 10 contraceptive patch subjects) without evidence of cardiovascular disease, renal disease, or diabetes were studied. Baseline angiotensinogen, renin, angiotensin II, aldosterone, and plasma renin activity were assessed along with hormonal and hemodynamic responses to simulated orthostatic stress using incremental lower body negative pressure (LBNP; -15, -25, and -40 mmHg). Baseline levels of angiotensinogen, angiotensin II, and plasma renin activity were significantly higher in OCP subjects compared with normotensive control and contraceptive patch subjects (P < 0.05), whereas aldosterone was significantly higher in OCP versus control subjects only (P < 0.05). Plasma renin levels were significantly lower at baseline in contraceptive patch subjects compared with normotensive control and OCP subjects (P < 0.05). In response to LBNP, increases in renin, angiotensin II, and aldosterone were attenuated in contraceptive patch subjects in conjunction with an exaggerated decline in mean arterial pressure (P < 0.05 vs. control and OCP subjects). The contraceptive patch in healthy premenopausal women is associated with an impaired ability to maintain blood pressure in response to LBNP, possibly due to insensitivity of the endogenous RAAS. Further evaluation may be beneficial in women with kidney disease.

The gendered ovary: whole body effects of oophorectomy.

Since oophorectomy in healthy women predates the commercialization of BRCA mutations screens, genomics cannot explain entirely why physicians and cancer specialists recommend this procedure for women at risk. Rather, one must situate the development of reproductive cancer genomics within a broader sociocultural context in which researchers bring to bear habits of mind about women, reproduction and motherhood. (Happe, 2006, p. 173)