Disseminated cat-scratch disease in an adult with selective IgA deficiency

A 51-year-old man with history of undiagnosed pulmonary nodules 4 years prior, presented with right-sided chest pain. Acute cardiac workup was negative, and a chest computed tomography examination demonstrated marked improvement in bilateral pulmonary nodules. A concordant abdominal computed tomography examination showed new subcentimeter hypodense lesions throughout the liver and spleen, mild progressive abdominopelvic lymphadenopathy, and new small lytic lesions of T11 and L4 vertebrae. A positron emission tomography examination demonstrated hypermetabolic activity of these abdominopelvic lesions suggesting metastatic disease. Extensive laboratory workup was negative, aside from IgA deficiency. Eventually, biopsy of a hepatic lesion was performed and compatible with Bartonella species. An elevated Bartonella IgG titer was noted, consistent with Bartonella Hensalae infection, or “cat-scratch disease.” Radiographic findings showed marked improvement after clinically appropriate antibiotic therapy.

Determinants of stoma reversal in rectal cancer patients who had an anterior resection between 2009 and 2012 in the English National Health Service

AIM

The rate of ileostomy reversal was estimated in patients undergoing an elective anterior resection for rectal cancer and factors associated with reversal were identified.

METHOD

The records of 4879 rectal patients who had an ileostomy created during anterior resection between 2009 and 2012 were identified in the National Bowel Cancer Audit database and linked to administrative records of the Hospital Episode Statistics. Patients were followed from surgery. Multivariable proportional hazards regression was used to estimate the impact of patient and cancer characteristics on ileostomy reversal with death as the competing risk.

RESULTS

Within 18 months from anterior resection, 3536 (72.5%) patients had undergone ileostomy reversal. The reversal rate was lower in the following circumstances: older patients [hazard ratio (HR) 0.90; 95% CI 0.84-0.96, aged 80 vs 70 years], male gender (HR 0.90; 0.84-0.97), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade (HR 0.64; 0.56-0.74, ASA 3+ vs 1), more advanced cancer (HR 0.77; 0.69-0.87, T3 vs T1), socioeconomic deprivation (HR 0.83; 0.74-0.93, most vs least deprived quintile), comorbidity (HR 0.92; 0.84-1.00, one vs no comorbidity) and open surgical procedure (HR 0.90; 0.84-0.97, open vs laparoscopic).

CONCLUSION

Overall, two-thirds of ileostomies were reversed within 18 months. Reversal rates were linked to patient and cancer characteristics (age, sex, fitness and stage), mode of surgical access and socioeconomic deprivation. Observed lower reversal rates in patients from poorer backgrounds may indicate inequity in access.

Multicentre study of short-course radiotherapy and transanal endoscopic microsurgery for early rectal cancer

Background

Organ-preserving treatment for early-stage rectal cancer may avoid the substantial perioperative morbidity and functional sequelae associated with total mesorectal excision (TME). The initial results of an organ-preserving approach using preoperative short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) and transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEMS) are presented.

Methods

Patients with cT1–2N0 rectal cancers staged using high-quality MRI and endorectal ultrasonography received SCRT, with TEMS 8–10 weeks later, at four regional referral centres between 2007 and 2013. Patients were generally considered high risk for TME surgery (a small number refused TME).

Results

Following SCRT and TEMS, 60 (97 per cent) of 62 patients had an R0 resection. Histopathological staging identified 20 ypT0 tumours, 23 ypT1, 18 ypT2 and one ypT3. Preoperative uT category was significantly associated with a complete pathological response, which was achieved in 13 of 27 patients with uT0/uT1 disease and in five of 29 with uT2 (P = 0·010). Acute complications affected 19 patients, the majority following TEMS. No fistulas occurred and no stomas were formed. Surveillance detected four intraluminal local recurrences at a median follow-up of 13 months, all in patients with tumours staged as ypT2. Salvage TME achieved R0 resection in three patients and a stent was placed in one patient owing to co-morbidities.

Conclusion

SCRT with TEMS was effective in the majority of patients considered high risk for (or who refused) TME surgery.

