C-Reactive protein role in assessing COVID-19 deceased geriatrics and survivors of severe and critical illness

Numerous risk variables, including age, medical co-morbidities, and deranged inflammatory response, lead to higher mortality in a senior population with coronavirus disease 2019. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase inflammatory protein secreted by the liver, was tested in the elderly, showing a diagnostic and prognostic role. However, recent research has shed light on new applications for CRP in geriatrics. It was used as a follow-up marker and as a therapeutic target. Early and accurate identification of patients' risks may mitigate the devastation of the invading virus in older cases and permit the implementation of a quick treatment plan for those most likely to deteriorate.     

Age estimation of Iraqi children and young adults based on third molar development and its relation to chronological age

ObjectivesThe study aimed to estimate the age of Iraqi children and young adults based on the third molar development to establish Iraqi reference material for orthodontic and forensic purposes, and to investigate the correlation between the estimated and chronological age.MethodsA retrospective analysis of digital orthopantographs of 1515 patients of Iraqi origin, aged from 6 to 25 years was conducted, and the developmental status of the mandibular right third molar for each patient was evaluated using Demirjian et al.’s method. Statistical analysis was carried out using “Mann-Whitney U-test” between genders. The linear regression analysis was performed to obtain “regression formulas” for dental age calculation with chronologic age.ResultsNo statistically significant differences were observed between Iraqi males and females at any age. The median of male and female age of initial calcification of the cuspal tips for mandibular third molars was 9 years, whereas 14 years was the median of age for both genders when the crown was completed. All mandibular right third molars have a complete root formation with apex closure at a median of male and female age 22 years.ConclusionsThe use of Demirjian et al.’s method was appropriate as a reliable age indicator for Iraqi population. A strong correlation was observed between these stages and chronological age. Consequently, reference data have been established for mandibular third molar development in Iraqi population.     

