Citations

Objective: We evaluated a protocolized endoscopic necrosectomy approach with a lumen-apposing metal stent (LAMS) in patients with large symptomatic walled-off pancreatic necrosis (WON) comprising significant necrotic content, with or without infection. Summary Background Data: Randomized trials have shown similar efficacy of endoscopic treatment compared with surgery for infected WON. Design: We conducted a regulatory, prospective, multicenter single-arm clinical trial examining the efficacy and safety of endoscopic ultrasound -guided LAMS with protocolized necrosectomy to treat symptomatic WON ≥6 cm in diameter with >30% solid necrosis. After LAMS placement, protocolized WON assessment was conducted and endoscopic necrosectomy was performed for insufficient WON size reduction and persistent symptoms. Patients with radiographic WON resolution to ≤ 3 cm and/or 60-day LAMS indwell had LAMS removal, then 6-month follow-up. Primary endpoints were probability of radiographic resolution by 60 days and procedure-related serious adverse events. Results: Forty consecutive patients were enrolled September 2018 to March 2020, of whom 27 (67.5%) were inpatients and 19 (47.5%) had clinical evidence of infection at their index procedure. Mean WON size was 15.0 ± 5.6 cm with mean 53.2% ± 16.7% solid necrosis. Radiographic WON resolution was seen in 97.5% (95% CI, 86.8%, 99.9%) by 60 days, without recurrence in 34 patients with 6-month follow-up data. Mean time to radiographic WON resolution was 34.1 ± 16.8 days. Serious adverse events occurred in 3 patients (7.5%), including sepsis, vancomycin-resistant enterococcal bacteremia and shock, and upper gastrointestinal bleeding. There were no procedure-related deaths. Conclusions: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided drainage with protocolized endoscopic necrosectomy to treat large symptomatic or infected walled-off necrotic pancreatic collections was highly effective and safe. Clinicaltrials.-gov no: NCT03525808.

Objective Increased visceral fat and sarcopenia are cardiovascular risk factors that may explain increased cardiovascular morbidity and frailty in patients with adrenal adenomas. Our objective was to compare body composition measurement of patients with adrenal adenomas to referent subjects without adrenal disease. Design Cross-sectional study, 2014–2018. Methods Participants were adults with nonfunctioning adrenal tumor (NFAT), mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS), and Cushing syndrome (CS) and age, sex, and BMI 1:1 matched referent subjects without adrenal disorders. Main outcome measures were body composition measurements calculated from abdominal CT imaging. Intra-abdominal adipose tissue and muscle mass measurements were performed at the third lumbar spine level. Results Of 227 patients with adrenal adenomas, 20 were diagnosed with CS, 76 with MACS, and 131 with NFAT. Median age was 56 years (range: 18–89), and 67% were women. When compared to referent subjects, patients with CS, MACS, and NFAT demonstrated a higher visceral fat (odds ratio (OR): 2.2 (95% CI: 0.9–6.5), 2.0 (1.3–3.2), and 1.8 (1.2–2.7) and a lower skeletal muscle area (OR: 0.01 (95% CI: 0–0.09), 0.31 (0.18–0.49), and 0.3 (1.2–2.7)) respectively. For every 1 µg/dL cortisol increase after overnight dexamethasone, visceral fat/muscle area ratio increased by 2.3 ( P = 0.02) and mean total skeletal muscle area decreased by 2.2 cm 2 ( P = 0.03). Conclusion Patients with adrenal adenomas demonstrate a lower muscle mass and a higher proportion of visceral fat when compared to referent subjects, including patients with NFAT. Even a subtle abnormality in cortisol secretion may impact health of patients with adenomas.

Abstract Aims Circulating blood volume is functionally divided between the unstressed volume, which fills the vascular space, and stressed blood volume (SBV), which generates vascular wall tension and intravascular pressure. With decreases in venous capacitance, blood functionally shifts to the SBV, increasing central venous pressure and pulmonary venous pressures. Obesity is associated with both elevated venous pressure and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). To explore the mechanisms underlying this association, we evaluated relationships between blood volume distribution, venous compliance, and body mass in patients with and without HFpEF. Methods and results Subjects with HFpEF ( n = 62) and non‐cardiac dyspnoea (NCD) ( n = 79) underwent invasive haemodynamic exercise testing with echocardiography. SBV was estimated (eSBV) from measured haemodynamic variables fit to a comprehensive cardiovascular model. Compared to NCD, patients with HFpEF displayed a leftward‐shifted central venous pressure–dimension relationship, indicating reduced venous compliance. eSBV was 81% higher at rest and 69% higher during exercise in HFpEF than NCD (both P < 0.0001), indicating reduced venous capacitance. Despite greater augmented eSBV with exercise, the increase in cardiac output was reduced in HFpEF, suggesting operation on the plateau of the Starling curve. Exercise eSBV was directly correlated with higher body mass index (r = 0.77, P < 0.0001) and inversely correlated with right ventricular–pulmonary arterial coupling (r = −0.57, all P < 0.0001). Conclusions Patients with HFpEF display reductions in systemic venous compliance and increased eSBV related to reduced venous capacitance, abnormalities in right ventricular–pulmonary artery interaction, and increased body fat. These data provide new evidence supporting an important role of venous dysfunction in obesity‐related HFpEF and suggest that therapies that improve venous function may hold promise to improve clinical status in this cohort.

