Response to overall survival with first-line atezolizumab in combination with vemurafenib and cobimetinib in BRAFV600 mutation-positive advanced melanoma (IMspire150): second interim analysis of a multicentre, randomised, phase 3 study

Novel therapies have achieved unprecedented benefit in survival of advanced melanoma patients. While immunotherapy (ICI) can be administered independent of mutational status, BRAF and MEK kinase inhibitors represent another effective treatment option for patients with BRAF mutant melanoma. Given the benefits these therapies demonstrate, the natural instinct was to combine. Three studies have investigated the benefit of combination of ICI using anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibody and targeted therapy (TT) with BRAF and MEK inhibitors over TT and placebo. Among these studies, statistically significantly superior duration of response was observed, however overall and progression-free survival were only numerically superior, if at all. One triple combination was approved for BRAF mutant metastatic melanoma; however, the expected synergistic effect of triple therapy could not be universally confirmed and the observed benefits with triple seem to depend on statistical considerations rather than a biological reason. As patients with BRAF mutant melanoma have both ICI and TT as their first-line treatment options, the question whether the sequence matters was addressed. Two prospective trials compared first-line ICI, followed by TT at progression, or vice-versa, with additional "sandwich" approach (8 weeks of TT followed by ICI until progression, then TT again) in the Secombit study. The benefit of first-line ICI was demonstrated in both studies with Secombit study showing the "sandwich" approach to have similar effect. Current data advices for immunotherapy based regiments in patients with BRAF mutant melanoma or, possibly, sandwich approach. Whether triple therapy is superior to ICI monotherapy still needs to be addressed considering not only efficacy, but also safety.

Triple sexually transmitted infections among pregnant woman in the context of Elimination of mother to child transmission in Southern Ethiopia: Reports from a survey of questionnaires and laboratory studies

Introduction

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) cause a wide range of public health problems if left untreated. They can lead to adverse birth outcomes, including stillbirth, fetal loss, neonatal death, preterm birth, and low birth weight. Although great efforts have been made to reduce STIs nationally, their incidence remains high in Ethiopia, and their co-infection calls for urgent action. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determinants of three STIs among pregnant women attending antenatal care (ANC) in the context of the elimination of mother-to-child transmission in public health facilities in Sawla Town, Gofa zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study design was conducted among pregnant women attending antenatal care in public health facilities in Sawla Town, Southern Ethiopia, from May to July 2022. Data were collected from pregnant women's serum using an HIV rapid test, an HBsAg rapid test device, and a VDRL for HIV, HBV, and syphilis, respectively. Descriptive statistics, such as frequencies and percentages, were used to describe each relevant variable. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify the determinants of STIs.

Results

A total of 484 pregnant women attending antenatal care were screened. The mean age of the women was 24.0 ± 4.6 years, and nearly half of the participants had completed secondary school or higher. The overall seroprevalence of three STIs (HIV, HBV, and syphilis) among pregnant women was 6.8%. These three sexually transmitted infections were shown to be more common among pregnant women who were not able to read and write, had tattoos, had previously had an abortion, and had a history of multiple sexual partners.

Conclusions

The seroprevalence found in this study was intermediate in comparison with the WHO standard. Efforts should be made to strengthen the existing health education and RH service integration on STI screening, and treatment that further eliminates vertical infection.

Anatomic Restoration of Triple Disruption of the Superior Shoulder Suspensory Complex: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Background

Multiple disruptions of the superior shoulder suspensory complex (SSSC) involving more than two components are extremely rare. In some extreme situations, three components of the SSSC structure can be involved. The ideal treatment for this type of injury is debatable.

Case presentation

A 21‐year‐old woman was referred to our emergency center following a traffic accident. A three‐dimensional CT scan showed triple disruption of the SSSC involving concomitant ipsilateral fractures of the coracoid, the acromion, and the distal clavicle. The connection between the upper limber and the axial skeleton was destroyed. There was no evidence of associated injury and the neurovascular examination of the injured upper limb was normal. The patient underwent an open reduction and internal fixation to restore the anatomic integrity of the SSSC. The arm was supported in a broad arm sling for 2 weeks after surgery. Gentle passive range of motion activity under analgesic was encouraged from the second day postoperatively. One year and half after the operation, the patient had regained pain free and unrestricted shoulder stability and mobility.

Conclusion

The manifestations of multiple disruptions of the SSSC may be variable. This case illustrated the challenges of treating the multiple disruption of the SSSC structure. It also showed that surgical intervention for this rare combination injury yields an excellent functional result. The good outcome achieved in this patient demonstrates that surgical intervention might be an optional resolution for multiple disruptions of the SSSC.

Randomised trials and meta-analyses of double vs triple antithrombotic therapy for atrial fibrillation-ACS/PCI: A critical appraisal

•

The optimal antithrombotic regimen to be used in patients with AF and PCI or ACS is still debated.

