Neoadjuvant radiotherapy of primary irresectable unicentric Castleman's disease: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Castleman disease (CD) is a rare benign disorder characterised by hyperplasia of lymphoid tissue that may develop at a single site or throughout the body. The etiology of this disorder is unclear, although the histopathological presentation can be differentiated into a hyaline vascular variant, a plasma cell variant and a mixed variant. Clinically, it has been recorded that 3 manifestations of CD are characterized: a localized unicentric type, a generalized multicentric type and a mixed form. Surgery remains the main treatment for resectable unicentric CD, since removal of the large node is possible without further complications. No consensus has been reached concerning the most adequate treatment for irresectable unicentric CD.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Case report of a 67 year old woman.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This report, describes the case of a 67-year-old woman with unicentric Castleman disease located in the right lower abdomen. The patient had symptoms of fatigue, dyspnoea and pain in the right lower abdomen. Computed tomography (CT)- examination revealed a tumour, which had grown to form a close relationship with the common iliac vessels and the sacral bone. A Laparotomy procedure revealed that the tumour was an irresectable mass. Neo-adjuvant radiotherapy (40 Gy) was administered in order to downsize the tumour. Six weeks later a new CT-scan revealed a major reduction of the tumour, which enabled a successful radical resection of the tumour to be performed. Histopathological analysis of the tumour showed the hyaline vascular type of CD.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Neo-adjuvant radiotherapy should be considered in case of an irresectable unicentric CD.</p

Dual pathway inhibition for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: Recent advances

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), which includes coronary artery disease (CAD), cerebrovascular disease, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Antiplatelet therapy has long been the mainstay of antithrombotic therapy for the prevention of first-ever and recurrent ASCVD events. More recently, however, randomized trials have demonstrated the benefits and cost-effectiveness of a dual pathway inhibition (DPI) strategy in acute and chronic ASCVD. When used in combination, aspirin and low-dose rivaroxaban work synergistically to inhibit platelet activation and thrombin generation, thereby preventing thrombus formation. Among patients with recent acute coronary syndrome (ACS), those with positive cardiac biomarkers or ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, or a history of heart failure derive the greatest absolute benefits. Among patients with chronic ASCVD, those with involvement of two or more vascular beds, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, or diabetes derive the greatest absolute benefits. Additional trials are underway to assess the impact of DPI therapy in other populations of interest, including patients with ACS at high risk of left ventricular thrombus formation, intracranial atherosclerotic disease with recent transient ischemic attack or stroke, peripheral arterial disease with limiting claudication or post lower extremity revascularization, and advanced chronic kidney disease with ASCVD or risk factors for ASCVD. Further work is required to assess the possible added benefit of combining rivaroxaban with clopidogrel or ticagrelor instead of aspirin

Narrow band imaging for the detection of gastric intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia during surveillance endoscopy

Background: Surveillance of premalignant gastric lesions relies mainly on random biopsy sampling. Narrow band imaging (NBI) may enhance the accuracy of endoscopic surveillance of intestinal metaplasia (IM) and dysplasia. We aimed to compare the yield of NBI to white light endoscopy (WLE) in the surveillance of patients with IM and dysplasia. Methods: Patients with previously identified gastric IM or dysplasia underwent a surveillance endoscopy. Both WLE and NBI were performed in all patients during a single procedure. The sensitivity of WLE and NBI for the detection of premalignant lesions was calculated by correlating endoscopic findings to histological diagnosis. Results: Forty-three patients (28 males and 15 females, mean age 59 years) were included. IM was diagnosed in 27 patients; 20 were detected by NBI and WLE, four solely by NBI and three by random biopsies only. Dysplasia was detected in seven patients by WLE and NBI and in two patients by random biopsies only. Sixty-eight endoscopically detected lesions contained IM: 47 were detected by WLE and NBI, 21 by NBI only. Nine endoscopically detected lesions demonstrated dysplasia: eight were detected by WLE and NBI, one was detected by NBI only. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for detection of premalignant lesions were 71, 58, 65 and 65% for NBI and 51, 67, 62 and 55% for WLE, respectively. Conclusions: NBI increases the diagnostic yield for detection of advanced premalignant gastric lesions compared to routine WLE

