Kidney Function after Treatment for Childhood Cancer: A Report from the St. Jude Lifetime Cohort Study

BackgroundSurvivors of childhood cancer may be at increased risk for treatment-related kidney dysfunction. Although associations with acute kidney toxicity are well described, evidence informing late kidney sequelae is less robust.MethodsTo define the prevalence of and risk factors for impaired kidney function among adult survivors of childhood cancer who had been diagnosed ≥10 years earlier, we evaluated kidney function (eGFR and proteinuria). We abstracted information from medical records about exposure to chemotherapeutic agents, surgery, and radiation treatment and evaluated the latter as the percentage of the total kidney volume treated with ≥5 Gy (V5), ≥10 Gy (V10), ≥15 Gy (V15), and ≥20 Gy (V20). We also used multivariable logistic regression models to assess demographic and clinical factors associated with impaired kidney function and Elastic Net to perform model selection for outcomes of kidney function.ResultsOf the 2753 survivors, 51.3% were men, and 82.5% were non-Hispanic White. Median age at diagnosis was 7.3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 3.3–13.2), and mean age was 31.4 years (IQR, 25.8–37.8) at evaluation. Time from diagnosis was 23.2 years (IQR, 17.6–29.7). Approximately 2.1% had stages 3–5 CKD. Older age at evaluation; grade ≥2 hypertension; increasing cumulative dose of ifosfamide, cisplatin, or carboplatin; treatment ever with a calcineurin inhibitor; and volume of kidney irradiated to ≥5 or ≥10 Gy increased the odds for stages 3–5 CKD. Nephrectomy was significantly associated with stages 3–5 CKD in models for V15 or V20.ConclusionsWe found that 2.1% of our cohort of childhood cancer survivors had stages 3–5 CKD. These data may inform screening guidelines and new protocol development.     

Short- and Long-Term Outcome after Emergent Cardiac Surgery during Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation

Objective: Our study aimed to evaluate short- and long-term outcomes of patients who required emergent conversion from transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) to open surgery. Besides, the reasons and procedural settings of emergent cardiac surgery (ECS) were also reported.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the patients who underwent TAVI in our institution between 2012 and 2019 and collected the clinical data of cases who converted from TAVI to bail-out surgery. Telephone and outpatient follow-ups were performed.Results: Of 516 TAVI patients, 20 required ECS, and the bail-out surgery occurred less frequently with the increase in TAVI volume. The most common reason for conversion was left ventricular perforation (7/20, 35.0%). Thirty-day mortality was 35.0% in ECS patients. Kaplan–Meier survival curves showed that the cumulative survival rate was 65.0% at 1 year, 50.1% at 5 years in all ECS patients, and 77.1% at 5 years in patients who survived over 30 days after conversion.Conclusion: Although the bail-out operation was performed immediately after TAVI abortion, ECS still associated with high 30-day mortality. The long-term survival benefit was seen in patients surviving from bail-out surgery. An experienced TAVI team is of crucial importance in avoiding ECS-related life-threatening complications and providing effective salvage surgery.     

What is the impact of day care on older people with long-term conditions: A systematic review

There is a lack of robust evidence regarding outcomes for day care use among older people living with long-term conditions (LTCs). Day care is provided by independent, private and voluntary and charitable sectors. This systematic review aims to establish current evidence of outcomes for older people with LTCs attending day care services and outcomes on carers, across all service models. Narrative synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data was undertaken. The review adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A systematic literature search was carried out across eight electronic databases and reference lists of key journals between 2004 and October 2020 were searched. Searches returned 1,202 unique titles. Forty-five articles from 16 countries met the criteria on review of title, abstract and full article. There is limited evidence suggesting improved levels of perceived psychological health, quality of life, perceived general health, physical health and functioning for older people attending day care who have LTCs. The respite function of day care resulted in positive outcomes for carers. Studies evaluating outcomes for participants or carers were limited in quantity and quality. There is limited information regarding outcomes for day care attendance for older people with multiple LTCs from existing literature. Further research focusing on LTCs and day care attendance would benefit this field.     

