Even if now we have available the weapon of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, the patients with cancer remains a very frail population in which frequently the immunologic response to vaccination may be ...impaired. In this setting, the SARS-CoV-2 infection screening retains a great value. However, there are still limited data on the feasibility and efficacy of combined screening procedures to assess the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (including asymptomatic cases) in cancer outpatients undergoing antineoplastic therapy.
From May 1, 2020, to June 15, 2020, during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, 860 consecutive patients, undergoing active anticancer therapy, were evaluated and tested for SARS-CoV-2 with a combined screening procedure, including a self-report questionnaire, a molecular nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and a rapid serological immunoassay (for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM antibodies). The primary endpoint of the study was to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (including asymptomatic cases) in consecutive and unselected cancer outpatients by a combined screening modality. A total of 2955 SARS-CoV-2 NPS and 860 serological tests, in 475 patients with hematologic cancers and in 386 with solid tumors, were performed. A total of 112 (13%) patients self-reported symptoms potentially COVID-19 related. In 1/860 cases (< 1%) SARS-CoV-2 NPS was positive and in 14 cases (1.62%) the specific serological test was positive (overall prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection 1.62%). Of the 112 cases who declared symptoms potentially COVID-19-related, only 2.7% (3/112) were found SARS-CoV-2 positive.
This is the largest study reporting the feasibility of a combined screening procedure (including triage, NPS and serologic test) to evaluate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients receiving active therapy, during the first epidemic wave and under the restrictive lockdown measures, in one of the active areas of the SARS-CoV-2 circulation. Lacking specific recommendations for the detection of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 cases, a combined diagnostic screening might be more effective to detect the exact prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in neoplastic patient population. The prevalence can obviously change according to the territorial context, the entity of the restrictive measures adopted and the phase of the epidemic curve. However, its exact and real-time knowledge could be important to balance risks/benefits of oncologic treatments, avoiding (if the prevalence is low) the reduction of dose intensity or the selection of less intensive (but also less effective) anti-cancer therapies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Triage procedures have been implemented to limit hospital access and minimize infection risk among patients with cancer during the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) outbreak. In the absence ...of prospective evidence, we aimed to evaluate the predictive performance of a triage system in the oncological setting.
Materials and Methods
This retrospective cohort study analyzes hospital admissions to the oncology and hematology department of Udine, Italy, during the COVID‐19 pandemic (March 30 to April 30, 2020). A total of 3,923 triage procedures were performed, and data of 1,363 individual patients were reviewed.
Results
A self‐report triage questionnaire identified 6% of triage‐positive procedures, with a sensitivity of 66.7% (95% confidence interval CI, 43.0%–85.4%), a specificity of 94.3% (95% CI, 93.5%–95.0%), and a positive predictive value of 5.9% (95% CI, 4.3%–8.0%) for the identification of patients who were not admitted to the hospital after medical review. Patients with thoracic cancer (odds ratio OR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.13–2.53, p = .01), younger age (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.15–2.01, p < .01), and body temperature at admission ≥37°C (OR, 9.52; 95% CI, 5.44–16.6, p < .0001) had increased risk of positive triage. Direct hospital access was warranted to 93.5% of cases, a further 6% was accepted after medical evaluation, whereas 0.5% was refused at admission.
Conclusion
A self‐report questionnaire has a low positive predictive value to triage patients with cancer and suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) symptoms. Differential diagnosis with tumor‐ or treatment‐related symptoms is always required to avoid unnecessary treatment delays. Body temperature measurement improves the triage process's overall sensitivity, and widespread SARS‐CoV‐2 testing should be implemented to identify asymptomatic carriers.
