Use of the Toxicity Index in Evaluating Adverse Events in Anal Cancer Trials: Analysis of RTOG 9811 and RTOG 0529

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Use of the Toxicity Index in Evaluating Adverse Events in Anal Cancer Trials: Analysis of RTOG 9811 and RTOG 0529 via American Journal of Clinical Oncology - Current Issue Novel toxicity metrics that account for all adverse event (AE) grades and the frequency of may enhance toxicity reporting in clinical trials. The Toxicity Index (TI) accounts for all AE grades and frequencies for categories of interest. We evaluate the feasibility of using the TI methodology in 2 prospective anal cancer trials and to evaluate whether more conformal radiation (using Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) results in improved toxicity as measured by the TI. Patients enrolled on NRG/RTOG 0529 or nonconformal RT enrolled on the 5-Fluorouracil/Mitomycin arm of NRG/RTOG 9811 were compared using the TI. Patients treated on NRG/RTOG 0529 had lower median TI compared with patients treated with nonconformal RT on NRG/RTOG 9811 for combined GI/GU/Heme/Derm events (3.935 vs 3.996, P=0.014). The TI methodology is a feasible method to assess all AEs of interest and may be useful as a composite metric for future efforts aimed at treatment de-escalation or escalation View on Web

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Does Examined Lymph Node Count Influence Survival in Surgically Resected Early‑stage Pulmonary Typical Carcinoid Tumors?

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Does Examined Lymph Node Count Influence Survival in Surgically Resected Early‑stage Pulmonary Typical Carcinoid Tumors? via American Journal of Clinical Oncology - Current Issue Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the prognostic impact of the number of examined lymph nodes (ELNs) in resected early‑stage pulmonary typical carcinoid tumors (TC). Methods: Patients who underwent sublobar resection and lobectomy for stage T1N0M0 TC between 2004 and 2016 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database and enrolled in the ELNs≥4 or ELNs View on Web

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Preoperative Computed Tomography Radiomics Analysis for Predicting Receptors Status and Ki-67 Levels in Breast Cancer

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Preoperative Computed Tomography Radiomics Analysis for Predicting Receptors Status and Ki-67 Levels in Breast Cancer via American Journal of Clinical Oncology - Current Issue Background: To assess the prediction performance of preoperative chest computed tomography (CT) based radiomics features for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2+), and Ki-67 status of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: This study enrolled 108 breast cancer patients who received preoperative chest CT examinations in our institution from July 2018 to January 2020. Radiomics features were separately extracted from nonenhanced, arterial, and portal-venous phases CT images. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator logistic regression was used for feature selection. Then the radiomics signatures for each phase and a combined model of 3 phases were built. Finally, the receiver operating characteristic curves and calibration curves were used to confirm the performance of the radiomics signatures and combined model. In addition, the decision curves were performed to estimate the clinical usefulness of the combined model. Results: The 20 most predictive features were finally selected to build radiomics signatures for each phase. The combined model achieved the overall best performance than using either of the nonenhanced, arterial and portal-venous phases alone, achieving an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.870 for ER+ versus ER−, 0.797 for PR+ versus PR−, 0.881 for HER2+ versus HER2−, and 0.726 for Ki-67. The decision curve demonstrated that the CT-based radiomics features were clinically useful. Conclusion: This study indicated preopreative chest CT radiomics analysis might be able to assess ER, PR, HER2+, and Ki-67 status of breast cancer. The findings need further to be verified in future larger studies. View on Web

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Hospital readmission after blunt traumatic rib fractures

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Hospital readmission after blunt traumatic rib fractures via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue BACKGROUND Hospital readmissions are resource intensive, associated with increased morbidity, and often used as hospital-level quality indicators. The factors that determine hospital readmission after blunt thoracic trauma have not been sufficiently defined. We sought to identify predictors of hospital readmission in patients with traumatic rib fractures. METHODS We performed an 8-year (2011–2019) retrospective chart review of patients with traumatic rib fractures who required unplanned readmission within 30 days of discharge at a Level 1 trauma center. Patient characteristics, injury severity, and hospital complications were examined using quantitative analysis to identify readmission risk factors. RESULTS There were 13,046 trauma admissions during the study period. The traumatic rib fracture cohort consisted of 3,720 patients. The cohort included 206 patients who were readmitted within 30 days of discharge. The mean age of the traumatic rib fracture cohort was 57 years, with a 6-day median length of stay. The 30-day mortality rate was 5%. Use of anticoagulation (11.0 vs. 5.4; p = 0.029), diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder (10.2 vs. 5.3; p = 0.01), active smoking (7.3 vs. 5.0; p = 0.008), associated hemothorax (8.3 vs. 5.2; p = 0.010), higher abdominal Abbreviated Injury Scale (33.3 vs. 8.4 vs. 6.5; p = 0.002), rapid response activation (8.9 vs. 5.2; p = 0.005), admission to intensive care unit (7.7 vs. 4.5; p = 0.001), and diagnosis of in-hospital pneumonia (10.1 vs. 5.4; p = 0.022) were predictors of hospital readmission. On multivariate analysis, prescribed anticoagulation (odds ratio [OR], 2.22; p = 0.033), active smoking (OR, 1.58; p = 0.004), higher abdominal Abbreviated Injury Scale (OR, 1.50; p = 0.054), and diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder (OR, 2.00; p = 0.016) predicted hospital readmission. CONCLUSION In patients with traumatic rib fractures, those with anticoagulant use, those who actively smoke, those with a psychiatric diagnosis, or those with associated abdominal injuries are at the highest risk of rehospitalization following discharge. Quality improvement should focus on strategies and protocols directed toward these groups to reduce nonelective readmissions. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level IV. View on Web

