Citations

AbstractIntroductionRemote smartphone assessments of cognition, speech/language, and motor functioning in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) could enable decentralized clinical trials and improve access to research. We studied the feasibility and acceptability of remote smartphone data collection in FTD research using the ALLFTD Mobile App (ALLFTD‐mApp).MethodsA diagnostically mixed sample of 214 participants with FTD or from familial FTD kindreds (asymptomatic: CDR®+NACC‐FTLD = 0 [N = 101]; prodromal: 0.5 [N = 49]; symptomatic ≥1 [N = 51]; not measured [N = 13]) were asked to complete ALLFTD‐mApp tests on their smartphone three times within 12 days. They completed smartphone familiarity and participation experience surveys.ResultsIt was feasible for participants to complete the ALLFTD‐mApp on their own smartphones. Participants reported high smartphone familiarity, completed ∼ 70% of tasks, and considered the time commitment acceptable (98% of respondents). Greater disease severity was associated with poorer performance across several tests.DiscussionThese findings suggest that the ALLFTD‐mApp study protocol is feasible and acceptable for remote FTD research.HIGHLIGHTS The ALLFTD Mobile App is a smartphone‐based platform for remote, self‐administered data collection. The ALLFTD Mobile App consists of a comprehensive battery of surveys and tests of executive functioning, memory, speech and language, and motor abilities. Remote digital data collection using the ALLFTD Mobile App was feasible in a multicenter research consortium that studies FTD. Data was collected in healthy controls and participants with a range of diagnoses, particularly FTD spectrum disorders. Remote digital data collection was well accepted by participants with a variety of diagnoses.

Primary cardiac schwannoma (PCS) is a neurogenic tumor that arises from Schwann cells. Malignant schwannoma (MSh) is an aggressive cancer comprising 2% of all sarcomas. Information on the proper management of these tumors is limited. Four databases were searched for case reports/series of PCS. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes included therapeutic strategies and the corresponding outcomes. Among 439 potentially eligible studies, 53 met the inclusion criteria. The patients included had 43.72 ± 17.76 years and 28.3% were males. Over 50% of patients had MSh, with 9.4% also demonstrating metastases. Schwannoma commonly occurs in the atria (66.0%). Left-sided PCS were more common than right-sided ones. Surgery was performed in almost 90% of the cases; chemotherapy and radiotherapy were used in 16.9% and 15.1% of cases, respectively. Compared to benign cases, MSh occurs at a younger age and is commonly located on the left side. OS of the entire cohort at 1 and 3 years were 60.7%, and 54.0%, respectively. Females and males OS were similar up to 2 years follow-up. Surgery was associated with higher OS (p < 0.01). Surgery is the primary treatment option for both benign and malignant cases and was the only factor associated with a relative improvement in survival.

Gender inequality across the world has been associated with a higher risk to mental health problems and lower academic achievement in women compared to men. We also know that the brain is shaped by nurturing and adverse socio-environmental experiences. Therefore, unequal exposure to harsher conditions for women compared to men in gender-unequal countries might be reflected in differences in their brain structure, and this could be the neural mechanism partly explaining women’s worse outcomes in gender-unequal countries. We examined this through a random-effects meta-analysis on cortical thickness and surface area differences between adult healthy men and women, including a meta-regression in which country-level gender inequality acted as an explanatory variable for the observed differences. A total of 139 samples from 29 different countries, totaling 7,876 MRI scans, were included. Thickness of the right hemisphere, and particularly the right caudal anterior cingulate, right medial orbitofrontal, and left lateral occipital cortex, presented no differences or even thicker regional cortices in women compared to men in gender-equal countries, reversing to thinner cortices in countries with greater gender inequality. These results point to the potentially hazardous effect of gender inequality on women’s brains and provide initial evidence for neuroscience-informed policies for gender equality.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most common leukemia among adults worldwide. Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have uncovered the germline genetic component underlying CLL susceptibility, the potential use of GWAS-identified risk variants to predict disease progression and patient survival remains unexplored. Here, we evaluated whether 41 GWAS-identified risk variants for CLL could influence overall survival (OS) and disease progression, defined as time to first treatment (TTFT) in a cohort of 1039 CLL cases ascertained through the CRuCIAL consortium. Although this is the largest study assessing the effect of GWAS-identified susceptibility variants for CLL on OS, we only found a weak association of ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with OS (p < 0.05) that did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing. In line with these results, polygenic risk scores (PRSs) built with these SNPs in the CRuCIAL cohort showed a modest association with OS and a low capacity to predict patient survival, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.57. Similarly, seven SNPs were associated with TTFT (p < 0.05); however, these did not reach the multiple testing significance threshold, and the meta-analysis with previous published data did not confirm any of the associations. As expected, PRSs built with these SNPs showed reduced accuracy in prediction of disease progression (AUROC = 0.62). These results suggest that susceptibility variants for CLL do not impact overall survival and disease progression in CLL patients.

