A Quality Improvement Initiative to Improve Emergency Department Care for Pediatric Patients with Sickle Cell Disease.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a quality improvement (QI) initiative would result in more timely assessment and treatment of acute sickle cell-related pain for pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) treated in the emergency department (ED). METHODS: We created and implemented a protocol for SCD pain management in the ED with the goals of improving (1) mean time from triage to first analgesic dose; (2) percentage of patients that received their first analgesic dose within 30 minutes of triage, and (3) percentage of patients who had pain assessment performed within 30 minutes of triage and who were re-assessed within 30 minutes after the first analgesic dose. RESULTS: Significant improvements were achieved between baseline (55 patient visits) and post order set implementation (165 visits) in time from triage to administration of first analgesic (decreased from 89.9 ± 50.5 to 35.2 ± 22.8 minutes, P < 0.001); percentage of patient visits receiving pain medications within 30 minutes of triage (from 7% to 53%, P < 0.001); percentage of patient visits assessed within 30 minutes of triage (from 64% to 99.4%, P < 0.001); and percentage of patient visits re-assessed within 30 minutes of initial analgesic (from 54% to 86%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a QI initiative in the ED led to expeditious care for pediatric patients with SCD presenting with pain. A QI framework provided us with unique challenges but also invaluable lessons as we address our objective of decreasing the quality gap in SCD medical care.

Association between Helicobacter pylori infection, mismatch repair, HER2 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: The influence of Helicobacter-pylori (H. pylori) infection and the characteristics of gastric cancer (GC) on tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels has not been extensively studied. Analysis of infiltrating-immune-cell subtypes as well as survival is necessary to obtain comprehensive information. AIM: To determine the rates of deficient mismatch-repair (dMMR), HER2-status and H. pylori infection and their association with TIL levels in GC. METHODS: Samples from 503 resected GC tumors were included and TIL levels were evaluated following the international-TILs-working-group recommendations with assessment of the intratumoral (IT), stromal (ST) and invasive-border (IB) compartments. The density of CD3, CD8 and CD163 immune cells, and dMMR and HER2-status were determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). H. pylori infection was evaluated by routine histology and quantitative PCR (qPCR) in a subset of samples. RESULTS: dMMR was found in 34.4%, HER2+ in 5% and H. pylori-positive in 55.7% of samples. High IT-TIL was associated with grade-3 (P = 0.038), while ST-TIL with grade-1 (P < 0.001), intestinal-histology (P < 0.001) and no-recurrence (P = 0.003). dMMR was associated with high TIL levels in the ST (P = 0.019) and IB (P = 0.01) compartments, and ST-CD3 (P = 0.049) and ST-CD8 (P = 0.05) densities. HER2- was associated with high IT-CD8 (P = 0.009). H. pylori-negative was associated with high IT-TIL levels (P = 0.009) when assessed by routine-histology, and with high TIL levels in the 3 compartments (P = 0.002-0.047) and CD8 density in the IT and ST compartments (P = 0.001) when assessed by qPCR. A longer overall survival was associated with low IT-CD163 (P = 0.003) and CD8/CD3 (P = 0.001 in IT and P = 0.002 in ST) and high IT-CD3 (P = 0.021), ST-CD3 (P = 0.003) and CD3/CD163 (P = 0.002). CONCLUSION: TIL levels were related to dMMR and H. pylori-negativity. Low CD8/CD3 and high CD163/CD3 were associated with lower recurrence and longer survival.

Development and validation of a machine learning model using electronic health records to predict trauma- and stressor-related psychiatric disorders after hospitalization with sepsis.

A significant minority of individuals develop trauma- and stressor-related disorders (TSRD) after surviving sepsis, a life-threatening immune response to infections. Accurate prediction of risk for TSRD can facilitate targeted early intervention strategies, but many existing models rely on research measures that are impractical to incorporate to standard emergency department workflows. To increase the feasibility of implementation, we developed models that predict TSRD in the year after survival from sepsis using only electronic health records from the hospitalization (n = 217,122 hospitalizations from 2012-2015). The optimal model was evaluated in a temporally independent prospective test sample (n = 128,783 hospitalizations from 2016-2017), where patients in the highest-risk decile accounted for nearly one-third of TSRD cases. Our approach demonstrates that risk for TSRD after sepsis can be stratified without additional assessment burden on clinicians and patients, which increases the likelihood of model implementation in hospital settings.

