Triple Jeopardy in Oral Health: Additive Effects of Immigrant Status, Education, and Neighborhood.

PURPOSE: To estimate the additive effects of parent's nativity status/language spoken at country of birth, education, and area-level socioeconomic status (SES) on untreated dental caries among children aged 5 to 9 y in Australia. METHODS: Cross-sectional population-based data were obtained from the 2014 National Child Oral Health Study (N = 12,140). Indicators of social position used to explore additive effects on dental caries included nativity status, language, university degree, and neighborhood socioeconomic level. Multiple-way interactions were examined, and departure from additivity resulting from 2- and 3-way interactions were estimated as relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI). RESULTS: Children marginalized across multiple layers of disadvantage had substantially higher frequencies of dental caries compared with children in the most advantaged category. RERI for the 3-way interaction between immigrant status, education, and neighborhood SES was negative (RERI3: -0.14; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.68, 1.40). When operationalizing language, education, and neighborhood SES, the joint effect of the 3 marginalized positions was additive (RERI3: 0.43; 95% CI: -2.08, 2.95). CONCLUSION: Children marginalized across multiple intersecting axes of disadvantage bear the greatest burden of dental caries, with frequencies surpassing the cumulative effect of each social position alone. Findings emphasize the need to account for intersecting inequities and their oral health effects among children with immigrant backgrounds. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: Our analysis underscores the necessity for policies and public health strategies targeting dental caries-related inequities to comprehensively account for various indicators of social disadvantage, particularly encompassing language proficiency, educational attainment, and neighborhood socioeconomic status. Within the intricate interplay of these factors, we identify a vulnerable subgroup comprising children with the highest prevalence of dental decay. Therefore, prioritizing this specific demographic should be the focal point of policies and public health initiatives aimed at fostering equitable oral health outcomes.

The Relations between Systems of Oppression and Oral Care Access in the United States.

We applied a structural intersectionality approach to cross-sectionally examine the relationships between macro-level systems of oppression, their intersections, and access to oral care in the United States. Whether and the extent to which the provision of government-funded dental services attenuates the emerging patterns of associations was also assessed in the study. To accomplish these objectives, individual-level information from over 300,000 respondents of the 2010 US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System was linked with state-level data for 2000 and 2010 on structural racism, structural sexism, and income inequality, as provided by Homan et al. Using multilevel models, we investigated the relationships between systems of oppression and restricted access to oral health services among respondents at the intersections of race, gender, and poverty. The degree to which extended provision of government-funded dental services weakens the observed associations was determined in models stratified by state-level coverage of oral care. Our analyses bring to the fore intersectional groups (e.g., non-Hispanic Black women and men below the poverty line) with the highest odds of not seeing a dentist in the previous year. We also show that residing in states where high levels of structural sexism and income inequality intersect was associated with 1.3 greater odds (95% confidence interval, 1.1-1.5) of not accessing dental services in the 12 mo preceding the survey. Stratified analyses demonstrated that a more extensive provision of government-funded dental services attenuates associations between structural oppressions and restricted access to oral health care. On the basis of these and other findings, we urge researchers and health care planners to increase access to dental services in more effective and inclusive ways. Most important, we show that counteracting structural drivers of inequities in dental services access entails providing dental care for all.

Self-rated oral and general health among Aboriginal adults in regional South Australia.

BACKGROUND: In Australia, Aboriginal adults experience higher levels of poor oral and general health than the non-Aboriginal population. This study compared self-rated oral and general health among Aboriginal adults in regional South Australia with participants in the National Survey of Adult Oral Health (NSAOH). METHODS: Data were obtained from the Indigenous Oral Health Literacy Project (IOHLP) based in South Australia. Three sub-populations from the NSAOH were utilised for comparison: National Aboriginal, National non-Aboriginal and South Australian Regional Non-Aboriginal adults. All data were standardised by age group and sex, utilising Census data. RESULTS: Just over 70% of South Australian Regional Aboriginal participants gave a rating of 'excellent, very good or good' for general health, more than 17% lower than each of the other groups. Just over 50% rated their oral health highly, 20% fewer than the proportion for each other group. Stratifying by key socio-demographic factors did not account for all differences. CONCLUSIONS: Proportionally fewer South Australian Regional Aboriginal adults had high ratings of oral and general health than the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults from the national survey, indicating that national-level data might underestimate the proportion of regional Aboriginal Australians with poor oral health.

