Cardiovascular phenotypes in type 2 diabetes: Latent class analysis of the CANVAS Program and CREDENCE trial.

AIM: To identify unique clinical phenotypes in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and investigate their treatment response to canagliflozin using latent class analysis. METHODS: This was a pooled latent class analysis of the individuals in the CANVAS Program and CREDENCE trial. The co-primary endpoints were hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) and the composite of cardiovascular death (CVD) or HHF. Secondary endpoints included three-point major adverse CV events, its individual components, and all-cause mortality. We completed Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate the effect of canagliflozin across phenotypes. RESULTS: Four distinct phenotypes were identified: Phenotype 1 (n = 966, 6.6%), with the lowest prevalence of heart failure, kidney dysfunction and hypertension; Phenotype 2 (n = 4169, 28.7%), primarily comprising females with a high prevalence of atherosclerotic vascular disease (ASCVD); Phenotype 3 (n = 7108, 48.9%), predominately males with a high prevalence of ASCVD; and Phenotype 4 (n = 2300, 15.8%), possessing the highest prevalences of HF and renal dysfunction. A hierarchical increase in the risk of the primary endpoint was observed across the phenotypes, with the highest CV risk observed for Phenotype 4 (hazard ratio for HHF: 7.57 [95% CI: 4.19-13.69]). Canagliflozin significantly reduced HHF and the composite CVD or HHF across phenotypes (all P values for interaction > .05). CONCLUSION: We identified four clinically distinct T2D phenotypes with differential CV risks. Canagliflozin reduced the risk of CV events, irrespective of the phenotype, emphasizing its broad therapeutic acceptability.

[Diabetes and pancreatic cancer - When diabetes indicates a pancreatic cancer]. / Diabète et cancer du pancréas - Quand le diabète est annonciateur de cancer pancréatique.

Diabetes and pancreatic cancer have an intricate relationship where each is a risk factor for developing the other. In case of type 2 diabetes, there is an increased probability of developing pancreatic cancer. Similarly, the onset of diabetes often precedes the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Since hyperglycemia is secondary to tumor involvement of the exocrine pancreas, diabetes is considered pancreatogenic. In the current classification, it is part of the entities belonging to type 3c diabetes. The pathophysiology is specific, characterized by a high glycemic variability and a tendency to weight loss. Early identification of inaugural type 3c diabetes would reduce diagnostic delays and could optimize oncologic management. In the absence of specific markers, the challenge for the clinician is indisputable.

Diabète et cancer du pancréas entretiennent une relation intriquée où chacun constitue un risque de développer l'autre. En cas de diabète de type 2, le risque de cancer augmente. La survenue d'un diabète précède aussi souvent le diagnostic de cancer du pancréas. L'hyperglycémie étant secondaire à l'atteinte tumorale du pancréas exocrine, ce diabète est considéré comme pancréatogénique. Dans la dénomination actuelle, il fait partie des entités appartenant au diabète de type 3c. La pathophysiologie est spécifique, caractérisée par une forte variabilité glycémique et une tendance à la perte de poids. Distinguer précocement les diabètes inauguraux de type 3c permettrait de réduire les délais diagnostiques et d'optimiser la prise en charge oncologique. En l'absence de marqueurs spécifiques, le challenge est indiscutable pour le clinicien.

[Abiotrophia defectiva: an unusual cause of endocarditis]. / Endocardite à germe inhabituel: Abiotrophia defective.

This article reports one of the rare cases of Abiotrophia defectiva endocarditis with no underlying valvular condition. A sixty-three years old man was hospitalized because of complicated respiratory sepsis with acute heart failure. Hemocultures and echocardiogram enabled the diagnosis of A. defectiva endocarditis. The clinical course was favorable under combined aminoglycoside and cephalosporin. The patient ultimately required valvular replacement. A. defectiva is a micro-organism part of the Nutritionnaly Variant Streptococci (NVS) associated with a high mortality rate and often resistant to antibiotics. Although A. defectiva is a rare cause of endocarditis, prompt recognition and appropriate antibiotic treatment are essential to clinical course.