Abstract Trochlear dysplasia is a major contributor to patellofemoral instability and subsequent failure of isolated soft tissue reconstruction procedures in the treatment of recurrent patellar dislocation and/or subluxation. Trochleoplasty procedures aim to address abnormal osseous trochlear morphologic factors that contribute to patellar maltracking. However, teaching these techniques is limited by the lack of reliable training models for trochlear dysplasia and trochleoplasty simulation. Although a cadaveric knee model of trochlear dysplasia for trochleoplasty simulation has been recently described, cadaveric knees are less amenable for use in trochleoplasty planning and surgeon training because of the absence of reliable, natural dysplastic anatomic relationships, such as suprapatellar spurs due to the rarity of dysplastic cadavers and the high cost of cadaveric specimens. Furthermore, readily available sawbone models represent “normal” osseous trochlear morphology and are difficult to modify and bend due to their material composition. Given this, we have developed a cost‐effective, reliable, and anatomically accurate three‐dimensional (3D) knee model of trochlear dysplasia for trochleoplasty simulation and trainee education. Technique Video video See video under supplementary data.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) versus open aortic repair (OAR) on mortality and reintervention after ruptured infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) repair in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI). Background: The optimal treatment modality for rAAA remains debated, with little data on long-term comparisons. Methods: VQI rAAA repairs (2004–2018) were matched with Medicare claims (VQI-VISION). Primary outcomes were in-hospital and long-term mortality. Secondary outcome was reintervention. Inverse probability weighting was used to adjust for treatment selection, and Cox Proportional Hazards models and negative binomial regressions were used for analysis. Landmark analysis was performed among patients surviving hospital discharge. Results: Among 1885 VQI/Medicare rAAA patients, 790 underwent OAR, and 1095 underwent EVAR. Median age was 76 years; 73% were male. Inverse probability weighting produced comparable groups. In-hospital mortality was lower after EVAR versus OAR (21% vs 37%, odds ratio: 0.52, 95% CI, 0.4–0.7). One-year mortality rates were lower for EVAR versus OAR [hazard ratio (HR) 0.74, 95% CI, 0.6–0.9], but not statistically different after 1 year (HR: 0.95, 95% CI, 0.8–1.2). This implies additional benefits to EVAR in the short term. Reintervention rates were higher after EVAR than OAR at 2 and 5 years (rate ratio: 1.79 95% CI, 1.2–2.7 and rate ratio:2.03 95% CI, 1.4–3.0), but not within the first year. Reintervention was associated with higher mortality risk for both OAR (HR: 1.66 95% CI, 1.1–2.5) and EVAR (HR: 2.14 95% CI, 1.6–2.9). Long-term mortality was similar between repair types (HR: 0.99, 95% CI, 0.8–1.2). Conclusions: Within VQI/Medicare patients undergoing rAAA repair, the perioperative mortality rate favors EVAR but equalizes after 1 year. Reinterventions were more common after EVAR and were associated with higher mortality regardless of treatment.