Racism and oral health inequities among Indigenous Australians.

Racial discrimination, which can be structural, interpersonal and intrapersonal, has causal links with oral health morbidity (dental caries, periodontal disease) and mortality (tooth loss). Racism impacts on oral health in three main ways: (1) institutional racism creates differential access to oral health services; (2) cultural racism, which is structurally pervasive, results in poorer psychological and physiological wellbeing of those discriminated against and; (3) interpersonal racism undermines important dental health service provider-patient relationships. Indigenous Australians have experienced sustained racial discrimination since European colonisation in the 1780s. This includes Government policies of land and custom theft, assimilation, child removal and restrictions on Indigenous people's civil rights, residence, mobility and employment. Australia failed to enumerate Indigenous people in the Census until 1967, with the 'White Australia' policy only ending in 1973. In our paper we posit that all minority groups experience racial discrimination that impacts oral health, but that this is amplified among Indigenous groups in Australia because of ongoing legacies of colonialism, institutional racism and intergenerational trauma.

Oral Health Inequalities among Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Children.

INTRODUCTION: Our ability to address child oral health inequalities would be greatly facilitated by a more nuanced understanding of whether underlying disease experience or treatment opportunities account for a larger share of differences between social groups. This is particularly relevant in the context of population subgroups who are socially marginalized, such as Australia's Indigenous population. The decayed, missing, and filled (dmf) surfaces index is at once a reflection of dental caries experience (d) and its management (m and f). OBJECTIVES: To 1) describe socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries experience and its management among Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and 2) compare these inequalities using absolute and relative measures. METHODS: Data were from the Australian National Child Oral Health Study 2012-2014. Absolute and relative income inequalities were assessed for overall dmfs and its individual components (ds, ms, fs) using adjusted means and health disparity indices (Slope Index of Inequality [SII] and Relative Index of Inequality [RII]). RESULTS: Mean dmfs among Indigenous children aged 5 to 10 y was 6.4 (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.4-7.4), ranging from 2.3 in the highest to 9.1 in the lowest income group. Mean dmfs among non-Indigenous children was 2.9 (95% CI, 2.8-3.1), ranging from 1.9 in the highest to 4.2 in the lowest income group. Age- and gender-adjusted social gradients for Indigenous children were evident across all dmfs components but were particularly notable for ds (SII = -4.6, RII = -1.7) and fs (SII = -3.2, RII = -1.5). The social gradients for non-Indigenous children were much lower in magnitude: ds (SII = -1.8, RII = -1.6) and fs (SII = -0.7, RII = -0.5). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage may translate into both higher disease experience and increased use of dental services for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups, with the social gradients being much more amplified among Indigenous children. KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER STATEMENT: The findings of this study demonstrate the magnitude of disparities in dental caries among children by population groups in Australia. Our results suggest that the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantage and poor oral health is more deleterious among Indigenous than non-Indigenous children. Tackling upstream determinants of health might not only affect population patterns of health and disease but also mitigate the overwhelming racial inequalities in oral health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Examining Bias and Reporting in Oral Health Prediction Modeling Studies.

Recent efforts to improve the reliability and efficiency of scientific research have caught the attention of researchers conducting prediction modeling studies (PMSs). Use of prediction models in oral health has become more common over the past decades for predicting the risk of diseases and treatment outcomes. Risk of bias and insufficient reporting present challenges to the reproducibility and implementation of these models. A recent tool for bias assessment and a reporting guideline-PROBAST (Prediction Model Risk of Bias Assessment Tool) and TRIPOD (Transparent Reporting of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis)-have been proposed to guide researchers in the development and reporting of PMSs, but their application has been limited. Following the standards proposed in these tools and a systematic review approach, a literature search was carried out in PubMed to identify oral health PMSs published in dental, epidemiologic, and biostatistical journals. Risk of bias and transparency of reporting were assessed with PROBAST and TRIPOD. Among 2,881 papers identified, 34 studies containing 58 models were included. The most investigated outcomes were periodontal diseases (42%) and oral cancers (30%). Seventy-five percent of the studies were susceptible to at least 4 of 20 sources of bias, including measurement error in predictors (n = 12) and/or outcome (n = 7), omitting samples with missing data (n = 10), selecting variables based on univariate analyses (n = 9), overfitting (n = 13), and lack of model performance assessment (n = 24). Based on TRIPOD, at least 5 of 31 items were inadequately reported in 95% of the studies. These items included sampling approaches (n = 15), participant eligibility criteria (n = 6), and model-building procedures (n = 16). There was a general lack of transparent reporting and identification of bias across the studies. Application of the recommendations proposed in PROBAST and TRIPOD can benefit future research and improve the reproducibility and applicability of prediction models in oral health.

