Blog Archive

Αλέξανδρος Γ. Σφακιανάκης

Sunday, December 20, 2020

3D simulation of radiographic projections to test and reduce the effect of pelvic tilt on the accuracy of cross-table lateral radiography

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Abstract

Background

Cross-table lateral (CL) radiography is a convenient and feasible method to assess cup version angle (VA) after total hip arthroplasty; However, pelvic tilt (PT) may contribute to its measurement inaccuracy. How PT affects CL radiographic measurements have not been well studied. We sought (1) to determine the effect of the PT on cup version measurement on CL radiography and (2) to develop a method for reducing measurement errors caused by the PT.

Methods

We used 3D technique to construct standard model and capture CL radiography simulation. A linear regression model was created to analyze the relationship between PT and VA. CL radiography and computed tomography (CT) were performed for the enrolled patients after surgery. The consistency between CL and CT measurements were verified by intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results

There was a high correlation between the VA and PT. For each 1-degree increased in the PT, the VA decreased by 0.76° (R2 = 0.995, p < 0.001). Based on the data, we created a corrective formula to convert the radiographic measurements into values approximating the actual VA under a natural pelvic position. The VA measurements corrected by our equation was in high agreement with the CT-measured values with reference to the corresponding PT (ICC = 0.988, p < 0.001), which was in sharp contrast to that without PT control (ICC = 0.454, p = 0.203).

Conclusions

The PT may contribute to cup version measurement inaccuracies on CL radiography. Our mathematical algorithm can serve as a reliable method to improve the accuracy of CL radiography.

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The role of Treg subtypes in glomerulonephritis

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Abstract

While Th1 and Th17 T effector cells are pathogenic drivers of glomerulonephritis (GN), regulatory T cells (Tregs) potently protect from renal tissue injury. Recently, it has become evident that different Treg subtypes exist. Among these are lineage specific Treg1 and Treg17 cells, which are specialized to down regulate either Th1 or Th17 T effector cell responses. Interestingly, programming of specialized Tregs and the corresponding T helper effector cells depend on the same lineage specific master transcription factors Tbet (Th1/Treg1) and STAT3 (Th17/Treg17). Furthermore, early control of T effector cell priming in secondary lymphoid organs by specialized Tregs was described. One central mechanism of T effector cell control by the corresponding Treg subtype seems to be expression of the same chemokine receptor repertoire, which facilitates their co-localization. More recently, another intriguing Treg subset was identified, which expresses Foxp3 together with th e Th17 characteristic transcription factor RORγt. While these Foxp3+RORγt+ Tregs were shown to be highly immunosuppressive, studies in GN also identified pro-inflammatory potential via secretion of IL-17. Many questions regarding this unusual Treg subset remain, including their origin, stability, and mechanisms of action. Further characterization of the renal Treg landscape during GN will help to identify novel immunosuppressive mechanisms and develop successful Treg-directed therapies. In this review, we summarize the currently available data about specialized Treg subsets and discuss their role in GN.

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Estimation of the Prevalence of Progressive Fibrosing Interstitial Lung Diseases: Systematic Literature Review and Data from a Physician Survey

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Abstract

Some patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) other than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis exhibit a progressive clinical phenotype. These chronic progressive fibrosing ILDs have a variety of underlying diseases, and their prevalence is currently unknown. Here we carry out the first systematic review of literature on the prevalence of fibrosing ILDs and progressive fibrosing ILDs using data from physician surveys to estimate frequency of progression among different ILDs. We searched MEDLINE and Embase for studies assessing prevalence of ILD, individual ILDs associated with fibrosis and progressive fibrosing ILDs. These were combined with data from previously published physician surveys to obtain prevalence estimates of each chronic fibrosing ILD with a progressive phenotype and of progressive fibrosing ILDs overall. We identified 16 publications, including five reporting overall ILD prevalence, estimated at 6.3–76.0 per 100,000 people in Europe (four studie s) and 74.3 per 100,000 in the USA (one study). In total, 13–40% of ILDs were estimated to develop a progressive fibrosing phenotype, with overall prevalence estimates for progressive fibrosing ILDs of 2.2–20.0 per 100,000 in Europe and 28.0 per 100,000 in the USA. Prevalence estimates for individual progressive fibrosing ILDs varied up to 16.7 per 100,000 people. These conditions represent a sizeable fraction of chronic respiratory disorders and have a high unmet need.

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Treatment of tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein due to advanced colon cancer with complete surgical resection and chemotherapy: a case report

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Abstract

Background

Tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein secondary to colon cancer is rare. We report a case of tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein and liver metastasis due to advanced colon cancer that was treated with chemotherapy and complete surgical resection.

Case presentation

A 72-year-old man after transverse colectomy with lymph node dissection for advanced colon cancer was diagnosed with tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein and liver metastasis. He underwent adjuvant chemotherapy and had complete surgical tumor resection involving tumor thrombectomy and hepatectomy. There has been no recurrence at 36 months after surgery.

Conclusion

Herein, we report a rare case of tumor thrombus in the superior mesenteric vein related to advanced colon cancer. The combination of chemotherapy and complete surgical tumor resection may provide long-term survival.

