Diagnostic Test Accuracy of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound With Sonazoid for Assessment of Focal Liver Lesions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This meta-analysis examined the diagnostic accuracy of Sonazoid-enhanced ultrasonography (SZ-CEUS) in discriminating malignant from benign focal liver lesions (FLLs) and HCC from non-HCC FLLs. Finding relevant studies required a rigorous PubMed, EMBASE, and other database search. To distinguish malignant from benign FLLs, SZ-CEUS had a pooled sensitivity of 94% (95% CI: 0.91-0.95) and specificity of 84% (95%: 0.78-0.89). HCC distinction had 83% sensitivity and 96% specificity (95% CI: 0.80-0.85 and 0.95-0.97). SZ-CEUS accurately distinguishes malignant from benign FLLs and HCC from non-HCC lesions, especially smaller HCC lesions.

Long-term, open-label extension study of the efficacy and safety of epicutaneous immunotherapy for peanut allergy in children: PEOPLE 3-year results.

BACKGROUND: The PEPITES (Peanut EPIT Efficacy and Safety) trial, a 12-month randomized controlled study of children with peanut allergy and 4 to 11 years old, previously reported the safety and efficacy of epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) for peanut allergy (250 µg, daily epicutaneous peanut protein; DBV712 250 µg). OBJECTIVE: We sought to assess interim safety and efficacy of an additional 2 years of EPIT from the ongoing (5-year treatment) PEOPLE (PEPITES Open-Label Extension) study. METHODS: Subjects who completed PEPITES were offered enrollment in PEOPLE. Following an additional 2 years of daily DBV712 250 µg, subjects who had received DBV712 250 µg in PEPITES underwent month-36 double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge with an optional month-38 sustained unresponsiveness assessment. RESULTS: Of 213 eligible subjects who had received DBV712 250 µg in PEPITES, 198 (93%) entered PEOPLE, of whom 141 (71%) had assessable double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge at month 36. At month 36, 51.8% of subjects (73 of 141) reached an eliciting dose of ≥1000 mg, compared with 40.4% (57 of 141) at month 12; 75.9% (107 of 141) demonstrated increased eliciting dose compared with baseline; and 13.5% (19 of 141) tolerated the full double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge of 5444 mg. Median cumulative reactive dose increased from 144 to 944 mg. Eighteen subjects underwent an optional sustained unresponsiveness assessment; 14 of those (77.8%) maintained an eliciting dose of ≥1000 mg at month 38. Local patch-site skin reactions were common but decreased over time. There was no treatment-related epinephrine use in years 2 or 3. Compliance was high (96.9%), and withdrawals due to treatment-related adverse events were low (1%). CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that daily EPIT treatment for peanut allergy beyond 1 year leads to continued response from a well-tolerated, simple-to-use regimen.

An evaluation of factors influencing response to epicutaneous immunotherapy for peanut allergy in the PEPITES trial.

Background: Epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) for peanut allergy is a potential novel immunotherapy that utilizes the unique cutaneous immunologic properties to induce desensitization. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial (PEPITES) in peanut-allergic children 4-11 years demonstrated an epicutaneous patch (DBV712) with 250 µg peanut protein was statistically superior to placebo in inducing desensitization following 12 months of daily treatment. Objective: To investigate what baseline and in-study factors influenced response to DBV712 250 µg, with a focus on patch adhesion, by posthoc analysis of PEPITES data. Methods: A posthoc multivariate model built with log-transformed Month 12 eliciting dose (ED) as the dependent variable was used to assess the influence of baseline characteristics and patch adhesion. Baseline characteristics and treatment response were also evaluated by stratifying subjects into decile subgroups by patch detachment rates over the 12-month study. Results: Multivariate analysis identified higher baseline ED and lower baseline peanut-specific IgE as the variables most predictive of higher Month 12 ED, followed by mean daily patch application duration, baseline SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) score, and age. By decile stratification, no association between patch detachment and treatment response was identified for 80% of DBV712-treated subjects. All DBV712-treated subjects, including those with the highest patch detachment rates, demonstrated treatment benefit measured by fold-changes in geometric mean ED. Conclusion: We identified subject baseline characteristics of higher baseline ED and lower baseline peanut-specific IgE as most predictive of higher Month 12 ED. For the majority of treated subjects, patch detachment did not impact treatment response. A minority of subjects, highly sensitive to peanut at baseline, had lower prespecified responder rates and higher patch detachment rates, yet still benefited from treatment based upon fold-changes in ED.

Efficacy and safety of peanut epicutaneous immunotherapy in patients with atopic comorbidities.

Background: Co-occurring atopic conditions are common in children with peanut allergy. As such, it is important to examine the safety and efficacy of epicutaneous immunotherapy with Viaskin Peanut 250 µg patch (VP250) in peanut-allergic children with these conditions. Objective: We sought to compare efficacy and safety of VP250 versus placebo in peanut-allergic children with/without ongoing atopic conditions at baseline, including asthma, atopic dermatitis/eczema, or concomitant food allergy. Methods: A subgroup analysis of peanut-allergic children aged 4 to 11 years enrolled in PEPITES (12 months) and REALISE (6 months) randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trials was conducted. The efficacy outcome measure was the difference in prespecified responder rate between placebo and VP250 groups at month 12 based on eliciting dose of peanut protein using double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge in PEPITES. Safety profiles were evaluated by baseline concomitant disease subgroup in all randomized subjects who received 1 or more dose of the study drug in PEPITES and REALISE pooled data. Results: Responder rates were significantly (P < .05, all comparisons) greater with VP250 compared with placebo treatment regardless of whether subjects had other atopic conditions. Safety and tolerability profiles were generally similar across subgroups, with no new safety concerns detected. A trend for both higher responder rates and rates of local reactions was observed in subjects with baseline atopic dermatitis versus those without. In subjects with concomitant food allergy at baseline, higher rates of treatment-emergent adverse events, but not study discontinuations or overall rates of anaphylaxis, were observed. Conclusions: The results support the safety and efficacy of VP250 for treating peanut-allergic children with or without concomitant atopic conditions.

Transmission probabilities of HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2, effect of male circumcision and interaction: a longitudinal study in a township of South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: A synergy between HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections has been reported in observational studies. The objectives of this study were to estimate the per-sex-act female-to-male transmission probabilities (FtoMTPs) of HIV and HSV-2, the effect of each infection on the FtoMTP of the other and the effect of male circumcision on these FtoMTPs. DESIGN: We used longitudinal data collected during the male circumcision trial conducted in Orange Farm (South Africa). METHODS: Results were obtained by specific mathematical modeling of HIV and HSV-2 statuses of the men as functions of their sexual behavior and male circumcision status. The model took into account an estimation of the HIV and HSV-2 statuses of each of their female partners. Confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using a bootstrap resampling method. RESULTS: The HIV and HSV-2 FtoMTPs, during an unprotected sexual contact for an uncircumcised male in the absence of the other virus in both partners, were 0.0047 (95% CI: 0.0014-0.017) and 0.0067 (95% CI: 0.0028-0.014), respectively. HSV-2 in either partner increased HIV FtoMTP with a relative risk (RR) of 3.0 (95% CI: 1.01-7.3). Conversely, HIV in either partner increased HSV-2 FtoMTP (RR= 2.5; 95% CI: 1.1- 6.3). Male circumcision significantly decreased these probabilities with RRs of 0.24 (95% CI: 0.11-0.44) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.36-0.91), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study gave the first estimates of HSV-2 per-sex-act FtoMTPs in Africa. It demonstrated a synergy between HIV and HSV-2 infections and a protective effect of male circumcision on HSV-2 acquisition by males.