Patient and Physician Reported Perception on Hypercholesterolemia Management in Primary Prevention in Germany: Results from a Nationwide Online Survey

INTRODUCTION

Effective hypercholesterolemia management is essential in primary prevention of cardiovascular events. The objective of PROCYON was to assess the perception on hypercholesterolemia management in primary prevention and to identify reasons for insufficient target attainment in clinical practice in Germany.

METHODS

PROCYON was a two-part online survey including a patient questionnaire on treatment status and disease knowledge and a physician questionnaire on guideline awareness and patient management. A conjoint analysis on the relative importance of cardiovascular risk factors was incorporated.

RESULTS

Of 3798 primary prevention patients included, 1632 (43.0%) received lipid-lowering medication. Of these, 790 (48.4%) reported improved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, 670 (41.1%) reported no improvement, and 172 (10.5%) had no information. Of the treated patients with (N' = 790) and without (N' = 670) improvement, 52.4% vs. 47.9% were on their initial drug and dose, 8.9% vs. 9.0% received multiple drug therapy, 34.7% vs. 38.8% reported a dose change, and 16.0% vs. 19.4% had discontinued at least one drug (multiple answers). In total, 109 physicians participated. In the conjoint analysis, LDL-C level was attributed the highest relative importance (32.0%), followed by diabetes (24.5%) and systolic blood pressure (15.8%). Lipid-lowering therapy is initiated at an LDL-C level > 150 mg/dl by 63 physicians (57.8%). One third (n = 35; 32.1%) stated that ≥ 60% of their primary prevention patients do not receive lipid-lowering medication.

CONCLUSION

PROCYON suggests a need for consequent LDL-C target-based treatment implementation.

Radioimaging and Demographic Profiles of Patients with Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Need for the Pragmatic Referral System

Referring patients with severe medical conditions, like brain stroke, from small or rural hospitals to tertiary care centers is often overexploited leading to a kind of defensive medicine. The issue of a patient referral system remains unaddressed in Nepal. In this article, we investigated the legitimacy of referring patients with spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) from country peripheral hospitals to the leading tertiary neurological center in Nepal. We found that 81 out of the 130 ICH patients reviewed in the study were referred. We further show that the classifiers to be considered most in the decision-making on the patient referral are as follows: hematoma volume, midline shift found in radioimaging, ventricular extension of bleeding, and appearance of hydrocephalus. An improper referral of the patient to the tertiary care center decreases limited resources of healthcare services in low-income countries. We believe the study reflects a prevailing belief among healthcare professionals that the current referral system could be improved with the inception of the "hub and spoke" model of healthcare. In this model, a network of secondary health institutions, capable of offering limited treatment, would refer ICH patients to an anchor tertiary institution, respecting the proper dichotomization of patients based on the clinical classifiers. We conclude that the use of the "hub and spoke" model, legitimizing the patient referral system, is posed to offer medical benefits for patients hit by a stroke and would be economically viable for both patients and healthcare services.

COVID-19 in Patients with Cancer: A Retrospective Study of 212 Cases from a French SARS-CoV-2 Cluster During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

We describe a large series of patients with solid tumors in an early COVID-19 cluster in the eastern part of France. From February to May 2020, this multicenter retrospective study enrolled 212 patients with cancer under treatment or on follow-up for any type of malignant solid tumor and positive for SARS-CoV-2. The mortality rate was 30%. Patients with gastrointestinal cancers were identified as a subset of more vulnerable patients; immunotherapy and radiotherapy within 3 months from COVID-19 diagnosis were risk factors for death. The reported data support the essential need to be proactive and weigh the risks of morbidity from COVID-19 against the magnitude of benefits of intended cancer therapies during this pandemic. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This article supports the essential need to be proactive (treatment delay or modification) in oncology in the setting of pandemic. This study identified patients with gastrointestinal cancers as a more vulnerable subset of patients with cancer and found that immunotherapy and radiotherapy within 3 months from COVID-19 diagnosis to be risk factors for death. The reported data indicate the necessity of weighing the risks of morbidity from COVID-19 against the magnitude of benefits of intended cancer therapies in any future wave of COVID-19.

Covid-19 orthopedic trauma patients characteristics and management during the first pandemic period: report from a single institution in Italy

Purpose

COVID-19 disease is a declared pandemic, affecting all aspects of healthcare, including orthopedics. The aim of this study is to describe the COVID-19 orthopedic trauma patients characteristics and management in a dedicated Orthopedic and Traumatology Hospital in Italy during the first pandemic period.

