The vein of Galen aneurysmal malformation (VGAM) is a rare congenital vascular malformation with a higher morbidity and mortality, especially in neonates. Ultrasound, CT and MR are usually used in diagnosis and treatment monitoring of these disorders. In this current study, we aim to examine utility of SWI in evaluation of treatment response in infants with VGAM.
Materials and methods
We performed a retrospective chart analysis of children with VGAM in our institution between January 2008 and December 2016. Inclusion criteria included; confirmed VGAM on DSA; available SWI sequence at baseline and at follow up after at least a single embolization session; age at initial MR of 18?years or younger. Signal intensity and Angioarchitecture of VGAM and cerebral veins on SWI, as well as hydrocephalus and clinical outcome were evaluated.
Results
Of 11 patients identified with VGAM in our institution, 5 children (3 males and 2 females) satisfied the inclusion criteria. The average age at initial MR was 29?days (range 1–120). Fourteen MRI were available for review. All children had VGAM of mural type. Intramedullary veins were dilated and SWI-hypointense in all children, while subependymal and sulcal veins were dilated and SWI-hypointense in 4 patients on initial MRI. On the first available follow up MRI, cerebral veins have mostly normalized in 4 children and remained mostly dilated and SWI-hypointense in 1 child; even after complete treatment of the VGAM.
Conclusion
Our preliminary findings show that SWI seems to offer a beneficial non-invasive tool in evaluating passive venous congestion patterns in pediatric patients with VGAM. It remains to be determined in larger studies, the clinical significance of these SWI changes. 相似文献
The aim of this study was to develop a high-fidelity minimally invasive mitral valve surgery (MIMVS) simulator.
Methods
The process of industrial serial design was applied based on pre-set requirements, acquired by interviewing experienced mitral surgeons. A thoracic torso with endoscopic and robotic access and disposable silicone mitral valve apparatus with a feedback system was developed. The feedback system was based on 4 cameras around the silicone valve and an edge detection algorithm to calculate suture depth and width. Validity of simulator measurements was assessed by comparing simulator-generated values with measurements done manually on 3-dimensional reconstructed micro-computed tomography scan of the same sutures. Independent surgeons tested the simulator between 2014 and 2018, whereupon an evaluation was done through a questionnaire.
Results
The feedback system was able to provide width and depth measurements, which were subsequently scored by comparison to pre-set target values. Depth did not significantly differ between simulator and micro-computed tomography scan measurements (P = .139). Width differed significantly (P = .001), whereupon a significant regression equation was found (P < .0001) to calibrate the simulator. After calibration, no significant difference was found (P = .865). In total, 99 surgeons tested the simulator and more than agreed with the statements that the simulator is a good method for training MIMVS, and that the mitral valve and suture placement looked and felt realistic.
Conclusions
We successfully developed a high-fidelity MIMVS simulator for endoscopic and robotic approaches. The simulator provides a platform to train skills in an objective and reproducible manner. Future studies are needed to provide evidence for its application in training surgeons. 相似文献
Purpose/aim: To focus on current aspects of primary thyroid lymphoma (PTL), which is a rare clinical entity usually manifested by a rapidly growing mass in the neck that can cause pressure symptoms.
Materials and Methods: Relevant papers in PubMed published through June 2017 were selected to track updated information about PTL with an emphasis on diagnosis and novel therapeutic management.
Results: The most frequent cases include non-Hodgkin lymphoma derived from B-cells, mainly diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) followed by mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma or a mixed type. Other subtypes are less common. Lymphomas derived from T-cells and Hodgkin lymphomas are extremely rare. Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis has been implicated as a risk factor for lymphoma. At the molecular level, the Wnt5a protein and its receptor Ror2 are involved in the course of the disease. Ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy, and core or open biopsy combined with new diagnostic facilities contribute to an accurate diagnosis. An increased potential exists for a cure without the need for a radical surgical procedure. Modern chemoradiation therapy plus the monoclonal antibody rituximab, which acts against CD20, have limited the need for surgical interventions and provide an excellent outcome in most cases. However, some cases have resulted in treatment failure or recurrence.
Conclusions: A multidisciplinary approach must be used to define the management policy in each case. Future efforts by researchers are likely to be focused on the molecular level. 相似文献
Revision total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is associated with increased readmissions, complications, and expense compared to primary TJA. Bundled payment methods have been used to improve value of care in primary TJA, but little is known of their impact in revision TJA patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a care redesign for a bundled payment model for primary TJA on quality metrics for revision patients, despite absence of a targeted intervention for revisions.
Methods
We compared quality metrics for all revision TJA patients including readmission rate, use of post–acute care facility after discharge, length of stay, and cost, between the year leading up to the redesign and the 2 years following its implementation. Changes in the primary TJA group over the same time period were also assessed for comparison.
