CastorEDC API:A Python Package for Managing Real World Data in Castor Electronic Data Capture

Real world data is being used increasingly in medical research. Castor Electronic Data Capture is a secure and user-friendly platform for managing study data. Integrating data from several databases into a single Castor database is complex. We developed CastorEDC API, a free and open source Python package which can be used to interact with the API of Castor, and through which data can be imported from multiple sources into a Castor database. The importer reads, cleans, validates and imports data while accounting for differences in column structure and variable coding between databases.</p

CastorEDC API:A Python Package for Managing Real World Data in Castor Electronic Data Capture

Real world data is being used increasingly in medical research. Castor Electronic Data Capture is a secure and user-friendly platform for managing study data. Integrating data from several databases into a single Castor database is complex. We developed CastorEDC API, a free and open source Python package which can be used to interact with the API of Castor, and through which data can be imported from multiple sources into a Castor database. The importer reads, cleans, validates and imports data while accounting for differences in column structure and variable coding between databases.</p

CastorEDC API: A Python Package for Managing Real World Data in Castor Electronic Data Capture

Real world data is being used increasingly in medical research. Castor Electronic Data Capture is a secure and user-friendly platform for managing study data. Integrating data from several databases into a single Castor database is complex. We developed CastorEDC API, a free and open source Python package which can be used to interact with the API of Castor, and through which data can be imported from multiple sources into a Castor database. The importer reads, cleans, validates and imports data while accounting for differences in column structure and variable coding between databases. https://github.com/reiniervlinschoten/castoredc_api

The arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy phenotype associated with PKP2 c.1211dup variant

Background: The arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) phenotype, with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure, varies according to genetic aetiology. We aimed to characterise the phenotype associated with the variant c.1211dup (p.Val406Serfs*4) in the plakophilin‑2 gene (PKP2) and compare it with previously reported Dutch PKP2 founder variants. Methods: Clinical data were collected retrospectively from medical records of 106 PKP2 c.1211dup heterozygous carriers. Using data from the Netherlands ACM Registry, c.1211dup was compared with 3 other truncating PKP2 variants (c.235C &gt; T (p.Arg79*), c.397C &gt; T (p.Gln133*) and c.2489+1G &gt; A (p.?)). Results: Of the 106 carriers, 47 (44%) were diagnosed with ACM, at a mean age of 41 years. By the end of follow-up, 29 (27%) had experienced sustained ventricular arrhythmias and 12 (11%) had developed heart failure, with male carriers showing significantly higher risks than females on these endpoints (p &lt; 0.05). Based on available cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiographic data, 46% of the carriers showed either right ventricular dilatation and/or dysfunction, whereas a substantial minority (37%) had some form of left ventricular involvement. Both geographical distribution of carriers and haplotype analysis suggested PKP2 c.1211dup to be a founder variant originating from the South-Western coast of the Netherlands. Finally, a Cox proportional hazards model suggested significant differences in ventricular arrhythmia–free survival between 4 PKP2 founder variants, including c.1211dup. Conclusions: The PKP2 c.1211dup variant is a Dutch founder variant associated with a typical right-dominant ACM phenotype, but also left ventricular involvement, and a possibly more severe phenotype than other Dutch PKP2 founder variants.</p