Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Mar 2024
[The German Guideline on Liver Transplantation by DGVS and DGAV].
The S2k guideline "Liver Transplantation", jointly developed by the German Society of Gastroenterology, Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS) and the German Society of General and Visceral Surgery (DGAV), represents the first German-language guideline for the care of adult patients before and after liver transplantation. This guideline has been crafted through a collaborative, consensus-based approach, involving experts from various disciplines. It integrates current scientific insights and clinical experience to ensure optimal care for patients undergoing liver transplantation. Targeting health care professionals in diagnostics and therapy, patient advocates, affected individuals, and their families, the guideline aims to establish a framework for common decisions in clinical practice.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Mar 2024
[Diagnostic stewardship in outpatient and hospital medicine with focus on microbiological urinary and bloodstream diagnostics].
Targeted infection diagnosis supports decision-making in the rational use of antibiotics usually encompassed as Antibiotic Stewardship (ABS). Similar to ABS, the term "Diagnostic Stewardship" (DGS) is suggested, whereas DGS includes, beneath general, predominantly microbiological infection diagnostics - with specific pathogen detection, conventional via culture or immunology, increasingly also using molecular biological methods. Especially in microbiology, pre-analytics, analytics and post-analytics play an essential role. Pathogen characterization is accompanied by an antimicrobial susceptibility test (with S-I-R classification), which deserves special attention, especially in the context of ABS. All of these aspects are dealt with in this work and represented using two practical examples of urinary and bloodstream diagnostics that are relevant for outpatients and inpatients.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Mar 2024
[Venous thromboembolism - was is new in the revised AWMF guideline?].
For the diagnosis of a lower-extremity deep vein thrombosis (LEDVT), venous duplex ultrasound is the method of first choice. If a qualified ultrasonography is not timely available, D-dimer testing, and limited ultrasound protocols (point-of-care ultrasound, POCUS) can contribute to therapeutic decision-making when clinical probability is low. A DOAC-based treatment regimen is preferable to a vitamin K antagonist for both acute therapy and secondary prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE). ⋯ Weight restrictions are no longer recommended for apixaban and rivaroxaban, but determination of DOAC trough and peak levels is recommended in the extremely obese and patients after bariatric surgery. In cancer-associated VTE, the direct factor Xa inhibitors are a good and safe alternative to low-molecular weight heparins (LMWH) for many patients; the adherence to oral therapy is also higher. Meaningful initial documentation and structured follow-up after LEDVT and pulmonary embolism (PE) are important in order to make an individualized risk-benefit assessment at the end of the therapy phase with regard to continued pharmacological secondary prophylaxis and to reassess patients' symptoms indicating post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Mar 2024
[Rheumatoid arthritis: Appraisement of the new security warnings for JAK-inhibitors].
Januskinase-Inhibitors (JAKI) are highly effective substances (JAKi) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In terms of efficiency in reduction of disease activity and induction of remission they are partially prior to biologic (b) DMARDs. Presently the four substances tofacitinib, baricitinib, upadacitinib and filgotinib are approved for the treatment of RA. ⋯ On the basis of this trial the Committee for Medical Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) formulated actual recommendations for prescription of JAKi in order to reduce the risk of severe undesirable effects. These apply not only for tofacitinib but as well for all other JAKI named above, as a class effect was supposed. The data and their consequences are discussed and evaluated in this work.