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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Evaluate clinical and subclinical arteriosclerotic disease in older patients with hip fracture compared with patients without fracture in order to increase knowledge about the relation between both diseases in older individuals. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Age- and sex-matched case-control study of octogenarians with and without recent hip fracture. Vascular risk factors, subclinical vascular diseases (assessed by carotid plaques, carotid intima media thickness and arterial stiffness) as well as cardiovascular diseases were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate logistic models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) to assess the association of the arteriosclerosis and hip fracture. RESULTS: We analyzed 95 patients per group with a median age of 82 [79-87] years of whom 77.9% were female. Patients in both groups have elevated rates of vascular disease (25%) without differences between them. Patients with hip fracture had higher subclinical arteriosclerotic alterations with higher percentage of carotid plaques (OR 3.25 [1.06-9.97]) compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Older patients with hip fracture had significantly higher presence of subclinical alterations but not increase on rate of cardiovascular arteriosclerotic disease compared with those without hip fracture.
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Rathke's cleft cysts (RCC) are a common type of lesion found in the sellar or suprasellar area. They are usually monitored clinically, but in some cases, surgery may be required. However, their natural progression is not yet well understood, and the outcomes of surgery are uncertain. The objective of this study is to evaluate the natural history of Rathke's cleft cysts in patients who are clinically monitored without treatment, and to determine the outcomes of surgery and the incidence of recurrences over time. Design and patients: National multicentric study of patients diagnosed of Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC- Spain) from 2000 onwards and followed in 15 tertiary centers of Spain. A total of 177 patients diagnosed of RCC followed for 67.3 months (6-215) and 88 patients who underwent surgery, (81 patients underwent immediate surgery after diagnosis and 7 later for subsequent growth) followed for 68.8 months (3-235). Results: The cyst size remained stable or decreased in 73.5% (133) of the patients. Only 44 patients (24.3%) experienced a cyst increase and 9 of them (5.1%) experienced an increase greater than 3 mm. In most of the patients who underwent surgery headaches and visual alterations improved, recurrence was observed in 8 (9.1%) after a median time of 96 months, and no predictors of recurrence were discovered. Conclusions: Rathke's cleft cysts without initial compressive symptoms have a low probability of growth, so conservative management is recommended. Patients who undergo transsphenoidal surgery experience rapid clinical improvement, and recurrences are infrequent. However, they can occur after a long period of time, although no predictors of recurrence have been identified.
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Quistes del Sistema Nervioso Central , Humanos , Quistes del Sistema Nervioso Central/cirugía , Quistes del Sistema Nervioso Central/patología , Femenino , Masculino , España/epidemiología , Adulto , Persona de Mediana Edad , Adulto Joven , Adolescente , Resultado del Tratamiento , Anciano , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/cirugía , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/patología , Progresión de la Enfermedad , Estudios de Seguimiento , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/cirugía , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/epidemiología , Recurrencia Local de Neoplasia/patología , NiñoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Despite their frequency and potential impact on prognosis, cancers diagnosed via self-referral to the emergency department are poorly documented. We conducted a detailed analysis of cancer patients diagnosed following emergency self-referral and compared them with those diagnosed following emergency referral from primary care. Given the challenges associated with measuring intervals in the emergency self-referral pathway, we also aimed to provide a definition of the diagnostic interval for these cancers. METHODS: A retrospective observational analysis was performed on patients diagnosed with 13 cancers, either following emergency self-referral or emergency referral from primary care. We analysed demographics, tumour stage, clinical data (including 28 presenting symptoms categorised by body systems), and diagnostic intervals by cancer site, then testing for differences between pathways. RESULTS: Out of 3624 patients, 37â¯% were diagnosed following emergency self-referral and 63â¯% via emergency referral from primary care. Emergency self-referrals were associated with a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with cancers manifesting with localising symptoms (e.g., breast and endometrial cancer), whereas the likelihood of being diagnosed with cancers featuring nonspecific symptoms and abdominal pain (e.g., pancreatic and ovarian cancer) was higher among patients referred from primary care. Diagnostic intervals in self-referred patients were half as long as those in patients referred from primary care, with most significant differences for pancreatic cancer (28 [95â¯% CI -34 to -23] days shorter, respectively). CONCLUSION: These findings enrich the best available evidence on cancer diagnosis through emergency self-referral and showed that, compared with the emergency referral pathway from primary care, these patients had a significantly increased likelihood of presenting with symptoms that are strongly predictive of cancer. Since the starting point for the diagnostic interval in these patients is their emergency presentation, comparing it with that of those referred from primary care as an emergency is likely to result in biased data.
