Postoperative assessment of nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 after robotic surgical procedures during the pandemic

ObjectivesTo assess potential nosocomial coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) transmission in patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic procedures during the pandemic.Material and methodsProspective study in patients undergoing robot-assisted laparoscopy in urology or gynaecology within 2 academic hospitals. Patients underwent local preoperative COVID-19 screening using a symptoms questionnaire. Patients with suspicious screening underwent coronavirus real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and were excluded from robotic surgery if positive. Patients with symptoms postsurgery were systematically tested for coronavirus by RT-PCR. One-month postsurgery, all patients had a telephone consultation to evaluate COVID-19 symptoms.ResultsSixty-eight patients underwent robotic surgery during the study period (median age: 63-years [IQR: 53–70], 1.8 male: female ratio). Oncology was the main indication for robotic surgery (n = 62, 91.2%) and 26 patients (38.2%) received a chest CT-scan prior to surgery. Eleven patients (16.2%) were symptomatic after surgery of whom only 1 tested positive for coronavirus by RT-PCR (1.5%) and was transferred to COVID-19 unit with no life-threatening condition. No attending surgeon was diagnosed with COVID-19 during the study.ConclusionsRobot-assisted laparoscopic surgery seemed safe in the era of COVID-19 as long as all recommended precautions are followed. The rate of nosocomial COVID-19 transmission was extremely low despite the fact that we only used RT-PCR testing in symptomatic patients during the preoperative work-up. Larger cohort is needed to validate these results.     

Increased incidence and unusual presentations of CMV disease in kidney transplant recipients after conversion to belatacept

Belatacept may increase cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease risk after conversion from CNI-based therapy. We analyzed CMV disease characteristics after belatacept conversion. Propensity score matching was used to compare CMV disease incidence in belatacept- and CNI-treated kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). CMV disease characteristics and risk factors under belatacept were analyzed. In total, 223 KTRs (median age [IQR] 59.2 years [45.4–68.5]) were converted to belatacept (median of 11.5 months [2.5–37.0] post-transplantation); 40/223 (17.9%) developed CMV disease. Independent risk factors included increased age (p = .0164), D+/R− CMV serostatus (p = .0220), and low eGFR at conversion (p = .0355). Among 181 belatacept-treated patients matched to 181 controls, 32/181 (17.7%) experienced CMV disease (vs. 5/181 controls [2.8%]). CMV disease cumulative incidences were 6.33 and 0.91/100 person-years (p-y) in belatacept and control groups, respectively. CMV disease risk was particularly high in elderly patients (converted >70 years) and those with eGFR <30 ml/min; cumulative incidences were 18.4 and 5.2/100 p-y, respectively. CMV diseases under belatacept were atypical, with late-onset disease (24/40 patients [60%]), high CMV seropositivity (27/40, 67%), increased severe and tissue-invasive disease rates (gastrointestinal involvement in 32/40 [80%]) and life-threatening diseases (4/40 [10%]). These findings should stimulate further research to secure the use of belatacept as a valuable rescue therapy in KTRs.     

Feasibility of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessment for cancer patients using electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) in daily clinical practice

Quality of Life Research - Routine Electronic Monitoring of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) (REMOQOL) in clinical care with real-time feedback to physicians could help to enhance...     

The influence of positive selection on RAG expression in thymocytes

The expression of recombination activating gene (RAG) products, responsible for T cell receptor (TcR) gene rearrangement, is shut off during positive selection of thymocytes. The precise stage at which this down-regulation occurs remains somewhat controversial. We have analyzed RAG-1 expression in thymocytes of TcR transgenic mice carried on selecting versus non-selecting genetic backgrounds, both by in situ hybridization on thymus sections and by polymerase chain reaction amplification of RNA from sorted cells. The data from several transgenic lines indicate that RAG expression is already reduced in immature, cortical, CD4⁺CD8⁺ cells in the presence of positively selecting major histocompatibility complex molecules, although complete shut-off is not achieved until the mature, medullary, single-positive stage. This finding has practical and theoretical significance for studies on the mechanism of positive selection.     

