Higher agreement in endovascular treatment decision-making than in parametric quantifications among automated CT perfusion software packages in acute ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Estimates of parameters used to select patients for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for acute ischemic stroke differ among software packages for automated computed tomography (CT) perfusion analysis. To determine impact of these differences in decision making, we analyzed intra-observer and inter-observer agreement in recommendations about whether to perform EVT based on perfusion maps from 4 packages. METHODS: Perfusion CT datasets from 63 consecutive patients with suspected acute ischemic stroke were retrospectively postprocessed with 4 packages of Minerva, RAPID, Olea, and IntelliSpace Portal (ISP). We used Pearson correlation coefficients and Bland-Altman analysis to compare volumes of infarct core, penumbra, and mismatch calculated by Minerva and RAPID. We used kappa analysis to assess agreement among decisions of 3 radiologists about whether to recommend EVT based on maps generated by 4 packages. RESULTS: We found significant differences between using Minerva and RAPID to estimate penumbra (67.39±41.37mL vs. 78.35±45.38 mL, p < 0.001) and mismatch (48.41±32.03 vs. 61.27±32.73mL, p < 0.001), but not of infarct core (p = 0.230). Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.94 (95%CI:0.90-0.96) for infarct core, 0.87 (95%CI:0.79-0.91) for penumbra, and 0.72 (95%CI:0.57-0.83) for mismatch volumes (p < 0.001). Limits of agreements were (-21.22-25.02) for infarct core volumes, (-54.79-32.88) for penumbra volumes, and (-60.16-34.45) for mismatch volumes. Final agreement for EVT decision-making was substantial between Minerva vs. RAPID (k = 0.722), Minerva vs. Olea (k = 0.761), and RAPID vs. Olea (k = 0.782), but moderate for ISP vs. the other three. CONCLUSIONS: Despite quantitative differences in estimates of infarct core, penumbra, and mismatch using 4 software packages, their impact on radiologists' decisions about EVT is relatively small.

Effectiveness of direct-acting antiviral therapy in patients with a HCV/HIV coinfection. A multicenter cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: The effectiveness of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents has been demonstrated in clinical trials both in patients with mono and coinfections. The goal of the study was to analyze the effectiveness and toxicity of this therapy in real-life patients with a HIV/HCV coinfection and to identify variables that are associated with an unfavorable outcome. METHODS: This was a multicenter ambispective study in a cohort of coinfected patients. Data were collected from eight centers in Castilla-La Mancha from 2014 to 2016. An intent-to-treat analysis was performed and any loss to follow-up, treatment withdrawal or toxicity was considered as a failure. RESULTS: A total of 229 patients were included with a median age of 49.6 years and the majority were male (83%). Fewer than 10% had a detectable HIV-related viral load (VL). The most prevalent HCV genotype was 1 (65.1%). Fifty percent had cirrhotic liver disease and 65% had over 800,000 copies/ml of HCV VL. The global sustained viral response (SVR) was reached by 91.7% of cases. The most commonly used DAA regimen was sofosbuvir/ledipasvir. Ribavirin was included in 52% of regimens, 65.9% of cases completed 12-week regimens and 30% completed 24-week schemes. There were 19 therapy failures. No differences were observed between the various DAA strategies used. No independent predictor was found for SVR. CONCLUSIONS: HCV treatment in coinfected patients is highly successful in terms of SVR rate in the real-life setting and toxicity is exceptional. We identified no specific predictors of an unfavorable outcome.

Combined Approach to Stroke Thrombectomy Using a Novel Short Flexible Aspiration Catheter with a Stent Retriever : Preliminary Clinical Experience.

