[Non-programmed hospitalization of elderly patients with cancer: Which care pathway?] / Hospitalisation non programmée des patients âgés atteints de cancer : quel parcours de soins ?

INTRODUCTION: Management of elderly patients with cancer is challenging worldwide. Improvement of their care pathway should focus on unplanned hospitalizations. This study aimed to compare the geriatric and oncologic profiles of elderly patients with cancer, hospitalized for an acute pathology either in medical oncology or acute geriatric medicine units. METHODS: Epidemiological, analytical, monocentric, transversal study performed in the geriatric and oncological short-stay units of the university hospital of Poitiers (France) from 07/01/2014 to 06/30/2015. Only patients with diagnosed cancer prior to hospitalization were included. The geriatric, oncological and hospitalization data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 230 patients were included (156 in geriatrics, 74 in oncology). Alteration of the general condition was the most frequent reason for admission. In multivariate age-adjusted analyses, factors associated with admission to a geriatric unit were co-morbidities (OR=0.18 [95% CI: 0.07-0.46], P<0.01) and dependence (OR=0.07 [95% CI: 0.01-0.36], P<0.01). Ongoing antineoplastic treatment (OR=2.60 [95%CI: 1.14-5.89], P=0.02) and metastatic cancer (OR=2.63 [95%CI: 1.18-5.86], P=0.02) influenced hospitalization in the oncology unit. During the hospital stay there was more frequent psychological support in oncology (OR=45.59 [95%CI: 9.79-212.23], P<0.01) and social support in Geriatrics (OR=0.13 [95% CI: 0.04-0.40], P<0.01). CONCLUSION: This first comparative study showed a significant difference in profiles of elderly patients with cancer hospitalized for an acute problem, depending on the hospital unit. This finding paves the way of improvement of care pathway by formalizing links between these two departments to optimize care and referrals to the most appropriate care unit, according to patients condition, in case of unscheduled hospitalization.

Comparison of Toxoplasma gondii IgG avidity Architect and Vidas assays with the estimated date of infection in pregnant women.

A maternal Toxoplasma gondii infection during pregnancy is a risk for congenital infection through maternal-fetal transplacental transmission. Estimation of the date of infection is of the utmost importance for management and treatment recommendations. In this setting, IgG avidity has been shown to be useful as high avidity rules out an infection dating less than 4 months. The estimated date of infection can also be obtained by the ratio of T. gondii IgG titers measured by the Vidas (bioMérieux) assay versus T. gondii IgG titers measured by the Architect (Abbott Laboratories) test, together with T. gondii IgM and IgA antibody responses. In this study, using 117 serum samples from pregnant women, we compared the IgG avidity values obtained by Architect and Vidas with the presumed date of T. gondii infection established by the T. gondii IgG ratio of IgG Vidas and IgG Architect plus the IgM and IgA results. To date, IgG avidity Vidas seems to exhibit better performance than Architect. For both assays, gray zone results were most likely obtained from patients infected more than 4 months before sampling. These data should be taken into account for a possible reconsideration of the interpretation of avidity results in the gray zone.

Echocardiography screening to detect rheumatic heart disease: A cohort study of schoolchildren in French Pacific Islands.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to assess the outcomes of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) diagnosed by means of echocardiography-based screening. METHODS: A cohort of children with and with no RHD was driven from a systematic echocardiography-based nationwide surveillance among 4th grade (age 9-10 years) schoolchildren in South-Pacific New Caledonia (2008-2011). The specific follow-up programme used clinical and standardised echocardiography (2012 World Heart Federation criteria) predefined endpoints. RESULTS: Out of the 17,633 children screened, 157 were detected with findings of RHD. Among them, 114 consented children (76.5%) were enrolled (RHD-group), and were compared to 227 randomly selected healthy classmates (non-RHD group). After a median follow-up period of 2.58 years [1.31-3.63], incidence of acute rheumatic fever was similar in RHD and non-RHD groups (p=0.23): 10.28/1000/year and 3.31/1000/year, respectively. By echocardiography, 90 children in the RHD group (78.9%) still presented with RHD at follow-up, compared to 31 (13.7%) in the non-RHD group (p<0.0001). Only 12 children (10.5%) experienced progression of RHD over time, mild single valve disease lesions remaining unchanged in the majority of cases (61 out of 73, 83.6%). Overcrowded living conditions were independently associated with persistent RHD on echocardiography (OR 8.27 95% CI (1.67-41.08), p<0.01). Benzathine penicillin G was given in 88.6% of children in the RHD-group. CONCLUSIONS: Children screened positive for RHD by echocardiography have mostly mild but irreversible heart valve disease under secondary prophylaxis. Our findings also suggest that a single screening point in childhood may prove insufficient in high-risk populations.