Symptomatic stones in the kidney or ureters are frequently removed endoscopically. During these procedures, smaller asymptomatic stones are often noted on imaging. Guidelines are unclear about whether to remove or observe these stones and “leave such decisions to the urologist and the patient,” wrote Mathew Sorensen, MD, MS, FACS, and colleagues in NEJM. A prospective study involving shockwave lithotripsy, as well as previous retrospective studies, support observation. Nevertheless, approximately 50% of these small stones become symptomatic within 5 years of initial surgery. The present study ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Three weeks of oral azithromycin seems to be equivalent to six weeks of doxycycline for treatment of severe meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), according to a study published online March 23 in JAMA Ophthalmology. Phit Upaphong, M.D., from Chiang Mai University in Thailand, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial involving patients with moderate-to-severe MGD who were randomly assigned to receive oral azithromycin (1 g once per week for three weeks) or oral doxycycline (200 mg daily for six weeks). Overall, 137 eyes from 137 patients were randomly a ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Treatment with the glutamate modulator, memantine, a drug commonly used to treat Alzheimer disease, results in a significant reduction in hair-pulling and skin-picking symptoms, according to a study published online Feb. 22 in The American Journal of Psychiatry. Jon E. Grant, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Chicago, and colleagues enrolled 100 adults with trichotillomania or skin-picking disorder in a double-blind trial of 10 to 20 mg/day of memantine or placebo for eight weeks. Measures of pulling and picking severity were assessed. Treatment-rel ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — The incidence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is increasing among children and young people aged 0 to 19 years, according to a study published in the April issue of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. Lynne E. Wagenknecht, Dr.P.H., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and colleagues identified children and young people aged 0 to 19 years with a physician diagnosis of type 1 or type 2 diabetes at five U.S. centers between 2002 and 2018 to describe the incidence during a 17-year period. The researchers ident ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — The opportunistic bacterial pathogen Vibrio vulnificus is projected to expand its current range, and infections may be present in every Eastern U.S. state by 2081 to 2100, according to a study published online March 23 in Scientific Reports. Elizabeth J. Archer, from the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed the changing disease distribution using a 30-year database of V. vulnificus cases for the Eastern United States. To identify links to oceanographic and climate data, an ecological niche model was developed, traine ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Atopy is associated with a reduction in the risk for melanoma, according to a study published online Feb. 28 in Melanoma Research. Jenni Komulainen, M.D., from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, and colleagues examined whether a past or present atopic disorder is associated with cutaneous photodamage, pigment cell nevi, and skin cancers among adults at risk for any type of skin cancer (250 men and 246 women; 94 with immunosuppression). The researchers observed no association between atopy and photodamage, keratinocyte carcinomas, or nevus cou ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — System- and patient-level interventions, including taking a best possible medication history (BPMH) in the emergency department, can reduce medication discrepancy rates, according to a study published online March 22 in BMJ Quality & Safety. Jeffrey L. Schnipper, M.D., M.P.H., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a study involving 4,947 patients at 17 North American hospitals that participated in the second Multicenter Medication Reconciliation Quality Improvement Study. The association of each system- and patient-l ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with chronic pouchitis after undergoing restorative proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) for ulcerative colitis, treatment with vedolizumab is more effective than placebo for inducing remission, according to a study published in the March 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Simon Travis, D.Phil., from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a phase 4 double-blind, randomized trial to assess vedolizumab in adults in whom chronic pouchitis developed after undergoing IPAA for u ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Transcatheter arterialization of the deep veins is safe for patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia and no conventional surgical or endovascular revascularization treatment options, according to a study published online March 29 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Mehdi H. Shishehbor, D.O., from the University Hospitals Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute in Cleveland, and colleagues conducted a prospective multicenter study to examine the effect of transcatheter arterialization of the deep veins in patients with nonhealing ulcers and n ..read more

FRIDAY, March 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Mediterranean and low-fat dietary programs seem beneficial for reducing mortality and morbidity among patients with elevated cardiovascular risk, according to a review published online March 29 in The BMJ. Giorgio Karam, from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to determine the relative efficacy of structured named diet and health behavior programs for prevention of mortality and major cardiovascular events in patients with elevated cardio ..read more