Primary Cilia as a Tumor Marker in Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) account for approximately 15% of all intracranial neoplasms. Although they usually appear to be benign, some tumors display worse behavior, displaying rapid growth, invasion, refractoriness to treatment, and recurrence. Increasing evidence supports the role of primary cilia (PC) in regulating cancer development. Here, we showed that PC are significantly increased in PitNETs and are associated with increased tumor invasion and recurrence. Serial electron micrographs of PITNETs demonstrated different ciliation phenotypes (dot-like versus normal-like cilia) that represented PC at different stages of ciliogenesis. Molecular findings demonstrated that 123 ciliary-associated genes (eg, doublecortin domain containing protein 2, Sintaxin-3, and centriolar coiled-coil protein 110) were dysregulated in PitNETs, representing the upregulation of markers at different stages of intracellular ciliogenesis. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that ciliogenesis is increased in PitNETs, suggesting that this process might be used as a potential target for therapy in the future.

Prevalence of the notification of malnutrition in the departments of internal medicine and its prognostic implications.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Detection and notification of malnutrition are essential to adopt a support plan and take costs into account. The aim of this study was to describe how often discharge sheets from Internal Medicine (IM) units include malnutrition among diagnoses (notification frequency) using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision Clinical Modification -ICD-9. Factors associated with this diagnosis and its prognostic implications are also assessed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Minimum Basic Data Set from the Spanish hospitals (Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs) was revised, and patients with diagnosis of malnutrition (ICD-9: 260-263.9) were identified. RESULTS: 1,567,659 patients were analysed (21,804-1.4%- with malnutrition). These patients were older (72.4 vs 70.8 years of age), had a greater degree of comorbidity (Charlson >2: 28% vs 23.5%), and resided in nursing homes more often (3.9% vs 1.9%) than the non-undernourished. The malnutrition associated diagnoses were: dementia, cancer, HIV infection and chronic renal failure. Mortality (19.5% vs 9.8%), hospital stay (18.1 vs 9.8 days), costs (5228.46 vs 3537.8 €) and relative weights applied to each Diagnosis Related Group (2.6 vs 1.1) were higher (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). CONCLUSIONS: Notification of malnutrition in IM departments is low, below the prevalence described in inpatients. This diagnosis is associated with an increase in morbidity, mortality and costs.

Mortality and complications in very old patients (90+) admitted to departments of internal medicine in Spain.

SUMMARY: Patients over 90 years of age (the "very elderly") account for an increasing number of admissions to departments of internal medicine (IM). The aim of this study was to analyse the demographic data, hospitalization characteristics, medical complications, and predictors of mortality in patients over 90 admitted to IM departments. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients admitted to IM departments in Spain between the years 2005 and 2007 were analysed. Clinical and demographic data were compared with records from "younger elderly" patients (65-90). RESULTS: During the study period, there were 1,567,659 patient admissions to IM departments in Spain, and 90,679 (5.8%) were older than 90. Hospital mortality occurred in 22.3% of very elderly patients. The main predictors for hospital death were pressure ulcer (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.55, CI95% 1.45-1.66), thromboembolic disease (OR 1.83, CI95% 1.61-2.09), nosocomial pneumonia (OR 2.53, CI95% 2.39-2.69), hip fracture (OR 2.20, CI95% 1.53-3.18), male gender (OR 1.06, CI95% 1.03-1.10), age (OR 1.05, CI95% 1.04-1.06), dementia (OR 1.13, CI95% 1.08-1.18), cancer (OR 1.60, CI95% 1.51-1.71), acute respiratory failure (OR 1.83, CI95% 1.76-1.89), acute infectious disease (OR 2.30, IC95% 2.11-2.52), and Charlson comorbidity index (OR 1.21, CI95% 1.16-1.26). CONCLUSIONS: Very elderly patients represent a large and growing fraction of the total admissions to IM departments in Spain. They are at higher risk for complications during their hospital stay and mortality rate is double that of the younger elderly.