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PURPOSE: The symptoms with which a patient with cancer presents and the route taken to diagnosis (emergency v nonemergency) may affect the speed with which the diagnosis of cancer is made, thereby affecting outcomes. We examined time to diagnosis by symptom for cancers diagnosed through emergency and nonemergency routes (NERs). METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with 10 solid cancers at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona between March 2013 and June 2023. Cancers were diagnosed through emergency presentation and admission (inpatient emergency route [IER]), emergency presentation and outpatient referral (outpatient emergency route [OER]), and primary care presentation and outpatient referral (NER). We assessed the effect of diagnostic routes on intervals to diagnosis for 19 cancer symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 5,174 and 1,607 patients were diagnosed with cancer through emergency routes and NERs, respectively. Over 85% of patients presenting with alarm (localizing) symptoms such as hematuria through emergency routes were diagnosed with the expected cancer, whereas those with nonlocalizing symptoms such as abdominal pain had a more heterogeneous cancer-site composition. Median intervals were shorter for alarm than nonlocalizing symptoms and tended to be shorter in IERs than OERs. However, for most symptoms, intervals in both routes were invariably shorter than in the NER. For example, diagnostic intervals for hematuria and abdominal pain were 3 and 5 days shorter in IERs than OERs, but they were 5-8 and 17-22 days shorter than in the NER, respectively. CONCLUSION: For patients with alarm symptoms, intervals were shorter than for those with nonlocalizing symptoms and, for most symptoms, intervals were shorter when patients were evaluated by emergency routes rather than NERs.
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Neoplasias , Humanos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Neoplasias/complicaciones , Neoplasias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias/epidemiología , Masculino , Femenino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Anciano , Factores de Tiempo , Adulto , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital , Anciano de 80 o más AñosRESUMEN
CONTEXT: Hypoparathyroidism is a rare disorder characterized by a deficiency in PTH resulting in hypocalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and hypercalciuria. Eneboparatide is an investigational peptide agonist of the PTH1 receptor for the treatment of chronic hypoparathyroidism (HP). OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of eneboparatide in HP patients. DESIGN: Open-label, phase 2 study. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-eight patients (21 women, 7 men), mean age (range): 58 years (28-72), with HP were enrolled into 2 consecutive cohorts (C1, n = 12 and C2, n = 16). INTERVENTION: Following an optimization period, daily subcutaneous injections of eneboparatide were administered for 3 months at a 20 µg/day (C1) or 10 µg/day (C2) starting dose. Conventional therapy was progressively removed, and eneboparatide could be titrated up to 60 µg (C1) or 80 µg (C2). MAIN OUTCOMES: Proportion of patients achieving independence from conventional therapy, albumin-adjusted serum calcium (ADsCa), 24-h urine calcium (uCa), serum bone turnover markers (serum carboxy-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen and procollagen 1 intact N-terminal propeptide), bone mineral density (BMD), and adverse events (AEs). RESULTS: After 3 months, ≥ 88% of patients achieved independence from conventional therapy while mean ADsCa was maintained within target range (7.8-9â mg/dL). Eneboparatide induced a rapid and sustained reduction of mean 24-hour uCa, even among patients with hypercalciuria. Bone turnover markers slightly increased, and BMD remained unchanged, consistent with progressive resumption of physiologic bone turnover. Eneboparatide was well tolerated with no serious AEs. CONCLUSION: Eneboparatide allowed independence from conventional therapy and maintenance of serum calcium within a target range while normalizing uCa excretion and producing a balanced resumption of bone turnover.
