New Tool Uses Vital Sign Variability to Predict Potential of Organ Donation

Headshot of Dr. Sonny Dhanani

“PSI Foundation really looks into the needs of our patients’ and their families and the gaps in our medical practice. At PSI Foundation, where it’s physician-driven, they seem to understand what we want to do, and they understand that these ideas may not be funded elsewhere.” – Dr. Sonny Dhanani

When a new policy came into effect in Canada in 2006 that allowed organ donation after circulatory determination of death, not just neurologic determination, it unlocked the potential for many more organs to be donated. But at the same time, it created confusion in the medical community.

“The community wanted more clarity around the declaration of death related to circulatory death,” says Dr. Sonny Dhanani, an intensive care physician and researcher at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. “When circulatory death became a way to donate organs, we needed more evidence about when and how death should be determined.”

He and his team began a small observational study, funded by PSI Foundation, that helped to provide a greater understanding of the process of circulatory death.

But just as importantly, they needed a way to predict how long a patient would live after being withdrawn from life-sustaining therapy. In the case of circulatory death, time is of the essence – organs are only viable to be transplanted for about two hours after withdrawal of life sustaining therapy, as blood flow and oxygen are depleted.

With PSI Foundation funding, Dr. Dhanani and his team looked for ways to predict how long a patient would live after removing life-sustaining therapy, with the goal that patients predicted to die within the two-hour time frame would be the best candidates for organ donation.

In their observational study of 650 patients, the team observed vital signs waveforms starting up to an hour before the patient was removed from life support and continuing up to 24 hours later. By comparing the waveform patterns and the variability of the patterns, they were able to develop a model that predicted how long an individual would live after withdrawal of life support.

They found that their model was as accurate as current clinical assessments, but has the potential to be done more efficiently, automatically and in real time. Ultimately, they hope to put all of the data together – the waveform decision tool, clinical decision tools and physicians’ assessments – to create a comprehensive prediction of whether a patient would be a good donor candidate.

“The situation right now is hard on families and the health care team. A lot of resources are mobilized for people who won’t become donors,” says Dr. Dhanani. “Our predictive tool would be personalized and done in real time, which helps to inform families about the dying process and allows the health care team to have more confidence when approaching potential families about organ donation.”

While it may seem difficult to engage families in this type of research, Dr. Dhanani and his team have always prioritized family engagement in their research, and in fact, they found high rates of participation in their studies. In their pilot study, more than 90% of the families approached consented to participate, much higher than other for other studies involving the ICU.

“If it’s felt that someone won’t die in the appropriate time frame, families aren’t even being approached to discuss donation,” says Dr. Dhanani. “That’s a missed opportunity. Our tool would help to ensure that this doesn’t occur. Everyone should have the opportunity to be a donor.”

Dr. Christopher Witiw: Focusing on the Value of Spine Surgery

Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM)

Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is the leading cause of spinal cord impairments in adults worldwide. Recent evidence indicates that surgical intervention for DCM is associated with improved function and quality of life, regardless of disease severity. Albeit effective, surgery for DCM remains costly. Moreover, wait times for spine surgery in Ontario remain lengthy and this is likely to continue as the population ages. Health policymakers require an assessment of quality and value of surgery to develop an informed decision and optimize health resource allocation.

Cost-Effectiveness of Surgery for DCM – Dr. Christopher Witiw and Dr. Michael Fehlings

Through PSI’s Resident Research funding stream, Dr. Christopher Witiw, along with his supervisor Dr. Michael G. Fehlings of Toronto Western Hospital, conducted a study to determine the cost effectiveness of surgical intervention for DCM. The investigators found that surgery provided a Headshot - Dr. Christopher Witiwsignificant improvement in quality of life and by using health economic calculations; they determined that 97.9% of interventions are very cost-effective relative to non-operative management. This finding suggests that resource allocation toward improving access to spinal surgery for those with debilitating condition is an effective allocation of resources. These findings will serve to provide surgeons and policymakers with the evidence needed to guide decision-making and optimize healthcare expenditures.

“This resident research grant, which I received from the PSI Foundation was a tremendous resource. The funding was instrumental in providing the means to combine my research training in health economics with my clinical focus on spine surgery to complete this important evaluation of the value of surgery for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy.”

Impact of the Findings

Dr. Witiw was awarded the highly prestigious North American Spine Society Outstanding Paper Award for the manuscript based upon the findings of the study, which was published in The Spine Journal. Moreover, the data has been presented at numerous international spine surgical conferences and have been honoured with prestigious awards from a number of spinal surgical societies. Furthermore, the findings have been recently incorporated into international surgical guidelines regarding the management of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy. Despite the success in knowledge translation to the academic spine surgery community thus far, Dr. Witiw believes more is needed to disseminate these findings to those responsible for healthcare resource allocation.

