Incidence and Prediction of Unrelated Mortality After Successful Endoscopic Eradication Therapy for Barrett's Neoplasia.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Follow-up (FU) strategies after endoscopic eradication therapy (EET) for Barrett's neoplasia do not consider the risk of mortality from causes other than esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). We aimed to evaluate this risk during long-term FU, and to assess whether the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) can predict mortality. METHODS: We included all patients with successful EET from the nationwide Barrett registry in the Netherlands. Data were merged with National Statistics for accurate mortality data. We evaluated annual mortality rates (AMRs, per 1000 person-years) and standardized mortality ratio for other-cause mortality. Performance of the CCI was evaluated by discrimination and calibration. RESULTS: We included 1154 patients with a mean age of 64 years (±9). During median 59 months (p25-p75 37-91; total 6375 person-years), 154 patients (13%) died from other causes than EAC (AMR, 24.1; 95% CI, 20.5-28.2), most commonly non-EAC cancers (n = 58), cardiovascular (n = 31), or pulmonary diseases (n = 26). Four patients died from recurrent EAC (AMR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.1-1.4). Compared with the general Dutch population, mortality was significantly increased for patients in the lowest 3 age quartiles (ie, age <71 years). Validation of CCI in our population showed good discrimination (Concordance statistic, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.72-0.84) and fair calibration. CONCLUSION: The other-cause mortality risk after successful EET was more than 40 times higher (48; 95% CI, 15-99) than the risk of EAC-related mortality. Our findings reveal that younger post-EET patients exhibit a significantly reduced life expectancy when compared with the general population. Furthermore, they emphasize the strong predictive ability of CCI for long-term mortality after EET. This straightforward scoring system can inform decisions regarding personalized FU, including appropriate cessation timing. (NL7039).

Long-term outcome following liver transplantation of patients with ACLF grade 3.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Utility, a major principle for allocation in the context of transplantation, is questioned in patients with acute-on chronic liver failure grade 3 (ACLF-3) who undergo liver transplantation (LT). We aimed to explore long-term outcomes of patients included the three-center retrospective French experience published in 2017. METHOD: All patients with ACLF-3 (n=73) as well as their transplanted matched controlled with ACLF-2 (n=145), 1 (n=119) and no ACLF (n=292) that have participated in the princeps study published in 2017 were included. We explored 5- and 10-year patient and graft survivals, causes of death and their predictive factors. RESULTS: Median follow-up of patients ACLF-3 patients was 7.5 years. At LT, median MELD was 40. In patients with ACLF-3, 2, 1 and no ACLF, 5-year patients' survivals were respectively 72.6% vs. 69.7% vs. 76.4% vs. 77.0% (p=0.31). Ten-year patients' survival ACLF-3 was 56.8% and was not different other groups (p=0.37) Leading causes of death in ACLF-3 patients were infections (33.3%), and cardiovascular events (23.3%). After exclusion of early death, UCLA futility risk score, age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index and Chronic Liver Failure Consortium ACLF score were independently associated with 10-year patients' survival. Long-term grafts' survivals were not different across the groups. Clinical frailty scale and WHO performance status improved over time in patients alive after 5 years. CONCLUSION: 5- and 10-year patients' and grafts' survivals in ACLF-3 patients were not different from their controls. 5-year patients' survival is higher than that of the 50%-70% threshold defining the utility of liver graft. Efforts should focus on candidates' selection based on comorbidities as well as the prevention of infection and cardiovascular events standing as the main cause of death. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: While short-term outcomes following liver transplantation in the most severely ill cirrhotic patients (ACLF-3) are known, long-term data are limited, raising questions about the utility of graft allocation in the context of scarce medical resources. This study provides a favorable long-term update, confirming no differences in 5- and 10-year patient and graft survival following liver transplantation in ACLF-3 patients compared to matched ACLF-2, ACLF-1, and no-ACLF patients. The study highlights the risk of dying from infection and cardiovascular causes in the long-term and identifies scores including comorbidities evaluation, such as the age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index, as independently associated with long-term survival. Therefore, physicians should consider the cumulative burden of comorbidities when deciding to transplant these patients. Additionally, after transplantation, the study encourages mitigating infectious risk with tailored immunosuppressive regimens and managing tightly cardiovascular risk over time.

