Development, Implementation, and Use of a Local and Global Clinical Registry for Neurosurgery

Predictive Factors Associated With Radiation Myelopathy in Pediatric Patients With Cancer: A PENTEC Comprehensive Review

PURPOSE

Radiation myelitis (RM) is a rare complication of radiation therapy (RT). The Pediatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic spinal cord task force aimed to identify RT dose effects and assess risk factors for RM in children. Through systematic review, we analyzed RT dose, fraction size, latency between completion of RT and toxicity, chemotherapy use, age when irradiated, and sex.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

We conducted literature searches of peer-reviewed manuscripts published from 1964 to June 2017 evaluating RM among children. Normality of variables was assessed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov or Shapiro-Wilk tests. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients were used to test correlations between RT dose/fraction size and latency between RT and development of toxicity.

RESULTS

Of 1329 identified and screened reports, 144 reports were fully reviewed and determined to have adequate data for analysis; 16 of these reports had a total of 33 cases of RM with a median age of 13 years (range, 0.2-18) at the time of RT. The most common primary tumor histologies were rhabdomyosarcoma (n = 9), medulloblastoma (n = 5), and Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 2); the most common chemotherapy agents given were vincristine (n = 15), intrathecal methotrexate (n = 12), and intrathecal cytarabine (n = 10). The median RT dose and fraction size were 40 Gy (range, 24-57.4 Gy) and 1.8 Gy (range, 1.3-2.6 Gy), respectively. RT dose resulting in RM in patients who also received chemotherapy was lower than in those not receiving chemotherapy (mean 39.6 vs 49.7 Gy; P = .04). There was no association of age with RT dose. The median latency period was 7 months (range, 1-29). Higher RT dose was correlated with longer latency periods (P = .03) to RM whereas sex, age, fraction size, and chemotherapy use were not. Two of 17 patients with adequate follow-up recovered from RM; unfortunately, it was fatal in 6 of 15 evaluable patients. Complication probability modeling was not possible because of the rarity of events.

CONCLUSIONS

This report demonstrates a relatively short latency from RT (with or without chemotherapy) to RM and a wide range of doses (including fraction sizes) associated with RM. No apparent association with age at the time of RT could be discerned. Chemotherapy appears to reduce spinal cord tolerance. Recovery from RM is rare, and it is often fatal.

Developing an Automated Registry (Autoregistry) of Spine Surgery Using Natural Language Processing and Health System Scale Databases

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Clinical registries are critical for modern surgery and underpin outcomes research, device monitoring, and trial development. However, existing approaches to registry construction are labor-intensive, costly, and prone to manual error. Natural language processing techniques combined with electronic health record (EHR) data sets can theoretically automate the construction and maintenance of registries. Our aim was to automate the generation of a spine surgery registry at an academic medical center using regular expression (regex) classifiers developed by neurosurgeons to combine domain expertise with interpretable algorithms.

METHODS

We used a Hadoop data lake consisting of all the information generated by an academic medical center. Using this database and structured query language queries, we retrieved every operative note written in the department of neurosurgery since our transition to EHR. Notes were parsed using regex classifiers and compared with a random subset of 100 manually reviewed notes.

RESULTS

A total of 31 502 operative cases were downloaded and processed using regex classifiers. The codebase required 5 days of development, 3 weeks of validation, and less than 1 hour for the software to generate the autoregistry. Regex classifiers had an average accuracy of 98.86% at identifying both spinal procedures and the relevant vertebral levels, and it correctly identified the entire list of defined surgical procedures in 89% of patients. We were able to identify patients who required additional operations within 30 days to monitor outcomes and quality metrics.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates the feasibility of automatically generating a spine registry using the EHR and an interpretable, customizable natural language processing algorithm which may reduce pitfalls associated with manual registry development and facilitate rapid clinical research.

Clinical Outcomes of Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations in Pediatric Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in pediatric patients exhibit remarkable differences in terms of management and outcomes. Owing to a paucity of relevant data pertaining to AVMs in pediatric patients, special interest and investigation are required for an improved understanding of the available evidence by clinicians.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the clinical outcomes of single-session stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for AVMs in pediatric patients.

METHODS

A systematic literature review was performed to identify studies that reported the outcomes of SRS for AVMs in pediatric patients. Data pertaining to variables such as obliteration rate, post-SRS new hemorrhage rate, post-SRS new neurological deficit rate, and mortality rate were extracted and analyzed using meta-analysis techniques.

RESULTS

Based on pooled data from 20 studies with 1212 patients, single-session SRS resulted in complete obliteration in 65.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 60.5%-71.1%; I2 = 66.5%) patients. Overall complication rate (including new hemorrhage, new neurodeficit, and mortality) was 8.0% (95% CI, 5.1%-11.5%; I2 = 66.4%). Post-SRS new neurological deficit rate was 3.1% (95% CI, 1.3%-5.4%; I2 = 59.7%), and post-SRS hemorrhage rate was 4.2% (95% CI, 2.5%-6.3%; I2 = 42.7%). There was no significant difference between studies disaggregated by treatment method (Gamma Knife [Elekta AB] vs other), treatment year (before year 2000 vs after year 2000), median AVM volume reported (≥3 vs <3 cm3), median dose reported (≥20 vs <20 Gy), or follow-up period (≥36 vs <36 mo).

