[Sometimes less is more. Preventing overdiagnosis by sharing decisions]. / Moins, c'est parfois mieux . Prévenir le surdiagnostic en partageant les décisions.

In this article, we will define «quaternary prevention¼, which consists in minimizing the iatrogenic effects of medical interventions, and more specifically the notion of «overdiagnosis¼. We will then discuss how a poor appreciation of the risks, on the part of both patients and clinicians, seems to fuel the phenomenon. We will discuss the interest of placing quaternary prevention within the broader framework of Shared Decision Making. We will focus on one of the stages of Shared Decision Making process, that of risk communication. Finally, we'll conclude that, fundamentally, clinicians should not only share information with patients, but also the power to decide.

Dans cet article, nous définirons la «prévention quaternaire¼, qui consiste à minimiser les effets iatrogènes de nos interventions et plus particulièrement de la notion de «surdiagnostic¼. Ensuite, nous discuterons en quoi une mauvaise appréciation des risques, chez les patients comme chez les thérapeutes, semble nourrir le phénomène. Nous discuterons de l'intérêt de replacer la prévention quaternaire dans le cadre plus large de la prise de décision médicale partagée (DMP) («Shared Decision Making¼). Nous nous attarderons sur une des étapes du processus de prise de DMP, celle de la communication des risques. Enfin nous conclurons que, fondamentalement, il s'agit pour les thérapeutes de non seulement partager l'information avec les patients, mais aussi le pouvoir de décider.

Is Myocardial Infarction Overdiagnosed?

This Viewpoint examines whether overdiagnosis rather than underdiagnosis may now be the dominant form of myocardial infarction misdiagnosis.

Discriminative capacity of guideline recommendations in the assessment of patients with asymptomatic microhematuria.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Asymptomatic microhematuria (aMh) remains a diagnostic challenge in urological practice: while aMh is a risk factor of urothelial carcinoma (UC), prevalence of aMh is high. Guidelines were developed to permit risk stratification and reduce diagnostic workload. This study investigates the efficacy of several recommendations. MATERIAL & METHODS: Sixty hundred eight patients with newly diagnosed aMh without previous UC from an academic referral center (A; n = 320) and a private outpatient clinic (B; n = 288) were included. All patients underwent clinical workup including medical history, urine cytology, upper tract imaging and cystoscopy. Eleven former and current guidelines were applied to each patient individually; every patient was classified as either low risk (no further workup recommended) or high risk. Furthermore, a recently developed nomogram for hematuria assessment was included. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 142 females and 466 males (mean age 62 [range 18-92] years). Sixty-one patients (10.0%) were diagnosed with UC. Excluding the Swedish and recent NICE guideline generally advising against urologic workup, application of 9 other recommendations would have diagnosed all UCs and saved 1.6% to 16.1% of patients from workup. For the 2020 US guideline, solely applied to cohort B, 10.6% of patients were classified as low risk. The use of the nomogram would have saved 17.1% to 25% of patients from workup. CONCLUSIONS: Practical relevance of current guidelines is limited as they do not sufficiently identify patients not requiring clinical work up. Thus, guideline adherence may trigger overdiagnosis and even overtreatment. New ways of risk stratification are needed to improve aMh assessment.

Overdiagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: Prevented by guidelines?

Overdiagnosis refers to detection of disease that would not otherwise become clinically apparent during a patient's lifetime. Overdiagnosis is common and has been reported for several cancer types, although there are few studies describing its prevalence in HCC surveillance programs. Overdiagnosis can have serious negative consequences including overtreatment and associated complications, financial toxicity, and psychological harms related to being labeled with a cancer diagnosis. Overdiagnosis can occur for several different reasons including inaccurate diagnostic criteria, detection of premalignant or very early malignant lesions, detection of indolent tumors, and competing risks of mortality. The risk of overdiagnosis is partly mitigated, albeit not eliminated, by several guideline recommendations, including definitions for the at-risk population in whom surveillance should be performed, surveillance modalities, surveillance interval, recall procedures, and HCC diagnostic criteria. Continued research is needed to further characterize the burden and trends of overdiagnosis as well as identify strategies to reduce overdiagnosis in the future.

Accounting for Age in the Definition of Chronic Kidney Disease.