“Much of the care provided by spine surgeons is costly, but at the same time makes a tremendously positive impact on a patient’s quality of life. As healthcare resources become increasingly strained, more research pertaining to cost-effectiveness is needed to empower physicians to work with health policy makers to provide optimal care.”

Future Directions

Dr. Witiw has recently completed his neurosurgical residency training at the University of Toronto and is currently spending 1 year enrolled in a Spinal Neurosurgery Fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Here he is focusing on learning minimally invasive techniques for spine surgery, with the goals of lessening post-operative pain, reducing length of hospital stay and complications and optimizing outcomes. Following this, he plans to return to Toronto to a position as a spine surgeon at the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital where he hopes to continue his work on studying and improving the value of spine surgery for patients in Ontario.

Drs. Yaron Finkelstein and Suzanne Schuh: Predictors of Serious Outcomes in Infants with Bronchiolitis

Drs. Yaron Finkelstein and Suzanne Schuh’s PSI grant, BRonchiolitis Epidemiology: Air pollution and Trends of Hospitalization (The BREATH Study) was awarded in December 2014. Since then, their first manuscript, Predictors of Critical Care and Mortality in Bronchiolitis after Emergency Department Discharge, has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Pediatrics. Moreover, its critical findings led to its selection as one of the top four out of more than 3,000 abstract submissions to the annual conference of the Pediatric Academic Societies. This was presented as a platform at the American Pediatric Associations Presidential Plenary on May 7th, 2018, at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre.

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Dr. Nav Persaud: When Advocacy Leads to Change

“A program such as this where that burden is alleviated, it does a lot more than just help you stay afloat financially. The stress that is relieved is a huge benefit. It allows you to have peace of mind. And if you have peace of mind you can build on that.” -CLEAN Meds participant

Imagine having access to a universal health care system but you are unable to treat your condition due to financial burdens. Unfortunately, Canada is one of the only advanced economies with a universal health care system that excludes universal coverage of prescription drugs.

In January 2016, PSI awarded Dr. Nav Persaud, of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, the 2016 Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship. With a focus on addressing health inequalities, Dr. Persaud launched the CLEAN Meds project to assess how better access to life-saving medications for people with low incomes might improve health, control disease, and save Canadians billions of dollars annually.

Dr. Persaud’s recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal indicates that if Canada had a national strategy for publicly funding essential medicines, patients and private drug sponsors would save $3 billion. With four hundred patients currently enrolled in the CLEAN Meds project, measuring the health effects of providing patients with free access to essential medicines who could not previously afford them will be instrumental in shaping public policy.

In May 2018, Dr. Persaud will share the results with public ddecision-makers in the hope that they will pay attention to research findings and views of Canadians to publicly fund a minimal list of essential medicines.

For more information, please click on the following links:

Program
About CLEAN Meds

Publications
Estimated effects of adding universal public coverage of an essential medicines list to existing public drug plans in Canada

Development of a preliminary essential medicines list for Canada

Media
The argument for providing ‘essential medicines’ for free in Canada

Government drug coverage could save Canadians ‘billions,’ study finds

Essential medicines must be available to all Canadians

Podcasts
Huge potential savings from public coverage of essential medicines in Canada

Dr. Mark Sinyor: Using Data to Help Fight Suicide in Toronto

“Suicide is the number one cause of death from illness from adolescence to mid-life. Unfortunately, the biggest challenge isn’t a lack of programs or services, rather it is identifying high risk groups and understanding the most effective preventative measures.” -Dr. Mark Sinyor

In 2010, Dr. Mark Sinyor of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre published the Bloor Viaduct study in the British Medical Journal (Link: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c2884.full). Through this study he determined that more had to be done in Toronto to prevent suicide than just building a barrier at the Bloor Street Viaduct bridge. In 2011, PSI launched Dr. Sinyor’s independent research career by awarding him with $20,000 for his Resident Research project titled, “Understanding suicides in Toronto: a comparison of suicide victims with and without a history of suicide attempts.”

The funding was fundamental to collecting and pairing epidemiology and clinical data, which includes information from over 3000 suicides in Toronto. With this kind of information at hand, the database has been a game changer in helping to inform suicide prevention in the city. Researchers, for example, are able to correlate relationships between gender, age groups, and regions of the city with higher rates of suicide. Breaking up this kind of information allows for tailored intervention, which will be key in helping to identify mental illness among different groups, such as in socially isolated elderly or in youth. Essentially, the database is helping to detect people prone to suicide, identify how to treat them, and how to treat suicide in itself. Dr. Sinyor and the research funded by PSI were part of Toronto Public Health’s suicide prevention initiative. In 2015, he organized the first forum in Canada connecting mental health experts, public health policy makers and members of the media to discuss steps to improve public discourse about suicide. Dr. Sinyor also sits on the TTC’s suicide prevention committee.

