Incidence and outcomes of surgical resection for giant pulmonary bullae - a population-based study

Background: Giant pulmonary bullae (GPB) are rare and there is little information on incidence, long-term prognosis, and outcome of treatment.Objectives: To assess the incidence of GPB in the Icelandic population and to evaluate the outcome of surgical treatment.Methods: Twelve consecutive patients (11 males; mean age 60 ± 15.7 years) underwent resection for GPB in Iceland between 1992 and 2009. All were heavy smokers and had bullae occupying > 30% of the involved lung. There were 8 bilateral and 3 unilateral bullectomies and one lobectomy. Pulmonary function tests were performed preoperatively, and at one month and 5.4 years postoperatively. Age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) was calculated, complications and operative mortality were registered, and overall survival was estimated. Mean follow-up time was 8.2 years.Results: The ASR for GPB was 0.40 and 0.03 per 100,000 per year for men and women, respectively. There was no operative mortality, but prolonged air leakage (75%) and pneumonia (17%) were the most common postoperative complications. One month postoperatively, mean FEV1 increased from 1.0 ± 0.48 L (33% predicted) to 1.75 ± 0.75 L (57.5% predicted) (p < 0.01), but FVC remained unchanged. RV decreased from 3.9 ± 0.8 L (177% predicted) to 3.0 ± 1.0 L (128% pre-dicted) (p < 0.05), but TLC and DLCO did not change after operation. At long-term follow-up the FEV1 and FVC had declined to near-baseline values. Five-year and 10-year survival were 100% and 60%, respectively.Conclusions: The ASR of GPB in Iceland was 0.21 per 100,000 per year. In this small series, bullectomy was found to be a safe procedure that significantly improved pulmonary function. The functional improvement then declined over time. Prolonged air leakage was a common postoperative complication that prolonged hospital stay.     

ECG criteria in diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle branch block

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle branch block is difficult. Recently a diagnostic ECG scoring system was suggested, showing good diagnostic abilities. This scoring system has never been tested in a prospective manner; we have done so and investigated if it might bear prognostic information. METHODS: A prospective multi-centre study. Consecutive patients with left bundle branch block and suspicion of acute myocardial infarction, admitted to 14 Swedish coronary care units. Recruitment from March 1996 to December 1997. ECG registered on admission and after 12-24 h. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-eight patients were included, mean age 74.9 years. Seventy-six patients (48%) had an acute myocardial infarction. The proposed cut-off total score of > or = 3 of the ECG scoring system for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction had a sensitivity of 17.1% (95% CI 8.6-25.6%) and specificity of 94.0% (95% CI 88.9-99.1%). Clinical judgement of acute myocardial infarction resulted in a sensitivity of 15.8% (95% CI 7.6-24%) and specificity of 96.0% (CI 92.3-100%). No difference was seen in 3-month or 1-year survival between those with total ECG score > or = 3 versus total score < 3. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic abilities of the proposed ECG criteria are low and not better than the clinical judgement. The criteria are therefore not suitable for screening patients with suspicion of acute myocardial infarction in the presence of left bundle branch block, nor do they seem to identify high risk patients.     

Distance to hospital is not a risk factor for emergency colon cancer surgery

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to see if the distance to a hospital performing colon cancer surgery is a risk factor for emergency surgical intervention and to determine the variability between defined but demographically divergent catchment areas.

Methods

Data on patients living in Västerbotten County who underwent colon cancer surgery between 2007 and 2010 were extracted from the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Register (SCRCR). Of the 436 registrations matching these criteria, 380 patients were used in the analysis, and their distance to the nearest hospital providing care for colorectal cancer (CRC) was estimated using Google Maps?. The correlations between the risk for emergency surgery and the distance to a hospital, gender, age, income level and hospital catchment area were analysed in uni- and multivariate models.

Results

Distance to the nearest hospital had no significant effect on the proportion of emergency operations for colon cancer. There was significant variability in risk for emergency surgery between hospital catchment areas, where the catchment areas of the university hospital and the most rural hospital had a higher proportion than the other local hospital catchment area (OR, 2.00 (p?=?0.038) and OR, 2.97 (p?=?0.005)). These results were still significant when analysed with multivariate logistic regression (OR, 2.13 (p?=?0.026) and OR, 3.05 (p?=?0.013)).

Conclusion

Distance to a hospital performing colon cancer surgery had no effect on the proportion of emergency surgeries. However, a variability between defined catchment areas was seen. Future studies will focus on possible factors behind this variability.

