Pneumonia diagnosis in childhood and incidence of leukaemia, lymphoma and brain cancer:a Danish nationwide cohort study

ObjectivesThere is an ongoing debate on the possible association between infections in early childhood and subsequent cancer risk, but it remains unclear if a hospital admission for infection is associated with risk of childhood cancer diagnosis. We examined if a hospital-based diagnosis of pneumonia was a clinical marker of the three most common childhood cancers.DesignPopulation-based cohort study.SettingDenmark, hospital diagnoses, 1994–2013.MethodsUsing national health registries, we compared the observed incidence of leukaemia, lymphoma and brain cancer among 83 935 children with a hospital-based pneumonia diagnosis with that expected among children in the general population. We calculated absolute cancer risks and standardised incidence ratios (SIRs) as a measure of relative risk.ResultsThe cancer SIRs were substantially increased during the first 6 months of follow-up; lymphoid leukaemia: 6.2 (95% CI 3.5 to 10.3); myeloid leukaemia: 14.8 (95% CI 6.0 to 30.6); Hodgkin’s lymphoma: 60.8 (95% CI 26.2 to 120), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: 15.9 (95% CI 5.2 to 37.2) and brain cancer: 4.4 (95% CI 1.9 to 8.7). The 6-month absolute risks of leukaemia, lymphoma and brain cancer were all low, reaching 0.05% when combined. An increased risk persisted beyond 5 years for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and brain cancer. However, the 5-year absolute cancer risk was 0.14%.ConclusionsThe short-term incidence of leukaemia, lymphoma and brain cancer was higher than expected and persisted beyond 5 years for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and brain cancer. However, the absolute cancer risk was low.</jats:sec

Acute Pericarditis and Cancer Risk: A Matched Cohort Study Using Linked UK Primary and Secondary Care Data.

Background We aimed to examine whether acute pericarditis is an indicator of undetected cancer and identify patient-level factors associated with high cancer risk among patients presenting with pericarditis. Methods and Results A population-based matched cohort study was conducted using primary care data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink linked to Hospital Episode Statistics. Patients with acute pericarditis (n=6530) were matched to a comparison cohort (n=26 111) on age, sex, calendar time, and general practice. We estimated cumulative cancer incidences, and calculated hazard ratios using Cox regression. Effect modification by patients' characteristics and lifestyle factors was examined, and we fitted a parsimonious model to evaluate absolute excess risk of later cancer among pericarditis patients by key patient-level factors. We identified 728 and 1379 incidents of cancer among pericarditis patients and the comparison cohort (median follow-up, 2.8 and 3.5 years). Pericarditis was associated with an elevated subsequent risk of any cancer (hazard ratio=3.03; 95% confidence interval, 2.74-3.36). The association was particularly pronounced 0 to 3 months after pericarditis (hazard ratio=23.56; 95% confidence interval, 18.00-30.83), but a more-modest association remained thereafter (hazard ratio=1.95; 95% confidence interval, 1.48-2.57 after 3-12 months, and hazard ratio=1.40; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.62 after >12 month). Older individuals hospitalized with pericarditis and with combinations of obesity and smoking were at the highest excess risk of having a cancer diagnosis 3 to 12 months later, reaching 4.8%. Conclusions Occult cancers may be going undiagnosed during the acute episode of pericarditis. Patients presenting with pericarditis and combinations of older age, obesity, smoking, and a need for hospitalization might warrant targeted investigations for cancer

Temporal changes in incidence of hospital-diagnosed acute pyelonephritis: A 19-year population-based Danish cohort study

Objectives: To examine temporal changes in the incidence of hospital-diagnosed acute pyelonephritis (APN) and characterize associated demographics. Methods: Cohort study including Danish patients with hospital-diagnosed APN during 2000-2018, identified by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision codes. Annual sex- and age-standardized incidence rates per 10,000 person years with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were stratified by sex, age group, diagnosis code, and region of residence. Incidence rates for selected urinary tract infections and sepsis diagnoses were also computed. Results: We included 66,937 hospital-diagnosed APN episodes in 57,162 patients. From 2000 to 2018, the incidence increased from 6.8 (95% CI: 6.8-6.8) to 15.4 (95% CI: 15.4-15.4) in women and from 2.7 (95% CI: 2.7-2.7) to 4.5 (95% CI: 4.5-4.5) in men. Among infants, the rate rose from 7.4 (95% CI: 7.4-7.4) to 64.8 (95% CI: 64.7-64.9) in girls and from 17.1 (95% CI: 17.1-17.2) to 52.5 (95% CI: 52.4-52.6) in boys. Concomitant declines were observed in incidences of hospital-diagnosed unspecified urinary tract infections and sepsis. Conclusion: The APN incidence roughly doubled during 2000-2018. The increase was largely driven by a prominently increasing incidence among young children which was not explained by the enlarging prevalence of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract.</p

Pericarditis as a Marker of Occult Cancer and a Prognostic Factor for Cancer Mortality.