Hospital Strain and Variation in Sepsis ICU Admission Practices and Associated Outcomes.

To understand how strain-process-outcome relationships in patients with sepsis may vary among hospitals. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using a validated hospital capacity strain index as a within-hospital instrumental variable governing ICU versus ward admission, stratified by hospital. SETTING: Twenty-seven U.S. hospitals from 2013 to 2018. PATIENTS: High-acuity emergency department patients with sepsis who do not require life support therapies. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The mean predicted probability of ICU admission across strain deciles ranged from 4.9% (lowest ICU-utilizing hospital for sepsis without life support) to 61.2% (highest ICU-utilizing hospital for sepsis without life support). The difference in the predicted probabilities of ICU admission between the lowest and highest strain deciles ranged from 9.0% (least strain-sensitive hospital) to 45.2% (most strain-sensitive hospital). In pooled analyses, emergency department patients with sepsis (n = 90,150) experienced a 1.3-day longer median hospital length of stay (LOS) if admitted initially to the ICU compared with the ward, but across the 27 study hospitals (n = 517-6,564), this effect varied from 9.0 days shorter (95% CI, -10.8 to -7.2; p < 0.001) to 19.0 days longer (95% CI, 16.7-21.3; p < 0.001). Corresponding ranges for inhospital mortality with ICU compared with ward admission revealed odds ratios (ORs) from 0.16 (95% CI, 0.03-0.99; p = 0.04) to 4.62 (95% CI, 1.16-18.22; p = 0.02) among patients with sepsis (pooled OR = 1.48). CONCLUSIONS: There is significant among-hospital variation in ICU admission rates for patients with sepsis not requiring life support therapies, how sensitive those ICU admission decisions are to hospital capacity strain, and the association of ICU admission with hospital LOS and hospital mortality. Hospital-level heterogeneity should be considered alongside patient-level heterogeneity in critical and acute care study design and interpretation.

Identifying Optimal Acute Care Comparators to Inform the Evaluation of an Advanced Care at Home Pilot Program.

BACKGROUND: Hospital at Home (H@H) programs-which seek to deliver acute care within a patient's home-have become more prevalent over time. However, existing literature exhibits heterogeneity in program structure, evaluation design, and target population size, making it difficult to draw generalizable conclusions to inform future H@H program design. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this work was to develop a quality improvement evaluation strategy for a H@H program-the Kaiser Permanente Advanced Care at Home (KPACAH) program in Northern California-leveraging electronic health record data, chart review, and patient surveys to compare KPACAH patients with inpatients in traditional hospital settings. METHODS: The authors developed a 3-step recruitment workflow that used electronic health record filtering tools to generate a daily list of potential comparators, a manual chart review of potentially eligible comparator patients to assess individual clinical and social criteria, and a phone interview with patients to affirm eligibility and interest from potential comparator patients. RESULTS: This workflow successfully identified and enrolled a population of 446 comparator patients in a 5-month period who exhibited similar demographics, reasons for hospitalization, comorbidity burden, and utilization measures to patients enrolled in the KPACAH program. CONCLUSION: These initial findings provide promise for a workflow that can facilitate the identification of similar inpatients hospitalized at traditional brick and mortar facilities to enhance outcomes evaluations for the H@H programs, as well as to identify the potential volume of enrollees as the program expands.

Among-Hospital Variation in Intensive Care Unit Admission Practices and Associated Outcomes for Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure.