Results
Despite a volume increase of 37% over the study period, readmissions declined from 8.9% to 5.8%. Use of post–acute care facilities decreased from 42% to 24%. Length of stay went from 4.84 to 3.92 days. Cost of the hospital episode declined by 5%.
Conclusion
Our health system experienced a halo effect from our bundled payment-influenced care redesign, with revision TJA patients experiencing notable improvements in several quality metrics, though not as pronounced as in the primary TJA population. These changes benefitted the patients, the health system, and the payers. We attribute these positive changes to an altered institutional mindset, resulting from an invested and aligned care team, with active physician oversight over the care episode. 相似文献
Monitoring and detecting sudden outbreaks of respiratory infectious disease is important. Emergency Department (ED)-based syndromic surveillance systems have been introduced for early detection of infectious outbreaks. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a forecasting model of respiratory infectious disease outbreaks based on a nationwide ED syndromic surveillance using daily number of emergency department visits with fever.
Methods
We measured the number of daily ED visits with body temperature?≥?38.0?°C and daily number of patients diagnosed as respiratory illness by the ICD-10 codes from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) database of Seoul, Korea. We developed a forecast model according to the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) method using the NEDIS data from 2013 to 2014 and validated it using the data from 2015. We defined alarming criteria for extreme numbers of ED febrile visits that exceed the forecasted number. Finally, the predictive performance of the alarm generated by the forecast model was estimated.
Results
From 2013 to 2015, data of 4,080,766 ED visits were collected. 303,469 (7.4%) were ED visits with fever, and 388,943 patients (9.5%) were diagnosed with respiratory infectious disease. The ARIMA (7.0.7) model was the most suitable model for predicting febrile ED visits the next day. The number of patients with respiratory infectious disease spiked concurrently with the alarms generated by the forecast model.
Conclusions
A forecast model using syndromic surveillance based on the number of ED visits was feasible for early detection of ED respiratory infectious disease outbreak. 相似文献
Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) undoubtedly affects the diagnosis and treatment of localized prostate cancer (CaP). However, clinicians need a better understanding of its accuracy and limitations in detecting individual CaP foci to optimize management.
Objective
To determine the per-lesion detection rate for CaP foci by mpMRI and identify predictors of tumor detection.
Design, setting, and participants
We carried out a retrospective analysis of a prospectively managed database correlating lesion-specific results from mpMRI co-registered with whole-mount pathology (WMP) prostatectomy specimens from June 2010 to February 2018. Participants include 588 consecutive patients with biopsy-proven CaP undergoing 3-T mpMRI before radical prostatectomy at a single tertiary institution.
Outcome measurements and statistical analysis
We measured mpMRI sensitivity in detecting individual CaP and clinically significant (any Gleason score ≥7) CaP foci and predictors of tumor detection using multivariate analysis.
Results and limitations
The final analysis included 1213 pathologically confirmed tumor foci in 588 patients with primarily intermediate- (75%) or high-risk (12%) CaP. mpMRI detected 45% of all lesions (95% confidence interval [CI] 42–47%), including 65% of clinically significant lesions (95% CI 61–69%) and nearly 80% of high-grade tumors. Some 74% and 31% of missed solitary and multifocal tumors, respectively, were clinically significant. The majority of missed lesions were small (61.1% ≤1 cm); 28.3% were between 1 and 2 cm, and 10.4% were >2 cm. mpMRI missed at least one clinically significant focus in 34% of patients overall, and in 45% of men with multifocal lesions. On multivariate analysis, smaller, low-grade, multifocal, nonindex tumors with lower prostate-specific antigen density were more likely to be missed. Limitations include selection bias in a prostatectomy cohort, lack of specificity data, an imperfect co-registration process, and uncertain clinical significance for undetected lesions.
Conclusions
mpMRI detects less than half of all and less than two-thirds of clinically significant CaP foci. The moderate per-lesion sensitivity and significant proportion of men with undetected tumor foci demonstrate the current limitations of mpMRI.
Patient summary
Magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate before surgical removal for prostate cancer finds less than half of all individual prostate cancer tumors. Large, solitary, aggressive tumors are more likely to be visualized on imaging. 相似文献
Arteriovenous fistulas created in patients with chronic kidney disease often lose patency and fail to become usable. This prospective trial evaluated the efficacy of vonapanitase, a recombinant human elastase, in promoting radiocephalic fistula patency and use for hemodialysis.
Methods
PATENCY-1 was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 349 patients on or approaching hemodialysis and being evaluated for radiocephalic arteriovenous fistula creation. Of these, 313 were randomized and 311 treated. Patients were assigned to vonapanitase (n = 210) or placebo (n = 103). The study drug solution was applied topically to the artery and vein for 10 minutes immediately after fistula creation. The primary and secondary end points were primary patency (time to first thrombosis or corrective procedure) and secondary patency (time to abandonment). Tertiary end points included use of the fistula for hemodialysis, fistula maturation by ultrasound, and procedure rates.