Hipertensión arterial pulmonar en pediatría / Pulmonary arterial hypertensión in children

La hipertensión arterial pulmonar (HAP) en pediatría comparte características comunes de la enfermedad en adultos, pero está asociada con varios trastornos y desafíos adicionales que requieren enfoques diferentes. En este artículo se analizan los avances recientes, los desafíos actuales y los distintos enfoques para el cuidado de niños con HAP. Se actualizan la definición, epidemiología, clasificación, diagnóstico y tratamiento. Se plantea el uso del cateterismo cardíaco como diagnóstico y las definiciones hemodinámicas de HAP, incluido el test de vasorreactividad. Se proporcionan actualizaciones sobre los enfoques pediátricos específicos del manejo médico e intervencionista de la HAP (incluyendo la derivación de Potts). Aunque la falta de datos de ensayos clínicos para el uso de la terapia dirigida a la HAP, los datos emergentes están mejorando la identificación de objetivos adecuados para la terapia orientada a objetivos en niños.(AU)

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in children shares the typical features of the disease in adults, but is associated with different disorders and additional challenges that require different approaches. This article discusses recent developments, current challenges, and different approaches to PAH care in children. Definition, epidemiology, classification, diagnosis, and treatment are updated. The use of cardiac catheterization as a diagnostic tool and hemodynamic definitions of PAH are proposed, including the vasoreactivity test. Updates are provided on specific pediatric approaches to the medical and interventional management of PAH (including Potts shunt). In spite of the lack of clinical trial data for the use of PAH-targeted therapy, emerging data are improving the identification of appropriate targets for therapy in children (AU)

A scoping review of caries risk management protocols in Australia and New Zealand.

To identify and map the caries risk management protocols with multiple strategies, which were used in Australia and New Zealand and reported in the existing literature, a scoping review was carried out by electronically searching PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase and Dentistry and Oral Science. Studies on caries risk management protocols, written in English, limited to Australia and New Zealand and published up to March 2018 were included in the review. There was no restriction on participants' age. Of 257 studies identified, seven were included in the review. These seven studies were reported in Australia and all but six were based on the caries management system (CMS). There were two descriptive studies, one 3-year multicentre cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT), one 2 to 4-year post-RCT follow-up and two cost-effective evaluations based on Markov decision analytic models. While concentrating on assessing individual behavioural risk factors for dental caries, studies indicated that the CMS would be more cost-effective if its protocol was properly adhered to. Future studies on caries risk management protocols are suggested to consider both the individual characteristics and the social context of different population groups in view of enhancing the effectiveness of oral care.

Oral Conditions and Health-Related Quality of Life: A Systematic Review.

The objective of this study was to verify whether oral conditions (tooth loss, periodontal disease, dental caries) are negatively associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adults. A search was carried out on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, and LILACS databases until the end of July 2016 with no date restrictions. Quantitative observational studies written in English were included and data extraction was performed independently by 2 reviewers. HRQoL was investigated as the outcome, and tooth loss, periodontal diseases, and dental caries were exposures. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were used and the quality of the selected studies was assessed by using the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics assessment and review instrument (JBI-MAStARI). Twenty-one studies were included. The sample sizes ranged from 88 to 15,501 subjects; 20 studies were cross-sectional designs, while 1 was a case-control study. Case definitions of the exposures were different across the studies, mainly for tooth loss, which was defined according to 11 different criteria. Fifteen studies were of "high" and 6 of "medium" quality. Eight HRQoL instruments were identified, and the most frequent was the EuroQol ( n = 8). Ten of 16 studies reported a negative impact of tooth loss on HRQoL. Four of 7 studies reported that periodontal disease impairs HRQoL, and 1 study showed that periodontal disease is positively associated with HRQoL. All studies that assessed dental caries reported a negative association between this condition and HRQoL. Despite the different definitions and measures of tooth loss and dental caries, the majority of the available evidence reported a negative impact of these conditions on HRQoL. Mixed and inconclusive findings were observed for the association between periodontal disease and HRQoL. Longitudinal prospective studies are suggested to improve the strength of the findings.