Organization of the serotoninergic system in the brain of two amphibian species, Ambystoma mexicanum (Urodela) and Typhlonectes compressicauda (Gymnophiona)

An immunocytochemical investigation was made of the distribution of serotonin (5-HT) in the brain of larval and adult Ambystoma mexicanum and adult Typhlonectes compressicauda. Immunoreactive perikarya can be identified in the caudal diencephalon (paraventricular organ and infundibular nucleus), in the ventral mesencephalon (interpeduncular nucleus) and in the raphe of the rhombencephalon. Immunopositive fibers and terminal arborizations are widely distributed, extending from the whole telencephalon to the spinal lemniscus area. However, the retinorecipient structures of the thalamus and mesencephalon are either very weakly innervated (Ambystoma) or completely immunonegative (Typhlonectes). The habenular system also exhibits very few 5-HT-positive structures. The major serotoninergic neuron clusters, in both Urodela and Gymnophiona, tend to gather, from the paraventricular organ to the raphe, on both sides of the sagittal plane, showing no tendency to lateralization. A new interpretation of the limited development of the serotoninergic system in amphibians is given.     

Treatment of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer

In advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), an objective response to chemotherapy is of limited value and the impact of chemotherapy on survival is modest. Therefore, endpoints evaluating the patients’ subjective benefit such as symptom control (SC), quality of life (QOL) or clinical benefit (CB) have recently been implemented into clinical trials, mostly as secondary endpoints. Chemotherapy offers SC, not only in patients with an objective response, but also in a proportion of patients with disease stabilization. For this purpose, three to four cycles of platinum-based chemotherapy are recommended. Interpretation of QOL objectives is limited by several methodologic problems. Studies comparing best supportive care alone with either older platinum-based combinations or single-agent chemotherapy with a new cytotoxic drug usually indicate improved survival and improvement of some component(s) of QOL in the active treatment arm. However, results from studies comparing different chemotherapies are less definitive. Trials comparing single-agent therapy with a new drug with new combinations mostly report no difference in QOL. In addition, most trials comparing new platinum-based combinations with older ones, and trials comparing new platinum-based regimens fail to show any differences in QOL. As a whole, it is far from clear whether combination therapy is superior to modern single-agent therapy, when the patient’s benefit is the primary endpoint. Non-platinum-based doublets, compared with platinum-based doublets, may lead to slightly inferior survival, are not always less toxic, and have not been proven to provide better QOL outcomes. The CB response, originally reported in pancreatic cancer, measures more than SC, but not full QOL. Encouraging experience with this tool was reported in advanced NSCLC. Randomized studies designed to look at some form of patient benefit as a primary endpoint should be a priority in advanced NSCLC.     

Semimonthly versus monthly regimen of fluorouracil and leucovorin administered for 24 or 36 weeks as adjuvant therapy in stage II and III colon cancer: results of a randomized trial.

PURPOSE: This randomized, 2 x 2 factorial study compared a semimonthly (LVFU2) with a monthly (FULV) regimen of fluorouracil and leucovorin and 24 versus 36 weeks of each regimen as adjuvant treatment of patients with stage II (Dukes' B2) and III (Dukes' C) colon cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: LVFU2 was administered semi-monthly for 2 consecutive days as dl- or l-leucovorin (200 or 100 mg/m2, respectively) as a 2-hour infusion, followed by a 400 mg/m2 FU bolus and 600 mg/m2 of FU as a 22-hour continuous infusion. FULV was administered monthly for 5 consecutive days as a 15-minute infusion of dl- or l-leucovorin, followed by 400 mg/m2 of FU as a 15-minute infusion. RESULTS: A total of 905 patients were randomly assigned. The median follow-up was 41 months. Disease-free survival was similar between the LVFU2 and FULV groups (127 v 124 events; hazard ratio [HR] = 1.04; P =.74) and between 24 and 36 weeks of therapy (128 v 123 events; HR = 0.94; P =.63). Analysis of overall survival showed a slight excess in the number of deaths in LVFU2 compared with FULV (73 v 59), but this difference was not statistically significant (HR = 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 0.90 to 1.78; P =.18). The most commonly observed grade 3 to 4 toxicities were neutropenia, diarrhea, and mucositis. Toxicities were significantly lower in the LVFU2 group (all toxicities, P <.001). CONCLUSION: Our data confirm that LVFU2 is less toxic than FULV. At a median follow-up of 41 months, no statistically significant difference could be detected in disease-free or overall survival between the treatment groups or treatment durations.     

