Association of monocytic leukemia in patients with extreme leukocytosis

Fifteen of 73 newly diagnosed patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital between July 1977 and October 1979, presented with leukocyte counts greater than 100,000/μl. Eleven of these 15 patients with hyperleukocytosis had myelomonocytic (AMML-M4) or monocytic (AMOL-M5) leukemia compared to 14 of 58 patients with lower white cell counts (p < 0.001). Identification of type of leukemia, using the FAB classification, was based on morphology and special stains, including myeloperoxidase, Sudan black B, periodic acid-Schiff and nonspecific esterase with and without inhibition by fluoride. The proportion of patients with splenomegaly is higher in those with hyperleukocytosis (73 percent) than in those with lower white blood cell counts (p < 0.001) regardless of cell type. Leukemic infiltration of the skin, gums and central nervous system was seen exclusively in patients with AMML and AMOL. The serum lysozyme levels were significantly higher for all patients with AMML and AMOL regardless of the white blood cell count. The mean serum lysozyme for M-4, M-5 patients was 59.7 μg/ml compared to 18.9 μg/ml in patients with other cell types (p < 0.0001). Patients with a white blood cell count ≤100,000/μl had a complete remission rate of 69 percent compared to 47 percent for patients with higher white blood cell counts.     

The Influence of Community Violence and Protective Factors on Asthma Morbidity and Healthcare Utilization in High-Risk Children

We examined the longitudinal effects of community risk and protective factors on asthma morbidity and healthcare utilization. Three hundred urban caregivers of children with poorly controlled asthma were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a behavioral/educational intervention and completed measures of exposure to community violence (ECV), social cohesion (SC), informal social control (ISC), child asthma control, child asthma symptom days/nights, and healthcare utilization. Latent growth curve modeling examined the direct and interaction effects of ECV, SC, and ISC on the asthma outcomes over 12 months. Caregivers were primarily the biological mother (92 %), single (70 %), and poor (50 % earned less than $10,000). Children were African American (96 %) and young (mean age = 5.5 years, SD = 2.2). ECV at baseline was high, with 24.7 % of caregivers reporting more than two exposures to violence in the previous 6 months (M = 1.45, SD = 1.61). Caregiver ECV-predicted asthma-related healthcare utilization at baseline (b = 0.19, SE = 0.07, p = 0.003) and 2 months (b = 0.12, s.e. = 0.05, p = 0.04). ISC and SC moderated the effect of ECV on healthcare utilization. Our findings suggest that multifaceted interventions that include strategies to curb violence and foster feelings of cohesion among low-income urban residents may be needed to reduce asthma-related emergency services.     

Testicular atrophy after attempted pediatric orchidopexy for true undescended testis

Background/Purpose

A normal testis in the scrotum is the most important outcome of the attempted pediatric orchidopexy for a true undescended testis. The reports of post-orchidopexy testicular atrophy in the literature have ranged from non-existent to unclear. Our purpose in this study was to estimate the incidence of and associated risk factors for post-orchidopexy testicular atrophy.

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of data from children who had an attempted orchidopexy for a true undescended testis from 1969 to 2003 inclusive. REB approval 1000011987.

Results

There were 1400 attempted orchidopexies involving common (low) type (n = 1135), ectopic type (n = 174), and high type testes (n = 91). There were a total of 111/1400 (8%) atrophic testes, mostly right-sided. 66/111 (59%) were MADE atrophic, and 45 (41%) were FOUND atrophic. Of the 1135 common type, 56 (5%) were MADE atrophic. In the ectopic and high types, the incidence of post-operative testicular atrophy was 1% and 9%, respectively.The most significant risk factors associated with testes MADE atrophic were high testicle, vas problems, and pre-operative torsion.

Conclusions

In this series, the incidence of post-operative testicular atrophy that was MADE was 5% in the common (low) type and 9% in the high type. These numbers and the above risk factors should be quoted to the caregiver during pre-operative informed consent.     

