Citations

Proximal claudication is secondary to ischemia caused by peripheral artery disease (PAD), whereas proximal pseudo-claudication is secondary to other disease processes such as hip arthritis, spinal stenosis, neuropathy, and so forth. The differentiation between the two can be challenging. Exercise transcutaneous oxygen pressure measurement (exercise-TcPO 2 ) allows noninvasive detection of flow-reducing lesions in the proximal arteries and tributaries of the lower extremity arterial tree. We present the first case report in the United States using an exercise-TcPO 2 algorithm. A 71-year-old diabetic patient with proximal left-sided and right-calf claudication with indeterminate ankle-brachial indices underwent an exercise-TcPO 2 study before and after endovascular intervention. Four TcPO 2 probes were placed: one at chest level (reference probe), one on each buttock, and one on the symptomatic calf. The Delta from Resting Oxygen Pressure (DROP) index was calculated at each probe site using a previously validated protocol. Proximal left- and right-calf ischemia were confirmed by the initial exercise-TcPO 2 , and, after endovascular treatment of the left iliac artery lesion, improvements in proximal exercise-TcPO 2 values were found. These data suggest that exercise-TcPO 2 can be useful in PAD evaluation in patients with non-compressible arteries and/or proximal claudication.

Background: Vascular invasion (VI) is an important predictor of distant metastasis and possible radioactive iodine (RAI) benefit in follicular, Hürthle cell, and poorly differentiated thyroid carcinomas, but its role in well-differentiated papillary thyroid cancer (WDTC) remains unclear. Methods: Archived pathological material of all differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients undergoing primary surgical treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center between 1986 and 2003 was reviewed by two dedicated thyroid pathologists. Only WDTCs were included in the present study. Standard statistical methods were used to assess the relationship between VI and outcomes of interest, including 10-year disease-specific survival (DSS), regional recurrence-free survival (RRFS), and distant recurrence-free survival (DRFS). Results: VI was present in 47 of 698 WDTC (6.7%). VI was significantly associated with tumor size >4.0 cm, extrathyroidal extension, distant metastasis, and RAI treatment. On univariate analysis, VI was predictive of decreased 10-year DRFS, but not DSS or RRFS. On multivariate analysis, VI was not an independent predictor of DRFS. Univariate survival analysis of 422 RAI-naïve WDTC showed that both size >4 cm and VI were predictors of outcome, but only size remained independently predictive on multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The presence of VI is not an independent predictor of outcome in WDTC.

BackgroundThe objective of this work was to study patient and 22‐item Sino‐Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT‐22) characteristics in primary headache disorders (PHDs).MethodsRetrospective chart review of “sinus” headache/pressure/pain patients was conducted. Patients that had rhinosinusitis excluded (negative endoscopy/computed tomography [CT]), and neurologist‐confirmed PHD were studied. Patterns in symptom and SNOT‐22 items were analyzed by network visualization and cluster analysis.ResultsForty‐six patients met study criteria. Forty‐three (93.5%) reported “need to blow nose” and 40 (86.9%) reported postnasal drainage. Sneezing was reported by 37 (80.4%) patients, “blockage/congestion of nose” by 33 (71.8%), and “runny nose by 32 (69.6%) patients. The median SNOT‐22 score was 54 (interquartile range [IQR], 40 to 63). Past history included neurological diagnoses (60%), rhinologic disease (39%; chronic rhinosinusitis [CRS], rhinitis, recurrent acute sinusitis), asthma (28%), and allergen‐sensitivity (26%). Previous sinonasal surgery had been performed in 41%. Network layout and cluster analysis identified 2 patient clusters and 2 symptom clusters. Two‐thirds (31) of patients formed a tight cluster (cluster 1) linking to a symptom cluster of psychosocial items wrapped tightly with “facial pain/pressure.” The remaining one‐third of patients (cluster 2) linked to rhinologic symptoms loosely grouped away from “facial pressure/pain.” In contrast to patients in cluster 2, patients in cluster 1 were predominantly female (p < 0.04), had significantly higher (p < 0.0001) median SNOT‐22 scores (60 vs 34; IQR, 53 to 67 vs 17 to 42), were more likely to have migraine history (p = 0.058), and reported being “sad” (p < 0.0001) or “embarrassed” (p < 0.006).ConclusionProminent rhinologic symptoms can be present in PHD patients in the absence of rhinosinusitis. In particular, high symptom‐burden/SNOT‐22 scores and high psychosocial symptoms should raise suspicion of PHD when endoscopy and/or CT results do not correlate with symptoms.

