The introduction of mifepristone priming prior to second trimester medical termination with misoprostol has resulted in a significant reduction in the duration of the termination procedure and length of inpatient stay. These observed benefits of mifepristone provide objective support for the decision to permit use of this medication in Australia.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Australia. Guidelines suggest that patients with suspected lung cancer on thoracic imaging be referred for urgent specialist review. However, the term "suspected" is broad and includes the common finding of lung nodules, which often require periodic surveillance rather than urgent invasive investigation. The British Thoracic Society recommends that a lung nodule with a PanCan risk > 10% be considered for invasive investigation. This study aimed to assess which factors influence general practitioners (GPs) to request urgent review for a lung nodule and if these factors concur with PanCan risk prediction model variables. Methods: A discrete choice experiment was developed that produced 32 individual case vignettes. Each vignette contained eight variables, four of which form the parsimonious PanCan risk prediction model. Two additional vignettes were created that addressed haemoptysis with a normal chest computed tomography (CT) scan and isolated mediastinal lymphadenopathy. The survey was distributed to 4160 randomly selected Australian GPs and they were asked if the patients in the vignettes required urgent (less than two weeks) specialist review. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors associated with request for urgent review. Results: Completed surveys were received from 3.7% of participants, providing 152 surveys (1216 case vignettes) for analysis. The factors associated with request for urgent review were nodule spiculation (adj-OR 5.57, 95% CI 3.88-7.99, p < 0.0001), larger nodule size, presentation with haemoptysis (adj-OR 4.79, 95% CI 3.05-7.52, p < 0.0001) or weight loss (adj-OR 4.87, 95% CI 3.13-7.59, p < 0.0001), recommendation for urgent review by the reporting radiologist (adj-OR 4.68, 95% CI 2.86-7.65, p < 0.0001) and female GP gender (adj-OR 1.87, 95% CI 1.36-2.56, p 0.0001). In low risk lung nodules (PanCan risk < 10%), there was significant variability in perceived sense of urgency. Most GPs (83%) felt that a patient with haemoptysis and a normal chest CT scan did not require urgent specialist review but that a patient with isolated mediastinal lymphadenopathy did (75%). Conclusion: Future lung cancer investigation pathways may benefit from the addition of a risk prediction m9odel to reduce variations in referral behavior for low risk lung nodules.

No abstract

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors flagged that the article had gone to publishing with errors in Tables 1-3.

Background Influenza season started in April, earlier than any previous season. WA immunization registry showed a higher than average vaccine uptake. By October 22,770 cases and 80 influenza related deaths were recorded (in 2018: 3,679 cases and 13 deaths). We aimed to characterize clinical presentation and outcomes of laboratory confirmed Influenza, comparing vaccinated with unvaccinated controls.Hypothesis; vaccination would result in less severe disease and better outcomes. Primary objective: length of stay (LOS); Secondary objective: prevalence of severe respiratory illness, ICU admission and death. Methods Retrospective study, April to October 2019. Eligible patients had a telephone-based questionnaire for clinical and immunization data verification. Excluded; &lt; 18 years; deceased; dementia; nursing home and unable to consent. Continuous and categorical data of cases (vaccinated) and controls (unvaccinated) were compared using Mann-Whitney U test (non parametric), student t-test (parametric). Correlation and multilinear regression analyses were undertaken to determine the effects of vaccination status and identified confounders on the primary outcome. Based on previous average LOS (5 days, SD 1.5) the sample required to detect a difference of 1 day with 80% power was 70 patients. This study was approved by the SJGHC HREC. Results Of 163 eligible, 83 completed the questionnaire. 8 were excluded. 75 underwent analysis (50 vaccinated and 25 unvaccinated). Median age was 75 (23-83) and 63 (33-70) respectively (p&lt; 0.01). 76% vs 48% reported &gt;1 comorbidity (p =0.02). 10% vs 0% were admitted to ICU (p =0.16). Higher vaccination uptake was seen in older patients and those with comorbid conditions. There was a strong correlation (Spearman r= 0.54 (0.34 to 0.68, p&lt; 0.001) between age and length of stay, but none was found between comorbidity or vaccination and length of stay. Neither age (p &gt;0.05), comorbidity status (yes/no; p=0.99), vaccination status (p=0.61) nor any combination of these variables were significantly associated with a dichotomised outcome of acute hospital stay &gt; 3 days. Conclusion Vaccination with the 2019 influenza vaccine had no significant effect on hospital length of stay, mortality or critical care requirement in patients admitted to hospital with influenza. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures