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Purpose: To determine the treatment patterns and outcomes of pediatric retinal detachments (RDs) associated with hereditary vitreoretinopathies., Design: Retrospective cohort analysis using IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight) database., Participants: Patients < 18 years old with a rhegmatogenous RD and a systemic disorder associated with vitreoretinal degeneration (e.g., Stickler syndrome) or other malformation of the vitreous from 2013-2019., Methods: Cases were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revisions (ICD-9, ICD-10) diagnostic codes from the IRIS® Registry cohort. Other hereditary vitreoretinopathies that are not encoded by specific ICD code(s) were captured by text search. Nonspecific vitreous abnormality ICD codes were also included. Exclusion criteria included traumatic retinal detachments using ICD codes for ocular trauma and serous or exudative retinal detachment. Surgical procedures were identified using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for repair of retinal detachment. Baseline demographic information collected included age, gender, race/ethnicity, geographic region of the provider location, and health insurance status., Main Outcome Measures: Main outcomes measured in this study were average time to first surgery, number of eyes presenting with bilateral detachments, and choice of initial surgical procedure., Results: A total of 2115 eyes of 1722 patients were identified (mean age, 10.4 years; 58% male). The median time to first surgery was 7 days (interquartile range, 40 days). One thousand four hundred seven eyes of 1134 patients had ≥ 1 year of follow-up, with 506 eyes (36%) developing a fellow eye RD. Thirty-three percent of patients presenting with bilateral detachments, and 349 eyes had initial RD surgery within 1 year of the index date documented by CPT code. Fellow eye detachment occurred a mean of 32 days after initial presentation. The mean number of surgeries per eye within 1 year was 1.68. Best-corrected visual acuity did not improve from a baseline 20/54 to 20/62. The initial procedure was most commonly complex RD repair (n = 176), followed by scleral buckle (n = 102), pars plana vitrectomy (n = 89), laser (n = 59), cryotherapy (n = 5), and pneumatic retinopexy (n = 5). There were 51 new diagnoses of glaucoma and 37 new diagnoses of aphakia within 1 year after the surgical procedure., Conclusions: IRIS Registry data provide insight into rare pediatric vitreoretinopathy-associated RDs, which have a high rate of reoperation and fellow eye involvement., Financial Disclosures: Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Academy of Ophthalmology.)

Purpose: To determine the cumulative incidence of strabismus surgery after pediatric cataract surgery and identify the associated risk factors., Design: US population-based insurance claims retrospective cohort study., Participants: Patients ≤ 18 years old who underwent cataract surgery in 2 large databases: Optum Clinformatics Data Mart (2003-2021) and IBM MarketScan (2007-2016)., Methods: Individuals with at least 6 months of prior enrollment were included, and those with a history of strabismus surgery were excluded. The primary outcome was strabismus surgery within 5 years of cataract surgery. The risk factors investigated included age, sex, persistent fetal vasculature (PFV), intraocular lens (IOL) placement, nystagmus and strabismus diagnoses before cataract surgery, and cataract surgery laterality., Main Outcome Measures: Kaplan-Meier estimated cumulative incidence of strabismus surgery 5 years after cataract surgery and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models., Results: Strabismus surgery was performed on 271/5822 children included in this study. The cumulative incidence of strabismus surgery within 5 years after cataract surgery was 9.6% (95% CI, 8.3%-10.9%). Children who underwent strabismus surgery were more likely to be of younger age at the time of cataract surgery, of female sex, have a history of PFV or nystagmus, have a pre-existing strabismus diagnosis, and less likely to have an IOL placed (all P < 0.001). Factors associated with strabismus surgery in the multivariable analysis included age 1 to 4 years (HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.36-0.69; P < 0.001) and age > 5 years (HR, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.09-0.18; P  < 0.001) compared with age < 1 year at time of cataract surgery, male sex (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.59-0.95; P  < 0.001), IOL placement (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.54-0.94; P  = 0.016), and strabismus diagnosis before cataract surgery (HR, 4.13; 95% CI, 3.17-5.38; P < 0.001). Among patients with strabismus diagnosis before cataract surgery, younger age at cataract surgery was the only factor associated with increased risk of strabismus surgery., Conclusions: Approximately 10% of patients will undergo strabismus surgery within 5 years after pediatric cataract surgery. Children of younger age, female sex, and with a pre-existing strabismus diagnosis undergoing cataract surgery without IOL placement are at greater risk., Financial Disclosures: The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article., (© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Academy of Ophthalmology.)