Quantitative tumor apoptosis imaging using technetium-99m-HYNIC annexin V single photon emission computed tomography.

PURPOSE: Radiolabeled annexin V may allow for repetitive and selective in vivo identification of apoptotic cell death without the need for invasive biopsy. This study reports on the relationship between quantitative technetium-99m- (99mTc-) 6-hydrazinonicotinic (HYNIC) radiolabeled annexin V tumor uptake, and the number of tumor apoptotic cells derived from histologic analysis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients (18 men, two women) suspected of primary (n = 19) or recurrent (n = 1) head and neck carcinoma were included. All patients underwent a spiral computed tomography (CT) scan, 99mTc-HYNIC annexin V tomography, and subsequent surgical resection of the suspected primary or recurrent tumor. Quantitative 99mTc-HYNIC annexin V uptake in tumor lesions divided by the tumor volume, derived from CT, was related to the number of apoptotic cells per tumor high-power field derived from terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assays performed on sectioned tumor slices. RESULTS: Diagnosis was primary head and neck tumor in 18 patients, lymph node involvement of a cancer of unknown primary origin in one patient, and the absence of recurrence in one patient. Mean percentage absolute tumor uptake of the injected dose per cubic centimeter tumor volume derived from tomographic images was 0.0003% (standard deviation [SD], 0.0004%) at 1 hour postinjection (PI) and 0.0001% (SD, 0.0000%) at 5 to 6 hours PI (P =.012). Quantitative 99mTc-HYNIC annexin V tumor uptake correlated well with the number of apoptotic cells if only tumor samples with no or minimal amounts of necrosis were considered. CONCLUSION: In the absence of necrosis, absolute 99mTc-HYNIC annexin V tumor uptake values correlate well with the number of apoptotic cells derived from TUNEL assays.     

Dispositional optimism predicts survival status 1 year after diagnosis in head and neck cancer patients.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that, independent of other known prognostic factors, pessimistic head and neck (H&N) cancer patients have a greater risk of being dead 1 year after diagnosis than do optimistic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective observational study design was used with a cohort of H&N cancer patients diagnosed during the period from March 1, 1997, to August 31, 1998, at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Clermont-Ferrand, France. Dispositional optimism (DO) was evaluated at baseline using a French version of the Life Orientation Test translated and validated for this study. One-year survival status was collected on all subjects. The analysis of the hypothesized association between DO and 1-year survival was performed using multiple logistic regression analysis, controlling for other sociodemographic and clinical variables. RESULTS: The sample size was 101 patients, representing all but one of those patients fitting the inclusion criteria who were diagnosed during the recruitment period. Of these, 51 were alive at 1 year after diagnosis, 45 were dead, and five were lost to follow-up. The multivariate analysis was performed on the data from the 96 subjects in whom 1-year survival status was known. Controlling for known predictors of H&N cancer survival, pessimistic subjects (odds ratio [OR], 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.24) and those living alone (OR, 4.14; 95% CI, 1.21 to 14.17) were more likely than optimistic subjects and those living with others to be dead at 1 year. CONCLUSION: The results of this study of a cohort of French H&N cancer patients indicate that dispositional optimism predicts 1-year survival independent of other sociodemographic and clinical variables.