Papel del personal técnico superior en imagen para el diagnóstico durante la pandemia COVID-19: importancia de la organización y planificación en la primera línea

The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent declaration of a state of alarm have required changes throughout the entire health system and diagnostic imaging departments are no exception.In our department, these circumstances led to an immediate restructuring of the working dynamics of our group of imaging technologists that had an important role in the front lines of the battle. To ensure that these new needs were met, the staff had to be trained and distributed into different areas and working groups; moreover, new protective measures and protocols had to be adopted in the working environment. We also defined different care circuits for patients with COVID-19 and those without COVID-19, incorporating new technologies, adapting existing resources to the new scenario, and creating a circuit for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19. This paper also provides detailed recommendations for organizing radiology departments in the case of new outbreaks of COVID-19.     

Wound senescence: A functional link between diabetes and ageing?

Arguably, the two most important causes of pathological healing in the skin are diabetes and ageing. While these factors have historically been considered independent modifiers of the healing process, recent studies suggest that they may be mechanistically linked. The primary contributor to diabetic pathology is hyperglycaemia, which accelerates the production of advanced glycation end products, a characteristic of ageing tissue. Indeed, advanced age also leads to mild hyperglycaemia. Here, we discuss emerging literature that reveals a hitherto unappreciated link between cellular senescence, diabetes and wound repair. Senescent cells cause widespread destruction of normal tissue architecture in ageing and have been shown to be increased in chronic wounds. However, the role of senescence remains controversial, with several studies reporting beneficial effects for transiently induced senescence in wound healing. We recently highlighted a direct role for senescence in diabetic healing pathology, mediated by the senescence receptor, CXCR2. These findings suggest that targeting local tissue senescence may provide a therapeutic strategy applicable to a broad range of chronic wound types.     

lncRNA-FTX与脑胶质瘤病人预后的相关性分析

目的 探讨长链非编码RNA（lncRNA）FTX表达水平与脑胶质瘤病人预后的相关性。方法 前瞻性收集2016年1月~2018年1月手术切除的脑胶质瘤88例（46例获得瘤旁组织），采用实时逆转录PCR检测lncRNA FTX表达水平，以脑胶质瘤组织lncRNA FTX表达水平均值为界分为高表达组（n=57）和低表达组（n=31）。术后随访3年，主要观察指标为无进展生存期、总生存期。结果 脑胶质瘤组织lncRNA FTX表达水平[（7.54±2.15）]明显高于瘤旁组织[（2.65±0.69）；P<0.001]。多因素Cox比例回归风险模型分析显示，lncRNA FTX高表达是脑胶质瘤生存预后不良的独立危险因素（RR=1.589；95% CI 1.004~2.515；P=0.048）。生存曲线分析显示，高表达组无进展生存期（15.10个月）和总生存期（20.24个月）较低表达组（分别为18.96和25.53个月）明显缩短（P<0.05）。结论 脑胶质瘤lncRNA FTX呈高表达，与病人不良生存预后有关。     

Predictors of survival following surgical resection of limited-stage small cell lung cancer

BackgroundAdjuvant chemotherapy, postoperative radiation (PORT), and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) have been individually examined in limited-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC). There is a paucity of data on the effectiveness of each adjuvant treatment modality when used in combination after surgical resection of SCLC.MethodsData were collected from 5 cancer centers on all patients with limited-stage SCLC who underwent surgical resection between 1986 and 2019. Univariate and multivariable models were conducted to identify predictors of long-term outcomes, focusing on freedom from recurrence and survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy, PORT, and PCI.ResultsA total of 164 patients were analyzed. Multivariable Cox regression analysis did not identify any adjuvant therapies to significantly influence recurrence in this cohort. Specifically, PORT was not associated with a significant influence on locoregional recurrence and PCI was not significantly associated with intracranial outcomes. Adjuvant chemotherapy improved survival in all stage I through III disease (hazard ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.29-0.81; P = .005) and even in pathologically node negative patients (hazard ratio, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.27-0.91; P = .024). Although PCI was found to improve survival in univariate analysis, it was not significant in a multivariable model. PORT was not found to affect survival on either univariate or multivariable analysis.ConclusionsThis is among the largest multi-institutional studies on surgically resected limited-stage SCLC. Our results highlight survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy, but did not identify a statistically significant influence from mediastinal PORT or PCI in our cohort. Larger prospective studies are needed to determine the benefit of PORT or PCI in a surgically resected limited-stage SCLC population.