Patient-doctor continuity and diagnosis of cancer: electronic medical records study in general practice

This is the final version of the article. Available from Royal College of General Practitioners via the DOI in this record.BACKGROUND: Continuity of care may affect the diagnostic process in cancer but there is little research. AIM: To estimate associations between patient-doctor continuity and time to diagnosis and referral of three common cancers. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective cohort study in general practices in England. METHOD: This study used data from the General Practice Research Database for patients aged ≥40 years with a diagnosis of breast, colorectal, or lung cancer. Relevant cancer symptoms or signs were identified up to 12 months before diagnosis. Patient-doctor continuity (fraction-of-care index adjusted for number of consultations) was calculated up to 24 months before diagnosis. Time ratios (TRs) were estimated using accelerated failure time regression models. RESULTS: Patient-doctor continuity in the 24 months before diagnosis was associated with a slightly later diagnosis of colorectal (time ratio [TR] 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.01 to 1.02) but not breast (TR = 1.00, 0.99 to 1.01) or lung cancer (TR = 1.00, 0.99 to 1.00). Secondary analyses suggested that for colorectal and lung cancer, continuity of doctor before the index consultation was associated with a later diagnosis but continuity after the index consultation was associated with an earlier diagnosis, with no such effects for breast cancer. For all three cancers, most of the delay to diagnosis occurred after referral. CONCLUSION: Any effect for patient-doctor continuity appears to be small. Future studies should compare investigations, referrals, and diagnoses in patients with and without cancer who present with possible cancer symptoms or signs; and focus on 'difficult to diagnose' types of cancer.This work was funded by Cancer Research UK (C41384/A13266)

Modified Bristow-Latarjet procedure for treatment of recurrent traumatic anterior glenohumeral dislocation

Retrospective case-control study of authors experience in the modified Bristow-Latarjet procedure for treatment of recurrent traumatic anterior glenohumeral dislocation with glenoid bone injury.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Limb salvage surgery in extreme situations of prosthetic complications

The treatment of periprosthetic hip and knee infection associated with loss of bone substance, as well as the treatment of the infection of large structural allografts used in tumoral reconstructive surgery, are a major challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon. Indeed, these are chronic conditions which are submitted to multiple surgeries and prolonged antibiotic therapy in socially and professionally vulnerable patients. Many of these cases receive proposals for limb amputation/disarticulation or extraction of the prosthesis without structural reconstruction aggravating, even more, their suffering and functional disability. The aim of this study is to show the results of a treatment of complex hip and knee periprosthetic infections and of a structural allograft, in the context of limb salvage surgery. 9 patients were treated, minimum age of 22 years and maximum of 76 years with multiple surgeries and from different national hospitals. Six of these patients had periprosthetic infection of the hip and knee (primary, revision and tumoral prostheses) and two of the patients showed an apparent allergic reaction to metal/iodine. The remaining case, an infection of a large femoral structural allograft, used in tumoral surgery. The main cause of the infection was the St. aureus multiresistant. One of the patients showed multimicrobial multiresistant flora. Treatment consisted in 2 different operative stages. First stage (7 to 9h): Extraction of the prosthesis or allograft; debridement and extensive excision of the periprothetic infected and devitalized bone and soft tissue, a minimum thickness of 4 mm; pulsatile lavage of the bleeding “surgical bed” with betadine / H2O2 and saline; implantation of large methyl methacrylate with gentamicin spacer. Triple intravenous antibiotic therapy was made for 8 to 9 weeks, with rigorous analytical control, and some of the patients were able to walk with the support of axillary support crutches. The second surgical stage (5 to 7h) takes place after normal levels of PCR: spacer excision with prosthetic joint reconstruction in 8 cases and in one case a silver coated knee arthrodesis prosthetic implant (bactericidal effect). So, 3 silver coated total femoral prostheses and 5 silver coated total hip prostheses, with the reconstruction of the proximal half of the femur, were applied. The interventions took place between July 2014 and April 2016. Patients were discharged after being able to walk with the help pf crutches and kept taking oral antibiotics until the normalization of PCR in 3 consecutive analytical assessments spaced by 15 days. After a clinical/ analytical evaluation, all patients showed a normal PCR, without pain and without signs of infection and/or active fistulas. Currently 5 patients walk without external support. The oldest case has 28 months of follow-up and all have a minimum follow-up of 7 months, average of 17,5 months. All patients expressed great satisfaction with the outcome of the surgical procedures for the preservation of their lower limbs. Chronic relapsing, multidrug-resistant, periprosthetic infection should be treated aggressively in a combination of surgical techniques of prosthetic revision and tumoral surgery, first through an extended debridement of devitalized tissue and the extraction of the prosthesis with the appropriate antibiotic therapy; second, with the reconstruction of the bone loss with silver coated modular prostheses, which are indicated in order to prevent the mutilating surgery and provide the restoration, as much as possible, of the functional capacity. The results obtained have been very satisfactory, although the follow-up time is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions about the infectious relapse. Such limb salvage surgery is indicated for the treatment of complex clinical situations as an alternative to the disarticulation / limb amputation, i.e. supports the hope of curing clinical and surgical situations that many surgeons designate by horrendoplasties.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Associations between Blood Metabolic Profile at 7 Years Old and Eating Disorders in Adolescence: Findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children

