Early prediction of survival after open surgical repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms

Background: Scoring models are widely established in the intensive care unit (ICU). However, the importance in patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA) remains unclear. Our aim was to analyze scoring systems as predictors of survival in patients undergoing open surgical repair (OSR) for RAAA. Methods: This is a retrospective study in critically ill patients in a surgical ICU at a university hospital. Sixty-eight patients with RAAA were treated between February 2005 and June 2013. Serial measurements of Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (SOFA), Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) and Simplified Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 (TISS-28) were evaluated with respect to in-hospital mortality. Eleven patients had to be excluded from this study because 6 underwent endovascular repair and 5 died before they could be admitted to the ICU. Results: All patients underwent OSR. The initial, highest, and mean of SOFA and SAPS II scores correlated significant with in-hospital mortality. In contrast, TISS-28 was inferior and showed a smaller area under the receiver operating curve. The cut-off point for SOFA showed the best performance in terms of sensitivity and specificity. An initial SOFA score below 9 predicted an in-hospital mortality of 16.2% (95% CI, 4.3–28.1) and a score above 9 predicted an in-hospital mortality of 73.7% (95% CI, 53.8–93.5, p 45), the in-hospital mortality rate was 85.7% (95% CI, 67.4–100, p < 0.01) versus 31.6% (95% CI, 10.7–52.5, p = 0.01) when it decreased. On multiple regression analysis, only the mean of the SOFA score showed a significant predictive capacity with regards to mortality (odds ratio 1.77; 95% CI, 1.19–2.64; p < 0.01). Conclusion: SOFA and SAPS II scores were able to predict in-hospital mortality in RAAA within 48 h after OSR. According to cut-off points, an increase or decrease in SOFA and SAPS II scores improved sensitivity and specificity

Prognostic significance of macrophage invasion in hilar cholangiocarcinoma

Background: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) promote tumor progression and have an effect on survival in human cancer. However, little is known regarding their influence on tumor progression and prognosis in human hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods: We analyzed surgically resected tumor specimens of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (n = 47) for distribution and localization of TAMs, as defined by expression of CD68. Abundance of TAMs was correlated with clinicopathologic characteristics, tumor recurrence and patients’ survival. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: Patients with high density of TAMs in tumor invasive front (TIF) showed significantly higher local and overall tumor recurrence (both ρ < 0.05). Furthermore, high density of TAMs was associated with decreased overall (one-year 83.6 % vs. 75.1 %; three-year 61.3 % vs. 42.4 %; both ρ < 0.05) and recurrence-free survival (one-year 93.9 % vs. 57.4 %; three-year 59.8 % vs. 26.2 %; both ρ < 0.05). TAMs in TIF and tumor recurrence, were confirmed as the only independent prognostic variables in the multivariate survival analysis (all ρ < 0.05). Conclusions: Overall survival and recurrence free survival of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma significantly improved in patients with low levels of TAMs in the area of TIF, when compared to those with a high density of TAMs. These observations suggest their utilization as valuable prognostic markers in routine histopathologic evaluation, and might indicate future therapeutic approaches by targeting TAMs

Challenges of Target and Irradiation Diagnostics of the IFMIF-DONES Facility

IFMIF-DONES will be a first-class scientific infrastructure consisting of an accelerator-driven neutron source delivering 1e17 n/s with a broad peak at 14 MeV. Such neutron flux will be created by impinging a continuous wave 125 mA, 40 MeV, 5 MW deuteron beam onto a liquid Li jet target, circulating at 15 m/s. Material specimens subjected to neutron irradiation will be placed a few millimeters downstream. Some of the most challenging technological aspects of the facility are the Diagnostics to monitor the Li jet, beam parameters on target, and characterization of the neutron irradiation field, with transversal implications in the scientific exploitation, machine protection and safety. Multiple solutions are foreseen, considering among others, Li jet thickness measurement methods based on optical metrology and millimeter-wave radar techniques, Li electromagnetic flowmeters, beam footprint measurements based on residual gas excitation, online neutron detectors such as SPNDs and micro-fission chambers, as well as offline neutron fluence measurements by activation foils or spheres. This contribution provides an overview of these aspects and the associated R activities