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Hipoparatiroidismo , Receptor de Hormona Paratiroídea Tipo 1 , Humanos , Femenino , Hipoparatiroidismo/tratamiento farmacológico , Persona de Mediana Edad , Masculino , Adulto , Anciano , Receptor de Hormona Paratiroídea Tipo 1/agonistas , Densidad Ósea/efectos de los fármacos , Resultado del Tratamiento , Calcio/sangreRESUMEN
Objectives: Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist that improves glycemic control and achieves weight loss in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. Subcutaneous (s.c.) semaglutide at 1 mg once weekly (OW) is safe in T2D patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Whether or not CKD and its severity influence treatment response remains undetermined. Method: This is an observational, ambispective, multicenter, nationwide, real-world study designed to compare safety/efficacy of OW s.c. 1 mg semaglutide in T2D patients with or without CKD. The influence of CKD severity was also addressed. Patients were followed up for 12 months. Primary end-points were glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), weight, and renal outcomes. Secondary end-points included insulin resistance, atherogenic and hepatic steatosis indexes, and changes in antihyperglycemic medications. Results: A total of 296 and 190 T2D patients without or with CKD, respectively, were recruited. Baseline CKD risk was moderate, high, or very high in 82, 53, and 45 patients, respectively. Treatment reduced HbA1c by 0.90%-1.20%. Relevant differences were seen neither between non-CKD and CKD patients nor among CKD subgroups. Notable weight losses were achieved in both non-CKD and CKD patients. The median reduction was higher in the former at 6 months (5.90 kg vs. 4.50 kg, P = 0.008) and at end of study (6.90 kg vs. 5.00 kg, P = 0.087). A trend toward slightly lower weight losses as CKD severity increased was observed. CKD markers improved across all CKD subgroups. Relevant differences were not observed for other variables, either between non-CKD and CKD patients, or among CKD subgroups. Safety concerns were not reported. Conclusion: The safety/efficacy of OW s.c. semaglutide to improve glycemic control and weight in T2D patients with CKD is not notably lower than that in T2D patients without renal failure. CKD severity barely influences treatment response. OW s.c. semaglutide can be useful to manage T2D patients with CKD in daily clinical practice.
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Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2 , Insuficiencia Renal Crónica , Humanos , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/complicaciones , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/tratamiento farmacológico , Hemoglobina Glucada , Insuficiencia Renal Crónica/complicaciones , Insuficiencia Renal Crónica/tratamiento farmacológico , Pérdida de PesoRESUMEN
Current guidelines recommend temozolomide as the first-line chemotherapy for aggressive pituitary neuroendocrine tumours. However, no clinical trials have been conducted to date and clinical experience is quite limited. We retrospectively analyzed 28 patients (9 women and 19 men), aged 46.6 + 16.9, with aggressive pituitary tumours (4 pituitary carcinomas and 24 aggressive adenomas) treated with temozolomide in 10 Spanish pituitary reference centres. Four patients had Cushing's disease, 9 prolactinomas and 15 clinically non-functioning pituitary tumours (seven silent corticotroph, three silent somatotroph, one silent lactotroph, one silent gondotroph and three null-cell tumours). Median size at diagnosis was 10.5 cm3 (IQR 4.7-22.5), with cavernous sinus invasion in 88% and no metastases. Pre-temozolomide treatment, these data were 5.2 cm3 (IQR 1.9-12.3), 89.3% and 14.3% (2 intracranial and 2 spinal metastases). All patients had undergone surgery (1-5 surgeries), 25 (89.3%) had received radiotherapy (7 of them reirradiated) and 13(46.4%) had received cabergoline. One patient interrupted temozolomide prematurely. The remaining 27 patients received a median of 13 cycles (range 3-66) of 5 days every 28 days, with a mean initial dose of 265 ± 73 mg when administered alone and of 133 ± 15 mg when co-administered with radiotherapy. Eight patients (29.6%) had a significant reduction (>30%) in tumour volume and 14 (51.9%) attained tumour stabilization. After a median follow-up of 29 months (IQR 10-55), 8 out of these 22 showed disease progression. A longer progression-free survival was found in the five patients who received concomitant radiotherapy. Seven patients (25%) died (all of them because of tumour progression or complications of treatments) at 77 months (IQR 42-136) after diagnosis and 29 months (IQR 16-55) after the first dose of temozolomide. Adverse effects occurred in 18 patients (14 mild and 4 moderate or severe). In conclusion, temozolomide is an effective medical treatment for aggressive pitNET and pituitary carcinomas but is sometimes followed by tumour progression. Co-administration with radiotherapy may increase progression-free survival.
