Faculty Bibliography

Introduction Most persons on hemodialysis (HD) are older, and many have trouble with walking and self-care. Yet data are sparse on how mobility is shaped by personal factors such as motivation in this group. Our goal was to identify what personal factors impact the mobility of older adults on HD. Methods We included 1) older adults on HD (inclusion criteria: >=60 years; on outpatient HD) and 2) care partners (inclusion criteria: >=18 years; routinely helping an older adult on HD). Each had a single in-person assessment. We administered the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB, range 0-12 points) to assess mobility, and audio-recorded one-on-one semi-structured key informant interviews regarding personal factors for mobility. Unless requested, older adults and care partners were interviewed separately. Transcripts underwent descriptive and focused coding; the codebook was revised iteratively until consensus on all code definitions was reached. We identified codes that were personal factors using International Classification of Function criteria. A combined inductive and deductive approach extracted major themes. Results We enrolled 31 older adults on HD (42% female, 50% Black) with a mean age of 72.5+/-8.1(S.D.) years and a mean history on HD for 4.6+/-3.5 years. For the older adults on HD, mean SPPB was 3.6+/-2.8 points. Twelve care partners enrolled (75% female, 50% Black) with a mean age of 53.8+/-15.7 years. TheTable lists the themes that emerged. Conclusion Our diverse sample of older adults on HD had poor mobility, and had a mean SPPB score that is associated with 20% one-year mortality in other groups. They want mobility and independence, but mobility frequently flutuates, causing distress. They and their care partners have learned to be flexible in their expectations. Future studies should incorporate these insights in interventions to improve the mobility of older adults on HD

Background: Home blood pressure measurement (HBPM) has been a time-honored supplement to periodic in-office measurement to facilitate primary care physician (PCP) diagnosis of hypertension (HTN), its ongoing control and medication management. PCPs, in response to COVID-19, adopted telemedicine as the sole means of care, elevating HBPM as the essential HTN surveillance tool. We assessed the feasibility of this approach in a Veteran Affairs (VA) geriatric clinic.
Method(s): Study subjects included all the Veterans seen by New York Harbor VA geriatrics fellows' clinic between January 1, 2019 and March 1, 2020 and who have HTN listed as an electronic health record (EHR) diagnosis. Those with systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 140 mmHg were prioritized. We called these patients to assess adherence to BP self-care and reconcile medications, to identify reasons for poor adherence and to offer solutions. Patients were called again within two months to re-assess adherence, collect BP measures and adjust medications as needed.
Result(s): Among 102 patients diagnosed with HTN, 41 had not achieved the goal of SBP <140 mmHg prior to this intervention. We reached 78% (n=32) of these 41 patients (requiring 1-3 phone calls). All reported medical adherence, but none were found to consistently check BP at home with any frequency or proper technique. For the 14 patients having no BP monitor at home, we sent a monitor to 10 through prescription and enrolled 4 in a home telehealth (HT) program that uses daily remote measurement. We provided detailed instruction of proper HBPM during the initial interview. At follow-up, 47% (n=15) practiced HBPM and reported BP readings within goal, indicating no need for change in care. Of these 15, 11 had their own BP monitors; 2 achieved control through the HT program. However, only 2 of the 10 patients who received the prescribed BP monitor started HBPM and demonstrated good control.
Conclusion(s): Given our reliance on telemedicine, HBPM is feasible for outpatient HTN management. Close PCP follow-up to encourage consistent HBPM practice may improve and sustain the success of this strategy. The quality of self-reported data should be assessed during office visits

INTRODUCTION: Clinicians caring for critically-ill patients must be able to discuss prognosis and deliver bad news. To teach Neurology residents how to do this, we designed an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) case in which trainees discussed prognosis with a standardized patient (SP).
METHOD(S): In 2017, in conjunction with the NYU School of Medicine Simulation Center, neurology faculty designed an OSCE case in which a resident was tasked with informing a SP her father had severe global hypoxic ischemic injury. The SP was instructed to assess the resident's ability to 1) explain the neurologic findings and 2) to respond to an emotional outburst. A neurology attending observed the encounter via one-way glass. After a 10-minute encounter, the resident was provided 5 minutes of feedback. The residents were surveyed on how prepared they felt for the OSCE, how useful it was, how they rated their performance, and how much they learned from the activity via a Likert scale from 1 (worst) to 5 (best) and free text response. The SP completed a behavioral anchored checklist to assess the residents' ability to gather information, develop a relationship, provide education and counseling, present bad news, and maintain professionalism.
RESULT(S): 57 third and fourth year neurology residents completed the case from 2018-2020, 54 (95%) of whom completed the post-OSCE survey. Residents reported feeling moderately prepared (mean Likert score 3.7/5) and rated their performance as average (3.4/5). Overall they found the case to be very helpful (4.6/5). Several reported difficultly with 1) addressing a complex medical case in a limited amount of time 2) reacting appropriately to an emotional family member and 3) avoiding medical jargon. The SP reported that residents performed well in the realms of non-verbal behavior enriched communication, being non-judgmental, not interrupting, acknowledging emotion, and avoiding medical jargon. Areas in which there was room for improvement included collaborating with the SP to decide upon next steps, identifying a support system, and asking "what is going through your mind right now?".
CONCLUSION(S): OSCE cases can be used to teach clinicians how to discuss prognosis and break bad news. Feedback about this simulation was positive, however its efficacy has yet to be evaluated