基于人工智能的骨龄辅助评价系统对四川地区完全性生长激素缺乏症患儿骨龄研究

目的探讨采用基于"人工智能(AI)的骨龄辅助评价系统(上海初云医疗科技有限公司与四川大学华西第二医院合作开发)"(以下简称为AI系统)对完全性生长激素缺乏症(CGHD)患儿诊断及骨龄评价准确性。 方法选择2014年7月至2019年11月，于四川大学华西第二医院确诊的66例来自四川地区CGHD患儿为研究对象，纳入研究组。选择同期于病例收集医院儿童保健科进行骨龄测定的67例来自四川地区身高达标儿童作为对照，纳入对照组。对每例受试儿进行左手腕关节正位X射线摄片骨龄测定，由2位医师采用《TW₂骨龄评分法中国未成年人南方标准》(以下简称为TW₂CHN)》与《TW₃骨龄评分法标准》(以下简称为TW₃)，盲法评价受试儿TW₂CHN-桡、尺、掌指骨(RUS)与TW₂CHN-腕骨(carpal)、TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-RUS及TW₃-carpal骨龄(以下简称为5种传统骨龄)，以及以同性别、年龄身高达标儿童5种传统骨龄为标准，计算受试儿5种传统骨龄百分位数。同时，采用AI系统分别对每例受试儿采取TW₂CHN与TW₃法，评价其AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-20、AI-TW₃-RUS及AI-TW₃-carpal骨龄(以下简称为5种AI骨龄)及其相应百分位数。以上述5种传统骨龄＋5种AI骨龄(以下简称为10种骨龄)相应的P₅₀、P₂₅、P₁₀、P₃值(统称为P_n值)作为诊断CGHD患儿临界值，分别计算其诊断CGHD患儿的敏感度、特异度、约登(Youden)指数、准确率、阳性似然比、阴性似然比、阳性预测值、阴性预测值。采用Kappa值评价2组受试儿5种传统骨龄百分位数与对应的5种AI骨龄百分位数评价结果的一致性，以及2位医师对2组受试儿TW₂CHN-RUS骨龄百分位数评价结果一致性。绘制上述10种骨龄百分位数诊断CGHD患儿的受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线，并计算曲线下面积(AUC)。采用配对t检验，对2组受试儿TW₂CHN骨龄与TW₃骨龄进行比较。本研究遵循的程序符合2013年新修订的《世界医学协会赫尔辛基宣言》要求。2组受试儿年龄、性别构成比等一般临床资料比较，差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。 结果①采用10种骨龄的P_n值分别作为诊断CGHD临界值，对133例受试儿CGHD诊断结果显示，除了TW₃-RUS骨龄中，以骨龄≤P₁₀作为诊断CGHD患儿临界值时的诊断准确率最高(85.0%)，TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal、TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-20、AI-TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₃-RUS骨龄中，均为以骨龄≤P₂₅作为临界值时，对CGHD的诊断准确率最高，分别为81.9%、75.2%、88.0%、78.2%、75.2%、73.6%、81.2%、72.9%、78.9%。②一致性检验结果显示，2组受试儿TW₂CHN-RUS与AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal与AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、TW₂CHN-20与AI-TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-RUS与AI-TW₃-RUS、TW₃-carpal与AI-TW₃-carpal骨龄百分位数评价结果均为中等一致性，Kappa值分别为0.445、0.578、0.570、0.446、0.430(均为P<0.001)。③对2位医师对2组受试儿TW₂CHN-RUS骨龄百分位数评价结果进行一致性检验显示，其Kappa值为0.790(P<0.001)，一致性较高。④绘制10种骨龄百分位数评价结果诊断CGHD的ROC曲线分析结果显示，TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal、TW₂CHN-20、TW₃-carpal、TW₃-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-20、AI-TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₃-RUS骨龄百分位数诊断CGHD患儿的AUC分别为0.932、0.859、0.915、0.895、0.844、0.823、0.805、0.866、0.860、0.764(均为P<0.001)。⑤133例受试儿的TW₃-RUS、TW₃-carpal、AI-TW₃-RUS、AI-TW₃-carpal骨龄，均分别显著低于TW₂CHN-RUS、TW₂CHN-carpal、AI-TW₂CHN-RUS、AI-TW₂CHN-carpal骨龄，并且差异均有统计学意义(t＝21.746、25.287、16.498、9.290，P<0.001)。 结论TW₂CHN法、TW₃法对CGHD患儿骨龄评价及诊断均有临床价值，TW₂CHN-RUS骨龄对于CGDH患儿诊断效能高。四川地区儿童TW₃骨龄较TW₂CHN骨龄低，TW₃法可能不完全适用于四川地区儿童骨龄评价。AI系统对于四川地区CGHD患儿骨龄评价结果与传统骨龄评价结果具有中等一致性，可为临床医师评价受试儿骨龄提供帮助。     

Effect of gender on the reliability of COVID-19 rapid antigen test among elderly

Defining con-founders that affect the reliability of diagnostic tests for coronavirus disease 2019 is vital to breaking the chain of infection. The elderly population is a higher risk group for the emerging virus. However, gender seems to exert a critical role in modifying the infection risk among women owing to hormonal changes. The menopause transition is an exceptional period for older women where the protective and immunomodulatory effects of the estrogen hormone are lost. Accordingly, attention should be given to postmenopausal women since they will have an increased risk compared to their pre-menopausal peers.     

Disparities in Stage at Diagnosis in an Equal-access Integrated Delivery System: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 7244 Patients With Bladder Cancer

BackgroundDisparities in bladder cancer survival by race/ethnicity and gender are likely related to differences in diagnosis. We assessed disparities in stage at diagnosis and potential contributing factors within a large, integrated delivery system.Patients and MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of 7244 patients with bladder cancer age ≥ 21 years diagnosed from January 2001 to June 2015 within Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Bivariate analyses compared stage at diagnosis – as well as comorbidities, health plan membership length, and health care utilization prior to diagnosis – by race/ethnicity, gender, and age. Multivariable generalized linear mixed models with urologist as a random effect were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for diagnosis of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) versus non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer.ResultsIn multivariable analyses, stage at diagnosis varied significantly by race/ethnicity (P < .001). Non-Hispanic black patients had significantly higher odds of being diagnosed with MIBC than non-Hispanic white patients (OR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.05-1.67), whereas Asian patients had significantly lower odds (OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.49-0.91). Women were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with MIBC than men (OR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.22-1.61). Non-Hispanic black women had the highest proportion (39%) of MIBC diagnoses. Among Hispanic and Asian patients, a greater proportion of diagnoses occurred at younger ages.ConclusionsHealth care coverage within an equal-access system did not eliminate disparities in stage at diagnosis by race/ethnicity or gender. Studies are needed to identify etiologic factors and aspects of care delivery (eg, patient-physician interactions) that may affect the diagnostic process to inform efforts to improve health equity.     