Rapid Response Team activation in New Zealand hospitals—a multicentre prospective observational study

We aimed to describe the epidemiology of Rapid Response Team (RRT) activation in New Zealand public hospitals. We undertook a prospective multicentre observational study of RRT activations in 11 hospitals for consecutive 14-day periods during October–December 2014. A standardised case report form was used to collect data on patient demographics, RRT activation criteria and timing, vital signs on RRT arrival, team composition and intervention, treatment limitation and patient outcome at day 30. Three hundred and thirteen patients received 351 RRT calls during the study period. Patients were admitted under a medical specialty in 177 (56.5%) instances. Median duration from hospital admission to first RRT call was two days. Eighty-six percent of RRT calls were to inpatient wards. A total of 43.4% of RRT calls occurred between 0800 and 1700 hours (38% of the day) and 75.5% of RRT calls were activated by ward nurses. A median of three staff attended each call. Common triggers for RRT activation were increased Early Warning Score (56.2%) and staff concern (25.7%). During the RRT call, 2.8% of patients died; 19.8% died by day 30. New ‘Not For Resuscitation’ orders were written in 22.5% of RRT calls. By day 30, 56.2% of patients had been discharged home alive. In conclusion, RRTs in New Zealand are multidisciplinary, mostly nurse-activated and predominantly respond to deteriorating medical (rather than surgical) patients. Most patients remain on the ward. The RRT frequently implements treatment limitations. Given almost one in five patients die within 30 days, over half of whom die within 72 hours of RRT review, surviving the RRT call may provide false reassurance that the patient will subsequently do well.

Multicentre observational study of outcomes after drainage of acute perianal abscess

Introduction

Management of perianal abscesses has remained largely unchanged for over 50 years. The evidence for postoperative wound packing is limited and may expose patients to painful procedures with no clinical benefit and at considerable increased cost.

Methods

Patients were recruited in 15 UK centres between December 2013 and October 2014. Outcome measures included number of dressing (pack) changes, healing, recurrence, return to work/normal function, postoperative fistula in ano and health utility scores (EQ-5D™). Pain was measured before, during and after dressing change on a visual analogue scale.

Results

Some 141 patients were recruited (median age 39 (range 18–86) years). The mean number of dressing changes in the first 3 weeks was 13 (range 0–21), equating to an annual cost to the National Health Service of €6 453 360 in England alone per annum. Some 43·8 per cent of wounds were healed by 8 weeks after surgery and 86 per cent of patients had returned to normal function. Some 7·6 per cent of abscesses had recurred and 26·7 per cent of patients developed a fistula in ano by 6 months following surgery. Patients reported a twofold to threefold increase in pain scores during and after dressing changes.

Conclusion

Recurrent abscess is rare and fistula occurs in one-quarter of the patients. Packing is painful and costly.

Researching Complex Interventions in Health: The State of the Art : Exeter, UK. 14-15 October 2015

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

K1 Researching complex interventions: the need for robust approaches

Peter Craig

K2 Complex intervention studies: an important step in developing knowledge for practice

Ingalill Rahm-Hallberg

K3 Public and patient involvement in research: what, why and how?

Nicky Britten

K4 Mixed methods in health service research – where do we go from here?

Gunilla Borglin

SPEAKER PRESENTATIONS

S1 Exploring complexity in systematic reviews of complex interventions

Gabriele Meyer, Sascha Köpke, Jane Noyes, Jackie Chandler

S2 Can complex health interventions be optimised before moving to a definitive RCT? Strategies and methods currently in use

Sara Levati

S3 A systematic approach to develop theory based implementation interventions

Anne Sales

S4 Pilot studies and feasibility studies for complex interventions: an introduction

Lehana Thabane, Lora Giangregorio

S5 What can be done to pilot complex interventions?

Nancy Feeley, Sylvie Cossette

S6 Using feasibility and pilot trials to test alternative methodologies and methodological procedures prior to full scale trials

Rod Taylor

S7 A mixed methods feasibility study in practice

Jacqueline Hill, David A Richards, Willem Kuyken

S8 Non-standard experimental designs and preference designs

Louise von Essen

S9 Evaluation gone wild: using natural experimental approaches to evaluate complex interventions

Andrew Williams

S10 The stepped wedge cluster randomised trial: an opportunity to increase the quality of evaluations of service delivery and public policy interventions

Karla Hemming, Richard Lilford, Alan Girling, Monica Taljaard

S11 Adaptive designs in confirmatory clinical trials: opportunities in investigating complex interventions

Munyaradzi Dimairo

S12 Processes, contexts and outcomes in complex interventions, and the implications for evaluation

Mark Petticrew

S13 Processes, contexts and outcomes in complex interventions, and the implications for evaluation

