Diagnostic dilemma of granulomatous inflammation in cancer patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of granulomatous inflammation on histopathological findings amongst cancer patients and correlating them with tuberculosis. METHODS: The retrospective review was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised medical records of cancer patients with a histopathological finding of granulomatous inflammation between January 2010 and December 2015. Data was reviewed, including clinical history, availability of acid fast bacilli stain on tissue and mycobacterium tuberculosis culture results. Data related to treatment, duration and outcomes was also reviewed and was analysed using SPSS 19. RESULTS: Out of 28690 cancer patients during the study period, 17345(60.4%) had undergone biopsy for different reasons, and of those, 78 (0.45%) had granulomatous inflammation and formed the study sample. Among them, 40(51.3%) patients had caseous granulomatous inflammation while 38 (48.7%) had non-caseous granulomas. Acid fast bacillus tissue stain was performed on 77(98.7%) patients, of whom only 9 (11.5%) specimens showed acid fast bacilli. Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture was performed on 53(68%) specimens and among them 13(16.7%) grew mycobacterium tuberculosis. Anti-tuberculosis treatment was offered to 38 (48.7%) patients, including those with positive AFB stain and MTB culture results. Of them, 32(41%) patients completed the treatment while 4(5.1%) defaulted and 2(2.6%) died. Symptomatic and radiological improvement was observed in 16(20.5%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: Granulomatous inflammation was infrequently encountered in cancer patients. Mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures assisted in definitive decision-making but granulomatous inflammation could not be anticipated when the specimens were initially processed except when visible caseation was encountered. Processing specimens for mycobacterium tuberculosis cultures when caseation was encountered may be a reasonable strategy to adopt.

Preferences regarding disclosure of prognosis and end-of-life care: A survey of cancer patients with advanced disease in a lower-middle-income country.

BACKGROUND: Cancer patients' preferences regarding disclosure of prognosis and end-of-life care remain under-reported from low- and middle-income countries where cancer poses an increasing demand on scarce healthcare resources. A better knowledge of these preferences can help in achievement of shared treatment goals. AIM: To survey preferences of adult cancer patients regarding disclosure of prognosis and end-of-life care DESIGN: A multidimensional questionnaire was developed to survey consecutively sampled patients. A fifth of the participants completed a repeat survey 3 months later. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients at a specialist cancer center in Pakistan. RESULTS: In total, 520 patients were surveyed initially (participation rate 98.6%) and 100 completed the repeat survey. Three in five respondents wanted a healthcare provider to give them detailed information about their prognosis and life expectancy. Those who wanted information withheld were significantly more likely to be female, to have a lower socioeconomic status, or to have lung cancer. Only two in five patients agreed that they wanted to die at home and more than 90% wanted all possible care till end-of-life. Yet, a little over half also agreed that they did not wish to be placed on a ventilator. In rank ordering preferences about end-of-life, respondents ranked "religious wellbeing" as the highest and "avoiding inappropriate prolongation of dying" as the lowest of six options. CONCLUSION: A majority of adult cancer patients surveyed in this study wanted a truthful disclosure about their disease prognosis and expressed a preference for hospital-based care at end-of-life. Healthcare providers should find ways to tailor prognostic information to patients' expressed information needs.

Using vignettes to assess contributions to the work of addressing child mental health problems in primary care.