•

Each of the six randomised controlled trials comparing double to triple therapy has limitations.

•

None was powered to assess differences between treatment arms in ischaemic event rates.

•

The contrasting results regarding ischaemic events within published meta-analyses can be explained by heterogeneity, incompleteness and varying definitions of stent thrombosis.

•

The overall reduced bleeding rates, but increased early definite and probable stent thrombosis rates with double versus triple antithrombotic therapy encourage consideration of triple therapy during the first weeks from PCI followed by double therapy.

Ten-Year Experience of Managing Giant Duodenal Ulcer Perforations with Triple Tube Ostomy at Tertiary Hospital of North India

Duodenal ulcer perforations have been known since 1600 AD. It is a common surgical emergency and every surgeon will encounter it. The perforation size of >2 cm has been used as the criteria for defining Giant duodenal ulcers. The management of giant duodenal perforations in hemodynamically unstable patient with comorbid condition is taxing because of high incidence of the postoperative leak and mortality. We have used the simple technique of Triple Tube Ostomy after the primary closure of the defect with encouraging results. It is a retrospective study done at the J. N medical college AMU Aligarh from May 2005 to May 2015. Hemodynamically unstable patients who have presented to the emergency with preoperative diagnoses of giant duodenal ulcer perforation and had undergone triple tube ostomy with primary repair of the perforation were included in the study. There were 34 patients of giant duodenal perforation who presented in shock. All of them underwent triple-tube-ostomy after primary repair of the duodenum. Thirty-two patients recovered with two mortalities (5.8 %). Several definite surgical techniques have been described for the management of giant duodenal ulcer perforation but they are complex, have very high morbidity and mortality rate and require an expert surgeon. A close retrospective scrutiny of the patients suggests that simple triple-tube-ostomy technique which is based on the principle of damage control surgery has good postoperative results Therefore, we recommend it as the procedure of choice in these patients.

Triple negative invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast presents as small bowel obstruction

•

Metastatic breast carcinoma rarely spreads to the Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT).

•

GIT breast carcinoma rarely has triple: ER, PR and HER2-neu negative histology.

•

We report a case of triple negative breast carcinoma that spread to the jejunum.

•

This is the first reported case in the U.S.

Metastasis from breast carcinoma to the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is very uncommon. To date, only a few cases have been described worldwide. Of those which do metastasize to the GIT, only estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2-neu receptor positive cancers have been reported and none have been mentioned in the U.S. We report a case of a 70-year-old white female with history of triple negative lobular carcinoma eight years earlier who presented with solitary jejunal mass causing obstruction.

Synchronous triple occurrence of MALT lymphoma, schwannoma, and adenocarcinoma of the stomach

We present a case of a 56-year-old man with 3 synchronous gastric tumors. The patient presented with melena, and 3 gastric abnormalities were detected on gastroduodenoscopic examination, including a small ulcerative lesion in the gastric antrum, a submucosal mass in the gastric body, and severe erosion in the fundus. Histological examination of biopsy samples yielded respective diagnoses of gastric adenocarcinoma, gastritis, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. The patient first received medication to eradicate any underlying Helicobacter pylori infection, which might have been a cause of the MALT lymphoma. Four weeks later, after examination of repeat biopsy samples revealed that the MALT lymphoma had resolved, the patient underwent subtotal gastrectomy. Further histological examination of resected tissue confirmed the antrum lesion as adenocarcinoma and the body lesion as schwannoma. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of synchronous triple primary gastric adenocarcinoma, MALT lymphoma, and schwannoma.

Triple Negative Breast Cancer at the University Hospital Mohammed VI – Oujda

Introduction: The triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), defined by the absence of receptors to oestrogen and progesterone and no histochemical expression of human epidermal receptor -2, is associated with a particularly aggressive behavior. The aim of our study was to determine the clinico-pathological, therapeutic and prognostic features associated with this type of breast cancer in Morocco. Methods: A cohort retrospective study, spread over 3 years, was conducted of 116 breast cancer patients, diagnosed between January 2009 and December 2011 at the Regional Center of Oncology. Epidemiological, clinical, histological and therapeutic data were analyzed. Survival curves at 3 years were estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis with use of the log-rank test. Results: The proportion of triple-negative breast cancer in our series was 13.2%. The average age was 46.5 years and 20,7% had a previous history of familial breast cancer. Some 56,9% of tumors were greater than 3 cm in diameter. infiltrating ductal carcinoma being the histological type in the majority of cases (75.9%). TNBC was most often associated with a high grade, grade III accounting for 50.9%. Vascular invasion was found in 58.6% of cases. Regarding lymph node involvement, 42.2% had positive lymph nodes and 15.5% featured distant metastases. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administrated to 20% of patients with a 23.5% complete pathologic response. The rates for overall survival and disease-free-survival at 3 years for localized stages were 70 and 55.6%, respectively. With metastatic lesions, the figures were 27.5% and 10.3% respectively. Conclusion: The TNBC is correlated with a poor prognosis with a high mortality and early relapse requiring identification of new target therapies and markers for prediction of tumoral response to various treatments.