According to Dr. Sinyor, good treatments exist; however, the community needs to take more of an initiative to recognize, understand and talk about mental illness in order for people to utilize the correct services. With better understanding, particularly in high risk areas, anyone from healthcare workers, friends, family, and teachers can create meaningful change.

If you’re interested in learning more about Dr. Sinyor’s work, please click on the following links:

 

Dr. Christopher Wallis: Does Testosterone Replacement Therapy Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Disease?

The PSIF Resident Research Grant gave me the opportunity to investigate an issue of interest both to me and the medical community. Through this support, I was able to develop an analysis which goes into greater detail than previously available. In doing so, I worked collaboratively with many researchers who would otherwise not have interacted. While the true importance of this work remains to be seen, this opportunity has greatly enriched my research experience.” – Dr. Christopher Wallis

In 2014, a controversial article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggested that testosterone replacement therapy increases cardiovascular risk. Dr. Christopher Wallis of the University of Toronto knew he had access to a wealth of information available in Canadian healthcare databases to address this controversy. Through the support of PSI Foundation, Dr. Wallis was awarded a Resident Research Grant for $17,500 in 2015 in order to further investigate this question in his study titled “A population-based cohort study assessing cardiovascular and oncologic events associated with testosterone replacement therapy.”

Examining all patients over the age of 65 treated with testosterone and untreated, matched patients, Dr. Wallis and colleagues were able to conclude that testosterone treatment over the long-term is associated with a decreased risk of death and cardiovascular events.

Dr. Wallis has now published these results in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and has shared this information with fellow doctors at international medical meetings and with the public through radio, print and online interviews in Canada and the United States.

While there are limitations to conclusions which can be drawn from these data, this represents an important step in our understanding as well as reassurance to patients receiving and physicians prescribing testosterone. The authors hope that these results will provide the impetus for further research understanding the mechanisms of testosterone’s effect on the cardiovascular system.

For more information, click on the following link:

Long-term treatment key to safe testosterone replacement therapy: study

Dr. Christine Lee: A Fresh Take on Poop

“Our family wants to thank you for saving the life of our one-hundred-year-old mother by treating her with a fecal transplant. Before this amazing cure, she suffered for seven months with recurring bouts of c-difficile and her health was rapidly deteriorating. She completely recovered from this debilitating disease within 24 hours of the treatment in January.” – Laurie and Jay Cashmore

When you think of poop, does lifesaving come to mind? In 2013, Dr. Christine Lee from McMaster University was awarded with $169,000 for her clinical research study “A prospective randomized double-blind trial of fresh versus frozen-and-thawed human biotherapy for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.”

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) occurs when the colon is stripped of good bacteria, typically due to patients taking antibiotics. The use of fresh fecal microbiota transplantation has been the common practice for treatment for recurrent CDI; however, problems related to time involved for screening process and the short window of opportunity to use the specimen have posed as a challenge.

Dr. Lee is overcoming these challenges with her research that proves the feasibility of frozen fecal versus fresh fecal in several areas:

Emotionally, there is a restoration of health and quality of life for many patients, as well as their family members who are the ones caring for the patients.

Economically, the financial burden is lifted for patients and families, as there is a high cost associated with prolonged stays and long-term use of medication (up to $30,000).

Within the healthcare industry, significant reduction in overall length of hospital stay not only minimizes the risk of transmission to other patients, but also, reduces costs. For example, in treating 150 patients over a span of 1.5 years there was a financial savings of $3.3 million.

Next steps are to offer Lyophilized, which is freeze-and-dried stool that can be sent anywhere, making it available more widely.

If you’re looking to become a donor and/or interested in more information, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Christine Lee at clee@mcmaster.ca.

To find out more, take a look at these links:

Dr. Darren Yuen: PSI’s First New Investigator Grant Recipient

Dr. Yuen is a kidney doctor and scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. His major research interest is the study of kidney scarring, a process that is ultimately responsible for nearly all cases of kidney failure.

There is currently no good test to detect this scarring. The best test available is a needle biopsy, which is associated with significant bleeding risks, requires a day of monitoring, and can not sample and analyze the entire kidney. A new type of MRI called “MR elastography” has been proven to accurately measure scarring in the liver, but not yet in the kidney. It does not need any injections, can be done in 30 minutes, and may be able to measure scar throughout the entire kidney without needles.

