US Public Health Gains from Improved Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia: A Simulation Study of NHANES Adults Treated to Guideline-Directed Therapy.

Importance: Hypercholesterolemia is widely undertreated.

Objective: To project anticipated improvements in treatment and outcomes under full implementation of US and European pharmacologic treatment recommendations.

Design, Setting, And Participants: The study sample included a total of 4980 adults aged 40-75 years from the 2013 through March 2020 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Impact of Race on Classification of Atherosclerotic Risk Using a National Cardiovascular Risk Prediction Tool.

Introduction: The use of race in clinical risk prediction tools may exacerbate racial disparities in healthcare access and outcomes. This study quantified the number of individuals reclassified for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease owing to a change in their race alone on the basis of a commonly used risk prediction tool.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of individuals aged 40-75 years without a history of cardiovascular events, diabetes, or other high-risk features using the 2005-2018 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey.

Assessment of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (REMS) for prasugrel (EFFIENT): A narrative review.

Background: Prasugrel, first approved in 2009, was subject to a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to mitigate the risk of bleeding associated with its use.

Methods: We performed a narrative review of FDA documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Document classification and primary evidence extraction was performed by three authors (TM, JC, and SL).

Characteristics of Prescription Drug Fills Using Pharmacy-Pharmacy Benefit Manager Discount Programs: The "GoodRx" Model.

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize products using pharmacy-pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) discounts and to estimate the association among such discounts, prescription utilization, and out-of-pocket costs.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study using IQVIA's Formulary Impact Analyzer, which contains anonymized, individual-level pharmacy claims representing US retail pharmacy transactions. We focused on 20 products with the greatest number of transactions using a pharmacy-PBM discount.

Medical use and combination drug therapy among US adult users of central nervous system stimulants: a cross-sectional analysis.

Objective: Examine patterns of adult medical use of amphetamine and methylphenidate stimulant drugs, classified in the USA as Schedule II controlled substances with a high potential for psychological or physical dependence.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting And Participants: Prescription drug claims for US adults, age 19-64 years, included in a commercial insurance claims database with 9.

Estimated Use of Prescription Medications Among Individuals Incarcerated in Jails and State Prisons in the US.

Importance: Although incarcerated individuals experience higher rates of chronic conditions, little is known regarding the use of prescription medications in jails and prisons in the US.

Objective: To characterize treatment with prescription medications in jails and state prisons relative to noncorrectional settings in the US.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional analysis using 2018 to 2020 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimated the prevalence of disease among recently incarcerated and nonincarcerated adults in the US.

How to predict return to work after lumbar discectomy: answers from the NeuroPoint-SD registry.

OBJECTIVE To date, the factors that predict whether a patient returns to work after lumbar discectomy are poorly understood. Information on postoperative work status is important in analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the procedure. METHODS An observational prospective cohort study was completed at 13 academic and community sites (NeuroPoint-Spinal Disorders [NeuroPoint-SD] registry).

Predictive value of 3-month lumbar discectomy outcomes in the NeuroPoint-SD Registry.

Object: The authors have established a multicenter registry to assess the efficacy and costs of common lumbar spinal procedures using prospectively collected outcomes. Collection of these data requires an extensive commitment of resources from each site. The aim of this study was to determine whether outcomes data from shorter-interval follow-up could be used to accurately estimate long-term outcome following lumbar discectomy.

Postoperative cervical sagittal imbalance negatively affects outcomes after surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Study Design: Prospective observational cohort study.

Objective: To determine if postoperative cervical sagittal balance is an independent predictor of health-related quality of life outcome after surgery for cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Summary Of Background Data: Both ventral and dorsal fusion procedures for CSM are effective at reducing the symptoms of myelopathy.

Cost-effectiveness of lumbar discectomy and single-level fusion for spondylolisthesis: experience with the NeuroPoint-SD registry.

Object: There is significant practice variation and uncertainty as to the value of surgical treatments for lumbar spine disorders. The authors' aim was to establish a multicenter registry to assess the efficacy and costs of common lumbar spinal procedures by using prospectively collected outcomes.

Methods: An observational prospective cohort study was completed at 13 academic and community sites.

Radiographic predictors of delayed instability following decompression without fusion for degenerative grade I lumbar spondylolisthesis.

Object: It is not known whether adding fusion to lumbar decompression is necessary for all patients undergoing surgery for degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis with symptomatic stenosis. Determining specific radiographic traits that might predict delayed instability following decompression surgery might guide clinical decision making regarding the utility of up-front fusion in patients with degenerative Grade I spondylolisthesis.

Methods: Patients with Grade I degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (3-14 mm) with symptomatic stenosis were prospectively enrolled from a single site between May 2002 and September 2009 and treated with decompressive laminectomy without fusion.

The effect of carotid endarterectomy on cerebral blood flow and cognitive function.

Background: The effect of carotid endarterectomy on cognitive function is not fully understood. This study aims to characterize changes in cerebral blood flow after carotid endarterectomy and to determine if patients with improvement in cerebral blood flow have improved cognitive function after endarterectomy.

Methods: Cerebral blood flow was measured preoperatively and 1 month postoperatively using phase contrast magnetic resonance angiography.

Cigarette smoking and the risk of dying from tobacco-related malignancies by race.

Background: The aim was to investigate whether differential risks from cigarette smoking contribute to the disproportionate burden of tobacco-related malignancies other than lung cancer (TRM-nonLC) suffered by African Americans (AAs) compared to Caucasians.

Materials And Methods: Data from two prospective cohort studies (39% AAs) established in 1960 and followed through 1990 and 2000 in the southeastern U.S.

Redundant proteolytic mechanisms process seed storage proteins in the absence of seed-type members of the vacuolar processing enzyme family of cysteine proteases.

Seed-type vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE) activity is predicted to be essential for post-translational proteolysis of seed storage proteins in the protein storage vacuole of developing seeds. To test this hypothesis, we examined the protein profiles of developing and germinating seeds from Arabidopsis plants containing transposon-insertional knockout mutations in the genes that encode the two seed-type VPEs in Arabidopsis, betaVPE, which was identified previously, and deltaVPE, which is described here. The effects of these mutations were studied individually in single mutants and together in a double mutant.