Background: Medication Assistance Programs (MAP) provide needed medications to uninsured and underinsured patients. In 2019, 24% of adults had difficulty affording their medications. Literature has shown enrollment in MAP decreased emergency department (ED) visits, hospital admission, and total hospital cost., Objectives: Primary objective described cost savings of MAP in patients identified by pharmacists. Secondary objectives included comparing rates one year before and after MAP utilization for hospitalization, ED visits, and combined hospitalization and ED visits. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of pharmacists in improving medication access., Methods: A retrospective observational cohort was conducted in primary care and family medicine resident clinics. Inclusion criteria included one or more visits with a pharmacist and MAP application between January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. The primary objective and demographics were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Secondary objectives were analyzed using paired t -test., Results: In total, 18 patients saved $187,789, with an average of $10,432 per patient, for 35 medications. There were no statistically significant differences in average hospitalizations, ED visits, and combined hospitalizations and ED visits., Conclusions: Pharmacists utilizing MAP resulted in cost savings and increased patient access to medications. The study did not find differences in hospital visits, ED visits, or combined hospital and ED visits., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Background: People with a maternal substance use disorder (SUD) may experience a lack of access to necessary healthcare and more specifically, postpartum healthcare. It is not known whether increased insurance coverage introduced by Medicaid expansion has improved postpartum healthcare utilization among this population., Methods: Oregon 2008-2016 birth certificates and Medicaid claims were used to examine whether continuous insurance enrollment and postpartum healthcare utilization increased post-Medicaid expansion in a population with and without SUD ( n  = 9,337). International Classification of Diseases codes were used to identify deliveries, SUD, and postpartum healthcare. Univariable and multivariable generalized linear regression with standard errors clustered by individual were used to estimate the association between Medicaid expansion and postpartum healthcare utilization, stratified by maternal SUD., Results: Among the 10.3% with SUD, expansion was not associated with increased continuous enrollment or postpartum healthcare utilization. Among those without SUD, post-expansion deliveries were associated with increased continuous enrollment (+105.0 days; 95% CI=96.9-113.2), total (+4.4; 95% CI=2.9-6.0), postpartum (+0.3; 95% CI=0.2-0.4), inpatient (+0.9; 95% CI=0.7-1.1), outpatient (+2.3; 95% CI=1.4-3.3), office (+0.9; 95% CI=0.2-1.6), and emergency department (+0.3; 95% CI=0.1-0.5) visits. Among deliveries to postpartum people with SUD, 27.2% had opioid use disorder (OUD); expansion was associated with increased OUD medication use (12.0% vs 18.3%) and number of fills (6.7 vs 16.6)., Conclusions: Medicaid expansion in Oregon was only associated with increased Medicaid-financed healthcare utilization for postpartum people without SUD, with the exception of those with OUD, demonstrating the need for assessing various strategies to improve postpartum healthcare utilization., Competing Interests: None., (© 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: To determine the cumulative incidence of retinal detachment (RD) repair following pediatric cataract surgery and identify the associated risk factors., Design: US population-based insurance claims retrospective cohort study., Participants: Patients ≤ 18 years old who underwent cataract surgery in 2 large databases: Optum Clinformatics (2003-2021) and IBM MarketScan (2007-2016)., Methods: Individuals with ≥ 6 months of prior enrollment were included, and those with a history of RD, RD repair, traumatic cataract, spherophakia, or ectopia lentis were excluded. The primary outcome was time between initial cataract surgery and RD repair. The risk factors investigated included age, sex, persistent fetal vasculature (PFV), prematurity, intraocular lens (IOL) placement, and pars plana lensectomy approach., Main Outcome Measures: Kaplan-Meier estimated cumulative incidence of RD repair 5 years after cataract surgery and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models., Results: Retinal detachment repair was performed on 47 of 3289 children included in this study. The cumulative incidence of RD repair within 5 years of cataract surgery was 2.0% (95% CI, 1.3%-2.6%). Children requiring RD repair were more likely to have a history of prematurity or PFV and less likely to have an IOL placed (all P  < 0.001). Factors associated with RD repair in the multivariable analysis included a history of prematurity (HR, 6.89; 95% CI, 3.26-14.56; P < 0.001), PFV diagnosis (HR, 8.20; 95% CI, 4.11-16.37; P < 0.001), and IOL placement (HR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.21-0.91; P  = 0.03). Age at surgery, sex, and pars plana lensectomy approach were not significantly associated with RD repair after adjusting for all other covariates., Conclusions: Approximately 2% of patients will undergo RD repair within 5 years of pediatric cataract surgery. Children with a history of PFV and prematurity undergoing cataract surgery without IOL placement are at the greatest risk., (© 2022 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.)

