Eight weeks of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir cleared hepatitis C as well as twelve, in an Indian trial

The edition in brief

RESOLVE, an ICMR-funded trial in five Indian public hospitals, randomised 880 treatment-naive adults with hepatitis C and no cirrhosis to 8 or 12 weeks of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir. Cure rates were 98.8% and 99.0% per protocol, meeting the non-inferiority margin, with no drug-related serious adverse events. A third less treatment time means lower cost and fewer people lost before finishing. An evidence review for the American College of Physicians pooled 90 trials of drugs for menopausal hot flushes. Oestrogen, with or without a progestogen, reduced both frequency and severity and was rated high economic value; SSRIs, SNRIs, gabapentin and neurokinin receptor antagonists reduced frequency but not severity. Long-term harms were poorly captured. SAVE-ICU randomised 780 ventilated adults with hypoxaemic respiratory failure in Canada to isoflurane-based inhaled sedation or usual intravenous sedation. Hospital mortality did not differ (42.5% vs 43.8%), and the inhaled group needed more rescue therapies for hypoxaemia and had fewer days free of delirium or coma. A UK registry analysis of nearly 700,000 knee replacements found no difference in five-year revision risk between robotic and conventional surgery. The pearl is a reminder on hepatitis C testing before a short course.