Material and methods

A cohort of 25 consecutive patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection were retrospectively analyzed. Health system rearrangement, patients’ clinical presentation, diagnostic tools role, laboratory finding, treatment and outcomes were evaluated.

Results

Health system rearrangement was fast. There was no clear prevalence of comorbidity or surgery type between confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases. Nine positive swabs tests and 14 cases with only suspected CT scan findings were recorded. Several laboratory changes have been reported since the onset of symptoms: anemia, leukocytosis, lymphopenia, coagulation abnormalities, alkaline phosphatase, liver enzymes and C-reactive protein alterations. Nineteen patients were treated by oxygen supplement, three patients were administered antivirals, eight antibiotic therapy, and nine hydroxychloroquine. The number of discharges reported in this study was greater than 52% and the number of deaths reached 20%.

Conclusion

To our experience, the development of patient management algorithms allows the differentiation of the clinical pathways of negative and suspected/positive patients, reducing exposure, and virus spreading. The execution of swabs on all patients allows an early diagnosis and a more adequate management. Considering the different therapy patterns used, there were no significant differences, but anti-thromboembolic prophylaxis administered to all the orthopedic patients may have contributed to complications and mortality rates reduction.

Implementing a standardized and symptom-oriented flowchart "Kielsflow" for advanced cardiac imaging in a 24/7 interdisciplinary emergency department using spectral CT

This work focuses on implementing a standardized and symptom-oriented flowchart for advanced cardiac imaging in a 24/7 emergency setting using a dual-layer spectral detector CT system. This flowchart was designed to optimize patient management and standardize imaging workflow. It includes acquisition parameters and contrast agent protocols for the most relevant clinical questions regarding cardiac CT imaging in the interdisciplinary emergency department. The automated reconstruction of symptom-oriented spectral images represents an additional strength here. This implementation is designed to be time-efficient and user-friendly and improves diagnostic quality, independent of the qualification level of clinical and technical personnel.

Chlormethine Gel for the Treatment of Skin Lesions in All Stages of Mycosis Fungoides Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma: A Narrative Review and International Experience

Mycosis fungoides (MF), the most common form of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, is a disease typically with an indolent course that is initially characterized by localized patches and plaques. In the early stages of the disease, treatment involves skin-directed therapies (SDTs) such as topical corticosteroids and retinoids. Chlormethine gel (also known as mechlorethamine) was the first SDT purposely developed to treat MF and is currently endorsed by international guidelines for the treatment of adult patients with MF as a first-line therapy. While chlormethine is an efficacious therapy, its usage may be complicated by the development of cutaneous reactions at the sites of application. Herein, we discuss the supportive guidelines for MF and the suitability of chlormethine as a therapeutic option in patients with MF. In addition, we present real-world experience on the use of chlormethine gel from clinics in the USA, Israel, and France with the aim of demonstrating the efficacy of chlormethine gel in routine clinical practice and outlining strategies that are being used to manage emergent cutaneous reactions.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of healthcare workers within an Australian tertiary hospital to managing high-consequence infectious diseases

BACKGROUND

Adequate preparation and support for healthcare workers (HCWs) managing high-consequence infectious diseases (HCIDs) is critical to the overall clinical management of HCIDs. Qualitative studies examining how well prepared and supported HCWs feel are lacking despite their key role. This study investigated how prepared and supported front-line HCWs at an Australian tertiary hospital felt about managing HCIDs such as viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF).

METHODS

A qualitative research approach was used to undertake interviews with 45 Royal Melbourne Hospital medical and nursing staff from emergency, intensive care and infectious diseases. Interview questions captured data on HCWs' role, familiarity with using protocols, psychological attributes and training for scenarios related to VHF patient management. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Categorical responses were analysed quantitatively and open-ended responses were analysed thematically.

RESULTS

Ninety-eight percent of participants indicated feeling capable of undertaking their role in managing VHF patients; 77% felt supported through personnel/resources. However, 69% indicated barriers to managing these patients effectively; and 68% felt anxious at the prospect of managing VHF patients. Themes emerging from participants' observations included concerns about training frequency, miscommunication, difficulty with uncertainty, feeling underprepared, and fear of transmitting infection to others.

CONCLUSION

Although the majority of HCWs feel confident about their ability to care for VHF patients, they also have a moderately-high degree of anxiety. Perceptions of interviewed staff have fed into recommendations to increase HCW preparedness and reduce anxiety, which include investigating support services, and exploring training options that create multi-departmental groups of highly specialised medical officers and nurses.

