Five-Year Prospective Observational Study of African-American Men on Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer Demonstrates Race Is Not Predictive of Oncologic Outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate if race impacted outcomes or risk of disease progression in men on active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer. We present the results from our majority African-American cohort of men in an equal access setting over a 5-year follow-up period. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients who elected AS for prostate cancer at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System are entered into a prospectively managed observational database. Patients were divided into groups based on self-reported race. Grade group progression was defined as pathologic upgrading above International Society of Urological Pathology Grade Group 1 disease on subsequent biopsies following diagnostic biopsy. All tests were 2 sided using a significance of .05. RESULTS: A total of 228 men met inclusion criteria in the study, including 154 non-Hispanic African American and 74 non-Hispanic Caucasian American men, with a median follow-up of 5 years from the initiation of AS. Race was not predictive of Gleason grade progression, AS discontinuation, or biochemical recurrence on Cox multivariate analysis (HR = 1.01, 0.94, 0.85, P = .96, .79, .81, respectively). On Kaplan-Meier analysis at 5 years, African-American progression-free, AS discontinuation free, and overall survival probability was comparable to their Caucasian American counterparts (P > .05 for all). CONCLUSIONS: Active surveillance is a safe treatment option for low and very low risk prostate cancer, regardless of race. African-American and Caucasian-American men did not have any significant difference in Gleason grade group progression in our cohort with 5-year follow-up.

Self-Induced Trauma to the Genitalia: a Review of the Literature and Management Schemes.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Self-induced genital trauma is rare, and prompt and evidence-based early intervention can improve the urinary and sexual function of these complex patients. This review has surveyed current literature and treatment trends to evaluate the clinical approach to managing genital trauma. RECENT FINDINGS: A literature review was performed regarding self-induced genitalia trauma and trauma management between 2000 and 2019 using MEDLINE® database, the Cochrane Library® Central Search, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. In total, 42 articles were considered relevant and included in this review. Self-induced trauma can be appropriately managed with a multidisciplinary approach. Treatment goals are to preserve urinary, sexual, and reproductive function. Specific evaluation includes mechanism of injury, imaging, and determining the extent of injury and surgical repair, if indicated. Due to the rarity of these injuries and their emergent nature, much of the management is based on retrospective data. Further research is needed to improve long-term functional outcomes in trauma patients.

Investing in Whole Person Health: Working Toward an Integration of Physical, Behavioral, and Social Health.

North Carolina is developing a unique and innovative infrastructure to support integrated physical, behavioral, and social health care. Efforts by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation, Cone Health, Atrium Health, and the One Charlotte Health Alliance advance our understanding of how to best operationalize the design and payment of integrated services. Best practices such as the collaborative care and primary care behavioral health models reduce inefficiencies and disparities by bringing together teams of primary care and behavioral health care providers.

Physician practices regarding contraindications to oral anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation: findings from the Outcomes Registry for Better Informed Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation (ORBIT-AF) registry.

BACKGROUND: Oral anticoagulation (OAC) therapy reduces the risk of thromboembolic events associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), yet a substantial proportion of patients with AF are not prescribed OAC. The aim of this study is to describe the frequencies of and factors associated with OAC contraindications in contemporary clinical practice. METHODS: We analyzed data from the ORBIT-AF study, a national, prospective, outpatient registry of incident and prevalent AF. Oral anticoagulation contraindications were uniformly collected at enrollment by site personnel using a predefined list. Baseline patient and provider characteristics were compared between participants with and without documented OAC contraindications. RESULTS: From June 2010 to August 2011, 10,130 patients 18 years or older with electrocardiographically documented AF were enrolled at 176 practices. Of these, 1,330 (13.1%) had contraindications documented at the baseline visit: prior bleed (27.7%), patient refusal/preference (27.5%), high bleeding risk (18.0%), frequent falls/frailty (17.6%), need for dual antiplatelet therapy (10.4%), unable to adhere/monitor warfarin (6.0%), comorbid illness (5.3%), prior intracranial hemorrhage (5.0%), allergy (2.4%), occupational risk (0.8%), pregnancy (0.2%), and other (12.6%). Among patients with reported contraindications, 30.3% were taking warfarin or dabigatran, as compared with 83.0% of those without reported contraindications. Besides "patient refusal/preference," being labeled as having frequent falls or being frail was associated with the lowest OAC use among patients with high stroke risk. CONCLUSIONS: Contraindications to OAC therapy among patients with AF are common but subjective. Many patients with reported contraindications were receiving OAC, suggesting that the perceived benefit outweighed the potential harm posed by the relative contraindication.

