Use of Everolimus After Multivisceral Transplantation: A Report of Two Cases.

Inhibitors of mechanistic target of rapamycin are used in solid organ transplant procedures to avoid calcineurin inhibitor complications, including nephrotoxicity and malignancy. We present 2 cases of multivisceral transplantation for neuroendocrine tumor (NET) for which everolimus was implemented for its potential to prevent NET recurrence as well as preserve renal function. The first case was complicated by NET recurrence in the liver before initiation of everolimus. After initiation of everolimus, the patient developed a ventral hernia and elevated aminotransferase levels with nonspecific biopsy findings. The second case was complicated by cytomegalovirus infection with elevated everolimus trough levels as well as acute cellular rejection. Everolimus was reinitiated in both cases in addition to decreasing the dosage of tacrolimus, and there were no further complications. Everolimus was beneficial in stabilizing renal function in both patients and has the theoretical potential to prevent recurrence of NET.

A Case Report of Acute Cellular Rejection Following Intestinal Transplantation Managed With Adalimumab.

There is a higher incidence of acute cellular rejection (ACR) in small bowel transplantation (SBT) compared with transplantation of other solid organs. Although there are reports on the use of infliximab to successfully treat ACR refractory to other treatments, there are no reports, to our knowledge, regarding the use of adalimumab. We present a case of a female patient with a history of Crohn's disease who underwent an isolated SBT and developed an episode of severe ACR. She was initially treated with methylprednisolone, thymoglobulin, basiliximab, and a dosage adjustment of tacrolimus. Results of repeat endoscopies and biopsies revealed no significant improvement. The patient initiated treatment with adalimumab every 2 weeks for a total of 6 months, in addition to maintenance treatment with prednisone and tacrolimus. Subsequent evaluations showed gradual improvement to normal mucosa and villi without ulceration. A regimen that incorporates adalimumab can thus be used to treat ACR after intestinal transplantation. Larger multicenter studies are needed to show the full efficacy of this therapeutic regimen.

Multicenter Evaluation of Current Knowledge of Intestinal Transplantation and Rehabilitation Among Trainee Physicians.

BACKGROUND: The management of intestinal failure has evolved dramatically over the last 2 decades. In addition, improved management of patients requiring parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease is creating a paradigm shift in both intestinal failure management and in the evolving indications for intestinal transplantation. OBJECTIVES: We conducted an evaluation measuring current awareness among house officers (HO) regarding nutritional and transplant principles in the management of intestinal disease. Our goal was to use board-style questions with a single correct response to measure current knowledge level between HO. METHODS: A survey was distributed to HO via email to measure knowledge regarding 3 areas: principles of intestinal failure (PI), medical management of intestinal disease (MI), and transplantation for intestinal disease (TI). This was evaluated at 3 busy nontransplant centers (NTC) and a tertiary care intestine transplant center (TC). Statistical analysis was conducted using the independent samples t test and multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Surveys were distributed to a total of 1068 HO; 208 (19.47%) responded. We received 139 responses (67%) from NTC and 69 (33%) from TC. 82% were postgraduate year (PGY) 1-3 and 18% were PGY 4-7. Of the respondents, 27% correctly answered questions regarding PI, 40% about MI, and 21% on TI. HO in NTC demonstrated more knowledge regarding PI than those in TC (P = .000). There was, otherwise, no difference between PGY 1-3 and PGY 4-7 (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation demonstrates potential deficiencies in the basic understanding of issues surrounding intestinal disease that can be used for implementation of an educational program regarding intestinal disease and transplantation.

Brief histories of medical physics in Asia-Oceania.

The history of medical physics in Asia-Oceania goes back to the late nineteenth century when X-ray imaging was introduced, although medical physicists were not appointed until much later. Medical physics developed very quickly in some countries, but in others the socio-economic situation as such prevented it being established for many years. In others, the political situation and war has impeded its development. In many countries their medical physics history has not been well recorded and there is a danger that it will be lost to future generations. In this paper, brief histories of the development of medical physics in most countries in Asia-Oceania are presented by a large number of authors to serve as a record. The histories are necessarily brief; otherwise the paper would quickly turn into a book of hundreds of pages. The emphasis in each history as recorded here varies as the focus and culture of the countries as well as the length of their histories varies considerably.

MELD score: utility and comparison with King's College criteria in non-acetaminophen acute liver failure.

