Correction: Thrombotic and bleeding events,mortality, and anticoagulant use among 546,656 hospitalized patients with COVID‑19 in the United States: a retrospective cohort study

Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis -     

Abnormal glucose tolerance in a pediatric cystic fibrosis cohort: Trends in clinical outcomes and associated factors in the preceding years

Background and aimsDeterioration of anthropometric and lung function parameters was shown to precede the onset of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) in adults. In children, studies have been conducted in small cohorts with relatively short observation period. Study objectives were to document the longitudinal trends of anthropometric, pulmonary, nutritional and metabolic parameters from cystic fibrosis (CF) diagnosis to the ascertainment of abnormal glucose tolerance and identify parameters associated with the incidence of such abnormalities in a pediatric CF cohort.Methods and resultsRetrospective cohort study of 281 children with CF. Longitudinal trends of anthropometric, lung function, nutritional and metabolic data were generated from CF diagnosis to the ascertainment of abnormal glucose tolerance defined as the presence of either impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), unconfirmed CFRD or CFRD. Cox models and Kaplan–Meier curves were used to identify factors associated with developing abnormal glucose tolerance.Forty-five percent of cohort had normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 27% IGT, 10% unconfirmed CFRD and 18% CFRD. Children who developed CFRD displayed lower height z-scores from a very early age. Conversely, HbA1c levels began to rise closer to CFRD ascertainment. Height z-scores (HR: 0.45; CI 95% [0.29–0.69]) and HbA1c (HR: 2.43; CI 95% [1.86–3.18]) in years preceding ascertainment were associated with the risk of developing CFRD.ConclusionChildren who developed CFRD display distinctive trends for height z-scores from a very early age, whereas HbA1c appears as a marker of established glucose metabolism derangements.     

Significant reduction of postoperative pain and opioid analgesics requirement with an Enhanced Recovery After Thoracic Surgery protocol

ObjectiveTo evaluate differences in postoperative pain control and opioids requirement in thoracic surgical patients following implementation of an Enhanced Recovery after Thoracic Surgery protocol with a comprehensive postoperative pain management strategy.Material and MethodsA retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing pulmonary resections by robotic thoracoscopy or thoracotomy from January 1, 2017, to January 31, 2019, was conducted. Multimodal pain management strategy (opioid-sparing analgesics, infiltration of liposomal bupivacaine to intercostal spaces and surgical sites, and elimination of thoracic epidural analgesia use in thoracotomy patients) was implemented as part of Enhanced Recovery after Thoracic Surgery on February 1, 2018. Outcome metrics including patient-reported pain levels, in-hospital and postdischarge opioids use, postoperative complications, and length of stay were compared before and after protocol implementation.ResultsIn total, 310 robotic thoracoscopy and 62 thoracotomy patients met the inclusion criteria. This pain management strategy was associated with significant reduction of postoperative pain in both groups with an overall reduction of postoperative opioids requirement. Median in-hospital opioids use (morphine milligram equivalent per day) was reduced from 30 to 18.36 (P = .009) for the robotic thoracoscopy group and slightly increased from 15.48 to 21.0 (P = .27) in the thoracotomy group. More importantly, median postdischarge opioids prescribed (total morphine milligram equivalent) was significantly reduced from 480.0 to 150.0 (P < .001) and 887.5 to 150.0 (P < .001) for the thoracoscopy and thoracotomy groups, respectively. Similar short-term perioperative outcomes were observed in both groups before and following protocol implementation.ConclusionsImplementation of Enhanced Recovery after Thoracic Surgery allows safe elimination of epidural use, better pain control, and less postoperative opioids use, especially a drastic reduction of postdischarge opioid need, without adversely affecting outcomes.     

Three-dimensional architecture of nephrons in the normal and cystic kidney

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Genetic and epigenetic alterations of the EGFR and mutually independent association with BRCA1, MGMT,and RASSF1A methylations in Vietnamese lung adenocarcinomas

Genetic and epigenetic alterations importantly contribute to the pathogenesis of lung cancer. In the study, we measured the frequency and distribution of molecular abnormalities of EGFR as well as the aberrant promoter methylations of BRCA1, MGMT, MLH1, and RASSF1A in Vietnamese lung adenocarcinomas. We investigated the association between genetic and epigenetic alteration, and between each abnormality with clinicopathologic parameters. Somatic EGFR mutation that was found in 49/139 (35.3%) lung adenocarcinomas showed a significant association with young age, female gender, and non-smokers. EGFR overexpression was identified in 82 tumors (59.0%) and statistical relationships with EGFR or BRCA1 methylation but not EGFR mutation. In addition, EGFR, BRCA1, MGMT, MLH1, and RASSF1A methylations were found in 33 (23.7%), 41 (29.5%), 46 (33.1%), 28 (20.1%), and 41 (29.5%) cases of a total of 139 lung adenocarcinomas, respectively. The RASSF1A methylation was found to be linked to the smoking habit. Methylations in MGMT and RASSF1A were also found to correlate with metastasis status. Furthermore, the distribution of EGFR mutation and that of BRCA1, MGMT or RASSF1A methylation were significantly exclusive in lung adenocarcinomas. The main finding of our study demonstrate that epigenetic abnormalities might play a critical role for the lung tumorigenesis in patients with smoking history and metastasis, and partly affect the predictive value of EGFR mutations through blocking expression due to promoter EGFR hypermethylation. Mutually exclusive distribution of genetic and epigenetic alterations reflects differently biological characteristics in the etiology of lung adenocarcinomas.     

ZBTB16: A new biomarker for primitive neuroectodermal tumor element / Ewing sarcoma

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) traditionally encompasses two different classes of tumors with similar morphology - PNET of the peripheral nervous system (pPNET) and PNET of the central nervous system (cPNET). The latter also includes germ cell tumor-derived PNET (gPNET). There are currently no specific markers for gPNET. This study seeks to investigate the expression of ZBTB16 in PNET and other small round blue cell tumors as well as its potential diagnostic utility. Immunohistochemical expression of the ZBTB16 was studied in a total of 27 PNETs (12 pPNETs, 8 cPNETs, 3 primary testicular gPNETs, and 4 metastatic gPNETs) and 38 small round blue cell tumors. Positive expression for ZBTB16 was seen diffusely in 9/12 (75%), moderately in 2/12 (17%) and focally in 1/12 (8%) of pPNETs, diffusely in 3/7 (43%) and moderately in 4/7 (57%) of gPNETs, and diffusely in 2/8 (25%), moderately in 2/8 (25%) and focally in 4/8 (50%) of cPNETs. Whereas, all of the 38 non-PNET small round blue cell tumors were nonreactive. The results suggest that ZBTB16 is a highly sensitive and specific biomarker for both pPNET and gPNET/cPNET. ZBTB16 effectively differentiates PNETs from other small round blue cell tumor mimics, including the two most common germ cell tumor-derived somatic malignancies - rhabdomyosarcoma and nephroblastoma. Of note, compared to the expression of ZBTB16 in pPNET/Ewing sarcoma and gPNET, the expression of ZBTB16 in cPNET was more variable, which appears consistent with the heterogeneity of cPNET. The close proximity of ZBTB16 and FLI-1 genes on chromosome 11q may explain the overexpression of ZBTB16 in PNET, especially in pPNET with t(1122) translocation.