Purpose: Investigate associations of natural environmental exposures with exudative and nonexudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) across the United States., Design: Database study., Participants: Patients aged ≥ 55 years who were active in the IRIS Registry from 2016 to 2018 were analyzed. Patients were categorized as nonexudative, inactive exudative, and active exudative AMD by International Classification of Diseases 10 th Revision and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Patients without provider-level ZIP codes matching any ZIP code tabulation area were excluded., Methods: Environmental data were obtained from public sources including the US Geological Survey, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency. Multiple variable, mixed effects logistic regression models with random intercepts per ZIP code tabulation area quantified the association of each environmental variable with any AMD versus non-AMD patients, any exudative AMD versus nonexudative AMD, and active exudative AMD versus inactive exudative and nonexudative AMD using 3 separate models, while adjusting for age, sex, race, insurance type, smoking history, and phakic status., Main Outcome Measure: Odds ratios for environmental factors., Results: A total of 9 884 527 patients were included. Elevation, latitude, solar irradiance measured in global horizontal irradiance (GHI) and direct normal irradiance (DNI), temperature and precipitation variables, and pollution variables were included in our models. Statistically significant associations with active exudative AMD were GHI (odds ratio [OR], 3.848; 95% confidence interval [CI] with Bonferroni correction, 1.316-11.250), DNI (OR, 0.581; 95% CI, 0.370-0.913), latitude (OR, 1.110; 95% CI, 1.046-1.178), ozone (OR, 1.014; 95% CI, 1.004-1.025), and nitrogen dioxide (OR, 1.005; 95% CI, 1.000-1.010). The only significant environmental associations with any AMD were inches of snow in the winter (OR, 1.005; 95% CI, 1.001-1.009) and ozone (OR, 1.011; 95% CI, 1.003-1.019)., Conclusions: The strongest environmental associations differed between AMD subgroups. The solar variables GHI, DNI, and latitude were significantly associated with active exudative AMD. Two pollutant variables, ozone and nitrogen dioxide, also showed positive associations with AMD. Further studies are warranted to investigate the clinical relevance of these associations. Our curated environmental dataset has been made publicly available at https://github.com/uw-biomedical-ml/AMD&#95;environmental&#95;dataset., (© 2022 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.)