Rationale: We have previously shown that hospital strain is associated with intensive care unit (ICU) admission and that ICU admission, compared with ward admission, may benefit certain patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF). Objectives: To understand how strain-process-outcomes relationships in patients with ARF may vary among hospitals and what hospital practice differences may account for such variation. Methods: We examined high-acuity patients with ARF who did not require mechanical ventilation or vasopressors in the emergency department (ED) and were admitted to 27 U.S. hospitals from 2013 to 2018. Stratifying by hospital, we compared hospital strain-ICU admission relationships and hospital length of stay (LOS) and mortality among patients initially admitted to the ICU versus the ward using hospital strain as a previously validated instrumental variable. We also surveyed hospital practices and, in exploratory analyses, evaluated their associations with the above processes and outcomes. Results: There was significant among-hospital variation in ICU admission rates, in hospital strain-ICU admission relationships, and in the association of ICU admission with hospital LOS and hospital mortality. Overall, ED patients with ARF (n = 45,339) experienced a 0.82-day shorter median hospital LOS if admitted initially to the ICU compared with the ward, but among the 27 hospitals (n = 224-3,324), this effect varied from 5.85 days shorter (95% confidence interval [CI], -8.84 to -2.86; P < 0.001) to 4.38 days longer (95% CI, 1.86-6.90; P = 0.001). Corresponding ranges for in-hospital mortality with ICU compared with ward admission revealed odds ratios from 0.08 (95% CI, 0.01-0.56; P < 0.007) to 8.89 (95% CI, 1.60-79.85; P = 0.016) among patients with ARF (pooled odds ratio, 0.75). In exploratory analyses, only a small number of measured hospital practices-the presence of a sepsis ED disposition guideline and maximum ED patient capacity-were potentially associated with hospital strain-ICU admission relationships. Conclusions: Hospitals vary considerably in ICU admission rates, the sensitivity of those rates to hospital capacity strain, and the benefits of ICU admission for patients with ARF not requiring life support therapies in the ED. Future work is needed to more fully identify hospital-level factors contributing to these relationships.

Evaluation of Incident 7-Day Infection and Sepsis Hospitalizations in an Integrated Health System.

Rationale: Prehospital opportunities to predict infection and sepsis hospitalization may exist, but little is known about their incidence following common healthcare encounters. Objectives: To evaluate the incidence and timing of infection and sepsis hospitalization within 7 days of living hospital discharge, emergency department discharge, and ambulatory visit settings. Methods: In each setting, we identified patients in clinical strata based on the presence of infection and severity of illness. We estimated number needed to evaluate values with hypothetical predictive model operating characteristics. Results: We identified 97,614,228 encounters, including 1,117,702 (1.1%) hospital discharges, 4,635,517 (4.7%) emergency department discharges, and 91,861,009 (94.1%) ambulatory visits between 2012 and 2017. The incidence of 7-day infection hospitalization varied from 37,140 (3.3%) following inpatient discharge to 50,315 (1.1%) following emergency department discharge and 277,034 (0.3%) following ambulatory visits. The incidence of 7-day infection hospitalization was increased for inpatient discharges with high readmission risk (10.0%), emergency department discharges with increased acute or chronic severity of illness (3.5% and 4.7%, respectively), and ambulatory visits with acute infection (0.7%). The timing of 7-day infection and sepsis hospitalizations differed across settings with an early rise following ambulatory visits, a later peak following emergency department discharges, and a delayed peak following inpatient discharge. Theoretical number needed to evaluate values varied by strata, but following hospital and emergency department discharge, were as low as 15-25. Conclusions: Incident 7-day infection and sepsis hospitalizations following encounters in routine healthcare settings were surprisingly common and may be amenable to clinical predictive models.

Quantifying the breadth of antibiotic exposure in sepsis and suspected infection using spectrum scores.

A retrospective cohort study. Studies to quantify the breadth of antibiotic exposure across populations remain limited. Therefore, we applied a validated method to describe the breadth of antimicrobial coverage in a multicenter cohort of patients with suspected infection and sepsis. We conducted a retrospective cohort study across 21 hospitals within an integrated healthcare delivery system of patients admitted to the hospital through the ED with suspected infection or sepsis and receiving antibiotics during hospitalization from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2017. We quantified the breadth of antimicrobial coverage using the Spectrum Score, a numerical score from 0 to 64, in patients with suspected infection and sepsis using electronic health record data. Of 364,506 hospital admissions through the emergency department, we identified 159,004 (43.6%) with suspected infection and 205,502 (56.4%) with sepsis. Inpatient mortality was higher among those with sepsis compared to those with suspected infection (8.4% vs 1.2%; P < .001). Patients with sepsis had higher median global Spectrum Scores (43.8 [interquartile range IQR 32.0-49.5] vs 43.5 [IQR 26.8-47.2]; P < .001) and additive Spectrum Scores (114.0 [IQR 57.0-204.5] vs 87.5 [IQR 45.0-144.8]; P < .001) compared to those with suspected infection. Increased Spectrum Scores were associated with inpatient mortality, even after covariate adjustments (adjusted odds ratio per 10-point increase in Spectrum Score 1.31; 95%CI 1.29-1.33). Spectrum Scores quantify the variability in antibiotic breadth among individual patients, between suspected infection and sepsis populations, over the course of hospitalization, and across infection sources. They may play a key role in quantifying the variation in antibiotic prescribing in patients with suspected infection and sepsis.