Inter-rater reliability of surgical reviews for AREN03B2: A COG renal tumor committee study

Purpose

The Children's Oncology Group (COG) renal tumor study (AREN03B2) requires real-time central review of radiology, pathology, and the surgical procedure to determine appropriate risk-based therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-rater reliability of the surgical reviews.

Methods

Of the first 3200 enrolled AREN03B2 patients, a sample of 100 enriched for blood vessel involvement, spill, rupture, and lymph node involvement was selected for analysis. The surgical assessment was then performed independently by two blinded surgical reviewers and compared to the original assessment, which had been completed by another of the committee surgeons. Variables assessed included surgeon-determined local tumor stage, overall disease stage, type of renal procedure performed, presence of tumor rupture, occurrence of intraoperative tumor spill, blood vessel involvement, presence of peritoneal implants, and interpretation of residual disease. Inter-rater reliability was measured using the Fleiss' Kappa statistic two-sided hypothesis tests (Kappa, p-value).

Results

Local tumor stage correlated in all 3 reviews except in one case (Kappa = 0.9775, p < 0.001). Similarly, overall disease stage had excellent correlation (0.9422, p < 0.001). There was strong correlation for type of renal procedure (0.8357, p < 0.001), presence of tumor rupture (0.6858, p < 0.001), intraoperative tumor spill (0.6493, p < 0.001), and blood vessel involvement (0.6470, p < 0.001). Variables that had lower correlation were determination of the presence of peritoneal implants (0.2753, p < 0.001) and interpretation of residual disease status (0.5310, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The inter-rater reliability of the surgical review is high based on the great consistency in the 3 independent review results. This analysis provides validation and establishes precedent for real-time central surgical review to determine treatment assignment in a risk-based stratagem for multimodal cancer therapy.     

National Implementation of Acute Stroke Care Centers in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA): Formative Evaluation of the Field Response

Background

In 2011, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) released the Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) Directive, which mandated reorganization of acute stroke care, including self-designation of stroke centers as Primary (P), Limited Hours (LH), or Supporting (S).

Objectives

In partnership with the VHA Offices of Emergency Medicine and Specialty Care Services, the VA Stroke QUERI conducted a formative evaluation in a national sample of three levels of stroke centers in order to understand barriers and facilitators.

Design and Approach

The evaluation consisted of a mixed-methods assessment that included a qualitative assessment of data from semi-structured interviews with key informants and a quantitative assessment of stroke quality-of-care data reporting practices by facility characteristics.

Participants

The final sample included 38 facilities (84 % participation rate): nine P, 24 LH, and five S facilities. In total, we interviewed 107 clinicians and 16 regional Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) leaders.

Results

Across all three levels of stroke centers, stroke teams identified the specific need for systematic nurse training to triage and initiate stroke protocols. The most frequently reported barriers centered around quality-of-care data collection. A low number of eligible veterans arriving at the VAMC in a timely manner was another major impediment. The LH and S facilities reported some unique barriers: access to radiology and neurology services; EMS diverting stroke patients to nearby stroke centers, maintaining staff competency, and a lack of stroke clinical champions. Solutions that were applied included developing stroke order sets and templates to provide systematic decision support, implementing a stroke code in the facility for a coordinated response to stroke, and staff resource allocation and training. Data reporting by facility evaluation demonstrated that categorizing site volume did indicate a lower likelihood of reporting among VAMCs with 25–49 acute stroke admissions per year.

Conclusions

The AIS Directive brought focused attention to reorganizing stroke care across a wide range of facility types. Larger VA facilities tended to follow established practices for organizing stroke care, but the unique addition of the LH designation presented some challenges. S facilities tended to report a lack of a coordinated stroke team and champion to drive process changes.

     

Internists’ Attitudes About Assessing and Maintaining Clinical Competence

BACKGROUND

Important changes are occurring in how the medical profession approaches assessing and maintaining competence. Physician support for such changes will be essential for their success.