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Tumores Neuroendocrinos , Enfermedades de la Hipófisis , Neoplasias Hipofisarias , Masculino , Humanos , Femenino , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/tratamiento farmacológico , Temozolomida/uso terapéutico , España , Estudios RetrospectivosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Time intervals and number of prior consultations in primary care (PC) are recognised metrics of diagnostic timeliness of cancer and are interrelated. However, whether and how the two measures correlate with each other in the emergency diagnostic pathway is unknown. We investigated the association between the number of prereferral consultations and the length of intervals from PC presentation to cancer diagnosis following emergency referral to hospital. METHODS: Patients were eligible if they first consulted in PC and were diagnosed with cancer following emergency or nonemergency referral to hospital. We analysed for differences in PC and diagnostic intervals and number of consultations between emergency and nonemergency presenters and determined their associations by cancer type. Differences in presenting symptoms and stage at diagnosis between populations and according to number of consultations were also examined. RESULTS: There were 796 emergency and 865 nonemergency presenters with comparable sociodemographic and comorbidity data. Correlation analysis in emergency presenters revealed a strong positive association between number of consultations and intervals for seven of 13 different cancers, including cancers characterised by high proportions of > 3 consultations and long intervals (pancreatic, lung, and colorectal cancer) and vice versa for others (e.g., endometrial, cervical, or oesophageal cancer). Additionally, emergency presenters with > 3 consultations were more likely than those with 1-2 to report nonspecific symptoms (60 vs. 40%, respectively) and to be diagnosed at a later stage. CONCLUSION: System level interventions are needed to reduce unnecessary delays in the emergency diagnostic pathway, particularly in cancer patients with multiple prereferral consultations. The findings also suggest opportunities to reduce the proportion of emergency diagnoses by targeting symptomatic individuals pre-presentation.
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Detección Precoz del Cáncer , Neoplasias Esofágicas , Humanos , Diagnóstico Tardío , Derivación y Consulta , Atención Primaria de SaludRESUMEN
Background: Inappropriate medication in older patients with multimorbidity results in a greater risk of adverse drug events. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) are intended to improve medication appropriateness. One approach to improving CDSSs is to use ontologies instead of relational databases. Previously, we developed OntoPharma-an ontology-based CDSS for reducing medication prescribing errors. Objective: The primary aim was to model a domain for improving medication appropriateness in older patients (chronic patient domain). The secondary aim was to implement the version of OntoPharma containing the chronic patient domain in a hospital setting. Methods: A 4-step process was proposed. The first step was defining the domain scope. The chronic patient domain focused on improving medication appropriateness in older patients. A group of experts selected the following three use cases: medication regimen complexity, anticholinergic and sedative drug burden, and the presence of triggers for identifying possible adverse events. The second step was domain model representation. The implementation was conducted by medical informatics specialists and clinical pharmacists using Protégé-OWL (Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research). The third step was OntoPharma-driven alert module adaptation. We reused the existing framework based on SPARQL to query ontologies. The fourth step was implementing the version of OntoPharma containing the chronic patient domain in a hospital setting. Alerts generated from July to September 2022 were analyzed. Results: We proposed 6 new classes and 5 new properties, introducing the necessary changes in the ontologies previously created. An alert is shown if the Medication Regimen Complexity Index is ≥40, if the Drug Burden Index is ≥1, or if there is a trigger based on an abnormal laboratory value. A total of 364 alerts were generated for 107 patients; 154 (42.3%) alerts were accepted. Conclusions: We proposed an ontology-based approach to provide support for improving medication appropriateness in older patients with multimorbidity in a scalable, sustainable, and reusable way. The chronic patient domain was built based on our previous research, reusing the existing framework. OntoPharma has been implemented in clinical practice and generates alerts, considering the following use cases: medication regimen complexity, anticholinergic and sedative drug burden, and the presence of triggers for identifying possible adverse events.