OBJECTIVE: To compare Model for End-stage Liver Disease Score (MELD Score, MS) and King's College Hospital (KCH) criteria for finding correlation of mortality in non-acetaminophen induced acute liver failure (NAI-ALF). STUDY DESIGN: An analytical cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from 2005 to 2007. METHODOLOGY: The study included patients with NAI-ALF. KCH criteria were labelled as good and bad prognosis groups. MELD score were calculated by using the MELD calculator. ROC was plotted and sensitivity analysis was done. ETA was used to see correlation between MELD and KCH. RESULTS: Ninety-one patients with mean age of 32.5 + 16.3 years were studied; 49 were males (54%). Out of these, 57 patients died (63%); two leading causes of non-acetaminophen induced acute liver failure (NAI-ALF) were hepatitis hepatitis B virus (HBV) (n = 30, 33%) followed by hepatitis E virus in (n = 23, 25.3%). According to King's College Hospital (KCH) criteria, 50 patients (88%) who died had bad prognosis and 24 patients (70.6%) who survived had good prognosis. The ROC determined MELD score of 32 was the best predictor of mortality with sensitivity and specificity of 79% and 71%, respectively and positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPV) of 82% and 67% respectively. There was significant association between mortality and bad prognosis according to KCH criteria (p < 0.001). Overall mean MELD score (MMS) was 35.35 + 8.64. MMS on admission was 38 + 7.32 in patients who died and 30.7 + 8.77 in those who survived (p = < 0.001). MMS correlated equally with KCH criteria (ETA = 0.52). CONCLUSION: The admission MELD score has an excellent utility and correlates equally with KCH criteria for mortality in NAI- ALF.

Factors predicting the recurrence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis in patients with cirrhosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency of recurrence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in patients with end stage liver disease and the factors responsible for it. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from November 2008 till November 2009. METHODOLOGY: Patients with cirrhosis who were admitted at AKUH with diagnosis of SBP during the study period were included. Any episode of SBP after resolution of the first index case of SBP within one year was considered as recurrence. RESULTS: Out of 238 cirrhotic patients, 157 (66%) had single, while 81 (34%) had recurrent episodes of SBP. History of using proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and diuretics was found in 113 (47.5%) and 139 (58.4%) patients respectively. Only 58 24.4%) patients were on prophylactic antibiotic therapy. Univariate analysis revealed that the female gender (52%), and presence of porto-systemic encephalopathy (PSE, 31%) were statistically significant (p=0.03) among those who had recurrent SBP. On multivariate analysis bilirubin level of > 1.0 mg (OR=7.03; 95%CI=1.55-32), protective factor of hepatitis B (OR 0.31; 95%CI=0.13-0.70) and presence of urinary tract infection (UTI) (OR=2.24; 95%CI=0.99-5.09) were significant in patients with recurrent SBP. CONCLUSION: Recurrent SBP was noticed in 34% patients. Serum bilirubin level of > 1.0 mg, protective factor of HBV and presence of UTI were significant factors present in patients with recurrent SBP.

Severity of acute hepatitis and its outcome in patients with dengue fever in a tertiary care hospital Karachi, Pakistan (South Asia).

BACKGROUND: Liver injury due to dengue viral infection is not uncommon. Acute liver injury is a severe complicating factor in dengue, predisposing to life-threatening hemorrhage, Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) and encephalopathy. Therefore we sought to determine the frequency of hepatitis in dengue infection and to compare the outcome (length of stay, in hospital mortality, complications) between patients of Dengue who have mild/moderate (ALT 23-300 IU/L) v/s severe acute hepatitis (ALT > 300 IU/L). METHODS: A Cohort study of inpatients with dengue viral infection done at Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. All patients (> or = 14 yrs age) admitted with diagnosis of Dengue Fever (DF), Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) were included. Chi square test was used to compare categorical variables and fischer exact test where applicable. Survival analysis (Cox regression and log rank) for primary outcome was done. Student t test was used to compare continuous variables. A p value of less than or equal to 0.05 was taken as significant. RESULTS: Six hundred and ninety nine patients were enrolled, including 87% (605) patients with DF and 13% (94) patients with DHF or DSS. Liver functions tests showed median ALT of 88.50 IU/L; IQR 43.25-188 IU/L, median AST of 174 IU/L; IQR 87-371.5 IU/L and median T.Bil of 0.8 mg/dl; IQR 0.6-1.3 mg/dl. Seventy one percent (496) had mild to moderate hepatitis and 15% (103) had severe hepatitis. Mean length of stay (LOS) in patients with mild/moderate hepatitis was 3.63 days v.s 4.3 days in those with severe hepatitis (P value 0.002). Overall mortality was 33.3% (n = 6) in mild/moderate hepatitis vs 66.7% (n = 12) in severe hepatitis group (p value < 0.001). Cox regression analysis also showed significantly higher mortality in severe hepatitis group (H.R (4.91; 95% CI 1.74-13.87 and P value 0.003) and in DHF/DSS (5.43; CI 1.86-15.84 and P value 0.002). There was a significant difference for the complications like Bleeding (P value < 0.001), Acute Renal failure (ARF) (P value 0.002), Acalculus cholecystitis (P value 0.04) and encephalopathy (P value 0.02) in mild/moderate and Severe hepatitis groups respectively. CONCLUSION: Severe hepatitis (SGPT>300IU) in Dengue is associated with prolonged LOS, mortality, bleeding and RF.