BACKGROUND: Large-bore aspiration catheters enabling greater flow rates and suction force for mechanical thrombectomy might improve outcomes in patients with stroke secondary to large-vessel occlusion. Complete or near-complete reperfusion after a single thrombectomy pass (first-pass effect) is associated with improved clinical outcomes. We assessed the efficacy and safety of novel MIVI Q™ aspiration catheters in combination with stent-retriever devices. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed demographics, procedure characteristics, and clinical data from consecutive patients with acute anterior large-vessel occlusion treated with a combined approach using MIVI Q™ aspiration catheters and stent retrievers. Reperfusion was defined according to the modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction (mTICI) score. Clinical outcomes were measured by the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores. RESULTS: We included 52 patients (median age, 75 y IQR: 64-83); 31 (59.6%) women; 14 (26.9%) with terminal internal carotid artery occlusions, 26 (50%) middle cerebral artery (MCA) segment M1 occlusions, and 12 (23.1%) MCA segment M2 occlusions; median NIHSS score at admission was 19 (IQR: 13-22). After the first pass, 25 (48%) patients had mTICI ≥ 2c. At the end of the procedure, 47 (90.4%) had mTICI ≥ 2b and 35 (67.3%) had mTICI ≥ 2c. No serious device-related adverse events were observed. Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage developed in 1 patient. Mean NIHSS score was 13 at 24 h and 5 at discharge. At 90 days, 24 (46.2%) patients were functionally independent (mRS 0-2). CONCLUSION: This preliminary study found good efficacy and safety for MIVI Q™ aspiration catheters used in combination with stent-retriever devices.

Impact of interferon-free therapies in HIV/HCV co-infected patients on real clinical practice: results from a multicenter region-wide cohort study (2014-2018).

BACKGROUND: Here, we assess the efficacy and safety of direct antiviral agents (DAAs) in a real-world cohort of co-infected individuals, and evaluate the consistency between clinical practice and guideline recommendations. METHODS: Multicenter, prospective cohort study of HIV/HCV co-infected patients followed-up in nine sites in Spain. All patients with detectable HCV-RNA naive to second-generation DAAs were enrolled. The primary endpoint was the assessment of sustained virological response at week 12 (SVR12). We performed intention-to-treat (ITT), per-protocol (PP), and multivariable analyses to identify factors associated with therapeutic failure. We compared the DAAs we administered to available guideline recommendations. Schemes not perfectly adjusted to the recommendations were defined as sub-optimal. RESULTS: Overall, 316 patients (82.1% male) received a total of 330 treatments. Of these, 43.9% were cirrhotic and 40.6% were treatment-experienced. In the ITT and PP analyses, SVR12 was achieved in 90.9% [95% confidence interval (CI) 87.3-93.6] and 93.7% (95% CI 90.5-95.6), respectively. Only alcohol abuse [odds ratio (OR): 0.33; 95% CI 0.138-0.789, P = 0.013] and a higher basal bilirubin level (OR: 0.595; 95% CI 0.416-0.851, P = 0.004) were independently associated to therapeutic failure. A progressive decrease in the proportion of sub-optimal treatments was observed over time, from 75% in 2014 to 0% in 2018. Being treated with a sub-optimal regimen was not associated with failure. CONCLUSION: Despite numerous difficulties in treatment access and in adaptation to the changing guidelines, we detected no differences among the DAAs used, nor did we detect a lower efficacy when the chosen treatment was not optimal.

A Deep Learning-Based System (Microscan) for the Identification of Pollen Development Stages and Its Application to Obtaining Doubled Haploid Lines in Eggplant.

The development of double haploids (DHs) is a straightforward path for obtaining pure lines but has multiple bottlenecks. Among them is the determination of the optimal stage of pollen induction for androgenesis. In this work, we developed Microscan, a deep learning-based system for the detection and recognition of the stages of pollen development. In a first experiment, the algorithm was developed adapting the RetinaNet predictive model using microspores of different eggplant accessions as samples. A mean average precision of 86.30% was obtained. In a second experiment, the anther range to be cultivated in vitro was determined in three eggplant genotypes by applying the Microscan system. Subsequently, they were cultivated following two different androgenesis protocols (Cb and E6). The response was only observed in the anther size range predicted by Microscan, obtaining the best results with the E6 protocol. The plants obtained were characterized by flow cytometry and with the Single Primer Enrichment Technology high-throughput genotyping platform, obtaining a high rate of confirmed haploid and double haploid plants. Microscan has been revealed as a tool for the high-throughput efficient analysis of microspore samples, as it has been exemplified in eggplant by providing an increase in the yield of DHs production.

