News briefs

Gender differences in pre-hospital care

A Swedish study published in BMC Emergency Medicine has found that female trauma patients were less likely to be given the highest pre-hospital priority, the highest pre-hospital competence level, and direct transport to the designated trauma centre compared with male trauma patients. A retrospective observational study based on local trauma registries and hospital and ambulance records in Stockholm County, Sweden, was conducted. A total of 383 trauma patients (279 males and 104 females) over 15 years of age with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of more than 15 transported to emergency care hospitals in the Stockholm area were included. Male patients had a 2.75 higher odds ratio (95 % CI, 1.2–6.2) for receiving the highest pre-hospital priority compared with females on controlling for injury mechanism and vital signs on scene. “We found differences in trauma mechanism between genders, namely, that the second most common trauma mechanism for females was a low-energy fall (26.9 %) … Perhaps this might be one of the reasons why females, despite severe injury, are not recognised at scene as potential severe trauma patients since the trauma mechanism is considered to be of low energy. Recognising gender differences with educational efforts and in pre-hospital trauma management protocols may expedite the trauma care of female patients.”

Bad hair day in space for some astronauts

Research published in PLOS One has found that spaceflight alters human hair follicle gene expression, leading to a possible “inhibition of hair growth in space”, particularly among male astronauts. “We found that FGF18 expression in the hair follicle changed during spaceflight. Hair follicle growth during anagen is strongly suppressed by the local delivery of FGF18 protein. Epithelial FGF18 signaling and reduction of expression in the milieu of hair stem cells are crucial for the maintenance of resting and growth phases,” the authors wrote. They also found that “FGF18 expression is known to decrease in growing hair follicles; the increase in FGF18 expression in several astronauts during flight potentially reflects a temporary arrest in the hair growth cycle; FGF18 expression appears to be very sensitive to whether an astronaut is in space or earth-bound; FGF18 easily recovered to baseline levels after returning to Earth”. Gender also has its effect, they found. “Although there are many differences such as hormone levels or functions between males and females, female astronauts appear to have a better response against the features of the space environment, as one example, FGF18 expression in females was more stable in space than in males.”

FDA clears experimental Zika blood test for use

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it will allow the use of an experimental test to screen blood donations for contamination with the Zika virus, the New York Times reports. Puerto Rico, who had halted local blood donations and had imported almost 6000 units of blood from the US, will therefore be able to resume local collection. Zika poses a special challenge to blood banks, the report said, because roughly 80% of people who are infected do not have symptoms. “A handful of cases of Zika infection via blood transfusion have been reported in Brazil. During the 2013 French Polynesian outbreak, researchers found roughly 3% of asymptomatic blood donors actually tested positive for Zika infection, which they deemed unexpectedly high. It is not yet known how commonly recipients of Zika-contaminated blood end up infected, or how they fare.”

ASR hip replacement case settles for $250 million

Hundreds of Australians implanted with a defective hip device will be eligible for a share of $250 million in compensation following the conditional settlement of a long-running class action, the ABC reports. A worldwide recall of DePuy ASR devices in 2010 involved around 100 000 patients worldwide and 5500 in Australia, with approximately 1700 of those patients eligible for a share in the settlement. The settlement was negotiated after 17 weeks in court, but has yet to be approved by the Federal Court. A lawyer speaking on behalf of those bringing the class action said hundreds of Australian patients had yet to have revision surgery and they were welcome to join the class action which will remain open for a period. “There was no admission of liability by the makers of the ASR DePuy hip replacements as a part of the settlement.”