Data-driven patient stratification of UK Biobank cohort suggests five endotypes of multimorbidity.

Multimorbidity generally refers to concurrent occurrence of multiple chronic conditions. These patients are inherently at high risk and often lead a poor quality of life due to delayed treatments. With the emergence of personalized medicine and stratified healthcare, there is a need to stratify patients right at the primary care setting. Here we developed multimorbidity analysis pipeline (MulMorPip), which can stratify patients into multimorbid subgroups or endotypes based on their lifetime disease diagnosis and characterize them based on demographic features and underlying disease-disease interaction networks. By implementing MulMorPip on UK Biobank cohort, we report five distinct molecular subclasses or endotypes of multimorbidity. For each patient, we calculated the existence of broad disease classes defined by Charlson's comorbidity classification using the International Classification of Diseases-10 encoding. We then applied multiple correspondence analysis in 77 524 patients from UK Biobank, who had multimorbidity of more than one disease, which resulted in five multimorbid clusters. We further validated these clusters using machine learning and were able to classify 20% model-blind test set patients with an accuracy of 97% and an average Jaccard similarity of 84%. This was followed by demographic characterization and development of interlinking disease network for each cluster to understand disease-disease interactions. Our identified five endotypes of multimorbidity draw attention to dementia, stroke and paralysis as important drivers of multimorbidity stratification. Inclusion of such patient stratification at the primary care setting can help general practitioners to better observe patients' multiple chronic conditions, their risk stratification and personalization of treatment strategies.

The nonadherence and risk factors of eradication failure by sequential therapy as first-line anti-Helicobacter pylori treatment in real-world clinical practice.

BACKGROUND: The eradication rates of sequential therapy are high in clinical trials; however, the adherence for follow-up or the patient population in a real-world setting might be different from those in trails. This study investigates the effectiveness of sequential therapy in a real-world setting and the factors that lead to treatment failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, patients receiving sequential therapy as a first-line anti-Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) treatment in a real-world setting were reviewed. The age adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (age-CCI) and baseline variety of medications were reviewed to determine factors correlated with nonadherence for post-treatment testing and H. pylori eradication failure. RESULTS: A total of 1053 patients were reviewed. A total of 579 patients receiving sequential therapy were included in the analyses. Among them, 462 received post-treatment testing and were placed into the follow-up group. Thus, the post-treatment testing rate was 79.8%. Stroke was an independent factor of nonadherence for post-treatment testing. In the follow-up group, the eradication failure rate was 8.2%. Female sex (odds ratio [OR] 2.41 [95% CI 1.16-5.03], p = 0.02) and age-CCI ≥2 (OR 3.16 [1.05-9.48], p = 0.04) were independent factors of H. pylori eradication failure. The eradication failure rates were 14.4%, 7.8%, 7.1%, and 3.1% for the females with age-CCI ≥2, females with age-CCI <2, males with age-CCI ≥2, and males with age-CCI <2 subgroups, respectively (p = 0.027). CONCLUSIONS: In a real-world setting, the adherence rate of post-treatment testing for sequential therapy as a first-line anti-H. pylori treatment was found to be suboptimal. Female sex and age-CCI ≥2 were independent factors of eradication failure.

The prognostic value of age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index in laparoscopic resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

The prognostic role of the Age-Adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) in hilar cholangiocarcinoma patients undergoing laparoscopic resection is unclear. To evaluate ACCI's effect on overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS), we gathered data from 136 patients who underwent laparoscopic resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma at Zhengzhou University People's Hospital between 1 June 2018 and 1 June 2022. ACCI scores were categorized into high ACCI (ACCI > 4.0) and low ACCI (ACCI ≤ 4.0) groups. We examined ACCI's association with OS and RFS using Cox regression analyses and developed an ACCI-based nomogram for survival prediction. Our analysis revealed that higher ACCI scores (ACCI > 4.0) (HR = 2.14, 95%CI: 1.37-3.34) were identified as an independent risk factor significantly affecting both OS and RFS in postoperative patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma (p < 0.05). TNM stage III-IV (HR = 7.42, 95%CI: 3.11-17.68), not undergoing R0 resection (HR = 1.58, 95%CI: 1.01-2.46), hemorrhage quantity > 350 mL (HR = 1.92, 95%CI: 1.24-2.97), and not receiving chemotherapy (HR = 1.89, 95%CI: 1.21-2.95) were also independent risk factors for OS. The ACCI-based nomogram accurately predicted the 1-, 2-, and 3-year OS rates, with Area Under the Curve (AUC) values of 0.818, 0.844, and 0.924, respectively. Calibration curves confirmed the nomogram's accuracy, and decision curve analysis highlighted its superior predictive performance. These findings suggest that a higher ACCI is associated with a worse prognosis in patients undergoing laparoscopic resection for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. The ACCI-based nomogram could aid clinicians in making accurate predictions about patient survival and facilitate individualized treatment planning.

