Objective To evaluate racial and ethnic differences in knowledge about preventative and curative treatments for pelvic floor disorders (PFD). Methods The is a secondary analysis of responses from 416 community-dwelling women, aged 19-98 years, living in New Haven County, Connecticut, who completed the Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire. Associations between race/ethnicity (categorized as White, African American, and Other Women of Color [OWOC, combined group of Hispanic, Asian or ‘Other’ women] and knowledge proficiency about modifiable risk factors and treatments for PFD were evaluated. Associations were adjusted for age, marital status, socioeconomic status, education, working in a medical field, and PFD history. Results Compared to White women, African American women were significantly less likely to recognize childbirth as a risk factor for UI and POP, to know that exercises can help control leakage, and to recognize pessaries as a treatment option for POP. OWOC were also significantly less likely to know about risk factors, preventative strategies and curative treatment options for POP and UI; however, these findings may not be generalizable given the heterogeneity and small size of this group. Conclusions Significant racial disparities exist in women's baseline knowledge regarding risk factors and treatment options for POP and UI. Targeted, culturally-sensitive educational interventions are essential to enhancing success in reducing the personal and economic burden of PFD, which have proven negative effects on women's quality of life.

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Background Treatments for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have vastly improved over the past few decades with current regimens now offering pangenotypic activity with excellent cure rates reported in clinical trials, including in the HIV-HCV coinfected population. However, there is some concern that stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria in the trials may lead to results that are not achievable in real-world populations. Methods Our study evaluated a real-world HIV-HCV coinfected population and compared them to the eligibility criteria for trials of two of the most recent approved HCV agents; sofosbuvir/velpatasvir and glecaprevir/pibrentasvir. Results Our study included 219 HIV-HCV coinfected patients and found that 89% met exclusion criteria for the sofosbuvir/velpatasvir trial and 90% met exclusion criteria for the glecaprevir/pibrentasvir trial. The majority of patients met more than one exclusion criteria with the most frequent criteria for exclusion being a non-approved ART regimen (58 and 47% respectively), having a psychiatric disorder (52%), active alcohol or injection drug use (27%), having an HIV viral load > 50 copies/ml (15%), a CrCl < 60 ml/min (13%) and a history of decompensated cirrhosis (13%). Conclusion Although the newer Hepatitis C treatments are very effective, the real world HIV-HCV coinfected population often have comorbidities and other characteristics that make them ineligible for clinical trials, such that they are barriers to treatment. These barriers need to be recognized and addressed in order to optimize treatment outcomes in the HIV patient population.

A 30-year-old woman living with HIV was diagnosed with genotype 2b hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection during the second trimester of her pregnancy. She had achieved virologic suppression on an HIV protease inhibitor-based regimen and had recurrent genital herpes simplex virus infection managed with antivirals. Given the risk of perinatal transmission of HCV and to avoid performing a caesarean section, after multidisciplinary consultations and consideration of the limited data on safety on HCV direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in pregnancy, she consented to and was successfully treated with a 6-week lead-in course of sofosbuvir (SOF) alone followed by a 6-week course of SOF and velpatasvir postpartum. This resulted in cure of her HCV infection. The neonate tested negative for HCV at birth and was healthy without birth defects 2 years postdelivery. Our case highlights a successful HCV treatment approach in a pregnant woman with newer DAAs.

Myositis is a rare and morbid complication of influenza infection that can rapidly progress to rhabdomyolysis with acute renal failure. Here, we describe a 35-year-old obese woman with severe influenza A(H1N1) virus infection complicated by myositis, refractory rhabdomyolysis, and compartment syndrome.