BACKGROUND: To further efforts to integrate mental health and primary care, this study develops a novel approach to quantifying the amount and sources of work involved in shifting care for common mental health problems to pediatric primary care providers. METHODS: Email/web-based survey of a convenience sample (n = 58) of Maryland pediatricians (77% female, 58% at their site 10 or more years; 44% in private practice, 52 % urban, 48 % practicing with a co-located mental health provider). Participants were asked to review 11 vignettes, which described primary care management of child/youth mental health problems, and rate them on an integer-based ordinal scale for the overall amount of work involved compared to a 12th reference vignette describing an uncomplicated case of ADHD. Respondents were also asked to indicate factors (time, effort, stress) accounting for their ratings. Vignettes presented combinations of three diagnoses (ADHD, anxiety, and depression) and three factors (medical co-morbidity, psychiatric co-morbidity, and difficult families) reported to complicate mental health care. The reference case was pre-assigned a work value of 2. Estimates of the relationship of diagnosis and complicating factors with workload were obtained using linear regression, with random effects at the respondent level. RESULTS: The 58 pediatricians gave 593 vignette responses. Depression was associated with a 1.09 unit (about 50%) increase in work (95% CL .94, 1.25), while anxiety did not differ significantly from the reference case of uncomplicated ADHD (p = .28). Although all three complicating factors increased work ratings compared with the reference case, family complexity and psychiatric co-morbidity did so the most (.87 and 1.07 units, respectively, P < .001) while medical co-morbidity increased it the least (.44 units, p < .001). Factors most strongly associated with increased overall work were physician time, physician mental effort, and stress; those least strongly associated were staff time, physician physical effort, and malpractice risk. Pediatricians working with co-located mental health providers gave higher work ratings than did those without co-located staff. CONCLUSIONS: Both diagnosis and cross-diagnosis complicating factors contribute to the work involved in providing mental health services in primary care. Vignette studies may facilitate understanding which mental health services can be most readily incorporated into primary care as it is presently structured and help guide the design of training programs and other implementation strategies.

Workplace Violence and Self-reported Psychological Health: Coping with Post-traumatic Stress, Mental Distress, and Burnout among Physicians Working in the Emergency Departments Compared to Other Specialties in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the mental health impact of workplace violence (WPV) among emergency physicians (EPs) working in emergency departments (EDs) in Pakistan and whether this impact varies across specialties. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to measure the prevalence of WPV among EPs in 4 of the largest hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan; to measure the association between the experience of WPV and self-report of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and burnout; to compare the same factors across medical specialties; and to explore the coping strategies used by physicians in dealing with job-related stressors. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 179 physicians from 5 specialties (response rate, 92.2%) using standard questionnaires for WPV, PTSD, burnout, current mental distress, and methods of coping. RESULTS: One in 6 physicians reported experiencing a physical attack and 3 in 5 verbal abuse on the job in the previous 12 months. Pathologists were less likely to report any form of WPV compared to all other specialties. There was, however, no difference in experience of WPV between EPs and internists, surgeons, or pediatricians. One in 6 physicians screened positive for PTSD, and 2 in 5 for current anxiety and depression. There was significant comorbidity of mental distress with PTSD. Those who reported experiencing physical attack were 6.7 times more likely to report PTSD symptoms. We also found high rates of burnout (42.4% emotional exhaustion; 72.9% depersonalization) among physicians. CONCLUSION: Experience of WPV was not uniform across specialties but was generally high among Pakistani physicians. Prevention of WPV should be a high priority for health care policy makers.

Risk factors and clinical outcomes for vancomycin-resistant enterococcus bacteraemia in hospitalised cancer patients in Pakistan: A case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk factors and outcomes of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus with vancomycin-sensitive enterococcus bacteraemia among hospitalised cancer patients. METHODS: The retrospective, case-control study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised data of cancer patients whose blood culture grew either vancomycin-sensitive or vancomycin-resistant enterococcus from January 2012 to December 2014. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the factors associated with the development of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus bacteraemia and 12-week mortality. Stata 11 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 138 cases, 111(80%) were selected, of which 46(41.44%) were of vancomycin-resistant and 65(58.55%) were of vancomycin-sensitive enterococcus. Length of hospital stay prior to bacteraemia (adjusted odds ratio 1.18; 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.28) and use of vancomycin 30 days before the onset of bacteraemia (adjusted odds ratio 9.4; 95% confidence interval 1.70-52.19) were significant risk factors for the development of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus bacteraemia. The overall 12-week mortality rate was 29(63%) for patients with vancomycin-resistant bacteraemia and 28(43.1%) for vancomycin-sensitive enterococcus bacteraemia patients. Risk factors for mortality included the presence of shock at the time of the onset of bacteraemia (adjusted odds ratio 32.91; 95% confidence interval 3.02-358.81). CONCLUSIONS: The length of hospital stay and prior exposure to vancomycin were significant risk factors for the occurrence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus bacteraemia.