Impact of Functional Status on Development of Clostridioides difficile Infection and Increase in Inhospital Mortality among Antibiotic Users.

INTRODUCTION: Functional status is one of the surrogates of advanced age, an established risk factor for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). We aimed to investigate the usefulness of functional status in the clinical management of CDI. METHODS: We enrolled all hospitalized adult patients receiving antibiotics from a retrospective hospital-based cohort in Japan between 2016 and 2020. Using the Barthel index (BI), which is an objective scale of functional status, we investigated the association of BI with developing CDI and its impact on inhospital mortality in patients with CDI. RESULTS: We enrolled 17,131 patients with 100 cases of CDI. Multivariable analysis revealed that lower BI (≤25) was an independent risk factor for developing CDI (adjusted odds ratio, 4.11; 95% confidence interval, 2.62-6.46). Furthermore, a combination of BI and Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) showed an adjusted odds ratio of 36.40 (95% confidence interval, 17.30-76.60) in the highest risk group. A high-risk group according to the combination of BI and CCI was estimated to have significantly higher inhospital mortality in patients with CDI using the Kaplan-Meier method (p = 0.017). A combination of lower BI and higher CCI was an independent predictor of inhospital mortality even in the multivariable Cox regression model (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-8.88). CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of functional status, especially combined with comorbidities, was significantly associated with developing CDI and may also be useful in predicting inhospital mortality.

A comparative analysis of Charlson's weighted index of comorbidity and perforated peptic ulcer scores in predicting postoperative mortality and high comprehensive complication index.

BACKGROUND: Limited data exists on Charlson's weighted index of comorbidity (WIC) predictability for postoperative outcomes following perforated peptic ulcer (PPU) surgery. This study assesses the utility of WIC and other predictive scores in forecasting both postoperative mortality and morbidity in PPU. MATERIALS & METHODS: Patients with PPUs operated between 2018 and 2021 in a Malaysian tertiary referral center were included. Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed for association with mortality and morbidity measured with the Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI). Predictability of WIC and other predictors were examined using area under receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). RESULTS: Among 110 patients included, 18 died (16.4%) and 36 (32.7%) had significant morbidity postoperatively (High CCI, ≥26.2). Both mortality and high CCI were associated with age >65 years, female sex, comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and renal disease), and American Society of Anesthesiologist score >2. Most patients who died had renal dysfunction, metabolic acidosis, lactate >2 mmol/L upon presentation preoperatively. While surgery >24 h after presentation correlated with mortality and high CCI, the benefit of earlier surgery <6 h or <12 h was not demonstrated. WIC (AUC, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81-0.99) showed similar predictability to Peptic Ulcer Perforation (PULP) (AUC, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.93-1.00) for mortality. PULP effectively predicted high CCI (AUC, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73-0.93; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: WIC is valuable in predicting mortality, highlighting the importance of comorbidity in risk assessment. PULP score was effective in predicting both mortality and high CCI. Early identification of patients with high perioperative risk will facilitate patients' triage for escalated care, leading to a better outcome.

