Rheumatic Heart Disease in the United States: Forgotten But Not Gone: Results of a 10 Year Multicenter Review.

Background Recent evaluation of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) mortality demonstrates disproportionate disease burden within the United States. However, there are few contemporary data on US children living with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and RHD. Methods and Results Twenty-two US pediatric institutions participated in a 10-year review (2008-2018) of electronic medical records and echocardiographic databases of children 4 to 17 years diagnosed with ARF/RHD to determine demographics, diagnosis, and management. Geocoding was used to determine a census tract-based socioeconomic deprivation index. Descriptive statistics of patient characteristics and regression analysis of RHD classification, disease severity, and initial antibiotic prescription according to community deprivation were obtained. Data for 947 cases showed median age at diagnosis of 9 years; 51% and 56% identified as male and non-White, respectively. Most (89%) had health insurance and were first diagnosed in the United States (82%). Only 13% reported travel to an endemic region before diagnosis. Although 96% of patients were prescribed secondary prophylaxis, only 58% were prescribed intramuscular benzathine penicillin G. Higher deprivation was associated with increasing disease severity (odds ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.08-1.46). Conclusions The majority of recent US cases of ARF and RHD are endemic rather than the result of foreign exposure. Children who live in more deprived communities are at risk for more severe disease. This study demonstrates a need to improve guideline-based treatment for ARF/RHD with respect to secondary prophylaxis and to increase research efforts to better understand ARF and RHD in the United States.

Hepatoblastoma diagnosed in infancy occurring in single-ventricle patients: a case series.

Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary liver tumour in children; however, there are no reported incidences in the single-ventricle congenital heart disease population. We present three cases in patients with single-ventricle heart disease with a mean age at diagnosis of 19.7 (±4) months. The diagnosis was made prior to Fontan completion in all three cases. These represent the only documented hepatoblastoma cases in single-ventricle patients.

Rationale and design of "Hearts & Parks": study protocol for a pragmatic randomized clinical trial of an integrated clinic-community intervention to treat pediatric obesity.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of child and adolescent obesity and severe obesity continues to increase despite decades of policy and research aimed at prevention. Obesity strongly predicts cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk; both begin in childhood. Children who receive intensive behavioral interventions can reduce body mass index (BMI) and reverse disease risk. However, delivering these interventions with fidelity at scale remains a challenge. Clinic-community partnerships offer a promising strategy to provide high-quality clinical care and deliver behavioral treatment in local park and recreation settings. The Hearts & Parks study has three broad objectives: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the clinic-community model for the treatment of child obesity, (2) define microbiome and metabolomic signatures of obesity and response to lifestyle change, and (3) inform the implementation of similar models in clinical systems. METHODS: Methods are designed for a pragmatic randomized, controlled clinical trial (n = 270) to test the effectiveness of an integrated clinic-community child obesity intervention as compared with usual care. We are powered to detect a difference in body mass index (BMI) between groups at 6 months, with follow up to 12 months. Secondary outcomes include changes in biomarkers for cardiovascular disease, psychosocial risk, and quality of life. Through collection of biospecimens (serum and stool), additional exploratory outcomes include microbiome and metabolomics biomarkers of response to lifestyle modification. DISCUSSION: We present the study design, enrollment strategy, and intervention details for a randomized clinical trial to measure the effectiveness of a clinic-community child obesity treatment intervention. This study will inform a critical area in child obesity and cardiovascular risk research-defining outcomes, implementation feasibility, and identifying potential molecular mechanisms of treatment response. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT03339440 .

Access to subspecialty care for patients with mobility impairment: a survey.

BACKGROUND: Adults who use wheelchairs have difficulty accessing physicians and receive less preventive care than their able-bodied counterparts. OBJECTIVE: To learn about the accessibility of medical and surgical subspecialist practices for patients with mobility impairment. DESIGN: A telephone survey was used to try to make an appointment for a fictional patient who was obese and hemiparetic, used a wheelchair, and could not self-transfer from chair to examination table. SETTING: 256 endocrinology, gynecology, orthopedic surgery, rheumatology, urology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, and psychiatry practices in 4 U.S. cities. PATIENTS: None. MEASUREMENTS: Accessibility of the practice, reasons for lack of accessibility, and planned method of transfer of the patient to an examination table. RESULTS: Of 256 practices, 56 (22%) reported that they could not accommodate the patient, 9 (4%) reported that the building was inaccessible, 47 (18%) reported inability to transfer a patient from a wheelchair to an examination table, and 22 (9%) reported use of height-adjustable tables or a lift for transfer. Gynecology was the subspecialty with the highest rate of inaccessible practices (44%). LIMITATION: Small numbers of practices in 8 subspecialties in 4 cities and use of a fictional patient with obesity and hemiparesis limit generalizability. CONCLUSION: Many subspecialists could not accommodate a patient with mobility impairment because they could not transfer the patient to an examination table. Better awareness among providers about the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the standards of care for patients in wheelchairs is needed. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: None.