Past medical history of tumors other than meningioma is a negative prognostic factor for tumor recurrence in meningiomas WHO grade I

BACKGROUND Prognostic markers for meningioma recurrence are needed to guide patient management. Apart from rare hereditary syndromes, the impact of a previous unrelated tumor disease on meningioma recurrence has not been described before. METHODS We retrospectively searched our database for patients with meningioma WHO grade I and complete resection provided between 2002 and 2016. Demographical, clinical, pathological, and outcome data were recorded. The following covariates were included in the statistical model: age, sex, clinical history of unrelated tumor disease, and localization (skull base vs. convexity). Particular interest was paid to the patients' past medical history. The study endpoint was date of tumor recurrence on imaging. Prognostic factors were obtained from multivariate proportional hazards models. RESULTS Out of 976 meningioma patients diagnosed with a meningioma WHO grade I, 416 patients fulfilled our inclusion criteria. We encountered 305 women and 111 men with a median age of 57 years (range: 21-89 years). Forty-six patients suffered from a tumor other than meningioma, and no TERT mutation was detected in these patients. There were no differences between patients with and without a positive oncological history in terms of age, tumor localization, or mitotic cell count. Clinical history of prior tumors other than meningioma showed the strongest association with meningioma recurrence (p = 0.004, HR = 3.113, CI = 1.431-6.771) both on uni- and multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION Past medical history of tumors other than meningioma might be associated with an increased risk of meningioma recurrence. A detailed pre-surgical history might help to identify patients at risk for early recurrence

Concomitant and previous osteoporotic vertebral fractures

Background and purpose — Patients with osteoporosis who present with an acute onset of back pain often have multiple fractures on plain radiographs. Differentiation of an acute osteoporotic vertebral fracture (AOVF) from previous fractures is difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of concomitant AOVFs and previous OVFs in patients with symptomatic AOVFs, and to identify risk factors for concomitant AOVFs. Patients and methods — This was a prospective epidemiological study based on the Registry of Pathological Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures (REPAPORA) with 1,005 patients and 2,874 osteoporotic vertebral fractures, which has been running since February 1, 2006. Concomitant fractures are defined as at least 2 acute short-tau inversion recovery (STIR-) positive vertebral fractures that happen concomitantly. A previous fracture is a STIR-negative fracture at the time of initial diagnostics. Logistic regression was used to examine the influence of various variables on the incidence of concomitant fractures. Results — More than 99% of osteoporotic vertebral fractures occurred in the thoracic and lumbar spine. The incidence of concomitant fractures at the time of first patient contact was 26% and that of previous fractures was 60%. The odds ratio (OR) for concomitant fractures decreased with a higher number of previous fractures (OR =0.86; p = 0.03) and higher dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry T-score (OR =0.72; p = 0.003). Interpretation — Concomitant and previous osteoporotic vertebral fractures are common. Risk factors for concomitant fractures are a low T-score and a low number of previous vertebral fractures in cases of osteoporotic vertebral fracture. An MRI scan of the the complete thoracic and lumbar spine with STIR sequence reduces the risk of under-diagnosis and under-treatment

Efficacy of Mechanical Thrombectomy using Penumbra ACETM Aspiration Catheter Compared to Stent Retriever SolitaireTM FR in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy is the standard therapy in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The primary aim of our study was to compare the procedural efficacy of the direct aspiration technique, using Penumbra ACETM aspiration catheter, and the stent retriever technique, with a SolitaireTM FR stent. Secondarily, we investigated treatment-dependent and treatment-independent factors that predict a good clinical outcome. Methods: We analyzed our series of mechanical thrombectomies using a SolitaireTM FR stent and a Penumbra ACETM catheter. The clinical and radiographic data of 76 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Using binary logistic regression, we looked for the predictors of a good clinical outcome. Results: In the Penumbra ACETM group we achieved significantly higher rates of complete vessel recanalization with lower device passage counts, shorter recanalization times, shorter procedure times and shorter fluoroscopy times (p < 0.001) compared to the SolitaireTM FR group. We observed no significant difference in good clinical outcomes (52.4% vs. 56.4%, p = 0.756). Predictors of a good clinical outcome were lower initial NIHSS scores, pial arterial collateralization on admission head CT angiography scan, shorter recanalization times and device passage counts. Conclusions: The aspiration technique using Penumbra ACETM catheter is comparable to the stent retriever technique with SolitaireTM FR regarding clinical outcomes