Claims for compensation after injuries related to airway management: a nationwide study covering 15 years.

BACKGROUND: Securing the airway is one of the most important responsibilities in anaesthesia. Injuries related to airway management can occur. Analysis from closed claims can help to identify patterns of injury, risk factors and areas for improvement. METHODS: All claims to The Norwegian System of Compensation to Patients from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2015 within the medical specialty of anaesthesiology were studied. Data were extracted from this database for patients and coded by airway management procedures. RESULTS: Of 400 claims for injuries related to airway management, 359 were classified as 'non-severe' and 41 as 'severe'. Of the severe cases, 37% of injuries occurred during emergency procedures. Eighty-one claims resulted in compensation, and 319 were rejected. A total of €1,505,344 was paid to the claimants during the period. Claims of dental damage contributed to a numerically important, but financially modest, proportion of claims. More than half of the severe cases were caused by failed intubation or a misplaced endotracheal tube. CONCLUSION: Anaesthesia procedures are not without risk, and injuries can occur when securing the airway. The most common injury was dental trauma. Clear patterns of airway management that resulted in injuries are not apparent from our data, but 37% of severe cases were related to emergency procedures which suggest the need for additional vigilance. Guidelines for difficult intubation situations are well established, but adherence to such guidelines varies. Good planning of every general anaesthesia should involve consideration of possible airway problems and assessment of pre-existing poor dentition.

Ethnicity differences in breast cancer stage at the time of diagnosis in Norway.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Several studies have demonstrated that breast cancer survival rates differ with ethnicity. Most of these studies analyzed discrepancies between African-American and Caucasian-American women and were performed in the United States. There are increasing concerns about differences in breast cancer survival among immigrants from Asia and Africa living in Europe, including those living in Scandinavian countries. There are few data on breast cancer survival in relation to race or ethnicity in Scandinavian countries, even though immigrants from Asia and Africa have lived in Scandinavian countries for decades. The aim of this study was to identify variations in breast cancer incidence, treatment modalities, relapse, and survival among women from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia compared to ethnic Norwegian women. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The incidence, treatment modalities, relapse, and survival of breast cancer were analyzed in women from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia in a nation-based study over a period of 7 ears. Results for women from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia were compared with those from a group of ethnic Norwegian women during the same period. In our study, 63 patients from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia were diagnosed with breast cancer during the period 2002-2009 in Norway. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Comparison between women from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia and ethnic women from Norway revealed significant differences in cancer stage at the time of diagnosis, age at diagnosis, type of surgical treatment, and relapse and breast cancer mortality rates. The findings of this study demonstrate that the outcome after a breast cancer diagnosis is significantly worse for women from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia than for ethnic Norwegian women. In addition, the mean age at the breast cancer diagnosis was lower for women from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Somalia, especially those from Sri Lanka and Somalia, than for ethnic Norwegian women.

The prognostic value and overexpression of cyclin A is correlated with gene amplification of both cyclin A and cyclin E in breast cancer patient.

UNLABELLED: Deregulation of cell cycle control is a hallmark of cancer. The primary cyclins (A, B1, D1, D3 and E) are crucial for cell cycle progression. Secondary cyclins (C and H) have putative indirect effects on cell cycle propulsion and are not previously evaluated in breast cancer. We have examined protein expression and gene amplification of cyclins in breast carcinomas and correlated the findings with clinical follow-up data. We have previously demonstrated that over-expression of cyclin A is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. In this study we wanted to evaluate the mechanisms behind overexpression of cyclin A, as well as the impact of other cyclins, both at the gene level and at the protein level, on prognosis of breast cancer patients. The impact of TP53 gene mutations on gene amplification of cyclins was also evaluated. METHODS: Real-Time Quantitative PCR was used to detect gene amplification of cyclins in tumour tissue from 86 patients operated for invasive breast carcinomas, while immunohistochemistry was applied to detect protein expression of the same cyclins. RESULT: Of the 80-breast tumour samples available for cyclin A gene amplification analyses, 26.7% (23/80) was defined to have cyclin A gene amplification. 37.2% (32/79) had cyclin B1 gene amplification, 82.6% (71/82) of the samples harboured amplification of cyclin C gene, 74.4% (64/82) had cyclin D1 gene amplification, 41.9% (36/86) had cyclin D3 gene amplification, 29.1% (25/81) of the patients had cyclin E gene amplification and 9.3% (8/86) of the samples showed amplification of the cyclin H gene. When correlation between gene amplification and protein expression was evaluated, we observed a statistical significant correlation between gene amplification and protein expression of cyclin A (p=0.009) and cyclin D3 (p<0.001). However, the correlation between gene amplification and protein expression of cyclin A, as well as the prognostic value of cyclin A overexpression, was affected by gene amplification of cyclin E. Gene amplification of none of the other cyclins was associated with patient prognosis. There was a statistical significant correlation between TP53 gene mutations and gene amplification of cyclins A, D3 and B1. No correlation was observed between gene amplification of secondary cyclins (H and C) and TP53 gene mutations. CONCLUSIONS: The overexpression of cyclin A is correlated to gene amplification of both cyclin A and cyclin E. Over-expression of cyclin A is associated with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. When analysed in a multivariate analyses model, gene amplification as well as protein expression of none of the other cyclins than cyclin A are associated with patient prognosis in breast carcinomas. TP53 gene mutation seems to correlate with gene amplification of primary, but not secondary cyclins.