Temporal Trends in Antimicrobial Prescribing During Hospitalization for Potential Infection and Sepsis.

Importance: Some experts have cautioned that national and health system emphasis on rapid administration of antimicrobials for sepsis may increase overall antimicrobial use even among patients without sepsis. Objective: To assess whether temporal changes in antimicrobial timing for sepsis are associated with increasing antimicrobial use, days of therapy, or broadness of antimicrobial coverage among all hospitalized patients at risk for sepsis. Design, Setting, and Participants: This is an observational cohort study of hospitalized patients at 152 hospitals in 2 health care systems during 2013 to 2018, admitted via the emergency department with 2 or more systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria. Data analysis was performed from June 10, 2021, to March 22, 2022. Exposures: Hospital-level temporal trends in time to first antimicrobial administration. Outcomes: Antimicrobial outcomes included antimicrobial use, days of therapy, and broadness of antibacterial coverage. Clinical outcomes included in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, length of hospitalization, and new multidrug-resistant (MDR) organism culture positivity. Results: Among 1 559 523 patients admitted to the hospital via the emergency department with 2 or more SIRS criteria (1 269 998 male patients [81.4%]; median [IQR] age, 67 [59-77] years), 273 255 (17.5%) met objective criteria for sepsis. In multivariable models adjusted for patient characteristics, the adjusted median (IQR) time to first antimicrobial administration to patients with sepsis decreased by 37 minutes, from 4.7 (4.1-5.3) hours in 2013 to 3.9 (3.6-4.4) hours in 2018, although the slope of decrease varied across hospitals. During the same period, antimicrobial use within 48 hours, days of antimicrobial therapy, and receipt of broad-spectrum coverage decreased among the broader cohort of patients with SIRS. In-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, length of hospitalization, new MDR culture positivity, and new MDR blood culture positivity decreased over the study period among both patients with sepsis and those with SIRS. When examining hospital-specific trends, decreases in antimicrobial use, days of therapy, and broadness of antibacterial coverage for patients with SIRS did not differ by hospital antimicrobial timing trend for sepsis. Overall, there was no evidence that accelerating antimicrobial timing for sepsis was associated with increasing antimicrobial use or impaired antimicrobial stewardship. Conclusions and Relevance: In this multihospital cohort study, the time to first antimicrobial for sepsis decreased over time, but this trend was not associated with increasing antimicrobial use, days of therapy, or broadness of antimicrobial coverage among the broader population at-risk for sepsis, which suggests that shortening the time to antibiotics for sepsis is feasible without leading to indiscriminate antimicrobial use.

The relationship between tumour infiltrating lymphocytes, Epstein-Barr virus and Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric cancer.