Abstract Aims Central obesity is a major risk factor for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), particularly in women, but the mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that sex-specific differences in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) content would differentially relate to haemodynamic severity of HFpEF in women and men. Methods and results Abdominal computed tomography (CT) and invasive haemodynamic exercise testing were performed in 105 subjects with HFpEF (63 women) and 105 age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched controls. Visceral adipose tissue area was quantified by CT. As compared with control women, VAT area was 34% higher in women with HFpEF (186 ± 112 vs. 139 ± 72 cm2, P = 0.006), while VAT area was not significantly different in men with or without HFpEF (294 ± 158 vs. 252 ± 92 cm2, P = 0.1). During exercise, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) increased markedly and to similar extent in both men and women with HFpEF. Women with increased VAT area displayed 33% higher PCWP during exercise compared with women with normal VAT area (28 ± 10 vs. 21 ± 10 mmHg, P = 0.001), whereas exercise PCWP was similar in men with or without excess VAT (24 ± 9 vs. 25 ± 6, P = 0.89). In women, each 100 cm2 increase in VAT area was associated with a 4.0 mmHg higher PCWP (95% CI 2.1, 6.0 mmHg; P &lt; 0.0001), but there was no such relationship in men (interaction P = 0.009). Conclusions These data suggest that accumulation of excess VAT plays a distinct and important role in the pathophysiology of HFpEF preferentially in women. Further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms and treatment implications for visceral fat in HFpEF.

PurposeOrgan segmentation of computed tomography (CT) imaging is essential for radiotherapy treatment planning. Treatment planning requires segmentation not only of the affected tissue, but nearby healthy organs‐at‐risk, which is laborious and time‐consuming. We present a fully automated segmentation method based on the three‐dimensional (3D) U‐Net convolutional neural network (CNN) capable of whole abdomen and pelvis segmentation into 33 unique organ and tissue structures, including tissues that may be overlooked by other automated segmentation approaches such as adipose tissue, skeletal muscle, and connective tissue and vessels. Whole abdomen segmentation is capable of quantifying exposure beyond a handful of organs‐at‐risk to all tissues within the abdomen.MethodsSixty‐six (66) CT examinations of 64 individuals were included in the training and validation sets and 18 CT examinations from 16 individuals were included in the test set. All pixels in each examination were segmented by image analysts (with physician correction) and assigned one of 33 labels. Segmentation was performed with a 3D U‐Net variant architecture which included residual blocks, and model performance was quantified on 18 test cases. Human interobserver variability (using semiautomated segmentation) was also reported on two scans, and manual interobserver variability of three individuals was reported on one scan. Model performance was also compared to several of the best models reported in the literature for multiple organ segmentation.ResultsThe accuracy of the 3D U‐Net model ranges from a Dice coefficient of 0.95 in the liver, 0.93 in the kidneys, 0.79 in the pancreas, 0.69 in the adrenals, and 0.51 in the renal arteries. Model accuracy is within 5% of human segmentation in eight of 19 organs and within 10% accuracy in 13 of 19 organs.ConclusionsThe CNN approaches the accuracy of human tracers and on certain complex organs displays more consistent prediction than human tracers. Fully automated deep learning‐based segmentation of CT abdomen has the potential to improve both the speed and accuracy of radiotherapy dose prediction for organs‐at‐risk.

Objective IgG4‐related disease (IgG4‐ RD ) can cause fibroinflammatory lesions in nearly any organ. Correlation among clinical, serologic, radiologic, and pathologic data is required for diagnosis. This work was undertaken to develop and validate an international set of classification criteria for IgG4‐ RD . Methods An international multispecialty group of 86 physicians was assembled by the American College of Rheumatology ( ACR ) and the European League Against Rheumatism ( EULAR ). Investigators used consensus exercises, existing literature, derivation and validation cohorts of 1,879 subjects (1,086 cases, 793 mimickers), and multicriterion decision analysis to identify, weight, and test potential classification criteria. Two independent validation cohorts were included. Results A 3‐step classification process was developed. First, it must be demonstrated that a potential IgG4‐ RD case has involvement of at least 1 of 11 possible organs in a manner consistent with IgG4‐ RD . Second, exclusion criteria consisting of a total of 32 clinical, serologic, radiologic, and pathologic items must be applied; the presence of any of these criteria eliminates the patient from IgG4‐ RD classification. Third, 8 weighted inclusion criteria domains, addressing clinical findings, serologic results, radiology assessments, and pathology interpretations, are applied. In the first validation cohort, a threshold of 20 points had a specificity of 99.2% (95% confidence interval [95% CI ] 97.2–99.8%) and a sensitivity of 85.5% (95% CI 81.9–88.5%). In the second, the specificity was 97.8% (95% CI 93.7–99.2%) and the sensitivity was 82.0% (95% CI 77.0–86.1%). The criteria were shown to have robust test characteristics over a wide range of thresholds. Conclusion ACR / EULAR classification criteria for IgG4‐ RD have been developed and validated in a large cohort of patients. These criteria demonstrate excellent test performance and should contribute substantially to future clinical, epidemiologic, and basic science investigations.