Clinical features and outcomes of Candidaemia in cancer patients: Results from Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinical risk factors and outcomes among cancer patients with candidaemia at a large cancer treatment centre. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised data related to all cancer patients with a positive blood culture for candida species between January 1995 and December 2013. RESULTS: A total of 311 patients were identified and there were 16 positive candida cultures among every 1000 (1.6%) cultures positive for any microorganism. Patients with haematological malignancies (adjusted odds ratio:2.23), those in shock (adjusted odds ratio: 9.48) were significantly more likely to die during the index hospitalisation, while patients with candida albicans isolated from the blood culture (adjusted odds ratio: 0.47) and those who received antifungal agent based on the sensitivity report of the fungal culture (adjusted odds ratio:0.32) were significantly less likely to die. Receipt of antifungal agents on an empirical basis before a positive culture was not significantly associated with mortality (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: No statistically significant risk factor for candidemia was identified, but haematological malignancies, shock and candidaemia due to non-albicans species were predictors of mortality during index hospitalisation.

Breast cancer treatment in high-risk elderly patients: A challenging situation and difficult decisions.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether high-risk elderly patients with aggressive tumour biology can be offered standard treatment despite having multiple comorbid conditions. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, and comprised data of breast cancer patients aged 65 years or above treated between 2006 and 2012,. Data was collected regarding patients' demographics, baseline clinical characteristics, comorbidities, treatment and outcomes. Stata 12 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of the 407 patients in the study, 399(98%) were women and 8(2%) were men. The overall mean age at diagnosis was 70±4.9 years (range: 65-90 years). Overall, 59(14.5%) participants had family history of breast cancer. Bilateral disease was seen in 17(4.2%). Invasive ductal carcinoma was seen in 299(73.5%). Besides, 101(24.8%) patients had no comorbid conditions, while 138(34%) had one, 102(25%) had two and 66(16%) had three or more comorbid conditions. There was no statistically significant difference between those receiving standard treatment including surgery or other modalities. CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients of breast cancer may be offered treatment according to the tumour biology and their overall functional status.

Diffusion Lung Capacity Changes In Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Before And After Abvd Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy consisting of Adriamycin, Bleomycin, Vinblastine, and Doxorubicin (ABVD), which is the mainstay of treatment in Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL), is associated with both acute and long-term pulmonary toxicity primarily due to Bleomycin. Bleomycin induced pulmonary toxicity (BPT) is clinically detected using diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO). The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in DLCO in HL patients before and after ABVD chemotherapy. METHODS: Medical records of all adult HL patients treated with ABVD chemotherapy at a single centre in Lahore, Pakistan during the entire calendar year 2012 were analysed. Patients with pre-existing pulmonary dysfunction, history of thoracic surgery and smokers were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 179 HL patients were identified during the study period who received ABVD chemotherapy. Out of these, 93 (51.95%) patients had undergone both a pre- and post-chemotherapy DLCO measurements. The remaining patients had only one DLCO reading available and were not included in the analysis. The mean percentage difference between pre- and post-chemotherapy values for DLCO (5.49%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.56-9.43%) and for Haemoglobin-adjusted DLCO (8.24%; 95% CI 3.90-12.57%) were statistically significant at p<0.01. Diffusing lung capacity for carbon (DLCO) values declined from pre-treatment to post-treatment by 1-10% in 23 (24.7%) patients, by 10-20% in 19 (20.4%) patients, by 20-30% in 10 (10.8%) patients and >30% in 10 (10.8%) patients. After adjusting for age, a 1mg/m2 increase in dose of Bleomycin was significantly associated with 0.14% (95% CI: 0.03-0.25%) decline in DLCO and 0.13% (95% CI: 0.10-0.26%) decline in haemoglobin-adjusted DLCO from pre-treatment value. CONCLUSIONS: Mild to moderate dysfunction in diffusion lung capacity is common after ABVD chemotherapy. DLCO and haemoglobin-adjusted DLCO value decreased with increasing age and increasing dose of Bleomycin.