Results
The Kaplan-Meier estimates of 12-month primary patency were 42% (95% confidence interval [CI], 35-49) and 31% (95% CI, 21-42) for vonapanitase and placebo (P = .25). The Kaplan-Meier estimates of 12-month secondary patency were 74% (95% CI, 68-80) and 61% (95% CI, 51-71) for vonapanitase and placebo (P = .048). The proportions of vonapanitase and placebo patients were 39% and 25% (P = .035) with unassisted use for hemodialysis and 64% and 44% (P = .006) with unassisted plus assisted use.
Conclusions
Vonapanitase treatment did not significantly improve primary patency but was associated with increased secondary patency and use for hemodialysis. Further research is needed to evaluate these end points. 相似文献
Heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a representative EGF family member that interacts with EGFR under diverse stress environment. Previously, we reported that the HB-EGF-targeting using antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) effectively suppressed an aortic aneurysm in the vessel wall and circulatory lipid levels. In this study, we further examined the effects of the HB-EGF ASO administration on the development of hyperlipidemia-associated atherosclerosis using an atherogenic mouse model.
Methods and results
The male and female LDLR deficient mice under Western diet containing 21% fat and 0.2% cholesterol content were cotreated with control and HB-EGF ASOs for 12 weeks. We observed that the HB-EGF ASO administration effectively downregulated circulatory VLDL- and LDL-associated lipid levels in circulation; concordantly, the HB-EGF targeting effectively suppressed the development of atherosclerosis in the aorta. An EGFR blocker BIBX1382 administration suppressed the hepatic TG secretion rate, suggesting a positive role of the HB-EGF signaling for the hepatic VLDL production. We newly observed that there was a significant improvement of the insulin sensitivity by the HB-EGF ASO administration in a mouse model under the Western diet as demonstrated by the improvement of the glucose and insulin tolerances.
Conclusion
The HB-EGF ASO administration effectively downregulated circulatory lipid levels by suppressing hepatic VLDL production rate, which leads to effective protection against atherosclerosis in the vascular wall. 相似文献
Solid organ transplantation is associated with a higher risk of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)–related lymphoproliferative disease due to immunosuppressive regimen. Little evidence is currently available on post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLDs) in the lung transplant (LuTx) setting, particularly in cystic fibrosis (CF) recipients.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed all the cases of PTLDs that occurred in our LuTx center between January 2015 and December 2017. We reviewed clinical and radiologic data, donor and recipient EBV serostatus, immunosuppressive therapy, histologic data, and follow-up of these patients.
Results
A total of 77 LuTxs were performed at our center in the study period; 39 (50.6%) patients had CF; 4 developed EBV-related PTLDs. They were all young (17–26 years) CF patients with high serum EBV DNA load. Disease onset was within the first 3 months after LuTx. In 3 cases presentation was associated with fever and infection-like symptoms, whereas in 1 case radiologic suspicion arose unexpectedly from a CT scan performed for different clinical reasons. Diagnosis was reached through lung biopsy in all cases. All patients received rituximab,?cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin hydrochloride (hydroxydaunomycin), vincristine sulfate (Oncovin), and prednisone with variable response and complications.
Conclusion
In our experience, the early development of EBV-related PTLD was a highly aggressive, life-threatening condition, which exclusively affected young CF patients in the early post-transplant period. The rate of this complication was relatively high in our population.Diagnosis with lung biopsy is crucial in all suspected cases and regular monitoring of EBV DNA levels is of utmost importance given the high correlation with PTLDs in patients at increased risk. 相似文献
Catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia (VT) can reduce the burden of ventricular arrhythmia (VA) but its effect on health care utilization and costs after such therapy is poorly known. We sought to compare the rates of cardiovascular (CV)-related hospitalizations, survival, and health care costs in patients with recurrent VT treated either with VT ablation or with medical therapy.
Methods
One-hundred implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients with structural heart disease who underwent VT ablation were included. Propensity score-matched patients with recurrent VT treated with medical therapy were identified from a prospective registry of approximately 7000 de novo implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients. Outcomes and costs were ascertained using health administrative databases.
Results
Among patients who underwent VT ablation, the cumulative rates of VA-related hospitalizations were lower in the 2 years after their ablation procedure compared with the year before (rate ratio, 0.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22-0.43). Rates of CV-related hospitalization and hospitalization because of VA post index date were similar between the VT ablation and medical therapy groups (hazard ratio [HR], 0.94; 95% CI, 0.57-1.54 and HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.57-1.91, respectively). Health care costs in the VT ablation patients were not increased post-ablation compared with the medical management group. The risk of all-cause mortality was lower among patients in the VT ablation group relative to the medical therapy group (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.4-0.99).
Conclusions
Patients who underwent VT ablation experienced a significant reduction in their rate of VA-related hospitalizations. Patients treated with VT ablation had similar rates of CV-related hospitalization compared with those treated with medical therapy without increased health care-related costs. 相似文献