Arthroscopic Subtalar, Double, and Triple Fusion

Arthroscopic approaches to subtalar, double, and triple arthrodesis allow relative preservation of the soft tissue envelope compared with traditional open approaches. The surgical technique involving the use of a 4.5-mm 30° arthroscope via sinus tarsi portals is described. All 3 joints of the triple joint can be prepared for fusion with motorized burrs. Rigid fixation is achieved with cannulated screws. High union rates and low complication rates have been reported.

Practical Aspects in Choosing a Helicobacter pylori Therapy

Cure rates greater than 90%-95% should be expected with an antimicrobial therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection. Standard triple therapy does not guarantee these efficacy rates in most settings worldwide anymore. The choice of eradication regimen should be dictated by factors that can predict the outcome: (1) H. pylori susceptibility; (2) patients' history of prior antibiotic therapy; and (3) local data, either resistance patterns or clinical success. Currently, the preferred first-line choices are 14-day bismuth quadruple and 14-day non-bismuth quadruple concomitant therapy. Bismuth quadruple (if not used previously), fluoroquinolone-, furazolidone- and rifabutin-containing regimens might be effective rescue treatments.

Triple attack technique for non-union of femoral neck fractures

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to describe the technique and clinical results following the utilization of biomechanical and biological means for adequate fracture healing in management of non-union of the neck of femur while preventing distortion of normal hip biomechanics.

METHODS

Twenty-two patients with non-united fractures of femoral neck in adults were treated with what was termed the 'triple attack' procedure. This constituted iliac autogenous bone grafting, valgus subtrochanteric osteotomy together with static fixation across the non-union fracture site of the neck to avoid delayed femoral neck shortening.

RESULTS

All patients were classified as Pauwel's type III fractures. The mean time interval between the last operation and the current procedure was 4.6 months. Average operative time was 58.6 minutes. Patients were followed up for an average of 43.6 months. Complete union was achieved in all cases at an average of 4.3 months. Significant improvement of all radiological parameters was noticed together with the Harris hip score from an average of 21.2 pre-operatively to 89.6 at the last follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The present study provides encouraging clinical and functional results to suggest that this newly described procedure ('triple attack') might be a valuable option in the management of non-united femoral neck fractures.

Arthroscopic triple and modified double hindfoot arthrodesis

BACKGROUND

Arthroscopic arthrodesis is an accepted technique for the ankle but less commonly reported for multiple hindfoot joints. We present a case series review to establish the feasibility of this surgery.

METHODS

In a consecutive series of 112 arthroscopic hindfoot arthrodeses, 18 involved decortication and fusion of 2 or 3 hindfoot joints. These were reviewed to identify complications, union rates and improvement over preoperative state.

RESULTS

Mean age was 62 (45-78). Mean follow-up was 4.4 (1.75-7.5) years. There were no perioperative complications. The four patients with triple fusions united with good or excellent outcomes. Of 14 patients with subtalar and talonavicular arthrodeses there were three talonavicular non-unions.

CONCLUSIONS

Arthroscopic double and triple arthrodeses appear feasible salvage options for pain and deformity. Decortication of all three joints and rotatory correction of deformity is possible whilst preserving the soft tissue envelope. Late adjacent joint pain and arthrosis can occur.

Development and evaluation of a biomedical search engine using a predicate-based vector space model

Although biomedical information available in articles and patents is increasing exponentially, we continue to rely on the same information retrieval methods and use very few keywords to search millions of documents. We are developing a fundamentally different approach for finding much more precise and complete information with a single query using predicates instead of keywords for both query and document representation. Predicates are triples that are more complex datastructures than keywords and contain more structured information. To make optimal use of them, we developed a new predicate-based vector space model and query-document similarity function with adjusted tf-idf and boost function. Using a test bed of 107,367 PubMed abstracts, we evaluated the first essential function: retrieving information. Cancer researchers provided 20 realistic queries, for which the top 15 abstracts were retrieved using a predicate-based (new) and keyword-based (baseline) approach. Each abstract was evaluated, double-blind, by cancer researchers on a 0-5 point scale to calculate precision (0 versus higher) and relevance (0-5 score). Precision was significantly higher (p<.001) for the predicate-based (80%) than for the keyword-based (71%) approach. Relevance was almost doubled with the predicate-based approach-2.1 versus 1.6 without rank order adjustment (p<.001) and 1.34 versus 0.98 with rank order adjustment (p<.001) for predicate--versus keyword-based approach respectively. Predicates can support more precise searching than keywords, laying the foundation for rich and sophisticated information search.