No impact of PolySia-NCAM expression on treatment response in neuroendocrine neoplasms of the lung

Background: Polysialic acids (abbr. polySia) are found on numerous tumors, including neuroendocrine lung tumors. They have previously been shown to impact metastatic potential, as they can influence the signaling and adhesion properties of neuronal cell adhesion molecules (abbr. NCAM) and other cell adhesion molecules. Therefore, the aim of this small pilot study was to analyze whether there was a correlation between polySia-NCAM expression and specific clinical or histopathologic characteristics, and if polySia-NCAM expression had an impact on treatment response, disease progression and prognosis of lung neuroendocrine neoplasms. Methods: This work was based on an analysis of 28 digitized patient records and corresponding patient samples. The response to therapy was radiologically determined at the time of diagnosis and at certain intervals during therapy following the current RECIST1.1 and volumetric sphere calculation. To analyze whether polySia-NCAM expression had prognostic relevance, polySia-NCAM-positive and -negative cases were compared in a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Findings: A majority of 78.6% lung neuroendocrine neoplasms showed a strong staining signal for polySia-NCAM. There was a significant correlation between expression and histopathological grade (p = 0.0140), since carcinoids were less likely polySia-NCAM-positive compared to small cell lung carcinoma (abbr. SCLC) and large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas of the lung (abbr. LCNEC). There was no significant association between polySia-NCAM expression and clinical characteristics (age: p = 0.3405; gender: p = 0.6730; smoking history: p = 0.1145; ECOG: p = 0.1756, UICC8 stage: p = 0.1182) or radiologically determined disease progression, regardless of the criteria used to categorize response (RECIST 1.1: p = 0.0759; sphere: p = 0.0580). Furthermore, polySia-NCAM expression did not affect progression-free survival (p = 0.4198) or overall survival (p = 0.6918). Interpretation: PolySia-NCAM expression was more common in high-grade compared to low-grade neuroendocrine neoplasms of the lung; however, this small pilot study failed to show an association between polySia-NCAM expression and response to therapy

Modified therapy concepts for fragility fractures of the pelvis after additional MRI

Background Fractures of the pelvic ring in elderly patients have increased in frequency over time. These injuries are associated with a high morbidity and have a socio-economic impact. The diagnostic procedures and their influence of therapy decisions are still controversial. Methods In a retrospective study, we investigate the value of additional MRI examination on therapy decision of fragility fractures of the pelvis. The evaluation of all patients with pelvic fractures without adequate trauma and with performed CT and MRI was conducted at three large German hospitals. The imaging procedure took place within a maximum interval of 4 weeks. After evaluation of the imaging, the resulting therapeutic consequences either based on CT alone or on CT and MRI were reviewed by experienced pelvic surgeons. Results Of 754 patients with pelvic injuries, 67 (age 80 +/- 9.7 years, f: m 54:13) could be included. The detection of vertical fractures in CT (n = 40 unilateral, n = 11 bilateral) could be increased by the additional MRI (n = 44 unilateral, n = 23 bilateral). A horizontal fracture component was identified in CT in 9.0% (n = 6) vs. MRI in 25.4% (n = 17) of the cases. An anterior pelvic ring injury was detected in 71.6% (n = 44; 4x bilateral) in CT, in 80.6% in MRI (n = 50, 4 bilateral). Additive MRI imaging increased the decision rate for surgical therapy from 20.9% (n = 14) to 31.3% (n = 21). Conclusions The results of this study further support the value of bone marrow edema detection by MRI diagnostics (or dual source CT which showed promising initial results) for the detection of pelvic ring fractures. For the first time, the study identifies an additional therapeutic consequence by an increased rate of surgical procedures

Dual-energy CT in sacral fragility fractures: defining a cut-off Hounsfield unit value for the presence of traumatic bone marrow edema in patients with osteoporosis