Implications for Practice
This is the first study to provide data on the predictive performance of a triage system in the oncological setting during the coronavirus disease outbreak. A questionnaire‐based triage has a low positive predictive value to triage patients with cancer and suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) symptoms, and a differential diagnosis with tumor‐ or treatment‐related symptoms is mandatory to avoid unnecessary treatment delays. Consequently, adequate recourses should be reallocated for a triage implementation in the oncological setting. Of note, body temperature measurement improves the overall sensitivity of the triage process, and widespread testing for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection should be implemented to identify asymptomatic carriers.
Patients with cancer are considered to be at increased risk for severe complications and death during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This article evaluates the feasibility and predictive performance of a triage system implemented in a cancer center to address this concern.
. Haemopoietic stem cells transpantation: a narrative review. Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an effective treatment for many haematological malignancies and its employment is ...growing thanks to the increased possibility of finding suitable donors and the discovery of therapies to treat major complications. The fourth contribution on emergencies in the oncology setting proposes a narrative literature review to describe the transplant pathway, the types of HSCT, the conditioning regimen, the stem cells reinfusion, the aplasia phase, the major complications and the follow-up. The review included secondary studies published from 2020 to 2022, on adult transplanted patients and written in English; 30 studies were included. In addition, 28 primary studies describing key issues and 11 textbooks were added. Both autologous and allogeneic HSCT expose patients to infectious or drug therapy-related complications, such as mucositis and bleedings. The allogeneic HSCT is at higher risk of major complications such as the graft-versus-host disease and the venous-occlusive disease. The update proposed is accompanied by two cases with multiple choice questions, in patients who underwent autologous stem cells hematopoietic transplantation: case 1 (published in this issue of the AIR journal) on septic shock and case 2 (which will be published in the next issue of the AIR journal) on a massive hemothorax.
Day Surgery (DS) and prehospitalization emerged in Italy--as it had previously in the United States and other European countries--as able to improve healthcare and reduce costs. The purpose of this ...study was to evaluate the impact of the Nurse Case Manager (NCM) Model on patients undergoing DS procedures. The study assessed the intensity of pain, anxiety, and stress factors, and the level of discomfort experienced. The quasi-experimental study design involved two groups of patients (at two different DS hospital centers): one using the NCM model (Ward A) the other based on team nursing (Ward B). All patients undergoing DS for (a) varicose veins, (b) inguinal hernia, (c) breast biopsy, and (d) hemorrhoids were included. A valid questionnaire interview based on 22 questions was used (1) the morning before surgery, (2) the evening after surgery, and (3) 48 hr after the operation, by telephone. Of the 145 patients that were involved, 66 were from Ward A (45.5%) and 79 from Ward B (54.5%). When patient care was based on the NCM Model (Ward A), it seemed that (a) the pathway before DS was more efficient; (b) they perceived lower levels of perioperative anxiety and pain; and (c) they recognized the DS center as a unique point of reference for all postoperative problems.
Several factors contribute to the ill defined concept of complexity: critical patients, emergency situations, severity, intensity of care, dependency. The aim of this work is to assess nurses' ...perception of surgical patients' complexity, to obtain bottom-up data to validate a new model (of the Federazione Nazionale Collegi IPASVI) that measures the patients complexity. Data were collected over two months, by interviewing 64 nurses caring for surgical patients in 8 wards of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. Patients' complexity (Low, Medium and High) and the explicit criteria adopted for the process of qualification, are formulated according to a priority ranking. Nurses were interviewed in 8 index days over 2 months. Criteria were independently classified by 3 nurses and any discrepancies discussed. Data on 1287 patients collected. 729 patients (56.6%) were classified as low complexity; 393 (30.6%) medium and 165 (12.8%) highly complex. The judgement is influenced by patients' age (p<0.01) but not sex. An high complexity score was assigned to patients with abdominal, soft tissues and vascular and gastrointestinal oncological surgery. 1291 different criteria were reported (2.89 +/- 1.88--range 1-15--for patient). The more frequent criteria were dependency in ADLs, need of strict monitoring/surveillance; presence of devices (such as cvc, pumps etc), and type of illness. The criteria expressed, only partially fit in the reference model. The judgement of complexity is based more on clinical problems and patients' dependency than on patients' ability to adapt to the illness and participate to his/her care.
