Gianturco Z-stent placement for the treatment of chronic central venous occlusive disease: implantation of 208 stents in 137 symptomatic patients

PURPOSETo report the technical successes, adverse events, and long-term stent patency rates of Gianturco Z-stents for management of chronic central venous occlusive disease.METHODSOverall, 137 patients, with mean age 48.6±16.1 years (range, 16-89 years), underwent placement of Gianturco Z-stents for chronic central venous occlusions. Presenting symptoms included lower extremity edema (n=66, 48.2%), superior vena cava syndrome (n=30, 21.9%), unilateral upper extremity swelling (n=20, 14.6%), hemodialysis fistula or catheter dysfunction (n=11, 8.0%), ascites (n=8, 5.8%), and both ascites and lower extremity edema (n=2, 1.5%). Most common etiologies of central venous occlusion were prior central venous access placement (n=58, 42.3%), extrinsic compression (n=29, 21.2%), and post-surgical anastomotic stenosis (n=27, 19.7%). Number of stents placed, stent implantation location, stent sizes, technical successes, adverse events, need for re-intervention, follow-up evaluation, stent patencies, and mortality were recorded. Technical success was defined as recanalization and stent reconstruction with restoration of in-line venous flow. Adverse events were defined by the Society of Interventional Radiology Adverse Event Classification criteria. Primary and primary-assisted stent patencies were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis.RESULTSIn total, 208 Z-stents were placed. The three most common placement sites were the inferior vena cava (n=124, 59.6%), superior vena cava (n=44, 21.2%), and brachiocephalic veins (n=27, 13.0%). Technical success was achieved in 133 patients (97.1%). There were two (1.5%) severe adverse events (two cases of stent migration to the right atrium), one (0.7%) moderate adverse event, and one (0.7%) mild adverse event. Mean follow-up was 43.6±52.7 months. Estimated 1-, 3-, and 5-year primary stent patency was 84.2%, 84.2%, and 82.1%, respectively. Estimated 1-, 3-, and 5-year primary-assisted patency was 92.3%, 89.6%, and 89.6%, respectively. The 30- and 60- day mortality rates were 2.9% (n=4) and 5.1% (n=7), none of which were directly attributable to Z-stent placement.CONCLUSIONGianturco Z-stent placement is safe and effective for the treatment for chronic central venous occlusive disease with durable short- and long-term patencies

Selection of Reserves for Woodland Caribou Using an Optimization Approach

Habitat protection has been identified as an important strategy for the conservation of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus). However, because of the economic opportunity costs associated with protection it is unlikely that all caribou ranges can be protected in their entirety. We used an optimization approach to identify reserve designs for caribou in Alberta, Canada, across a range of potential protection targets. Our designs minimized costs as well as three demographic risk factors: current industrial footprint, presence of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), and climate change. We found that, using optimization, 60% of current caribou range can be protected (including 17% in existing parks) while maintaining access to over 98% of the value of resources on public lands. The trade-off between minimizing cost and minimizing demographic risk factors was minimal because the spatial distributions of cost and risk were similar. The prospects for protection are much reduced if protection is directed towards the herds that are most at risk of near-term extirpation

The Effect of Medicare Eligibility on Spousal Insurance Coverage

A majority of married couples in the United States take advantage of the fact that employers often provide health insurance coverage to spouses. When the older spouses become eligible for Medicare, however, many of them can no longer provide their younger spouses with coverage. In this paper, we study how spousal eligibility for Medicare affects the health insurance and health care access of the younger spouse. We find spousal eligibility for Medicare results in the younger spouse having worse insurance coverage and reduced access to health care services

A communal catalogue reveals Earth’s multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world’s importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth’s microbial diversity

A communal catalogue reveals Earth's multiscale microbial diversity

Our growing awareness of the microbial world's importance and diversity contrasts starkly with our limited understanding of its fundamental structure. Despite recent advances in DNA sequencing, a lack of standardized protocols and common analytical frameworks impedes comparisons among studies, hindering the development of global inferences about microbial life on Earth. Here we present a meta-analysis of microbial community samples collected by hundreds of researchers for the Earth Microbiome Project. Coordinated protocols and new analytical methods, particularly the use of exact sequences instead of clustered operational taxonomic units, enable bacterial and archaeal ribosomal RNA gene sequences to be followed across multiple studies and allow us to explore patterns of diversity at an unprecedented scale. The result is both a reference database giving global context to DNA sequence data and a framework for incorporating data from future studies, fostering increasingly complete characterization of Earth's microbial diversity.Peer reviewe

Genomic Relationships, Novel Loci, and Pleiotropic Mechanisms across Eight Psychiatric Disorders

Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci. However, the nature and mechanisms of these pleiotropic effects remain unclear. We performed analyses of 232,964 cases and 494,162 controls from genome-wide studies of anorexia nervosa, attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and Tourette syndrome. Genetic correlation analyses revealed a meaningful structure within the eight disorders, identifying three groups of inter-related disorders. Meta-analysis across these eight disorders detected 109 loci associated with at least two psychiatric disorders, including 23 loci with pleiotropic effects on four or more disorders and 11 loci with antagonistic effects on multiple disorders. The pleiotropic loci are located within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes. These findings have important implications for psychiatric nosology, drug development, and risk prediction.Peer reviewe

Shared genetic risk between eating disorder- and substance-use-related phenotypes:Evidence from genome-wide association studies

First published: 16 February 202

Dissecting the Shared Genetic Architecture of Suicide Attempt, Psychiatric Disorders, and Known Risk Factors

Background Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, and nonfatal suicide attempts, which occur far more frequently, are a major source of disability and social and economic burden. Both have substantial genetic etiology, which is partially shared and partially distinct from that of related psychiatric disorders. Methods We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 29,782 suicide attempt (SA) cases and 519,961 controls in the International Suicide Genetics Consortium (ISGC). The GWAS of SA was conditioned on psychiatric disorders using GWAS summary statistics via multitrait-based conditional and joint analysis, to remove genetic effects on SA mediated by psychiatric disorders. We investigated the shared and divergent genetic architectures of SA, psychiatric disorders, and other known risk factors. Results Two loci reached genome-wide significance for SA: the major histocompatibility complex and an intergenic locus on chromosome 7, the latter of which remained associated with SA after conditioning on psychiatric disorders and replicated in an independent cohort from the Million Veteran Program. This locus has been implicated in risk-taking behavior, smoking, and insomnia. SA showed strong genetic correlation with psychiatric disorders, particularly major depression, and also with smoking, pain, risk-taking behavior, sleep disturbances, lower educational attainment, reproductive traits, lower socioeconomic status, and poorer general health. After conditioning on psychiatric disorders, the genetic correlations between SA and psychiatric disorders decreased, whereas those with nonpsychiatric traits remained largely unchanged. Conclusions Our results identify a risk locus that contributes more strongly to SA than other phenotypes and suggest a shared underlying biology between SA and known risk factors that is not mediated by psychiatric disorders.Peer reviewe