Background: Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a rare connective tissue disorder that results from mutations in collagen genes. Potentially related to laxity and resultant degenerative changes, adult EDS patients may require posterior lumbar fusion (PLF). However, with low numbers, adequately powered outcome studies have been limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate risk of complications, readmissions and reoperations in adult patients with EDS following single-level PLF., Methods: A retrospective study using the 2010 to 2020 MSpine Pearldiver dataset was performed. Adult patients undergoing single-level PLF (excluding any with anterior procedures) with and without EDS for which at least 90-day follow up was available were identified. Any cases performed for trauma, tumor, or infection were excluded.Single-level PLF EDS patients were then matched 1:4 with PLF non-EDS patients based on age, sex, and Elixhauser Comorbidity Index (ECI). Rates of ninety-day any, severe, and minor adverse events as well as readmissions were tabulated and compared with chi-square tests. Multivariate logistical regression was then performed (controlling for age, sex, and ECI).Reoperation surgeries over five years were assessed, Kaplan-Meier survival curves generated, and curves of those with and without EDS were compared with log rank test., Results: In total, there were 170,100 single-level PLF case identified, of which 242 (0.14%) had EDS. After matching, there were 957 without EDS and 239 with EDS. On multivariate regression, there were no significant differences in 90-day any, severe, or minor adverse events, or readmissions (p>0.05 for each). Over five years, there were also not significant differences in rates of reoperation (p> 0.05)., Conclusions: For EDS patients undergoing PLF, the current study identified similar 90-day adverse events and 5-year reoperation rates compared to those without EDS. These findings may be useful for patient counseling and surgical planning for those with this rare condition., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Background: Multilevel cervical pathology can often be addressed via anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) or posterior cervical fusion (PCF). While posterior procedures may be technically easier for four-level pathology, there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches that make it of interest to compare outcomes. The purpose was to compare perioperative adverse events and long-term cervical reoperation rates of four-level ACDF and PCF., Methods: The 2010 to Q1 2020 PearlDiver MSpine database was queried. Patients undergoing isolated elective four-level ACDF or PCF were identified (excluding cases performed for trauma, neoplasm, and/or infections) and 1:1 matched based on age, sex, and comorbidities. Ninety-day adverse events were compared with univariate and multivariate analyses. Five-year incidences of subsequent cervical reoperations were also compared., Results: A total of 3,714 patients 1:1 matched for four-level ACDF and PCF performed for degenerative pathologies were identified (1,857 for each of the study groups). On multivariate analysis controlling for age, sex, and comorbidities, PCF was found to have significantly greater odds ratios (OR) for any (OR 2.12), serious (OR 2.31), and minor (OR 1.95) adverse events, as well as for length of stay ≥3 days (OR 1.76), p<0.001 for each. However, PCF had nearly three times lower odds of dysphagia compared to ACDF (OR 0.36, p<0.001). At five years, four-level ACDF cases were found to have significantly higher reoperation rates compared to four-level PCF cases (26.3% vs 18.3%, p<0.001)., Conclusion: In evaluating four-level cervical cases, compared to anterior approach cases, posterior approach procedures were associated with approximately double the odds of any, serious, and minor adverse events, but around one third the rate of dysphagia and two thirds the rate of five-year reoperations. While the pathology may dictate surgical approach, this data suggests that the choice between four-level anterior versus posterior approach becomes a balance of risks/benefit considerations., Competing Interests: One or more authors declare potential competing financial interests or personal relationships as specified on required ICMJE Disclosure Forms., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Purpose: To investigate the incidence, seasonal variation, and differences among age, sex, and race for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair, retinal break (RB) treatment, and posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) in the Intelligent Research in Sight (IRIS) Registry., Design: Retrospective database study., Participants: Patients in the IRIS Registry who underwent RRD repair, RB treatment, or cataract surgery (CS) based on Current Procedural Terminology codes and PVD diagnosis based on International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revision, codes., Methods: Daily incidence rates were defined as the ratio of patients who underwent RRD repair or RB treatment and patients with a diagnosis of PVD to the total number of patients followed on a given day within the IRIS Registry. The CS group was included as a comparison for seasonal variation. Rates were stratified by decade of life, sex, and race., Main Outcome Measures: Time series trends for incidence rates of RRD, RB, and PVD., Results: A total of 7 115 774 patients received a diagnosis of incident PVD, 237 646 patients underwent RRD repair, and 359 022 patients underwent RB treatment. Also included were 5 940 448 patients who underwent CS. The mean daily incidence for RRD repair, RB treatment, PVD diagnosis, and CS were 0.46 per 100 000 patients, 0.70 per 100 000 patients, 13.90 per 100 000 patients, and 11.80 per 100 000 patients, respectively. Men showed higher incidence of RRD repair and RB treatment than women, whereas women showed higher incidence of PVD diagnosis. Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment incidence was higher in White people compared with other races. Seasonal decreases in PVD, RB treatment, RRD repair, and CS corresponded to national holidays, with larger decreases in winter months. Kaplan-Meier estimates showed that RRD repair and RB treatment typically occurred within 60 days of PVD diagnosis., Conclusions: Within the IRIS Registry, the highest incidence of RRD was in the 6th and 7th decade of life. There was a higher incidence of RRD repair and RB treatment in men compared with women. The seasonal variation associated with national holidays was less pronounced for RRD repair and RB treatment., (© 2022 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.)