Objective: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Helicobacter pylori (HP) infections have been extensively recognised as gastric cancer (GC) triggers, and recent publications suggest they could behave as predictive markers for immune-modulating therapies. Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have also been identified as a predictive biomarker for immunotherapy in different malignancies. This study aimed to investigate the association between EBV and HP infection with TIL levels in GC. Methods: TIL evaluation in haematoxylin-eosin was performed by a pathologist and density of CD3, CD8 and CD163 positive (immunohistochemistry staining) immune cells was calculated with the use of digital pathology software. EBV infection was detected by in situ hybridisation (ISH) and by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Methylation status of EBV-related genes was detected by PCR and a methylome analysis was performed by the Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. HP status was detected by qPCR. Results: We included 98 resected GC Peruvian cases in our evaluation. Median TIL percentage was 30. The proportion of EBV+ detected by ISH was 24.1%, of EBV+ detected by qPCR was 41.8%, while 70% showed methylation of EBV-related genes, and 58.21% of cases were HP+. Younger age (p = 0.024), early stages (p = 0.001), HP+ (p = 0.036) and low CD8 density (p = 0.046) were associated with longer overall survival (OS). High TIL level was associated with intestinal subtype (p < 0.001), with grade 2 (p < 0.001), with EBV qPCR+ (p = 0.001), and with methylation of EBV-related genes (p = 0.007). Cases with high TIL level and cases that are EBV positive share eight genes with similarly methylated status in the metabolomic analysis. High CD8 density was associated with EBV PCR+ (p = 0.012) and HP- (0.005). Conclusion: Lower CD8 density and HP+ predict longer OS. High TIL level is associated with EBV+ and methylation of EBV-related genes, while lower CD8 density is associated with HP+ GC.

[Metastatic primary gastric adenocarcinoma in amigdala]. / Adenocarcinoma metastásico de amígdala de primario gástrico.

We report the case of a 79 years old female patient, with a one year history of dysphagia, presence of a tumor in the right palatine tonsil and cervical lymph node involvement. A biopsy of the palatine tonsil tumor informed as an adenocarcinoma was performed followed by a gastroscopy that reported a lesion in gastric body and antrum whose histologycal diagnosis was a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. The patient received chemotherapy with 5FU. We present this case due to the unusual presentation of metastasis to the palatine tonsil and also for being the first manifestation of a gastric cancer.

The Presentation, Pace, and Profile of Infection and Sepsis Patients Hospitalized Through the Emergency Department: An Exploratory Analysis.

To characterize the signs and symptoms of sepsis, compare them with those from simple infection and other emergent conditions and evaluate their association with hospital outcomes. DESIGN SETTING PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: A multicenter, retrospective cohort study of 408,377 patients hospitalized through the emergency department from 2012 to 2017 with sepsis, suspected infection, heart failure, or stroke. Infected patients were identified based on Sepsis-3 criteria, whereas noninfected patients were identified through diagnosis codes. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Signs and symptoms were identified within physician clinical documentation in the first 24 hours of hospitalization using natural language processing. The time of sign and symptom onset prior to presentation was quantified, and sign and symptom prevalence was assessed. Using multivariable logistic regression, the association of each sign and symptom with four outcomes was evaluated: sepsis versus suspected infection diagnosis, hospital mortality, ICU admission, and time of first antibiotics (> 3 vs ≤ 3 hr from presentation). A total of 10,825 signs and symptoms were identified in 6,148,348 clinical documentation fragments. The most common symptoms overall were as follows: dyspnea (35.2%), weakness (27.2%), altered mental status (24.3%), pain (23.9%), cough (19.7%), edema (17.8%), nausea (16.9%), hypertension (15.6%), fever (13.9%), and chest pain (12.1%). Compared with predominant signs and symptoms in heart failure and stroke, those present in infection were heterogeneous. Signs and symptoms indicative of neurologic dysfunction, significant respiratory conditions, and hypotension were strongly associated with sepsis diagnosis, hospital mortality, and intensive care. Fever, present in only a minority of patients, was associated with improved mortality (odds ratio, 0.67, 95% CI, 0.64-0.70; p < 0.001). For common symptoms, the peak time of symptom onset before sepsis was 2 days, except for altered mental status, which peaked at 1 day prior to presentation. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical presentation of sepsis was heterogeneous and occurred with rapid onset prior to hospital presentation. These findings have important implications for improving public education, clinical treatment, and quality measures of sepsis care.

Assessment of Value of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status in Models That Use Electronic Health Record Data to Predict Health Care Use Rates and Mortality.