Culture and quality care perceptions in a Pakistani hospital.

PURPOSE: Organizational culture is a determinant for quality improvement. This paper aims to assess organizational culture in a hospital setting, understand its relationship with perceptions about quality of care and identify areas for improvement. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The paper is based on a cross-sectional survey in a large clinical department that used two validated questionnaires. The first contained 20 items addressing perceptions of cultural typology (64 respondents). The second one assessed staff views on quality improvement implementation (48 faculty) in three domains: leadership, information and analysis and human resource utilization (employee satisfaction). FINDINGS: All four cultural types received scoring, from a mean of 17.5 (group), 13.7 (developmental), 31.2 (rational) to 37.2 (hierarchical). The latter was the dominant cultural type. Group (participatory) and developmental (open) culture types had significant positive correlation with optimistic perceptions about leadership (r = 0.48 and 0.55 respectively, p < 0.00). Hierarchical (bureaucratic) culture was significantly negatively correlated with domains; leadership (r = -0.61,p < 0.00), information and analysis (-0.50, p < 0.00) and employee satisfaction (r = -0.55, p < 0.00). Responses reveal a need for leadership to better utilize suggestions for improving quality of care, strengthening the process of information analysis and encouraging reward and recognition for employees. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: It is likely that, by adopting a participatory and open culture, staff views about organizational leadership will improve and employee satisfaction will be enhanced. This finding has implications for quality care implementation in other hospital settings. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The paper bridges an important gap in the literature by addressing the relationship between culture and quality care perceptions in a Pakistani hospital. As such a new and informative perspective is added.

An open study to assess the safety and efficacy of Heprovac-B vaccine 10 mcg-dose for adults.

Heprovac B is a novel recombinant vaccine. There are many vaccines available in Pakistani market but Heprovac B claims to be immunogenic even at 10 meg dose. Aim of the study is to determine whether using 10 meg of Heprovac B vaccine is safe and effective in producing sufficient immunity in Pakistani population. One hundred and twenty five subjects, who fulfilled the Inclusion criteria, were enrolled for the study. Heprovac B was administered in a three-dose regimen given at 0, 1 and 6 months and adverse events were recorded. Immunogenicity was tested by measuring hepatitis B surface antibody one month after each dose received. One month after the 3rd dose 98.7% of the subjects were found to be seroprotected with geometric mean titer of 488.83 mIU/1 after the third dose. Heprovac B, vaccine was well tolerated with minimal reported adverse events. It is safe and 10 mcg is immunogenic in producing antibodies in Pakistani population against Hepatitis B virus.

Reviewing the application of the balanced scorecard with implications for low-income health settings.

High-income countries (HICs) are increasingly making use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in healthcare. Evidence about BSC usage in low-income countries (LICs) is deficient. This study assessed feasibility of BSC use in LICs. Systematic review of electronic databases shows that the BSC improved patient, staff, clinical, and financial outcomes in HICs. To translate the experience of BSC use in HICs to their use in LICs, the applicability parameters of the National Committee for Quality Assurance were applied. Despite contextual challenges, pilot testing of BSC use can be undertaken in selected LICs. Committed leadership, cultural readiness, quality information systems, viable strategic plans, and optimum resources are required.

Racial differences in patients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESIS: Limited data exist regarding racial differences in heart failure. The objective of this prospective study was to document racial differences in the baseline demographics and patterns of health care utilization and outcomes in patients with heart failure. METHODS: The data on 163 consecutive patients (113 black, 50 white) admitted with a diagnosis of heart failure confirmed by pulmonary congestion on chest x-ray were prospectively evaluated. Patient demographics, physical examination findings at admission, comorbid conditions, and medications at admission and discharge were analyzed. Follow-up was performed to document visits to the physician's office after discharge and readmission rate during a 6-month time period. RESULTS: Compared with whites, blacks were younger in age (mean age 63.8 +/- 13.7 years vs. 70.8 +/- 13.1, p = 0.003), and had a higher prevalence of hypertension (86 vs. 66%, p = 0.004), left ventricular hypertrophy (24 vs. 8%, p = 0.02), ejection fraction < 40% (64 vs. 43%, p = 0.03), and readmission rate (33 vs. 18%, p = 0.05). Whites had a higher prevalence of atrial fibrillation (42 vs. 21%, p = 0.006) and more frequently followed up with their cardiologists as outpatients (58 vs. 39%, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Significant racial differences exist in patients with heart failure with regard to age, incidence, etiologic factors, left ventricular hypertrophy, left ventricular function, and clinical follow-up. It is important to consider these racial differences in the evaluation and management of patients with heart failure.