[Influence of COVID-19 shutdown on the workload of a university eye clinic]

BACKGROUND

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a significant reduction in the number of patients treated in elective medicine in hospitals in spring 2020. Up until now, there are no corresponding data for university policlinics.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

With the help of the data of the clinic's electronic medical record system (IS-H/i.s.h.med from SAP, Cerner Corporation, North Kansas City, MO, United States of America and SAP SE, Walldorf, Germany) and the time recording and management software TimeElement (Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany), which was codeveloped at our clinic, all patient contacts of the COVID-19 shutdown were evaluated over a period of approximately 7 weeks from 18 March 2020 to 8 May 2020 and compared with the same period in 2019. In addition, quarterly revenues for the first and second quarters of 2019 and 2020 were put into perspective via SAP.

RESULTS

During the COVID-19 period the total number of patient contacts was reduced by 59.5% compared to the previous year. The number of lockdown period cases decreased by 74.8% compared to the same period in 2019. In particular, the university outpatient/self-paying sector recorded the largest number of lost patient contacts with a reduction to 17.2% of the 2019 baseline. The reduced patient contacts and case numbers resulted in a significant financial loss of at least € 218,000. Via TimeElement there was a 69.4% decrease in all special diagnostic services, with visual field examinations in particular also reduced by 75.3%. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements recorded a decrease of 60.3%. Patient tracking revealed a reduction of average patient attendance times by approximately 23% (COVID 19: 145.8 ± 88.8 min versus 189.6 ± 97.2 min in 2019).

DISCUSSION

The COVID-19 shutdown caused the work performance of our policlinic to drop to only about 40% of patient contacts and that of functional diagnostic examinations to only about 30%, compared to the performance in 2019; however, the reduction in the number of patients also led to a significant reduction in the time patients were present at the clinic compared to the regular workload. The associated financial losses are considerable and obviously not compensated by legally regulated compensation payments as in the inpatient sector.

Prediction of Patient Management in COVID-19 Using Deep Learning-Based Fully Automated Extraction of Cardiothoracic CT Metrics and Laboratory Findings

Objective

To extract pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics from chest CTs of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using a fully automated deep learning-based approach and assess their potential to predict patient management.

Materials and Methods

All initial chest CTs of patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 at our emergency department between March 25 and April 25, 2020, were identified (n = 120). Three patient management groups were defined: group 1 (outpatient), group 2 (general ward), and group 3 (intensive care unit [ICU]). Multiple pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics were extracted from the chest CT images using deep learning. Additionally, six laboratory findings indicating inflammation and cellular damage were considered. Differences in CT metrics, laboratory findings, and demographics between the patient management groups were assessed. The potential of these parameters to predict patients' needs for intensive care (yes/no) was analyzed using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves. Internal and external validity were assessed using 109 independent chest CT scans.

Results

While demographic parameters alone (sex and age) were not sufficient to predict ICU management status, both CT metrics alone (including both pulmonary and cardiovascular metrics; area under the curve [AUC] = 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79–0.97) and laboratory findings alone (C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, white blood cell count, and albumin; AUC = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.77–0.94) were good classifiers. Excellent performance was achieved by a combination of demographic parameters, CT metrics, and laboratory findings (AUC = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.85–0.98). Application of a model that combined both pulmonary CT metrics and demographic parameters on a dataset from another hospital indicated its external validity (AUC = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.66–0.88).

Conclusion

Chest CT of patients with COVID-19 contains valuable information that can be accessed using automated image analysis. These metrics are useful for the prediction of patient management.

COVID-19 Management in Clinical Dental Care. Part I: Epidemiology, Public Health Implications, and Risk Assessment

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a viral disease declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020, has posed great changes to many sectors of society across the globe. Its virulence and rapid dissemination have forced the adoption of strict public health measures in most countries, which, collaterally, resulted in economic hardship.

This article is the first in a series of 3 that aims to contextualise the clinical impact of COVID-19 for the dental profession. It presents the epidemiological conditions of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), namely, its modes of transmission, incubation, and transmissibility period, signs and symptoms, immunity, immunological tests, and risk management in dental care.

Individuals in dental care settings are exposed to 3 potential sources of contamination with COVID-19: close interpersonal contacts (<1 m), contact with saliva, and aerosol-generating dental procedures. Thus, a risk management model is propsoed for the provision of dental care depending on the epidemiological setting, the patient's characteristics, and the type of procedures performed in the office environment.