Abstract Background There are several suspected environmental risk factors for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The associations between NHL and environmental chemical exposures have typically been evaluated for individual chemicals (i.e., one-by-one). Objectives We determined the association between a mixture of 27 correlated chemicals measured in house dust and NHL risk. Methods We conducted a population-based case–control study of NHL in four National Cancer Institute–Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results centers—Detroit, Michigan; Iowa; Los Angeles County, California; and Seattle, Washington—from 1998 to 2000. We used weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression to model the association of a mixture of chemicals and risk of NHL. The WQS index was a sum of weighted quartiles for 5 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 7 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 15 pesticides. We estimated chemical mixture weights and effects for study sites combined and for each site individually, and also for histologic subtypes of NHL. Results The WQS index was statistically significantly associated with NHL overall [odds ratio (OR) = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.56; p = 0.006; for one quartile increase] and in the study sites of Detroit (OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.92; p = 0.045), Los Angeles (OR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.08; p = 0.049), and Iowa (OR = 1.76; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.53; p = 0.002). The index was marginally statistically significant in Seattle (OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 0.97, 1.99; p = 0.071). The most highly weighted chemicals for predicting risk overall were PCB congener 180 and propoxur. Highly weighted chemicals varied by study site; PCBs were more highly weighted in Detroit, and pesticides were more highly weighted in Iowa. Conclusions An index of chemical mixtures was significantly associated with NHL. Our results show the importance of evaluating chemical mixtures when studying cancer risk. Citation Czarnota J, Gennings C, Colt JS, De Roos AJ, Cerhan JR, Severson RK, Hartge P, Ward MH, Wheeler DC. 2015. Analysis of environmental chemical mixtures and non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk in the NCI-SEER NHL Study. Environ Health Perspect 123:965–970; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408630

Abstract Family-based study design is commonly used in genetic research. It has many ideal features, including being robust to population stratification (PS). With the advance of high-throughput technologies and ever-decreasing genotyping cost, it has become common for family studies to examine a large number of variants for their associations with disease phenotypes. The yield from the analysis of these family-based genetic data can be enhanced by adopting computationally efficient and powerful statistical methods. We propose a general framework of a family-based U-statistic, referred to as family-U, for family-based association studies. Unlike existing parametric-based methods, the proposed method makes no assumption of the underlying disease models and can be applied to various phenotypes (e.g., binary and quantitative phenotypes) and pedigree structures (e.g., nuclear families and extended pedigrees). By using only within-family information, it can offer robust protection against PS. In the absence of PS, it can also utilize additional information (i.e., between-family information) for power improvement. Through simulations, we demonstrated that family-U attained higher power over a commonly used method, family-based association tests, under various disease scenarios. We further illustrated the new method with an application to large-scale family data from the Framingham Heart Study. By utilizing additional information (i.e., between-family information), family-U confirmed a previous association of CHRNA5 with nicotine dependence.

Abstract A 68-year-old avid deer hunter with ischemic cardiomyopathy underwent left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation for destination therapy two years ago. He was living an active lifestyle, tracking deer and fishing in a Midwestern forest in November. His wife removed an engorged tick on his thorax. A few days later, he experienced fever, confusion, and ataxia and was hospitalized with septic shock and ventricular fibrillation. The LVAD site had no signs of trauma, drainage, warmth, or tenderness. A peripheral blood smear revealed intraleukocytic anaplasma microcolony inclusions. After completing 14 days of doxycycline, he recovered. Typical non-device-associated infections in LVAD recipients include pneumonia, urinary tract infection, or Clostridium difficile colitis. Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) is a very atypical non-LVAD infection, and the incidence of tickborne illnesses in LVAD recipients is unknown.