Clinical Symptoms Contributing to Zenker\u27s Diverticulum Repair: A Retrospective Review

Objective: Zenker\u27s diverticulum (ZD) is usually associated with dysphagia and other symptoms due to the interrelated functions of several systems. Surgical management of ZD is effective for all sizes of diverticula, but not all patients decide to undergo surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between clinical presentation and patients\u27 decision to undergo surgical repair. Subjects and methods: This is a retrospective study including 165 patients with ZD treated over the last 11 years. Data collection includes patients\u27 chief complaints and symptoms, medical history, findings on radiologic swallow evaluations, and patients\u27 decision to undergo surgery. Pearson correlation and logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: Among our cohort, dysphagia was the most prevalent symptom (89.1%), followed by cough (65.5%) and regurgitation (58.8%). Dysphonia was prevalent among patients with a small-sized ZD. Our logistic regression model showed that patients\u27 decision to undergo surgical repair could be predicted by diverticula size (β=1.10, p=0.002) and the presence of dysphagia (β=1.91, p=0.005), cough (β=1.01, p=0.042), and dysphonia (β=-1.37, p=0.024). Conclusion: Patients\u27 decision to undergo surgery usually involves interrelated factors, including symptomatic burden, presence of comorbidities, and recommendation of the surgeon. This study has identified that diverticula size and the presence of dysphagia, cough, and dysphonia are significant factors influencing decision-making for surgical repair in patients with ZD

Informant-based hearing difficulties and the risk for mild cognitive impairment and dementia

© 2019 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected]. Background: hearing loss has been associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. Studies have not assessed whether hearing difficulties (HD) that interfere with daily activities as reported by partners can be a marker for increased risk for cognitive decline and impairment. Objective: to assess the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between informant-based HD, which interfere with daily activities and the risk for MCI and dementia. Methods: the study included 4812 participants without dementia, enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (mean age (SD) 73.7 (9.6) years) with cognitive evaluation and informant-based report on participant\u27s HD that interfere significantly with daily activities at baseline and for every 15 months. Cox proportional hazards models (utilising time-dependent HD status and age as the time scale) were used to examine HD and the risk for MCI or dementia, and mixed-effects models (allowing for random subject-specific intercepts and slopes) were used to examine the relationship between HD and cognitive decline. Results: about, 981 participants had HD and 612 (12.7%) had prevalent MCI at baseline; 759 participants developed incident MCI and 273 developed incident dementia. In cognitively unimpaired participants at baseline, those with HD had higher risk for MCI (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] (1.10, 1.51), P = 0.002; adjusting for sex, years of education). In participants without dementia, those with HD had higher risk for dementia (HR: 1.39, 95% CI, (1.08-1.79), P = 0.011; adjusting sex and education). In individuals with MCI, HD was associated with modestly greater cognitive decline. Conclusions: informant-based HD was associated with increased risk for MCI and dementia