Reduced neorectal capacitance is a more important factor for impaired defecatory function after rectal resection than the anal sphincter pressure.

OBJECTIVE: The role of the diverse anorectal diagnostic tools like manometry and determination of the preception threshold and the maximal tolerable volume is still a matter of debate. Currently, there is a scarcity of physiological data in the long-term follow-up of patients who underwent sphincter-preserving rectal resection. The aim of this study was therefore to perform these anorectal physiological measurements and to correlate the determined parameters with a faecal incontinence score. METHOD: In 45 patients, anorectal manometry, electromyography (EMG) and neorectal volume measurements were performed 21.6 +/- 1.4 months after rectal resection. Additionally, patients answered questions to help in the determination of a modified faecal incontinence score. RESULTS: More than half of the patients had more than four bowel movements per day and suffered from defecatory urgency, evacuation and discrimination problems. Manometric data were not related to any functional deficits. In contrast, perception threshold and maximal tolerable volume were correlated with the faecal incontinence score. CONCLUSION: Defecatory problems especially after radiochemotherapy are still common after rectal resection and the satisfactory functionality post resection should not be oversimplified to just the number of bowel movements. A precondition of an adequate defecation is not only the integrity of the sphincter muscles, but also the recovery of the rectal reservoir function.

Apoptosis en trasplante de pulmón. Influencia del lavado y la reperfusión del órgano / Apoptosis in lung transplantation. Influence of lavage and reperfusion on the organ

Objetivo: Determinar el rol de la irrigación con soluciones de preservación, la reperfusión y el rechazo en la apoptosis pulmonar en un escenario de trasplante pulmonar. Material y método: Venticuatro cerdos Landrace con un peso de 15 a 30 kilogramos fueron usados como donantes y receptores en un modelo de trasplante pulmonar izquierdo, con 5 días de sobrevida. Las muestras se obtuvieron en la siguiente secuencia: 1A: Donante, pulmón izquierdo inmediatamente luego de la apertura del torax. 1B: donante, pulmón derecho, inmediatamente luego de la apertura del tórax. 2A: Donante pulmón izquierdo, inmediatamente luego de la irrigación del organo. 2B Donante, pulmón derecho, sin irrigar. 3A: Pulmón izquierdo implantado, 1 hora luego de reperfundido en el receptor . 3B: Pulmón derecho (nativo), 1 hora luego de reperfundido el pulmón donante en el receptor. 4A: Pulmón izquierdo, biopsia transbronquial a las 48 horas postrasplante. 4B: Pulmón derecho, biopsia transbronquial a las 48 horas postransplante. 5A: Púlmón izquierdo, 5º día postrasplante (sacrificio). Todos los pulmones fueron irrigados con solución de Euro-Collins fría (4Cº) durante la ablación. Seis receptores no recibieron inmunosupresión y otros 6 receptores recibieron 15 mg/KG/ día de ciclosporina intravenosa. Los niveles plasmáticos de ciclosporina fueron dosados en tiempo 0 al 2º y 5º día postrasplante. Cada muestra fue analizada por un observador ciego para determinar el grado de rechazo (A0 y A1 negativo. A2. A3 y A4 positivo), proliferación celular, y el índice de apaptosis en neumonocitos I y II empleando la técnica de TUNEL y Caspasa. Las pruebas de Chi cuadrado; prueba de t de student y kruskal Wallis fueron utilizadas para el análisis estadístico. Se consideró significativo un valor de p menor a 0.05. Resultados: El grado de rechazo fue negativo en todas las muestras excepto en 4A (1 animal) y 5A (5 animales sin ciclosporina y 3 animales de los que recibieron ciclosporina) (p<0.05)

[Intraarterial thrombolysis in acute limb ischaemia: alternative treatment and basic principles of further interventions]. / Lokale Lyse bei akuter peripherer Extremitätenischämie: Therapiealternative und Grundlage weiterer Interventionen.