Although herd immunity seems difficult to achieve, a significant number of people has been infected throughout the first 9 months of the pandemic and vaccination has been implemented, which means that there will be a growing number of presumable “immune” individuals that might not require many precautions that differ from those before COVID-19.

In conclusion, dental care professionals may manage their risk by following the proposed model, which considers the recommendations by local and international health authorities, thus providing a safe environment for both professionals and patients.

Trends in In-Hospital Advanced Management and Survival of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Among Adults From 2013 to 2017 - A Multicenter, Prospective Registry in Osaka, Japan

BACKGROUND

The aim of our study was to investigate in detail the temporal trends in in-hospital characteristics, actual management, and survival, including neurological status, among adult out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients in recent years.Methods and Results:From the prospective database of the Comprehensive Registry of Intensive Care for OHCA Survival (CRITICAL) study in Osaka, Japan, we enrolled all OHCA patients aged ≥18 years for whom resuscitation was attempted, and who were transported to participating hospitals between the years 2013 and 2017. The primary outcome measure was 1-month survival with favorable neurological outcome after OHCA. Temporal trends in in-hospital management and favorable neurological outcome among adult OHCA patients were assessed. Of the 11,924 patients in the database, we included a total of 10,228 adult patients from 16 hospitals. As for in-hospital advanced treatments, extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) use increased from 2.4% in 2013 to 4.3% in 2017 (P for trend <0.001). However, the proportion of adult OHCA patients with favorable neurological outcome did not change during the study period (from 5.7% in 2013 to 4.4% in 2017, adjusted odds ratio (OR) for 1-year increment: 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.94-1.23)).

CONCLUSIONS

In this target population, in-hospital management such as ECPR increased slightly between 2013 and 2017, but 1-month survival with favorable neurological outcome after adult OHCA did not improve significantly.

[Structure of hospital care for COVID-19 patients up to July 2020 in Germany]

Hintergrund

Hospitalisierte COVID-19-Patienten weisen eine hohe Morbidität und Mortalität auf und sind häufig auf eine intensivstationäre Behandlung und hier vor allem auf eine Beatmungstherapie angewiesen. Bisher ist wenig über die Patientenallokation bekannt.

Ziel der Arbeit

Die Darstellung der Strukturen der Krankenhausversorgung der COVID-19-Patienten zwischen dem 26. Februar bis zum 31. Juli 2020

Daten und Methoden

Für die Analyse der Versorgungsstrukturen wurden die Abrechnungsdaten der Allgemeinen Ortskrankenkassen (AOK) ausgewertet. Es wurden ausschließlich abgeschlossene somatische COVID-19-Fälle ausgewertet, bei denen das Virus durch einen Labortest nachgewiesen wurde. Die Stichprobe umfasst 17.094 COVID-19-Fälle, deren Behandlung in 1082 Krankenhäusern erfolgte.

Ergebnisse

An der Versorgung der COVID-19-Fälle waren 77 % aller Krankenhäuser beteiligt, an der intensivmedizinischen Behandlung 48 % aller Krankenhäuser. Von den Krankenhäusern, die COVID-19-Fälle behandelt haben, versorgte eine Hälfte 88 % aller Fälle. Das deutet zwar auf einen Zentrierungseffekt der COVID-19-Fälle auf bestimmte Krankenhäuser hin, jedoch verteilten sich die übrigen 12 % der Fälle auf viele Krankenhäuser mit oftmals sehr kleinen Fallzahlen. Des Weiteren wurde knapp ein Viertel der beatmeten COVID-19-Fälle in Krankenhäusern behandelt, die eine unterdurchschnittliche Beatmungserfahrung aufweisen.

Diskussion

Im Rahmen steigender Infektionszahlen ist es sowohl notwendig die Versorgungsstrukturen von COVID-19-Fällen durch klar definierte und zentral gesteuerte Stufenkonzepte zu verbessern als auch die Versorgung der Patienten ohne COVID-19 weiterhin aufrechtzuerhalten. Ein umfassendes Stufenkonzept mit stärkerer Konzentration erscheint für die Versorgung dieser komplex erkrankten Patienten sinnvoll.

Zusatzmaterial online

Die Onlineversion dieses Beitrags (10.1007/s00063-021-00776-6) enthält die Tabelle S1 und die Abbildungen S1 bis S3. Beitrag und Zusatzmaterial stehen Ihnen auf www.springermedizin.de zur Verfügung. Bitte geben Sie dort den Beitragstitel in die Suche ein, das Zusatzmaterial finden Sie beim Beitrag unter „Ergänzende Inhalte“.