Moral experience and ethical challenges in an emergency department in Pakistan: emergency physicians' perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency departments (ED) are often stressful environments posing unique ethical challenges-issues that primarily raise moral rather than clinical concerns-in patient care. Despite this, there are very few reports of what emergency physicians find ethically challenging in their everyday work. Emergency medicine (EM) is a relatively young but rapidly growing specialty that is gaining acceptance worldwide. The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of EM residents and physicians regarding the common ethical challenges they face during patient care in one of only two academic EM departments in Pakistan. These challenges could then be addressed in residents' training and departmental practice guidelines. METHODS: A qualitative research design was employed and in-depth interviews were conducted with ED physicians. Participants were encouraged to think of specific examples from their work, to highlight the particular ethical concerns raised and to describe in detail the process by which those concerns were addressed or left unresolved. Transcripts were analysed using grounded theory methods. RESULTS: Thirteen participants were interviewed and they described four key challenges: how to provide highest quality care with limited resources; how to be truthful to patients; what to do when it is not possible to provide or continue treatment to patients; and when (and when not) to offer life-sustaining treatments. Participants' accounts provided important insights into how physicians tried to resolve these challenges in the 'local moral world' of an ED in Pakistan. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the need for developing systematic and contextually appropriate mechanisms for resolving common ethical challenges in the EDs and for training residents in moral problem solving.

How vital are the vital signs? A multi-center observational study from emergency departments of Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Vital signs play a critical role in prioritizing patients in emergency departments (EDs), and are the foundation of most triage methods and disposition decisions. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of vital signs documentation anytime during emergency department treatment and to explore if abnormal vital signs were associated with the likelihood of admission for a set of common presenting complaints. METHODS: Data were collected over a four-month period from the EDs of seven urban tertiary care hospitals in Pakistan. The variables included age, sex, hospital type (government run vs. private), presenting complaint, ED vital signs, and final disposition. Patients who were >12 years of age were included in the analysis. The data were analyzed to describe the proportion of patients with documented vitals signs, which was then crossed-tabulated with top the ten presenting complaints to identify high-acuity patients and correlation with their admission status. RESULTS: A total of 274,436 patients were captured in the Pakistan National Emergency Department Surveillance (Pak-NEDS), out of which 259,288 patients were included in our study. Vital signs information was available for 90,569 (34.9%) patients and the most commonly recorded vitals sign was pulse (25.7%). Important information such as level of consciousness was missing in the majority of patients with head injuries. Based on available information, only 13.3% with chest pain, 12.8% with fever and 12.8% patients with diarrhea could be classified as high-acuity. In addition, hospital admission rates were two- to four-times higher among patients with abnormal vital signs, compared with those with normal vital signs. CONCLUSION: Most patients seen in the EDs in Pakistan did not have any documented vital signs during their visit. Where available, the presence of abnormal vital signs were associated with higher chances of admission to the hospital for the most common presenting symptoms.

Bacteraemia caused by Escherichia coli in cancer patients at a specialist center in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Escherichia coli bacteraemia among cancer patients, and to assess the risk factors and outcomes of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli bacteraemia. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, and comprised medical records of patients with Escherichia coli bacteraemia presenting between December 2012 and November 2013. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the factors associated with the development and 30-day mortality of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli bacteraemia. RESULTS: Out of 1603 episodes of bacteraemia, 227(35.6%) were caused by E.coli, of which 98(43.2%) were multidrug-resistant. In multivariable analysis, age less than 18 years (adjusted odds ratio 3.92; 95% confidence interval 1.43-10.68), presence of central venous catheter (adjusted odds ratio 2.12; 95% confidence interval 1.04-4.33) and exposure to piperacillin/tazobactam within 90 days prior to infection (adjusted odds ratio 2.37; 95% confidence interval 1.15-4.86) were identified as independent risk factors for acquisition of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli bacteraemia. The overall 30 day mortality rate was 35.2% (80/227). Risk factors for mortality were intensive care unit admission (adjusted odds ratio 3.95; 95% confidence interval 1.79-8.71) and profound neutropenia (adjusted odds ratio 4.03; 95% confidence interval 1.55-10.49). CONCLUSIONS: Bloodstream infections with multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli were common in cancer patients. However it was not a predictor of mortality.