INTRODUCTION: Intraarterial thrombolysis of acute arterial occlusions in the lower limbs is an established therapeutic procedure. However, its value as a primary treatment is discussed controversially and it is mostly seen as a competing procedure to primary vascular surgical interventions. METHODS: From January 2001 to December 2004, we performed a total of 132 intraarterial thrombolysis procedures in 112 patients with acute or subacute ischaemia of the lower limbs. In the majority of the cases, there was an ischaemia of stage I or II a according to Rutherford, a few further cases were in stage II b at the start of treatment. The patients' ages at the time of thrombolysis was 64.7+/-11.3 years (mean value+/-standard deviation, range: 27-91 years). There were 46 female and 86 male patients. RESULTS: The average duration of thrombolysis was 35.2+/-20.8 hours (mean+/-standard deviation, range: 6-142 hours). As median 2 (range: 0-8) angiographic controls were performed. In 100 cases (75.8%), an operation could be avoided by thrombolysis alone or in combination with an supplementary intervention. On the other hand, in 32 cases (24.2%) a subsequent operative therapy including 10 major amputations (7.6%) was necessary. Because of hemorrhagic complications, 15 thrombolysis procedures (11.4%) had to be terminated prematurely but only 2 patients required an inguinal revision. Therapy-related mortality was 0.8% (1 patient). CONCLUSION: In the majority of our patients, primary intraarterial thrombolysis was successful and often led to the discovery of the underlying vascular lesion. It can serve both as a therapeutic alternative to a primary vascular surgical intervention and as the foundation further interventional or vascular surgical therapies although this cannot always be predicted for individual cases.

Complications after transanal endoscopic microsurgical resection correlate with location of rectal neoplasms.

PURPOSE: Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM) is a technique that has found its place in routine practice due to its minimal invasive character and associated low morbidity. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of anatomical variables of rectal neoplasms as well as surgeon experience on postoperative complications in patients undergoing TEM at a tertiary care center. METHODS: Data from 288 patients undergoing TEM over a 16 year period were entered in a prospective data base. Anatomical data of rectal neoplasms, operative data, and early postoperative outcome were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Overall surgical complications [OR 7.0 (1.5-45,5); p < 0.01] and bleeding [OR 222 (82 - 14316); p < 0.01] correlated with the localization of the neoplasm on the lateral wall of the rectum. Furthermore there was a trend for more surgical overall complications as well as bleeding in neoplasms with a diameter of >2 cm and neoplasms located >8 cm from the anal verge. Complications did not correlate with the number of TEM procedures performed. CONCLUSION: TEM resection of neoplasms located on the lateral rectal wall have a higher risk of bleeding. The learning curve for transanal endoscopic microsurgery appears to be negligible in surgeons with experience in minimal invasive surgery.

[Surgery of complicated gastroduodenal ulcers: outcome at the millennium]. / Chirurgie des komplizierten gastroduodenalen Ulkus: Eine Standortbestimmung zur Jahrtausendwende.

INTRODUCTION: Complications of gastroduodenal ulcers such as bleeding and perforation have been afflicted with a mortality of up to 40 % in the past. Altered ulcer manifestation by improvement of medical treatment as well as advances in surgical techniques and intensive care medicine might currently have improved the outcome of these severely ill patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 73 patients with emergency operation for bleeding or perforated gastric (n = 50) and duodenal ulcer (n = 23) between 10/1994 and 7/2001 was performed. RESULTS: The median age was 58 years (17-90 years) with 30 % of patients exceeding the age of 70 years. Eighty-one percent of patients had perforation, 19 % had bleeding. Factors predisposing for gastroduodenal ulcers were present in 88 %. Five percent of gastric perforations were due to gastric malignancies. Diagnosis of perforation was made in 88 % by conventional X-rays, in 12 % of perforations no free abdominal gas was detectable. A local surgical procedure (excision of ulcer and sutures/pyloroplasty) was performed in 64/73 patients (88 %), partial gastroduodenal resection was necessary in 9 patients (12 %). Histologic examination for helicobacter pylori was positive in 30/39 specimens (77 %). In-hospital mortality was 14 %, both for patients with bleeding and perforated ulcers. Surgical complications were 12 %. DISCUSSION: Altered ulcer manifestation, minimized surgical therapy and improved intensive care medicine led to a recent reduction in postoperative mortality of patients suffering from perforated or bleeding gastroduodenal ulcer. A further reduction of this still high mortality might be expected by improvement of surgical training and/or restriction of therapy to a limited number of surgeons.