Age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index is associated with the risk of osteoporosis in older fall-prone men: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: There is growing evidence linking the age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (aCCI), an assessment tool for multimorbidity, to fragility fracture and fracture-related postoperative complications. However, the role of multimorbidity in osteoporosis has not yet been thoroughly evaluated. We aimed to investigate the association between aCCI and the risk of osteoporosis in older adults at moderate to high risk of falling. METHODS: A total of 947 men were included from January 2015 to August 2022 in a hospital in Beijing, China. The aCCI was calculated by counting age and each comorbidity according to their weighted scores, and the participants were stratified into two groups by aCCI: low (aCCI < 5), and high (aCCI ≥5). The Kaplan Meier method was used to assess the cumulative incidence of osteoporosis by different levels of aCCI. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate the association of aCCI with the risk of osteoporosis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was adapted to assess the performance for aCCI in osteoporosis screening. RESULTS: At baseline, the mean age of all patients was 75.7 years, the mean BMI was 24.8 kg/m2, and 531 (56.1%) patients had high aCCI while 416 (43.9%) were having low aCCI. During a median follow-up of 6.6 years, 296 participants developed osteoporosis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that participants with high aCCI had significantly higher cumulative incidence of osteoporosis compared with those had low aCCI (log-rank test: P < 0.001). When aCCI was examined as a continuous variable, the multivariable-adjusted model showed that the osteoporosis risk increased by 12.1% (HR = 1.121, 95% CI 1.041-1.206, P = 0.002) as aCCI increased by one unit. When aCCI was changed to a categorical variable, the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios associated with different levels of aCCI [low (reference group) and high] were 1.00 and 1.557 (95% CI 1.223-1.983) for osteoporosis (P <  0.001), respectively. The aCCI (cutoff ≥5) revealed an area under ROC curve (AUC) of 0.566 (95%CI 0.527-0.605, P = 0.001) in identifying osteoporosis in older fall-prone men, with sensitivity of 64.9% and specificity of 47.9%. CONCLUSIONS: The current study indicated an association of higher aCCI with an increased risk of osteoporosis among older fall-prone men, supporting the possibility of aCCI as a marker of long-term skeletal-related adverse clinical outcomes.

Comorbidity in lipoprotein apheresis: Their role in the era of new lipid-lowering therapies.

BACKGROUND: Despite advance in pharmacotherapy of lipid disorders, lipoprotein apheresis (LA) plays a leading role in the management of severe hypercholesterolemia and in atherosclerosis prevention. METHODS: Aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), presence of major comorbidity, and/or concomitant polypharmacy (definite as 5+ drugs daily) in patients with inherited dyslipidemias on chronic LA. RESULTS: Since 1994, we performed more than 500 LA treatment/year and followed a total of 83 patients (age 56 [47-65] years, male 75%). In subjects with more than 5 years of LA treatment (38 patients, age 54 [45-62] years, male 66%), at the end of the observation time (9 [7-16] years), patients had higher CCI, polypharmacy, anemia, heart failure, peptic ulcer disease, and benign prostatic hyperplasia. DISCUSSION: Even in the era of new lipid-lowering therapies, the LA treatment established itself as a safe and lifesaving intervention. Patients on chronic LA require a multidisciplinary approach to address their comorbidity and the apheresis unit's medical staff (doctors and nurses) play a pivotal role creating a bridge toward the general practitioner and other specialists for overcoming clinical issues.

Nutrient intake and risk of multimorbidity: a prospective cohort study of 25,389 women.

BACKGROUND: Multimorbidity is becoming an increasingly serious public health challenge in the aging population. The impact of nutrients on multimorbidity remains to be determined and was explored using data from a UK cohort study. METHOD: Our research analysis is mainly based on the data collected by the United Kingdom Women's Cohort Study (UKWCS), which recruited 35,372 women aged 35-69 years at baseline (1995 to 1998), aiming to explore potential associations between diet and chronic diseases. Daily intakes of energy and nutrients were estimated using a validated 217-item food frequency questionnaire at recruitment. Multimorbidity was assessed using the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) through electronic linkages to Hospital Episode Statistics up to March 2019. Cox's proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between daily intakes of nutrients and risk of multimorbidity. Those associations were also analyzed in multinomial logistic regression as a sensitivity analysis. In addition, a stratified analysis was conducted with age 60 as the cutoff point. RESULTS: Among the 25,389 participants, 7,799 subjects (30.7%) were confirmed with multimorbidity over a median follow-up of 22 years. Compared with the lowest quintile, the highest quintile of daily intakes of energy and protein were associated with 8% and 12% increased risk of multimorbidity respectively (HR 1.08 (95% CI 1.01, 1.16), p-linearity = 0.022 for energy; 1.12 (1.04, 1.21), p-linearity = 0.003 for protein). Higher quintiles of daily intakes of vitamin C and iron had a slightly lowered risk of multimorbidity, compared to the lowest quintile. A significantly higher risk of multimorbidity was found to be linearly associated with higher intake quintiles of vitamin B12 and vitamin D (p-linearity = 0.001 and 0.002, respectively) in Cox models, which became insignificant in multinomial logistic regression. There was some evidence of effect modification by age in intakes of iron and vitamin B1 associated with the risk of multimorbidity (p-interaction = 0.006 and 0.025, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight a link between nutrient intake and multimorbidity risk. However, there is uncertainty in our results, and more research is needed before definite conclusions can be reached.

Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors in patients with lip squamous cell carcinoma after surgery.

BACKGROUND: Lip squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) was one of the most common cancer types of head and neck tumors. This study aimed to find more predictors of the prognosis in postoperative LSCC patients. METHODS: A total of 147 LSCC patients between June 2012 and June 2018 were collected from two tertiary care institutions. There were 21 clinicopathological factors included and analyzed in our study. The univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to find the independent prognostic factors for predicting progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in postoperative LSCC patients. The role of adjuvant radiotherapy in various subgroups was displayed by Kaplan-Meier plots. RESULTS: The 1-, 3-, and 5-year PFS of postoperative LSCC patients were 88.4%, 70.1%, and 57.8%, respectively. Similarly, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS of postoperative LSCC patients were 94.6%, 76.9%, and 69.4%, respectively. The results suggested that postoperative LSCC patients with age at diagnosis ≥ 70 years, grade with moderate or poor differentiate, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IV, higher systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), surgical margin < 5, and age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI) ≥ 5 tend to have a poorer PFS (all P < 0.05). Besides, postoperative LSCC patients with age at diagnosis ≥ 70 years, AJCC stage IV, higher GPS, higher SII, and ACCI ≥ 5 tend to have a worse OS (all P < 0.05). Additionally, postoperative patients with LSCC in the subgroup of ACCI < 5 and AJCC III-IV stage was more likely to benefit from adjuvant radiotherapy, but not for the other subgroups. CONCLUSION: We identified a series of significant immune-inflammation-related and comorbidity-related clinicopathological factors associated with the prognosis of postoperative LSCC patients by local data from two tertiary care institutions in China, which can be helpful for patients and surgeons to pay more attention to nutrition, inflammation, and complications and finally obtained a better prognosis.

Risk Factors Associated With Quadriceps Tendon Extensor Mechanism Disruption Following Total Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption is an infrequent but devastating complication after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Our knowledge of specific risk factors for this complication is limited by the current literature. Thus, this study aimed to identify potential risk factors for quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption following TKA. METHODS: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed using the PearlDiver Administrative Claims Database. Patients undergoing TKA without a prior history of quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption were identified. Quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption included rupture of the quadriceps tendon, patellar tendon, or fracture of the patella. Patients who had a minimum of 5 years of follow-up after TKA were included. A total of 126,819 patients were included. Among them, 517 cases of quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption occurred (incidence 0.41%). Hypothesized risk factors were compared between those who had postoperative quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption and those who did not. RESULTS: On multivariate analysis, increased Charlson Comorbidity Index (odds ratio (OR): 1.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.07 to 1.13]; P < .001), obesity (OR: 1.49, 95% CI [1.24 to 1.79]; P < .001), and fluoroquinolone use any time after TKA (OR: 1.24, 95% CI [1.01 to 1.52]; P = .036) were significantly associated with quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption. CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified the incidence of quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption following TKA as 0.41%. Identified risk factors for quadriceps tendon extensor mechanism disruption after TKA include an increased Charlson Comorbidity Index, obesity, and use of fluoroquinolones postoperatively.

Can The Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index (SII) and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) be used to predict mortality in patients with necrotizing fasciitis?

