Using health-related quality of life measures to predict cardiac function in survivors exposed to anthracyclines.

PURPOSE: As the number of pediatric cancer survivors increases, so does the number of survivors previously exposed to anthracyclines as part of their cancer therapy. Because screening is costly, some have suggested that health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures might be useful in focusing screening tests on those patients with cases most likely to display positive findings. This study reports on the predictive ability of HRQL measures to detect patients with abnormalities on serial cardiac testing. METHODS: Using 127 patients from the ACE-Inhibitor after Anthracycline (AAA) Trial, this study compared serial measures of the Short Form-36 (SF-36; for ages > 13 years) and Child Health Questionnaire-Child Form 87 (CHQ-CF87; for ages < or = 13 years) to serial cardiac performance tests including echocardiographic shortening fraction, left ventricular end systolic wall stress (LVESWS), LVESWS-index, and maximal cardiac index (MCI; a measure of cardiac output at peak exercise). RESULTS: Generally, there was no clinically or statistically significant correlation between any HRQL measure and any cardiac function measure except between MCI and vitality and physical functioning. For each of these measures, the correlation between MCI was statistically significant (P < .006), but each HRQL subscale could explain no more than 7% of the variation in MCI. HRQL measures were not predictive of any other cardiac function measure. CONCLUSION: HRQL measures should not be used in isolation as a screen for cardiac function abnormalities in patients exposed to anthracylines who already have a mild degree of ventricular dysfunction. Patient history appears to be no substitute for cardiac testing in this cohort.     

Radioguided occult lesion localisation (ROLL) and sentinel node biopsy for impalpable invasive breast cancer.

AIM: The aim of this study was to simplify the technique of ROLL and sentinel node biopsy without compromising tumour excision and sentinel node biopsy. METHODS: Twenty patients with impalpable primary invasive breast carcinoma underwent an injection of 99mTc-nanocolloid mixed with radiographic contrast medium Iohexol into the centre of the lesion under ultrasound or stereotactic guidance pre-operatively. No guidewire localisation was performed. Under general anaesthesia, a periareolar intradermal/subcutaneous injection of patent blue-V dye was performed. The sentinel node was identified by blue-stained lymphatics and node and a hot spot on the gamma probe. Surgical excision of the primary tumour was then carried out using the gamma probe. RESULTS: In eight of 20 cases an immediate re-excision was carried out and on histological assessment, all 20 patients were clear of invasive disease at the margins. In two patients, in situ disease was present at the margins and a further re-excision was therefore performed. The sentinel node was identified in all cases. In all, five of 20 patients were node positive on routine HE staining. In a further two patients, tumour cells were identified by immunohistochemistry with CAM5.2 antibody. Completion axillary clearance in six patients confirmed that the sentinel node was the only positive node. CONCLUSIONS: This modification of the previously described ROLL technique is feasible and safe and does not compromise tumour excision or sentinel node detection.     

Prophylactic percutaneous sealing of lumbar postdural puncture hole with fibrin glue to prevent cerebrospinal fluid leakage in swine

We explored the effect of fibrin glue injection at the site of dural puncture on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage in a swine model. Pigs were subjected to a lumbar dural CSF puncture in the sitting position with a 17-gauge Tuohy needle. Fibrin glue 1.4 mL was injected through the same needle into the epidural space. Evans blue dye was infused through the cisterna magna 15 min later, and the appearance of dyed CSF through the skin puncture and along the needle trajectory to the dura was inspected and categorized. In seven of eight animals, the CSF leak was sealed with fibrin glue. Control animals were injected with 1.4 mL saline. A sham operation group of animals underwent cisternal dye infusion without a lumbar puncture. CSF pressure at the cisterna magna was recorded throughout the procedure. No significant differences in the leakage indicators were found between the fibrin glue-injected and sham-operated group, whereas both groups showed significant differences with respect to the control group. The fibrin glue seal was effective against CSF pressures of 24.5 [17-31] cm H(2)O. We conclude that percutaneously injected fibrin glue is effective in stopping CSF leaks after dural puncture in this animal model. IMPLICATIONS: In this swine study, we repaired a cerebrospinal fluid leak after a dural puncture by percutaneously injecting tissue adhesive. The technique of percutaneous injection of fibrin glue seems promising for the prophylaxis of headache associated with cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and may be an alternative to an epidural blood patch.     

Transient neonatal diabetes: widening the understanding of the etiopathogenesis of diabetes

Transient neonatal diabetes (TND) is a rare type of diabetes that presents soon after birth, resolves by 18 months, and predisposes to diabetes later in life. A total of 30 patients were ascertained and investigated for aberrations of chromosome 6. A genotype/phenotype study was also performed. Genotypically, these patients can be classified into 4 etiologic groups. Group 1 had paternal uniparental isodisomy of chromosome 6 (11 cases, including 1 set of identical twins). Group 2 had a duplication involving chromosome band 6q24, which was paternal in origin where tested (4 sporadic cases and 7 familial cases from 2 families). Group 3 consisted of 1 patient with a loss of methylation at a CpG island within the TND critical region (1 sporadic case). Group 4 had no identifiable rearrangement of chromosome 6 (7 sporadic cases). Most patients were growth retarded at birth, presented at a median age of 3 days, and recovered at a median age of 12 weeks. In group 2, 2 relatives of the TND patients who presented with type 2 diabetes and no early history of TND had inherited an identical duplication. An abnormality of chromosome 6 was identified in approximately 70% of sporadic TND cases and in all familial cases. No significant clinical differences were found between the 4 etiological groups. The study has broadened the clinical spectrum of TND to include type 2 diabetes presenting in later life with no neonatal presentation. The findings are consistent with an imprinted gene for diabetes mapping to 6q24, which we predict will have an important function in normal pancreatic development.     

Doubts, fears and misconceptions. What is the future of thrombolysis in acute stroke?

Alteplase for acute ischemic stroke may be the first stroke intervention to have a significant public health impact. In February 1999, this therapy was conditionally licensed in Canada for acute ischemic stroke within three hours of symptom onset. However, considerable controversy exists regarding its safety, its wider applicability outside clinical trials, and its ultimate availability. In this article we review the thrombolytic literature, attempt to answer many of the concerns, provide new guidelines for its use, and cite the need for more information about whom we should and should not be treating with this therapy.     

Are Better Sleepers More Engaged Workers? A Self‐regulatory Approach to Sleep Hygiene and Work Engagement

Previous research has emphasized facets of both the organizational environment and individual differences as predictors of work engagement. This study explored sleep hygiene as another important behavioural factor that may be related to work engagement. With a sample of 328 adult workers, we tested a multiple mediator model in which sleep hygiene predicts work engagement through one's appraisals of resource depletion stemming from demands (psychological strain) and general self‐regulatory capacity (self‐control). Results indicated that individuals who frequently engaged in poor sleep hygiene behaviours had lower self‐regulatory capacity, experienced higher subjective depletion and were less engaged at work. Additionally, the path from poor sleep hygiene to decreased work engagement was attributed to perceptions of personal resources that are needed to exert self‐regulatory energy at work. This is consistent with current self‐regulatory theories suggesting that individuals have a limited amount of resources to allocate to demands and that the depletion of these resources can lead to stress and lower self‐regulatory functioning in response to other demands. Specifically, poor sleep hygiene results in the loss of self‐regulatory resources needed to be engaged in work tasks by impairing the after‐work recovery process. Practical and research implications regarding sleep hygiene interventions for well‐being and productivity improvement are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.