Reintervention or mortality within 90 days of bariatric surgery: population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Bariatric surgery carries a risk of severe postoperative complications, sometimes leading to reinterventions or even death. The incidence and risk factors for reintervention and death within 90 days after bariatric surgery are unclear, and were examined in this study. METHODS: This population-based cohort study included all patients who underwent bariatric surgery in one of the five Nordic countries between 1980 and 2012. Data on surgical and endoscopic procedures, diagnoses and mortality were retrieved from national high-quality and complete registries. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs), adjusted for country, age, sex, co-morbidity, type of surgery and approach, year and hospital volume of bariatric surgery. RESULTS: Of 49 977 patients, 1111 (2·2 per cent) had a reintervention and 95 (0·2 per cent) died within 90 days of bariatric surgery. Risk factors for the composite outcome reintervention/mortality were older age (HR 1·65, 95 per cent c.i. 1·36 to 2·01, for age at least 50 years versus less than 30 years) and co-morbidity (HR 2·66, 1·53 to 4·62, for Charlson co-morbidity index score 2 or more versus 0). The risk of reintervention/mortality was decreased for vertical banded gastroplasty compared with gastric bypass (HR 0·37, 0·28 to 0·48) and more recent surgery (HR 0·51, 0·39 to 0·67, for procedures undertaken in 2010 or later versus before 2000). Sex, surgical approach (laparoscopic versus open) and hospital volume did not influence risk of reintervention/mortality, but laparoscopic surgery was associated with a lower risk of 90-day mortality (HR 0·29, 0·16 to 0·53). CONCLUSION: Reintervention and death were uncommon events within 90 days of bariatric surgery even in this unselected nationwide cohort from five countries. Older patients with co-morbidities have an increased relative risk of these outcomes.

ANTECEDENTES: La cirugía bariátrica conlleva un riesgo de complicaciones postoperatorias graves, que algunas veces ocasionan reintervenciones o incluso son causa de mortalidad. La incidencia y los factores de riesgo de reinterveniones y mortalidad a los 90 días tras cirugía bariátrica no están claros, y fueron examinados en este estudio. MÉTODOS: Todos los pacientes que fueron sometidos a cirugía bariátrica en uno de los cinco países nórdicos en 1980-2012 fueron incluidos en un estudio de cohortes de base poblacional. Los datos de los procedimientos quirúrgicos y endoscópicos, diagnóstico, y mortalidad se obtuvieron a partir de registros nacionales completos y de alta calidad. Mediante una regresión de Cox multivariable se obtuvieron los cocientes de riesgos instantáneos (hazard ratios, HR) y los intervalos de confianza 95% (i.c. del 95%) ajustados por país, edad, sexo, comorbilidad, y tipo, abordaje, año y volumen de casos de cirugía bariátrica del hospital. RESULTADOS: De un total de 49.977 pacientes, 1.111 (2,2%) precisaron una reintervención y 95 (0,2%) fallecieron durante los primeros 90 días tras la cirugía bariátrica. Los factores de riesgo para el resultado compuesto reintervención/mortalidad fueron la edad avanzada (HR = 1,7 (i.c. del 95% 1,4-2,0) edad ≥ 50 versus < 30 años)) y la comorbilidad (HR = 2,7 (i.c. del 95% 1,5-4,6) puntuación del índice de comorbilidad de Charlson ≥ 2 versus 0)). Se observó una disminución de los HRs tras la gastroplastia vertical con banda en comparación con el bypass gástrico (HR = 0,4, (i.c. del 95% 0,3-0,5)) y el periodo de estudio más reciente (HR = 0,5 (i.c. del 95% 0,4-0,7) ≥ 2010 versus < 2000)). El sexo, el abordaje quirúrgico laparoscópico versus abierto y el volumen del hospital no influyeron sobre el riesgo de reintervención/mortalidad, pero la cirugía laparoscópica se asoció con una mortalidad a los 90 días más baja (HR 0,3, i.c. del 95% 0,2-0,5). CONCLUSIÓN: La reintervención y la mortalidad son eventos infrecuentes durante los primeros 90 días tras la cirugía bariátrica, incluso en esta cohorte nacional y no seleccionada de cinco paises. Los pacientes mayores con comorbilidades tienen un riesgo relativo aumentado de reintervención y mortalidad.

Targets and Mechanisms in Prevention of Parkinson's Disease through Immunomodulatory Treatments.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world; however, there is no cure for it. Current treatments only relieve some of the symptoms, without ceasing the disease, and lose efficacy with prolonged treatment. Considerable evidence shows that persistent inflammatory responses, involving T cell infiltration and glial cell activation, are common characteristics of human patients and play a crucial role in the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Therefore, it is important to develop therapeutic strategies that can impede or halt the disease through the modulation of the peripheral immune system by aiming at controlling the existing neuroinflammation. Most of the immunomodulatory therapies designed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease are based on vaccines using AS or antibodies against it; yet, it is of significant interest to explore other formulations that could be used as therapeutic agents. Several vaccination procedures have shown that inducing regulatory T cells in the periphery is protective in PD animal models. In this regard, the formulation glatiramer acetate (Copaxone® ), extensively used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, could be a suitable candidate due to its capability to increase the number and suppressor capacity of regulatory T cells. In this review, we will present some of the recent immunomodulatory therapies for PD including vaccinations with AS or glatiramoids, or both, as treatments of PD pathology.

Systematic case finding for tuberculosis in HIV-infected people who inject drugs: experience from Pakistan.