INTRODUCTION: Early endoscopic intervention of pancreatitis with acute necrotic collection is conflicting with standard practice except in extenuating circumstances. The Atlanta criteria define necrotic collections based on the age from onset of disease as either acute necrotic collections (ANC ≤ 4 weeks) or walled-off necrosis (WON > 4 weeks). Some patients with ANCs will have clinically apparent infection of necrosis potentially necessitating infectious source control via endoscopic intervention where percutaneous drainage is technically challenging or inadequate. At present, data regarding early endoscopic intervention for acute necrotic collections is lacking. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients undergoing endoscopic intervention for pancreatic necrosis between 2008 and 2018 was performed. Included patients had definitive pancreatic/peri-pancreatic necrosis on contrast-enhanced computed tomography, signs/symptoms and laboratory evidence of pancreatitis in relation to hospital presentation, and endoscopic intervention within 28 days of symptom onset. Patients with prior percutaneous or surgical intervention were excluded. ANC cases were matched and compared to WON controls for analyzed parameters via conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: Twenty four patients were identified to have attempted drainage within 28 days of symptom onset, three of which were excluded (imaging limitations, spontaneous drainage/fistulization, unclear date of symptom onset). Demographic and clinical characteristic data are summarized in Table 1, with procedure and outcome characteristics shown in Table 2 for the 21 ANC cases in comparison to WON controls. Overall, ANC cases had slightly larger collections, with statistically significantly longer hospital stays as compared to matched WON controls ( P < 0.01); otherwise measured variables were not statistically significant between the groups. CONCLUSION: There is a paucity of data regarding the safety and efficacy of intervention of ANCs complication pancreatitis. We found in this study that there was reasonable success in clinically indicated endoscopic drainage of ANCs without significant sequelae from the procedures undertaken as compared to matched WON controls. This study demonstrates the safety of intervening on ANCs as early as 15 days if clinically indicated. Further research in regards to efficacy/safety of intervention and prognostic indicators of early intervention is required to further discern whether this applies to general practice of ANC management.

Abstract Background: Pancreatic cancer is associated with development of cachexia, a wasting syndrome thought to limit survival. Few studies have longitudinally quantified peripheral tissues or identified biomarkers predictive of future tissue wasting. Methods: Adipose and muscle tissue were measured by computed tomography (CT) at diagnosis and 50 to 120 days later in 164 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Tissue changes and survival were evaluated by Cox proportional hazards regression. Baseline levels of circulating markers were examined in relation to future tissue wasting. Results: Compared with patients in the bottom quartile of muscle change per 30 days (average gain of 0.8 ± 2.0 cm2), those in the top quartile (average loss of 12.9 ± 4.9 cm2) had a hazard ratio (HR) for death of 2.01 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12–3.62]. Patients in the top quartile of muscle attenuation change (average decrease of 4.9 ± 2.4 Hounsfield units) had an HR of 2.19 (95% CI, 1.18–4.04) compared with those in the bottom quartile (average increase of 2.4 ± 1.6 Hounsfield units). Changes in adipose tissue were not associated with survival. Higher plasma branched chain amino acids (BCAA; P = 0.004) and lower monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1; P = 0.005) at diagnosis were associated with greater future muscle loss. Conclusions: In patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, muscle loss and decrease in muscle density in 2 to 4 months after diagnosis were associated with reduced survival. BCAAs and MCP-1 levels at diagnosis were associated with subsequent muscle loss. Impact: BCAAs and MCP-1 levels at diagnosis could identify a high-risk group for future tissue wasting.

AbstractBackground and ObjectivesConclusive evidence in favor of neoadjuvant therapy for those with non‐metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is still lacking. The objective of this study was to evaluate the survival benefit of neoadjuvant therapy vs upfront surgery for patients with non‐metastatic PDAC.MethodsThe study involved 565 patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy or upfront surgery as the primary treatment for PDAC. Propensity score matching was performed between the neoadjuvant therapy group (NAT group) and the upfront surgery group (UFS group) using 20 clinical variables at diagnosis. Overall survival and surgical pathology were compared between the two treatment groups on an intent‐to‐treat basis.ResultsIn the matched cohort, the NAT group (n = 91) had a longer median overall survival than the UFS group (n = 91) (23.1 months vs 18.5 months, P = .043). The rate of patients undergoing surgical resection was lower in the NAT group (58% vs 80%, P = .001). Regarding surgical pathology, the NAT group had smaller tumor size (2.8 cm vs 4.0 cm, P = .001), lower incidence of positive surgical margins (8% vs 30%, P < .002), and less lymph node metastasis (45% vs 78%, P < .001).ConclusionsThe strategy of neoadjuvant therapy before surgical resection appears to offer pathologic effect and survival benefit for the patients presenting with non‐metastatic PDAC.