Citations

Objectives: To describe a reproducible technique for reduction assessment and percutaneous reduction of unstable intertrochanteric fractures treated with a cephalomedullary nail on a traction table. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Level-1 trauma center. Patients: Two-hundred 20 consecutive patients with intertrochanteric fractures. Intervention: Initial closed reduction performed on a traction table. Accessory incisions were used to facilitate a reduction in 77 patients (35%). All fractures were stabilized with a cephalomedullary nail. Main Outcome Measurements: Radiographic outcome including union, cutout, and fracture collapse (FC). Surgical outcomes including infection and hematoma were also reported. Results: Mechanical complications (nonunion, cutout, and varus collapse) occurred in 8.8% of patients at 1 year. Eleven of 13 patients who developed these complications had either suboptimal implant placement (tip-to-apex distance >25 mm) or a varus reduction. There was no difference in the incidence of reoperation, nonunion, lag screw cutout, or posttraumatic arthritis based on the use of an accessory incision for fracture reduction. There was a significant increase in FC in patients who received an accessory incision (6.8 mm vs. 5.4 mm, P = 0.04). One patient (1%) developed a hematoma in the accessory incision cohort, and 1 patient (0.7%) who did not have an accessory incision developed a postoperative infection. Conclusions: The current study suggests utilization of accessory incisions assist in reduction is safe and is associated with a low rate of complications. The surgeon should prioritize fracture reduction and optimal implant placement and not hesitate to use an accessory incision to assist with fracture reduction. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

SummaryLeukaemic stem cell (LSC) gene expression has recently been linked to prognosis in patients with acute myeloid leukaemia (17‐gene LSC score, LSC‐17) and myelodysplastic syndromes. Although chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML) is regarded as a stem cell disorder, the clinical and biological impact of LSCs on CMML patients remains elusive. Making use of multiple independent validation cohorts, we here describe a concise three‐gene expression signature (LSC‐3, derived from the LSC‐17 score) as an independent and robust prognostic factor for leukaemia‐free and overall survival in CMML. We propose that LSC‐3 could be used to supplement existing risk stratification systems, to improve prognostic performance and guide management decisions.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between preoperative international normalized ratio (INR) and postoperative mortality and other outcomes after hemiarthroplasty for geriatric femoral neck fractures. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: A single Level-I trauma center. Patients/Participants: Patients ≥55 years of age with OTA/AO 31B proximal femur fractures [1556 patients (1616 hips)] Intervention: Hip hemiarthroplasty. Main Outcome Measurements: Ninety-day mortality, postoperative transfusion within 72 hours, and 90-day postoperative outcomes. Results: Adjusting for confounders, the association of preoperative INR and 90-day mortality was not statistically significant [hazard ratio (HR): 1.3; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.97, 1.8; P = 0.08]. Dementia (HR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.4–2.6; P < 0.001), Charlson Comorbidity Index (HR: 1.1; 95% CI: 1.1–1.2; P < 0.001), and age by decade (HR: 1.4; 95% CI: 1.1–1.8; P = 0.002) were associated with 90-day mortality. Increasing INR was significantly associated with blood transfusion [odds ratio (OR) 1.4; 95% CI 1.03–1.6; P = 0.031]. Preoperative hemoglobin <10 g/dL (OR 13.7; 95% CI 8.4–23.3; P < 0.001) was also associated with a postoperative transfusion, whereas intraoperative tranexamic acid use (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.2–0.5; P < 0.001) was inversely associated with postoperative transfusion rate. INR was associated with superficial wound infection (HR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.1–3.7; P = 0.02) and noninfected wound complications (HR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1–2.4; P = 0.007). Risk of superficial infection increased when INR was >1.8. Conclusion: When controlling for confounders, preoperative INR was not significantly associated with 90-day mortality. Underlying medical conditions contribute to postoperative mortality more than an elevated INR. However, INR is associated with superficial wound complications. This risk becomes statistically significant as INR rises above 1.8. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

256 Background: Current staging for colon cancer utilizing the American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM framework stratifies disease into groups according to how advanced the disease is and provides important standardized, individual prognostic information. Ideally, staging systems should exhibit hierarchical logic, with increasing stage reflecting worse prognosis. We sought to evaluate hierarchy within the 8th edition AJCC staging system for colon cancer. Methods: All patients with primary colon (including rectosigmoid) cancer diagnosed 2010-2017 were identified from the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Patients were only included if they carried a histologic diagnosis of invasive primary (non-recurrent) cancer, underwent radical surgery, and had complete pathologic staging data (T, N, M category data). Patients with missing follow-up data were excluded. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to assess overall survival by AJCC 8th edition pathologic summary stage group to determine whether staging was hierarchical for colon cancer. Multivariable modeling and log likelihood ratio test was then used to identify relative contributions of T and N variables to overall survival. Results: Among 270,584 colon cancer patients, pathologic staging was noted to be hierarchical by T category alone and by N category alone. However, summary staging was non-hierarchical in both instances. Multivariable modeling confirmed the AJCC non-hierarchy issue (colon HRs: 1, 1.54, 2.62, 2.60, 1.02, 2.15, and 4.38 for stage 1 as reference, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c respectively). Multivariable modeling demonstrated that high T category (T4a, T4b) conferred the greatest risk of mortality based on hazard ratio (T4a HR 2.76, T4b HR 3.04), while high T category as well as high N category (N2a, N2b) contributed substantially to the survival model based on z-score. Further modeling assessing the predictive power of T and N category with respect to overall survival demonstrated that T category more strongly predicted overall survival than N category in colon cancer (likelihood chi-square test statistic pT:7009 vs pN:3586). Conclusions: Hierarchy in survival based on AJCC summary stage was not observed for patients with stage II-III colon cancer resulting in a paradoxical better observed survival with some stage III cancer subgroups compared to stage II cancer subgroups. High T category appears to more significantly impact survival than N category for patients with N0-N1 disease, while high N category appears more important for patients with T1-3 disease. Future revisions of the AJCC staging system should account for the differential impact of T and N category identified herein to more accurately confer prognostic information.

