Introduction: Percutaneous renal mass biopsy has evolved over the last decade with improvements on previous pitfalls including low tissue yield, high non-diagnostic rates, and complications. As understanding of tumor biology and natural history of renal cortical neoplasms has improved, percutaneous renal mass biopsy is poised to have an expanding role in an area characterized by individualized management and refined risk stratification.
Areas covered: This review summarizes the evolution of renal mass biopsy to its current state with respect to outcomes, indications, and clinical guidelines.
Expert opinion: With improved understanding of differential biological potential of renal cortical neoplasms combined with technical improvements in diagnostic yield and accuracy, utilization of renal mass biopsy is becoming an important adjunct to patient care in a broad range of clinical scenarios, including active surveillance, thermal ablation, and use of primary systemic therapy in localized and advanced settings. 相似文献
There are well-established relationships between health and homelessness, and shelters can facilitate the transmission of diseases and contribute to their prevention. Adequate environmental health conditions and hygiene behaviors in homeless shelters are fundamental to the health of their clients, a marginalized population. We report the status of environmental health conditions and hygiene behaviors in homeless shelters and associated health outcomes; interventions to improve these conditions, behaviors, and outcomes; and obstacles to improvement.
Methods
PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCOhost were searched for peer-reviewed studies, and additional sources for grey literature. Studies were included if they reported primary data on one or more environmental health condition or hygiene behavior in homeless shelters.
Results
Twenty-eight studies were included in the review. Insufficient ventilation systems, unhygienic bedding, and overcrowding were the most documented environmental health and hygiene deficiencies in homeless shelters, and tuberculosis infections and skin diseases were the most documented associated health outcomes among clients. Studies frequently recommended or described implementation of behavioral and administrative controls, ventilation system improvements, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation fixtures.
Discussion
Most studies addressed airborne transmission of tuberculosis and were conducted in high-income countries, revealing an imbalance in the literature. Insufficient resources and the transience of clients are barriers to improving hygiene behaviors and environmental conditions in homeless shelters. Further investment and research into ensuring adequate hygiene and environmental health in this setting can protect and promote the health and well-being of people experiencing homelessness. 相似文献
An essential piece of anesthesiologist training is attending resident feedback sessions. Yet, few attending anesthesiologists have formal teaching education and little time to acquire it. In this field experiment, attending physicians were randomly assigned to a control group or to receive 30 minutes of feedback training inspired by Implicit Person Theory (IPT). As such, IPT training encouraged physicians to praise process-oriented learning while discouraging performance-oriented mindsets. Attending physicians then observed residents participate in a human patient simulation (HPS) activity and provided residents with feedback. Content and statistical analyses revealed trained attending physicians praised learning goals and challenged performance goals more often than untrained physicians during feedback sessions. Thus, the training provides a rapid method of enhancing the quality of attending physicians’ training communication. 相似文献
Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are frequently used in health economics to measure preferences for nonmarket goods. Best–worst discrete choice experiment (BWDCE) has been proposed as a variant of the traditional “pick the best” approach. BWDCE, where participants choose the best and worst options, is argued to generate more precise preference estimates because of the additional information collected. However, the validity of the approach relies on two necessary conditions: (a) best and worst decisions provide similar information about preferences and (b) asking individuals to answer more than one choice question per task does not reduce data quality. Whether these conditions hold in empirical applications remains under researched. This is the first study to compare participants' choices across three experimental conditions: (a) BEST choices only, (b) WORST choices only, and (c) BEST and WORST choices (BWDCE). We find responses to worst choices are noisier. Implied preferences from the best only and worst only choices are qualitatively different, leading to different WTP values. Responses to BWDCE tasks have lower consistency, and respondents are more likely to use simplifying decision heuristics. We urge caution in using BWDCE as an alternative to the traditional “pick the best” DCE. 相似文献
Using data on waterfowl band recoveries, we identified spatially explicit hotspots of concentrated waterfowl movement to predict occurrence and spatial spread of a novel influenza A virus (clade 2.3.4.4) introduced from Asia by waterfowl from an initial outbreak in North America in November 2014. In response to the outbreak, the hotspots of waterfowl movement were used to help guide sampling for clade 2.3.4.4 viruses in waterfowl as an early warning for the US poultry industry during the outbreak . After surveillance sampling of waterfowl, we tested whether there was greater detection of clade 2.3.4.4 viruses inside hotspots. We found that hotspots defined using kernel density estimates of waterfowl band recoveries worked well in predicting areas with higher prevalence of the viruses in waterfowl. This approach exemplifies the value of ecological knowledge in predicting risk to agricultural security. 相似文献
Objectives: There is a paucity of reporting on surgical outcomes of isolated posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (PCLR). We hypothesize that isolated PCL injuries failing nonoperative treatment achieve good outcomes and are able to return to sport following PCLR.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed to identify patients with isolated PCL injuries that underwent reconstruction between 2001 and 2014. Patients with multi-ligamentous injury or another concomitant knee pathology were excluded. Medical records were reviewed for demographic, clinical and operative data. Patients were contacted for administration of a telephone-based questionnaire which included the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) Subjective Knee Evaluation form, Lysholm-Tegner scales, Marx activity scale (MAS), return to sport status, and patient satisfaction instruments.