Background: Clinical practice guidelines recommend the use of bone-targeting agents for preventing skeletal-related events (SREs) among patients with bone metastases from solid tumors. The anti-RANKL monoclonal antibody denosumab is approved for the prevention of SREs in patients with bone metastases from solid tumors. However, real-world data are lacking on the impact of individual risk factors for SREs, specifically in the context of denosumab discontinuation., Purpose: We aim to identify risk factors associated with SRE incidence following denosumab discontinuation using a machine learning approach to help profile patients at a higher risk of developing SREs following discontinuation of denosumab treatment., Methods: Using the Optum PanTher Electronic Health Record repository, patients diagnosed with incident bone metastases from primary solid tumors between January 1, 2007, and September 1, 2019, were evaluated for inclusion in the study. Eligible patients received ≥ 2 consecutive 120 mg denosumab doses on a 4-week (± 14 days) schedule with a minimum follow-up of ≥ 1 year after the last denosumab dose, or an SRE occurring between days 84 and 365 after denosumab discontinuation. Extreme gradient boosting was used to develop an SRE risk prediction model evaluated on a test dataset. Multiple variables associated with patient demographics, comorbidities, laboratory values, treatments, and denosumab exposures were examined as potential factors for SRE risk using Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP). Univariate analyses on risk factors with the highest importance from pooled and tumor-specific models were also conducted., Results: A total of 1,414 adult cancer patients (breast: 40%, prostate: 30%, lung: 13%, other: 17%) were eligible, of whom 1,133 (80%) were assigned to model training and 281 (20%) to model evaluation. The median age at inclusion was 67 (range, 19-89) years with a median duration of denosumab treatment of 253 (range, 88-2,726) days; 490 (35%) patients experienced ≥ 1 SRE 83 days after denosumab discontinuation. Meaningful model performance was evaluated by an area under the receiver operating curve score of 77% and an F1 score of 62%; model precision was 60%, with 63% sensitivity and 78% specificity. SHAP identified several significant factors for the tumor-agnostic and tumor-specific models that predicted an increased SRE risk following denosumab discontinuation, including prior SREs, shorter denosumab treatment duration, ≥ 4 clinic visits per month with at least one hospitalization (all-cause) event from the baseline period up to discontinuation of denosumab, younger age at bone metastasis, shorter time to denosumab initiation from bone metastasis, and prostate cancer., Conclusion: This analysis showed a higher cumulative number of SREs, prior SREs relative to denosumab initiation, a higher number of hospital visits, and a shorter denosumab treatment duration as significant factors that are associated with an increased SRE risk after discontinuation of denosumab, in both the tumor-agnostic and tumor-specific models. Our machine learning approach to SRE risk factor identification reinforces treatment guidance on the persistent use of denosumab and has the potential to help clinicians better assess a patient's need to continue denosumab treatment and improve patient outcomes., Competing Interests: Dionna Jacobson, Benoit Cadieux, and Basia A. Bachmann, were employees of Amgen. Marko Rehn and Hossam Saad are employees and stockholders of Amgen. Celestia S. Higano – consulting fees: Bayer, Ferring, Clovis Oncology, Blue Earth Diagnostics, Janssen, Hinova, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Carrick Therapeutics, Novartis, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Astellas Pharma, Myovant Sciences, Genentech, Menarini; contracted research support: Aragon Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Medivation, Emergent BioSolutions, Bayer, Roche, Astellas Pharma, Clovis Oncology, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, eFFECTOR Therapeutics; ownership interest: CTI BioPharma CORP; honoraria: Astellas Pharma. David H. Henry has nothing to disclose. Alison T. Stopeck – consulting fees: Amgen, AstraZeneca, Athenex, BeiGene, Exact Sciences; contracted research support: Amgen, Genomic Health, AstraZeneca, Seattle Genetics; speaker’s bureau: Genomic Health; honoraria: Amgen., (© 2022 The Authors.)