Importance: Prediction models are widely used in health care as a way of risk stratifying populations for targeted intervention. Most risk stratification has been done using a small number of predictors from insurance claims. However, the utility of diverse nonclinical predictors, such as neighborhood socioeconomic contexts, remains unknown. Objective: To assess the value of using neighborhood socioeconomic predictors in the context of 1-year risk prediction for mortality and 6 different health care use outcomes in a large integrated care system. Design, Setting, and Participants: Diagnostic study using data from all adults age 18 years or older who had Kaiser Foundation Health Plan membership and/or use in the Kaiser Permantente Northern California: a multisite, integrated health care delivery system between January 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014. Data were recorded before the index date for each patient to predict their use and mortality in a 1-year post period using a test-train split for model training and evaluation. Analyses were conducted in fall of 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: One-year encounter counts (doctor office, virtual, emergency department, elective hospitalizations, and nonelective), total costs, and mortality. Results: A total of 2 951 588 patients met inclusion criteria (mean [SD] age, 47.2 [17.4] years; 47.8% were female). The mean (SD) Neighborhood Deprivation Index was -0.32 (0.84). The areas under the receiver operator curve ranged from 0.71 for emergency department use (using the LASSO method and electronic health record predictors) to 0.94 for mortality (using the random forest method and electronic health record predictors). Neighborhood socioeconomic status predictors did not meaningfully increase the predictive performance of the models for any outcome. Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, neighborhood socioeconomic predictors did not improve risk estimates compared with what is obtainable using standard claims data regardless of model used.

Helicobacter Pylori Detected in Tap Water of Peruvian Patients with Gastric Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between the presence of H. pylori in paired samples of tap water and gastric cancer (GC) lesion in Lima city (Peru). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Gastric tissue and tap-water samples were prospectively collected from 82 Gastric Cancer who lived in Lima. HspA and ureA genes were evaluated by qPCR in the samples.  Results: The median age of patients with GC was 63 years, 52.4% were men and stage-II in 36.6%. A home-living time> 10 years was reported in 84.1% of patients. Boiling water treatment was indicated in 85.4% of cases. H. pylori was detected in 69.5% of gastric tissues and in 12.2% of analyzed tap-water. There was no differences in gastric infection rates among those with or without water contamination (70% vs. 69.4%, p=0.971). Conclusion & Impact: H. pylori was found in tap-water samples, however, detection rates were lower than in gastric cancer samples. Other sources of infection transmission should be investigated.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection, Its Virulent Genotypes, and Epstein-Barr Virus in Peruvian Patients With Chronic Gastritis and Gastric Cancer.

PURPOSE: Helicobacter pylori (HP) and Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infections induce chronic gastritis (CG) and are accepted carcinogenics of gastric cancer (GC). Our objective for this study was to determine the prevalence of these agents and clinicopathological features of GC and CG associated with the infection. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A single-center cohort of 375 Peruvian patients with GC and 165 control subjects with CG were analyzed. Evaluation of HP and EBV genes was performed through quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Prevalence of HP was 62.9% in the whole population and 60.8% in the GC subset. The cagA gene was detected in 79.9%; vacAs1 and vacAm1 alleles in 41.6% and 60.7%, respectively; and concurrent expression of vacAs1 and vacAm1 in 30.4% of infected patients in the whole series. The prevalence of EBV was 14.1% in the whole population and was higher in GC (P < .001). Coinfection of HP and EBV was found in 7.8% and was also higher in GC in univariate (P < .001) and multivariate (P = .011) analyses. Infection rates of HP and EBV were not associated with a geographic location in the whole series. Few clinicopathological features have been associated with infectious status. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of HP infection and virulent strains are high in the Peruvian population. Infection by EBV was more frequent in patients with GC.

Development of a sickle cell disease readiness for transition assessment.

BACKGROUND: Instrumentation with established reliability and validity is not yet routinely utilized to assess readiness for transition from pediatric to adult care for youth and young adults with chronic conditions, including sickle cell disease (SCD). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop a SCD specific readiness for transition assessment tool. SUBJECTS: Fifty-seven youths with SCD, ages 15-21 years, completed the initial version of the Transition Intervention Program - Readiness for Transition (TIP-RFT) assessment; 113 youths/young adults with SCD, ages 14-26 years, at two distinct sites of care completed a refined version of the TIP-RFT. METHODS: The TIP-RFT was constructed based on a literature review, provider and patient consensus and assessed domains including knowledge and skills in medical self-care, social support, health benefits and independent living and educational/vocational skills. We used principal components factor analysis to evaluate TIP-RFT responses and assessed differences in TIP-RFT scores in relation to age, gender, sickle cell diagnosis and site of care. RESULTS: The original TIP-RFT, which had demonstrated face validity, was reduced from 56 to 22 items. The revised instrument consisting of four subscales demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and construct validity. CONCLUSION: Our results support that the TIP-RFT is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of transition readiness for youths with SCD. The TIP-RFT assessment can guide interventions to improve transition readiness and can provide a foundation for future research on other variables that might be associated with transition readiness.

