In a nationwide analysis of diabetic Veterans Affairs patients, prescription for metformin was associated with decreased AAA enlargement. These findings provide further support for the conduct of prospective clinical trials to test the ability of metformin to limit progression of early AAA disease.

Key Points Question Is frailty, as measured by the Risk Analysis Index, associated with risk for unplanned readmission after elective outpatient surgery? Findings In this cohort study of 417 840 patients in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, frailty was associated with an increased risk for unplanned readmissions after elective outpatient surgery. Mediation analysis showed that the association of frailty with readmission was partially mediated by occurrence of complications. Meaning Surgical patients may benefit from screening for frailty to decrease complications and unplanned readmissions after surgery.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a vascular disease that leads to reduced blood flow to the limbs, often causing claudication symptoms that impair patients’ ability to walk. The distance walked during a 6-min walk test (6MWT) correlates well with patient claudication symptoms, so we developed the VascTrac iPhone app as a platform for monitoring PAD using a digital 6MWT. In this study, we evaluate the accuracy of the built-in iPhone distance and step-counting algorithms during 6MWTs. One hundred and fourteen (114) participants with PAD performed a supervised 6MWT using the VascTrac app while simultaneously wearing an ActiGraph GT9X Activity Monitor. Steps and distance-walked during the 6MWT were manually measured and used to assess the bias in the iPhone CMPedometer algorithms. The iPhone CMPedometer step algorithm underestimated steps with a bias of −7.2% ± 13.8% (mean ± SD) and had a mean percent difference with the Actigraph (Actigraph-iPhone) of 5.7% ± 20.5%. The iPhone CMPedometer distance algorithm overestimated distance with a bias of 43% ± 42% due to overestimation in stride length. Our correction factor improved distance estimation to 8% ± 32%. The Ankle-Brachial Index (ABI) correlated poorly with steps ( R = 0.365) and distance ( R = 0.413). Thus, in PAD patients, the iPhone’s built-in distance algorithm is unable to accurately measure distance, suggesting that custom algorithms are necessary for using iPhones as a platform for monitoring distance walked in PAD patients. Although the iPhone accurately measured steps, more research is necessary to establish step counting as a clinically meaningful metric for PAD.

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BackgroundDespite efforts to increase arteriovenous fistula and graft use, 80% of patients in the United States start hemodialysis on a central venous catheter (CVC).MethodsTo better understand in incident hemodialysis patients how sex and race/ethnicity are associated with time on a central venous catheter and transition to an arteriovenous fistula and graft, our observational cohort study analyzed US Renal Data System data for patients with incident ESKD aged ≥66 years who started hemodialysis on a CVC in July 2010 through 2013.ResultsAt 1 year, 32.7% of 74,194 patients transitioned to an arteriovenous fistula, 10.8% transitioned to an arteriovenous graft, 32.1% stayed on a CVC, and 24.5% died. Women spent a significantly longer time on a CVC than men. Compared with white patients, patients who were black, Hispanic, or of another racial/ethnicity minority spent significantly more days on a CVC. In competing risk regression, women were significantly less likely than men to transition to a fistula and more likely to transition to a graft. Compared with white patients, blacks were significantly less likely to transition to a fistula but more likely to transition to a graft, Hispanics were significantly more likely to transition to a fistula, and other races/ethnicities were significantly more likely to transition to either a fistula or a graft.ConclusionsFemale patients spend a longer time on a CVC and are less likely to transition to permanent access. Compared with white patients, minorities also spend longer time on a CVC, but are more likely to eventually transition to permanent access. Strategies to speed transition to permanent access should target groups that currently lag in this area.

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