2,644 papers found

OBJECTIVE: An application was received to review the evidence on the 'The Da Vinci Surgical System' for the treatment of gynecologic malignancies (e.g. endometrial and cervical cancers). Limitations to the current standard of care include the lack of trained physicians on minimally invasive surgery and limited access t…

UNLABELLED: In July 2009, the Medical Advisory Secretariat (MAS) began work on Non-Invasive Cardiac Imaging Technologies for the Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), an evidence-based review of the literature surrounding different cardiac imaging modalities to ensure that appropriate technologies are accessed by…

BACKGROUND: Among youth, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and alcohol use are associated with considerable illness and disability. Youth face many personal and health system barriers in accessing mental health care. Mobile applications (apps) offer youth potentially accessible, scalable, and anonymous therapy and other…

OBJECTIVE: The main objectives for this evidence-based analysis were to determine the safety and effectiveness of photochemical corneal collagen cross-linking with riboflavin (vitamin B(2)) and ultraviolet-A radiation, referred to as CXL, for the management of corneal thinning disease conditions. The comparative safety…

Excessive mucus in the airways is an underlying pathological feature of many airway diseases, including asthma. Therapeutic options to reduce mucus production in the airways remain limited. One possible therapeutic target is the airway sympathetic nerves. Although lung sympathetic innervation has been considered sparse…

BACKGROUND: Anaemia affects about a quarter of the world's population. An estimated 50% of anaemic people have anaemia due to iron deficiency. OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety and efficacy of iron therapies for the treatment of adults with anaemia who are not pregnant or lactating and do not have chronic kidney diseas…

BACKGROUND: Abiraterone (ABI) and enzalutamide (ENZA) are standard treatments for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). However, their safety and efficacy have not been directly compared in prospective clinical trials. OBJECTIVE: To directly compare their safety and efficacy in prospective clinical…

BACKGROUND: Ketamine and esketamine ((es)ketamine) rapidly reduce depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (SI) in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but whether early SI improvement during the acute phase of the treatment predicts reduced suicide-associated emergency department (SAED) visits over the longer term r…

UNLABELLED: OBJECTIVE OF ANALYSIS: The objective of this evidence-based evaluation is to assess the accuracy of serologic tests in the diagnosis of celiac disease in subjects with symptoms consistent with this disease. Furthermore the impact of these tests in the diagnostic pathway of the disease and decision making wa…

INTRODUCTION: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by nonscarring hair loss that may impact quality of life (QoL). After 2021, new therapies were approved to treat severe AA in Taiwan; however, there is no global definition of severe AA. Dermatologists may use other criteria in addition to scalp…

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Functional motor disorder (FMD), a motor-dominant variant of functional neurologic disorder, is a disabling condition associated with high health and social care resource use and poor employment outcomes. Specialist physiotherapy presents a possible treatment option, but there is limited evid…

UNLABELLED: In July 2010, the Medical Advisory Secretariat (MAS) began work on a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) evidentiary framework, an evidence-based review of the literature surrounding treatment strategies for patients with COPD. This project emerged from a request by the Health System Strategy Divis…

BACKGROUND: Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor maintenance therapy is a standard treatment in selected ovarian cancer patients. However, hematological toxicity remains a clinical problem. The study aimed to identify predictors of early hematologic toxicity during PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy in high-gra…

PURPOSE: To compare short-term (12 weeks) and long-term (48 weeks) anatomical and functional outcomes after switching to brolucizumab (BRZ) or faricimab (FAR) under a treat-and-extend (TAE) regimen without an initial loading phase in eyes with poor-responsive neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). METHOD…

Expanding the US Food and Drug Administration-approved indications for immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with cancer has resulted in therapeutic success and immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Neurologic irAEs (irAE-Ns) have an incidence of 1%-12% and a high fatality rate relative to other irAEs. Lack…

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is a rare debilitating autoimmune disease of the CNS. Three monoclonal antibodies were recently approved as maintenance therapies for aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG)-seropositive NMOSD (eculizumab, inebilizumab, and satralizumab), prompti…