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Aim: Evidence on time-based metrics for cancers diagnosed through emergency presentation is lacking. We examined the duration of intervals from first symptoms to cancer diagnosis in the emergency versus primary care (PC) presentation route. Methods: Retrospective study of outpatients diagnosed with 15 solid cancers over 5 years. The outcome was the length of prediagnostic intervals by diagnostic route. Results: Median intervals in emergency presenters (n = 3167) were shorter than in PC presenters (n = 2215). However, intervals in emergency presenters with three or more prior PC consultations were similar to PC but remarkably longer than in those with one or two and no consultations. Conclusion: As we provide new interval measures for the emergency diagnostic pathway, results highlight the contribution of prior consultations to interval lengths.
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Diagnóstico Tardío , Neoplasias , Humanos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Neoplasias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias/terapia , Derivación y Consulta , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
Despite extensive research on cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence on the impact on prediagnostic time intervals is lacking. To better understand how COVID-19 changed the pathway to diagnosis of cancer, we examined the length of intervals from symptom onset to diagnosis for 13 common cancer types with known clinical stage over 1-year nonpandemic period (March 2019 to March 2020; N = 844) and three biannual COVID periods (March 2020 to September 2021; N = 1172). We analyzed the patient interval (from first symptoms to presentation to a physician), the primary care/emergency department interval (from presentation with relevant symptoms to a primary care or emergency department physician to referral to a hospital-based diagnosis center) and the hospital interval (from referral to diagnosis). Compared to nonpandemic data, there were significant changes across COVID periods. The pandemic mostly impacted patient intervals for cancers diagnosed over the first 6 months after onset in March 2020. Overall median patient intervals were longest in the early COVID period (39 [IQR 22-64] days) and shortest in the nonpandemic period (20 [IQR 13-30] days; Kruskal-Wallis test [χ2 ], P < .0001). Differences in clinical stage between periods were relevant, with cancers from the mid-period (September 2020 to March 2021) showing the most advanced stage. A shift to later stage was plausibly a result of delayed intervals in the early COVID period. Since intervals are eventually relevant to prognosis, our results provide a baseline against which the impact of improvement strategies to minimize the negative outcomes of COVID-19-associated cancer delays can be assessed and implemented.
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COVID-19 , Neoplasias , Humanos , Pandemias , COVID-19/epidemiología , Estudios Retrospectivos , Vías Clínicas , Derivación y Consulta , Neoplasias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Unprotected and fragile elderly people in nursing homes experienced the highest mortality rates during the initial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to study the role of two oral anti-inflammatory drugs, colchicine and prednisone, in elderly patients with COVID-19 in geriatric centers. METHODS: A phase II/III, randomized, controlled, multicenter clinical trial was performed in a geriatric population comparing the efficacy and safety of an oral combination of prednisone (60 mg/day for 3 days) and colchicine (at loading doses of 1-1.5 mg/day for 3 days, followed by 0.5 mg/day for 11 days) with the standard treatment, based on intravenous dexamethasone. Primary endpoints assessed the efficacy in reducing death or the modified endpoint death/therapeutic failure to the study drugs over a 28-day period, while secondary endpoints included safety, laboratory changes, and additional therapies used. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients (35 female/19 male) were enrolled, 25 (46.3%) of whom were allocated to the experimental arm and 29 (53.7%) to the control arm. At day 28, no differences in deaths were observed. The combination of mortality or therapeutic failure occurred in 12 (45.13%) patients receiving dexamethasone and 6 (28.13%) patients receiving colchicine/prednisone, resulting in a reduction of risk difference (RD) of - 17% (p = 0.17), with an average reduction of 39% (risk ratio [RR] 0.61) in patients receiving colchicine/prednisone (p = 0.25). Control patients received higher amounts of additional glucocorticoids (p = 0.0095) over a longer time frame (p = 0.0003). Colchicine/prednisone significantly reduced ferritin levels at day 14, as well as D-dimer and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels at day 28. Adverse events were similar in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The combination colchicine/prednisone compared with intravenous dexamethasone has shown a remarkable trend to increase disease survival over a 28-day period in elderly patients requiring oxygen therapy in geriatric centers, without safety issues. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRY: Clinical Trials Registration Number: NCT04492358.