BACKGROUND: Pericarditis may be a serious complication of malignancy. Its significance as a first symptom of occult cancer and as a prognostic factor for cancer survival is unknown. METHODS: Using Danish medical databases, we conducted a nationwide cohort study of all patients with a first-time diagnosis of pericarditis during 1994 to 2013. We excluded patients with previous cancer and followed up the remaining patients for subsequent cancer diagnosis until November 30, 2013. We calculated risks and standardized incidence ratios of cancer for patients with pericarditis compared with the general population. We assessed whether pericarditis predicts cancer survival by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression using a matched comparison cohort of cancer patients without pericarditis. RESULTS: Among 13 759 patients with acute pericarditis, 1550 subsequently were diagnosed with cancer during follow-up. The overall cancer standardized incidence ratio was 1.5 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-1.5), driven predominantly by increased rates of lung, kidney, and bladder cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and unspecified metastatic cancer. The <3-month cancer risk among patients with pericarditis was 2.7%, and the standardized incidence ratio was 12.4 (95% CI, 11.2-13.7). The 3- to <12-month standardized incidence ratio of cancer was 1.5 (95% CI, 1.2-1.7), subsequently decreasing to 1.1 (95% CI, 1.0-1.2). Three-month survival after the cancer diagnosis was 80% and 86% among those with and without pericarditis, respectively, and the hazard ratio was 1.5 (95% CI, 1.3-1.8). One-year survival was 65% and 70%, respectively, corresponding to a 3- to <12-month hazard ratio of 1.3 (95% CI, 1.1-1.5). CONCLUSIONS: Pericarditis may be a marker of occult cancer and augurs increased mortality after a cancer diagnosis

Positive predictive values of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision diagnoses of Gram-negative septicemia/sepsis and urosepsis for presence of Gram-negative bacteremia

Kirstine Kobber&oslash;e S&oslash;gaard,1 Reimar Wernich Thomsen,1 Henrik Carl Sch&oslash;nheyder,2,3 Mette S&oslash;gaard1 1Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 2Department of Clinical Microbiology, Aalborg University Hospital, 3Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark Background: Health care databases are a valuable resource for infectious disease epidemiology if diagnoses are accurately coded. We examined the ability of diagnostic coding to accurately identify Gram-negative bacteremia. Methods: We randomly selected 100 patients among 1,703 patients recorded in the Danish National Patient Register with a diagnosis of either &ldquo;septicemia/sepsis due to other Gram-negative organisms&rdquo; (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision [ICD-10] code A41.5) or &ldquo;urosepsis&rdquo; (ICD-10 code A41.9B) who had been admitted at Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark between 1994 and 2012. We estimated the positive predictive value (PPV) of these diagnoses for presence of Gram-negative bacteremia, using microbiological results from blood cultures as standard reference. Complementary clinical information was obtained from the medical records. Results: Of the 100 patients registered with Gram-negative septicemia/sepsis or urosepsis, 72 had blood culture confirmed Gram-negative bacteremia, four patients had monomicrobial Gram-positive bacteremia, 21 patients had a negative blood culture, and three had no blood culture taken. The overall PPV of a blood culture confirmed Gram-negative bacteremia diagnosis was 72% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 62%&ndash;81%); for ICD-10 code A41.5 it was 86% (95% CI: 74%&ndash;94%) and for ICD-10 code A41.9B it was 55% (95% CI: 39%&ndash;70%). The highest PPV was achieved for diagnoses registered in the most recent calendar period (2009&ndash;2012) and for secondary discharge diagnoses. Conclusion: Our findings indicated good agreement between ICD-10 code A41.5 &ldquo;septicemia/sepsis due to other Gram-negative organisms&rdquo; and Gram-negative bacteremia, whereas ICD-10 code A41.9B &ldquo;urosepsis&rdquo; was not suited for identification of Gram-negative bacteremia. Keywords: validation studies, Danish National Patient Registe