Expression and gene amplification of primary (A, B1, D1, D3, and E) and secondary (C and H) cyclins in colon adenocarcinomas and correlation with patient outcome.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Deregulation of cell cycle control is a hallmark of cancer. The primary cyclins (A, B1, D1, D3, and E) are crucial for cell cycle progression. Secondary cyclins (C and H) have putative indirect effects on cell cycle progression and have not previously been evaluated in colon cancer. This study examined cyclin protein expression and gene amplification in colon adenocarcinoma and the correlation with patient outcome. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry and real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to determine cyclin expression and gene amplification in 219 tumours. The results were compared with clinical variables and patient outcomes. RESULTS: Cyclin H was overexpressed in all tumours, cyclin C in 88%, cyclin B1 in 58%, cyclin A in 83%, cyclin D3 in 36%, cyclin E in 25%, and cyclin D1 in 11% of the tumours. Extra gene copies of cyclin A were seen in 6.2% of the tumours, cyclin B1 in 9%, cyclin C in 26.9%, cyclin D1 in 55%, cyclin D3 in 20.5%, cyclin E in 19.1%, and cyclin H in 5.1%. A significant correlation between protein overexpression and gene amplification was seen for cyclin C only. High expression of cyclin A was independently associated with improved survival. Amplification of cyclin C was independently associated with an unfavourable prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Amplification of the cyclin C gene was related to an unfavourable prognosis and high protein expression of cyclin A was associated with a better outcome in colon adenocarcinoma.

Presence of isolated tumour cells in mesenteric lymph nodes predicts poor prognosis in patients with stage II colon cancer.

AIM: Most patients with stage I and stage II colon adenocarcinomas do not have disseminated disease, and the group is not offered adjuvant therapy. However, more than 30% of stage II colon adenocarcinoma patients get metastases to remote organs. Thus, it is important to identify patients in this group at risk of disease relapse. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have examined the prognostic value of isolated tumour cells (ITC) in mesenteric lymph nodes in a consecutive series of 156 colon carcinoma patients with stage II disease. Immunohistochemistry, using antibodies to cytokeratins, and morphology were used to identify presence of ITC. RESULTS: ITC were detected in 59 (37.8%) patients. Presence of ITC in mesenteric lymph nodes was independently associated with reduced relative survival both in univariate (p=0.0199) and in a multivariate analysis (p=0.041). CONCLUSION: The results strongly suggest that presence of ITC in mesenteric lymph nodes is associated with reduced relative survival in colon carcinoma patients stage II, and that detection of ITC may be important in treatment of these patients.

Association between histology grade, expression of HsMCM2, and cyclin A in human invasive breast carcinomas.

AIM: Increased proliferation of tumour cells has prognostic value in human invasive breast carcinomas (IBCs), and high histology grade and cyclin A expression, which may reflect high proliferation rate, are associated with poor prognosis. Expression of HsMCM2 is related to cell proliferation. This study evaluates the correlation between the expression of cyclins A, D1, D3, and E, Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), histology grade, and HsMCM2 expression, in addition to the independent prognostic value of HsMCM2 expression in human IBCs. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry to evaluate HsMCM2, Ki-67, and PCNA expression in tumours from 147 patients with IBC. RESULTS: Nuclear staining for HsMCM2 was seen in 10-30% of the tumour cells in 30 samples, in 30-70% in 40 samples, in > 70% in 44 samples, and in < 10% in 33 samples. One way ANOVA showed a significant association between expression of HsMCM2 and cyclin A, D3, E, histology grade, and Ki-67. A borderline correlation was seen between HsMCM2 and PCNA. In multivariate analysis, the only association was with cyclin A, in addition to a borderline association with histology grade. In a Cox regression hazards model, expression of HsMCM2 was associated with poor patient survival, although it lost its independent prognostic value when cyclin A expression was included. Ki-67 and PCNA expression were not associated with patient survival. CONCLUSION: Cyclin A expression is independently associated with HsMCM2 expression, histology grade, and Ki-67. HsMCM2 expression is associated with poor patient survival, although it loses prognostic value when adjusted for cyclin A.