Risk Factors for Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Background. Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a form of thyroid cancer with very poor prognosis, but is fortunately quite rare. Its aetiology is unknown and not well researched. Aim. The aim of this study was to identify potential risk factors for ATC. Material and Method. Case-control study of 126 ATC patients (77 females and 49 males) and 252 controls individually matched by gender, age, and place of abode. In statistical analysis we used a Cox regression model. Results. Univariate logistic regression showed that the risk factors for ATC are low education level, type B blood group, goitre, other nonthyroid malignancies, diabetes, late menarche, and an early first pregnancy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that independent risk factors for ATC are low education level (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.09-1.86), type B blood group (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.03-5.66), and goitre (OR = 25-33, 95% CI = 5.66-126.65). Conclusion. Independent risk factors for ATC are: low education level, type B blood group, and goitre

Transfer reactions in Pb 206 + Sn 118: From quasielastic to deep-inelastic processes

We measured multinucleon transfer reactions for the Pb206+Sn118 system at Elab=1200 MeV by employing the large solid angle magnetic spectrometer PRISMA. Differential and total cross sections and Q-value distributions have been obtained for a variety of neutron and proton pick-up and stripping channels. The Q-value distributions show how the quasielastic and deep inelastic processes depend on the mass and charge of the transfer products. The corresponding cross sections have been compared with calculations performed with the grazing code. An overall good agreement is found for most of the few nucleon transfer channels. The underestimation of the data for channels involving a large number of transferred nucleons indicates that more complicated processes populate the given isotopes

Establishing the European diagnostic reference levels for interventional cardiology.

Interventional cardiac procedures may be associated with high patient doses and therefore require special attention to protect the patients from radiation injuries such as skin erythema, cardiovascular tissue reactions or radiation-induced cancer. In this study, patient exposure data is collected from 13 countries (37 clinics and nearly 50 interventional rooms) and for 10 different procedures. Dose data was collected from a total of 14,922 interventional cardiology procedures. Based on these data European diagnostic reference levels (DRL) for air kerma-area product are suggested for coronary angiography (CA, DRL = 35 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, 85 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ), transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI, 130 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ), electrophysiological procedures (12 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ) and pacemaker implantations. Pacemaker implantations were further divided into single-chamber (2.5 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ) and dual chamber (3.5 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ) procedures and implantations of cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker (18 Gy cm <sup>2</sup> ). Results show that relatively new techniques such as TAVI and treatment of chronic total occlusion (CTO) often produce relatively high doses, and thus emphasises the need for use of an optimization tool such as DRL to assist in reducing patient exposure. The generic DRL presented here facilitate comparison of patient exposure in interventional cardiology

Establishing the European diagnostic reference levels for interventional cardiology

Interventional cardiac procedures may be associated with high patient doses and therefore require special attention to protect the patients from radiation injuries such as skin erythema, cardiovascular tissue reactions or radiation-induced cancer. In this study, patient exposure data is collected from 13 countries (37 clinics and nearly 50 interventional rooms) and for 10 different procedures. Dose data was collected from a total of 14,922 interventional cardiology procedures. Based on these data European diagnostic reference levels (DRL) for air kerma-area product are suggested for coronary angiography (CA, DRL = 35 Gy cm(2)), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI, 85 Gy cm(2)), transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI, 130 Gy cm(2)), electrophysiological procedures (12 Gy cm(2)) and pacemaker implantations Pacemaker implantations were further divided into single-chamber (2.5 Gy cm(2)) and dual chamber (3.5 Gy cm(2)) procedures and implantations of cardiac resynchronization therapy pacemaker (18 Gy cm(2)). Results show that relatively new techniques such as TAVI and treatment of chronic total occlusion (CTO) often produce relatively high doses, and thus emphasises the need for use of an optimization tool such as DRL to assist in reducing patient exposure. The generic DRL presented here facilitate comparison of patient exposure in interventional cardiology