Purpose
Thyroid cancer (TC) incidence is increasing. With its good prognosis and the young population concerned, the number of survivors is rising. However, their quality of life appears worse than ...expected. This study aims to assess the social and sexual health (SSH) of TC survivors and associated factors after a 2- and 5-year follow-up.
Methods
This study belongs to the National VICAN Survey implemented in France among TC patients diagnosed between January and June 2010. Data were collected via phone interviews, medical surveys, and from medico-administrative register in 2012 and 2015. We used multivariable logistic regressions to qualify TC impact on SSH.
Results
Across 146 patients, 121 were women, 50.7% were less than 42 years old, 77.5% were diagnosed at an early-stage, and 97.6% underwent thyroidectomy. At 2 years, 60.0% experienced social life discomfort because of cancer, 40.6% reported a decreased sexual desire, 37.4% fewer intercourse, 31.9% felt dissatisfied with this frequency, 30% reported difficulties achieving orgasm, and 15.2% considered that cancer had a negative influence for procreation. No significant difference was observed at 5 years. SSH was never discussed with medical professionals for 96.7% patients, as it was not proposed as a topic of concern (79.1%). In multivariable analysis, depression, embarrassment regarding their physical appearance since treatment, and reduced gestures of affection remained associated with decreased sexual desire.
Conclusion
This study highlights that TC is associated with an alteration of SSH which remains even at 5 years post-diagnosis. SSH should be discussed during diagnosis and considered during follow-up.
A bedside screening tool of swallowing dysfunction (SD) (BSSD) after extubation would be useful to identify patients who are at risk of SD. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of our BSSD in comparison ...with fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) in critically ill patients after extubation.
We conducted a 1-year prospective monocentric study to evaluate the accuracy of our BSSD to diagnose SD following endotracheal intubation in comparison with FEES (gold standard). Patients intubated for longer than 48 h were included. Both tests were assessed within 24 h after extubation. Primary endpoint was the accuracy of the BSSD. Secondary endpoint was to assess risk factors of SD.
Seventy-nine patients were included in the study. Thirty-three patients (42%) presented with a SD. The BSSD showed a sensitivity of 88% (95% CI 0.72–0.97) and a specificity of 91% (95% CI 0.79–0.98), a positive predictive value of 88% (95% CI 0.72–0.97) and a negative predictive value of 91% (95% CI 0.79–0.97). The AUC reached 0.83 (95% CI 0.74–0.92).
Our study describes an accurate clinical screening tool to detect SD after extubation in critically ill patients. Screening-positive cases should be confirmed by instrumental tests, ideally using FEES.
•Swallowing dysfunction after extubation is frequent after prolonged invasive ventilation.•Except for stroke patients, a bedside screening tool is still needed in the ICU setting.•We developed a new bedside accurate tool to detect swallowing dysfunction.•Our test could be a useful screening test in ICU to avoid unnecessary examination.•A negative test would allow to resume oral feeding earlier in critically ill survivors.
Purpose
This study was designed to identify risk factors for post-operative complications in micro-anastomosed osteomyocutaneous free flaps (MOFF) and analyzed their consequences in long term.
...Methods
A retrospective review of 100 MOFF realized between May 2007 and October 2019 was performed. Demographic data, perioperative management and postoperative complications were enrolled and analyzed in a multivariate model. Patients were followed for ≥ 6 months.
Results
Major surgical complication rate was 20% with 5% of overall free flap failure rate and 6% of anastomosis salvage surgery. Risk identified for major surgical complication was alcohol consumption (
p
= 0.0054). Minor surgical complications occurred in 26% of patients mostly due to infections (19%). No significant risk factor was associated to minor surgical complications. Major and minor medical complication rates were, respectively, 10% and 10%. Risk identified for major medical complication were age over 70 (
p
= 0.0253) and history of chemotherapy (
p
= 0.0277). Risk identified for minor medical complication were alcohol consumption
p
= 0.0232) and a history of radiotherapy (
p
= 0.0329).
Conclusions
Alcoholism is an independent risk factor for the surgical complication of MOFF that must be taken into account before surgery. Patients with a history of chemotherapy, radiotherapy or who are over 70 years of age are at greater risk of postoperative medical complications and require special attention.