Acute intestinal failure: international multicenter point-of-prevalence study

Background & aims: Intestinal failure (IF) is defined from a requirement or intravenous supplementation due to failing capacity to absorb nutrients and fluids. Acute IF is an acute, potentially reversible form of IF. We aimed to identify the prevalence, underlying causes and outcomes of acute IF. Methods: This point-of-prevalence study included all adult patients hospitalized in acute care hospitals and receiving parenteral nutrition (PN) on a study day. The reason for PN and the mechanism of IF (if present) were documented by local investigators and reviewed by an expert panel. Results: Twenty-three hospitals (19 university, 4 regional) with a total capacity of 16,356 acute care beds and 1237 intensive care unit (ICU) beds participated in this study. On the study day, 338 patients received PN (21 patients/1000 acute care beds) and 206 (13/1000) were categorized as acute IF. The categorization of reason for PN was revised in 64 cases (18.9% of total) in consensus between the expert panel and investigators. Hospital mortality of all study patients was 21.5%; the median hospital stay was 36 days. Patients with acute IF had a hospital mortality of 20.5% and median hospital stay of 38 days (P > 0.05 for both outcomes). Disordered gut motility (e.g. ileus) was the most common mechanism of acute IF, and 71.5% of patients with acute IF had undergone abdominal surgery. Duration of PN of ≥42 days was identified as being the best cut-off predicting hospital mortality within 90 days. PN ≥ 42 days, age, sepsis and ICU admission were independently associated with 90-day hospital mortality. Conclusions: Around 2% of adult patients in acute care hospitals received PN, 60% of them due to acute IF. High 90-day hospital mortality and long hospital stay were observed in patients receiving PN, whereas presence of acute IF did not additionally influence these outcomes. Duration of PN was associated with increased 90-day hospital mortality

Fresh arterial allograft in vascular surgery - immunosuppression in experiment

Čerstvé tepenné štěpy jsou v současnosti používané jako materiál k cévní rekonstrukci v léčbě infekcí cévních protéz. Vzhledem k jejich imunogenicitě se zdá být dlouhodobé použití imunosuprese nutné k prevenci rejekce a poškození jejich stěny. Na druhou stranu však není použití imunosuprese u pacienta časně po odstranění infikované cévní protézy, vzhledem k vysokému riziku infekčních komplikací, vhodné. V mé dizertační práci se zabývám možností opožděného podávání nízké dávky imunosuprese pomocí FK506 po transplantaci tepenných štěpů u potkanů a a vlivem tohoto imunosupresívního protokolu na akutní rejekční změny v cévní stěně 30 dní po transplantaci. Reakce imunitního systému příjemce na aloantigeny v tepenné stěně dárce v podmínkách bez imunosuprese se projevila jako proliferace tunica intima s její infiltraci imunokompetentními buňkami příjemce, depozicí imunoglobulinů v tunica media s její následnou nekrózou a masivní infiltraci tunica adventitia buňkami CD4 a CD8. Na druhou stranu byly ale všechny projevy rejekce, popsané výše, inhibované podáváním FK506, a to bez ohledu na to, jestli byl podáván od prvního nebo až od sedmého dne po transplantaci.Arterial allografts are used nowadays as a modality in the treatment of vascular prosthesis infections. Prolonged administration of immunosuppressive drugs seemed to be essential for long time patency rates of alloarterial vascular reconstructions. Nevertheless, the use of immunosuppressives if there exists an acute infection is controversial. My experimental work described herein studied effects of a delayed low-dose FK 506 administration on the development of acute rejection changes 30 days after aortal transplantation in rats. The response of the recipient&apos;s immune system to aortal wall antigens of the donor in the field of no immunosuppression resulted in an intimal proliferation and its infiltration by immunocompetent cells of the recipient, necrosis of medial smooth muscle cells, including deposition of immunoglobulines, and a massive adventitial infiltration of CD4 and CD8 positive cells. On the other hand, all the principal histological signs of rejection listed above were suppressed by FK 506 administration, no matter whether the immunosuppressive was administered on Day 0 or Day 7 after the transplantation.Institute for Clinical and Experimental MedicineInstitut klinické a experimentální medicínyFirst Faculty of Medicine1. lékařská fakult

Immunosuppressive protocols with tacrolimus after cryopreserved aortal allotransplantation in rats.

OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN:The aim of our study was to simulate in rats all aspects and techniques used in our new clinical program of cryopreserved alloarterial transplantation and investigate the influence of two immunosuppressive protocols with tacrolimus on acute rejection of these allografts. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Cryopreserved abdominal aortic grafts were transplanted between Brown-Norway and Lewis rats. Tacrolimus (0.2 mg/kg daily) was administered from day 1 to day 30 (TAC1) or from day 7 to day 30 (TAC7), respectively. No immunosuppressed isogeneic (ISO) and allogeneic (ALO) rats combination served as control. Aortal wall infiltration by immunocompetent cells (MHC II+ cells of recipient origin) was studied on day 30 after transplantation. Flow cytometry was used for the analysis of day 30 sera for the presence of donor specific anti-MHC class I and II antibodies. RESULTS:The aortal allografts in both immunosuppressed groups showed regular morphology of aortal wall with no depositions of immunoglobulin G on day 30. The adventitial infiltration of non-immunosuppressed aortal allografts by MHC class II positive cells of recipient origin was significantly higher (ALO 20.7±6.7 cells, P<0.001) compared to both immunosuppressed groups (TAC1 5.9±5.5 cells, TAC7 6.1±5.1 cells). Day 30 sera from the allogeneic non-immunosuppressed animals decreased significantly the binding of fluorescence-labelled MHC class I (46.9±19.4%) and class II (65.8±11.9%) antibody to donors spleen cells compared with day 30 sera from both immunosuppressed groups (TAC1, anti-MHC class I 102.4±4.2%, p < 0.001, anti-MHC class II 102.6±6.0%), (TAC7, anti-MHC class I 79.9±3.3%, p < 0.001, anti-MHC class II 80.9±2.7%). CONCLUSION:Both immunosuppressed protocols with tacrolimus (administration from day 1 or from day 7 following transplantation) were able to suppress acute cell- and antibody-mediated rejection of cryopreserved abdominal aortic allografts processed in accordance with our new standardized clinical protocol

Influence of the new standardized clinical cryopreservation/slow thawing protocol on immunogenicity of arterial allografts in rats.

OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN:At the present time there are two waiting list for patients with vascular prosthetic infection indicated for arterial transplantation in the Czech Republic. The inclusion of each patient for cold-stored or cryopreserved arterial transplantation is the preference of indicating surgeon. In this experimental work we studied the immunogenicity of rat aortal allografts treated by our new clinical cryopreservation/slow thawing protocol. MATERIAL AND METHODS:Brown-Norway (BN) (N = 6, 203-217 g) or Lewis (LEW) (N = 6, 248-254 g) abdominal aortal grafts treated in accordance with our new clinical cryopreservation/slow thawing protocol were orthotopically transplanted to Lewis recipients (N = 12, 191-245 g). Aortal wall histology and infiltration by recipient immune cells, as well as donor specific anti MHC class I and II antibodies in recipient serum were studied in both isografts and allografts on day 30 postransplant. Core data of cryopreserved allografts were compared to our previous data of cold-stored aortal allografts treated in accordance with our clinical cold-storage protocol. RESULTS:Cryopreserved allografts showed regular morphology of aortal wall with clear differentiation of all three basic anatomical layers on day 30 postransplant. Intimal layer showed no hyperplasia, luminal surface was covered by endothelial cells. No statistical difference was observed in tunica media thickness between isografts and allografts. The medial layer showed no necrosis, shrinkage or immunoglobuline G deposition in any experimental group. The adventitial infiltration by immune cells was significantly higher (P<0.05) in allografts. Cryopreserved allografts showed significant lower activation of both cell- and antibody mediated immunity compared to historical data of cold-stored allografts. CONCLUSION:Aortal wall histology of rat allografts treated by our new standardized clinical cryopreservation/slow thawing protocol was comparable to that of the cryopreserved isografts on day 30 posttranspant. The immunogenicity of cryopreserved aortal allografts was significantly lower compared to that of cold-stored aortal allografts

Immunosuppressive protocol with delayed use of low-dose tacrolimus after aortic transplantation suppresses donor-specific anti-MHC class I and class II antibody production in rats

Background: Arterial allografts are used as vascular conduits in the treatment of prosthetic graft infection. Immunosuppression decreases their rupture risk rate. However, immunosuppression can be unprofitable in florid infection. Previously, we confirmed inhibition of cell-mediated destruction of rat aortic grafts by delayed use of tacrolimus. In this work, we studied the influence of this protocol on the antibody-mediated rejection