Addiction Management in Hospitalized Patients With Intravenous Drug Use-Associated Infective Endocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Infections related to intravenous drug use and opioid use disorders (OUDs) are increasing nationwide. Endocarditis is a recognized complication of intravenous drug use, and inpatient treatment typically focuses on infection management without attention to underlying addiction. OBJECTIVE: A comprehensive intervention for inpatients with infective endocarditis and intravenous drug use was implemented by a multidisciplinary team at a large midwestern hospital. The team included behavioral health/addiction medicine, infectious disease, pain medicine, cardiothoracic surgery, pharmacy, and nursing to address the OUD while managing the infection. The intervention was assessed by measuring the initiation of medication-assisted treatment and endocarditis-related readmissions. METHODS: Patients were identified from the medical records using discharge diagnosis codes for OUDs and infective endocarditis. In addition to medical management of infective endocarditis, the multidisciplinary intervention included early involvement of addiction medicine and the pain management at the time of admission. Patient interventions included education, motivational interviewing, behavioral health engagement, collaborative pain management, individual/family therapy, medication evaluation, and initiation of medication-assisted treatment. Caregivers were also educated on OUDs and ways to support patients undergoing interventions. RESULTS: Both the historical control group (N = 37) and the intervention group (N = 33) were comparable in age, gender, race, marital status, psychiatric history, and smoking but differed by employment status, religious affiliation, and use of psychiatric medications. At discharge, 18.9% of the control group and 54.5% in the intervention group were initiated on medication-assisted treatment for OUDs. No differences in readmission rates were found. CONCLUSION: Multidisciplinary teams for treating inpatients with intravenous drug use and infective endocarditis are feasible and can increase the uptake of OUD-specific treatment.

Awake Surgical Management of Third Ventricular Tumors: A Preliminary Safety, Feasibility, and Clinical Applications Study.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic and microneurosurgical approaches to third ventricular lesions are commonly performed under general anesthesia. OBJECTIVE: To report our initial experience with awake transsulcal parafascicular corridor surgery (TPCS) of the third ventricle and its safety, feasibility, and limitations. METHODS: A total of 12 cases are reviewed: 6 colloid cysts, 2 central neurocytomas, 1 papillary craniopharyngioma, 1 basal ganglia glioblastoma, 1 thalamic glioblastoma, and 1 ependymal cyst. Lesions were approached using TPCS through the superior frontal sulcus. Pre-, intra-, and postoperative neurocognitive (NC) testing were performed on all patients. RESULTS: No cases required conversion to general anesthesia. Awake anesthesia changed intraoperative management in 4/12 cases with intraoperative cognitive changes that required port re-positioning; 3/4 recovered. Average length of stay (LOS) was 6.1 d ± 6.6. Excluding 3 outliers who had preoperative NC impairment, the average LOS was 2.5 d ± 1.2. Average operative time was 3.00 h ± 0.44. Average awake anesthesia time was 5.05 h ± 0.54. There were no mortalities. CONCLUSION: This report demonstrated the feasibility and safety of awake third ventricular surgery, and was not limited by pathology, size, or vascularity. The most significant factor impacting LOS was preoperative NC deficit. The most significant risk factor predicting a permanent NC deficit was preoperative 2/3 domain impairment combined with radiologic evidence of invasion of limbic structures - defined as a "NC resilience/reserve" in our surgical algorithm. Larger efficacy studies will be required to demonstrate the validity of the algorithm and impact on long-term cognitive outcomes, as well as generalizability of awake TPCS for third ventricular surgery.