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Tratamiento Farmacológico de COVID-19 , Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Anciano , Prednisona/efectos adversos , Colchicina/efectos adversos , SARS-CoV-2 , Dexametasona/uso terapéutico , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: This study aims to evaluate dapagliflozin in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in clinical practice in Spain. METHODS: This is a retrospective study including adults with T2D under stable antidiabetic therapy, with either dapagliflozin or sitagliptin ≥6 months, before inclusion. Data about the effectiveness and safety of dapagliflozin are presented. RESULTS: A total of 594 patients (61.8±9.9 years, 21.7% cardiovascular disease) were included. After 6 months, HbA1c, weight, blood pressure, urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio and uric acid significantly decreased (1.63%, 2.88 kg, 4.82/2.70 mmHg, -17.38 mg/g and -0.30 mg/dL, respectively), whereas glomerular filtration rate and haematocrit significantly increased (3.72 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 1.8%, respectively). No cases of hypoglycaemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, Fournier gangrene, fractures or amputations were reported. CONCLUSION: Thus, dapagliflozin provides a comprehensive cardiometabolic protection in patients with T2D.
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To evaluate the effect of liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist, on pulmonary function and serum levels of surfactant protein D (SP-D) in type 2 diabetes. A double-blind, randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled clinical trial comprising 76 patients with a baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 s <90% of that predicted. Liraglutide was administered for 7 weeks (2 weeks of titration plus 5 weeks at 1.8 mg daily). This short duration was intentional to minimize weight loss as a potential confounding factor. Serum level of SP-D was used as a biomarker of alveolar-capillary barrier integrity. Liraglutide exerted a positive impact on forced vital capacity (FVC) in comparison with placebo (ΔFVC 5.2% of predicted [from 0.8 to 9.6]; P = 0.009). No differences in the other pulmonary variables were observed. Participants under liraglutide treatment also experienced a decrease in serum SP-D (P = 0.038). The absolute change in FVC correlated with final serum SP-D in participants receiving liraglutide (r = -0.313, P = 0.036). Stepwise multivariate regression analysis showed that final serum SP-D independently predicted changes in FVC. In conclusion, liraglutide increased FVC in patients with type 2 diabetes. This effect was associated with a significant decrease of circulating SP-D, thus pointing to a beneficial effect in the alveolar-capillary function.
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Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/tratamiento farmacológico , Liraglutida/uso terapéutico , Pulmón/efectos de los fármacos , Anciano , Glucemia/efectos de los fármacos , Glucemia/metabolismo , Estudios Cruzados , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/sangre , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/fisiopatología , Método Doble Ciego , Femenino , Control Glucémico , Humanos , Pulmón/fisiopatología , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Proteína D Asociada a Surfactante Pulmonar/sangre , España , Capacidad Vital/efectos de los fármacosRESUMEN
Although COVID-19 has had dire consequences on diagnosis of cancer, little data assessing its impact on the whole range of diagnostic activity relevant to cancer are available. We examined trends in the provision of full diagnostic tests for consecutive patients with suspected cancer referred to an academic hospital-based Quick Diagnosis Unit from January 2019 to December 2020. As weekly volumes declined, waiting times for endoscopic, imaging and biopsy/cytology procedures increased steeply during the COVID-impacted period (26 February-28 April 2020). The average weekly increase compared with the same period in 2019 was substantial for invasive procedures requiring admission (200.70%), CT scans (171.20%), GI endoscopy (161.50%), PET/CT scans (152.50%), ultrasonography (148.40%), and ambulatory biopsy/cytology procedures (111.20%). Volumes and waiting times to other procedures showed similar trends. There was a remarkable downward trend in cancer diagnosis during the COVID-impacted period, with a 54.07% reduction compared with the same weeks in 2019. Despite a modest recovery in the following months, the decline in weekly activity and cancer rates persisted until 30 December. Providing insight into how COVID-19 changed the full spectrum of diagnostic activity for suspected cancer informs resilience-building interventions to guarantee access to fast and efficient diagnostics ahead of new threats.