[Management tasks in surgery: challenges and chances]

Management in surgery is an umbrella term for the activities of a leading surgeon in the fields of strategic planning, organization, coordination, leadership and control. At the same time the management describes the surgeons who carry out the practical administration of a surgical unit. In current times administrative management activities in a surgical unit are taking up an increasing amount of time of a surgeon parallel to the treatment of patients. In the last 17 years this was enhanced by the introduction of the disease-related groups (DRG) system for the classification and billing of surgical treatment within the German hospital healthcare system, which further enhanced the economic pressure on hospitals and surgical units. To enable surgeons to carry out a sustainable management of a surgical unit they need to acquire a variety of management qualities parallel to the advanced training as a specialist and the surgical training.

Advancing Biomarker Development Through Convergent Engagement: Summary Report of the 2nd International Danube Symposium on Biomarker Development, Molecular Imaging and Applied Diagnostics; March 14-16, 2018; Vienna, Austria

Here, we report on the outcome of the 2nd International Danube Symposium on advanced biomarker development that was held in Vienna, Austria, in early 2018. During the meeting, cross-speciality participants assessed critical aspects of non-invasive, quantitative biomarker development in view of the need to expand our understanding of disease mechanisms and the definition of appropriate strategies both for molecular diagnostics and personalised therapies. More specifically, panelists addressed the main topics, including the current status of disease characterisation by means of non-invasive imaging, histopathology and liquid biopsies as well as strategies of gaining new understanding of disease formation, modulation and plasticity to large-scale molecular imaging as well as integrative multi-platform approaches. Highlights of the 2018 meeting included dedicated sessions on non-invasive disease characterisation, development of disease and therapeutic tailored biomarkers, standardisation and quality measures in biospecimens, new therapeutic approaches and socio-economic challenges of biomarker developments. The scientific programme was accompanied by a roundtable discussion on identification and implementation of sustainable strategies to address the educational needs in the rapidly evolving field of molecular diagnostics. The central theme that emanated from the 2nd Donau Symposium was the importance of the conceptualisation and implementation of a convergent approach towards a disease characterisation beyond lesion-counting "lumpology" for a cost-effective and patient-centric diagnosis, therapy planning, guidance and monitoring. This involves a judicious choice of diagnostic means, the adoption of clinical decision support systems and, above all, a new way of communication involving all stakeholders across modalities and specialities. Moreover, complex diseases require a comprehensive diagnosis by converging parameters from different disciplines, which will finally yield to a precise therapeutic guidance and outcome prediction. While it is attractive to focus on technical advances alone, it is important to develop a patient-centric approach, thus asking "What can we do with our expertise to help patients?"

Evaluate construct validity of the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire in gynecological postoperative patients using confirmatory factor analysis

Background

The Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ-R) evaluates the patient-reported quality of pain management in adults. A validated APS-POQ-R is pivotal to guide effective pain management with better patient satisfaction. Previous studies revealed that subscales of “patients’ perception of pain management” were unstable cross-culturally. This study aims to evaluate the construct validity of the APS-POQ-R in gynecological postoperative patients with a multi-cultural background using confirmatory factor analysis to allow comparisons among different a priori models at the latent factor level.

Methods

Patients aged 18 years old or above and who were scheduled for gynecology surgery were selected. Three different models with a combination of latent factors were based on a priori hypotheses from previous studies. The root-mean-squared error of approximation, comparative fit index, Tucker-Lewis Index, Chi-squared test, and change in Chi-squared statistic given a change in degrees of freedom between models were used to assess the model fit to the present data.

Results

A total of 302 patients completed the questionnaire. The five-factor model which was based on Gordon’s study has an acceptable fit for the data and was superior when compared to the one-factor baseline model. Although the four-factor model, which originated from Botti’s study, also demonstrates a good model fit, the “perception of care” construct was excluded in this model. The “perception of care” construct is conceptually important as patient-centered care has become the focus of quality improvement of pain service.

Conclusions

The APS-POQ-R is easy to administer and is useful for quality evaluation in postoperative pain management. The present study demonstrates that a five-factor structure of the APS-POQ-R is the best fitting model in our patient sample. The results of this study provide further evidence to support the use of APS-POQ-R as a measurement tool for pain management evaluation in acute postoperative patients with a multi-cultural background.

Histopathological Revision for Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms in Expert Centers: Does It Make the Difference?

