Patients Requiring Conversion to General Anesthesia during Endovascular Therapy Have Worse Outcomes: A Post Hoc Analysis of Data from the SAGA Collaboration

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Endovascular therapy for acute ischemic stroke is often performed with the patient under conscious sedation. Emergent conversion from conscious sedation to general anesthesia is sometimes necessary. The aim of this study was to assess the functional outcome in converted patients compared with patients who remained in conscious sedation and to identify predictors associated with the risk of conversion.MATERIALS AND METHODS:Data from 368 patients, included in 3 trials randomizing between conscious sedation and general anesthesia before endovascular therapy (SIESTA, ANSTROKE, and GOLIATH) constituted the study cohort. Twenty-one (11%) of 185 patients randomized to conscious sedation were emergently converted to general anesthesia.RESULTS:Absence of hyperlipidemia seemed to be the strongest predictor of conversion to general anesthesia, albeit a weak predictor (area under curve = 0.62). Sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking status, atrial fibrillation, blood pressure, size of the infarct, and level and side of the occlusion were not significantly associated with conversion to general anesthesia. Neither age (mean age, 71.3   ± 13.8 years for conscious sedation versus 71.6  ± 12.3 years for converters, P = .58) nor severity of stroke (mean NIHSS score, 17 ± 4 versus 18 ± 4, respectively, P = .27) were significantly different between converters and those who tolerated conscious sedation. The converters had significantly worse outcome with a common odds ratio of 2.67 (P = .015) for a shift toward a higher mRS score compared with the patients remaining in the conscious sedation group.CONCLUSIONS:Patients undergoing conversion had significantly worse outcome compared with patients remaining in conscious sedation. No factor was identified that predicted conversion from conscious sedation to general anesthesia.

Five studies published in 2015 proved the efficacy of endovascular therapy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke caused by a large-vessel occlusion.¹ However, numerous questions remain regarding how to best deliver this treatment, including evaluation of the optimal thrombectomy technique,² the most effective method of patient triage,³ or whether EVT should be performed with the patient under either general anesthesia (GA) or conscious sedation (CS).Observational studies have suggested that EVT with the patient under CS is associated with better neurologic outcome and lower mortality compared with GA.⁴ However, 3 randomized trials reported similar outcomes between CS and GA.^5-7 Proposed benefits of CS include stable hemodynamics, clinical monitoring, and a potentially shorter procedure. The disadvantages are an unprotected airway and patient movement, which sometimes may require emergent conversion to GA. Patients who need conversion might be sicker (larger strokes, more medical complications), but the conversion procedure itself may also have a potentially deleterious influence on outcome due to the emergent anesthetic induction, associated hypotension, and added time delay before reperfusion.Although most patients can be treated under the less complex CS, it is of interest to identify factors that can predict the risk of conversion and hence the requirement for GA. We undertook a detailed analysis of the patients who were converted from CS to GA in our individual patient data base from the 3 randomized trials to examine the outcome of the converted patients compared with patients who remained in CS. We also aimed to identify possible predictors associated with a need for GA with EVT.     

Inter‐serotype reassortment among epizootic haemorrhagic disease viruses in the United States

First described in 1955 in New Jersey, epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) causes a severe clinical disease in wild and domestic ruminants worldwide. Epizootic haemorrhagic disease outbreaks occur in deer populations each year from summer to late autumn. The etiological agent is EHD virus (EHDV) which is a double‐stranded segmented icosahedral RNA virus. EHD virus utilizes point mutations and reassortment strategies to maintain viral fitness during infection. In 2018, EHDV serotype 2 was predominantly detected in deer in Illinois. Whole genome sequencing was conducted for two 2018 EHDV2 isolates (IL41747 and IL42218) and the sequence analyses indicated that IL42218 was a reassortant between different serotypes whereas IL41747 was a genetically stable strain. Our data suggest that multiple strains contribute to outbreaks each year.     

