University Hospital Heidelberg

Procalcitonin as a predictor of length of stay in patients with odontogenic infections

OBJECTIVES: Our study aimed to evaluate procalcitonin (PCT) as a prognostic marker in advanced odontogenic infections. In addition, we sought to identify further prognostic markers that could be used to predict the length of hospital stay (LOS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospe...

Maternal sensitivity supports infant sleep: evidence from two longitudinal prospective cohorts on maternal childhood maltreatment, maternal sensitivity, and infant sleep

Maternal childhood maltreatment (CM) has been linked to adverse outcomes in the next generation, including infant sleep, which is crucial for healthy development. This study examined whether maternal sensitivity buffered these effects in 101 German and 117 U.S. mother-infant dyad...

DECIDER-2: Prospective randomized multicenter phase III trial of decitabine and venetoclax administered in combination with all-trans retinoic acid or placebo in patients with acute myeloid leukemia who are ineligible for induction chemotherapy

Abstract Background Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is predominantly a disease of older patients with a poor long-term survival. Approval of the combination of venetoclax (VEN) with azacitidine (AZA) or decitabine (DAC) in the European Union in 2021 for the treatment of patients wit...

Real-world walking and activity patterns in community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the SMART-AGE trial

Abstract Background Digital mobility outcomes (DMOs) measured under real-world conditions allow for differentiated insights into mobility patterns of older adults. This study provides an advanced description of real-world walking in community-dwelling older adults and identifies...

Medical information and decision-making in palliative cancer: a qualitative study of patients’ perceptions, needs, and preferences regarding physician communication

BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced cancer are frequently confronted with complex treatment decisions in the context of high emotional burden and potential limited prognostic benefit. Physician communication and the provision of medical information are therefore central to informe...

Mental Health Disorders, Suicide Attempts, Substance Use, and Substance Use Disorders in Adults with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Gender-Separated Study

Abstract Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders caused by alcohol exposure during pregnancy. FASD is associated with various neurocognitive disorders over the entire lifespan. Comorbid mental health disorders seem to be highly prevalen...

Understanding zoonotic spillover interfaces for the design of a One Health education intervention: a qualitative baseline study from rural Thailand

Abstract Background Prevention of zoonotic spillover requires an understanding of how human, animal, and environmental interactions shape risk in everyday life. Efforts have focused largely on surveillance and response rather than on primary prevention informed by lived experienc...

Assessing the clinical applicability of large language models for microwave ablation guidance

Purpose To evaluate the performance of five language models (LLMs)—ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta, Claude, and DeepSeek—in providing clinically relevant advice on microwave ablation (MWA), a minimally invasive therapy for tumor treatment. Methods A total of 27 standardized questions cover...

Accelerating Translation of NK Cell Therapies to the Clinic: A European Perspective

Adoptive immunotherapies have emerged as a promising strategy in the treatment of hematological malignancies. To date, seven chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell products have obtained market authorization in Europe for B-cell malignancies, where they have revolutionized treatm...

Ruling In and Ruling Out Sepsis Using Likelihood Ratios of a Host Response Assay

Overview: SeptiCyte RAPID is an FDA-cleared gene expression test that quantifies host immune response to aid in the diagnosis of sepsis. The test yields a score (the SeptiScore) ranging from 0–15, distributed across four bands (1–4) based on increased likelihood of sepsis. Each b...

Airway microbial compartmentalization under mechanical ventilation: a randomized pilot study comparing an endotracheal tube with suction and continuous cuff pressure control (Venner PneuX®) to standard intubation

Abstract Objectives Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is driven in part by microaspiration along the endotracheal tube cuff, a process difficult to measure directly in ventilated patients. Because microbial communities differ between airway compartments, changes in their simi...

Sensory data-driven classification of complex regional pain syndrome: a multicentre cohort study

BACKGROUND: The underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) have been under debate in recent years. Previous studies identified mechanistic CRPS subtypes, which were characterised as 'cold' and 'warm' or peripheral and central phenotypes. Our...

Rationale and Design of ACO-REAL: A Real-World Non-Interventional Study of Acoramidis in Routine Clinical Practice

Acoramidis, an oral transthyretin stabilizer that achieves near-complete stabilization, is approved for the treatment of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) based on the phase 3 study, ATTRibute-CM (NCT03860935). To complement trial data, ACO-REAL (NCT07235462) was des...