BACKGROUND

The correct histopathological diagnosis of gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) is crucial for treatment selection and prognostication. It is also very challenging due to limited experience in nonexpert centers. Revision of pathology is standard of care for most patients who are referred to NEN expert centers.

OBJECTIVES

To describe the clinical impact of histopathological revision for GEP-NEN patients referred to an expert center.

METHODS

Retrospective multicenter analysis of all GEP-NENs receiving a histopathological revision in 6 European NEN expert centers (January 2016 to December 2016) to evaluate the impact on patient management.

RESULTS

175 patients were included and 14.7% referred for a second opinion. Histological samples were 69.1% biopsies, 23.4% surgical specimens, and 7.5% endoscopic resections. Histopathological changes due to revision included first assessment of Ki67 in 8.6% of cases, change in grading in 11.4% (3.4% G1 to G2; 5.7% G2 to G1; 0.6% G2 to G3; 1.7% G3 to G2), definition of tumor invasion in 10.8%, additional immunohistochemical staining in 2.3%, diagnosis of mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma in 3.4%, exclusion of NEN in 3.4%, first diagnosis of NEN in 2.3%, and tumor differentiation for G3 in 1.7%. The revision had a clinical impact in 36.0% of patients, leading to a new therapeutic indication in 26.3%. The indication to then perform a new imaging test occurred in 21.1% and recommendation to follow-up with no further treatment in 6.3%.

CONCLUSIONS

Histopathological revision in expert centers for NENs can change the diagnosis, with a significant clinical impact in about one third of patients.

Telemedicine and the current opportunities for the management of oncological patients in Peru in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic is the more challenging public health emergency of the century, producing the collapse of health systems and unprecedented levels of morbidity and mortality around the world, especially in low resource settings. Patients with chronic diseases are the most affected, not only due to the high susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection but also due to the decrease in opportunities for timely care. In this dark landscape, telemedicine, before limited to very specific scenarios, has become one of our main tools to manage cancer patients, particularly in Latin America where COVID-19 has had a strong impact on the public health. Telemedicine can provide rapid access to specialized cancer care in a scenario complicated, reducing the exposure of patients and healthcare personnel to the SARS-CoV-2. In this review, we would like to share our experience and our workflow using telemedicine at Oncosalud-AUNA, a private clinic in Peru.

Timing of Transfer and Mortality in Neonates with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome in California

Maternal race/ethnicity is associated with mortality in neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). We investigated whether maternal race/ethnicity and other sociodemographic factors affect timing of transfer after birth and whether timing of transfer impacts mortality in infants with HLHS. We linked two statewide databases, the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative and records from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, to identify cases of HLHS born between 1/1/06 and 12/31/11. Cases were divided into three groups: birth at destination hospital, transfer on day of life 0-1 ("early transfer"), or transfer on day of life ≥ 2 ("late transfer"). We used log-binomial regression models to estimate relative risks (RR) for timing of transfer and Cox proportional hazard models to estimate hazard ratios (HR) for mortality. We excluded infants who died within 60 days of life without intervention from the main analyses of timing of transfer, since intervention may not have been planned in these infants. Of 556 cases, 107 died without intervention (19%) and another 52 (9%) died within 28 days. Of the 449 included in analyses of timing of transfer, 28% were born at the destination hospital, 49% were transferred early, and 23% were transferred late. Late transfer was more likely for infants of low birthweight (RR 1.74) and infants born to US-born Hispanic (RR 1.69) and black (RR 2.45) mothers. Low birthweight (HR 1.50), low 5-min Apgar score (HR 4.69), and the presence of other major congenital anomalies (HR 3.41), but not timing of transfer, predicted neonatal mortality. Late transfer was more likely in neonates born to US-born Hispanic and black mothers but was not associated with higher mortality.

Benefit of Biological Drugs for Quality of Life in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease involving the axial skeleton, peripheral joints, and extra-articular manifestations like psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, or uveitis. A deterioration of quality of life (QoL) affects the disease management and therapeutic decision-making. This meta-analysis focused on the influence of biological drugs on the QoL in SA compared to the effects of other therapeutic modalities. We searched the databases of MedLine, Academic Search Ultimate, CINAHL Complete, and Health Source - Nursing/Academic Edition for articles related to AS treatment using the terms "ankylosing spondylitis" OR "rheumatoid spondylitis" OR "spondylitis" AND "quality of life" OR "patient-reported outcomes" OR "well-being" OR "health-related quality of life" OR "biological treatment". The search came up with 10 English-language articles published between 2010 and 2020. Patients were evaluated with the following indexes and questionnaires: Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society (ASAS), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL), 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F), and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional (BASFI) Indexes. We found that the QoL, assessed with the ASQoL, improved significantly better in patients treated with biological drugs when compared to those treated with other standard therapies or placebo at a 4-month follow-up. However, improvements in other disease characteristics could not be differentiated based on the therapy modality. The finding that biological drugs are superior in improving the QoL should strengthen the recommendations for their use in patients with AS.