The Physicians’ Services Incorporated Foundation is supporting a research project in which Dr. Yuen and colleagues are testing the potential ability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure kidney scarring, comparing it against biopsy analysis. Together with Dr. Anish Kirpalani, a radiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital, and a team of kidney doctors, pathologists, and imaging experts, Dr. Yuen hopes to determine if MRI can measure scar in the transplanted kidneys of people with both normal and abnormal transplant function. This could drastically change how a doctor treats transplant failure.

Drs. Erick Duan and John Centofanti: Improving communication, safety and education in the ICU

“The PSI Foundation resident research grant was pivotal in allowing us to study the use of a Daily Goals Checklist in our intensive care unit and learn how this tool could benefit safe patient care, communication, and education. This was the first major peer-reviewed grant funding we have received, and through this project we gained tremendous, first-hand experience conducting rigorous clinical research under the guidance of Dr. Deborah Cook. With the support of the PSI Foundation funding, this project has served as a take-off point for our careers in critical care research.”

In 2012, Drs. Erick Duan and John Centofanti received a Resident Research Grant for $13,000 for their study “ICU Daily Goals Checklist: a mixed methods analysis of effects on communication & patient care.” This project was supervised by Dr. Deborah Cook at McMaster University. Drs. Duan and Centofanti published the results of their study in Critical Care Medicine. They have presented this research in both oral and poster form, including at the 2015 PSI Annual General Meeting, where they won an award for best poster. (Please see citations below.)

Dr. Duan completed medical school and residency at McMaster University. He is finishing fellowship training in Critical Care Medicine and will continue on to the Clinician-Investigator Program, also at McMaster, while beginning a Master’s degree in Health Research Methodology. Dr. Centofanti completed medical school and residency in Anesthesiology at McMaster University. He has begun a Critical Care Medicine fellowship, and will also be completing a Master’s degree in Health Administration at McMaster.

Publication:

  • Centofanti JE, Duan EH, Hoad NC, et al. Use of a Daily Goals Checklist for Morning ICU Rounds. Critical Care Medicine 2014;42(8):1797–803

Presentations:

  • Centofanti J, Duan E, Hoad N, Swinton N, Perri D, Waugh L, Soth M, Cook D. Improving an ICU Daily Goals Checklist: Integrated and End-of-Grant Knowledge Translation. Oral Presentation. Canadian Critical Care Forum, Toronto, ON. October 28, 2014.
  • Duan EH, Centofanti J, Hoad N, Waugh L, Perri D, Cook D. Use Of A Daily Goals Checklist For Morning Intensive Care Unit Rounds: A Mixed-Methods Study. Am J Respir Crit 2014;189:A5250.
  • Hoad N, Duan E, Centofanti J, Waugh L, Perri D, Cook D. Maximizing Staff Involvement To Refine An Icu Rounding Tool. Am J Respir Crit. 2014;189:A5254.
  • Centofanti J, Duan E, Hoad N, Waugh L, Perri D, Cook D. 603: RESIDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES ON A DAILY GOALS CHECKLIST: A MIXED-METHODS STUDY. Critical Care Medicine 2012;40(12):1.
  • Hoad N, Centofanti J, Duan E, Perri D, Waugh L, Cook D. 814: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ICU COMMUNICATION CHECKLIST: A QUALITATIVE STUDY. Critical Care Medicine 2012;40(12):1.

Dr. Fiona Kouyoumdjian: Research Into the Health of the Incarcerated

“The PSIF Resident Research Grant was the first project funding that I ever received, and it allowed me to answer a question from my clinical work with people who were incarcerated. Through that project, I learned about prison health research in Canada, and I developed relationships with people working in this field. I am now building on this foundation to develop a program of research focused on improving the health and health care of people who are incarcerated in Canada.”

In 2008, Dr. Fiona Kouyoumdjian received a Resident Research Grant for $18,000 for her study “The prevalence of gonorrhoea and chlamydia in male inmates in a provincial correctional facility in Ontario.” This project was supervised by Dr. Cheryl Main at McMaster University. Dr. Kouyoumdjian has published three papers in peer-reviewed journals based on this project in the International Journal of STD & AIDS and the Canadian Journal of Public Health. The third is in press (citation: F. G. Kouyoumdjian, L. M. Calzavara, L. Kiefer, C. Main, S.J. Bondy. Drug use prior to incarceration and associated socio-behavioural factors in males in a provincial correctional facility in Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health. In press). Dr. Kouyoumdjian presented her research as a poster presentation at the 2014 PSI Annual General Meeting.

Dr. Kouyoumdjian completed medical school at Dalhousie University, a Master of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and residency in Public Health and Preventive Medicine and a PhD in Epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, with Dr. Stephen Hwang as her supervisor, and she works as a Family Physician at a provincial correctional facility. She has a CIHR Fellowship from 2013 to 2016.

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