Clinical

Abstracts featured at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting highlighted the renoprotective benefits of SGLT2 inhibitors in heart failure and diabetic kidney disease while emphasizing the need for strategies to increase their uptake in primary care.

Patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria experienced a long delay in diagnosis, a substantial impact on their quality of life, and often received inadequate treatment, highlighting the need for better management and understanding of the condition.

Galen Shearn-Nance, BS, and Johnie Rose, MD, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University, acknowledge key limitations of their study and prioritize areas for further research.

Panelists discuss how diagnostic challenges in immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy lead to delayed identification, missed treatment windows, and increased risk of irreversible kidney damage due to the requirement for invasive biopsy, nonspecific symptoms, and variable disease presentation.

A panelist discusses how real-world evidence from a large cohort study (n = 31521) presented at AAD 2025 reveals notable differences in treatment patterns, discontinuation rates, persistence, and adherence among psoriasis patients treated with different biologics including tildrakizumab, risankizumab, guselkumab, and ustekinumab, with implications for clinical decision-making based on early versus late disease onset and prior biologic exposure.

Panelists discuss how patients with immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy typically present with microscopic or gross hematuria, often during upper respiratory infections, along with variable proteinuria and sometimes hypertension or decreased kidney function.

No significant differences in treatment or outcomes were found between most Medicare Advantage (MA) and fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries with breast cancer, but Black patients with FFS Medicare were less likely to receive standard treatment.

Data from a meta-analysis of 8 observational studies accounting for more than 26 million people across the globe were evaluated in a new review.

Experts at leading health care conferences last month called for further research into the health effects of microplastics and prompted immediate action to limit exposure.

None of the eteplirsen-treated patients reached a left ventricular ejection fraction below 50% compared with 22.1% of patients in the control group.

Panelists discuss how hesitancy in prescribing amyloid-targeting therapies stems from multiple factors including concerns about ARIA adverse effects, modest clinical efficacy data, high treatment costs and limited insurance coverage, logistical challenges of regular infusions and monitoring, infrastructure requirements for specialized imaging, uncertainty about long-term benefits, and the need for careful patient selection within appropriate disease stages.

Panelists discuss how significant gaps in current uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) therapies include insufficient nonantibiotic preventive strategies, limited options for multidrug-resistant pathogens, inadequate personalized treatment approaches, minimal focus on biofilm disruption, lack of rapid point-of-care diagnostics to guide targeted therapy, poor understanding of the urinary microbiome’s role in infection susceptibility, and insufficient research into immunomodulatory interventions that could address the underlying mechanisms of recurrence and resistance development.

Panelists discuss how ideal candidates for amyloid-targeting therapy typically present with biomarker-confirmed early-stage Alzheimer disease, demonstrate positive amyloid PET scans or CSF biomarkers, exhibit mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, lack contraindications such as significant cerebrovascular disease or anticoagulant use, have adequate support systems for monitoring and managing potential adverse effects, and would benefit from comprehensive pretreatment evaluations including brain MRI and APOE genotyping.

Panelists discuss how fluoroquinolones are generally reserved for uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) only when first-line options are contraindicated or pathogen resistance is confirmed, with treatment duration ranging from single-dose fosfomycin to 3 to 5 days for most antibiotics and 7 to 10 days for nitrofurantoin, noting shorter regimens typically achieve 85% to 95% adherence rates compared with 60% to 75% for longer courses, significantly affecting treatment success, particularly when patient factors such as adverse effects, dosing complexity, and lifestyle disruptions are considered.

A series of new studies from the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting exhibit the association between impaired kidney function and prolonged hospital stays, higher charges, and greater resource utilization.

As Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment grows, Johnie Rose, MD, PhD, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, underscores the importance of ongoing research into outcomes for MA beneficiaries vs fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries.

Vegetables, fish oil, fruit, and high-fiber foods have anti-inflammatory effects, while low-fiber bread and animal fats are associated with pro-inflammatory effects. Diets heavier on these pro-inflammatory foods may be associated with higher risks of brain disorders.

This article appears in the April issue of Evidence-Based Oncology.

Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who experience Richter transformation have a poor prognosis, but ibrutinib may help boost the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies.

A new technology for management of diabetes is cost-effective for patients in the US with type 1 diabetes compared with traditional treatments.

A report published today by Shatterproof and The Bowman Family Foundation underscores the potential of the collaborative care model to lower suicide risk across diverse patient populations and health systems.

The findings indicate that the currently approved 600-mg dose of intravenous ocrelizumab is optimal to significantly slow disability progression for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer who were non-Hispanic Black, older, had lower household income, resided in nonmetropolitan areas, and were unmarried had higher odds of refusing cytoreductive surgery.

Experts agree that the expansion of telehealth was one of the most significant positive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lipoprotein a (Lp[a]) is a valuable tool for assessing a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease, which can facilitate earlier intervention efforts and reduce health care costs, argued Jeremy Wigginton, MD.