AbstractNew onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE), including its subtype with a preceding febrile illness known as febrile infection‐related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES), is one of the most severe forms of status epilepticus. The exact causes of NORSE are currently unknown, and there is so far no disease‐specific therapy. Identifying the underlying pathophysiology and discovering specific biomarkers, whether immunologic, infectious, genetic, or other, may help physicians in the management of patients with NORSE. A broad spectrum of biomarkers has been proposed for status epilepticus patients, some of which were evaluated for patients with NORSE. Nonetheless, none has been validated, due to significant variabilities in study cohorts, collected biospecimens, applied analytical methods, and defined outcome endpoints, and to small sample sizes. The NORSE Institute established an open NORSE/FIRES biorepository for health‐related data and biological samples allowing the collection of biospecimens worldwide, promoting multicenter research and sharing of data and specimens. Here, we suggest standard operating procedures for biospecimen collection and biobanking in this rare condition. We also propose criteria for the appropriate use of previously collected biospecimens. We predict that the widespread use of standardized procedures will reduce heterogeneity, facilitate the future identification of validated biomarkers for NORSE, and provide a better understanding of the pathophysiology and best clinical management for these patients.

AbstractIntroductionNasal symptoms are frequently reported by patients undergoing chemotherapy.MethodsEligible patients planning to receive paclitaxel, docetaxel, nab‐paclitaxel, bevacizumab without a concomitant taxane, or “other” (non‐taxane, non‐bevacizumab) chemotherapy regimens were invited to participate in this prospective study. Patients reported nasal symptoms prior to each dose of chemotherapy.ResultsThe percentage of patients (95% CI) who reported nasal symptoms was the same for patients who received bevacizumab or nab‐paclitaxel, 82.6% (61.2%, 95.1%). There were no significant differences among the proportions of patients experiencing nasal symptoms within the paclitaxel, nab‐paclitaxel, and bevacizumab cohorts. Patients in the nab‐paclitaxel cohort were more likely to experience symptoms than those in the non‐taxane non‐bevacizumab cohort or docetaxel cohort (p = 0.001, p = 0.001). Patients in the bevacizumab cohort were more likely to experience nasal symptoms than those in the non‐taxane non‐bevacizumab cohort (p = 0.03).ConclusionNasal vestibulitis symptoms are common in patients receiving chemotherapy, especially those receiving paclitaxel, docetaxel, and bevacizumab. Further investigations into treatments of this symptom complex are warranted.

Abstract Mitochondrially-generated reactive oxygen species (mROS) have been shown to induce acinar-to-ductal metaplasia (ADM). ADM, in presence of an oncogenic KRAS mutation, is an initiating step for progression to pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) and eventually pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA). Here, we utilize primary murine cells as well as the p48Cre;LSL-KrasG12D (KC) mouse model to explore the use of the mitochondria-targeted mimetic of manganese superoxide dismutase MitoQ for targeting PDA initiation and progression. Previously published data by our laboratory has shown that treatment with MitoQ decreases the abundance of pancreatic low-grade lesions in KC mice. However, we here demonstrate that superoxide depletion by MitoQ at the same time increases formation of DCLK1+ cancer stem cells in such lesions. We here evaluate if the detoxification of mitochondrial superoxide results in a build-up of hydrogen peroxide, which is a major driver of the DCLK1+ cell type. We determine how altered expression of ROS detoxifying enzymes in different cell types contribute to PDA stem cell formation and PDA development. Eventually we test if the increase in DCLK1+ cancer stem cells can contribute to changes in the microenvironment and accelerated progression of abnormal tissue. Citation Format: Jeffrey Mario Perera, Alicia K. Fleming Martinez, Peter Storz. MnSOD mimetic mitoquinone mesylate (MitoQ) increases DCLK1+pancreatic cancer stem cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 4779.