Eating disorders are severe illnesses characterized by both psychiatric and metabolic factors. We explored the prospective role of metabolic risk in eating disorders in a UK cohort (n = 2929 participants), measuring 158 metabolic traits in non-fasting EDTA-plasma by nuclear magnetic resonance. We associated metabolic markers at 7 years (exposure) with risk for anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder (outcomes) at 14, 16, and 18 years using logistic regression adjusted for maternal education, child's sex, age, body mass index, and calorie intake at 7 years. Elevated very low-density lipoproteins, triglycerides, apolipoprotein-B/A, and monounsaturated fatty acids ratio were associated with lower odds of anorexia nervosa at age 18, while elevated high-density lipoproteins, docosahexaenoic acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids ratio, and fatty acid unsaturation were associated with higher risk for anorexia nervosa at 18 years. Elevated linoleic acid and n-6 fatty acid ratios were associated with lower odds of binge-eating disorder at 16 years, while elevated saturated fatty acid ratio was associated with higher odds of binge-eating disorder. Most associations had large confidence intervals and showed, for anorexia nervosa, different directions across time points. Overall, our results show some evidence for a role of metabolic factors in eating disorders development in adolescence

Association and interaction analyses of eight genes under asthma linkage peaks

Background: Linkage studies have implicated the 2q33, 9p21, 11q13 and 20q13 regions in the regulation of allergic disease. The aim of this study was to test genetic variants in candidate genes from these regions for association with specific asthma traits. Methods: Ninety-five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) located in eight genes (CD28, CTLA4, ICOS, ADAM23, ADAMTSL1, MS4A2, CDH26 and HRH3) were genotyped in >5000 individuals from Australian (n = 1162), Dutch (n = 99) and Danish (n = 303) families. Traits tested included doctor-diagnosed asthma, atopy, airway obstruction, total serum immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels and eosinophilia. Association was tested using both multivariate and univariate methods, with gene-wide thresholds for significance determined through simulation. Gene-by-gene and gene-by-environment analyses were also performed. Results: There was no overall evidence for association with seven of the eight genes tested when considering all genetic variation assayed in each gene. The exception was MS4A2 on chromosome 11q13, which showed weak evidence for association with IgE (gene-wide P < 0.05, rs502581). There were no significant gene-by-gene or gene-by-environment interaction effects after accounting for the number of tests performed. Conclusions: The individual variants genotyped in the 2q33, 9p21 and 20q13 regions do not explain a large fraction of the variation in the quantitative traits tested or have a major impact on asthma or atopy risk. Our results are consistent with a weak effect of MS4A2 polymorphisms on the variation of total IgE levels. © 2009 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Characterisation of the bacterial and fungal communities associated with different lesion sizes of Dark Spot Syndrome occurring in the Coral Stephanocoenia intersepta

The number and prevalence of coral diseases/syndromes are increasing worldwide. Dark Spot Syndrome (DSS) afflicts numerous coral species and is widespread throughout the Caribbean, yet there are no known causal agents. In this study we aimed to characterise the microbial communities (bacteria and fungi) associated with DSS lesions affecting the coral Stephanocoenia intersepta using nonculture molecular techniques. Bacterial diversity of healthy tissues (H), those in advance of the lesion interface (apparently healthy AH), and three sizes of disease lesions (small, medium, and large) varied significantly (ANOSIM R = 0.052 p,0.001), apart from the medium and large lesions, which were similar in their community profile. Four bacteria fitted into the pattern expected from potential pathogens; namely absent from H, increasing in abundance within AH, and dominant in the lesions themselves. These included ribotypes related to Corynebacterium (KC190237), Acinetobacter (KC190251), Parvularculaceae (KC19027), and Oscillatoria (KC190271). Furthermore, two Vibrio species, a genus including many proposed coral pathogens, dominated the disease lesion and were absent from H and AH tissues, making them candidates as potential pathogens for DSS. In contrast, other members of bacteria from the same genus, such as V. harveyii were present throughout all sample types, supporting previous studies where potential coral pathogens exist in healthy tissues. Fungal diversity varied significantly as well, however the main difference between diseased and healthy tissues was the dominance of one ribotype, closely related to the plant pathogen, Rhytisma acerinum, a known causal agent of tar spot on tree leaves. As the corals’ symbiotic algae have been shown to turn to a darker pigmented state in DSS (giving rise to the syndromes name), the two most likely pathogens are R. acerinum and the bacterium Oscillatoria, which has been identified as the causal agent of the colouration in Black Band Disease, another widespread coral disease