Janis Baird, Graham Moore

S14 Qualitative evaluation alongside RCTs: what to consider to get relevant and valuable results

Willem Odendaal, Salla Atkins, Elizabeth Lutge, Natalie Leon, Simon Lewin

S15 Using economic evaluations to understand the value of complex interventions: when maximising health status is not sufficient

Katherine Payne

S16 How to arrive at an implementation plan

Theo van Achterberg

S17 Modelling process and outcomes in complex interventions

Walter Sermeus

S18 Systems modelling for improving health care

Martin Pitt, Thomas Monks

Disruptive behavior disorders and indicators of disinhibition in adolescents: The BRIEF-SR, anti-saccade task, and D-KEFS color-word interference test

Disinhibition contributes to the development of disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) in adolescents. Self-reports and behavioral tasks are commonly used to assess disinhibition, each with their unique strengths and limitations. Accordingly, it is important to identify which measure, or combination thereof, is the most effective in predicting DBD symptoms. This study assessed the relationship between DBD (symptoms of ADHD/ODD/CD) and two behavioral disinhibition tasks: the anti-saccade task and the D-KEFS color-word interference test, as well as a self-report measure (the BRIEF-SR). The results indicated that the BRIEF-Inhibit scale accounted for the majority of the variance in the DBD sum score. The anti-saccade task and color-word interference test were also significantly associated with an increase in the number of DBD symptoms endorsed. These behavioral tasks accounted for 9% additional variance than the self-report alone. Therefore, combining self-report measures with behavioral disinhibition tasks may provide the most thorough assessment of adolescent DBD.

Search for Nucleon and Dinucleon Decays with an Invisible Particle and a Charged Lepton in the Final State at the Super-Kamiokande Experiment

Search results for nucleon decays p→e^{+}X, p→μ^{+}X, n→νγ (where X is an invisible, massless particle) as well as dinucleon decays np→e^{+}ν, np→μ^{+}ν, and np→τ^{+}ν in the Super-Kamiokande experiment are presented. Using single-ring data from an exposure of  273.4  kton·yr, a search for these decays yields a result consistent with no signal. Accordingly, lower limits on the partial lifetimes of τ_{p→e^{+}X}>7.9×10^{32} yr, τ_{p→μ^{+}X}>4.1×10^{32} yr, τ_{n→νγ}>5.5×10^{32} yr, τ_{np→e^{+}ν}>2.6×10^{32}  yr, τ_{np→μ^{+}ν}>2.2×10^{32} yr, and τ_{np→τ^{+}ν}>2.9×10^{31} yr at a 90% confidence level are obtained. Some of these searches are novel.

Prostate-specific antigen and prostate-specific antigen velocity as threshold indicators in 11C-acetate PET/CTAC scanning for prostate cancer recurrence

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to identify which patient characteristics are associated with the highest likelihood of positive findings on 11C-acetate PET/computed tomography attenuation correction (CTAC) (PET/CTAC) scan when imaging for recurrent prostate cancer.

METHODS

From 2007 to 2011, 250 11C-acetate PET/CTAC scans were performed at a single institution on patients with prostate cancer recurrence after surgery, brachytherapy, or external beam radiation. Of these patients, 120 met our inclusion criteria. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between predictability of positive findings and patients' characteristics, such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level at the time of scan, PSA kinetics, Gleason score, staging, and type of treatment before scan.

RESULTS

In total, 68.3% of the 120 11C-acetate PET/CTAC scans were positive. The percentage of positive scans and PSA at the time of scanning and PSA velocity (PSAV) had positive correlations. The putative sensitivity and specificity were 86.6% and 65.8%, respectively, when a PSA level greater than 1.24 ng/mL was used as the threshold for scanning. The putative sensitivity and specificity were 74% and 75%, respectively, when a PSAV level greater than 1.32 ng/mL/y was used as the threshold. No significant associations were found between scan positivity and age, PSA doubling time, Gleason score, staging, or type of treatment before scanning.

CONCLUSIONS

This retrospective study suggests that threshold models of PSA greater than 1.24 ng/mL or PSAV greater than 1.32 ng/mL per year are independent predictors of positive findings in 11C-acetate PET/CTAC imaging of recurrent prostate cancer.