Prediction of recurrent event in patients with coronary heart disease: the EUROASPIRE Risk Model

AIMS

Most patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) are at very high risk for developing recurrent events. Since this risk varies a lot between patients there is a need to identify those in whom an even more intensive secondary prevention strategy should be envisaged. Using data from the EUROASPIRE IV and V cohorts of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients from 27 European countries, we aimed at developing and internally and externally validating a risk model predicting recurrent CVD events in patients aged < 75 years.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Prospective data were available for 12 484 patients after a median follow-up time of 1.7 years. The primary endpoint, a composite of fatal CVD or new hospitalizations for non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, heart failure, coronary artery bypass graft, or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), occurred in 1424 patients. The model was developed based on data from 8000 randomly selected patients in whom the association between potential risk factors and the incidence of the primary endpoint was investigated. This model was then validated in the remaining 4484 patients. The final multivariate model revealed a higher risk for the primary endpoint with increasing age, a previous hospitalization for stroke, heart failure or PCI, a previous diagnosis of peripheral artery disease, self-reported diabetes and its glycaemic control, higher non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, reduced renal function, symptoms of depression and anxiety and living in a higher risk country. The model demonstrated excellent internal validity and proved very adequate in the validation cohort. Regarding external validity, the model demonstrated good discriminative ability in 20 148 MI patients participating in the SWEDEHEART register. Finally, we developed a risk calculator to estimate risks at 1 and 2 years for patients with stable CHD.

CONCLUSION

In patients with CHD, fatal and non-fatal rates of recurrent CVD events are high. However, there are still opportunities to optimize their management in order to prevent further disease or death. The EUROASPIRE Risk Calculator may be of help to reach this goal.

Routine Preoperative Bone Scintigraphy Has Limited Impact on the Management of Patients with Invasive Bladder Cancer

BACKGROUND

According to current guidelines, bone scintigraphy is not routinely indicated in patients with invasive bladder cancer prior to radical cystectomy unless specific symptoms are present. These guidelines, however, are based on sparse data of low quality.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the clinical impact of routine staging bone scintigraphy on further patient management.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

A retrospective, single-center study of 1287 consecutive patients, who were scheduled to undergo radical cystectomy due to invasive bladder cancer between January 2000 and December 2017, was conducted. All patients were prospectively followed up according to our institutional protocol.

INTERVENTION

Bone scintigraphy as staging imaging prior to radical cystectomy.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

The primary endpoint was the change in intended patient management. Secondary endpoints were the need for additional imaging, the diagnostic performance of baseline bone scintigraphy, and the association between clinical and radiological findings on bone metastases and survival. Logistic and Cox regression models were used for univariate and multivariate analyses.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

Of 1287 patients scheduled for radical cystectomy, 1148 (89%) underwent bone scintigraphy as staging imaging. Overall, baseline bone scintigraphy led to a change in the intended management in 19/1148 (1.7%) patients. Additional imaging was performed in 44/1148 (4%) patients. Although positive bone scintigraphy findings were associated with the occurrence/development of bone metastases, the diagnostic performance of baseline bone scintigraphy was generally poor (positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity were 56%, 89%, 27%, and 96%, respectively). Higher clinical tumor stage and the nonperformance of cystectomy had negative impacts on cancer-specific survival and overall survival, while positive bone scintigraphy was associated with worse cancer-specific survival. This study was limited by its retrospective nature and the lack of follow-up bone scintigraphy in all patients.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate the limited value of bone scintigraphy in the staging of invasive bladder cancer and do not support its routine use.

PATIENT SUMMARY

In this study, we looked at the clinical impact of bone scintigraphy on the diagnostics of patients with invasive bladder cancer. We found that routine staging bone scintigraphy had limited impact on further patient management. We conclude that bone scintigraphy should not be part of routine staging in patients with invasive bladder cancer.

