Gender trends in applicants to general surgery residency programs in Canada

BackgroundSurgical disciplines lag behind non-surgical disciplines in attracting female trainees. Female representation of Canadian General Surgeons has not been evaluated in recent years in the literature. The objectives of this study were to assess gender trends in applicants to Canadian General Surgery residency programs and practicing general surgeons and subspecialists.MethodsThis retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed gender data for residency applicants ranking General Surgery as their first-choice discipline from publicly-available annual Canadian Residency Matching Service (CaRMS) R-1 match reports from 1998 to 2021. Aggregate gender data for practicing female physicians in General Surgery and related subspecialties, including Pediatric Surgery, obtained from annual Canadian Medical Association (CMA) census from 2000 to 2019 was also analysed.ResultsThere was a significant increase in the proportion of female applicants from 34% in 1998 to 67% in 2021 (p < 0.001) and of successfully matched candidates from 39% to 68% (p = 0.002) from 1998 to 2021. Success rates between male and female candidates were significantly different in 1998 (p < 0.001), but not in 2021 (p = 0.29). The proportion of practicing female General Surgeons also significantly increased from 10.1% in 2000 to 27.9% in 2019 (p = 0.0013), with variable trends in subspecialties.ConclusionGender inequality in General Surgery residency matches has normalized since 1998. Despite females representing more than 40% of applicants and successfully matched candidates to General Surgery since 2008, a gender gap still exists amongst practicing General Surgeons and subspecialists. This suggests the need for further cultural and systemic change to mitigate gender disparities.Type of studyOriginal research article, clinical research.Level of evidenceLevel III (Retrospective cross-sectional study).     

Validation of donor fraction cell-free DNA with biopsy-proven cardiac allograft rejection in children and adults

ObjectivesDonor-specific cell-free DNA shows promise as a noninvasive marker for allograft rejection, but as yet has not been validated in both adult and pediatric recipients. The study objective was to validate donor fraction cell-free DNA as a noninvasive test to assess for risk of acute cellular rejection and antibody-mediated rejection after heart transplantation in pediatric and adult recipients.MethodsPediatric and adult heart transplant recipients were enrolled from 7 participating sites and followed for 12 months or more with plasma samples collected immediately before all endomyocardial biopsies. Donor fraction cell-free DNA was extracted, and quantitative genotyping was performed. Blinded donor fraction cell-free DNA and clinical data were analyzed and compared with a previously determined threshold of 0.14%. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated.ResultsA total of 987 samples from 144 subjects were collected. After applying predefined clinical and technical exclusions, 745 samples from 130 subjects produced 54 rejection samples associated with the composite outcome of acute cellular rejection grade 2R or greater and pathologic antibody-mediated rejection 2 or greater and 323 healthy samples. For all participants, donor fraction cell-free DNA at a threshold of 0.14% had a sensitivity of 67%, a specificity of 79%, a positive predictive value of 34%, and a negative predictive value of 94% with an area under the curve of 0.78 for detecting rejection. When analyzed independently, these results held true for both pediatric and adult cohorts at the same threshold of 0.14% (negative predictive value 92% and 95%, respectively).ConclusionsDonor fraction cell-free DNA at a threshold of 0.14% can be used to assess for risk of rejection after heart transplantation in both pediatric and adult patients with excellent negative predictive value.     

老年脓毒症患者临床特征及预后影响因素

 目的 探讨老年脓毒症患者临床特征及影响预后的危险因素。方法 选取2020年7月-2021年9月某三级甲等医院收治的老年脓毒症患者为研究对象，记录患者的临床及实验室资料，根据患者28天预后情况分为存活组和死亡组，比较各临床指标在两组间的差异，应用二元logistic回归分析法分析影响老年脓毒症患者预后的独立危险因素，进一步绘制受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线，评估不同指标预测患者预后的价值。结果 共纳入121例患者，其中74例为脓毒症，47例为脓毒性休克。存活组92例，死亡组29例。与存活组相比，死亡组患者发生脓毒性休克、合并症个数 ≥ 2的比例均较高（P<0.05）；序贯器官衰竭评估（SOFA）评分和急性生理与慢性健康状况评估（APACHEⅡ）评分也较高，白细胞介素6（IL-6）、胱抑素C（Cys-C）、降钙素原（PCT）、凝血酶原时间（PT）和D -二聚体（D -D）表达水平均增高（均P<0.05），而淋巴细胞绝对计数（ALC）和清蛋白（ALB）表达水平降低（均P<0.01）。二元logistic回归分析显示脓毒性休克、SOFA评分、D -D及Cys-C表达水平是影响老年脓毒症患者28天预后的独立危险因素。ROC曲线分析显示SOFA评分（AUC=0.758）、D -D（AUC=0.774）、Cys-C（AUC=0.650）预测患者的预后均有一定的价值（均P<0.01），与单个指标相比，三个指标的联合检测显示出更高的预测价值（AUC=0.882）。结论 发生脓毒性休克、SOFA评分增高、D -D及Cys-C表达水平增加是导致老年脓毒症患者病死率上升的独立危险因素，SOFA评分、D -D和Cys-C的联合检测可进一步提高脓毒症患者预后的预测价值，为临床治疗和预后评估提供参考依据。     

Representatividad de las mujeres en las sociedades científicas españolas del ámbito de la salud en 2014

ObjectiveTo describe the presence of women in the governance of health-related scientific societies in Spain today.MethodsSpanish scientific societies were identified by vising the websites of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, and Fisterra. The sex of the president, executive officers and the board of directors was identified. Data were analyzed according to the overall percentage of women and by profession and setting.ResultsOf 173 scientific societies in July 2014, 41 had a female president (22.53%). Women held 35.45% of executive positions and accounted for 36.32% of the boards of directors. Only 16.07% of medical societies had a female president compared with 76.92% of nursing societies. Primary care societies had more women in executive positions (54.55%) than societies in which the professional activity of members involved both primary and secondary care (35.74%) and societies related to hospital care (27.93%).ConclusionThere is a lack of parity, which is greater in nursing and primary care societies than in medical and hospital-related societies. Parity decreases as the level of responsibility rises.     

