Citations

Objective Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the most devastating outcome in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We evaluated repolarisation features on the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) to identify the potential risk factors for SCA. Methods Data was collected from 52 patients with HCM who underwent implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation. Leads V2 and V5 from the ECG closest to the time of ICD implant were utilised for measuring the Tpeak-Tend interval (Tpe), QTc, Tpe/QTc, T-wave duration and T-wave amplitude. The presence of the five traditional SCA-associated risk factors was assessed, as well as the HCM risk-SCD score. Results 16 (30%) patients experienced aborted cardiac arrest over 8.5±4.1 years, with 9 receiving an ICD shock and 7 receiving ATP. On univariate analysis, T-wave amplitude was associated with appropriate ICD therapy (HR per 0.1 mV 0.79, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.96, p=0.02). Aborted SCA was not associated with a greater mean QTc duration, Tpeak-Tend interval, T-wave duration, or Tpe/QT ratio. Multivariate analysis (adjusting for cardinal HCM SCA-risk factors) showed T-wave amplitude in Lead V2 was an independent predictor of risk (adjusted HR per 0.1 mV 0.74, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.97, p=0.03). Addition of T-wave amplitude in Lead V2 to the traditional risk factors resulted in significant improvement in risk stratification (C-statistic from 0.65 to 0.75) but did not improve the performance of the HCM SCD-risk score. Conclusions T-wave amplitude is a novel marker of SCA in this high risk HCM population and may provide incremental predictive value to established risk factors. Further work is needed to define the role of repolarisation abnormalities in predicting SCA in HCM.

584 Background: Standard therapy for stage II/III rectal cancer includes surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Multiple trials demonstrated neoadjuvant chemoradiation (CRT) provides better local control and decreased morbidity compared to adjuvant CRT, though differences in overall survival and long-term QoL have not been demonstrated. We examined impact of treatment (pre-op CRT/post-op CRT/no CRT) on long-term QoL. Methods: CanCORS patients with survey/medical record data diagnosed in 2003-2005 with stage II/III rectal (non-rectosigmoid) cancer had resection and survived > 7 years were included. QoL (SF-36, EQ-5D) measures and defecation problems were derived from surveys at 14 months and 7 years post-diagnosis. Mean scores were adjusted for the following when significant: age, gender, stage, sphincter preservation, comorbidities, and baseline self-reported health status and QoL scores. Results: Of 119 patients, 53% received pre-op CRT, 23% post-op CRT, and 24% no CRT. Of 114 patients with 14-month follow-up, Pre-op CRT and No CRT groups had better EQ-5D adjusted mean scores but worse defecation scale (DS) scores compared to the Post-op CRT group. Of 49 disease-free survivors with 7 years follow-up, there were no differences among groups in QoL scores, but the No CRT group had better DS scores than other groups. Conclusions: No major differences were detected in long-term QoL based on treatment aside from the DS, though sample sizes became small. Regardless of treatment, long term (7y) mental health and vitality were generally comparable to U.S. norms, while physical health and overall health status (EQ-5D) were somewhat lower. [Table: see text]

570 Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor- (VEGF-) and mammalian target of rapamycin- (mTOR-) directed therapies represent a standard of care in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). However, these agents are not employed based on an assessment of predictive biomarkers such as genomic alterations (GA). We sought to determine if an association exists between GA detected by comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) and the response to VEGFR and mTOR pathway targeted therapies in a cohort of mRCC treated in a clinical practice setting. Methods: The results of CGP performed in the course of clinical care on 31 consecutive mRCC obtained from patients who had received VEGFR- and/or mTOR-inhibitors were reviewed. Duration of treatment (DOT), extent and duration of clinical response was obtained from review of medical records. All classes of genomic alterations - base substitutions, short insertions, deletions, gene fusions, rearrangements and copy number - were assessed via CGP. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the frequency of GAs in groups segregated by the DOT with VEGF-directed agents. Results: The most common GAs detected in this series were in VHL (70%), PBRM1 (48%), SETD2 (32%), TSC1 (29%), MLL (19%), TERT (16%), ARID1B (16%) and KDM5C (16%). Across 61 administrations of VEGF-directed therapy in 27 patients, exceptional responses (DOT > 21 months) were more frequent amongst patients with GAs in KDM5C, PBRM1, and VHL. Conversely, these patients also featured a lower frequency of GA associated with response to mTOR-directed therapy, such as TSC1. Conclusions: Multiple GAs are more prevalent in exceptional responders to VEGF-directed therapy. Prospective validation of these findings may lead to use of CGP to optimize therapeutic selection.

64 Background: The goals of our Lymphoma Survivorship Clinic (SC) are to coordinate care, educate patients, and create a survivorship care plan (SCP). The aim of this study was to determine if patient-centered outcomes are improved after a SC visit. Methods: From 11/13-5/15, surveys were mailed to recently-treated lymphoma patients who were within 4 weeks of their last visit and in remission. Quality of life (QOL) was measured with PROMIS and distress was measured with the Impact of Events scale. Responses between those who attended SC and those who were eligible but did not attend were analyzed. Results: There were 96 surveys sent to the SC group; 59 were returned (61% response rate). Of the non-SC group, 140 surveys were sent and 84 were returned (60% response rate). Mean age was 57 years (range 23-77) in the SC group and 59 years (23-88) in the non-SC group. There were more females in the SC group (52% vs 30%) but no differences in race, marital status, education, or health literacy. Those who attended the SC were more likely to recall receiving a summary of cancer treatment and recommendations for follow-up care (90% SC vs. 75% non-SC, p = 0.03). Furthermore, SC attendees were more likely to “definitely” recall discussion on improving health or preventing illness (89% vs. 53%), getting help in making changes in habits/lifestyle (76% vs. 50%), diet (80% vs. 31%), and exercise (82% vs. 51%), all p < 0.001. There were no differences in discussions regarding smoking, follow-up testing, and symptom monitoring. The SC group was less likely to need more information regarding sexuality (6% vs 20%, p = 0.045). There were no differences in need for information regarding anxiety, fitness, familial cancer risk, fertility, complementary therapies, and social issues. The SC group was slightly more confident that they could get information or advice related to cancer (completely confident 76% vs. 61%, p = 0.07). There were no differences in QOL or distress. Conclusions: A Lymphoma SC visit increased receipt of SCP and provided more information on survivorship issues, particularly health behaviors, but did not improve QOL or distress. Further study is needed to determine if this leads to long-term health benefits.

AbstractSudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a nontraumatic, nondrowning death of an individual with epilepsy in which an autopsy with appropriate ancillary studies does not identify a cause of death. The mechanism of death in SUDEP is unknown, but is thought to involve cardiac and/or respiratory mechanisms. Research in SUDEP is hindered by a lack of consensus regarding required components of a death investigation before a cause of death may be certified as SUDEP. Histopathologic examination of the cardiac conduction system is not routinely performed in SUDEP death investigations. We present a case of SUDEP where histopathologic examination of the cardiac conduction system revealed a focal myocardial infarct of the summit of the ventricular septum abutting the bundle of His, which potentially provides insight into the mechanism of SUDEP for this particular case, and suggests that routine examination of the cardiac conduction system in SUDEP may be beneficial.

ABSTRACTNext‐generation sequencing technologies have afforded unprecedented characterization of low‐frequency and rare genetic variation. Due to low power for single‐variant testing, aggregative methods are commonly used to combine observed rare variation within a single gene. Causal variation may also aggregate across multiple genes within relevant biomolecular pathways. Kernel‐machine regression and adaptive testing methods for aggregative rare‐variant association testing have been demonstrated to be powerful approaches for pathway‐level analysis, although these methods tend to be computationally intensive at high‐variant dimensionality and require access to complete data. An additional analytical issue in scans of large pathway definition sets is multiple testing correction. Gene set definitions may exhibit substantial genic overlap, and the impact of the resultant correlation in test statistics on Type I error rate control for large agnostic gene set scans has not been fully explored. Herein, we first outline a statistical strategy for aggregative rare‐variant analysis using component gene‐level linear kernel score test summary statistics as well as derive simple estimators of the effective number of tests for family‐wise error rate control. We then conduct extensive simulation studies to characterize the behavior of our approach relative to direct application of kernel and adaptive methods under a variety of conditions. We also apply our method to two case‐control studies, respectively, evaluating rare variation in hereditary prostate cancer and schizophrenia. Finally, we provide open‐source R code for public use to facilitate easy application of our methods to existing rare‐variant analysis results.

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is an innate immune receptor expressed in microglia in the brain. A soluble form of TREM2 (sTREM2) derived from proteolytic cleavage of the cell surface receptor is increased in the preclinical stages of AD and positively correlates with the amounts of total and phosphorylated tau in the cerebrospinal fluid. However, the physiological and pathological functions of sTREM2 remain unknown. Here, we show that sTREM2 promotes microglial survival in a PI3K/Akt-dependent manner and stimulates the production of inflammatory cytokines depending on NF-κB. Variants of sTREM2 carrying AD risk-associated mutations were less potent in both suppressing apoptosis and triggering inflammatory responses. Importantly, sTREM2 delivered to the hippocampi of both wild-type and Trem2-knockout mice elevated the expression of inflammatory cytokines and induced morphological changes of microglia. Collectively, these data indicate that sTREM2 triggers microglial activation inducing inflammatory responses and promoting survival. This study has implications for the pathogenesis of AD and provides insights into targeting sTREM2 pathway for AD therapy.

Abstract Background While abnormal left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) has been described in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), its prevalence and clinical significance are poorly understood. Methods and results Patients enrolled in the RELAX trial of sildenafil in HFpEF (LV ejection fraction ≥50%) in whom two-dimensional, speckle-tracking LV GLS was possible (n = 187) were analysed. The distribution of LV GLS and its associations with clinical characteristics, LV structure and function, biomarkers, exercise capacity and quality of life were assessed. Baseline median LV GLS was −14.6% (25th and 75th percentile, −17.0% and −11.9%, respectively) and abnormal (≥ − 16%) in 122/187 (65%) patients. Patients in the tertile with the best LV GLS had lower N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) [median 505 pg/mL (161, 1065) vs. 875 pg/mL (488, 1802), P = 0.008) and lower collagen IIIN-terminal propeptide (PIIINP) levels [median 6.7 µg/L (5.1, 8.1) vs. 8.1 µg/L (6.5, 10.5), P = 0.001] compared with the tertile with the worst LV GLS. There was also a modest linear relationship with LV GLS and log-transformed NT-proBNP and PIIINP (r = 0.29, P &lt; 0.001 and r = 0.19, P = 0.009, respectively). We observed no linear association of LV GLS with Minnesota Living with Heart Failure scores, 6-min walk distance, peak oxygen consumption, or expiratory minute ventilation/carbon dioxide excretion slope. Conclusions Impaired LV GLS is common among HFpEF patients, indicating the presence of covert systolic dysfunction despite normal LV ejection fraction. Impaired LV GLS was associated with biomarkers of wall stress and collagen synthesis and diastolic dysfunction but not with quality of life or exercise capacity, suggesting other processes may be more responsible for these aspects of the HFpEF syndrome.