The natural history of multiple osteochondromas in a large Italian cohort of pediatric patients

IMPORTANCE

Multiple osteochondromas is a rare hereditary skeletal disorder, characterized by bony protrusions arising from growth plates on long bones during skeletal development. The disorder frequently leads to diminished stature, deformities and functional limitations. Understanding of the natural history of multiple osteochondromas and its evolution in children and adolescents is limited.

OBJECTIVE

To provide valuable information on the natural history of multiple osteochondromas, to inform recommendations for treatment and prevent impairments caused by osteochondromas.

DESIGN

This retrospective cohort study in children with multiple osteochondromas includes longitudinal data collected from first to last follow-up visit for patient demographics, and over 36 months for disease evolution.

SETTING

Data were collected from the Registry of Multiple Osteochondromas, which includes data from circa 1200 patients with multiple osteochondromas treated from 2003 to 2017 at IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli in Bologna.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients ≤18 years with multiple osteochondromas, who provided written informed consent and had data for ≥1 12-month follow-up visit.

MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASUREMENT(S)

Demographics, clinical features, incidence of surgeries, and disease evolution (progression or regression) were assessed. Results were summarized using descriptive statistics, annual rates of new clinical features and surgeries, and Kaplan-Meier estimates. Patient height was evaluated following Italian growth charts.

RESULTS

158 patients were included in these analyses. Throughout follow-up, 80.4% of patients developed new osteochondromas, 57.6% developed new deformities, 23.4% developed new functional limitation(s). New osteochondroma(s) were developed by 28.5% patients by Month 12, 39.9% at Month 24, 50% at Month 36. Most new osteochondromas were detected in the younger population; patients aged 0-4 years underwent a significantly higher number of lesions within 12, 24 and 36 months of follow-up. The overall incidence of patients with ≥1 new deformity within 12 months was 17.7%, with incidences decreasing with increasing age (p = .023). In addition, the analyses on height highlight that 13 years is a cut off age for slow growth of the stature (p < .0005). At last follow-up visit, 46.2% of patients had disease progression, while regression (spontaneous and surgical) occurred in 7.6% (p = .007).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This natural history study reports the main set of clinically relevant data for patients with multiple osteochondromas during skeletal development, providing insight for patient management and development of therapeutic interventions.

Clinical management of lung cancer patients during the outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic

The rapid growth of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China, at the early December 2019. COVID-19 spread all over the word just a few months. The outbreak of COVID-19 infection poses major threat to international health and economy. World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the new coronavirus was an international public health emergency on January 30, 2020. However, with the spread of COVID-19, the routine medical care of lung cancer patients was affected. Because lung cancer patients have low immunity after anti-tumor treatment, they should become the main targets for epidemic prevention. Lung cancer patients are increasingly concerned about the prevention of COVID-19. It is necessary to provide individualized medical treatment and management for lung cancer patients based on patients' conditions and regional epidemic patterns.

γ-glutamyl transferase-to-platelet ratio based nomogram predicting overall survival of gallbladder carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) carries a poor prognosis and requires a prediction method. Gamma-glutamyl transferase–to–platelet ratio (GPR) is a recently reported cancer prognostic factor. Although the mechanism for the relationship between GPR and poor cancer prognosis remains unclear, studies have demonstrated the clinical effect of both gamma-glutamyl transferase and platelet count on GBC and related gallbladder diseases.

AIM

To assess the prognostic value of GPR and to design a prognostic nomogram for GBC.

METHODS

The analysis involved 130 GBC patients who underwent surgery at Peking Union Medical College Hospital from December 2003 to April 2017. The patients were stratified into a high- or low-GPR group. The predictive ability of GPR was evaluated by Kaplan–Meier analysis and a Cox regression model. We developed a nomogram based on GPR, which we verified using calibration curves. The nomogram and other prognosis prediction models were compared using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves and the concordance index.

RESULTS

Patients in the high-GPR group had a higher risk of jaundice, were older, and had higher carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels and worse postoperative outcomes. Univariate analysis revealed that GPR, age, body mass index, tumor–node–metastasis (TNM) stage, jaundice, cancer cell differentiation degree, and carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels were related to overall survival (OS). Multivariate analysis confirmed that GPR, body mass index, age, and TNM stage were independent predictors of poor OS. Calibration curves were highly consistent with actual observations. Comparisons of time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves and the concordance index showed advantages for the nomogram over TNM staging.

CONCLUSION

GPR is an independent predictor of GBC prognosis, and nomogram-integrated GPR is a promising predictive model for OS in GBC.