Does fibrosis really regress in HIV/hepatitis C virus co-infected patients after treatment with direct antiviral agents?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the progression of liver stiffness after treatment with direct antiviral agents (DAAs), to identify predictive factors of fibrosis regression and to analyze the changes of scores AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) after treatment. DESIGN: Multicenter prospective cohort study of HIV/HCV co-infected patients conducted within the GECMEI cohort, Spain. METHODS: Individuals were eligible if they were willing to start DAAs and underwent two transient elastographies: at baseline and after the end of treatment (EOT). All patients with detectable HCV RNA naïve to DAAs were consecutively enrolled from nine medical hospitals. Liver stiffness results were categorized in four Metavir stages (F1: <7.1; F2 : 7.1--9.5; F3 : 9.5--2.4; F4: >12.4 kPa). The APRI and FIB-4 scores were calculated at baseline, EOT and 12 weeks after EOT. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy-eight patients were examined throughout a follow-up of 16.3 months (IQR: 12.5-25). The median of liver stiffness decrease was 2.6 kPa (IQR: 0-6.3). A greater improvement was observed in F3-F4 compared with F1-F2, (6.4 vs. 0.91 kPa, P < 0.001; P = 0.001, respectively). A decline between baseline and EOT measures was observed in APRI and FIB-4 (P < 0.001). Sustained virological response (SVR12) achievement was the only predictor of fibrosis regression [OR:17.4 (95% CI: 1.8-164.6; P = 0.013)]. CONCLUSION: Most patients experienced a significant reduction of liver stiffness and APRI and FIB-4 scores. This improvement was greater in those with advanced liver disease. SVR12 was the only predictor of fibrosis regression. The significance of this reduction is unclear and could reflect a decline in inflammation rather than true fibrosis regression.

Macrovascular Networks on Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Improves Survival Prediction in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma.

A higher degree of angiogenesis is associated with shortened survival in glioblastoma. Feasible morphometric parameters for analyzing vascular networks in brain tumors in clinical practice are lacking. We investigated whether the macrovascular network classified by the number of vessel-like structures (nVS) visible on three-dimensional T1-weighted contrast⁻enhanced (3D-T1CE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could improve survival prediction models for newly diagnosed glioblastoma based on clinical and other imaging features. Ninety-seven consecutive patients (62 men; mean age, 58 ± 15 years) with histologically proven glioblastoma underwent 1.5T-MRI, including anatomical, diffusion-weighted, dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion, and 3D-T1CE sequences after 0.1 mmol/kg gadobutrol. We assessed nVS related to the tumor on 1-mm isovoxel 3D-T1CE images, and relative cerebral blood volume, relative cerebral flow volume (rCBF), delay mean time, and apparent diffusion coefficient in volumes of interest for contrast-enhancing lesion (CEL), non-CEL, and contralateral normal-appearing white matter. We also assessed Visually Accessible Rembrandt Images scoring system features. We used ROC curves to determine the cutoff for nVS and univariate and multivariate cox proportional hazards regression for overall survival. Prognostic factors were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier survival and ROC analyses. Lesions with nVS > 5 were classified as having highly developed macrovascular network; 58 (60.4%) tumors had highly developed macrovascular network. Patients with highly developed macrovascular network were older, had higher volumeCEL, increased rCBFCEL, and poor survival; nVS correlated negatively with survival (r = -0.286; p = 0.008). On multivariate analysis, standard treatment, age at diagnosis, and macrovascular network best predicted survival at 1 year (AUC 0.901, 83.3% sensitivity, 93.3% specificity, 96.2% PPV, 73.7% NPV). Contrast-enhanced MRI macrovascular network improves survival prediction in newly diagnosed glioblastoma.

[Incidence of pneumonia in HIV-infected patients in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era]. / Incidencia de neumonía en pacientes infectados por el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana en la era del tratamiento antirretroviral de gran actividad.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: There is scant data comparing the incidence of pneumonia in the community and in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) population in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Prospective study during 18 months. Data were obtained by the means of the electronic clinical record. Incidence rate was compared between HIV positive and negative patients. RESULTS: There were 529 pneumonia episodes in global population (n = 220,000), 1.6 cases/1000 person-year. HIV-infected patients (n = 170) suffered 12 episodes of pneumonia; 46 cases/1000 person-year (relative risk = 29.3, 95% confidence interval, 16.34-51.4; p < 0.01). HIV infected patients with pneumonia have a lower CD4 count (mean 434 versus 230 cells/ml; p = 0.04), higher viral load (4.1 versus 3.2 log copies/ml; p = 0.07) and received antiretroviral treatment in a similar proportion compared to HIV without pneumonia (62 versus a 66.7%, p = 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: Pneumonia in HIV infected patients may be about 30 times more frequent than general population in HAART era. Prevention measures should be reinforced.