Although relatively rare, there have been several case reports of COVID-19 infection causing acute myocarditis. These patients have required IV inotrope therapy and sometimes short-term veno-arterial ECMO support for bi-ventricular shock. Such was the case with a 64-year-old female patient from San Antonio who was successfully treated at Baylor University Medical Center.
Emerging cellular therapies continue to generate significant interest and activity in medical research. They represent possible new treatment avenues that could completely shift how cancer is treated – if the research bears out this potential. Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI) is working to accelerate the progression of these types of clinical trials with its good manufacturing practices (cGMP) Core lab in Dallas, TX, which produces human cellular products for phase I clinical trials. It is a resource and facility unique to the program in North Texas, and one that has enabled BSWRI to deliver access to unique cellular therapy clinical trials to patients across the region.
Patients with rare cancers often face limited options for treatment, particularly given the fact that it is challenging to design clinical trials that enroll enough patients with these rare cancers to thoroughly test new therapies. This is very much the case for many brain cancers, which tend to be rare, deadly, and resistant to typical cancer therapies. In an effort to help counter this trend, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI) is actively pursuing research aimed at bringing more trial opportunities, and ultimately, potential future treatment options to patients with cancers of the brain. A notable advantage that BSWRI brings to this effort is its ability to link multiple sites across the Baylor Scott & White system under their clinical trials. In doing so, BSWRI is able to engage a more diverse population, and therefore more potentially eligible patients, across not only in the state of Texas, but neighboring states.
Lipoprotein (a), also known as Lp(a), has been long suspected to be an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Some studies have estimated that 20% of the Caucasian U.S. population may have increased CVD risk due to elevated plasma Lp(a) levels. However, until recently, a lack of robust assays to measure Lp(a) levels has prevented scientific consensus on the nature of Lp(a)-associated risk.
Findings from REPRISE III (The Repositionable Percutaneous Replacement of Stenotic Aortic Valve through Implantation of Lotus Valve System—Randomized Clinical Evaluation), as published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, present new insights around incidence and proposed predictors of pacemaker implantation and pacemaker dependency after TAVR.