Large anatomical variations occur during the course of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for locally advanced head and neck cancer (LAHNC). The risks are therefore a parotid glands (PG) ...overdose and a xerostomia increase. The purposes of the study were to estimate: - the PG overdose and the xerostomia risk increase during a "standard" IMRT (IMRTstd); - the benefits of an adaptive IMRT (ART) with weekly replanning to spare the PGs and limit the risk of xerostomia.
Fifteen patients received radical IMRT (70 Gy) for LAHNC. Weekly CTs were used to estimate the dose distributions delivered during the treatment, corresponding either to the initial planning (IMRTstd) or to weekly replanning (ART). PGs dose were recalculated at the fraction, from the weekly CTs. PG cumulated doses were then estimated using deformable image registration. The following PG doses were compared: pre-treatment planned dose, per-treatment IMRTstd and ART. The corresponding estimated risks of xerostomia were also compared. Correlations between anatomical markers and dose differences were searched.
Compared to the initial planning, a PG overdose was observed during IMRTstd for 59% of the PGs, with an average increase of 3.7 Gy (10.0 Gy maximum) for the mean dose, and of 8.2% (23.9% maximum) for the risk of xerostomia. Compared to the initial planning, weekly replanning reduced the PG mean dose for all the patients (p<0.05). In the overirradiated PG group, weekly replanning reduced the mean dose by 5.1 Gy (12.2 Gy maximum) and the absolute risk of xerostomia by 11% (p<0.01) (30% maximum). The PG overdose and the dosimetric benefit of replanning increased with the tumor shrinkage and the neck thickness reduction (p<0.001).
During the course of LAHNC IMRT, around 60% of the PGs are overdosed of 4 Gy. Weekly replanning decreased the PG mean dose by 5 Gy, and therefore by 11% the xerostomia risk.
•57 TORS procedures for pyriform sinus carcinoma have been included retrospectively.•Surgical complications were dominated by tumor-site hemorrhage, with 3 cases.•A preventive tracheotomy was ...realized in seven cases: all successfully removed.•Full oral feeding was possible for 50 patients (93%) after a median of 5 days.•Overall survival and disease-free survival rates were 66% and 50% at 48 months.
Pyriform sinus carcinomas (SCC) present specific functional and oncological issues. The recent advent of trans-oral robotic surgery (TORS), as a conservative procedure, has opened up new perspectives.
To present the oncological and functional outcomes of TORS for pyriform sinus SCC.
We included, retrospectively, all TORS procedures for pyriform sinus SCC performed between 2009 and 2017 in eight French tertiary referral centers. We excluded lesions involving the pyriform sinus that had developed from the oropharynx, larynx, or other anatomic sub-sites of the hypopharynx.
We included 57 TORS procedures. Median hospital stay was 10 days. A preventive tracheotomy was performed in seven cases (12%), and all were successfully decannulated. Oral re-feeding was possible for 93%, after a median of 5 days. The main surgical complications were hemorrhages (three cases), all successfully handled, although 2 patients with heavy comorbidities died from blood loss in the days after. Adjuvant therapy was proposed in 31 cases (54%), including two cases of salvage surgery (total pharyngolaryngectomy). After a median follow-up of 23 months, overall and disease-free survival were, respectively, 84% and 74% at 24 months, and 66% and 50% at 48 months. At the end of follow-up, organ preservation rate was 96%. None of the surviving patients needed a tracheotomy and oral diet was possible for 96%.
The functional and oncological outcomes of TORS for pyriform sinus cancer are encouraging, and this procedure can be considered safe for selected early or moderately advanced cases as a conservative treatment.
The aims of this multicenter study were to identify clinical and preoperative PET/CT parameters predicting overall survival (OS) and distant metastasis–free survival (DMFS) in a cohort of head and ...neck squamous cell carcinoma patients treated with surgery, to generate a prognostic model of OS and DMFS, and to validate this prognostic model with an independent cohort. Methods: A total of 382 consecutive patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, divided into training (n = 318) and validation (n = 64) cohorts, were retrospectively included. The following PET/CT parameters were analyzed: clinical parameters, SUVmax, SUVmean, metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis, and distance parameters for the primary tumor and lymph nodes defined by 2 segmentation methods (relative SUVmax threshold and absolute SUV threshold). Cox analyses were performed for OS and DMFS in the training cohort. The concordance index (c-index) was used to identify highly prognostic parameters. These prognostic parameters were externally tested in the validation cohort. Results: In multivariable analysis, the significant parameters for OS were T stage and nodal MTV, with a c-index of 0.64 (P < 0.001). For DMFS, the significant parameters were T stage, nodal MTV, and maximal tumor–node distance, with a c-index of 0.76 (P < 0.001). These combinations of parameters were externally validated, with c-indices of 0.63 (P < 0.001) and 0.71 (P < 0.001) for OS and DMFS, respectively. Conclusion: The nodal MTV associated with the maximal tumor–node distance was significantly correlated with the risk of DMFS. Moreover, this parameter, in addition to clinical parameters, was associated with a higher risk of death. These prognostic factors may be used to tailor individualized treatment.
