The US Department of Housing and Urban Development-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program provides Veterans with a subsidy for rent and case management. In response to the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic, many states enacted stay-at-home orders that may have limited access to case managers. Therefore, we examined the association between statewide stay-at-home orders and utilization of HUD-VASH case management. We linked data on whether a state implemented a statewide stay-at-home order between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020 with VA medical records. Analysis time was centered on the date of a state\'s stay-at-home order (exposed states). For Veterans in states without a stay-at home-order (unexposed states), we used the average date exposed states implemented an order (March 27, 2020). We used a difference-in-difference design and adjusted linear regression models to compare total, in-person, telephone, and video case management encounters per Veteran in the 60 days after a stay-at-home order relative to the prior year. There was no significant difference in utilization of case management between Veterans who lived in states that did and did not issue a stay-at-home order. Across all states and in the 60 days after the index date relative to the prior year, Veterans had more total, telephone and video, and fewer in-person encounters. Statewide stay-at-home orders did not differentially affect utilization of case management. Virtual case management in HUD-VASH can increase program reach; however, the effect of virtual case management on outcomes such as quality of life and Veteran satisfaction is unknown.

The combination of registry and administrative claims data have facilitated research and quality improvement efforts. Using Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) registry data and Medicare claims we have generated centre-specific survival, reintervention and surveillance reports which benchmark participating centres\' performance to the VQI as a whole and to published guidelines. In 2021, we distributed these reports to 303 participating centres. These reports offer an opportunity for centres to evaluate their performance and identify focus areas for quality improvement work.

Whether the volume of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) hospitalizations is associated with outcomes has important implications for the organization of hospital care both during this pandemic and future novel and rapidly evolving high-volume conditions.
We identified COVID-19 hospitalizations at US hospitals in the American Heart Association COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry with ≥10 cases between January and August 2020. We evaluated the association of COVID-19 hospitalization volume and weekly case growth indexed to hospital bed capacity, with hospital risk-standardized in-hospital case-fatality rate (rsCFR).
There were 85 hospitals with 15,329 COVID-19 hospitalizations, with a median hospital case volume was 118 (interquartile range, 57, 252) and median growth rate of 2 cases per 100 beds per week but varied widely (interquartile range: 0.9 to 4.5). There was no significant association between overall hospital COVID-19 case volume and rsCFR (rho, 0.18, P = .09). However, hospitals with more rapid COVID-19 case-growth had higher rsCFR (rho, 0.22, P = 0.047), increasing across case growth quartiles (P trend = .03). Although there were no differences in medical treatments or intensive care unit therapies (mechanical ventilation, vasopressors), the highest case growth quartile had 4-fold higher odds of above median rsCFR, compared with the lowest quartile (odds ratio, 4.00; 1.15 to 13.8, P = .03).
An accelerated case growth trajectory is a marker of hospitals at risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes, identifying sites that may be targets for influx of additional resources or triage strategies. Early identification of such hospital signatures is essential as our health system prepares for future health challenges.

UNASSIGNED: We examined the effect of diabetes on survival in patients with lymphoma and the effect of lymphoma on glycemic control.
UNASSIGNED: Patients with lymphoma with and without diabetes (2005-2016) were retrospectively identified and matched 1:1. Overall survival and progression-free survival were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and glucose levels during the year after cancer diagnosis were compared by mixed models.
UNASSIGNED: For patients with diabetes, mean HbA1c during the year after lymphoma diagnosis was 6.7%. Estimated 5-year progression-free survival for patients with versus without diabetes was 63% (95% CI: 53-76%) versus 58% (95% CI: 46-71%) (p = 0.42).
UNASSIGNED: Lymphoma and its treatment did not affect glycemic control. Diabetes did not decrease lymphoma-specific survival.