Background Demographic change entails an increasing incidence of fragility fractures. Dual-energy CT (DECT) with virtual non-calcium (VNCa) reconstructions has been introduced as a promising diagnostic method for evaluating bone microarchitecture and marrow simultaneously. This study aims to define the most accurate cut-off value in Hounsfield units (HU) for discriminating the presence and absence of bone marrow edema (BME) in sacral fragility fractures. Methods Forty-six patients (40 women, 6 men; 79.7 ± 9.2 years) with suspected fragility fractures of the sacrum underwent both DECT (90 kVp / 150 kVp with tin prefiltration) and MRI. Nine regions-of-interest were placed in each sacrum on DECT-VNCa images. The resulting 414 HU measurements were stratified into “edema” (n = 80) and “no edema” groups (n = 334) based on reference BME detection in T2-weighted MRI sequences. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated to determine the desired cut-off value and an associated conspicuity range for edema detection. Results The mean density within the “edema” group of measurements (+ 3.1 ± 8.3 HU) was substantially higher compared to the “no edema” group (-51.7 ± 21.8 HU; p < 0.010). Analysis in DECT-VNCa images suggested a cut-off value of -12.9 HU that enabled sensitivity and specificity of 100% for BME detection compared to MRI. A range of HU values between -14.0 and + 20.0 is considered indicative of BME in the sacrum. Conclusions Quantitative analysis of DECT-VNCa with a cut-off of -12.9 HU allows for excellent diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of sacral fragility fractures with associated BME. A diagnostic “one-stop-shop” approach without additional MRI is feasible

Myocardial involvement and deformation abnormalities in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy assessed by CMR feature tracking

Background!#!Cardiac involvement has been described in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM), including non-specific ECG and echocardiographic findings. Aim of our study was to evaluate myocardial deformation parameters in IIM and to correlate them with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) findings using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).!##!Methods!#!Forty-seven consecutive patients with histologically proven IIM were included into our study. Twenty-five healthy volunteers were used as a control group. All patients and controls underwent CMR examination using a 1.5 T scanner including functional cine and LGE imaging. After a mean follow-up of 234.7 ± 79.5 days a second CMR examination was performed in IIM patients.!##!Results!#!In comparison to healthy volunteers, IIM patients had lower left ventricular mass and left ventricular global radial, circumferential and longitudinal strain. There was no significant difference in left ventricular ejection fraction. Patients with LGE (N = 28) had lower left ventricular ejection fraction (p = 0.016), global right and left ventricular longitudinal strain (p = 0.014 and p = 0.005) and global left ventricular diastolic longitudinal strain rate (p = 0.001) compared to patients without LGE (N = 19). In IIM patients, a significant decrease of left ventricular ejection fraction, left ventricular mass and all measured deformation parameters was observed between baseline and follow-up CMR.!##!Conclusion!#!Cardiac involvement in IIM is frequent. Impairment of systolic and diastolic deformation parameters and a worsening over time can be observed. CMR is a useful tool for cardiac diagnostic work-up of these patients

Prognostic impact of nutritional and inflammation-based risk scores in follicular lymphoma in the era of anti-CD20 targeted treatment strategies

Background!#!The composition of the tumor microenvironment (TME) is conditioned by immunity and the inflammatory response. Nutritional and inflammation-based risk scores have emerged as relevant predictors of survival outcome across a variety of hematological malignancies.!##!Methods!#!In this retrospective multicenter trial, we ascertained the prognostic impact of established nutritional and inflammation-based risk scores [Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS), C-reactive-protein/albumin ratio (CAR), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and prognostic index (PI)] in 209 eligible patients with histologically confirmed CD20!##!Results!#!In the study cohort, the median age was 63 (range 22-90 years). The median follow-up period covered 99 months. The GPS and the CAR were identified to predict survival in FL patients. The GPS was the only independent predictor of OS (p &amp;lt; 0.0001; HR 2.773; 95% CI 1.630-4.719) and PFS (p = 0.001; HR 1.995; 95% CI 1.352-2.944) upon multivariate analysis. Additionally, there was frequent occurrence of progression of disease within 24 months (POD24) in FL patients with a calculated GPS of 2.!##!Conclusion!#!The current results indicate that the GPS predicts especially OS in FL patients. Moreover, GPS was found to display disease-specific effects in regard to FL progression. These findings and potential combinations with additional established prognosticators should be further validated within prospective clinical trials