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Biliary atresia in a preterm and extremely low birth weight infant: a case report and literature review

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Abstract

Background

Biliary atresia in very low birth weight (VLBW) and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants is rarely reported, and the optimal timing of Kasai portoenterostomy (KPE) in these cases remains unclear.

Case presentation

We report a case of biliary atresia in a preterm female infant of 24 weeks of gestation who weighed 824 g. She underwent exploratory laparotomy and intraoperative cholangiography at 58 days of age (weight, 1336 g). Despite the diagnosis of biliary atresia with a type I cyst, we could only perform gallbladder drainage at that time due to the unstable intraoperative condition. While we waited for her body weight to increase, KPE was performed at 122 days of age (corrected age: 16 days), when the patient weighed 2296 g. Although she initially became jaundice-free, her liver function deteriorated due to cholangitis, and she developed decompensated cholestatic liver cirrhosis. Living donor liver transplantation was successfully performed at 117 days after KPE, and the postoperative course was uneventful. The timing of KPE is difficult to determine and a review of the relevant literature revealed that a poor prognosis in VLBW and ELBW infants with BA.

Conclusions

Early KPE and careful postoperative follow-up, including liver transplantation is important for the improvement of outcomes.

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The diagnostic performance of quantitative mapping in breast cancer patients: a preliminary study using synthetic MRI

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Abstract

Background

Previous studies have indicated that quantitative MRI (qMR) is beneficial for diagnosis of breast cancer. As a novel qMR technology, synthetic MRI (syMRI) may be advantageous by offering simultaneous generation of T1 and T2 mapping in one scan within a few minutes and without concern to the deposition of the gadolinium contrast agent in cell nucleus. In this study, the potential of quantitative mapping derived from Synthetic MRI (SyMRI) to diagnose breast cancer was investigated.

Methods

From April 2018 to May 2019, a total of 87 patients with suspicious breast lesions underwent both conventional and SyMRI before treatment. The quantitative metrics derived from SyMRI, including T1 and T2 values, were measured in breast lesions. The diagnostic performance of SyMRI was evaluated with unpaired Student's t-tests, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis. The AUCs of quantitative values were compared using Delong test.

Results

Among 77 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 48 were diagnosed with histopathological confirmed breast cancers, and the rest had benign lesions. The breast cancers showed significantly higher T1 (1611.61 ± 215.88 ms) values and lower T2 (80.93 ± 7.51 ms) values than benign lesions. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) values were 0.931 (95% CI: 0.874–0.989) and 0.883 (95% CI: 0.810–0.956) for T1 and T2 maps, respectively, in diagnostic discrimination between breast cancers and benign lesions. A slightly increased AUC of 0.978 (95% CI: 0.915–0.993) was achieved by combining those two relaxation-based quantitative metrics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our preliminary study showed that the quantitative T1 and T2 values obtained by SyMRI could distinguish effectively between benign and malignant breast lesions, and T1 relaxation time showed the highest diagnostic efficiency. Furthermore, combining the two quantitative relaxation metrics further improved their diagnostic performance.

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A different technique in gasless, laparoendoscopic, single-site myomectomy

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Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to introduce a novel technique for gasless, laparoendoscopic, single-site (GLESS) myomectomy and to evaluate its feasibility and safety.

Methods

A retrospective observational study was performed at a hospital from Sep 2017 to Nov 2018. 15 patients with symptomatic subserosal or intramural myomas underwent GLESS myomectomy.

Results

The mean age and body mass index were 41.73 ± 8.58 years and 22.72 ± 2.27 kg/m2, respectively. 5 patients had a history of abdominal surgery, including four caesarean deliveries and one myomectomy. The mean operative duration, blood loss volume, time to specimen removal, time of bowel activity and postoperative hospitalization duration were 156.47 ± 62.19 min, 57.33 ± 72.35 ml, 29.87 ± 13.6 min, 27.67 ± 10.06 h, and 3.4 ± 0.74 days, respectively. The operation was successful in all patients, there were no surgical or wound complications in any patient, and the histopathological result was leiomyoma in all 15 patients.

Conclusion

The procedure is feasible and safe in selected patients with symptomatic myomas.

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Quality assessment of a clinical next-generation sequencing melanoma panel within the Italian Melanoma Intergroup (IMI)

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Abstract

Background

Identification of somatic mutations in key oncogenes in melanoma is important to lead the effective and efficient use of personalized anticancer treatment. Conventional methods focus on few genes per run and, therefore, are unable to screen for multiple genes simultaneously. The use of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies enables sequencing of multiple cancer-driving genes in a single assay, with reduced costs and DNA quantity needed and increased mutation detection sensitivity.

Methods

We designed a customized IMI somatic gene panel for targeted sequencing of actionable melanoma mutations; this panel was tested on three different NGS platforms using 11 metastatic melanoma tissue samples in blinded manner between two EMQN quality certificated laboratory.

