Factors predicting cessation of status epilepticus in clinical practice: Data from a prospective observational registry (SENSE).

To investigate the initial termination rate of status epilepticus (SE) in a large observational study and explore associated variables. Data of adults treated for SE were collected prospectively in centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, during 4.5 years. Incident episodes of 1,049 patients were analyzed using uni- and multivariate statistics to determine factors predicting cessation of SE within 1 hour (for generalized convulsive SE [GCSE]) and 12 hours (for non-GCSE) of initiating treatment. Median age at SE onset was 70 years; most frequent etiologies were remote (32%) and acute (31%). GCSE was documented in 43%. Median latency between SE onset and first treatment was 30 minutes in GCSE and 150 minutes in non-GCSE. The first intravenous compound was a benzodiazepine in 86% in GCSE and 73% in non-GCSE. Bolus doses of the first treatment step were lower than recommended by current guidelines in 76% of GCSE patients and 78% of non-GCSE patients. In 319 GCSE patients (70%), SE was ongoing 1 hour after initiating treatment and in 342 non-GCSE patients (58%) 12 hours after initiating treatment. Multivariate Cox regression demonstrated that use of benzodiazepines as first treatment step and a higher cumulative dose of anticonvulsants within the first period of treatment were associated with shorter time to cessation of SE for both groups. In clinical practice, treatment guidelines were not followed in a substantial proportion of patients. This underdosing correlated with lack of cessation of SE. Our data suggest that sufficiently dosed benzodiazepines should be used as a first treatment step. ANN NEUROL 2019;85:421-432

Breast cancer screening results 5 years after introduction of digital mammography in a population-based screening program.

Contains fulltext : 80861.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)PURPOSE: To compare full-field digital mammography (FFDM) using computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with screen-film mammography (SFM) in a population-based breast cancer screening program for initial and subsequent screening examinations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was approved by the regional medical ethics review board. Informed consent was not required. In a breast cancer screening facility, two of seven conventional mammography units were replaced with FFDM units. Digital mammograms were interpreted by using soft-copy reading with CAD. The same team of radiologists was involved in the double reading of FFDM and SFM images, with differences of opinion resolved in consensus. After 5 years, screening outcomes obtained with both modalities were compared for initial and subsequent screening examination findings. RESULTS: A total of 367,600 screening examinations were performed, of which 56,518 were digital. Breast cancer was detected in 1927 women (317 with FFDM). At initial screenings, the cancer detection rate was .77% with FFDM and .62% with SFM. At subsequent screenings, detection rates were .55% and .49%, respectively. Differences were not statistically significant. Recalls based on microcalcifications alone doubled with FFDM. A significant increase in the detection of ductal carcinoma in situ was found with FFDM (P < .01). The fraction of invasive cancers with microcalcifications as the only sign of malignancy increased significantly, from 8.1% to 15.8% (P < .001). Recall rates were significantly higher with FFDM in the initial round (4.4% vs 2.3%, P < .001) and in the subsequent round (1.7% vs 1.2%, P < .001). CONCLUSION: With the FFDM-CAD combination, detection performance is at least as good as that with SFM. The detection of ductal carcinoma in situ and microcalcification clusters improved with FFDM using CAD, while the recall rate increased

SUBMM mixing experiments with planar Josephson junction devices

Planar Nb-Nb Josephson Junctions (JJ's) have been developed to be used in submillimeter heterodyne mixers. Experimental mixing results show a System Noise Temperature around 1000 K with a best result of 800 K at an operating temperature of 1.5 K. Preliminary results at 900 GHz are reported. A strong temperature dependence of the mixer noise temperature has been observe