CONCLUSION

Single-SRS is a safe treatment alternative that achieves high obliteration rates and acceptable complication rates for AVMs in pediatric patients.

One center's experience developing a burn outpatient registry

INTRODUCTION

Recent advances in burn care have resulted in the transition of care from inpatient to outpatient. There is a growing appreciation that with improved survival, meaningful markers of quality need to include recovery of form, function, and reconstruction. Capture of the data describing care delivered in the outpatient setting is being missed.

METHODS

Development of our outpatient database included providers, registrar, program manager, and outpatient nursing staff. Data points were included if they described the population, and epidemiology of our patients, were useful for programmatic changes and improvements as well as anticipated research focus areas.

RESULTS

The database platform chosen was Midas+™ because it was in use by hospital quality and integrated with the electronic medical record. Fields were customized based on changing program needs and are updated for new programs or outcomes measures. Reports can be easily built and both outpatients and inpatients are included. This allows for longitudinal tracking of burn patients. Ongoing additions to original data points include variables to track outcomes related to laser therapy for scar management, time to custom garment donning, and to track functional outcomes. Epidemiologic data collected is used to target high-risk populations for prevention and outreach efforts. Outcome data is used for evaluation of programs and care.

CONCLUSIONS

High quality databases serve to measure effectiveness of care and offer insight for areas of improvement. There is a clear need for inclusion of outpatient activity in the National Burn Registry (NBR).

The NQRN Registry Maturational Framework: Evaluating the Capability and Use of Clinical Registries

Clinical registries are increasingly used as national performance measurement platforms. In 2018, nearly 70 percent of the more than 50 specialty society registries in the United States were used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to measure the quality of clinical care. Private payers and evaluating organizations also use or desire to use registry information to inform quality improvement programs and value-based payment models.

The requirements for an entity to become a CMS Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) constitute a minimum set of standards for the purpose of reporting to the CMS Quality Payment Program. Models and frameworks exist that can help classify registries by purpose and use, and maturity models are available for evaluating health IT systems generally. However, there is currently no framework that describes the capability that should be expected from a registry at different phases of its development and maturity.

In response, the National Quality Registry Network (NQRN) has developed a registry maturational framework. The framework models early, intermediate and mature development phases, the capabilities anticipated during these phases and 17 domains across which registry programs support those capabilities. The framework was developed and refined by NQRN registry stewards, users and other stakeholders between 2013–2018. It is intended to be used as a developmental guide or for registry evaluation. The successful use of registry information to execute value-based payment models is a critical need in U.S. health care. The NQRN framework can help ensure that our national system of registries is rising to the occasion.

Early Palliative Care for Patients With Brain Metastases Decreases Inpatient Admissions and Need for Imaging Studies

Background:

Early encounters with palliative care (PC) can influence health-care utilization, clinical outcome, and cost.

Aim:

To study the effect of timing of PC encounters on brain metastasis patients at an academic medical center.

Setting/Participants:

All patients diagnosed with brain metastases from January 2013 to August 2015 at a single institution with inpatient and/or outpatient PC records available for review (N = 145).

Design:

Early PC was defined as having a PC encounter within 8 weeks of diagnosis with brain metastases; late PC was defined as having PC after 8 weeks of diagnosis. Propensity score matched cohorts of early (n = 46) and late (n = 46) PC patients were compared to control for differences in age, gender, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) at diagnosis. Details of the palliative encounter, patient outcomes, and health-care utilization were collected.

Results:

Early PC versus late PC patients had no differences in baseline KPS, age, or gender. Early PC patients had significantly fewer number of inpatient visits per patient (1.5 vs 2.9; P = .004), emergency department visits (1.2 vs 2.1; P = .006), positron emission tomography/computed tomography studies (1.2 vs 2.7, P = .005), magnetic resonance imaging scans (5.8 vs 8.1; P = .03), and radiosurgery procedures (0.6 vs 1.3; P < .001). There were no differences in overall survival (median 8.2 vs 11.2 months; P = .2). Following inpatient admissions, early PC patients were more likely to be discharged home (59% vs 35%; P = .04).

Conclusions:

Timely PC consultations are advisable in this patient population and can reduce health-care utilization.

Toward the complete control of brain metastases using surveillance screening and stereotactic radiosurgery

OBJECTIVE

The incidence of brain metastases is increasing with improved systemic therapies, many of which have a limited impact on intracranial disease. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a first-line management option for brain metastases. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a threshold tumor size below which local control (LC) rates approach 100%, and to relate these findings to the use of routine surveillance brain imaging.

METHODS

From a prospective registry, 200 patients with 1237 brain metastases were identified who underwent SRS between December 2012 and May 2015. The median imaging follow-up duration was 7.9 months, and the median margin dose was 18 Gy. The maximal diameter and volume of tumors were measured. Histological analysis included 96 patients with non–small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs), 40 with melanoma, 35 with breast cancer, and 29 with other histologies.