     

Antibodies against lysophosphatidylcholine and oxidized LDL in patients with SLE

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is present in oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL), which is implicated in atherosclerosis. Antibodies to cardiolipin (aCL) and oxLDL (aoxLDL) have been shown to crossreact. LPC is formed by hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in LDL and cell membranes, induced by phospholipase A2 or by oxidation. We here demonstrate the presence of enhanced antibody levels to LPC in 184 patients with SLE as compared to 85 healthy, age-matched controls. The antibody reactivity to LPC was not specifically related to oxidation of the fatty acid moiety in LPC, since LPC containing only the saturated fatty acid palmitic acid showed equivalent antibody levels as LPC containing unsaturated fatty acids. aPC were significantly lower as compared to aLPC, indicating that hydrolysis of PC at the sn-2 position increases the antigenic potential of the molecule. Beta-glycoprotein 1 was a cofactor for aCL, but not for aoxLDL or aLPC, and the antigenicity of these compounds is therefore not directly related to beta2GP1. There was a close correlation between aoxLDL, aCL and aLPC and both LPC and oxLDL competitively inhibited aCL-binding to CL. LPC, oxLDL and CL thus display a common antigenic site, which could be formed by removal of a fatty acid at the sn-2 position, possibly due to the activity to phospholipase A2 and/or oxidation. This study indicates the potential role of LDL-oxidation and phospholipase A2 in SLE.     

Insulin absorption and subcutaneous blood flow in normal subjects during insulin-induced hypoglycemia

We studied the effects of insulin-induced hypoglycemia on the absorption of 10 U 125I-labeled soluble human insulin injected sc in the thigh in 10 normal subjects. The disappearance of 125I from the injection site was followed by external gamma-counting. Subcutaneous blood flow (ATBF) was measured concomitantly with the 133Xe washout technique. The plasma glucose nadir [mean, 2.0 +/- 0.1 (+/- SE) mmol/L] occurred at 33 +/- 3 min and resulted in maximal arterial plasma epinephrine concentrations of approximately 6 nmol/L. From 30 min before to 60 min after the glucose nadir the [125I]insulin absorption rate was depressed compared to that during normoglycemia. The first order disappearance rate constants were reduced by approximately 50% (P less than 0.01) during the first 30-min interval after the glucose nadir. During the same period ATBF increased by 100% (P less than 0.05). The results suggest that in normal subjects the absorption of soluble insulin from a sc depot is depressed in connection with hypoglycemia, despite considerably elevated ATBF.     

Validation of Biodex system 4 for measuring the strength of muscles in patients with rectus diastasis

To investigate the validity and reliability of the Biodex system 4 in the assessment of abdominal strength in patients with rectus diastasis, we studied 10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with rectus diastasis of more than 3 cm. We assessed test-retest reliability at 30(o) and 60(o) of extension/flexion spinal angles, respectively, and isometric muscle strength with and without the abdominal girdle. Reliability was calculated using the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Validity was evaluated by correlation with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for self-assessment of abdominal muscular strength. The Kendall-Tau and Spearman tests were used. Reliability was excellent with ICC values ranging between 0.77 and 0.97. There was no significant difference in muscular strength for tests with or without a girdle except with 60(o) extension. The internal validity assessed as the correlation between VAS and isometric strength (p = 0.008) was excellent, whereas there was no correlation with IPAQ. The Biodex system 4 is a valuable and reliable instrument to measure abdominal wall strength in patients with rectus diastasis. The internal validity is excellent. The incongruence between abdominal muscle strength, as measured using the Biodex system 4, and IPAQ indicates that there is no relation between general physical activity (IPAQ) and muscular strength in patients with rectus diastasis.     

Immunoadsorption for removal of inhibitors: update on treatments in Malmö–Lund between 1980 and 1995

Treatment of severe bleeding and the performance of surgery in Haemophilia patients with inhibitors creates severe problems. It is generally agreed that treatment is most effective if circulating levels of factor VIII/IX can be achieved long enough for control of heamostasis. Immunoadsorption with protein A for the removal of inhibitor has improved treatment for patients with initial inhibitor titres too high to neutralize by infusion alone.
  This is a summary of our experience in Malmö regarding immunoadsorption and heamostatis. A total of 19 applications with immunoadsorption in 10 patients were performed. On all occasions it was possible to eliminate totally the inhibitor or reduce it to low levels that could easily be neutralized with factor concentrate. Heamostatic levels of coagulation factors could be maintained for 5–9 days in all but one patient. This period was sufficient to stop ongoing heamorrhage or prevent excessive bleeding at surgical interventions.