Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, studies have shown a possible association between dementia and adverse outcomes, with mortality rates reportedly as high as 2.4 times greater than compared to patients without dementia. Despite these preliminary findings, the relationship has not been conclusively established. Management of patients with dementia is complex, including a higher risk of [...]

Background: Over 160,000 PEG placement procedures are performed each year in the US and 8.1% of all long-term care residents receive feeding via PEG tube. The objective of the study was to explore reasons for hospital re-admissions of long-term care residents with a PEG-tube. Methods: A one-year retrospective study of long-term care PEG-fed residents over [...]

Background: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19), primarily a respiratory virus, can affect multiple organs, including the heart. Cardiac complications can affect 20-30% of COVID-19 patients and lead to worse morbidity and mortality. Cardiovascular complications can include myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and arrhythmias Myocarditis is a well-known complication among COVID-19 infections, with limited large-scale studies evaluating outcomes [...]

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease where treatment is directed toward reducing and delaying its potentially severe short- and long-term complications. The estimated population (20-79 years old) with diabetes is 32.22 million in the United States, and 12.5% of people live with undiagnosed diabetes (Figure 1). Diabetes Mellitus is currently the most prevalent [...]

Background: Endovascular cardiac valve replacement continues to increase in popularity as it becomes more of a standard of care for valve replacements. As the number of ECVR grows each year, complications associated with these procedures may elevate the cost and limit the viability of these procedures in healthcare systems. Hospitalists need to be aware of [...]

Background: The 2014 ACC/AHA Perioperative Guidelines suggest using the Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI), myocardial infarction or cardiac arrest (MICA), or American College of Surgeons (ACS)-NSQIP calculators for combined patient-surgical risk assessment. However, there is no published data comparing their performance. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of 663 patients seen in our preop clinic who [...]

Background: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery are at risk of anemia from blood loss, inflammation, and red blood cell lysis, necessitating blood product utilization and increasing the risk of post-operative complications. RBT-1 (a combination of stannic protoporfin and iron sucrose) is a novel preconditioning drug administered prior to surgery that upregulates anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and iron scavenging [...]

Background: Length of stay (LOS) outliers are a focus of cost and resource utilization for hospitals in the United States. Limited research has been done to characterize outliers, risk factors, and barriers to discharge. Methods: We conducted a case-control study of inpatient admissions to the general medicine service line between September 2015 and August 2016. [...]

Background: Paracentesis is associated with decreased mortality in patients with advanced liver disease. The prevalence of paracentesis related complications is not well characterized, but prior studies suggest improved safety outcomes when ultrasound guidance is employed.  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality utilizes patient safety indicator (PSI) 27 to identify postoperative bleeding complications. Our aim [...]

Background: Midlines are peripheral vascular devices inserted in the veins of the upper extremity with the tip located at or below the axillary vein. Complications associated with peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) along with documented overuse has led to emerging interest and increasing use of midlines. However, whether midlines are safer than PICCs is not [...]