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Identifying vulnerable populations with symptomatic cholelithiasis at risk for increased health care utilization

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Identifying vulnerable populations with symptomatic cholelithiasis at risk for increased health care utilization via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue BACKGROUND Gallstones are a common problem in the United States with many patients suffering from symptomatic cholelithiasis (SC). Patients with SC may first present to the emergency department ED) and are often discharged for elective follow-up; however, it is unknown what system and patient factors are associated with increased risk for ED revisits. This study aimed to assess longitudinal ED utilization and cholecystectomy for patients with SC and identify patient, geographic, and hospital characteristics associated with ED revisits, specifically race/ethnicity and insurance status. METHODS Patients discharged from the ED with SC between July 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017, were identified from California administrative databases and followed for 1 year. Emergency department revisits and cholecystectomy after discharge were examined using logistic regression, clustering standard errors by hospital. Models adjusted for patient, geographic, and hospital variables using census and hospital administrative data. RESULTS Cohort included 34,427 patients who presented to the ED with SC and were discharged. There were 18.8% of the patients that had one or more biliary-related ED revisits within 1 year. In fully adjusted models, non-Hispanic Black patients had higher odds for any ED revisit (adjusted odds ratio 1.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–1.39) and for two more ED revisits (adjusted odds ratio 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.20–1.82). Insurance type was also associated with ED revisits. CONCLUSION Non-Hispanic Black patients experienced higher utilization of health care resources for SC after adjusting for other patient, geographic and hospital variables. Strategies to mitigate these disparities may include the development of standardized protocols regarding the follow-up and education for SC. Implementation of such strategies can ensure equitable treatment for all patients. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level III. View on Web

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Operative trauma volume is not related to risk-adjusted mortality rates among Pennsylvania trauma centers

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Operative trauma volume is not related to risk-adjusted mortality rates among Pennsylvania trauma centers via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue BACKGROUND Higher center-level operative volume is associated with lower mortality after complex elective surgeries, but this relationship has not been robustly demonstrated for operative trauma. We hypothesized that trauma centers in Pennsylvania with higher operative trauma volumes would have lower risk-adjusted mortality rates than lower volume institutions. METHODS We queried the Pennsylvania Trauma Outcomes Study database (2017–2019) for injured patients 18 years or older at Level I and II trauma centers who underwent an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), procedure code–defined operative procedure within 6 hours of admission. The primary exposure was tertile of center-level operative volume. The primary outcome of interest was inpatient mortality. We entered factors associated with mortality in univariate analysis (age, injury severity, mechanism, physiology) into multivariable logistic regression models with tertiles of volume accounting for center-level clustering. We conducted secondary analyses varying the form of the association between the volume and mortality to including dichotomous and fractional polynomial models. RESULTS We identified 3,650 patients at 29 centers meeting the inclusion criteria. Overall mortality was 15.9% (center-level range, 6.7–34.2%). Operative procedure types were cardiopulmonary (7.3%), vascular (20.1%), abdominopelvic (24.3%), and multiple (48.3%). The mean annual operative volume over the 3 years of data was 10 to 21 operations for low-volume centers, 22 to 47 for medium-volume centers, and 47 to 158 for high-volume centers. After controlling for patient demographics, physiology, and injury characteristics, there was no significant difference in mortality between highest and lowest tertile centers (odds ratio, 0.92; confidence interval, 0.57–1.49). Secondary analyses similarly demonstrated no relationship between center operative volume and mortality in key procedure subgroups. CONCLUSION In a mature trauma system, we found no association between center-level operative volume and mortality for patients who required early operative intervention for trauma. Efforts to standardize the care of seriously injured patients in Pennsylvania may ensure that even lower-volume centers are prepared to generate satisfactory outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level III. View on Web

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Epidemiology and outcomes of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome following pediatric trauma

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader Epidemiology and outcomes of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome following pediatric trauma via Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery - Current Issue BACKGROUND Existing studies have found a low prevalence of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) in pediatric trauma patients, typically applying adult criteria to single-center pediatric cohorts. We used pediatric criteria to determine the prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of MODS among critically injured children in a national pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) database. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of PICU patients 1 month to 17 years with traumatic injury in the Virtual Pediatric Systems, LLC database from 2009 to 2017. We used International Pediatric Sepsis Consensus Conference criteria to identify MODS on Day 1 of PICU admission and estimated the risk of mortality and poor functional outcome (Pediatric Overall/Cerebral Performance Category ≥3 with ≥1 point worsening from baseline) for MODS and for each type of organ dysfunction using generalized linear Poisson regression adjusted for age, comorbidities, injury type and mechanism, and postoperative status. RESULTS Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome was present on PICU Day 1 in 23.1% of 37,177 trauma patients (n = 8,592), with highest risk among patients with injuries associated with drowning, asphyxiation, and abuse. Pediatric intensive care unit mortality was 20.1% among patients with MODS versus 0.5% among patients without MODS (adjusted relative risk, 32.3; 95% confidence interval, 24.1–43.4). Mortality ranged from 1.5% for one dysfunctional organ system to 69.1% for four or more organ systems and was highest among patients with hematologic dysfunction (43.3%) or renal dysfunction (29.6%). Death or poor functional outcome occurred in 46.7% of MODS patients versus 8.3% of patients without MODS (adjusted relative risk, 4.3; 95% confidence interval 3.4–5.3). CONCLUSION Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome occurs more frequently following pediatric trauma than previously reported and is associated with high risk of morbidity and mortality. Based on existing literature using identical methodology, both the prevalence and mortality associated with MODS are higher among trauma patients than the general PICU population. Consideration of early organ dysfunction in addition to injury severity may aid prognostication following pediatric trauma. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic and Epidemiological; Level III. View on Web

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