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OBJECTIVE: Pituitary adenomas (PA) are rare in young patients, and additional studies are needed to fully understand their pathogenesis in this population. We describe the clinical and genetic characteristics of apparently sporadic PA in a cohort of young patients. DESIGN: Clinical and molecular analysis of 235 patients (age ≤ 30 years) with PA. Clinicians from several Spanish and Chilean hospitals provided data. METHODS: Genetic screening was performed via next-generation sequencing and comparative genomic hybridization array. Clinical variables were compared among paediatric, adolescent (<19 years) and young adults' (≥19-30 years) cohorts and types of adenomas. Phenotype-genotype associations were examined. RESULTS: Among the total cohort, mean age was 17.3 years. Local mass effect symptoms were present in 22.0%, and prolactinomas were the most frequent (44.7%). Disease-causing germline variants were identified in 22 individuals (9.3%), more exactly in 13.1 and 4.7% of the populations aged between 0-19 and 19-30 years, respectively; genetically positive patients were younger at diagnosis and had larger tumour size. Healthy family carriers were also identified. CONCLUSIONS: Variants in genes associated with syndromic forms of PAs were detected in a large cohort of apparently sporadic pituitary tumours. We have identified novel variants in well-known genes and set the possibility of incomplete disease penetrance in carriers of MEN1 alterations or a limited clinical expression of the syndrome. Despite the low penetrance observed, screening of AIP and MEN1 variants in young patients and relatives is of clinical value.
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Adenoma , Neoplasias Hipofisarias , Adenoma/diagnóstico , Adenoma/epidemiología , Adenoma/genética , Adolescente , Adulto , Edad de Inicio , Niño , Preescolar , Chile/epidemiología , Estudios de Cohortes , Femenino , Frecuencia de los Genes , Estudios de Asociación Genética , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Pruebas Genéticas , Mutación de Línea Germinal , Humanos , Lactante , Recién Nacido , Pérdida de Heterocigocidad , Masculino , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/diagnóstico , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/epidemiología , Neoplasias Hipofisarias/genética , España/epidemiología , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Background: Weight reduction and glycemic control are key goals during Type 2 diabetes management. However, there are few country-specific, real-world data on cotransporter 2 inhibitors. Materials & methods: DAPA-RWE was a retrospective, multicenter study comparing the efficacy of dapagliflozin versus sitagliptin in Type 2 diabetes patients in Spain. Results: The study population comprised 1046 patients (594 with dapagliflozin, 452 with sitagliptin). Age was 61.8 ± 10.0 and 66.2 ± 11.4 years and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) 8.9 and 8.8%, respectively. The main end point (reduction in weight and HbA1c) was reached by 24.4 and 56.1% of patients, respectively; p < 0.05. This was confirmed with a propensity score matching analysis balanced for obesity-related variables at baseline. Conclusion: DAPA-RWE confirmed dapagliflozin to be more effective than sitagliptin in reducing HbA1c and weight.
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Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2 , Fosfato de Sitagliptina , Anciano , Compuestos de Bencidrilo , Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2/tratamiento farmacológico , Quimioterapia Combinada , Glucósidos , Hemoglobina Glucada , Humanos , Hipoglucemiantes/uso terapéutico , Persona de Mediana Edad , Estudios Retrospectivos , Fosfato de Sitagliptina/uso terapéutico , España , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
PURPOSE: Patients evaluated in the emergency department (ED) who have concerning symptoms suggestive of a cancer diagnosis are mostly referred to the quick diagnosis unit of our tertiary hospital. This study analyzed the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the volume, disease patterns, and accessibility to essential investigations of patients with suspected cancer referred by the ED to this unit. METHODS: Trends in referrals were analyzed from January 1 to July 8, 2020 and the corresponding dates of 2019. Only non-Covid-19 conditions were evaluated. Three time-based cohorts were defined: prepandemic (January 1-February 19), pandemic (February 19-April 22), and postpandemic (April 22-July 8). Along with descriptive statistics, linear regression was used to test for time trends with weekly referrals as the dependent variable. RESULTS: There were 384, 193, and 450 patients referred during the prepandemic, pandemic, and postpandemic periods, respectively. Following an increasing rate, referrals decreased to unprecedented levels in the pandemic period (average weekly slope: -2.1 cases), then increasing again until near normalization. Waiting times to most diagnostic procedures including radiology, endoscopic, nuclear medicine, and biopsy/cytology during the pandemic period were significantly delayed and time-to-diagnosis was considerably longer (19.72 ± 10.37 days vs. 8.33 ± 3.94 days in prepandemic and 13.49 ± 6.45 days in postpandemic period; P < 0.001 in both). Compared to other cohorts, pandemic cohort patients were more likely to have unintentional weight loss and fever of unknown origin as referral indications while anemia and lymphadenopathy were less common. Patients from the pandemic cohort had a significantly lower rate of malignancies and higher of benign gastrointestinal disorders (40.93% vs. 19.53% and 20.89% in prepandemic and postpandemic periods, respectively; P < 0.001 in both), most notably irritable bowel disease, and of mental and behavioral disorders (15.54% vs. 3.39% and 6.00% in prepandemic and postpandemic periods, respectively; P < 0.001 in both). CONCLUSIONS: As our hospital switched its traditional care to one focused on Covid-19 patients, recognized indicators of healthcare quality of quick diagnosis units were severely disrupted. The clinical patterns of presentation and diagnosis of the pandemic period suggested that mass media-generated mental and behavioral responses with distressing symptoms played a significant role in most of these patients.