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the impact of mortality and morbidity indices on the diagnosis and prognosis of patients suffering from necrotizing fasciitis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 41 patients (26 females, 15 males) with necrotizing fasciitis (NF). The SII (Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index) was computed using the formula SII = (P × N)/L, where P, N, and L measure the counts of peripheral platelets, neutrophils, and lymphocytes, respectively. This study evaluated the clinicopathological characteristics and follow-up information to assess the comparative effectiveness of SII, CCI (Charlson Comorbidity Index), and LRINEC (Laboratory Risk Indicator for Necrotizing Fasciitis) scores as mortality and morbidity indices for patients with NF. RESULTS: The optimal cut-off for SII was determined to be 455. The SII value in the group with mortality was significantly higher compared to the group without mortality (p < 0.05). The CCI value in the group with mortality was significantly higher than the group without mortality (p < 0.05). The SII and CCI values were found to be effective in distinguishing between patients who suffered mortality and those who did not. CONCLUSION: SII is a powerful tool for predicting mortality in patients with necrotizing fasciitis (NF). The SII index provides a novel, easily accessible, and inexpensive indicator for monitoring the progress and predicting the survival of patients with NF.

Comorbidity burden and outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy for large vessel occlusion: A retrospective analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) often have an accumulation of pre-existing comorbidities, but its clinical impact on outcomes after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) remains unknown. Therefore, we examined whether comorbidity burden before AIS onset could predict clinical outcomes after MT. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort, we enrolled consecutive patients with community-onset AIS who underwent MT between April 2016 and December 2021. To evaluate each patient's comorbidity burden, we calculated Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), then classified the patients into the High CCI (≥ 3) and the Low CCI (< 3) groups. The primary outcome was a good neurological outcome at 90 days, defined as a modified Rankin scale 0-2 or no worse than the previous daily conditions. All-cause mortality at 90 days and hemorrhagic complications after MT were also compared between the two groups. We estimated the odds ratios and their confidence intervals using a multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: A total of 388 patients were enrolled, of whom 86 (22.2%) were classified into the High CCI group. Patients in the High CCI group were less likely to achieve a good neurological outcome (adjusted odds ratio of 0.26 [95% confidence interval, 0.12-0.58]). Moreover, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage was more common in the High CCI (14.0% vs. 4.6%; adjusted odds ratio, 4.10 [95% confidence interval, 1.62-10.3]). CONCLUSIONS: Comorbidity burden assessed by CCI was associated with clinical outcomes after MT. CCI has the potential to become a simple and valuable tool for predicting neurological prognosis among patients with AIS and MT.

Nomogram based on immune-inflammatory indicators and age-adjusted charlson comorbidity index score to predict prognosis of postoperative parotid gland carcinoma patients.

BACKGROUND: Parotid gland carcinoma (PGC) is a rare malignant tumor. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of immune-inflammatory-nutrition indicators and age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index score (ACCI) of PGC and develop the nomogram model for predicting prognosis. METHOD: All patients diagnosed with PGC in two tertiary hospitals, treated with surgical resection, from March 2012 to June 2018 were obtained. Potential prognostic factors were identified by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses. The nomogram models were established based on these identified independent prognostic factors. The performance of the developed prognostic model was estimated by related indexes and plots. RESULT: The study population consisted of 344 patients with PGC who underwent surgical resection, 285 patients without smoking (82.8%), and 225 patients (65.4%) with mucoepidermoid carcinoma, with a median age of 50.0 years. American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage (p < 0.001), pathology (p = 0.019), tumor location (p < 0.001), extranodal extension (ENE) (p < 0.001), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (p = 0.004), prognostic nutrition index (PNI) (p = 0.003), ACCI (p < 0.001), and Glasgow prognostic Score (GPS) (p = 0.001) were independent indicators for disease free survival (DFS). Additionally, the independent prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) including AJCC stage (p = 0.015), pathology (p = 0.004), tumor location (p < 0.001), perineural invasion (p = 0.009), ENE (p < 0.001), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) (p = 0.001), PNI (p = 0.001), ACCI (p = 0.003), and GPS (p = 0.033). The nomogram models for predicting DFS and OS in PGC patients were generated based on these independent risk factors. All nomogram models show good discriminative capability with area under curves (AUCs) over 0.8 (DFS 0.802, and OS 0.825, respectively). Decision curve analysis (DCA), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification index (NRI) show good clinical net benefit of the two nomograms in both training and validation cohorts. Kaplan-Meier survival analyses showed superior discrimination of DFS and OS in the new risk stratification system compared with the AJCC stage system. Finally, postoperative patients with PGC who underwent adjuvant radiotherapy had a better prognosis in the high-, and medium-risk subgroups (p < 0.05), but not for the low-risk subgroup. CONCLUSION: The immune-inflammatory-nutrition indicators and ACCI played an important role in both DFS and OS of PGC patients. Adjuvant radiotherapy had no benefit in the low-risk subgroup for PGC patients who underwent surgical resection. The newly established nomogram models perform well and can provide an individualized prognostic reference, which may be helpful for patients and surgeons in proper follow-up strategies.