Technology makes older adults feel older

The current study aims to examine the effect of technology use on the assessment of subjective age across the adult lifespan, with the assumption that using technology might make older people feel older. One-hundred and fifty-one participants (ages 18–83) assessed their subjective age before and after using familiar and unfamiliar applications on a touchscreen tablet. Subjective age was assessed either by line marking or by numerical response. The oldest participants felt older after the manipulation relative to their pre-manipulation baseline, unlike the youngest participants in the sample. This effect was stronger for the unfamiliar application than for the familiar application. We suggest that using technology evokes stereotype threat. Although this threat does not impair performance, it still changes self perception. These findings could have far-reaching implications for the well-being of older adults in an ever more technological world.     

Sagittal spinal alignment deviation in the general elderly population: a Japanese cohort survey randomly sampled from a basic resident registry

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

It is widely recognized that sagittal spinal alignment changes with age. However, there are presently no clear benchmarks for such values or those for the cervical spine in the general population. Quality epidemiological studies are needed to establish standards for spinal alignment deviation.

A new analytical cut-off point for determining 18 years of age using MRI on medial clavicular epiphysis

Evaluation of the ossification of the medial clavicular epiphysis plays a key role in forensic age estimation. The purpose of the present study was to assess a new numerical cut-off at the age of 18 years, taking into consideration Magnetic Resonance (MR) images of the medial clavicular epiphysis. We analyzed 163 MR scans of Italian subjects aged between 14 and 25 years. Using the data obtained we calculated two ratios: REM-1 (ratio between the length of the whole epiphysis and the length of the metaphysis) and REM-2 (ratio between the length of epiphyseal-metaphyseal fusion and the length of the metaphysis). In 68 out of 163 cases it was not possible to measure REM-2. The reproducibility was demonstrated using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.80). REM-1 and REM-2 were compared in each category of age (adult and minor) by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The cut-off points for measurements of REM-1 and REM-2 were determined by logistic regression. For REM-1, the cut-off scores were 0.83 for all individuals (accuracy = 94.77%) and males (accuracy = 96.05%), and 0.86 for females (accuracy = 92.30%). For REM-2, the cut-off values were 0.40 for all individuals and males (accuracy = 100.00%), and 0.41 for females (accuracy = 100.00%). Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for age classification based on REM-1 and REM-2 were constructed, showing that REM-2 had the highest discriminative power. Thus, a new cut-off model for predicting the age of majority has been introduced, conducting a quantitative analysis thanks to the use of a high-resolution imaging tool.     

Age at menopause in India: A systematic review

Background and aimsMenopause is a physiological process in nature and hence, variations in the age of menopause are not expected. Hence, the study was conducted with an objective to calculate the reliable estimates of age at menopause for India, and understand the differentials in women’s age at menopause throughout the country.MethodsA total of 202 studies of age at menopause, covering the period 2009–2020, were accessed from PubMed database and Google. Of these only ten studies met the selection criteria for this paper, which is that the data for these studies must be collected from house-to-house surveys.ResultsThe average age at menopause in India, with minimal publication bias, is 46.6 years (95% CI: 44.83, 48.44). In one study slightly above 1.96 Standard Deviation, was observed, as ascertained by Funnel Plot and Egger’s test. The mean age ranged from a minimum of 44.69 years (95% CI: 35.01, 54.37) to a maximum of 48.95 (95% CI: 42.29, 55.61) years. Furthermore, the age at menopause did not exhibit any significant variation by age at menarche, although the association was positive.ConclusionsThe age at menopause showed positive association with age at menarche. In India, during the period 2009–2020, it was 46.6 years, which significantly lower than the age in some developed countries. The differences may be methodological since no information was found regarding the distribution of age at menopause in the studies that were considered for meta-analysis.