OBJECTIVE

To describe physician attitudes towards assessing and maintaining competence.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional internet survey.

PARTICIPANTS

Random sample of 1,000 American College of Physicians members who were eligible to participate in the American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification program.

MAIN MEASURES

Questions assessed physicians’ attitudes and experiences regarding: 1) self-regulation, 2) feedback on knowledge and clinical care, 3) demonstrating knowledge and clinical competence, 4) frequency of use and effectiveness of methods to assess or improve clinical care, and 5) transparency.

KEY RESULTS

Surveys were completed by 446 of 943 eligible respondents (47 %). Eighty percent reported it was important (somewhat/very) to receive feedback on their knowledge, and 94 % considered it important (somewhat/very) to get feedback on their quality of care. However, only 24 % reported that they receive useful feedback on their knowledge most/all of the time, and 27 % reported receiving useful feedback on their clinical care most/all of the time. Seventy-five percent agreed that participating in programs to assess their knowledge is important to staying up-to-date, yet only 52 % reported participating in such programs within the last 3 years. The majority (58 %) believed physicians should be required to demonstrate their knowledge via a secure examination every 9–10 years. Support was low for Specialty Certification Boards making information about physician competence publically available, with respondents expressing concern about patients misinterpreting information about their Board Certification activities.

CONCLUSIONS

A gap exists between physicians’ interest in feedback on their competence and existing programs’ ability to provide such feedback. Educating physicians about the importance of regularly assessing their knowledge and quality of care, coupled with enhanced systems to provide such feedback, is needed to close this gap.     

Preoperative Prediction of Failure Following Two-Stage Revision for Knee Prosthetic Joint Infections

While two-stage revision is the gold standard for treatment of knee prosthetic joint infection (PJI), it is not without risk. The purpose of this study was to develop a tool to preoperatively predict the probability that a two-stage revision would fail to eradicate knee PJI. 3,809 surgical cases were retrospectively reviewed and data were collected from 314 charts. Overall, 105 (33.4%) cases failed to eradicate PJI using this procedure. Univariate analysis identified multiple variables independently associated with reinfection. Logistic regression was used to generate a model (bootstrap-corrected concordance index of 0.773) predicting failure of infection eradication. Preoperative knowledge of a high probability of failure may improve risk assessment, lead to more aggressive management, and allow for time to consider alternative therapies.     

Women's strategies to achieve access to healthcare in Ontario,Canada: a meta‐synthesis

As part of a mixed methods study on women's access to the healthcare system in Ontario, Canada, we undertook a qualitative meta‐synthesis to better understand the contextual conditions under which women access healthcare. An earlier phase of the synthesis demonstrated a series of factors that complicate women's access to healthcare in Ontario. Here, we consider women's agency in responding to these factors. We used meta‐study methods to synthesise findings from qualitative studies published between January 2002 and December 2010. Studies were identified by searches of numerous databases, including CINAHL, MEDLINE, Scopus, Gender Studies Database and LGBT Life. Inclusion criteria included use of a qualitative research design; published in a peer‐reviewed journal during the specified time period; included a sample at least partially recruited in Ontario; included distinct findings for women participants; and in English language. Studies were included in the final sample after appraisals using a qualitative research appraisal tool. We found that women utilised a spectrum of responses to forces limiting access to healthcare: mobilising financial, social and interpersonal resources; living out shortfalls by making do, doing without, and emotional self‐management; and avoiding illness and maintaining health. Across the studies, women described their efforts to overcome challenges to accessing healthcare. However, there were evident limits to women's agency and many of their strategies represented temporary measures rather than viable long‐term solutions. While women can be resourceful and resilient in overcoming access disparities, systemic problems still need to be addressed. Women need to be involved in designing and implementing interventions to improve access to healthcare, and to address the root problems of these issues.