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Certain characteristics can be used to predict contacts most likely to have a positive tuberculin skin test result. Use of such models can significantly reduce the number of contacts that public health officials need to investigate while still maintaining excellent disease control.

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This study evaluated aerosolized cyclosporine as rescue therapy for lung transplant recipients with unremitting chronic rejection. Nine patients with histologic active obliterative bronchiolitis and progressively worsening airway obstruction refractory to conventional immune suppression received aerosolized cyclosporine. Improvement in rejection histology was seen in seven of nine patients. We compared the changes in the FVC and FEV1 over time using linear regression analysis in these seven histologic responders and nine historical control patients. During the pretreatment period for both the experimental and control groups, the FVC and FEV1 declined at comparable rates. After aerosolized cyclosporine there was stabilization of pulmonary function, whereas in the controls there was continued decline. Cyclosporine blood levels were less than 50 ng/ml 24 h after an aerosolized dose of 300 mg in five patients receiving oral tacrolimus. Nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and a greater than expected rate of infection was not observed. This study suggests that aerosolized cyclosporine is safe and may be effective therapy for refractory chronic rejection in lung transplant recipients.

Introduction Despite evidence that genotype-guided therapy (GGTx) can improve outcomes, advances in genotyping technology and decreasing costs, integration into practice is limited. We describe a successful implementation framework using genotype-guided antiplatelet therapy as an example. We outline how we developed consensus across stakeholders, obtained institutional endorsement, built genotyping capability, and provide decision support to guide treatment selection; and demonstrate how to leverage such efforts to assess clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and bolster research infrastructure.