Characterisation of neonatal seizures and their treatment using continuous EEG monitoring: a multicentre experience.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this multicentre study was to describe detailed characteristics of electrographic seizures in a cohort of neonates monitored with multichannel continuous electroencephalography (cEEG) in 6 European centres. METHODS: Neonates of at least 36 weeks of gestation who required cEEG monitoring for clinical concerns were eligible, and were enrolled prospectively over 2 years from June 2013. Additional retrospective data were available from two centres for January 2011 to February 2014. Clinical data and EEGs were reviewed by expert neurophysiologists through a central server. RESULTS: Of 214 neonates who had recordings suitable for analysis, EEG seizures were confirmed in 75 (35%). The most common cause was hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (44/75, 59%), followed by metabolic/genetic disorders (16/75, 21%) and stroke (10/75, 13%). The median number of seizures was 24 (IQR 9-51), and the median maximum hourly seizure burden in minutes per hour (MSB) was 21 min (IQR 11-32), with 21 (28%) having status epilepticus defined as MSB>30 min/hour. MSB developed later in neonates with a metabolic/genetic disorder. Over half (112/214, 52%) of the neonates were given at least one antiepileptic drug (AED) and both overtreatment and undertreatment was evident. When EEG monitoring was ongoing, 27 neonates (19%) with no electrographic seizures received AEDs. Fourteen neonates (19%) who did have electrographic seizures during cEEG monitoring did not receive an AED. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that even with access to cEEG monitoring, neonatal seizures are frequent, difficult to recognise and difficult to treat. OBERSERVATION STUDY NUMBER: NCT02160171

Melanoma incidence and mortality in Scotland 1979–2003

We studied 12 450 cases of invasive melanoma diagnosed in Scotland in 1979–2003, by thickness, pathological type, and body site at ages under 40, 40–59, and 60 years and over. Melanoma incidence trebled in males from 3.57 to 10.93/105 per year, and increased 2.3-fold in females from 5.60 to 12.96/105 per year. The rate of increase fell in each successive 5-year period. The greatest increase was in males aged 60 years and over at diagnosis. Significant incidence increases were seen in melanomas <1 mm in all three age groups, but those >4 mm only increased significantly at ages 60 years and over. All histological types increased significantly at ages 60 years and over, and in this age group the greatest increase was seen on the head and neck. Five-year disease-free survival improved steadily. Survival figures for 1994–1998 ranged from 93.6% for males and 95.8% for females with tumours <1 mm, to 52.4 and 48.3%, respectively, for those with tumours >4 mm. Over the 25 years, melanoma mortality doubled in males from 1.1 to 2.4/105 per year, but was unchanged in females at 1.5/105 per year. Public education on melanoma is required both for primary prevention and earlier diagnosis, particularly for older males

Examining the factor structure of the pittsburgh sleep quality index in a multi-ethnic working population in Singapore

Copyright © 2019 by the authors. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a widely used measure for assessing sleep impairment. Although it was developed as a unidimensional instrument, there is much debate that it contains multidimensional latent constructs. This study aims to investigate the dimensionality of the underlying factor structure of the PSQI in a multi-ethnic working population in Singapore. The PSQI was administered on three occasions (baseline, 3 months and 12 months) to full-time employees participating in a workplace cohort study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) investigated the latent factor structure of the scale at each timepoint. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) evaluated the model identified by EFA, and additionally evaluated it against a single factor and a three-factor model. The EFA identified a two-factor model with similar internal consistency and goodness-of-fit across each timepoint. In the CFA, the two-and three-factor models were both superior to the unidimensional model. The two-and three-factor models of the PSQI were reliable, consistent and provided similar goodness-of-fit over time, and both models were superior to the unidimensional measure. We recommend using the two-factor model to assess sleep characteristics in working populations in Singapore, given that it performs as well as the three-factor model and is simpler compared to the latter.Singapore Ministry of National Development and the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office under the Land and Liveability National Innovation Challenge (L2 NIC) Research Programme (L2 NIC Award No L2 NIC FP1-2013-2)

Do medical students copy the drug treatment choices of their teachers or do they think for themselves?