Differences by gender in completed suicides in a Mexican population: A psychological autopsy study

ObjectiveUsing the method of psychological autopsy, we identified differences by gender in socio-demographic aspects, signs and symptoms, and suicide characteristics in a population of the state of Tabasco. Mexico.MethodsBetween the years 2007–2014, 182 psychological autopsies were documented by the Secretary of Health of the State of Tabasco, Mexico. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demographic aspects and suicide characteristics.ResultsThe sample was mainly formed by males (78%). 84% of the sample used hanging as suicide method. However, in comparison with the male group, females were older on the average (p = 0.002); they were mostly housewives (37.5%) and had more years of schooling (p = 0.004). Other significant differences predominantly present in the male group were: the use of alcohol at the time of suicide (52.1%), job retirement, and increases in apathy (50.7%) and aggressiveness (36.6%) (p < 0.05).ConclusionOur results suggest that there are differences by gender between subjects with completed suicide. Factors such as alcohol consumption, job retirement, aggressiveness and isolation/social apathy certainly render men more vulnerable to suicide in the Mexican population.     

Ultrasonographic assessment of liver fibrosis with computer-assisted analysis of liver surface irregularities

PurposeThe goal of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a software program that automatically analyzes the liver surface to diagnose significant fibrosis, by comparing it to the subjective analysis of a radiologist and to transient elastography (Fibroscan^®).Patients and methodsOne hundred fourteen patients with chronic liver disease were included in the study. They underwent liver biopsy, FibroScan^® and ultrasonographic examination of the liver surface. The liver surface was analyzed by a software program that gave a score of surface irregularities. This evaluation was compared to subjective analysis by a radiologist expert in liver imaging and by two general radiologists.ResultsFifty percent of the patients had significant fibrosis according to the METAVIR score. The AUROC for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis by the software program was 0.80 (95%CI: 0.71–0.87), which was equivalent (P = 0.86) to that of FibroScan^® (0.81; 95%CI: 0.71–0.89). Results of the subjective analysis by the expert radiologist were poorer than those of the software analysis (P = 0.02) (AUROC = 0.66; 95%CI: 0.56–0.75). Interobserver agreement among radiologists was poor (0.25 < kappa < 0.37).ConclusionComputer-assisted liver surface analysis was better than subjective analysis, and similar to that of the FibroScan^®. This method could be useful for the diagnosis of significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis and complementary to the other non-invasive diagnostic tests.     

Are there gender differences in left ventricular remodeling after myocardial infarction in rats?

Objective

An unclear issue is whether gender may influence at cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction (MI). We evaluated left ventricle remodeling in female and male rats post-MI.

Methods

Rats were submitted to anterior descending coronary occlusion. Echocardiographic evaluations were performed on the first and sixth week post-occlusion to determine myocardial infarction size and left ventricle systolic function (FAC, fractional area change). Pulsed Doppler was applied to analyze left ventricle diastolic function using the following parameters: E wave, A wave, E/A ratio. Two-way ANOVA was applied for comparisons, complemented by the Bonferroni test. A P≤=0.05 was considered significant.

Results

There were no significant differences between genders for morphometric parameters on first (MI [Female (FE): 44.0±5.0 vs. Male (MA): 42.0±3.0%]; diastolic [FE: 0.04±0.003 vs. MA: 0.037±0.005, mm/g] and systolic [FE: 0.03±0.0004 vs. MA: 0.028±0.005, mm/g] diameters of left ventricle) and sixth (MI [FE: 44.0±5.0 vs. MA: 42.0±3.0, %]; diastolic [FE: 0.043±0.01 vs. MA: 0.034±0.005, mm/g] and systolic [FE: 0.035±0.01 vs. MA: 0.027±0.005, mm/g] of LV) week. Similar findings were reported for left ventricle functional parameters on first (FAC [FE: 34.0±6.0 vs. MA: 32.0±4.0, %]; wave E [FE: 70.0±18.0 vs. MA: 73.0±14.0, cm/s]; wave A [FE: 20.0±12.0 vs. MA: 28.0±13.0, cm/s]; E/A [FE: 4.9±3.4 vs. MA: 3.3±1.8]) and sixth (FAC [FE: 29.0±7.0 vs. MA: 31.0±7.0, %]; wave E [FE: 85.0±18.0 vs. MA: 87.0±20.0, cm/s]; wave A [FE: 20.0±11.0 vs. MA: 28.0±17.0, cm/s]; E/A [FE: 6.2±4.0 vs. MA: 4.6±3.4]) week.

Conclusion

Gender does not influence left ventricle remodeling post-MI in rats.