CHARACTERISTICS AND OUTCOMES OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA IN BLAST CRISIS.

BACKGROUND: Chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) is a hematopoietic stem cell disease with a relatively stable clinical course. Survival has increased with addition of Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (TKI's). Its conversion into blast crises (BC) heralds an accelerated clinical course that is less responsive to treatment and has high mortality. METHODS: Clinical records of 20 patients with CML who transformed to BC in two years between January 2012 and December 2013 were reviewed. RESULTS: Out of total 240 patients, 20 (8.3%) transformed to blast crisis; among them 75% were males and 25% females. Mean age was 37.9 years (24-58 years) and 19 patients were positive for t (9; 22) (q34; q11) translocation at the time of transformation. The mean initial blood cell count was 204 (range: 33 to 526). Imatinib was offered in 76% of patients. The average duration between diagnosis and transformation to blast crises was 201 days (range: 24-333 days). Eight patients (40%) were transformed to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) and 12 (60%) had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). These patients were treated with standard AML/ALL type induction chemotherapy except one who died early. During the study period, 11 patients died. Median survival for whole group was 55 days. On bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses mortality was not, significantly associated with the duration between diagnosis and development of blast crises or the type of treatment received. CONCLUSION: Treatment of BC remains a challenge, particularly in under resourced areas where allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-SCT) facility is sparse. Outcomes remain dismal in majority of these patients.

Outcomes among patients with sex cord stromal tumour of ovary: experience from Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Ovarian sex cord-stromal tumours (SCST) are relatively uncommon neoplasms that account for approximately 5-7% of all primary ovarian tumours. The aim was to report experience with sex cord stromal tumours (SCST) of ovary in a low and middle income country. METHODS: Clinical records of 56 patients with histopathologically-established SCST of ovary admitted to a tertiary care cancer hospital in Pakistan between April 1995 and December 2011 were reviewed. RESULTS: Median age at presentation was 41 years (Range 4-77). Forty one (73%) patients were premenopausal and 15 (26.8%) were postmenopausal. The most common presenting complaint was abdominal pain (28.1%). Thirty seven patients (66%) had stage-I, 2 had stage II and II each, and 15 (26.8%) had stage IV disease. Five years survival in patients with early stage (stages I & II) was 91% while in those in the late stage (II & IV) was 84% (p=0.79). Histopathologically, 49 patients (85.7%) had Granulosa cell tumour, and 7 (12.5%) had Sertoli Lyedig cell tumour. CA-125 was high only in 8 patients (14.3%). Adjuvant chemotherapy was give in 16 (28.6%). Thirty six (64%) were disease free at last follow up, 10 (18%) succumbed to disease and 10 (18%) were alive with disease. On univariate and multivariate analyses, late stage at presentation was the sole factor significantly associated with mortality. CONCLUSION: Ovarian sex cord-stromal tumours of ovary are relatively uncommon malignancies with good prognosis if diagnosed early and treated adequately. Survival in our study was comparable to those reported elsewhere. Among various factors, late stage of tumour at presentation was found to be the only factor significantly associated with mortality.

Evaluating institutional capacity for research ethics in Africa: a case study from Botswana.