Characteristics of COVID-19 Disease in Renal Transplant Recipients.

Background and Objectives: Kidney transplant recipients are at risk of developing more severe forms of COVID-19 infection. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical course of COVID-19 infection among kidney transplant patients and a control group. Materials and Methods: We examined 150 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infection. Patients were divided into study (kidney transplant recipients, n = 53) and control (without a history of kidney transplantation, n = 97) groups. Demographics, clinical characteristics, treatment data, and clinical outcomes were assessed. Results: The median patient age was 56.0 (46.0-64.0) years, and seventy-seven patients (51.3%) were men. The median Charlson comorbidity index was higher in the study group (3.0 vs. 2.0, p < 0.001). There was a higher incidence of hypoxemia in the control group upon arrival (52.6% vs. 22.6%, p = 0.001) and a higher NEWS index median (2.0 vs. 1.0 points, p = 0.009) and incidence of pneumonia during hospitalization (88.7% vs. 73.6%, p = 0.023). In the study group, there were more cases of mild (26.4% vs. 11.3%, p = 0.023) and critically severe forms of COVID-19 infection (26.4% vs. 3.1%, p < 0.001), kidney failure was more prevalent (34.0% vs. 1.0%, p < 0.001), and a greater number of patients were transferred to the intensive care unit (22.6% vs. 3.1%, p < 0.001) and died (18.9% vs. 1.0%, p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis revealed that treatment in the intensive care unit correlated with a higher mortality rate than transplantation itself (HR = 20.71, 95% CI 2.01-213.33, p = 0.011). Conclusions: The course of the COVID-19 disease in kidney transplant recipients is heterogeneous and can be more severe than in the general population. Even though patients may be hospitalized with fewer symptoms, complications and death are more likely to occur.

Association of high-risk comorbidity with overall survival among patients with gastric cancer and its sex-specific differences in China: a retrospective observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Concomitant diseases often occur in cancer patients and are important in decision-making regarding treatments. However, information regarding the prognostic relevance of comorbidities for mortality risk is still limited among Chinese gastric cancer (GC) patients. This study aimed to investigate the association between comorbidities and 3-year mortality risk. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 376 GC patients undergoing radical gastrectomy at the Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University from January 2011 to December 2019. Demographic and clinicopathological information and treatment outcomes were collected. Patients were divided into low-, moderate- and high-risk comorbidity groups based on their Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) and age-adjusted CCI (ACCI) scores. Kaplan-Meier survival and Cox regression analyses were used to examine 3-year overall survival (OS) and mortality risk for each group. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 43.5 months, and 40.2% (151/376) of GC patients had died at the last follow-up. There were significant differences in OS rates between ACCI-based comorbidity groups (76.56; 64.51; 54.55%, log-rank P = 0.011) but not between CCI-based comorbidity groups (log-rank P = 0.16). The high-risk comorbidity group based on the ACCI remained a significant prognostic factor for 3-year OS in multivariate analysis, with an increased mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.99; 95% CI, 1.15-3.44). Subgroup analysis revealed that this pattern only held for male GC patients but not for female patients. CONCLUSION: The present study suggested that high-risk comorbidities were significantly associated with a higher mortality risk, particularly in Chinese male GC patients. Moreover, the ACCI score was an independent prognostic factor of long-term mortality.