Horrendoplastias

A infeção e reações alérgicas associadas a grandes perdas de tecido ósseo em artroplastias protéticas da anca e joelho ou a infeção em reconstruções ósseas com aloenxertos estruturais de grandes dimensões pós resseções ósseas por patologia tumoral, correspondem a grandes desafios cirúrgicos de salvamento de membros. São casos clínicos submetidos a múltiplas cirurgias, anos de evolução, fistulas profusamente produtivas, tratamentos antibióticos múltiplos, pessoas socialmente e profissionalmente destruídas. Muitos destes casos são propostos para cirurgia mutiladora com amputações de membros ou extração de material protético sem reconstrução estrutural, condenando o doente a incapacidades funcionais marcantes. Apresentam-se 9 casos clínicos de doentes, 8 com artroplastias primárias, de revisão ou tumorais, de anca e joelho, complicadas com infeção (6 doentes) e/ou reação alérgica a metais/iodo (2 doentes) e 1 doente com aloenxerto estrutural do fémur de grandes dimensões infetado, a maioria com perda de osso e proposta de amputação, nomeadamente desarticulação pela anca. Na maioria dos casos tratava-se de infeção por St. aureus meticilino resistente, havendo 1 doente com flora polimicrobiana hospitalar resistente, submetidos a múltiplas cirurgias e oriundos de vários hospitais do país. Os doentes foram operados entre Novembro de 2013 e Abril de 2016 tendo o mais novo 23 anos e o mais velho 76 anos. O tratamento cirúrgico foi composto por 2 tempos operatórios. Primeiro tempo (7 a 9h): extração de material protético; excisão de osso infetado e sem viabilidade; excisão em bloco de tecidos moles desvitalizados/necrosados e com exsudato em toda a periferia do material protético e tecido ósseo infetado, numa espessura com o mínimo de 4 mm; lavagem pulsátil do leito cirúrgico sangrante desbridado com betadine/H2O2 e soro fisiológico; reconstrução articular temporária com espaçador de grandes dimensões em metilmetacrilato com gentamicina. Todos os doentes foram submetidos a terapia antibiótica tripla endovenosa durante 8 a 9 semanas, com controlo analítico rigoroso, tendo alguns deles deambulado com apoio de ortóteses. 2º tempo cirúrgico (4 a 7h) após valores de PCR normais, fez-se conversão dos espaçadores utilizando material protético de revisão e do foro tumoral revestido a prata (potencial bactericida), 8 dos casos com próteses tumorais da anca (5 com reconstrução de ½ fémur proximal e 3 com fémures totais protéticos). Os doentes tiveram alta autónomos e com apoio de canadianas após +- 3 semanas com triterapia antibiótica e.v. e PCR normal ou “borderline”, com passagem a antibióticoterapia dupla oral em ambulatório, no mínimo durante 3 meses até normalização de PCR em 3 avaliações analíticas espaçadas em 15 dias. O doente mais antigo tem +- 29 meses com PCR normal (avaliações analíticas frequentes) e clinicamente todos se apresentam com PCR normais e sem sinais de infeção e/ou fistulas ativas. Funcionalmente, estão autónomos, os mais novos deambulam sem apoio de canadianas enquanto os mais velhos, por vezes, necessitam do apoio de 1 ou 2 canadianas, mas todos negam dores. Todas estas situações clinicas devem ser tratadas de forma agressiva, do ponto de vista de antibióticoterapia alargada e com conjugação de complexas técnicas cirúrgicas do âmbito de revisão protética e do foro tumoral, para se poder obter os melhores resultados possíveis no salvamento de membros, livres de infeção e com capacidade funcional. Os doentes estão satisfeitos com o tratamento, apesar de extremamente exigente do ponto de vista físico e psíquico, por manterem os membros inferiores, referindo que se tivessem de voltar atrás passariam por tudo de novo. Não se pode dizer que estejam curados mas aqui apresenta-se uma metodologia médica e cirúrgica, como uma forma de ir mais além, na esperança da cura de situações clinico-cirúrgicas que muitos cirurgiões designam de horrendoplastias.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Elbow Arthroplasty in a patient with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Introduction: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is an autoimmune systemic chronic inflammatory disease that affects the joints as a chronic inflammatory synovitis. It appears before the 16 years old and there are many disease types, like the oligoarticular, polyarticular, systemic, etc. The orthopedic treatment and prognosis are defined by the joint sequelae grades, affecting mostly the hips, knees, ankles, elbows and wrists. Objectives: Case report of a patient with JIA which conservative treatment was ineffective. A new stage of treatment was proposed, with bone preservation total elbow prosthesis. A good function, increasing range of motion and pain relief was achieved. Methods: We present a clinical case of a 35 year-old female with diagnosis of a polyarticular JIA with evolution of 30 years. The disease stadium is the articular sequelae phase, affecting the vertebral column, hips, knees, shoulders, elbows and hands. The patient is referred to our centre because of intense pain and progressive amplitudes loss of the left elbow, with 5 years evolution. The plain radiograph of the left elbow shows bone erosions and diffuse osteopenia, signs of inflammatory active process at this joint. At this time, the patient is treated non surgically with disease modifying anti-rheumatoid, anti-inflammatory and pain killer drugs. After six months, the elbow pain and stiffness are worse, so the patient is submitted to a surgical arthrolisis, with no improvement. After 6 months, it is performed another arthrolisis, with the same unsuccessful results. The symptoms became incapacitating, with intense pain and crepitation of the joint, and severe limitation of the daily activities. The Mayo Score was 15. The movement arc was 90º of flexion and 20º of extension. At this time, the x-ray shows a grade 4 elbow arthrosis, with numerous osteophytes and an almost complete disappearance of the interarticular space. Being aware of the age of the patient and the severe limitation and prejudice on the life quality, it is performed a total elbow arthroplasty. The intraoperative findings were extense synovitis and aderences and a total juxtaposition of the articular surfaces, conditioning severe joint stiffness. It was used a bone preservation total elbow prosthesis. Results: The surgery had no intercurrences and during the first 3 weeks it was done a cast immobilization with 90º elbow flexion. After this time, the patient began psychiatric rehabilitation programs that lead to progressive gain of joint amplitudes. One month after the joint replacement, the patient has 120º flexion and 15º extension, with no signs of joint instability and pain only at the movement limits. The patient was satisfied with the recuperation and at the third postoperative month the Mayo Sore was 100. Conclusions: JIA can result in extreme situations of incapacitating osteoarthosis, frequently of the elbow joint. This disease affecting a young active patient is an indication to total elbow arthroplasty, that in the inflammatory arthritis generally results in pain relief and an important function recuperation of the joint amplitudes movements