Dietary practices and beliefs of patients with chronic liver disease.

OBJECTIVE: To study of the dietary practices and beliefs of patients suffering from chronic liver disease. SETTING: Two private tertcary care hospitals. METHOD: Fifty patients presenting to the Gastroenterology Clinics at the Aga Khan University Hospital and Baqai Hospital, with compensated liver disease and no other co-morbid condition which required dietary modifications, were enrolled in the study. Patients were interviewed regarding their current dietary practices using an open-ended questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 48 years and the majority were in relatively poor nutritional status. Four had BMI's < 18; 58% had Hb < 12 g/dl and 36% had albumin levels < 3 gm/dl. The percentage of patients avoiding various foods is as follows: meats 72%, fats and oils 64%, salt 42%, spices 34%, milk and milk products 28%, rice 20%. CONCLUSION: The most commonly cited reason for avoiding a given food was the advice of the family doctor, followed by advice by gastroenterologists, family and friends. Concepts from alternative medicine and continuation of dietary restrictions imposed during a decompensated phase also influenced intake. Compromised nutritional status is a poor predictor of clinical outcome in liver disease therefore it is important that gastroenterologists be proactive regarding nutritional counseling and both patients and their primary care physicians understand the importance of not imposing unnecessary restrictions on dietary intake.

Usefulness of exercise echocardiography in predicting cardiac events in an outpatient population.

The prognostic value of exercise echocardiography in an outpatient population is not well defined. A total of 1,020 consecutive patients referred for exercise echocardiography in an ambulatory care setting were studied by reviewing their medical records and exercise echocardiographic data. Of these, 71 (7%) were excluded due to technically inadequate tests, leaving 949 patients who were included in the analysis. A positive exercise echocardiogram (EE) was defined as an appearance of a new wall motion abnormality or worsening of a baseline abnormality. Cardiac events, defined as myocardial infarction, coronary angioplasty, coronary bypass surgery, and death, were documented during a 12-month follow-up period. Cardiac events occurred in 17% of patients (26 of 152) with a positive exercise echocardiogram (EE) and in 2.5% (20 of 797) with a negative EE (p <0.001). The incidence of myocardial infarction (2.6% vs 0.4%, p <0.02), coronary angioplasty (7% vs 1%, p <0.001), and coronary bypass surgery (9% vs 1%, p <0.001) were higher in patients with a positive versus a negative EE. There was 1 death in the positive study group and none in the negative group. Significant independent variables (p <0.05) that predicted cardiac events included a positive exercise electrocardiogram, history of coronary angioplasty, nonspecific ST-T changes on the baseline electrocardiogram, double product <25,000, men, chest pain on exercise test, and a positive exercise electrocardiogram. On a stepwise logistic regression model, exercise echocardiography emerged as an independent predictor of future cardiac events in an outpatient population. This predictive value was enhanced in the presence of a positive exercise electrocardiogram compared with a negative exercise electrocardiogram (24.2% vs 7.9%, p <0.03). Our study suggests that exercise echocardiography is an independent predictor of future cardiac events in an outpatient population.

Role of antiarrhythmic agents after myocardial infarction with special reference to the EMIAT and CAMIAT trials of amiodarone. European Myocardial Infarct Amiodarone Trial. Canadian Amiodarone Myocardial Infarction Trial.

The role of antiarrhythmic agents in the post-MI patients has been investigated for several years. Recently, clinical trials have assessed the effects of amiodarone in the post-MI population. The Basel Antiarrhythmic Study of Infarct Survival (BASIS) trial showed a reduction in total mortality, sudden death, and life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias with amiodarone therapy. The European Myocardial Infarct Amiodarone Trial (EMIAT) did not show a mortality benefit, but amiodarone was associated with fewer antiarrhythmic deaths. The Canadian Amiodarone Myocardial Infarction Trial (CAMIAT) showed no significant impact on mortality, but arrhythmia deaths and resuscitated cardiac deaths were reduced. Amiodarone therapy after MI should be reserved for the treatment of symptomatic or sustained ventricular arrhythmias. The current data do not support routine use of amiodarone in all patients after MI.