BACKGROUND:Levofloxacin prophylaxis is recommended to prevent Gram-negative bloodstream infections (BSIs) in patients with prolonged chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. However, increasing fluoroquinolone resistance may decrease the effectiveness of this approach. METHODS:We assessed the prevalence of colonization with fluoroquinolone-resistant Enterobacterales (FQRE) among patients admitted for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) from November 2016-August 2019 and compared the risk of Gram-negative BSI between FQRE-colonized and non-colonized patients. All patients received levofloxacin prophylaxis during neutropenia. Stool samples were collected upon admission for HCT and weekly thereafter until recovery from neutropenia, and underwent selective culture for FQRE. All isolates were identified and underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing by broth microdilution. FQRE isolates also underwent whole-genome sequencing. RESULTS:Fifty-four (23%) of 234 patients were colonized with FQRE prior to HCT, including 30 (25%) of 119 allogeneic and 24 (21%) of 115 autologous HCT recipients. Recent antibacterial use was associated with FQRE colonization (P=0.048). Ninety-one percent of colonizing FQRE isolates were Escherichia coli and 29% produced extended-spectrum ß-lactamases. Seventeen (31%) FQRE-colonized patients developed Gram-negative BSI despite levofloxacin prophylaxis, compared to only two (1.1%) of 180 patients who were not colonized with FQRE on admission (P<0.001). Of the 17 Gram-negative BSIs in FQRE-colonized patients, 15 (88%) were caused by FQRE isolates that were genetically identical to the colonizing strain. CONCLUSIONS:Nearly one-third of HCT recipients with pre-transplant FQRE colonization developed Gram-negative BSI while receiving levofloxacin prophylaxis and infections were typically caused by their colonizing strains. In contrast, levofloxacin prophylaxis was highly effective in patients not initially colonized with FQRE.

Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterial species that comprises three subspecies; M. abscessus subsp. abscessus,M. abscessus subsp. massiliense, andM. abscessus subsp. bolletii These predominantly environmental microorganisms have emerged as life-threatening chronic pulmonary pathogens in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients and their acquisition of macrolide resistance due to the erm(41) gene and mutations in the 23S rrl has dramatically impacted patient outcome. However, standard microbiology laboratories typically have limited diagnostic tools for the subspeciation of M. abscessus, and the testing for macrolide resistance is often not done. Here we describe the development of a real-time multiplex assay using molecular beacons to establish a robust, rapid and highly accurate method to both distinguish M. abscessus sub-species and to determine which strains are susceptible to macrolides. We report a bioinformatic approach to identify robust subspeciation sequence targets, the design and optimization of six molecular beacons to identify all genotypes, and the development and application of a two-tube 3-color multiplex assay that can provide clinically significant treatment information in less than 3 hours.

OBJECTIVE:New York City was the epicenter of the outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. As a large, quaternary care medical center, NYU Langone Medical Center was one of many New York medical centers that experienced an unprecedented influx of patients during this time. Clinical leadership effectively identified, oriented, and rapidly deployed a "COVID Army," consisting of non-hospitalist physicians, to meet the needs of the patient influx. We share feedback from our providers on our processes and offer specific recommendations for systems experiencing a similar influx in the current and future pandemics. METHODS:To assess the experiences and perceived readiness of these physicians (n = 183), we distributed a 32-item survey between March and June of 2020. Thematic analyses and response rates were examined to develop results. RESULTS:Responses highlighted varying experiences and attitudes of our frontline physicians during an emerging pandemic. Thematic analyses revealed a series of lessons learned, including the need to (1) provide orientations, (2) clarify roles/workflow, (3) balance team workload, (4) keep teams updated on evolving policies, (5) make team members feel valued, and (6) ensure they have necessary tools available. CONCLUSIONS:Lessons from our deployment and assessment are scalable at other institutions.

Spike protein mutations E484K and N501Y carried by SARS-CoV-2 variants have been associated with concerning changes of the virus, including resistance to neutralizing antibodies and increased transmissibility. While the concerning variants are fast spreading in various geographical areas, identification and monitoring of these variants is lagging far behind, due in large part to the slow speed and insufficient capacity of viral sequencing. In response to the unmet need for a fast and efficient screening tool, we developed a single-tube duplex molecular assay for rapid and simultaneous identification of E484K and N501Y mutations from nasopharyngeal swab (NS) samples within 2.5 h from sample preparation to report. Using this tool, we screened a total of 1135 clinical NS samples collected from COVID patients at 8 hospitals within the Hackensack Meridian Health network in New Jersey between late December 2020 and March 2021. Our data revealed dramatic increases in the frequencies of both E484K and N501Y over time, underscoring the need for continuous epidemiological monitoring.

Serious infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) organisms (Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii) present a critical need for innovative drug development. Herein, we describe the preclinical evaluation of YU253911, 2, a novel γ-lactam siderophore antibiotic with potent antimicrobial activity against MDR Gram-negative pathogens. Penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 3 was shown to be a target of 2 using a binding assay with purified P. aeruginosa PBP3. The specific binding interactions with P. aeruginosa were further characterized with a high-resolution (2.0 Å) X-ray structure of the compound's acylation product in P. aeruginosa PBP3. Compound 2 was shown to have a concentration >1 μg/ml at the 6 h time point when administered intravenously or subcutaneously in mice. Employing a meropenem resistant strain of P. aeruginosa, 2 was shown to have dose-dependent efficacy at 50 and 100 mg/kg q6h dosing in a mouse thigh infection model. Lastly, we showed that a novel γ-lactam and β-lactamase inhibitor (BLI) combination can effectively lower minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against carbapenem resistant Acinetobacter spp. that demonstrated decreased susceptibility to 2 alone.