A prospective study of prognostic factors for recurrence in early oral tongue cancer.

BACKGROUND: Tongue cancer is one of the common cancers in head and neck region. Cervical node metastasis is the strongest poor prognostic factor. Other prognostic factors were also said to be of significance. Our aim was to find out the significant prognostic factors of tumor aggressiveness in Indian perspective. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Sixty cases of early cancer of oral tongue with clinically non palpable neck nodes were managed by upfront surgery. Surgeries performed for the primary tumor were 'wide excision' or 'hemiglossectomy' along with neck dissection. Patients were then given post-operative radiotherapy according to standard guidelines. They were analyzed using a detailed proforma. Three patients were lost to follow-up rest all patients were followed. RESULTS: Recurrence was seen in 11 out of 60 patients (18.3%), in an average follow-up period of about 28 months. Among those who recurred, one patient had both nodal and local recurrence, 2 patients had nodal only (regional) recurrence and rest 8 patients had local recurrence. The prognostic factors that significantly affected the recurrence were endo-phytic disease, depth of invasion, lymphatic invasion, muscle invasion, healthy margin and adjuvant radiotherapy. CONCLUSION: The risk factors for recurrence in early lesions of oral tongue are - Cervical nodal metastasis, Lymphatic permeation, Depth of disease - 6 mm or more, poorly differentiated tumor, Endophytic (infiltrative) disease, Young age at presentation and Muscle invasion. In early tongue lesions, that are node negative, selective node dissection (SND) including level 1, 2, 3 and 4, is a viable option for neck to decrease the morbidity of MND.

Significance of level v lymph node dissection in clinically node positive oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma and evaluation of potential risk factors for level v lymph node metastasis.

Level V lymph node (LN) dissection has been significantly associated with postoperative shoulder dysfunction as a sequel of spinal accessory nerve (SAN) dysfunction. The aim of study was to determine the role of level V LN dissection in clinically node positive (cN+) oral cavity cancer. We have prospectively evaluated 210 patients of oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). During neck dissection, the contents of the level V LN were dissected, labelled, and processed separately from the neck dissection specimen. We studied the prevalence of histopathologic metastasis to level V nodes in clinically node negative (cN0), cN1 and cN2 groups. Potential risk factors for the involvement of level V LN were also analysed. Of 210 cases, 48 were cN0. Out of them 77 % were pN0 and none of cNo (48) patients had level V metastases. Out of 162 cN+ cases, 112 were cN1 and 49 cN2. Amongst cN1 (112) cases, cN1 with palpable level lb LN (99), 60 % had pN0 and none of them had level V LN involvement but cN1 with palpable ll/lll LN (13), 85 % had pN+ and 1 patient had level V LN involvement (8 %). 8 patients from cN2 (49) group had level V LN involvement (16 %). Over all level V LN involvement was 4.3 %. Tongue was the most common site to give rise to level V LN metastases and extra capsular spread (ECS) was present in 100 % patient with level V LN metastases. Thus, we concluded that, apart from cN0, patients with cN1 oral cavity cancer with level lb as only site, carefully selected cases could safely undergo SND. Potential risk factors for level V LN metastases are clinically evident ECS, multiple LN involvement and cN1 with deep jugular chain of LN involvement.

Effectiveness of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine in influenza-related hospitalization in children: a case-control study.

Influenza is known to be associated with asthma exacerbation but the effectiveness of the trivalent inactivated flu vaccine (TIV) in children, especially children with asthma, in preventing hospitalization is unknown. We assessed the effectiveness of the TIV in all children and especially children with asthma to prevent hospitalization with influenza. We conducted a nested case control study of all pediatric subjects (6 months to 18 years old) who were evaluated at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, who had laboratory-confirmed influenza during each flu season from 1999 to 2006 to evaluate the efficacy of TIV in preventing hospitalization. A case-control analysis was performed with the cases and the controls being the subjects who did and did not required hospitalization with the influenza illness, respectively. There were 261 subjects with laboratory-confirmed influenza from 1996 to 2006. There was an overall trend toward higher rates of hospitalization in subjects who got the TIV when compared with the ones who did not get the TIV (odds ratio [OR], 3.67; CI, 1.6, 8.4). Using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test for asthma status stratification, there was a significant association between hospitalization in asthmatic subjects and TIV (p = 0.001). TIV did not provide any protection against hospitalization in pediatric subjects, especially children with asthma. On the contrary, we found a threefold increased risk of hospitalization in subjects who did get the TIV vaccine. This may be a reflection not only of vaccine effectiveness but also the population of children who are more likely to get the vaccine.

The $64 million question. Invest in good teaching.

University of Minnesota School of Public health, USA.

Flunking asthma? When HEDIS takes the ACT.

OBJECTIVE: To test several patient-oriented asthma outcome measures and the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measure of appropriate medication for persistent asthma to determine the most useful quality indicator of asthma care. DESIGN: Prospective mail survey of adult employees and dependents with asthma. METHODS: The medical and pharmacy claims of all subjects from 12 months before and after the survey were abstracted. Outcomes measures included the Asthma Control Test (ACT), workday loss, unscheduled healthcare utilization (emergency department and inpatient care), and satisfaction with care. RESULTS: Although 81% of all responders had wellcontrolled asthma, persistent asthma was uncontrolled in 28%. Only 64.5% received appropriate controller medication. Well-controlled asthma is associated with a high degree of satisfaction, less workday loss, fewer prednisone bursts, and minimal unscheduled healthcare utilization. Except for a reduced incidence of more than 2 oral corticosteroid dispensings (6.4% vs 13.6%, P = .012), compliance with the HEDIS appropriate medication for asthma was not positively associated with any of the patient-centered outcomes studied. CONCLUSIONS: Asthma control was the most useful patient outcome quality indicator in this study. Compliance with the HEDIS asthma measure in this population was not associated with a better patient-oriented outcome. This finding may be different with different levels of asthma control. The positive association between well-controlled asthma and patient satisfaction, minimal unscheduled healthcare utilization, and low workday loss suggests that asthma control as measured by ACT may be a better performance measure in asthma.

Complexity science: core concepts and applications for medical practice.

Complexity science is a useful construct for physicians trying to cope with the escalating sophistication of health care and pressure to control costs. The science of complexity suggests that outcomes are not always linear or predictable. Physicians need to learn to expect unpredictability, respect autonomy and creativity, and be flexible in responding to emerging patterns and opportunities. Assessing and managing complexity in the health care environment involves understanding why medical practice is a complex adaptive system and how to work within such a system to achieve the best outcomes. The goal of this article is to help physicians understand the basic concepts of complexity science and how they might be applied to medical practice.