Objective: Sleep fragmentation determined by repetitive arousals from sleep in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with hypertension. We aimed to quantify the independent association of arousals during rapid eye movement (REM)/non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep with prevalent hypertension. Methods: We included adults with 4 h of total sleep time and at least 30 min of REM sleep obtained from overnight in-laboratory polysomnography. Logistic regression models were fitted to explore the association between arousals during REM/NREM sleep and prevalent hypertension. All models controlled for OSA metrics and arousals during NREM/REM sleep, either by statistical adjustment or by stratification. Results: The sample comprised of 11 643 patients, of which 10 055 were OSA patients. Fully adjusted models demonstrated significant dose-relationships between arousal index during REM sleep (AI-REM) and prevalent hypertension (P trend = 0.002). The higher relative odds of prevalent hypertension were most evident with AI-REM > 40 events/h. In OSA patients with arousal index during NREM sleep (AI-NREM) <15 events/h, every10-unit increase in the AI-REM was associated with 18% higher odds of hypertension (odds ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.11–1.27) in OSA. On the contrary, AI-NREM was not a significant predictor of hypertension in any of the models. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that arousals during REM sleep are associated with prevalent hypertension. This is clinically relevant because treatment of OSA is often limited to the first half of the sleep period leaving most of sleep fragmentation during REM sleep untreated.

AbstractBackgroundAutoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a known mimicker of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma both clinically and radiologically. In this study, the authors present their institutional experience in diagnosing AIP on cytology and correlate results with the histologic findings.MethodsA 14‐year computerized search for patients who had histologically confirmed AIP with concurrent or prior cytology was performed. Clinical data, cytology findings, and surgical pathology results were reviewed for analysis.ResultsEighteen patients were identified. The patients showed a male predominance, with a mean age of 59 years. Jaundice, weight loss, and abdominal pain were the most common clinical presentation. Five of 12 patients who were tested for serum immunoglobulin G4 had elevated levels. Cytologic findings of 16 cases that were available for review showed markedly inflamed fibrous stroma (54%) and cytologic atypia (50%). The final cytologic diagnoses were suspicious for adenocarcinoma (n = 1), atypical (n = 8), and benign/negative (n = 9). The corresponding surgical pathology diagnoses were classified as type 1 (n = 10), type 2 (n = 6), and AIP, not otherwise specified (n = 2). All type 2 AIP cases had at least atypical cytologic diagnoses, with one called suspicious for adenocarcinoma and another called adenocarcinoma at the time of rapid on‐site evaluation. In contrast, eight of 10 type 1 AIP cases were negative/benign, and two of 10 were atypical. In these two atypical cases, the possibility of AIP was raised because of the presence of inflamed stroma.ConclusionAIP is a pitfall in cytology because moderate‐to‐marked atypia can be present, especially in type 2 AIP. Because atypia can be severe, the presence of cellular fibrous stroma with lymphocytic stromal infiltrates and the integration of serum immunoglobulin G4 levels could be helpful in avoiding diagnostic overcall in AIP.

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this study was to analyze a publicly available sample of rule-based phenotype definitions to characterize and evaluate the variability of logical constructs used.Materials and MethodsA sample of 33 preexisting phenotype definitions used in research that are represented using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources and Clinical Quality Language (CQL) was analyzed using automated analysis of the computable representation of the CQL libraries.ResultsMost of the phenotype definitions include narrative descriptions and flowcharts, while few provide pseudocode or executable artifacts. Most use 4 or fewer medical terminologies. The number of codes used ranges from 5 to 6865, and value sets from 1 to 19. We found that the most common expressions used were literal, data, and logical expressions. Aggregate and arithmetic expressions are the least common. Expression depth ranges from 4 to 27.DiscussionDespite the range of conditions, we found that all of the phenotype definitions consisted of logical criteria, representing both clinical and operational logic, and tabular data, consisting of codes from standard terminologies and keywords for natural language processing. The total number and variety of expressions are low, which may be to simplify implementation, or authors may limit complexity due to data availability constraints.ConclusionsThe phenotype definitions analyzed show significant variation in specific logical, arithmetic, and other operators but are all composed of the same high-level components, namely tabular data and logical expressions. A standard representation for phenotype definitions should support these formats and be modular to support localization and shared logic.

Abstract The recent development of imaging and sequencing technologies enables systematic advances in the clinical study of lung cancer. Meanwhile, the human mind is limited in effectively handling and fully utilizing the accumulation of such enormous amounts of data. Machine learning-based approaches play a critical role in integrating and analyzing these large and complex datasets, which have extensively characterized lung cancer through the use of different perspectives from these accrued data. In this review, we provide an overview of machine learning-based approaches that strengthen the varying aspects of lung cancer diagnosis and therapy, including early detection, auxiliary diagnosis, prognosis prediction, and immunotherapy practice. Moreover, we highlight the challenges and opportunities for future applications of machine learning in lung cancer.