The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has shattered the processes meticulously developed over years by which physicians delivered quality care for patients with cirrhosis. COVID-19 has exposed deep flaws in the structural and process measures developed to follow patients, evaluate disease status and response to therapy, and screen for complications, each of which depends upon frequent physical patient-physician interaction.
Baylor Scott & White Research Institute researcher Erxi Wu, Ph.D. recently co-authored a paper published in Nature Communications, demonstrating the successful creation of a mouse model of pure autonomic dysfunction caused by α-Syn pathology. Researchers believe this model could help establish mechanistic links between the transmission of pathological α-Syn and the cardinal features of autonomic dysfunction in α-Synucleinopathy.
Two-year outcomes data on Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) in low-risk patients were recently presented at the American College of Cardiology 2020 Annual Scientific Session. PARTNER 3 demonstrated that TAVR with the Sapien 3 valve was as safe and effective as traditional open surgical replacement for low risk patients with aortic stenosis (AS). The primary outcome of the study—the risk of death, stroke or rehospitalization at two years—was comparable between the two groups.
Approximately one third of patients with cirrhosis who are admitted to the hospital present with altered mental status (AMS). Of those, about 50 percent will have hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a spectrum of reversible neuropsychiatric disorders in patients with chronic liver disease. Other potential causes of AMS include sepsis/infection, metabolic disturbances, drugs/toxins or structural brain lesions.
The obesity epidemic in the United States continues to grow. Estimates are that currently 70 percent of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese. In 2013, the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease defined as chronic, relapsing, multifactorial and neurobehavioral where an increase in body fat promotes tissue dysfunction and abnormal physical stress to the body because of fat mass.