Importance: Using the same level of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to define chronic kidney disease (CKD) regardless of patient age may classify many elderly people with a normal physiological age-related eGFR decline as having a disease. Objective: To compare the outcomes associated with CKD as defined by a fixed vs an age-adapted eGFR threshold. Design, Setting, and Participants: This population-based cohort study was conducted in Alberta, Canada and used linked administrative and laboratory data from adults with incident CKD from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2017, defined by a sustained reduction in eGFR for longer than 3 months below a fixed or an age-adapted eGFR threshold. Non-CKD controls were defined as being 65 years or older with a sustained eGFR of 60 to 89 mL/min/1.73 m2 for longer than 3 months and normal/mild albuminuria. The follow-up ended on March 31, 2019. The data were analyzed from February to April 2020. Exposures: A fixed eGFR threshold of 60 vs thresholds of 75, 60, and 45 mL/min/1.73 m2 for age younger than 40, 40 to 64, and 65 years or older, respectively. Main Outcomes and Measures: Competing risks of kidney failure (kidney replacement initiation or sustained eGFR <15 mL/min/1.73 m2 for >3 months) and death without kidney failure. Results: The fixed and age-adapted CKD cohorts included 127 132 (69 546 women [54.7%], 57 586 men [45.3%]) and 81 209 adults (44 582 women [54.9%], 36 627 men [45.1%]), respectively (537 vs 343 new cases per 100 000 person-years). The fixed-threshold cohort had lower risks of kidney failure (1.7% vs 3.0% at 5 years) and death (21.9% vs 25.4%) than the age-adapted cohort. A total of 53 906 adults were included in both cohorts. Of the individuals included in the fixed-threshold cohort only (n = 72 703), 54 342 (75%) were 65 years or older and had baseline eGFR of 45 to 59 mL/min/1.73 m2 with normal/mild albuminuria. The 5-year risks of kidney failure and death among these elderly people were similar to those of non-CKD controls, with a risk of kidney failure of 0.12% or less in both groups across all age categories and a risk of death at 69, 122, 279, and 935 times higher than the risk of kidney failure for 65 to 69, 70 to 74, 75 to 79, and 80 years or older, respectively. Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study of adults with CKD suggests that the current criteria for CKD that use the same eGFR threshold for all ages may result in overestimation of the CKD burden in an aging population, overdiagnosis, and unnecessary interventions in many elderly people who have age-related loss of eGFR.

Posttreatment Lyme Disease Syndrome-What It Might Be and What It Is Not.

Lyme disease is a multisystem disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi infection and accounts for well-defined manifestations, appearing either at an early or late stage. Appropriate antibiotic therapy generally leads to a favorable outcome. Still, unspecific persisting symptoms such as fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia or cognitive dysfunction are reported by several patients months to years after adequate treatment. Their underlying pathophysiologic mechanism is unclear. However, there is no evidence for microbiological persistence in these cases and attempts to resolve the symptoms by repeated or prolonged antibiotic treatment have not been convincingly successful, but they may rather be harmful. To narrow down the controversially handled entity of posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) and to avoid overdiagnosis and overtreatment, case definitions have been proposed, acknowledging PTLDS as a complex of nonspecific, subjective symptoms, which are neither caused by ongoing infection nor by any other identifiable disease. PTLDS is mainly a diagnosis of exclusion and requires careful evaluation of differential diagnosis followed by counseling about optimal management in light of missing specific therapeutic options.

Trends for Stage and Grade Group of Prostate Cancer in the US (2010-2016).

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the yearly prostate cancer incidence per 100,000 men, comparing consecutive years from 2010 through 2016. In the years immediately following the 2011/2012 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force update to prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening guidelines, PSA screening, biopsy, and subsequent prostate cancer diagnosis and definitive local treatment have declined. We performed an analysis of stage and grade at diagnosis for prostate cancer in the US, in the years following the 2011/2012 update. METHODS/MATERIALS: This was a retrospective study performed using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program data. Inclusion criteria were men ≥ 40 years with prostate cancer diagnosed between the years 2010 and 2016. RESULTS: In total, 370,865 cases of prostate cancer were analyzed. Overall, the incidence of prostate cancer decreased from 522 to 327 cases per 100,000 persons from 2010 to 2016. Conversely, the rate of metastatic disease increased over this duration from 29 to 37 cases per 100,000 persons (P< .05). In patients ≥70 years, this increase was from 21 to 27 cases per 100,000 persons over the 7 years (P < .05). High-grade disease incidence did not change significantly over the study period, though low-grade disease incidence, (Grade Groups 1 and 2) decreased from 204 and 155 to 116 and 115 cases per 100,000 persons, respectively (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: In the years following the 2011/2012 recommendation against PSA screening, fewer localized prostate cancers and more distantly metastatic prostate cancers were diagnosed. Most increases in metastatic disease was among men ≥70 years.