Oct 3rd, 2022 - Guidelines for the management of patients with intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) were published in September 2022 by the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) in European Stroke Journal.[1] Oral anticoagulation is not recommended over aspirin in patients with an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack due to high-grade stenosis related to intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD)....

Oct 3rd, 2022 - While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) during colonoscopy may contribute to improved cancer prevention, it may also add to patient burden in terms of increased colonoscopy frequency and, in turn, healthcare costs, a new study suggests. The study found that colonoscopy plus AI (vs colonoscopy alone) increased the proportion of patients requiring intensive postpolypectomy colonoscopy surve...

Sep 30th, 2022 - An expert consensus statement from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) on the role of nonstatin therapies for maintaining low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels to manage atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Newer nonstatin therapy options include ezetimibe, alirocumab or evolocumab, bempedoic ac...

Sep 30th, 2022 - Updated clinical guidelines for managing patients with ventricular arrhythmias and preventing sudden cardiac death were published in August 2022 by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), in the European Heart Journal.[1] In patients presenting with tolerated sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (SMVT), first-line treatment with direct current cardioversion is recommended if the anes...

Sep 29th, 2022 - An expert consensus statement from the American College of Cardiology (ACC) on the role of nonstatin therapies for maintaining low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels to manage atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Newer nonstatin therapy options include ezetimibe, alirocumab or evolocumab, bempedoic ac...

Sep 29th, 2022 - Women Earn Less From Drug, Device Firms Female physicians earn far less in compensation from drug and medical device companies than do their male peers, new research shows. In fact, the gender-based pay disparity widened from 2013 to 2019, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery by faculty from the University of California and Weill Cornell Medicine surgery departments. The study analyze...

Sep 29th, 2022 - In 2002, two landmark trials found that targeted temperature management (TTM) after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest led to improvements in neurologic outcomes. The larger of the two trials found a reduction in mortality. Such treatment benefits are hard to come by in critical care in general and in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in particular. With the therapeutic overconfidence typical of our p...

Sep 29th, 2022 - Use of tighter glycemic targets for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) reduced the risk for a serious health outcome for the infant, according to a trial conducted in New Zealand. These serious health outcomes included death, birth trauma, and shoulder dystocia. Infants' length of stay in the neonatal intensive care unit also was shorter. But the new targets did not reduce the infan...

Sep 29th, 2022 - Updated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer were published on September 10, 2022 by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.[1] Treatment options for elderly patients (age >70 years) and/or those with comorbidities are as follows: Intravenous (IV) paclitaxel, 135 mg/m2 plus IV carboplatin, area under the curve...

Sep 28th, 2022 - New guidelines highlight the role that integrative pain management techniques, such as massage, acupuncture, and music therapy, can play in relieving certain types of cancer pain in adults. The recommendations, published earlier this month in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, represent a joint effort between the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Society of Integrative Oncolog...

Sep 27th, 2022 - Uptake of the approved extended-interval dosing regimen for pembrolizumab has been poor, according to a review of Veterans Health Administration data. In April 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved extended dosing for stand-alone pembrolizumab — 400 mg every 6 weeks instead of the standard dosing of 200 mg every 3 weeks. The shift came, in part, to reduce patient healthcare e...

Sep 27th, 2022 - Among patients with American Joint Committee on Cancer IIIA early-stage melanoma metastases, the presence of sentinel node (SN) tumor deposits of 0.3 mm or higher is associated with a greater risk of disease progression, and these individuals may be well served by adjuvant systemic therapy. It suggests that those with smaller tumor deposits can be managed in a similar way to AJCC IB patients wh...

Sep 26th, 2022 - The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the 11th update to their living guideline on treatments for COVID-19 infection. The updated guidance includes new recommendations on remdesivir, concomitant therapy with corticosteroids and interleukin (IL)-6 receptor blockers plus Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, and neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. The update, which was created by the WHO’s gu...

Sep 26th, 2022 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. Albert Bourla, CEO of COVID-19 vaccine maker Pfizer, has tested positive for the coronavirus but is showing no symptoms, he said over the weekend. "I have tested positive for COVID. I'm feeling well & symptom free. I've not had the new bivalent booster yet, as I was following CDC guidelines to w...

Sep 23rd, 2022 - The American College of Chest Physicians has issued an updated clinical practice guideline for the perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy, which was published in Chest. More than 10 million people annually worldwide are assessed for perioperative antithrombotic therapy management; such therapy includes vitamin K antagonists (VKA), direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC), heparin bridging, ...

Sep 22nd, 2022 - Doctors caring for patients taking steroids now have broader flexibility for which drugs to use to prevent osteoporosis associated with the medications. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released an updated guideline that advises treatment providers on when and how long to prescribe therapies that prevent or treat glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). Since the ACR last updat...

Sep 22nd, 2022 - Many patients receiving long-term warfarin are also taking aspirin, often unnecessarily. Stopping aspirin for these patients reduces bleeding complications without any apparent harm, a new study has shown. "Many patients on anticoagulation are taking aspirin without a clear indication, which is putting them at an increased risk of bleeding without offering them any benefits," senior author Geof...

Sep 22nd, 2022 - Expanding eligibility for active surveillance in low-risk papillary thyroid cancer appears to be safe, a new prospective trial indicates. Researchers found that doubling the limits for tumor size to 2 cm and nearly doubling the limits for tumor growth in low-risk papillary thyroid cancer showed no increased risk of adverse outcomes or mortality for patients undergoing active surveillance vs sur...

Sep 22nd, 2022 - The oncology community shouldn't be rushing to prescribe the CDK 4/6 inhibitor abemaciclib (Verzenio) for early breast cancer, a team of oncologists argue in a recent editorial. There are still too many unknowns, given the lack of overall survival benefit observed so far, and too much risk of harm, given the reported side effects and high cost of treatment, Bishal Gyawali, MD, PhD, a medical on...

Sep 21st, 2022 - Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a myeloproliferative disorder characterized by a three-phase clinical course comprising an initial chronic phase, an accelerated phase, and a blast phase. Most cases of CML are diagnosed in the chronic phase, during which patients may be asymptomatic or may display signs and symptoms, such as fatigue, low-grade fever, elevated white blood cell count or sple...