The paper proposes a new algorithm for negotiating the price of quality of service in IP differentiated services networks. We focus on real-time media-oriented applications such as video ...conferencing, online gaming, broadcast TV and live events, streaming video, and audio on demand. The performance objectives of end-users are expressed as the end-to-end delay thresholds to be exceeded with a given maximum probability. The target of negotiation is a multi-attribute description of traffic profile and quality of service, rather than the simple raw-bandwidth attribute. The service class chosen for each traffic flow is the result of negotiation and depends on the user’s and supplier’s utility and quality functions and on their conceding versus selfish negotiation attitude. We model non-linear utility and quality functions in such a way to represent the user’s and supplier’s perception of quality of service parameters. This represents a fundamental contribution of this paper with respect to current approaches accounting for simple linear utility functions of the raw-bandwidth attribute. We analyze the utilization of network resources as well as the customer’s and supplier’s utility through simulation by comparing our algorithm with previous algorithms negotiating raw-bandwidth instead of end-to-end quality of service.
Explainability is motivated by the lack of transparency of black-box Machine Learning approaches, which do not foster trust and acceptance of Machine Learning algorithms. This also happens in the ...Predictive Process Monitoring field, where predictions, obtained by applying Machine Learning techniques, need to be explained to users, so as to gain their trust and acceptance. In this work, we carry on a user evaluation on explanation approaches for Predictive Process Monitoring aiming at investigating whether and how the explanations provided (i) are understandable; (ii) are useful in decision making tasks;(iii) can be further improved for process analysts, with different Machine Learning expertise levels. The results of the user evaluation show that, although explanation plots are overall understandable and useful for decision making tasks for Business Process Management users -- with and without experience in Machine Learning -- differences exist in the comprehension and usage of different plots, as well as in the way users with different Machine Learning expertise understand and use them.
The paper faces the problem of the runtime negotiation on the traffic conditioning agreement (TCA) and service level agreement (SLA) in IP differentiated services (DiffServ) networks. A first ...contribution of the paper with respect to previous literature is to propose a multi-attribute description of QoS targets and traffic profile. A second contribution of this work is to provide a mathematical formalization of the negotiation problem suitable for automated negotiation. The model is tested through simulation to a) verify the convergence of the negotiation process, which is critical to ensure that negotiation can be performed automatically and b) analyze the agreement solutions that are reached by negotiation parties for different values of quality of service and price parameters. Results show that the model has a sound convergence. With this paper's negotiation model, the primary goal of negotiating parties is to maintain the value of their utility function constant by searching a trade-off between QoS and price. However, the willingness to cooperate of the negotiating parties has a strong impact on the agreement value of negotiation parameters.
Agent-based negotiation in cooperative processes Comuzzi, Marco; Francalanci, Chiara
ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Vol. 60: Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Electronic commerce; 25-27 Oct. 2004,
03/2004
Conference Proceeding
In a cooperative context, negotiation represents the process that allows organizations to create a base of common knowledge. Organizations have at the same time shared and divergent objectives and, ...thus, negotiating the characteristics of a common knowledge base cannot be fully cooperative, but inevitably raises competitive behaviours. The coopetition paradigm has been introduced in the literature to model relationships between companies that are simultaneously cooperative and competitive. The academic research has proposed several solutions for automated negotiation. A common characteristic of the protocols and algorithms that have been previously proposed is that they study negotiation only from a transactional and competitive point of view. This paper provides a model of the coopetitive negotiation process leading to underwriting a business insurance policy. Negotiation is modeled as an iterative question and answer process through which the parties create a common knowledge base of client's requirements and supplier's quality of service. This common knowledge defines the characteristics of the insurance policy and, hence, of the cooperative process that will follow the underwriting of the policy. The model has been implemented as an agent-based negotiation environment and analyzed through simulation.
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