PURPOSE: Although the importance of rational prescribing is generally accepted, the teaching of pharmacotherapy to undergraduate medical students is still unsatisfactory. Because clinical teachers are an important role model for medical students, it is of interest to know whether this extends to therapeutic decision-making. The aim of this study was to find out which factors contribute to the drug choices made by medical students and their teachers (general practitioners and clinical specialists). METHODS: Final-year medical students (n = 32), and general practitioners (n = 29), lung specialists (n = 26), orthopaedic surgeons (n = 24), and internists (n = 24) serving as medical teachers from all eight medical schools in the Netherlands participated in the study. They were asked to prescribe treatment (drug or otherwise) for uncomplicated (A) and complicated (B) written patient cases and to indicate which factors influenced their choice of treatment, using a list of factors reported in the literature to influence drug prescribing. RESULTS: Final-year medical students primarily based their drug choice on the factors 'effectiveness of the drugs' and 'examples from medical teachers'. In contrast, clinical teachers primarily based their drug choice on the factors 'clinical experience', 'effectiveness of the drugs', 'side effects of the drugs', 'standard treatment guidelines', and 'scientific literature'. CONCLUSIONS: Medical teachers would appear to base their drug choice mainly on clinical experience and drug-related factors, whereas final-year medical students base their drug choice mainly on examples provided by their medical teachers. It is essential that medical teachers clearly explain to their students how they arrive at a specific choice of medication since medical students tend to copy the therapeutic drug choices from their teachers, mainly because of a lack of experience. Presenting students with clinical therapeutic problems early during undergraduate training will not only give them a chance to gain experience in solving medical problems but will also give meaning to what they are studying as opposed to merely reproducing what they learn or copying what they are tol

Detection of subtelomere imbalance using MLPA: validation, development of an analysis protocol, and application in a diagnostic centre

BACKGROUND: Commercial MLPA kits (MRC-Holland) are available for detecting imbalance at the subtelomere regions of chromosomes; each kit consists of one probe for each subtelomere. METHODS: For validation of the kits, 208 patients were tested, of which 128 were known to be abnormal, corresponding to 8528 genomic regions overall. Validation samples included those with trisomy 13, 18 and 21, microscopically visible terminal deletions and duplications, sex chromosome abnormalities and submicroscopic abnormalities identified by multiprobe FISH. A robust and sensitive analysis system was developed to allow accurate interpretation of single probe results, which is essential as breakpoints may occur between MLPA probes. RESULTS: The validation results showed that MLPA is a highly efficient technique for medium-throughput screening for subtelomere imbalance, with 95% confidence intervals for positive and negative predictive accuracies of 0.951-0.996 and 0.9996-1 respectively. A diagnostic testing strategy was established for subtelomere MLPA and any subsequent follow-up tests that may be required. The efficacy of this approach was demonstrated during 15 months of diagnostic testing when 455 patients were tested and 27 (5.9%) abnormal cases were detected. CONCLUSION: The development of a robust, medium-throughput analysis system for the interpretation of results from subtelomere assays will be of benefit to other Centres wishing to implement such an MLPA-based service

Accelerated hand bone mineral density loss is associated with progressive joint damage in hands and feet in recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: To investigate whether accelerated hand bone mineral density (BMD) loss is associated with progressive joint damage in hands and feet in the first year of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether it is an independent predictor of subsequent progressive total joint damage after 4 years. Methods: In 256 recent-onset RA patients, baseline and 1-year hand BMD was measured in metacarpals 2-4 by digital X-ray radiogrammetry. Joint damage in hands and feet were scored in random order according to the Sharp-van der Heijde method at baseline and yearly up to 4 years. Results: 68% of the patients had accelerated hand BMD loss (>-0.003 g/cm(2)) in the first year of RA. Hand BMD loss was associated with progressive joint damage after 1 year both in hands and feet with odds ratios (OR) (95% confidence intervals [CI]) of 5.3 (1.3-20.9) and 3.1 (1.0-9.7). In univariate analysis, hand BMD loss in the first year was a predictor of subsequent progressive total joint damage after 4 years with an OR (95% CI) of 3.1 (1.3-7.6). Multivariate analysis showed that only progressive joint damage in the first year and anti-citrullinated protein antibody positivity were independent predictors of long-term progressive joint damage. Conclusions: In the first year of RA, accelerated hand BMD loss is associated with progressive joint damage in both hands and feet. Hand BMD loss in the first year of recent-onset RA predicts subsequent progressive total joint damage, however not independent of progressive joint damage in the first year.Pathophysiology and treatment of rheumatic disease