UNASSIGNED: We examined the association between diabetes and survival in patients with acute and chronic myeloid leukemia and the association of leukemia with glycemic control.
UNASSIGNED: Patients with leukemia with and without diabetes (2007-2015) were retrospectively identified and matched 1:1 (n = 70 per group). Overall survival was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Hemoglobin A1c and glucose levels the year after leukemia diagnosis were compared by mixed models.
UNASSIGNED: Among 25 of 70 patients with diabetes, mean hemoglobin A1c during the year after leukemia diagnosis was 6.8%. Kaplan-Meier-estimated 3-year survival was 46% for diabetes patients versus 45% for controls (p = 0.79).
UNASSIGNED: No associations were found between leukemia, diabetes, survival and glycemic control.

BACKGROUND: In order to provide juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients with better pre-conceptional and prenatal counselling, we investigated the obstetrical and neonatal outcomes among women with Asian descent.
METHODS: Through the linkage of Taiwan National Health Insurance database and National Birth Registry, we established a population-based birth cohort in Taiwan between 2004 and 2014. In a case control study design, first children born to mothers with JIA are identified and matched with 5 non-JIA controls by maternal age and birth year. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for maternal and neonatal outcomes crude and with adjustment.
RESULTS: Of the 2,100,143 newborn, 778 (0.037%) were born to JIA mothers. Among them, 549 first-born children were included in this research. Our result suggested that babies born to mothers with JIA were more likely to have low birth body weight, with an adjusted OR of 1.35(95% CI: 1.02 to 1.79) when compared to babies born to mothers without. No differences were observed in other perinatal complications between women with and without JIA including stillbirth, prematurity, or small for gestational age. The rate of adverse obstetrical outcomes such as caesarean delivery, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, postpartum hemorrhage and mortality were also similar between the two.
CONCLUSIONS: Adverse obstetrical and neonatal outcomes were limited among Asian mothers with JIA. Intensive care may not be necessary for JIA mothers and their newborns.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency and severity of periodontitis in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) with healthy control individuals, through the evaluation of clinical, serological and microbiological periodontal condition.
METHODS: Patients with a diagnosis of SpA (n=78) and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) naive fulfilling the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS) classification criteria as well as 156 healthy controls matched for age/gender were included. Two trained and calibrated periodontologists performed the periodontal clinical assessment. The presence of periodontitis and its severity were determined according to the criteria established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-American Academy of Periodontology. The clinical periodontal variables, IgG1/IgG2 antibodies against Porphyromonas gingivalis andperiodontopathic bacterial identification, were also established. Comparisons of periodontal characteristics between the patients with SpA and the control group were performed using univariable analyses. A logistic regression analyses was performed to calculate the OR (95% CI) for diagnosis of periodontitis in patients with SpA and matched controls.
RESULTS: A diagnosis of periodontitis was established in 56% in patients with SpA versus 69% of healthy controls (P≤ 0.01). Severe periodontitis was found in 3% versus 12% in SpA versus healthy controls, respectively (P≤ 0.01). There was no significant increase of frequency of any periodontal variable, IgG1/IgG2 antibodies against P. gingivalis or the presence of periodontopathic bacteria between patients with SpA and control group. Periodontitis was not positively associated with a diagnosis of SpA (OR: 0.57, 95% CI 0.32 to 1.00, P=0.05) in the logistic regression analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: We found a lower rather than a higher frequency and severity of periodontitis in patients with SpA in comparison with healthy control individuals. Our findings suggest that there is no positive association between SpA and periodontitis in Colombian patients.

BACKGROUND: This is a prospective clinical pilot case series. Improvement of arm and hand functions after spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the major rehabilitation goals. Electrical stimulation of the primary motor cortex via transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) coupled with high-intensity repetitive motor training may have potential to facilitate improvement in motor function in chronic, incomplete cervical SCI. We investigated the relationship between motor recovery and changes in white matter integrity in response to treatment intervention. This study was conducted in The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Memorial Hermann, Houston, USA.
METHODS: Four right-handed adults with chronic, incomplete cervical SCI (age, 36-63 years, American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale grade C-D) were enrolled in 10 sessions of anodal tDCS at 2 mA versus sham tDCS followed by 1 h of robotic-assisted arm training. Changes in arm and hand function were measured with Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test and Motor Activity Log-Amount of Use. Diffusion tension imaging was used to measure changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) of corticospinal tracts (CSTs).
CONCLUSIONS: After 10 sessions of treatment, we found greater improvement in hand function and hand usage in patients who received active tDCS treatment versus sham treatment. There was an overall positive change in FA values across all patients. We show changes in arm and hand function associated with changes in CST tractographic mapping to quantify the motor system components in chronic incomplete cervical SCI.