•OSNA technique is feasible in HNSCC.•OSNA technique can detect micro metastasis in cN0 HNSCC.•The rate of false negative of OSNA is 1.3%.•Associated to a central histological section OSNA could be ...used to detect LN metastasis of HNSCC.
In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) 30% of cN0 patients have occult metastasis. LN invasion is a major prognostic factor. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) is an option for cN0 neck management. One-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) used to analyze SLN in breast cancer is also a candidate to get more reliable intraoperative HNSCC lymph node (LN) staging.
To compare OSNA analysis to pathological analysis in cN0 HNSCC.
157 LN from 26 cN0 HNSCC patients were prospectively analyzed (6.3LN/patient). Exclusion criteria were previous surgery or radiotherapy. Each node was cut into 4 equal pieces alternatively sent to pathological analysis and OSNA technique. IHC CK19 was performed on the primary tumor biopsy and RT-qPCR of CK19, PVA and EPCAM on the LN lysate of discordant cases.
OSNA was able to provide intraoperative result in all patients. OSNA detected 21 metastases. There were 139 concordant LN (88.5%). There were 18 initial discordant LN (11.5%), 13 (8.3%) were OSNA positive/pathological analysis negative, 5 (3.2%) were OSNA negative/pathological analysis positive. After elimination of allocation bias, false negative rate was 1.3%, sensitivity and specificity were 90% and 95.6%, PPV and NPV were 75% and 98.5%.
Our results suggest that OSNA should be considered to improve SNB analysis both for increasing micro metastasis diagnosis and offer extemporaneous results.
Study registered under clinicaltrials.gov database number NCT02852343.
Tracheotomy is widely used in intensive care units, albeit with great disparities between medical teams in terms of frequency and modality. Indications and techniques are, however, associated with ...variable levels of evidence based on inhomogeneous or even contradictory literature. Our aim was to conduct a systematic analysis of the published data in order to provide guidelines. We present herein recommendations for the use of tracheotomy in adult critically ill patients developed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method. These guidelines were conducted by a group of experts from the French Intensive Care Society (Société de Réanimation de Langue Française) and the French Society of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine (Société Francaise d’Anesthésie Réanimation) with the participation of the French Emergency Medicine Association (Société Française de Médecine d’Urgence), the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology. Sixteen experts and two coordinators agreed to consider questions concerning tracheotomy and its practical implementation. Five topics were defined: indications and contraindications for tracheotomy in intensive care, tracheotomy techniques in intensive care, modalities of tracheotomy in intensive care, management of patients undergoing tracheotomy in intensive care, and decannulation in intensive care. The summary made by the experts and the application of GRADE methodology led to the drawing up of 8 formal guidelines, 10 recommendations, and 3 treatment protocols. Among the 8 formal guidelines, 2 have a high level of proof (Grade 1+/−) and 6 a low level of proof (Grade 2+/−). For the 10 recommendations, GRADE methodology was not applicable and instead 10 expert opinions were produced.
Indication and extent of lateral prophylactic neck dissection (PLND) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is very controversial.
We retrospectively analysed 131 patients who underwent thyroidectomy ...and prophylactic lateral neck dissection from level II to V for PTC.
140 PLND were performed. The occult lymph node metastases (OLNM) overall rate was 18.6%. The incidence of node involvement was 10% at level III and 6.4% at level IIa. Level IV and level Vb were both concerned by 5.7% OLNM. Only 2.9% of level IIb contained OLNM. None of the level Va ND revealed OLNM.
OLNM from PTC occurs commonly in level IIa, III, IV and Vb. Incidence in other levels is low. For surgeons that usually perform PLND, we believe that a selective neck dissection of levels IIa, III, IV and Vb in N0 neck PTC is sufficient for the clearance of occult metastases.