Objectives: To determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of algorithms to identify patients with major (at the ankle or more proximal) lower extremity amputation (LEA) using Department of Veterans Affairs electronic medical records (EMR) and to evaluate whether PPV varies by sex, age, and race., Design: We conducted a validation study comparing EMR determined LEA status to self-reported LEA (criterion standard)., Setting: Veterans who receive care at the Department of Veterans Affairs., Participants: We invited a national sample of patients (N=699) with at least 1 procedure or diagnosis code for major LEA to participate. We oversampled women, Black men, and men ≤40 years of age., Interventions: Not applicable., Main Outcome Measure: We calculated PPV estimates and false negative percentages for 7 algorithms using EMR LEA procedure and diagnosis codes relative to self-reported major LEA., Results: A total of 466 veterans self-reported their LEA status (68%). PPVs for the 7 algorithms ranged from 89% to 100%. The algorithm that required a single diagnosis or procedure code had the lowest PPV (89%). The algorithm that required at least 1 procedure code had the highest PPV (100%) but also had the highest proportion of false negatives (66%). Algorithms that required at least 1 procedure code or 2 or more diagnosis codes 1 month to 1 year apart had high PPVs (98%-99%) but varied in terms of false negative percentages. PPV estimates were higher among men than women but did not differ meaningfully by age or race, after accounting for sex., Conclusion: PPVs were higher if 1 procedure or at least 2 diagnosis codes were required; the difference between algorithms was marked by sex. Investigators should consider trade-offs between PPV and false negatives to identify patients with LEA using EMRs.

Although cancer screening has greatly reduced colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer morbidity and mortality over the last few decades, adherence to cancer screening guidelines remains inconsistent, particularly among certain demographic groups. This study aims to validate a rule-based algorithm to determine adherence to cancer screening. A novel screening algorithm was applied to electronic health record (EHR) from an urban healthcare system in New York City to automatically determine adherence to national cancer screening guidelines for patients deemed eligible for screening. First, a subset of patients was randomly selected from the EHR and their data were exported in a de-identified manner for manual review of screening adherence by two teams of human reviewers. Interrater reliability for manual review was calculated using Cohen's Kappa and found to be high in all instances. The sensitivity and specificity of the algorithm was calculated by comparing the algorithm to the final manual dataset. When assessing cancer screening adherence, the algorithm performed with a high sensitivity (79%, 70%, 80%) and specificity (92%, 99%, 97%) for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer screenings, respectively. This study validates an algorithm that can effectively determine patient adherence to colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer screening guidelines. This design improves upon previous methods of algorithm validation by using computerized extraction of essential components of patients' EHRs and by using de-identified data for manual review. Use of the described algorithm could allow for more precise and efficient allocation of public health resources to improve cancer screening rates., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2021 The Authors.)

The International Classification of Diseases: 10th Revision (effective from October 2015) included indoor tanning diagnosis codes for the first time. The majority of data on indoor tanning is self-reported. We used a large claims dataset to investigate the patients and settings in which indoor tanning International Classification of Diseases: 10th Revision codes are being used. We included encounters with the International Classification of Diseases: 10th Revision indoor tanning codes in Truven Health MarketScan data 2016-2018, which contain deidentified commercial insurance claims data for approximately 43 million patients. We used descriptive statistics to evaluate patient and encounter characteristics and normalized results using outpatient dermatology encounters. A total of 4,550 encounters were identified, 99.0% of which were outpatient, and 72.3% were with dermatology. Patients were majority female (85.0%) with ages ranging from 7 to 93. The Midwest region had the most indoor tanning encounters. Destruction of a premalignant lesion was performed in 15.1%, and biopsies were performed in 18.4% of encounters, suggesting that encounters may have been for skin cancer surveillance. Increased usage of indoor tanning International Classification of Diseases: 10th Revision codes in the coming years may strengthen the indoor tanning literature. Claims data are a potential tool to better understand patients who have a history of exposure to indoor tanning and their associated risk factors, comorbidities, behaviors, and healthcare utilization., (© 2021 The Authors.)

