Cunninghammaldonado5023
The presence of women in genitourinary (GU) specialty training and practice has lagged significantly behind other fields. Current challenges include maternity leave, sexual harassment, and pay disparities. Despite these obstacles, the prevalence of women in GU specialty training has risen rapidly. One consequence of retiring male providers and higher numbers of female graduates will be a notable demographic shift in the percentage of GU care provided by these younger women. It will be essential to anticipate and acknowledge the unique concerns of this workforce, particularly in light of the concomitant aging of the US population and the associated increase in demand for GU care.The complexity of health care today along with the drive towards value-based care are strong forces in support of growing and expanding the physician leadership workforce. Physician led organizations are associated with improved physician engagement, quality of care and cost efficiency. Physicians would benefit from more formal leadership training which incorporates a structed leadership curriculum, mentorship and on the job progressive leadership experience. Special attention must be placed on increasing the diversity of our physician leaders. There are many important characteristics to look for in our physician leaders including emotional intelligence, integrity, visioning, humility, persuasion and the ability to listen.Physician burnout is an issue having an impact on all of medicine but having a significant impact on the field of urology. Burnout begins in medical school and worsens in residency. Increased workload leads to increased burnout both in residency and in practice. Issues with work-life balance, electronic medical record usage, decreasing reimbursements, and increased Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services burden all have an impact on physician satisfaction with their practices. Burnout should be acknowledged, and measures for prevention should be taken by hospitals and residency programs to decrease and prevent physician burnout.The future supply of urologists is not on pace to account for future demands of urologic care. This impending urologic shortage sits on a backdrop of multiple other workforce issues. In this review, we take an in-depth look at several pressing issues facing the urologic workforce, including the impending urology shortage, gender and diversity concerns, growing levels of burnout, and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In doing so, we highlight specific areas of clinical practice that may need to be addressed from a health care policy standpoint.Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that affects 2% to 3% of the U.S. population. The immune response in psoriasis includes enhanced activation of T cells and myeloid cells, platelet activation, and up-regulation of interferons, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukins (ILs) IL-23, IL-17, and IL-6, which are linked to vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis development. Patients with psoriasis are up to 50% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CV) disease, and this CV risk increases with skin severity. Major society guidelines now advocate incorporating a psoriasis diagnosis into CV risk prediction and prevention strategies. Although registry data suggest treatment targeting psoriasis skin disease reduces vascular inflammation and coronary plaque burden, and may reduce CV risk, randomized placebo-controlled trials are inconclusive to date. Further studies are required to define traditional CV risk factor goals, the optimal role of lipid-lowering and antiplatelet therapy, and targeted psoriasis therapies on CV risk.
Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) have been considered potentially high risk for novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) mortality or other complications.
This study sought to define the impact of COVID-19 in adults with CHD and to identify risk factors associated with adverse outcomes.
Adults (age 18 years or older) with CHD and with confirmed or clinically suspected COVID-19 were included from CHD centers worldwide. Data collection included anatomic diagnosis and subsequent interventions, comorbidities, medications, echocardiographic findings, presenting symptoms, course of illness, and outcomes. Predictors of death or severe infection were determined.
From 58 adult CHD centers, the study included 1,044 infected patients (age 35.1 ± 13.0 years; range 18 to 86 years; 51% women), 87% of whom had laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infection. The cohort included 118 (11%) patients with single ventricle and/or Fontan physiology, 87 (8%) patients with cyanosis, and 73 (7%) patients with pulmonary hypertension. There were 24 COVID-related deaths (case/fatality 2.3%; 95% confidence interval 1.4% to 3.2%). Factors associated with death included male sex, diabetes, cyanosis, pulmonary hypertension, renal insufficiency, and previous hospital admission for heart failure. Worse physiological stage was associated with mortality (p=0.001), whereas anatomic complexity or defect group were not.
COVID-19 mortality in adults with CHD is commensurate with the general population. check details The most vulnerable patients are those with worse physiological stage, such as cyanosis and pulmonary hypertension, whereas anatomic complexity does not appear to predict infection severity.
COVID-19 mortality in adults with CHD is commensurate with the general population. The most vulnerable patients are those with worse physiological stage, such as cyanosis and pulmonary hypertension, whereas anatomic complexity does not appear to predict infection severity.
Infective endocarditis (IE) is a common and serious complication in patients receiving chronic hemodialysis (HD).
This study sought to investigate whether there are significant differences in complications, cardiac surgery, relapses, and mortality between IE cases in HD and non-HD patients.
Prospective cohort study (International Collaboration on Endocarditis databases, encompassing 7,715 IE episodes from 2000 to 2006 and from 2008 to 2012). Descriptive analysis of baseline characteristics, epidemiological and etiological features, complications and outcomes, and their comparison between HD and non-HD patients was performed. Risk factors for major embolic events, cardiac surgery, relapses, and in-hospital and 6-month mortality were investigated in HD-patients using multivariable logistic regression.
A total of 6,691 patients were included and 553 (8.3%) received HD. North America had a higher HD-IE proportion than the other regions. The predominant microorganism was Staphylococcus aureus (47.8%), followed by enterococci (15.