Técnica de reconstrução de fratura do úmero proximal de 4 fragmentos

Os autores apresentam um caso clínico e descrevem uma técnica de reconstrução de fratura do úmero proximal de 4 fragmentos. Apresenta-se um paciente de 60 anos do sexo feminino, que recorreu ao Serviço de Urgência (SU) pós queda sobre o ombro direito. Efectuou radiografia e verificou-se uma fractura-luxação da cabeça umeral em 4 fragmentos associada a lesão do nervo radial. Demonstramos na apresentação a radiografia prévia e após manobra de redução. A paciente ficou internada e a decisão terapêutica passava pela opção entre tentativa de osteossíntese ou a artroplastia gleno-umeral. Os autores optaram por tentativa de reconstrução da cabeça umeral. Para isso optou-se por uma redução aberta e estabilização com fios de Kirschner tipo Kapandji. De modo a reconstruir a cabeça umeral efetuou-se interposição com um bloco de aloenxerto de patela para apoio do fragmento cefálico e das tuberosidades, tendo-se reunindo as mesmas com sutura. Os autores demonstram na apresentação a radiografia pós-operatória e a redução anatómica conseguida, bem como um diagrama demonstrando a posição do aloenxerto, a osteossíntese e a posição dos fios de Kirschner utilizada. Seguiu-se então imobilização tipo Velpeau. O pós-operatório decorreu sem intercorrências. Apresentamos neste caso clínico uma técnica que pode ser útil para a reconstrução do úmero proximal nos casos em que se pretende dar uma oportunidade para a osteossíntese em fraturas em 4 fragmentos do úmero proximal. Uma oportunidade para a osteossíntese em fraturas em 4 fragmentos do úmero proximal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio