Delayed post-pancreatectomy hemorrhage and bleeding recurrence after percutaneous endovascular treatment: risk factors from a bi-centric study of 307 consecutive patients.

PURPOSE: Delayed post-pancreatectomy hemorrhage (PPH) is still one of the most dreaded complications after pancreatic surgery. Its management is now focused on percutaneous endovascular treatments (PETs). METHODS: Between 2013 and 2019, 307 patients underwent pancreatic resection. The first endpoint of this study was to determine predictive factors of delayed PPH. The second endpoint was to describe the management of intra-abdominal abscesses (IAA). The third endpoint was to identify risk factors of bleeding recurrence after PET. Patients were divided into two cohorts: A retrospective analysis was performed ("cohort 1," "learning set") to highlight predictive factors of delayed PPH. Then, we validated it on a prospective maintained cohort, analyzed retrospectively ("cohort 2," "validation set"). Second and third endpoints studies were made on the entire cohort. RESULTS: In cohort 1, including 180 patients, 24 experienced delayed PPH. Multivariate analysis revealed that POPF diagnosis on postoperative day (POD) 3 (p=0.004) and IAA (p=0.001) were independent predictive factors of delayed PPH. In cohort 2, association of POPF diagnosis on POD 3 and IAA was strongly associated with delayed PPH (area under the curve [AUC] 0.80; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.59-0.94]; p=0.003). Concerning our second endpoint, delayed PPH occurred less frequently in patients who underwent postoperative drainage procedure than in patients without IAA drainage (p=0.002). Concerning our third endpoint, a higher body mass index (BMI) (p=0.027), occurrence of postoperative IAA (p=0.030), and undrained IAA (p=0.011) were associated with bleeding recurrence after the first PET procedure. CONCLUSION: POPF diagnosis on POD 3 and intra-abdominal abscesses are independent predictive factors of delayed PPH. Therefore, patients presenting an insufficiently drained POPF leading to intra-abdominal abscess after pancreatic surgery should be considered as a high-risk situation of delayed PPH. High BMI, occurrence of postoperative IAA, and undrained IAA were associated with recurrence of bleeding after PET.

Decline of semen quality among 10 932 males consulting for couple infertility over a 20-year period in Marseille, France.

Semen from 10 932 male partners of infertile couples was analysed and sperm parameter trends were evaluated at the Reproduction Biology Laboratory of the University Hospital of Marseille (France) between 1988 and 2007. After 3-6 days of abstinence, semen samples were collected. Measurements of seminal fluid volume, pH, sperm concentration, total sperm count, motility and detailed morphology of spermatozoa were performed. Sperm parameters were analysed on the entire population and in men with normal total numeration (≥40 million per ejaculate). The whole population demonstrated declining trends in sperm concentration (1.5% per year), total sperm count (1.6% per year), total motility (0.4% per year), rapid motility (5.5% per year) and normal morphology (2.2% per year). In the group of selected samples with total normal sperm count, the same trends of sperm quality deterioration with time were observed. Our results clearly indicate that the quality of semen decreased in this population over the study period.

Valvular heart disease associated with benfluorex therapy: high prevalence in patients with unexplained restrictive valvular heart disease.

AIMS: Restrictive valvular disease (RVD) has recently been reported in patients after benfluorex exposure. However, little is known about its prevalence and echocardiographic features. The aim of our study was to assess the frequency of benfluorex exposure in patients with RVD and to describe their echocardiographic characteristics. METHODS AND RESULTS: In a single centre study, patients with a final diagnosis of unexplained RVD were studied. Patients were interrogated for their previous use of benfluorex or other appetite-suppressant drugs (ASDs). Forty seven consecutive patients, aged 59 ± 9.6 years, with RVD were found [42 (91%) women]. Among them, 35 (74%) had previous treatment with ASD, including benfluorex in 34 patients. Among the latter, 14 (40%) have been exposed to benfluorex alone, 20 (60%) in combination with another ASD. Echocardiographic features included isolated mitral or aortic restricted valve motion in 19 patients (40%), and combined mitral and aortic involvement in 28 (60%).Twenty-seven (96%) of the latter had been exposed to benfluorex. As compared with the 'no ASD' group (n= 12), patients in the benfluorex group (n= 34) were more frequently female, had more frequent arterial hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia, and presented more frequently with combined mitral and aortic disease (79 vs. 8%, P < 0.001). Valve stenosis and tricuspid involvement were rare in the benfluorex group. CONCLUSION: The frequency of benfluorex exposure is high in patients with unexplained RVD. Combined aortic and mitral restrictive valve regurgitation is highly suggestive of valvular disease associated with benfluorex or other ASD therapy and may alert clinician about the possibility of this diagnosis.

Lymphocyte subset reconstitution after unrelated cord blood or bone marrow transplantation in children.

We report the post-transplant lymphocyte subset recovery of 226 children treated with Unrelated Cord Blood transplant (UCBT) (n = 112) or Unrelated Bone Marrow Transplant (UBMT) (n = 114) for malignant or non-malignant diseases. Absolute numbers of natural killer (NK), B and T cells were monitored by flow cytometry up to 5 years post-transplant. Immunological endpoints were: time to achieve a CD3(+) cell count > 0·5 and 1·5 × 109/l, CD4(+) > 0·2 and 0·5 × 109/l, CD8(+) > 0·25 ×109/l, CD19(+) > 0·2 × 109/l, NK > 0·1 × 109/l. These endpoints were analysed through the use of cumulative incidence curves in the context of competing risks. CD8(+) T cell recovery was delayed after UCBT with a median time to reach CD8(+) T cells > 0·25 × 109/l of 7·7 months whereas it was 2·8 months in UBMT (P < 0·001). B cell recovery was better in UCBT, with a median time to reach CD19(+) cells > 0·2 × 109/l of 3·2 months in UCBT and 6·4 months in UBMT (P = 0·03). Median time for CD4(+) T cell and NK cell recovery was similar in UCBT and UBMT. CD4(+) T cells recovery was negatively correlated to age (better reconstitution in younger patients, P = 0·002). CD8(+) T cells recovery was shorter in recipients with a positive cytomegalovirus serology (P =0·001).

Impact of viable CD45 cells infused on lymphocyte subset recovery after unrelated cord blood transplantation in children.

We studied lymphocyte recovery in 88 children who consecutively underwent unrelated cord blood transplantation for malignant (n = 64) or nonmalignant (n = 24) diseases. All children but 3 received myeloablative conditioning regimens with pretransplant antithymocyte globulin. Median age was 5.6 years (0.1-18 years) and median follow-up was 40 months (10-136 months). The median dose of infused viable CD45(+) cells (vCD45) was 3.35 × 10(7)/kg with a ratio infused vCD45/collected total nucleated cell at 0.46. Immunologic endpoints were: time to achieve CD3(+) >500 and 1500/mm(3), CD4(+) >500/mm(3), CD8(+) >250/mm(3), CD19(+) >200/mm(3), natural killer >100/mm(3). These endpoints were analyzed through the use of cumulative curves for estimating incidence over time in the context of competing risks, and through Fine and Gray models to assess prognostic factors. The median time to reach these endpoints was 33, 97, 214, and 340 days for natural killer, B, CD8, and CD4 cells, respectively. In multivariate analysis, a high infused vCD45 cell dose improved CD3 (P = .014) and CD4 (P = .032) reconstitutions. A young recipient age also favored CD3 recovery (P = .013). With patients grouped according to vCD45 cell dose quartiles, the threshold for a better recovery was 3.35 × 10(7)/kg. Considering the ratio vCD45/TNC, this "immune recovery based" threshold corresponds to a higher cell dose than the minimum usually recommended dose for myelogenous engraftment. This may have important implication for UCB selection.