To analyse the impact of centralisation of radical cystectomy (RC) provision for bladder cancer in England, on postoperative mortality, length of stay (LoS), complications and re-intervention rates, from implementation of centralisation from 2003 until 2014. In 2002, UK policymakers introduced the \'Improving Outcomes Guidance\' (IOG) for urological cancers after a global cancer surgery commission identified substantial shortcomings in provision of care of RCs. One key recommendation was centralisation of RCs to high-output centres. No study has yet robustly analysed the changes since the introduction of the IOG, to assess a national healthcare system that has mature data on such institutional transformation.
RCs performed for bladder cancer in England between 2003/2004 and 2013/2014 were analysed from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data. Outcomes including 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year all-cause postoperative mortality; median LoS; complication and re-intervention rates, were calculated. Multivariable statistical analysis was undertaken to describe the relationship between each surgeon and the providers\' annual case volume and mortality.
In all, 15 292 RCs were identified. The percentage of RCs performed in discordance with the IOG guidelines reduced from 65% to 12.4%, corresponding with an improvement in 30-day mortality from 2.7% to 1.5% (P = 0.024). Procedures adhering to the IOG guidelines had better 30-day mortality (2.1% vs 2.9%; P = 0.003) than those that did not, and better 1-year mortality (21.5% vs 25.6%; P < 0.001), LoS (14 vs 16 days; P < 0.001), and re- intervention rates (30.0% vs 33.6%; P < 0.001). Each single extra surgery per centre reduced the odds of death at 30 days by 1.5% (odds ratio [OR] 0.985, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.977-0.992) and 1% at 1 year (OR 0.990, 95% CI 0.988-0.993), and significantly reduced rates of re-intervention.
Centralisation has been implemented across England since the publication of the IOG guidelines in 2002. The improved outcomes shown, including that a single extra procedure per year per centre can significantly reduce mortality and re-intervention, may serve to offer healthcare planners an evidence base to propose new guidance for further optimisation of surgical provision, and hope for other healthcare systems that such widespread institutional change is achievable and positive.

OBJECTIVE: Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma (SSEH) manifests from blood accumulating in the epidural space, compressing the spinal cord and leading to acute neurological deficits. Standard therapy is decompressive laminectomy, although spontaneous recoveries have been reported. Sub-optimal therapeutic principles contribute to SSEH\'s 5.7% mortality-which patient will benefit from surgery remains unclear. This study aims to investigate parameters that affect SSEH\'s progression, outlining a best-practice therapeutic approach.
METHODS: Literature review yielded 65 cases from 12 studies. Furthermore, 6 cases were presented from our institution. All data were analyzed under American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) score guidelines.
RESULTS: Fifty percent of SSEH patients do not fully recover. In all, 30% of patients who presented with an ASIA score of A did not improve with surgery, although every SSEH patient who presented at C or D improved. Spontaneous recovery is rare-only 23% of patients were treated conservatively. Seventy-three percent of those made a full recovery, as opposed to the 48% improvement in patients managed surgically. Thirty-three percent of patients managed conservatively had an initial score of A or B, all improving to a score of D or E without surgery. Regardless, conservative management tends toward low-risk presentations. Patients managed conservatively were three times as likely to have an initial score of D than their surgically managed counterparts.
CONCLUSIONS: The degree of pre-operative neural deficit is a major prognostic factor. Conservative management has proven effective, although feasible only if spontaneous recovery is manifested. Decompressive laminectomy should continue to remain readily available, given the inverse correlation between operative interval and recovery.