Adjunctive IV ketamine was tied to significant antidepressant effects vs. midazolam among people with treatment-resistant bipolar depression, a new randomized controlled trial shows.
According to Diana K. Orsini, MSc, MPH, from the University of Toronto in Canada, and colleagues, prior trials on the safety and efficacy of ketamine for depression have produced “limited evidence in bipolar disorder.”
“Patient complexity and theoretical safety concerns (ie, risk of ketamine-emergent mania or psychosis) have contributed to the exclusion of bipolar disorder,” they wrote in

Delayed epithelialization, which may occur after any corneal injury, can be notoriously difficult to control.
Epithelial defects should begin to heal within a few days of starting treatment. However, if a patient isn’t re-epithelializing as they should, it’s important to act quickly to prevent further progression, which can potentially lead to stromal thinning, infection, scarring or even perforation.
Among factors that contribute to delayed healing, neurotrophic keratitis is probably the most common I see in my practice. The corneal nerves play a key role in maintaining the

An intervention designed to enhance executive functioning skills and self-management care for adolescents with type 1 diabetes reduced stress and burnout while increasing quality of life, according to a study in The Journal of Pediatrics.
Avani C. Modi, PhD, pediatric psychologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and colleagues conducted a pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, adolescent and caregiver satisfaction, and efficacy of their newly developed intervention, Diabetes Journey (DJ), compared with enhanced standard of care (ESC). They also

North Carolina health officials issued a warning last week that several baby goats from a traveling petting zoo were infected with rabies.
No known human rabies cases linked to Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo have been reported and it is not clear how many people might have been exposed.
The zoo traveled to 10 events in seven different North Carolina counties between July 28 and Aug. 27 while also receiving visitors at its headquarters in Harmony, North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
The state health department said three baby goats at the

Editor’s note: This is a developing news story. Please check back soon for updates.
In a phase 3b/4 study, Vabysmo improved vision and retinal health in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, according to a press release from Roche.
The multicenter, open-label, single-arm SALWEEN study enrolled 135 patients aged 50 years or older from China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Patients were treated with four loading doses of Vabysmo (faricimab-svoa injection 6 mg, Genentech/Roche) over 12 weeks, followed by additional doses every 8, 12

Tumor DNA profiling could be used to identify which men with metastatic prostate cancer need aggressive treatment and those who may benefit from de-escalation.
A model, trained and tested on nearly 2,500 veterans with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, found those with favorable germline profiles had a median OS more than 4.5 years longer than those with unfavorable classifications.
“All men with metastatic prostate cancer should be getting a biopsy of a metastatic lesion. It clearly makes prognostic difference,” Kara N. Maxwell, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine in

Medicare patients with dementia may experience higher mortality rates and more days in a long-term care, rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility after hip fracture, according to results.
“Hip fracture is often a sentinel event for older adults living with dementia, and the consequences of that event extend far beyond that initial hospitalization,” Rebecca Rodin, MD, MSc, a physician and clinician scientist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, told Healio. “Compared with older adults who do not have dementia, those with

A continuing resolution awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature that would avert a government shutdown would also have implications for the federal grantmaking process.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6500 on Sept. 1. If signed, the stopgap funding bill will temporarily block proposed changes to the federal grantmaking process. The vote was bipartisan, with 370 “yes” votes and 48 “no” votes. Fourteen members were recorded as not voting.
As Healio previously reported, the Office of Management and Budget proposed what experts called “an unprecedented shift” in the way the

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Sightview announced the launch of an updated EHR and practice management technology, based on the company’s existing platform, focused specifically on eye care, according to a press release.
The technology is designed for optical and surgical ophthalmology, allowing users to follow a patient’s treatment journey “from tech to OD to MD” with one chart. New features were incorporated to improve usability and efficiency, according to the company. They include a simplified screen view designed to make information

MUNICH — Starting 14-day ECG monitoring immediately after ED assessment for unexplained syncope did not result in fewer patient-reported recurrent episodes at 1 year compared with standard care, according to results of the ASPIRED trial.
However, early use of a wearable patch for 14 days more than doubled detection of serious arrhythmias and led to more patients receiving treatment, researchers reported at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
The ASPIRED trial, simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine, included 2,234 patients (mean age, 58.3 years; 52.1% men; 89%