Purpose: This study examined how treatment patterns for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) have changed over time using clinical registry data from the AAO IRIS® Registry (Intelligent Research in Sight)., Design: A retrospective cohort analysis using the IRIS Registry database spanning 2013-2017., Participants: A total of 141 317 patients with newly diagnosed PDR (International Classification of Diseases [ICD], Tenth Revision, codes E08.35, E09.35, E10.35, E11.35, and E13.35 and ICD, Ninth Revision, code 362.02) were included., Methods: Comparison analyses were conducted using Tukey and chi-square tests, and time-trend analyses were conducted using Mann-Kendall tests and Theil-Sen slopes., Main Outcome Measures: Patient characteristics including age, gender, and laterality; whether patients received intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections (IVI) only, panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) only, both IVI and PRP (IVI+PRP), or observation; intravitreal drug data; and diabetic macular edema (DME) status were compared., Results: From 2013-2017, the average age of PDR diagnosis was 59.2 years, with 53.3% of patients being male. Sixty-two thousand one hundred five newly diagnosed PDR patients (43.9%) received IVI, 32 293 patients (27.1%) received PRP, 27 664 patients (19.6%) received IVI+PRP, and 13 255 patients (9.4%) underwent observation. In 2013, more PDR patients undergoing treatment received PRP only (47.5%) than IVI only (37.3%) or IVI+PRP (15.1%). From 2013 to 2017, the percentage of patients treated with PRP only decreased by 5.6% per year ( P  = 0.05) and the percentage of patients treated with IVI only increased by 3.9% per year ( P  = 0.05). By 2017, most patients received IVI only (52.9%). Patients with PDR with DME were more likely than patients without DME to receive IVI only (64.3% vs. 31.5%; P < 0.001). Among patients receiving IVI and IVI+PRP, bevacizumab (69.8%) was the most common intravitreal medication given followed by aflibercept (18.4%) then ranibizumab (11.7%)., Conclusions: In this cohort analysis of the IRIS Registry, IVI surpassed PRP as the more common method of treating newly diagnosed PDR from 2013 to 2017, with bevacizumab administered in more than two thirds of IVIs., (© 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.)

Background: Endoscopic intervention is often the first line of therapy for GI nonvariceal bleeding. Although some of the devices and techniques used for this purpose have been well studied, others are relatively new, with few available outcomes data., Methods: In this document, we review devices and techniques for endoscopic treatment of nonvariceal GI bleeding, the evidence regarding their efficacy and safety, and financial considerations for their use., Results: Devices used for endoscopic hemostasis in the GI tract can be classified into injection devices (needles), thermal devices (multipolar/bipolar probes, hemostatic forceps, heater probe, argon plasma coagulation, radiofrequency ablation, and cryotherapy), mechanical devices (clips, suturing devices, banding devices, stents), and topical devices (hemostatic sprays)., Conclusions: Endoscopic evaluation and treatment remains a cornerstone in the management of nonvariceal upper- and lower-GI bleeding. A variety of devices is available for hemostasis of bleeding lesions in the GI tract. Other than injection therapy, which should not be used as monotherapy, there are few compelling data that strongly favor any one device over another. For endoscopists, the choice of a hemostatic device should depend on the type and location of the bleeding lesion, the availability of equipment and expertise, and the cost of the device.

Objective: To describe rates of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) and all chest computerized tomography (CT) before and after Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated reimbursement and requirements for screening and to describe factors associated with receipt of LDCT., Patients and Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study of Medicare enrollees aged 55 to 77 in Parts A and B Medicare without HMO enrollment in a 20% national sample (n=3,887,430 in 2010, 4,200,875 in 2015, and 4,145,542 in 2016). The outcomes were receipt of LDCT and any chest CT from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2016. Other measures included enrollee demographic characteristics and diagnoses, including diagnoses of tobacco use., Results: The number of enrollees aged 55 to 77 with LDCT rose throughout 2015 and early 2016, and then plateaued. In 2016, 0.44% of enrollees, and 2.21% of those with a tobacco-use diagnosis, underwent LDCT screening. There were increases in the rate of any chest CT (LDCT or diagnostic) between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2016, and most of this was accounted for by LDCTs., Conclusions: Two years after CMS approval for lung cancer screening reimbursement, less than 5% of the Medicare population eligible for screening received LDCT. More work is required to identify and modify the barriers for LDCT screening.