Annual mpMRI surveillance: PI-RADS upgrading and increasing trend correlated with patients who harbor clinically significant disease.

INTRODUCTION: Prostate cancer screening has routinely identified men with very low- or low-risk disease, per the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. Current literature has demonstrated that the most appropriate management strategy for these patients is active surveillance (AS). The mainstay of AS includes periodic biopsies and biannual prostate-specific antigen tests. However, multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is uniquely posed to improve patient surveillance. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of an annual mpMRI in patients on AS, focusing on radiologic upgrading and Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) trends as indicators of clinically significant disease. METHODS: This prospective, single intuition, study enrolled 208 patients on AS who had at least two biopsies and 1 mpMRI with a median follow-up of 5.03 years. The main outcome variable was time to Gleason grade (GG) reclassification. RESULTS: After delineating patients on their initial PI-RADS score, men with score 3 and 5 lesions at first MRI had comparable GG reclassification-free survival to their counterparts. Conversely, men with initial PI-RADS 4 lesions showed a lower 5-year GG reclassification-free survival compared to those with PI-RADS score 1-2. The cohort was then subset to 70 patients who obtained ≥2 mpMRIs on protocol. Men experiencing uptrending mpMRI scores had an increased risk of GG reclassification, with a 35.4% difference in 5 year GG reclassification-free survival probability on the Kaplan-Meier curve analysis. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, this study demonstrates that for men on AS with stable recapitulated disease, an annual MRI may replace repeat biopsies after confirmatory sampling has been obtained. On the other hand, men who initiate AS with PI-RADS 4 and/or who display uptrending mpMRI scores require periodic biopsies along with repeat imaging. This study highlights the utility of integrating an annual MRI into AS protocols, thus promising a more effective approach to management.

Evaluating Diagnostic Accuracy and Inter-reader Agreement of the Prostate Imaging After Focal Ablation Scoring System.

Background and objective: Focal therapy (FT) is increasingly recognized as a promising approach for managing localized prostate cancer (PCa), notably reducing treatment-related morbidities. However, post-treatment anatomical changes present significant challenges for surveillance using current imaging techniques. This study aimed to evaluate the inter-reader agreement and efficacy of the Prostate Imaging after Focal Ablation (PI-FAB) scoring system in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) on post-FT multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI). Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted involving patients who underwent primary FT for localized csPCa between 2013 and 2023, followed by post-FT mpMRI and a prostate biopsy. Two expert genitourinary radiologists retrospectively evaluated post-FT mpMRI using PI-FAB. The key measures included inter-reader agreement of PI-FAB scores, assessed by quadratic weighted Cohen's kappa (κ), and the system's efficacy in predicting in-field recurrence of csPCa, with a PI-FAB score cutoff of 3. Additional diagnostic metrics including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and overall accuracy were also evaluated. Key findings and limitations: Scans from 38 patients were analyzed, revealing a moderate level of agreement in PI-FAB scoring (κ = 0.56). Both radiologists achieved sensitivity of 93% in detecting csPCa, although specificity, PPVs, NPVs, and accuracy varied. Conclusions and clinical implications: The PI-FAB scoring system exhibited high sensitivity with moderate inter-reader agreement in detecting in-field recurrence of csPCa. Despite promising results, its low specificity and PPV necessitate further refinement. These findings underscore the need for larger studies to validate the clinical utility of PI-FAB, potentially aiding in standardizing post-treatment surveillance. Patient summary: Focal therapy has emerged as a promising approach for managing localized prostate cancer, but limitations in current imaging techniques present significant challenges for post-treatment surveillance. The Prostate Imaging after Focal Ablation (PI-FAB) scoring system showed high sensitivity for detecting in-field recurrence of clinically significant prostate cancer. However, its low specificity and positive predictive value necessitate further refinement. Larger, more comprehensive studies are needed to fully validate its clinical utility.