SETTING: Pakistan is a high tuberculosis (TB) burden country, moving from low human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence to a concentrated epidemic driven primarily by people who inject drugs (PWID). The Antiretroviral Treatment Adherence Unit (AAU) in Islamabad, Pakistan, is a residential facility that offers combined treatment for opioid dependence and HIV. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: This retrospective study was conducted to assess TB prevalence among HIV-infected PWID referred to the AAU and to evaluate the diagnostic value of cough as a screening symptom. A single sputum sample was collected regardless of symptoms, and examined using smear, Xpert® MTB/RIF and culture. RESULTS: Of 888 PWID, 71.5% submitted a sputum sample. More TB cases were detected using Xpert (n = 25) than with smear (n = 10) or culture (n = 20). A TB prevalence of 6141 per 100 000 was estimated based on seven cases already identified as being on anti-tuberculosis treatment and 32 newly diagnosed bacteriologically confirmed TB cases. Both cough and smoking (10 pack-years) were associated with increased TB prevalence. Only half of the TB cases reported cough. Rifampicin resistance was reported among 10% (3/29) of newly identified cases. CONCLUSION: TB prevalence in HIV-infected PWID was 15 times higher than in the general adult population. As a screening symptom, cough has low diagnostic value.

Inflammatory bowel diseases in Faroese-born Danish residents and their offspring: further evidence of the dominant role of environmental factors in IBD development.

BACKGROUND: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is record high in the Faroe Islands, and many Faroese emigrate to Denmark, where the IBD incidence is considerably lower. AIM: To study the IBD incidence in first-, second- and third-generation immigrants from the Faroe Islands to Denmark to assess the extent to which the immigrants adopt the lower IBD incidence of their new home country. METHODS: Data on Faroese-born Danish residents and their children were retrieved from the Danish Central Population Register for 1980-2014. Incident IBD cases were identified from the Danish National Patient Register. Standardised Incidence Ratios (SIRs) were used to compare the IBD risk in immigrants with that of Danes. 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the square-root transform. RESULTS: First-generation Faroese immigrants had a higher IBD incidence than Danes, SIR 1.25 (95% CI, 0.97-1.59) for men and 1.28 (95% CI, 1.05-1.53) for women. This excess risk derived from ulcerative colitis (UC), SIR 1.44 (95% CI, 1.10-1.87) for men and 1.36 (95% CI, 1.09-1.68) for women. No excess risk was found for Crohn's disease (CD). The UC risk was nearly doubled during the immigrants' first 10 years in Denmark; SIR 2.13 (95% CI, 1.52-2.92) for men and 1.63 (95% CI, 1.19-2.18) for women. CONCLUSIONS: Although some impact of genetic dilution cannot be excluded, our findings indicate importance of gene-environment interplay in UC, as the excess UC risk in Faroese immigrants to Denmark disappeared over time and over one generation in men and over two generations in women.

False-positive results in mammographic screening for breast cancer in Europe: a literature review and survey of service screening programmes.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the cumulative risk of a false-positive screening result in European mammographic screening programmes, and examine the rates and procedures of further assessment. METHODS: A literature review was conducted to identify studies of the cumulative risk of a false-positive result in European screening programmes (390,000 women). We then examined aggregate data, cross-sectional information about further assessment procedures among women with positive results in 20 mammographic screening programmes from 17 countries (1.7 million initial screens, 5.9 million subsequent screens), collected by the European Network for Information on Cancer project (EUNICE). RESULTS: The estimated cumulative risk of a false-positive screening result in women aged 50-69 undergoing 10 biennial screening tests varied from 8% to 21% in the three studies examined (pooled estimate 19.7%). The cumulative risk of an invasive procedure with benign outcome ranged from 1.8% to 6.3% (pooled estimate 2.9%). The risk of undergoing surgical intervention with benign outcome was 0.9% (one study only). From the EUNICE project, the proportions of all screening examinations in the programmes resulting in needle biopsy were 2.2% and 1.1% for initial and subsequent screens, respectively, though the rates differed between countries; the corresponding rates of surgical interventions among women without breast cancer were 0.19% and 0.07%. CONCLUSION: The specific investigative procedures following a recall should be considered when examining the cumulative risk of a false-positive screening result. Most women with a positive screening test undergo a non-invasive assessment procedure. Only a small proportion of recalled women undergo needle biopsy, and even fewer undergo surgical intervention.

Mammographic screening programmes in Europe: organization, coverage and participation.

OBJECTIVES: To summarize participation and coverage rates in population mammographic screening programmes for breast cancer in Europe. METHODS: We used the European Network for Information on Cancer (EUNICE), a web-based data warehouse (EUNICE Breast Cancer Screening Monitoring, EBCSM) for breast cancer screening, to obtain information on programme characteristics, coverage and participation from its initial application in 10 national and 16 regional programmes in 18 European countries. RESULTS: The total population targeted by the screening programme services covered in the report comprised 26.9 million women predominantly aged 50-69. Most of the collected data relates to 2005, 2006 and/or 2007. The average participation rate across all programmes was 53.4% (range 19.4-88.9% of personally invited); or 66.4% excluding Poland, a large programme that initiated personal invitations in 2007. Thirteen of the 26 programmes achieved the European Union benchmark of acceptable participation (>70%), nine achieved the desirable level (>75%). Despite considerable invitation coverage across all programmes (79.3%, range 50.9-115.2%) only 48.2% (range 28.4-92.1%) of the target population were actually screened. The overall invitation and examination coverage excluding Poland was 70.9% and 50.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the feasibility of European-wide screening monitoring using the EBCSM data warehouse, although further efforts to refine the system and to harmonize standards and data collection practices will be required, to fully integrate all European countries. The more than three-fold difference in the examination coverage should be taken into account in the evaluation of service screening programmes.