Hepatitis A and B vaccine coverage is suboptimal in US adults, even among those at increased risk for infection, morbidity, or mortality. To understand where medical education and resources might enhance vaccine coverage, it is important to first identify providers and places most commonly associated with the administration of hepatitis vaccinations. We conducted a retrospective analysis of commercial and Medicare insurance claims data from 2007 to 2015 to describe provider types and places of vaccination against hepatitis A and B among adults in the US, and estimated the time to initial vaccination from first diagnosis of a condition for which the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends hepatitis A and/or B vaccination among at-risk adults. We identified 183,326 adults who received hepatitis A vaccine, 148,119 hepatitis B vaccine, and 64,953 a bivalent vaccine. Mean age was 42.1-45.8 years. Family practice and internal medicine physicians were the main vaccine providers: 38.9% and 20.2% for hepatitis A, 43.7% and 21.4% for hepatitis B, 35.3% and 15.9% for bivalent vaccinations, respectively. ≥90% of initial vaccinations occurred in an office practice. In at-risk patients, median time to first-dose received was 11.8, 20.9, and 20.9 months for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis A/B vaccines, respectively. Primary care and office practices were the most common providers and places of vaccination, respectively, for hepatitis A and B vaccine. For at-risk patients, further research is needed to design vaccination strategies to improve the median time from first ACIP-recommended condition diagnosis to initial vaccination against hepatitis A and B.

Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a novel technology that provides noninvasive, in vivo imaging of the skin at nearly histologic resolution. In 2016, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established reimbursement codes for RCM image acquisition and for the reading and interpretation of images. The combination of RCM imaging with dermoscopy has improved the accuracy of skin cancer diagnosis while reducing the number of biopsies of benign skin lesions. With that, we are starting to see more dermatologists and dermatopathologists using RCM in clinical practice. This editorial is to serve as an introduction on RCM imaging with a focus on its usefulness in both the diagnosis and management of skin cancers. We end by briefly describing the characteristic RCM features of normal skin to serve as a building block for later cases that will explore both the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating RCM imaging for benign and malignant lesions.

High-dose inactivated, influenza vaccine was licensed by the FDA in December 2009 for adults aged 65 y and older. The ACIP did not issue or state a preference for a specific vaccine in the elderly population. The extent of its on-label and off-label use is unknown. Using the MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and the Medicare Supplemental database, we identified individuals who received the high-dose influenza vaccine or the standard, seasonal trivalent influenza vaccine between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012. For people aged ≥65 y, we used multivariable regression to assess the association between patient and provider level variables and high-dose influenza vaccine versus standard influenza vaccine. We characterized all off-label high-dose vaccine administered to people younger than 65 y of age, and investigated whether sicker patients were targeted for off-label use by examining the association between various comorbid conditions and receipt of the high-dose vaccine among adults aged 18-64. Among patients aged ≥65 y who received an influenza vaccine, 18.4% received the high-dose vaccine. Uptake was minimal in 2010, but 25% and 32% of influenza shots were the high-dose formulation in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Almost 27,000 seniors received a second high-dose vaccine with a median of 368 d (IQR: 350-387 days) between doses. Older age, family practice physicians, and having PPO insurance were positively associated with receiving high-dose vaccine. There were 36,624 off-label high-dose vaccines administered. Half of the patients receiving off-label doses were aged 50-64. Adults aged 18-64 y receiving high-dose vaccine were more likely to have chronic comorbidities than people receiving standard influenza vaccine; however, there was not one specific illness that seemed to be targeted by physicians. In the first 3 y since licensure, use of the high-dose vaccine among seniors has been limited. The safety of this vaccine should be monitored closely among 2 groups of people - seniors receiving repeat doses and people <65.