Self-efficacy and readiness for transition from pediatric to adult care in sickle cell disease.

BACKGROUND: Theories of self-care management, particularly the development of self-efficacy or confidence in one's ability to manage health-related goals, tasks, and challenges may provide a useful framework for developing programs to improve transition from pediatric to adult care for youth and young adults with sickle cell disease (SCD). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis stating that ratings of self-efficacy is positively associated with self-ratings of transition readiness. SUBJECTS: A total of 113 individuals with SCD aged 14-26 years at two distinct sites of care were recruited for the study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants completed the Transition Intervention Program Readiness for Transition (TIP-RFT) assessment, the Sickle Cell Self-Efficacy Scale and the Sickle Cell Stress -Adolescent scale. RESULTS: In multivariate regression models, self-efficacy was positively associated with scores on the total TIP-RFT and on the Education/Vocation Planning and Independent Living Skills scales. Older age was independently associated with higher scores on the Independent Living Skills scale and higher stress levels were independently associated with lower scores on Education/Vocation Planning scale. CONCLUSION: The TIP-RFT assessment, along with measures of self-efficacy and stress, appear to be useful measures of overall transition readiness for youth and young adults with SCD. Future studies should evaluate whether self-management skill development and health outcomes are indeed affected by programs to improve readiness for transition from pediatric to adult care.

Adenocarcinoma Metastásico de Amígdala de Primario Gástrico / Metastatic primary gastric adenocarcinoma in amigdala

Reportamos el caso de una paciente mujer de 79 años, con historia de 1 año de enfermedad caracterizado por disfagia y tumoración en amígdala derecha y adenopatía cervical. Se le realiza biopsia de tumoración amigdalina que fue diagnosticada como Adenocarcinoma, realizándose posteriormente una gastroscopia encontrándose una lesión en cuerpo y antro con estudio histopatológico de Adenocarcinoma Tubular infiltrante moderadamente diferenciado. La paciente recibió posteriormente quimioterapia con 5FU. Presentamos el caso debido a lo inusual que es encontrar metástasis amigdalina, siendo ésta además la primera manifestación de un cáncer gástrico.

We report the case of a 79 years old female patient, with a one year history of dysphagia, presence of a tumor in the right palatine tonsil and cervical lymph node involvement. A biopsy of the palatine tonsil tumor informed as an adenocarcinoma was performed followed by a gastroscopy that reported a lesion in gastric body and antrum whose histologycal diagnosis was a moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma. The patient received chemotherapy with 5FU. We present this case due to the unusual presentation of metastasis to the palatine tonsil and also for being the first manifestation of a gastric cancer.

Tratamiento quirúrgico del melanoma maligno en etapa clínica I: I. Margenes quirúrgicos / Surgical treatment of stage I malignant melanoma: I surgical margins

Los márgenes quirúrgicos en melanoma han recibido una considerable atención en la literatura médica recientemente, siendo motivo de una gran controversia, la cual está provocando un cambio gradual en la conducta terapéutica. En este artículo se revisan los orígenes y las modificaciones que han sufrido los conceptos en que se basa el tratamiento quirúrgico del melanoma primario en etapa clínica I. Aun cuando no hay consenso acerca de los márgenes óptimos, existen criterios aceptables surgidos de estudios clínicos realizados en los últimos años

Leishmaniasis cutánea: un caso tratado con antimoniales perilesionales e itraconazol / Cutaneous leishmaniasis: report of one case treated with perilesional antimonials and itraconazole

Niño de 14 años de edad con leishmaniasis cutánea tratado con itraconazol oral y antimoniato de meglumine (Glucantime) perilesional, con buena respuesta clínica