BACKGROUND: The increase in the volume of research conducted in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC), has brought a renewed international focus on processes for ethical conduct of research. Several programs have been initiated to strengthen the capacity for research ethics in LMIC. However, most such programs focus on individual training or development of ethics review committees. The objective of this paper is to present an approach to institutional capacity assessment in research ethics and application of this approach in the form of a case study from an institution in Africa. METHODS: We adapted the Octagon model originally used by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency to assess an organization along eight domains in research ethics: basic values and identity; structure and organization; ability to carry out activities; relevance of activities to stated goals; capacity of staff and management; administrative, financing and accounting systems; its relations with target groups; and the national context. We used a mixed methods approach to collect empirical data at the University of Botswana from March to December 2010. RESULTS: The overall shape of the external evaluation Octagon suggests that strengths of the University of Botswana are in the areas of structure, relevance, production and identity; while the university still needs more work in the areas of systems of finance, target groups, and environment. The Octagons also show the similarities and discrepancies between the 'external' and 'internal' evaluations and provide an opportunity for exploration of these different assessments. For example, the discrepant score for 'identity' between internal and external evaluations allows for an exploration of what constitutes a strong identity for research ethics at the University of Botswana and how it can be strengthened. CONCLUSIONS: There is a general lack of frameworks for evaluating research ethics capacity in LMICs. We presented an approach that stresses evaluation from both internal and external perspectives. This case study highlights the university's rapid progress in developing research ethics capacity and points to some notable areas for improvement. We believe that such an empirically-driven and participatory assessment allows a more holistic measurement and promotion of institutional capacity strengthening for research ethics in LMICs.

Health care personnel and workplace violence in the emergency departments of a volatile metropolis: results from Karachi, Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: Workplace violence (WPV) is an important challenge faced by health care personnel in the emergency department (ED). STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and nature of WPV reported by physicians and nurses working in the EDs of four of the largest tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan and to understand the mental health impact of experiencing WPV. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was conducted between September and November 2008 using a widely used questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization. Overall, 266 (86% response rate) questionnaires were included in this study. RESULTS: A total of 44 (16.5%) physicians and nurses said they had been physically attacked, and 193 (72.5%) said that they had experienced verbal abuse in the last 12 months. Among those who reported physical attack, 29.6% reported that the last incident involved a weapon, and in 64% of cases the attacker was a patient's relative. Eighty-six percent thought that the last attack could have been prevented, and 64% said that no action was taken against the attacker. After adjusting for covariates, physicians were less likely than nurses to report physical attack (odds ratio [OR] 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.2-1.0), and personnel with greater work experience (OR 4.8; 95% CI 2.0-11.7) and those who said that there were procedures to report WPV in their workplace (OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.6-6.5) were more likely to report verbal abuse. WPV was associated with mental health effects in the form of bothersome memories, super-alertness, and feelings of avoidance and futility. CONCLUSION: WPV is an important challenge in the EDs of large hospitals in Karachi. A majority of respondents feel that WPV is preventable, but only a minority of attackers face consequences.

Oncosurgery-Related Acute Kidney Injury.

Oncosurgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on the diagnosis, staging, and management of cancer and cancer-related complications. Acute kidney injury is a common and important complication related to oncologic surgery, associated with longer hospital length of stay, greater costs, increased risk of incident or progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD), and higher mortality. The pathogenesis of oncosurgery-related acute kidney injury is multifactorial and determined by different variables, including patient characteristics (comorbidities, volume status, age, pre-existing CKD), specific cancer type or location, surgical procedure involved, as well as intrinsic neuroendocrine and hemodynamic responses to anesthesia and/or surgery. Early nephrology evaluation may be helpful to assist with preservation of kidney function and prevention of further kidney injury.

Chronic disease management for depression in US medical practices: results from the Health Tracking Physician Survey.

BACKGROUND: Chronic care model (CCM) envisages a multicomponent systematic remodeling of ambulatory care to improve chronic diseases management. Application of CCM in primary care management of depression has traditionally lagged behind the application of this model in management of other common chronic illnesses. In past research, the use of CCM has been operationalized by measuring the use of evidence-based organized care management processes (CMPs). OBJECTIVES: To compare the use of CMPs in treatment of depression with the use of these processes in treatment of diabetes and asthma and to examine practice-level correlates of this use. STUDY DESIGN: Using data from the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey, a nationally representative sample of physicians in the United States, we compared the use of 5 different CMPs: written guidelines in English and other languages for self-management, availability of staff to educate patients about self-management, availability of nurse care managers for care coordination, and group meetings of patients with staff. We further examined the association of practice-level characteristics with the use of the 5 CMPs for management of depression. RESULTS: CMPs were more commonly used for management of diabetes and asthma than for depression. The use of CMPs for depression was more common in health maintenance organizations [adjusted odds ratios (AOR) ranging from 2.45 to 5.98 for different CMPs], in practices that provided physicians with feedback regarding quality of care to patients (AOR range, 1.42 to 1.69), and in practices with greater use of clinical information technology (AOR range, 1.06 to 1.11). CONCLUSION: The application of CMPs in management of depression continues to lag behind other common chronic conditions. Feedbacks on quality of care and expanded use of information technology may improve application of CMPs for depression care in general medical settings.

Post cricoid tumours; a limiting factor for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy insertion in cancer patients: Results from a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: The aim of this study was to review all episodes of PEG insertion in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) at a cancer specialist centre. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using a structured data extraction form, we abstracted patients' demographic data and clinical information including the primary site of tumour, TNM staging, whether PEG tube was inserted successfully, any complications resulting from PEG tube insertion and duration the tube was in place. RESULTS: We identified a total of 339 HNC patients who had received at least one attempted PEG tube insertion. The mean age of patients was 49.5 ± 14.5 years and 66% (n: 233/339) were males. 151/ 339 (44.5%) patients had a tumour in the pharynx and nasopharynx, 103/ 339 (30.4%) in oral cavity, 81/ 339 (23.9%) in post-cricoid region and 4 (1.1%) of the patients had a laryngeal carcinoma. Histopathologically, most tumours (75.8%) were squamous cell carcinoma presenting at a T4 (52.6%), N0 (38.3%) and M0 (91.7%) stage. PEG tube was successfully inserted in 303/339 (89.4%) patients. There were 36 PEG failures; 24 (66.6%) in postcricoid and laryngeal tumours, 8 (22.3%) in pharynx/nasopharynx and 4 (11.1%) in oral cavity tumours. Of the 81 patients with post-cricoid tumour, PEG tube was successfully inserted in 57/ 81 (70.3%) of the patients. Age, gender or T stage of the tumour was not found to be statistically significant predictors of PEG failure. The only significant factor was presence of post-cricoid or laryngeal tumours that increased the risk of PEG failure 12 times (95% confidence interval: 3.4 to 42.3). CONCLUSION: PEG tube should be used as a first line feeding option in patients with all type of head and neck cancers, however, the attending clinicians should have this foresight of higher failure rates in patients with post-cricoid tumour.

GSTM1 Copy Number Is Not Associated With Risk of Kidney Failure in a Large Cohort.

Deletion of glutathione S-transferase µ1 (GSTM1) is common in populations and has been asserted to associate with chronic kidney disease progression in some research studies. The association needs to be validated. We estimated GSTM1 copy number using whole exome sequencing data in the DiscovEHR cohort. Kidney failure was defined as requiring dialysis or receiving kidney transplant using data from the electronic health record and linkage to the United States Renal Data System, or the most recent eGFR < 15 ml/min/1.73 m2. In a cohort of 46,983 unrelated participants, 28.8% of blacks and 52.1% of whites had 0 copies of GSTM1. Over a mean of 9.2 years follow-up, 645 kidney failure events were observed in 46,187 white participants, and 28 in 796 black participants. No significant association was observed between GSTM1 copy number and kidney failure in Cox regression adjusting for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, genetic principal components, or comorbid conditions (hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, coronary artery disease, and stroke), whether using a genotypic, dominant, or recessive model. In sensitivity analyses, GSTM1 copy number was not associated with kidney failure in participants that were 45 years or older at baseline, had baseline eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2, or with baseline year between 1996 and 2002. In conclusion, we found no association between GSTM1 copy number and kidney failure in a large cohort study.