肝细胞癌TACE术后病灶存活或复发18F-FDGPET/CT和增强CT诊断价值Meta分析

目的采用Meta分析方法评价¹⁸F-脱氧葡萄糖正电子发射计算机体层摄影(¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT)和增强CT(CECT)诊断经导管肝动脉化疗栓塞术(TACE)术后存活或复发病灶的临床价值。方法根据PRISMA报告规范开展Meta分析。检索PubMed、Embase、Cochrane Library、Web of Science、中国知网、万方和维普数据库中¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT和CECT诊断TACE术后存活或复发病灶的临床研究,时间至2019-04。由2位研究人员独立筛选文献、提取资料,根据诊断准确性研究质量评价工具-2(QUADAS-2)评价纳入研究的偏倚风险后,采用Stata 12.0软件进行Meta分析,计算其汇总敏感度(Sen)和特异度(Spe),绘制受试者工作特征曲线(SROC)并计算曲线下面积(AUC)。结果共纳入10篇¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT及13篇CECT诊断TACE术后存活或复发病灶的原始研究,分别包括322例患者的467个病灶和748例患者的943个病灶。Meta分析显示,¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT诊断TACE术后存活或复发病灶的Sen=0.92(95%CI为0.87~0.94)、Spe=0.95(95%CI为0.82~0.99)、AUC=0.97(95%CI为0.93~0.99);CECT诊断TACE术后存活或复发病灶的Sen=0.72(95%CI为0.66~0.78)、Spe=0.99(95%CI为0.93~1.00)、AUC=0.87(95%CI为0.83~0.89)。此外,CECT诊断TACE术后存活或复发Sen(Z=2.34,P=0.02)和AUC(Z=2.21,P=0.03)值低于¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT,差异有统计学意义。结论相比于CECT,¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT对TACE术后存活或复发病灶具有较高诊断效能,可视为TACE术后存活或复发病灶有效的影像学诊断方法。     

The Effects of Expressing Religious Support Online for Breast Cancer Patients

The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health communication literature. Although religious support expression is characterized as a typical subdimension of emotional support, we argue that in the context of a life-threatening illness, the inclusion of a religious component creates a unique communication process. Using data from an online group for women with breast cancer, we test a theoretical expression effects model. Results demonstrate that for breast cancer patients, religious support expression has distinct effects from general emotional support messages, which highlights the need to further theorize expression effects along these lines.     

Helicobacter pylori induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastric carcinogenesis via the AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a main risk factor for gastric cancer (GC). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in the development and progression of H. pylori-associated GC. However, the exact molecular mechanism of this process remains unclear. The AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway has been demonstrated to promote EMT in several types of cancer. The present study investigated whether H. pylori infection induced EMT, and promoted the development and metastasis of cancer in the normal gastric mucosa, and whether this process was dependent on AKT activation. The expression levels of the EMT-associated proteins, including E-cadherin and N-cadherin, were determined in 165 gastric mucosal samples of different disease stages by immunohistochemical analysis. The expression levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, AKT, phosphorylated (p-)AKT (Ser473), GSK3β and p-GSK3β (Ser9) were further determined in H. pylori-infected Mongolian gerbil gastric tissues and cells co-cultured with H. pylori by immunohistochemical analysis and western blotting. The results indicated that the expression levels of the epithelial marker E-cadherin were decreased, whereas the expression levels of the mesenchymal marker N-cadherin were increased during gastric carcinogenesis. Their expression levels were associated with H. pylori infection. Furthermore, H. pylori infection resulted in downregulation of E-cadherin expression and upregulation of N-cadherin expression in Mongolian gerbils and GES-1 cells. In addition, an investigation of the associated mechanism of action revealed that p-AKT (Ser473) and p-GSK3β (Ser9) were activated in GES-1 cells following co-culture with H. pylori. Furthermore, following pretreatment of the cells with the AKT inhibitor VIII, the expression levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, p-AKT and p-GSK3β did not show significant differences between GES-1 cells that were co-cultured with or without H. pylori. The levels of p-AKT and p-GSK3β were increased in H. pylori-infected Mongolian gerbils. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that H. pylori infection activated AKT and resulted in the phosphorylation and inactivation of GSK3β, which in turn promoted early stage EMT. These effects were AKT-dependent. This mechanism may serve as a prerequisite for GC development.