User-oriented evaluation of a medical image retrieval system for radiologists.

PURPOSE: This article reports the user-oriented evaluation of a text- and content-based medical image retrieval system. User tests with radiologists using a search system for images in the medical literature are presented. The goal of the tests is to assess the usability of the system, identify system and interface aspects that need improvement and useful additions. Another objective is to investigate the system's added value to radiology information retrieval. The study provides an insight into required specifications and potential shortcomings of medical image retrieval systems through a concrete methodology for conducting user tests. METHODS: User tests with a working image retrieval system of images from the biomedical literature were performed in an iterative manner, where each iteration had the participants perform radiology information seeking tasks and then refining the system as well as the user study design itself. During these tasks the interaction of the users with the system was monitored, usability aspects were measured, retrieval success rates recorded and feedback was collected through survey forms. RESULTS: In total, 16 radiologists participated in the user tests. The success rates in finding relevant information were on average 87% and 78% for image and case retrieval tasks, respectively. The average time for a successful search was below 3 min in both cases. Users felt quickly comfortable with the novel techniques and tools (after 5 to 15 min), such as content-based image retrieval and relevance feedback. User satisfaction measures show a very positive attitude toward the system's functionalities while the user feedback helped identifying the system's weak points. The participants proposed several potentially useful new functionalities, such as filtering by imaging modality and search for articles using image examples. CONCLUSION: The iterative character of the evaluation helped to obtain diverse and detailed feedback on all system aspects. Radiologists are quickly familiar with the functionalities but have several comments on desired functionalities. The analysis of the results can potentially assist system refinement for future medical information retrieval systems. Moreover, the methodology presented as well as the discussion on the limitations and challenges of such studies can be useful for user-oriented medical image retrieval evaluation, as user-oriented evaluation of interactive system is still only rarely performed. Such interactive evaluations can be limited in effort if done iteratively and can give many insights for developing better systems.

General vs health specialized search engine: a blind comparative evaluation of top search results.

This paper presents the results of a blind comparison of top ten search results retrieved by Google.ch (French) and Khresmoi for everyone, a health specialized search engine. Participants--students of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva had to complete three tasks and select their preferred results. The majority of the participants have largely preferred Google results while Khresmoi results showed potential to compete in specific topics. The coverage of the results seems to be one of the reasons. The second being that participants do not know how to select quality and transparent health web pages. More awareness, tools and education about the matter is required for the students of Medicine to be able to efficiently distinguish trustworthy online health information.

Developing clinical skills using a virtual patient simulator in a resource-limited setting.

OBJECTIVE: to measure the effect of training with a virtual patient (VP) simulation system on clinical skills of healthcare professionals in Africa. METHODS: A randomized controlled intervention was carried out at Yaounde Central Hospital (Cameroon). The intervention consisted of two groups training on one of the two clinical vignettes implemented in the VP simulator. Four actors were trained to play standardized patient (SP) roles. The clinical skills (performance score) of participants were assessed on both clinical vignettes using these SPs. RESULTS: Twenty medical students from FMSB were recruited. The difference in overall score was observed between participants who received training from the VP system (higher average) and those who did not receive the training (lower average). This difference is statistically significant, especially when the focus is on participants' scores in the relevant items for proper management of the case. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the training with a medical consultation VP simulator can develop the operational clinical skills of the user.

User tests for assessing a medical image retrieval system: a pilot study.

Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) has often been proposed to assist medical decision making in complement to textual information search. However, applications of this novel technology have rarely reached the end users. The study presented in this paper describes the design and setup for performing pilot user tests in order to assess a medical information retrieval system that supports CBIR with the goal of having more detailed tests with an updated system. Five individuals with medical education participated in the study at the University hospitals of Geneva. They were recorded and observed while interacting with the system, and then provided feedback on the usability of the system. Participants seemed to understand the concept and practical uses of the new tools, and needed 10-15 minutes to feel confident with the system. The results of this pilot study will be used for improving the system functionalities as well as an input for designing a new iteration of larger-scale user tests among radiologists.