Predictors of academic career placement and scholarly impact in fellowship-trained rhinologists.

BACKGROUND: As rhinology fellowship positions outpace the availability of academic rhinology jobs, it is increasingly important to identify characteristics that are associated with academic placement after fellowship completion. In this study, we evaluated the association of academic characteristics during training with current job placement and posttraining scholarly impact. METHODS: Previous rhinology fellows were identified using publicly available data. Bibliometric indices, training institutions, graduate degrees, and job placement data were used in bivariate and multivariable regression analyses to assess for association with predictors and academic trajectory. RESULTS: Data from 265 rhinologists, all graduating between 1991 and 2020, were included. Most surgeons (n = 185, 70%) held an academic position and 80 (30%) surgeons worked in a nonacademic setting; 93.2% had a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree and 80.3% were male. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that a designation of MD, compared with Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO; odds ratio [OR], 5.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.97-21.9), number of publications during fellowship (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02-1.41), and h-index during training (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.07-1.49]) were independently predictive of academic job placement. Meanwhile, number of primary authorships during fellowship (ß = 1.47; 95% CI, 1.07-1.88]), h-index during training (ß = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25-0.71), and PhD (ß = 4.16; 95% CI, 1.57-6.76) were associated with posttraining h-index. Medical school ranking; graduate degrees, including Master of Science (MS), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Master of Public Health (MPH); and research metrics before residency were not associated with either academic placement or posttraining h-index. CONCLUSION: The predictors of academic job placement in rhinology are unclear, but h-index during training, and research productivity during fellowship may serve as indicators of an academic career.

Kimura Disease: A Rare and Difficult to Diagnose Entity.

Kimura disease (KD) is a rare inflammatory disorder which involves the head and neck. Due to its rarity and various findings, definitive diagnosis can be difficult to ascertain. Kimura disease is distinguished from other conditions, including angiolymphoid hyperplasia, by histopathological features including follicular hyperplasia, reactive germinal centers, abundant eosinophilia, eosinophilic microabscesses, preserved nodal architecture, Warthin-Finkeldy polykaryocytes, and capsular fibrosis. Herein, we describe the clinical presentation, pathology, and diagnosis of a single case of a 39-year-old treated at an academic center in Texas.

Recurrent anaphylaxis in the United States: time of onset and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Studies have not yet examined the trends and risk factors of biphasic and recurrent anaphylaxis in the United States using International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision (ICD-10) CM codes. The goal of this study is to examine the trends of biphasic and recurrent anaphylaxis in all patient care settings (inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, and observation). METHODS: We used the Clinformatics database from 2015 to 2017. Our main outcome measure was recurrent anaphylactic events occurring within 1 year after the initial event. We used Cox proportional hazards modeling to assess the factors associated with recurrent anaphylaxis and the Kaplan-Meier method to estimate time to recurrence. RESULTS: There were a total of 19,039 patients with incident anaphylaxis in 2016 and, of these, 2017 had a recurrent anaphylaxis event in the 12-month period after the index date (10.6%). The most common trigger for recurrent anaphylaxis is venom followed by food allergens. Pediatric patients aged <18 years were more likely to develop recurrent anaphylaxis compared with patients aged 18 to 64 years (hazard ratio [HR], 1.53). Patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma were more likely to develop recurrent anaphylaxis compared to those without these comorbidities (HR, 1.15 and 1.27, respectively). CONCLUSION: This is the first national study using ICD-10 CM codes looking at rates of biphasic and recurrent anaphylaxis in all patient care settings. Recurrent anaphylaxis is more common in the first 3 days after the initial event, in younger patients (<18 years), and in patients with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma. Physicians need to prescribe epinephrine auto-injectors and educate their patients about the risk of recurrence.

The Efficacy of Dextran-40 as a Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Strategy in Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy.

The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in peritoneal malignancies can approach 30 to 50 per cent without prophylaxis. Prophylaxis in cytoreductive surgeries (CRS) presents a challenge to preoperative heparin-based therapy because of an increased risk of coagulopathy and potential for bleeding. Herein, we report the large series of CRS and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy receiving dextran-40 prophylaxis. Retrospective chart review of peritoneal malignancies patients undergoing CRS at University of Nebraska Medical Center identified 69 individuals who received dextran-40 between 2010 and 2013. The incidences of VTEs, perioperative bleeding, complications, morbidity, and mortality were determined in-hospital and at 90 days. Of the 69 patients treated, the 30-day VTE rate was 8.7 per cent, and no pulmonary embolisms, bleeding, anaphylactoid reaction, or mortality were observed with dextran usage. The specific VTE events included three upper extremity and three lower extremity VTEs. No additional VTE events were identified between 30 and 90 days. In conclusion, dextran-40 prophylaxis was not associated with any perioperative bleeding events, and the observed incidence of VTE was comparable to reported heparin-based prophylaxis in CRS/hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy patients. This data supports further exploration of dextran-40 as a VTE prophylactic agent in complex surgical oncology cases.

