Moderate and Severe Blood Pressure Elevation Associated with Stroke in the Mexican Hispanic Population.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in US. Amongst other factors such as age, sex, race, genetics, obesity, diabetes etc., hypertension continues to be the leading contributing factor towards stroke. Studies regarding stroke in Hispanics are sparse and inconclusive. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the present study is to investigate the potential association between blood pressure elevation and risk of ischemic stroke among the Mexican Hispanic population. METHODS: A retrospective data analysis was carried out for a planned case-control study with case-control ratios of 1:2. Mexican Hispanic cases were from the ElPasoStroke database with diagnosed hypertension that had sustained an ischemic stroke (n = 505) and Mexican Hispanics diagnosed with hypertension who were stroke-free as controls from the 2005-2010 NHANES databases (n = 1010). In this analysis, we included subjects who had data on systolic, diastolic or mean arterial blood pressures for cases (327) and controls (772). In cases, blood pressure was determined by the initial admission measurement, and in controls, the first measured blood pressure was used. The unadjusted and adjusted effects of continuous measurements of systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure on stroke were determined using logistic regression analyses. Subjects were further classified into groups based on prehypertension and hypertension ranges, as established by the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC7). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were also used to determine the effect of categorized blood pressures. RESULTS: Our data indicate that per unit increase in systolic, diastolic or mean arterial blood pressure elevates the odds of stroke among the Mexican Hispanic population. Adjusted analysis of categorized blood pressures showed that mild or moderate/severe high blood pressure significantly associated with odds of stroke. Maintaining and controlling blood pressure at more stringent and lower levels, specifically lowering mean arterial pressure may effectively reduce the odds of ischemic stroke among the Mexican Hispanic population. CONCLUSION: Elevation of blood pressure increases the odds of stroke among the Mexican Hispanic population. Our results provide new strategies to manage the stroke prevention and health disparity issues among the Mexican Hispanic population.

Rates of residual disease with close but negative margins in breast cancer surgery.

OBJECTIVES: A recent multidisciplinary consensus defined an adequate breast cancer margin as no ink on tumor. The purpose of this study was to analyze rates of residual disease at re-excision by margin width. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective database at a single institution was reviewed from 2000 to 2012. Institutional protocol had been to perform re-excision surgery when margins were <2 millimeters (mm). RESULTS: There were 2520 procedures. Re-excision surgery was performed for 12% of breast conserving therapy (BCT) procedures and 2% of mastectomies; residual disease was present in 38% and 26%, respectively. The rates of residual disease for all patients with positive, 0.1-0.9 mm, and 1.0-1.9 mm margins were 40%, 38%, and 33%, respectively. Age, race, menopause status, width of closest final margin, tumor histology, hormone receptor status, triple-negative disease and presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) were not significantly associated with the presence of residual disease. The presence of multiple margins <2 mm trended toward significance (p = 0.06). Median follow-up was 43 months. The five-year local recurrence rates (5-year LR) were 1.1% for mastectomy patients and 1.9% for BCT patients. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer patients with margins of excision <2 mm have a substantial risk of residual disease but the rates far exceed LR rates. These findings suggest that using residual disease rates to determine the appropriate margin width is not reliable, but also serve as a note of caution to track LR rates as institutions conform to new national guidelines for margin management.

Validation study of a modern treatment algorithm for nipple discharge.

BACKGROUND: Nipple discharge occurs in 2% to 5% of women. We evaluated the effectiveness of a previously proposed treatment algorithm for these patients. METHODS: Patients with pathologic nipple discharge and a negative mammogram and subareolar ultrasound were offered follow-up from 2005 to 2011 according to the algorithm. RESULTS: A total of 192 patients, mean age 56 years, were studied. Risk of carcinoma among the entire cohort was 5%. Breast surgeon was consulted for 142 (74%) patients: 48 (34%) underwent initial subareolar excision and 94 (66%) were clinically followed. The rate of carcinoma was 17% (8/48) after initial subareolar excision, 0% (0/13) for those without imaging abnormalities, 23% (8/35) with imaging abnormalities, and 1% (1/94) with clinical follow-up. Of patients who underwent follow-up, 21% (n = 20) underwent subareolar excision because of imaging abnormality (n = 1, 1%) or persistent discharge (n = 19, 20%). Most patients had ductal carcinoma in situ (n = 5, 56%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with nipple discharge can be prospectively identified based on radiographic findings and clinical examination for safe clinical follow-up. Most will have resolution avoiding a surgical procedure.