RESULTS

Almost 50% of brain metastases were NSCLCs and commonly measured less than 6 mm in maximal diameter or 70 mm3 in volume. Thirty-three of 1237 tumors had local progression at a median of 8.8 months. The 1- and 2-year actuarial LC rates were 97% and 93%, respectively. LC of 100% was achieved for all intracranial metastases less than 100 mm3 in volume or 6 mm in diameter. Patients whose tumors at first SRS were less than 10 mm maximal diameter or a volume of 250 mm3 had improved overall survival.

CONCLUSIONS

SRS can achieve LC rates approaching 100% for subcentimeter metastases. The earlier initial detection and prompt treatment of small intracranial metastases may prevent the development of neurological symptoms and the need for resection, and improve overall survival. To identify tumors when they are small, routine surveillance brain imaging should be considered as part of the standard of care for lung, breast, and melanoma metastases.

■ CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE Type of question: prognostic; study design: retrospective cohort; evidence: Class II.

The Use of Clinical Registries in the United States: A Landscape Survey

Introduction

The use of information from clinical registries for improvement and value-based payment is increasing, yet information about registry use is not widely available. We conducted a landscape survey to understand registry uses, focus areas and challenges. The survey addressed the structure and organization of registry programs, as well as their purpose and scope.

Setting

The survey was conducted by the National Quality Registry Network (NQRN), a community of organizations interested in registries. NQRN is a program of the PCPI, a national convener of medical specialty and professional societies and associations, which constitute a majority of registry stewards in the United States.

Methods

We surveyed 152 societies and associations, asking about registry programs, governance, number of registries, purpose and data uses, data collection, expenses, funding and interoperability.

Results

The response rate was 52 percent. Many registries were self-funded, with 39 percent spending less than $1 million per year, and 32 percent spending $1-9.9 million. The typical registry had three full-time equivalent staff. Registries were frequently used for quality improvement, benchmarking and clinical decision support. 85 percent captured outpatient data. Most registries collected demographics, treatments, practitioner information and comorbidities; 53 percent captured patient-reported outcomes. 88 percent used manual data entry and 18 percent linked to external secondary data sources. Cost, interoperability and vendor management were barriers to continued registry development.

Conclusions

Registries captured data across a broad scope, audited data quality using multiple techniques, and used a mix of automated and manual data capture methods. Registry interoperability was still a challenge, even among registries using nationally accepted data standards.

Implementation of a New UPMC Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Quality Assurance Registry

OBJECT

In this report, we discuss the development of a new, comprehensive, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant electronic quality assurance (QA) registry for Gamma Knife (GK) radiosurgery patients. This registry can be used to query outcomes, link with current hospital electronic medical records, and share data with future corporate or national professional society registries under development.

METHODS

A clinical task force comprising physicians and regulatory, legal, and information technology (IT) experts was created to define the nomenclature, regulatory requirements, hosting site, and required capabilities of the proposed system. A team of physicians and IT experts defined the clinical parameters and designed the query functions for the registry.

RESULTS

The UPMC GK Registry was established as a QA registry exempt from Institutional Review Board oversight. In order to facilitate subsequent query functions (analytics), data entry was created for 3 main categories: brain tumors, vascular malformations, and functional disorders. A Microsoft SQL-based database infrastructure was employed.

CONCLUSIONS

We developed a new UPMC GK QA registry and successfully migrated our previous data on 13,000 patients into the registry. This simplified and user-friendly registry offers clinicians the opportunity to participate in national registries and to contribute to multicenter evidence-based outcome analyses.

Impact on overall survival of the combination of BRAF inhibitors and stereotactic radiosurgery in patients with melanoma brain metastases

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of BRAF inhibitors on survival outcomes in patients receiving stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for melanoma brain metastases. We prospectively collected treatment parameters and outcomes for 80 patients with melanoma brain metastases who underwent SRS. Thirty-five patients harbored the BRAF mutation (BRAF-M) and 45 patients did not (BRAF-WT). Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors of overall survival. The median overall survival from first SRS procedure was 6.7, 11.2 months if treated with a BRAF inhibitor and 4.5 months for BRAF-WT. Actuarial survival rates for BRAF-M patients on an inhibitor were 54 % at 6 months and 41 % at 12 months from the time of SRS. In contrast, BRAF-WT had overall survival rates of 28 % at 6 months and 19 % at 12 months. Overall survival was extended for patients on a BRAF inhibitor at or after the first SRS. The median time to intracranial progression was 3.9 months on a BRAF inhibitor and 1.7 months without. The local control rate for all treated tumors was 92.5 %, with no difference based on BRAF status. Patients with higher KPS, fewer treated intracranial metastases, controlled systemic disease, RPA Class 1 and BRAF-M patients had extended overall survival. Overall, patients with BRAF-M treated with both SRS and BRAF inhibitors, at or after SRS, have increased overall survival from the time of SRS. As patients live longer as a result of more effective systemic and local therapies, close surveillance and early management of intracranial disease with SRS will become increasingly important.