A Combination of MUC5AC and CA19-9 Improves the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer: A Multicenter Study.

OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a lethal malignancy that lacks specific diagnostic markers. The present study explores the diagnostic potential of the most differentially overexpressed secretory mucin MUC5AC alone and in combination with CA19-9 using multi-center training and validation sets. METHODS: The expression of MUC5AC in benign pancreatic pathologies, PC precursor lesions, primary PC tissues and metastatic lesions was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Circulating MUC5AC levels were measured using sandwich ELISA assay developed in-house, and CA19-9 was measured using radioimmunoassay. A combined training set (n=346) was used to evaluate the diagnostic (n=241) and predictive (n=105, total samples 201 from pre- and post-surgical and chemotherapy set) significance of MUC5AC. Results were further validated with a pre-defined cut-off value using independent sets from the Mayo Clinic (n=94) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (n=321). RESULTS: Tissue expression analyses indicated the de novo expression of MUC5AC in pancreatic intraepithelial precursor lesions 1A (PanIN1A); the expression was maintained through all stages of progression to invasive adenocarcinoma. The median circulating MUC5AC levels in patients with resectable early-stage PC (EPC) (stage 1/2; 67.2 ng/ml, IQR: 23.9-382.1) and unresectable late-stage PC (LPC) (stage 3/4; 389.7 ng/ml, IQR: 87.7-948.6) were significantly higher compared with (P-value ≤0.0001) benign controls (BC) (7.2 ng/ml, IQR: 0.4-26.5) and (P-value ≤0.0001) chronic pancreatitis (CP) controls (8.4 ng/ml, IQR: 1.5-19.2). In the diagnostic training set (n=241), MUC5AC efficiently differentiated EPC from healthy controls (HC) (83%/80% sensitive (SN)/specific (SP)), BC (67%/87% SN/SP), and CP (83%/77% SN/SP). Independent validation sets from the Mayo Clinic and UPMC confirmed the diagnostic potential of MUC5AC to differentiate EPC from BC (68%/73%; 65%/83%) and CP (68%/79%; 65%/72%). Furthermore, MUC5AC and CA19-9 combination significantly improved (p-value < 0.001) the diagnostic accuracy for differentiating resectable cases from controls. CONCLUSIONS: MUC5AC is a valuable diagnostic biomarker, either alone or in combination with CA19-9, to differentiate PC from CP and benign controls.

Bilateral Lymphatic Spread of Metastatic Basal Cell Carcinoma.

Herein, we report a case of a patient with an abnormal skin lesion that remained unchecked by medical professionals for approximately 20 years. Upon physical examination in the emergency department for a fractured hip, an infiltrative mass was incidentally discovered. The neoplasm was noted to have progressed from an eraser-sized mass to a 3.5-cm invasive lesion. Initial surgical intervention was believed to have been successful in removal, as margins were clear with the exception of 1 indeterminate segment. However, subsequent 1-year follow-up revealed recurrence of the disease with bilateral axillary node and deep muscle involvement. This prompted a more extensive surgical approach complemented with radiation therapy. The patient had remained disease-free for a year.

Clinical presentation and outcome of nonfunctional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in a modern cohort.

BACKGROUND: The natural history of nonfunctional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NF-PNETs) is largely unstudied due to its rarity. The primary goal of this study was to characterize clinical features and outcomes of incidental NF-PNETs. METHODS: An institutional review board-approved retrospective study of patients with NF-PNET evaluated by the Surgical Oncology of University of Nebraska Medical Center was performed. Patients were evaluated with dedicated pancreatic and liver imaging using multiphasic computed tomographic scan and dedicated magnetic resonance imaging protocols. RESULTS: Forty-six patients (male, 47.8%) were evaluated, and 35 ultimately resected. Of these, 16 tumors were discovered incidentally. The median age was 62 and 59 years in incidental and symptomatically discovered, respectively. Incidental median size was 2.4 cm vs 6 cm in the symptomatic group, with a P value of .037. The presence of lymphatic and liver metastases was 10% and 25% incidental and 45% and 67% for those with symptoms (lymphatic involvement, P = .05; liver metastases P = .07). Median overall survival was 45 and 76 months (P = .03). CONCLUSIONS: Incidentally discovered NF-PNETs represent a malignancy with more questions than answers. Our series indicates that these cancers are more indolent than previously believed.