Results: A total of 15 isolated PCL reconstructions in 14 patients with a mean age of 27.5 years (range 17–43) met the study inclusion criteria; mean follow up was 6.3 years (range 1.4–15.2). Pre-operatively, the primary complaint was knee instability in all patients; on physical examination, lack of a firm end point during posterior drawer testing was found in 93% (14/15) of the knees. In total, 12 of 15 knees underwent transtibial, single-bundle PCLR and three of 15 underwent tibial inlay, double bundle PCLR. Graft types included: quadriceps autograft (7/15), Achilles allograft (6/15), and hamstring autograft (2/15). There were no graft failures in our patient cohort. At most recent follow up the mean scores respectively on the IKDC form, Lysholm-Tegner scales and MAS were (standard deviation): 77.3 (16.5), 83.1 (17.9), 6.13 (2.6), and 7.1 (6.0). All fourteen patients were athletes prior to their injury and 79% (11/14) returned to sport and overall patient satisfaction was 9.2/10.
Conclusions: Isolated PCLR provides good outcomes at mean medium-term follow up with restoration of function, high rate of return to sport and overall patient satisfaction. 相似文献
Inflammation and infections have been associated with prostate cancer progression. We assessed whether elevated serum cytokines or T. vaginalis seropositivity at the time of diagnosis was associated with higher grade or lethal prostate cancer.
Patients and Methods
Men with localized or metastatic prostate cancer were included in this study. Cytokine serum levels including interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (CCL-2), tumor necrosis factor α, and growth-regulated oncogene α (CXCL-1) using a multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and T. vaginalis serology were measured in blood samples at diagnosis.
Results
A total of 324 patients were identified at time of localized disease and 118 at time of metastatic disease. Of the 189 patients with localized disease and clinical follow-up data (median, 73 months), 28 developed lethal disease. There was no association between circulating cytokine levels above median concentrations nor T. vaginalis seropositivity and risk of intermediate- to high-risk or lethal prostate cancer.
Conclusion
Higher levels of serum cytokine levels and T. vaginalis seropositivity at diagnosis are not associated with high-grade or lethal prostate cancer and do not aid risk stratification of localized prostate cancer. 相似文献
Most elderly trauma patients suffer blunt head injury and many utilize antithrombotic (AT) medications. The utility of delayed CT-head (D-CTH) in neurologically intact elderly patients using AT who have an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) on presentation is unknown. We hypothesized that D-CTH would not alter clinical management and aimed to evaluate the role of D-CTH in this population.
Methods
A retrospective cohort study was performed. Patients ≥65 years sustaining blunt head injuries from January 2010 to July 2017 were identified using our level 1 trauma center database. AT-patients presenting with ICH who underwent D-CTH were included. Patients with worsened ICH were compared to those with stable to improved ICH on D-CTH. AT-patients were compared to a cohort of non-AT patients. Fisher’s Exact and Mann-Whitney U tests were utilized and a power analysis conducted.
Results
137?A?T and 34 non-AT patients were identified. There was no difference in hemorrhage progression or appearance of new ICH. No patient had a change in management from D-CTH in either cohort. AT-patients were slightly older (p?<?0.001), but cohorts were otherwise similar.50 AT-patients with worsened ICH were compared to 87 with stable ICH. There was no difference in cohort demographics. Hemorrhage progression did not vary with type of AT used but did increase if multiple types of synchronous ICH were present (p?<?0.001).
Conclusions
Our data supports abstaining from routine D-CTH of elderly ICH patients with an intact neurologic examination who are utilizing aspirin, clopidogrel or warfarin. Conclusions cannot be drawn regarding new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) given low enrollment. Further multicenter study is required to provide adequate power and detect small levels of management change. 相似文献