Hospital-based Buprenorphine/Naloxone Initiation in a Patient With Limited Communication Abilities: A Case Report.

North America's opioid crisis highlights the profound need for low-barrier access to opioid agonist therapy (OAT) for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). This case describes a 33-year-old female with a history of opioid and stimulant use disorder admitted to hospital after a left middle cerebral artery ischemic stroke with resulting aphasia. After medical stabilization, she consented to buprenorphine/naloxone through limited verbal and written communication. After 14 days of titration, she was stabilized on 14 to 3.5 milligrams of buprenorphine/naloxone daily. Buprenorphine/naloxone initiation and titration is patient-based and symptom guided, typically requiring active communication between the patient and care provider. This case illustrates successful buprenorphine/naloxone initiation in a patient with limited receptive and expressive language abilities, emphasizing the feasibility of offering this medication to individuals with limited communication to ensure timely access to evidence-based OUD treatment.

New electrocardiographic score for the prediction of atrial fibrillation: The MVP ECG risk score (morphology-voltage-P-wave duration).

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and has significant morbidity. A score composed of easily measured electrocardiographic variables to identify patients at risk of AF would be of great value in order to stratify patients for increased monitoring and surveillance. The purpose of this study was to develop an electrocardiographic risk score for new-onset AF. METHODS: A total of 676 patients without previous AF undergoing coronary angiography were retrospectively studied. Points were allocated based on P-wave morphology in inferior leads, voltage in lead 1, and P-wave duration (MVP). Patients were divided into three risk groups and followed until development of AF or last available clinical appointment. RESULTS: Mean age was 65 years, and 68% were male. The high- and intermediate-risk groups were more likely to develop AF than the low-risk group (odds ratio [OR] 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3-4.4; p = 0.006 and OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.27; p = 0.009, respectively). The high-risk group had a significantly shorter mean time to development of AF (258 weeks; 95% CI 205-310 weeks) compared to the intermediate- (278 weeks; 95% CI 252-303 weeks) and low-risk groups (322 weeks 95% CI 307-338 weeks), p = 0.005. CONCLUSIONS: A simple risk score composed of easy-to-measure electrocardiographic variables can help to predict new-onset AF. Further validation studies will be needed to assess the ability of this risk score to predict AF in other populations.