Results

The detection limit of our assay was set-up to a Variant Allele Frequency (VAF) of 10% with a coverage of at least 200x. All somatic variants detected by all NGS platforms with a VAF ≥ 10%, were also validated by an independent method. The IMI panel achieved a very good concordance among the three NGS platforms.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that, using the main sequencing platforms currently available in the diagnostic setting, the IMI panel can be adopted among different centers providing comparable results.

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Parathyroid carcinoma with sarcomatoid differentiation: a case report and literature review

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Abstract

Background

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is a rare thyroid tumor. PC with sarcomatoid differentiation(PCSD) is even rarer and its exact etiology remains unclear. We here report a case of PCSD, and present the clinicopathological features and pathological diagnosis and review the literature.

Case presentation

A 71-year-old man presented with a mass of 4.5 cm × 3.5 cm in the right neck. The tumor was composed of nest-like transparent cells, and the septum had heterotypic rhabdoid cells with sarcomatoid differentiation. Immunophenotype was as follows: myogenic differentiation 1(MyoD1), myogenin and desmin were positive; clear cells were positive for chromogranin A(CGA), synaptophysin(Syn) and GATA-3; and Ki-67 proliferation index was 40%. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry were performed. The patient was diagnosed with PCSD, and died 6 months after surgery.

Conclusions

PCSD is a rare type of primary parathyroid tumor with high malignancy and poor prognosis. Definitive diagnosis should be based on histopathological morphology and immunophenotype, and surgical treatment should be performed as soon as possible.

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Do bleaching gels affect the stability of the masking and caries-arresting effects of caries infiltration—in vitro

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Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different bleaching gels on the masking and caries-arresting effects of infiltrated and non-infiltrated stained artificial enamel caries lesions.

Materials and methods

Bovine enamel specimens (n = 240) with each two sound areas (SI and SC) and each two lesions (DI and DC) were infiltrated (DI and SI), stained (1:1 red wine-coffee mixture,70 days), and randomly distributed in six groups to be bleached with the following materials: 6%HP (HP-6), 16%CP (CP-16), 35%HP (HP-35), 40%HP (HP-40), and no bleaching (NBl,NBl-NBr). Subsequently, specimens were pH-cycled (28 days, 6 × 60 min demineralization/day) and all groups except NBl-NBr were brushed with toothpaste slurry (1.100 ppm, 2×/day, 10 s). Differences in colorimetric values (ΔL, ΔE) and integrated mineral loss (ΔΔZ) between baseline, infiltration, staining, bleaching, and pH cycling were calculated using photographic and transversal microradiographic images.

Results

At baseline, significant visible color differences between DI and SC were observed (ΔEbaseline = 12.2; p < 0.001; ANCOVA). After infiltration, these differences decreased significantly (ΔEinfiltration = 3.8; p < 0.001). Staining decreased and bleaching increased ΔL values significantly (p ≤ 0.001). No significant difference in ΔΔE was observed between before staining and after bleaching (ΔEbleaching = 4.3; p = 0.308) and between the bleaching agents (p = 1.000; ANCOVA). pH-cycling did not affect colorimetric values (ΔEpH-cycling = 4.0; p = 1.000). For DI, no significant change in ΔZ during in vitro period was observed (p ≥ 0.063; paired t test).

Conclusions

Under the conditions chosen, the tested materials could satisfactorily bleach infiltrated and non-infiltrated stained enamel. Furthermore, bleaching did not affect the caries-arresting effect of the infiltration.

Clinical relevance

The present study indicates that bleaching is a viable way to satisfactorily recover the appearance of discolored sound enamel and infiltrated lesions.

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Dual-energy CT collagen density mapping of wrist ligaments reveals tissue remodeling in CPPD patients: first results from a clinical cohort

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Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate differences in collagen density as detected by dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) of wrist ligaments between patients with calcium pyrophosphate-dihydrate deposition disease (CPPD) and a control group in order to gain insight into changes of the extracellular matrix in response to crystal deposition.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study included 28 patients (18 with CPPD, 10 controls) who underwent DECT of the wrist. Collagen density maps were reconstructed from the DECT datasets and used to measure densities in regions of interest (ROIs) placed in the scapholunate (SL) ligament (dorsal, palmar, proximal), lunotriquetral (LT) ligament, and extensor carpi radialis (ECR) tendon, (n = 260 measurements). The presence of calcifications on standard CT images in these regions was assessed by a blinded reader. Densities were compared with nonparametric tests, and linear regression analysis was performed to investigate the impact of age, sex, and CT- detected calcium deposition on collagen density.

Results

Collagen density in the SL ligament was significantly higher in CPPD patients than in controls (overall mean: 265.4 ± 32.1 HU vs. 196.3 ± 33.8 HU; p < 0.001). In the ECR tendon, collagen densities did not differ significantly (p = 0.672): 161.3 ± 20.1 HU in CPPD vs. 163.6 ± 12.0 HU in controls. Regression analysis showed that diagnosis, but not age or calcification, had a significant impact on collagen density.

Conclusion

Collagen density of the SL ligament is significantly higher in CPPD patients than in control patients. Further research is needed to understand these changes in the extracellular matrix of ligaments in CPPD.

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