却老壮骨片对家犬的长期毒性试验研究

观察却老壮骨片（壮骨片）连续给药后对家犬可能产生的毒性反应及性质。用壮骨片0．167、0．334、0．668mg/kg/d和甲基炔诺酮（0．154mg/kg/d)及尼尔雌醇（0.514mg/kg/d)给家犬连续口服180d,观察用药期间毒性反应及停药21天期间恢复情况。结果表明在用药150天后,壮骨片高剂量组和甲基炔诺酮高剂量组,动物体重增长虽略有减慢,但与对照组比较无显著性差异（P＞0．05）;其他各剂量组各功能检查未见明显变化。壮骨片在相当成人常用量74．2倍的大剂量下对家犬无毒性。     

Daily,limited access to methamphetamine self-administration during pregnancy leads to increased methamphetamine sensitivity in adult offspring

Methamphetamine use by women, even throughout pregnancy, is common. But there is limited knowledge about the effects in prenatally methamphetamine-exposed children. This study investigated how prenatal methamphetamine exposure in rats, via maternal i.v. self-administration, affected the sensitivity of adult offspring to methamphetamine in comparison with controls. The offspring were generated from dams either self-administering methamphetamine daily under limited-access conditions prior to and throughout pregnancy, or their respective saline-yoked control dams. Spontaneous and methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity was assessed in male and female offspring of both exposure groups after a range of methamphetamine doses. In a separate group of offspring, acquisition of i.v. methamphetamine self-administration, responding under fixed and progressive ratio schedules of methamphetamine reinforcement, and reinstatement of extinguished drug-seeking behavior were assessed. Methamphetamine dose-dependently increased locomotor activity in both exposure groups. However, methamphetamine-exposed males showed significantly enhanced locomotor activity compared with controls at 1 mg/kg, and methamphetamine-exposed females showed significantly enhanced locomotor activity compared with controls at 3.2 mg/kg. Methamphetamine-exposed offspring of both sexes acquired methamphetamine self-administration faster and showed overall higher levels of methamphetamine-induced reinstatement compared with controls. Taken together, these results indicate that prenatal methamphetamine exposure to relatively low levels alters methamphetamine sensitivity in male and female adult offspring.     

Gastric Banding: Advantages and Complications. A 5- and 10-Year Follow-up

Background: Gastric banding is one of the simplest surgical procedures for the treatment of morbid obesity. We performed more than 150 ‘laparotomy’ (open) gastric bandings and more than 50 ‘laparoscopic’ bandings in the last 10 years. Methods: In most procedures we used non-adjustable bands, but since the beginning of 1995 we have used adjustable silicone banding. Results: The 5- and 10-year follow-up weight loss results are encouraging. The average long-term weight loss was 35.5 kg. Since 1993, we performed all the procedures laparoscopically, and the postoperative complications decreased from 18.5% in the ‘laparotomy’ group to 9.5% in the ‘laparoscopic’ group, with the majority being esophagitis and outlet area irritation. Conclusion: Gastric banding itself and especially the minimally invasive laparoscopic approach is an easy technical procedure. The long-term weight loss results and the reoperation rate are acceptable for bariatric surgery criteria.     

The long-term results of upper dorsal sympathetic ganglionectomy and endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis

To assess and compare the long-term results of upper dorsal sympathetic ganglionectomy (UDS) and endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS), we examined 84 patients who underwent UDS and 71 patients who underwent ETS for the treatment of palmar hyperhidrosis. The period of follow-up ranged from 37 to 228 months. The immediate success rate was 100% in the UDS group and 98.6% in the ETS group. Troublesome compensatory hyperhidrosis occurred in 67.8% of the UDS patients and 84.8% of the ETS patients; however, 55% of the UDS patients and 63% of the ETS patients felt satisfied with their operation. The main reasons for dissatisfaction were recurrence and compensatory hyperhidrosis. Interestingly, simultaneous cure of plantar hyperhidrosis occurred in 28 (40%) of the UDS patients and 28 (44%) of the ETS patients with concomitant plantar hyperhidrosis. ETS required both a shorter operation time and hospital stay than UDS. Thus, we now perform ETS as the treatment of choice because of its excellent illumination and adequate magnification via a minimally invasive approach. The use of ETS as the first choice of treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis is supported not only by the immediate results, complications, and cure of plantar hyperhidrosis, but also by the long-term results. Nevertheless, compensatory hyperhidrosis was also a major complication after ETS.     