Effects of needs-based patient education on self-efficacy and health outcomes in people with rheumatoid arthritis: a multicentre, single blind, randomised controlled trial

Objectives

The Educational Needs Assessment Tool (ENAT) is a self-completed questionnaire, which allows patients with arthritis to prioritise their educational needs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of needs-based patient education on self-efficacy, health outcomes and patient knowledge in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

Patients with RA were enrolled into this multicentre, single-blind, parallel-group, pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Patients were randomised to either the intervention group (IG) where patients completed ENAT, responses of which were used by the clinical nurse specialist to guide patient education; or control group (CG) in which they received patient education without the use of ENAT. Patients were seen at weeks 0, 16 and 32. The primary outcome was self-efficacy (Arthritis Self Efficacy Scale (ASES)-Pain and ASES-Other symptoms). Secondary outcomes were health status (short form of Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 2, AIMS2-SF) and patient knowledge questionnaire-RA. We investigated between-group differences using analysis of covariance, adjusting for baseline variables.

Results

A total of 132 patients were recruited (IG=70 and CG=62). Their mean (SD) age was 54 (12.3) years, 56 (13.3)  years and disease duration 5.2 (4.9) years, 6.7 (8.9) years for IG and CG, respectively. There were significant between-group differences, in favour of IG at week 32 in the primary outcomes, ASES-Pain, mean difference (95% CI) −4.36 (1.17 to 7.55), t=−2.72, p=0.008 and ASES-Other symptoms, mean difference (95% CI) −5.84 (2.07 to 9.62), t=−3.07, p=0.003. In secondary outcomes, the between-group differences favoured IG in AIMS2-SF Symptoms and AIMS2-SF Affect. There were no between-group differences in other secondary outcomes.

Conclusions

The results suggest that needs-based education helps improve patients’ self-efficacy and some aspects of health status.

Trial registration number

ISRCTN51523281.

CROSS-CULTURAL VALIDATION OF THE PORTUGUESE VERSION OF THE EDUCATIONAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT TOOL (PortENAT)

OBJECTIVES

To undertake a cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the educational needs assessment tool (ENAT) into Portuguese.

METHODS

The first phase of this research (cross-cultural adaptation) utilised a well-established translation method comprising five sequential steps: forward-translation, synthesis of translations, back-translation, expert committee and field-testing of the adapted version. The second phase involved collecting data from 123 patients and subjecting them to Rasch analysis for validity testing including cross-cultural invariance.

RESULTS

The translation and field-testing phase went smoothly giving rise to minor adjustments in the phrasing of some items. The preliminary analysis of the 39 items, revealed some deviations from the model with the overall item-person interaction fit statistics 2(df) = 56.025 (39), p = 0.038. Significant item-item correlations caused artificial inflation of the internal consistency, therefore violating the model assumption of local independence of items. To correct this, all locally dependent items were then grouped into their respective domains, creating a 7 testlet-scale which demonstrated a good fit to the Rasch model, 2(df) = 2.625 (7), p = 0.917 and internal consistency PSI = 0.975. Analysis of the pooled (Portuguese and the English) data revealed cross-cultural DIF, requiring adjustments in two testlets: 'treatments' and 'support' which ensured cross-cultural equivalence.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms the Portuguese ENAT is a robust unidimensional tool with which to assess the educational needs of Portuguese people with RA. Cross-cultural adjustments are required only if the data from Portugal and the UK are pooled or compared. The tool is now available for use in clinical practice and research.

Search for neutrinos from annihilation of captured low-mass dark matter particles in the sun by super-kamiokande

Super-Kamiokande (SK) can search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) by detecting neutrinos produced from WIMP annihilations occurring inside the Sun. In this analysis, we include neutrino events with interaction vertices in the detector in addition to upward-going muons produced in the surrounding rock. Compared to the previous result, which used the upward-going muons only, the signal acceptances for light (few-GeV/c^{2}-200-GeV/c^{2}) WIMPs are significantly increased. We fit 3903 days of SK data to search for the contribution of neutrinos from WIMP annihilation in the Sun. We found no significant excess over expected atmospheric-neutrino background and the result is interpreted in terms of upper limits on WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross sections under different assumptions about the annihilation channel. We set the current best limits on the spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross section for WIMP masses below 200  GeV/c^{2} (at 10  GeV/c^{2}, 1.49×10^{-39}  cm^{2} for χχ→bb[over ¯] and 1.31×10^{-40}  cm^{2} for χχ→τ^{+}τ^{-} annihilation channels), also ruling out some fraction of WIMP candidates with spin-independent coupling in the few-GeV/c^{2} mass range.