Utility of the frailty score for predicting prognosis and individualizing treatment intensity in elderly patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

The optimal dose intensity of chemotherapy for elderly patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains controversial because of concerns about adverse events and comorbidities related to the patients' frailty. This single-center study retrospectively analyzed patients aged ≥ 70 years who were newly diagnosed with DLBCL and received chemotherapy between 2004 and 2022. Survival outcomes and treatment-related mortality (TRM) were stratified according to geriatric assessment variables, and the influence of chemotherapy dose intensity on outcomes was assessed using the frailty score with a Cox hazards model with restricted cubic spline (RCS) in patients aged 70-79 years. In total, 337 patients were included. The frailty score accurately predicted prognosis (5-year overall survival [OS]: 73.1%, 60.2%, and 29.7% in fit, unfit, and frail patients, respectively; P < 0.001) and TRM (5-year TRM: 0%, 5.4%, and 16.8 in fit, unfit, and frail patients, respectively; P < 0.001). Cox regression with RCS demonstrated a linear association between dose intensity and survival outcomes. Initial dose intensity (IDI) and relative dose intensity (RDI) had a significant impact on OS in fit patients. However, IDI and RDI had no significant effect on survival in non-fit (unfit and frail) patients. The frailty score identified non-fit patients with poorer survival and a higher risk of TRM. While fit patients were likely to benefit from full-dose R-CHOP, unfit and frail patients would likely benefit more from attenuated R-CHOP. This study suggested a potential role for the frailty score in individualizing treatment intensity in elderly patients with DLBCL.

Liver stiffness (Fibroscan®) is a predictor of all-cause mortality in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Progressive liver fibrosis related to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with all-cause and liver-related mortality. We assessed vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) as a predictor of mortality. METHOD: Data from patients who underwent VCTE for NAFLD at four large health services in Victoria, Australia between the years 2008 and 2019 were linked to state-wide data registries. Cause of death (COD) and predictors of all-cause mortality were subsequently analysed using descriptive statistics and Cox-proportional regression analysis. RESULTS: Of 7079 VCTE records submitted for data linkage, 6341 were matched via data registry linkage. There were 217 deaths over a 22 653 person-year follow-up. COD included malignancies other than hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (18.0%, n = 39), sepsis (16.1%, n = 35), decompensated liver disease (15.2%, n = 33), cardiac disease (15.2%, n = 33) and HCC 6.0% (n = 13). Controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) was not associated with mortality in univariable analysis (HR = 1.00, CI 1.0-1.0, p = .488). Increased liver stiffness measurement (LSM) (HR 1.02 per kiloPascal, CI 1.01-1.03, p < .001), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) (HR 1.32 for each point, CI 1.27-1.38, p < .001) and age (HR 1.05 per annum, CI 1.03-1.07, p < .001) were each associated with higher rates of all-cause mortality in multivariable analysis. LSM ≥10 kPa suggestive of compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) was associated with mortality in multivariable analysis (HR 2.31, CI 1.73-3.09, p < .001). CONCLUSION: VCTE LSM, in addition to age and CCI, is independently associated with increased all-cause mortality in a large cohort with NAFLD.

Using the deformity index of vital structures to predict outcome of patients with large vestibular schwannomas after Gamma Knife radiosurgery.

PURPOSE: Microsurgery is the mainstay of treatment for large vestibular schwannomas (VS), but the benefits of radiosurgery remain incompletely defined. Here, we aim to use automated volumetric analysis software to quantify the degree of brain stem deformity to predict long-term outcomes of patients with large VS following GKRS. METHODS: Between 2003 and 2020, 39 patients with large VS (volume > 8 cc) undergoing GKRS with a margin dose of 10-12 Gy were analyzed. The reconstruction 3D MRI was used to evaluate the extent of deformity for predicting the long-term outcome of patients. RESULTS: Their mean tumor volume was 13.7 ± 6.3 cc, and their mean follow-up after GKRS was 86.7 ± 65.3 months. Favorable clinical outcome was observed in 26 (66.7%) patients, while 13 (33.3%) patients had treatment failure. Patients with small tumor volumes, low vital structure deformity indice [(TV/(BSV + CerV) and (TV + EV)/(BSV + CerV)], and long distance of tumor to the central line were more likely to have favorable clinical outcome after GKRS. Significant prognostic value was with tumor shrinkage ratio (< 50%) were CV, CV/TV, TV/CerV, (TV + EV)/(BSV + CerV), and the distance of tumor to the central line. In cox regression, favorable clinical outcome was correlated with the Charlson comorbidity index and cochlear dosage (both p < 0.05). In multivariant analysis, tumor regression was highly correlated with the CV/TV ratio (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The brainstem deformity ratio is likely a useful index to assess the clinical and tumor regression outcomes. Clinical outcomes are multifactorial and the tumor regression was highly correlated with the ratio of cystic components.