Comparing ambulatory commercial spending in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, 2016-2019.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate trends and drivers of commercial ambulatory spending and price variation. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: Commercial claims data from the Massachusetts and Rhode Island All-Payer Claims Databases from 2016 to 2019. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study of spending in major ambulatory care settings. We calculated per member per year spending, average price, and utilization rates to consider drivers of spending, and constructed site-specific price indices to evaluate price variation. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: We analyzed commercial claims data from All-Payer Claims Databases in the two states. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Ambulatory spending levels in Massachusetts were 38.0% higher than those in Rhode Island in 2019. Overall utilization rates were similar, but Massachusetts had a 6.2 percentage point higher share of visits occurring in hospital outpatient departments (HOPD). Average prices were 31.5% higher in Massachusetts in 2016 and 36.4% higher in 2019. We observed extensive price variation in both states across both office and HOPD settings. CONCLUSIONS: States seeking to address increases in health care spending, including those with cost growth benchmarks and rate review policies, should consider additional interventions that mitigate market failures in the establishment of commercial health care prices.

A narrative review of biparametric MRI (bpMRI) implementation on screening, detection, and the overall accuracy for prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in American men following skin cancer, with approximately one in eight men being diagnosed during their lifetime. Over the past several decades, the treatment of prostate cancer has evolved rapidly, so too has screening. Since the mid-2010s, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided biopsies or 'targeted biopsies' has been a rapidly growing topic of clinical research within the field of urologic oncology. The aim of this publication is to provide a review of biparametric MRI (bpMRI) utilization for the diagnosis of prostate cancer and a comparison to multiparametric MRI (mpMRI). Through single-centered studies and meta-analysis across all identified pertinent published literature, bpMRI is an effective tool for the screening and diagnosis of prostate cancer. When compared with the diagnostic accuracy of mpMRI, bpMRI identifies prostate cancer at comparable rates. In addition, when omitting dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) protocol to the MRI, patients incur reduced costs and shorter imaging time while providers can offer more tests to their patient population.

Considering Predictive Factors in the Diagnosis of Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer in Patients with PI-RADS 3 Lesions.

The use of multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) in conjunction with the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) is standard practice in the diagnosis, surveillance, and staging of prostate cancer. The risk associated with lesions graded at a PI-RADS score of 3 is ambiguous. Further characterization of the risk associated with PI-RADS 3 lesions would be useful in guiding further work-up and intervention. This study aims to better characterize the utility of PI-RADS 3 and associated risk factors in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer. From a prospectively maintained IRB-approved dataset of all veterans undergoing mpMRI fusion biopsy at the Southeastern Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System, we identified a cohort of 230 PI-RADS 3 lesions from a dataset of 283 consecutive UroNav-guided biopsies in 263 patients from October 2017 to July 2020. Clinically significant prostate cancer (Gleason Grade ≥ 2) was detected in 18 of the biopsied PI-RADS 3 lesions, representing 7.8% of the overall sample. Based on binomial analysis, PSA densities of 0.15 or greater were predictive of clinically significant disease, as was PSA. The location of the lesion within the prostate was not shown to be a statistically significant predictor of prostate cancer overall (p = 0.87), or of clinically significant disease (p = 0.16). The majority of PI-RADS 3 lesions do not represent clinically significant disease; therefore, it is possible to reduce morbidity through biopsy. PSA density is a potential adjunctive factor in deciding which patients with PI-RADS 3 lesions require biopsy. Furthermore, while the risk of prostate cancer for African-American men has been debated in the literature, our findings indicate that race is not predictive of identifying prostate cancer, with comparable Gleason grade distributions on histology between races.

Unilateral Corporal Cavernosum Partial Thrombosis: A Challenging Presentation and Management.

A 29-year-old African American male presented to our emergency department with a 5-day history of perineal pain and tender swelling of the left perineal body with no evidence of trauma. Physical examination revealed a firm left proximal corpus cavernosum body. Laboratory tests were within normal limits. Pelvic MRI confirmed the presence of a large left-sided unilateral corporal cavernosum partial thrombosis filling the proximal third of the left corpus cavernosum. The patient was managed conservatively with anticoagulation, pain control, and pelvic rest. At 3-month follow-up, perineal imaging showed reduction of thrombus size and resolution of pain and swelling. At 6-month follow-up, a penile ultrasound demonstrated almost complete resolution of the thrombus.