Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is known to be associated with subclinical cardiomyopathy, diastolic dysfunction and increased risk of cardiovascular death.
HIV Prevention Use Remains Too Low in U.S. Military
Even though about 20.9% of U.S. servicemembers report a high risk of HIV infection, only about 2,000 of them had accessed HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), as of 2017.
SCT-Related Deaths Might Be Underestimated in U.S. Military
Sickle cell trait (SCT), a condition in which a person has one abnormal allele of the hemoglobin beta gene, affects an estimated 5.02% of non-Hispanic blacks, 1.08% of Hispanics and 0.1% of whites in the U.S. military.
Achieving Treatment-Free Remission in CML: Best Approaches, Best Candidates
In less than two decades, the advent of targeted therapies transformed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) from a death sentence with a five-year survival rate of just 22% to a chronic condition with five-year survival exceeding 90%.
Severe COVID-19 Illness Low for Veterans After Vaccination Plus Booster
Veteran patients who received a COVID-19 vaccination series, plus a booster vaccine dose, had a low incidence of hospitalization, death or severe illness from COVID-19, according to a new study.
VA Underused Pharmacotherapies for COVID-19 When First Authorized
When antiviral agents and monoclonal antibodies were first authorized for use at the beginning of the year, few of them were prescribed at the VA, according to a new study.
Veterans With Service-Linked Disabilities Fare Worse After TKA
Service connection (SC) status appears to worsen outcomes for veterans receiving total knee-arthroplasty, according to a new report.
Veterans With RA Face Higher Mortality Risks Than Those Without
Although lessening over time, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the VHA have higher risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality, according to a new study.
Intra-Articular NSAIDs Might Be Future OA Treatment
Are intra-articular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs a viable option for treatment of osteoarthritis in adults?
Telehealth Rollback Puts Veterans Receiving Opioid Addiction Treatment at Risk
When the COVID-19 pandemic prompted federal policy changes increasing the use of telehealth delivery, one of those was the increased delivery of buprenorphine
OIG: Protocols to Help Prevent Suicides Not Always Followed at VA
Despite suicide prevention being a top priority at VA, clinicians are failing to consistently ask patients at risk for suicide about their access to guns.
Race Appeared to be Factor in Treatment of Veterans Hospitalized With COVID-19
Black veteran patients received different medical interventions than white patients when hospitalized with COVID-19 in VAMCs across the country, according to a new study.
VA Study: Paxlovid Can Reduce Risk of ‘Long COVID’ by About 25%
New research from the VA determined that Paxlovid can reduce the risk of symptoms of long COVID by about 25%.
VA Frailty Index Associated With Survival in AML Patients
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a particularly aggressive blood cancer that is most successfully treated with intensive chemotherapy. As the average age at diagnosis is 68, patients diagnosed with the disease are often too frail to withstand potentially curative treatment with induction regimens.
New BTK Inhibitor Extends Progression-Free Survival in CLL
A late-breaking presentation at the 64th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in New Orleans on Dec. 13 demonstrated that zanubrutinib outperformed ibrutinib in terms of both objective response rate and progression-free survival for patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).
Is It Time to Rethink Stem Cell Transplantation in Young Patients With MM?
BETHESDA, MD—Multiple myeloma (MM) is primarily a disease of the elderly, with an average age at diagnosis of 68. Still, adolescents and young adults (AYAs) do develop the blood disease and represent about 5% of all new cases. Because MM is so uncommon in younger age...
New Models Might Better Predict Bleeding Risks in Cancer Patients With AF
Cancer patients have both an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF), and those with the condition have a higher risk of cardiovascular-related death at a year.
Survival Outcomes for High Risk Large B-Cell Lymphoma at the VHA
Even with the availability of monoclonal antibody medications, VA patients with primary refractory or relapsed large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) have poor outcomes.
COVID-19 Minimally Affected Prescriptions, Hospital Admissions for Veterans with MM
As COVID-19 burst upon the world stage, medical care rapidly shifted from in-person visits to telemedicine consultations with varying results among patients with chronic conditions, cancer and other diseases that required regular and ongoing interaction with medical personnel.
Does Metformin Reduce Cancer Risk? The VA Weighs In
Over the last decade, a number of studies have examined a possible association between metformin use and reduction in the risk of cancer, with contradictory results.
VA Research Finds No Link Between First-Line ICIs, Embolism Risk
Retrospective studies suggest that receipt of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may increase the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) compared to chemotherapy.
Surprise! Some Secondary Primary Malignancies in MM Linked to Longer Overall Survival
For 70 years, physicians and researchers have been aware of secondary primary malignancies (SPM) in patients with multiple myeloma.
The Role of Cardiac Screening for CLL Patients on Ibrutinib
Ibrutinib transformed treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) when introduced in 2014. While it continues to be widely used, the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor is associated with a significant risk of cardiac adverse events, particularly cardiac arrhythmias.
Improving a Risk Model for VTE in Lung Cancer Patients Receiving ICI
The St. Louis VA investigators and colleagues at the Fred Hutchison Cancer Institute in Seattle sought to identify specific risk factors that predispose patients to ICI-associated VTE and could be used to stratify outpatients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for thromboprophylaxis.
Increased Risk of COVID-19 Breakthrough Persists in MM Patients After Boosting
BOSTON—Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians have been aware of the greater risk posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to patients with compromised immune systems. Among patients with multiple myeloma (MM), more than 30% died of the virus in early waves before the...
Novel Agents Supplant Chemotherapy as 1L CLL Therapy in VA
For years, chemotherapy provided the only hope for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
VA Researchers Illuminate a New Blood Cancer, a Novel Type of CLL
In the case of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) with prolymphocytic progression, a newly defined and very rare type of cancer, the scale of the VA and the number of patients it treats with leukemia allowed VA researchers to describe the characteristics and progression of the disease and begin to understand how it responds to current therapies.
VA Works to Comply With Expansion of Eligibility Under New PACT Act
Now that the first major provisions of the PACT Act went into effect at the beginning of last month, what happens next?
Pharmacist Email Alerts Don’t Reduce Opioid, Benzodiazepines Prescribing
Email alerts sent from pharmacists to practitioners who prescribe opioids and benzodiazepines fail to reduce concurrent prescribing of these medications, which can put patients at risk of overdose, according to a new study.
Demographics of Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Patients Appear to Be Changing
The typical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patient appears to have changed somewhat, according to a new study, which pointed out that “clinicians are encountering a phenotype of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy evolving from the disease recognized several years ago.”