A decade of spontaneous long-term course of psychogenic impairment in a community population sample

Background: Our epidemiological study demonstrates the spontaneous long-term course of predominantly psychosocially influenced (“psychogenic”) disorders (neurotic spectrum disorders, personality disorders, stress reactions and somatoform disorders) in a representative community sample of the normal adult population of Mannheim, an industrial and university town in Germany. The natural spontaneous course of these disorders in a population sample over a long period remains largely unknown. Method: Beginning in 1979 (n _t1 = 600) a random population sample was investigated three times over a mean period of approximately 11 years. The last follow-up study ended in 1994 (n _t3 = 301). The follow-up sample was representative of the t1 sample. Psychodynamically trained and clinically experienced interviewers used a semi-structured interview and standardized clinical and psychometric instruments. Psychogenic impairment was assessed using a standardized expert rating (Impairment Score, IS). Results: The mean sum-score of psychogenic impairment after 11 years exceeded the value at t1. The case rate (point prevalence, ICD diagnosis + clinical cut-off/IS) increased from 21.6% at t1 to 26.2% at t3 in the investigated follow-up sample. Intra-individual correlation of psychogenic impairment between t1 and t3 was high (r = 0.55). We found strong evidence for an unfavorable long-term course of psychogenic impairment and only a weak tendency (23.1%) for spontaneous remission of clinically relevant psychogenic impairment. Within a regression model clinical variables, childhood development conditions and personality traits at t1 predicted psychogenic impairment at t3. Conclusion: All clinical variables conclusively indicate an unfavorable spontaneous long-term course of psychogenic impairment. Together with the well-known high prevalence of psychogenic disorders in the normal population, this underlines the need for early therapeutic and preventive intervention. Accepted: 20 August 1999     

Regional brain activity during shape recognition impaired by a scopolamine challenge to encoding

In the present positron emission tomography (PET) study, we examine the effect of a scopolamine-induced challenge to encoding upon the pattern of regional cerebral blood flow during recognition of a list of abstract visual shapes 3 days after encoding of these shapes. This study was conducted to test hypotheses concerning the fusiform and thalamic contributions to object recognition arising from a previous imaging study of impaired recognition. In that study, we demonstrated that activity in the fusiform cortex and the thalamus during shape recognition was modulated by memory challenges. These memory challenges included, on one hand, impaired storage as a consequence of diazepam administration during encoding, and, on the other hand, impaired retrieval caused by a perceptual challenge. Activation in the fusiform cortex decreased during impaired recognition, irrespective of the type of challenge. In contrast, thalamic activation increased only when the recognition deficit resulted from impaired memory storage. Based on these results, we hypothesized that fusiform activation during recognition reflects the matching of an incoming stimulus with a stored one, whereas thalamic activation reflects retrieval attempts. These hypotheses would receive considerable support if scopolamine, which also impairs memory storage, induced similar modulations of fusiform and thalamic activation. In the present study, we observed that a scopolamine challenge to encoding does indeed modulate the activity in the very same regions that were previously modulated by a diazepam challenge. Hence, a similar memory deficit, although primarily effected through different neurochemical pathways, was paralleled by a similar modulation of activity in the same set of nodes in the shape recognition network. In the fusiform cortex, scopolamine decreased recognition-related activity, as did the sensory challenge of retrieval. Furthermore, covariate analysis demonstrated that the level of fusiform activity linearly correlates with behavioural performance. In the thalamus, activation increased following impaired encoding. This is in accordance with the idea that enhanced thalamic activity reflects increased effort expended in retrieval. In addition, in the intraparietal sulcus, differential activation also increased following impaired memory storage, possibly reflecting enhanced visuospatial attention in an effort to compensate for impaired performance.     

Trends in presentation of congenital heart disease in a population-based study in Malta

Differing pathological haemodynamics in cardiac malformations lead to varying modes and timings of presentation. This study identifies historical trends in presentation of congenital heart disease in a population-based study. All patients diagnosed as having congenital heart disease in Malta between 1960–1994 were included (n = 868). Analysis was carried out on trends in referral sources, modes of presentation and birth prevalence. The number of patients diagnosed with congenital heart disease increased over the period under study. For both patients not requiring intervention (n = 283) and those requiring intervention (n=585), the proportion diagnosed prior to hospital discharge increased (p 0.005). There was a decreasing trend for general practitioners to refer cases (p < 0.0001), and an increasing trend for paediatricians to refer such patients (p 0.0003). The commonest presentation to the general practitioner was an incidental finding (92%), while paediatricians referred more patients for cyanosis or heart failure (p 0.005). For lesions not requiring intervention, the commonest lesion referred was ventricular septal defect from all sources. For lesions requiring intervention, the commonest lesion detected prior to hospital discharge was tetralogy of Fallot. Atrial septal defects were the commonest lesions detected after discharge by both paediatricians and general practitioners. An increase in the proportion of hospital diagnoses is attributed to increasing rate of hospital delivery, and greater training and experience in doctors performing neonatal examinations prior to discharge. Patients diagnosed after discharge are increasingly diagnosed by paediatricians due to an increasing pool of paediatricians and better parent awareness and education.