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COVID-19/prevención & control , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital/tendencias , Accesibilidad a los Servicios de Salud/tendencias , Neoplasias/diagnóstico , Unidades de Diagnóstico Rápido/tendencias , Derivación y Consulta/tendencias , Adolescente , Adulto , Anciano , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Diagnóstico Tardío/tendencias , Diagnóstico Diferencial , Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital/organización & administración , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Humanos , Modelos Lineales , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Variaciones Dependientes del Observador , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Estudios Retrospectivos , España , Centros de Atención Terciaria , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
Aim: To compare by micro-costing the costs incurred by quick diagnosis units of tertiary and second-level hospitals. Patients & methods: We included 407 patients from a tertiary and secondary hospital unit. A bottom-up approach was applied. Results: Cost per patient was 577.5 ± 219.6 in the tertiary versus 394.7 ± 92.58 in the secondary unit (p = 0.0559). Mean number of visits and ratio of successive/first visits were significantly higher in the former (3.098 and 2.07 vs 2.123 and 1.12, respectively). Personnel and indirect costs including their percent contribution to overall costs accounted for the main differences. Conclusion: A greater volume of appointments, number of staff and staff time and a greater complexity of patients from the tertiary hospital unit justified the differences in cost outcomes.
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Unidades de Diagnóstico Rápido , Costos y Análisis de Costo , Humanos , Centros de Atención TerciariaRESUMEN
ABSTRACT: To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcome of octogenarians with covid-19.This is a observational, retrospective, descriptive study.Consecutive patients aged >80âyears who were admitted for covid-19 pneumonia during a 6âweeks period (March 20-April 30, 2020).Illness severity on admission was classified according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria: mild, moderate, severe, and critical. Data collected included demographics, presenting symptoms, radiological and laboratory findings, comorbidities, functional status, treatment, and clinical outcome.There were 159 patients (52.2% women) with a median age of 85.99 (IQR: 80-98). The median Barthel index was 90 (40-100) and Charlson index was 5 (5-6). Most common presenting symptoms were fever, dyspnea, and cough. Patients had mild (8.2%), moderate (52.2%), or severe (39.6%) illness according to WHO criteria. A bilateral pulmonary involvement was seen in 86% of patients. Laboratory analysis revealed increased serum concentrations of inflammatory parameters (C-reactive protein, ferritin, lactate dehydrogenase, and D-dimer) with an abnormal lymphocyte count [0.88â×â109/L (0.5)]. Treatments included corticosteroids in 37%, and biological therapies in 17.6%. Fifty three (33.3%) patients died during hospitalization, with a median time from admission to death of 3 (IQR 1-6) days. Mortality was higher in men (55%). Deceased patients had a significantly higher frequency of dyspnea, increased inflammatory parameters, and illness severity compared to survivors.One-third of octogenarians with covid-19 died during hospitalization and most had bilateral lung involvement. A further knowledge of the characteristics and outcome of this population may assist clinicians in the decision-making process in these patients.