Noninvasive screening methods to identify patients preoperatively with abnormal liver texture remain limited. Aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index has been validated to predict fibrosis in ...patients with hepatitis C; however, its use as a predictor of postoperative outcomes in patients without viral hepatitis remains unknown.
We queried the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program dataset to identify patients who underwent a major hepatectomy between 2014 and 2021. We excluded patients who underwent emergent operations, patients with viral hepatitis, and patients with ascites. Aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index was calculated using the following equation: (aspartate transaminase/40)/(platelet count) × 100. An aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index ≥0.7 was used to identify patients with significant fibrosis. Univariable analysis was performed to identify factors associated with aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index ≥0.7, perioperative transfusion, serious morbidity, overall morbidity, and 30-day mortality. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify adjusted predictors of these outcomes.
Of the 8,933 patients who met inclusion criteria, 1,170 (13.1%) patients had an aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index ≥0.7. A perioperative blood transfusion was administered to 2,497 (28.0%). The number of patients who experienced overall morbidity, serious morbidity, and mortality were 3,195 (35.8%), 2,665 (29.8%), and 238 (2.7%), respectively. Aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index ≥0.7 was an independent predictor of transfusion (odds ratio: 1.51 1.32–1.72, P < .001), overall morbidity (1.16 1.01–1.33, P = .032), and mortality (1.56 1.12–2.13, P = .006). Transfusion was an independent predictor of overall morbidity (2.50 2.26–2.76, P < .001), serious morbidity (2.51 2.26–2.79, P < .001), and mortality (3.28 2.49–4.33, P < .001).
An aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index ≥0.7 is associated with perioperative transfusion, overall morbidity, and 30-day mortality. The aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index may serve as a noninvasive tool to risk stratify patients before elective major hepatectomy.
Introduction
Fibrosis and cirrhosis are associated with worse outcomes after hepatectomy. Aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index (APRI) is associated with fibrosis and cirrhosis in hepatitis ...C patients. However, APRI has not been studied to predict outcomes after hepatectomy in patients without viral hepatitis.
Methods
We reviewed the ACS-NSQIP dataset to identify patients who underwent a minor hepatectomy between 2014 and 2021. We excluded patients with viral hepatitis or ascites as well as patients who underwent emergent operations or biliary reconstruction. APRI was calculated using the following equation: (AST/40)/(platelet count) × 100. APRI ≥0.7 was used to identify significant fibrosis. Univariable analysis was performed to identify factors associated with APRI ≥0.7, transfusion, serious morbidity, overall morbidity, and 30-day mortality. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify adjusted predictors of these outcomes.
Results
Of the 18,069 patients who met inclusion criteria, 1630 (9.0%) patients had an APRI ≥0.7. A perioperative blood transfusion was administered to 2139 (11.8%). Overall morbidity, serious morbidity, and mortality were experienced by 3162 (17.5%), 2475 (13.7%), and 131 (.7%) patients, respectively. APRI ≥0.7 was an independent predictor of transfusion (adjusted OR: 1.48 1.26-1.74, P < .001), overall morbidity (1.17 1.02-1.33, P = .022), and mortality (1.97 1.22-3.06, P = .004). Transfusion was an independent predictor of overall morbidity (3.31 2.99-3.65, P < .001), serious morbidity (3.70 3.33-4.11, P < .001), and mortality (5.73 4.01-8.14, P < .001).
Conclusions
APRI ≥0.7 is associated with perioperative transfusion, overall morbidity, and 30-day mortality. APRI may serve as a noninvasive tool to risk stratify patients prior to elective minor hepatectomy.
Opinion statement
Cranial radiation is ubiquitous in the treatment of primary malignant and benign brain tumors as well as brain metastases. Improvement in radiotherapy targeting and delivery has led ...to prolongation of survival outcomes. As long-term survivorship improves, we also focus on prevention of permanent side effects of radiation and mitigating the impact when they do occur. Such chronic treatment-related morbidity is a major concern with significant negative impact on patient’s and caregiver’s respective quality of life. The actual mechanisms responsible for radiation-induced brain injury remain incompletely understood. Multiple interventions have been introduced to potentially prevent, minimize, or reverse the cognitive deterioration. Hippocampal-sparing intensity modulated radiotherapy and memantine represent effective interventions to avoid damage to regions of adult neurogenesis. Radiation necrosis frequently develops in the high radiation dose region encompassing the tumor and surrounding normal tissue. The radiographic findings in addition to the clinical course of the patients’ symptoms are taken into consideration to differentiate between tissue necrosis and tumor recurrence. Radiation-induced neuroendocrine dysfunction becomes more pronounced when the hypothalamo-pituitary (HP) axis is included in the radiation treatment field. Baseline and post-treatment evaluation of hormonal profile is warranted. Radiation-induced injury of the cataract and optic system can develop when these structures receive an amount of radiation that exceeds their tolerance. Special attention should always be paid to avoid irradiation of these sensitive structures, if possible, or minimize their dose to the lowest limit.
Background
Outcomes for pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remain difficult to prognosticate. Multiple models attempt to predict survival following the resection of PDAC, but their utility in the ...neoadjuvant population is unknown. We aimed to assess their accuracy among patients that received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).
Methods
We performed a multi‐institutional retrospective analysis of patients who received NAC and underwent resection of PDAC. Two prognostic systems were evaluated: the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Nomogram (MSKCCPAN) and the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system. Discrimination between predicted and actual disease‐specific survival was assessed using the Uno C‐statistic and Kaplan–Meier method. Calibration of the MSKCCPAN was assessed using the Brier score.
Results
A total of 448 patients were included. There were 232 (51.8%) females, and the mean age was 64.1 years (±9.5). Most had AJCC Stage I or II disease (77.7%). For the MSKCCPAN, the Uno C‐statistic at 12‐, 24‐, and 36‐month time points was 0.62, 0.63, and 0.62, respectively. The AJCC system demonstrated similarly mediocre discrimination. The Brier score for the MSKCCPAN was 0.15 at 12 months, 0.26 at 24 months, and 0.30 at 36 months, demonstrating modest calibration.
Conclusions
Current survival prediction models and staging systems for patients with PDAC undergoing resection after NAC have limited accuracy.
Introduction
Subtotal cholecystectomy (SC) is a technique to manage the difficult gallbladder and avoid hazardous dissection and biliary injury. Until recently it was used infrequently. However, ...because of reduced exposure to open total cholecystectomy in resident training, we recently adopted subtotal cholecystectomy as the bail-out procedure of choice for resident teaching. This study reports our experience and outcomes with subtotal cholecystectomy in the years immediately preceding adoption and since adoption.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was conducted of patients undergoing SC from July 2010 to June 2019. Outcomes, including bile leak, reoperation and need for additional procedures, were analyzed. Complications were graded by the Modified Accordion Grading Scale (MAGS).
Results
1571 cholecystectomies were performed of which 71 were SC. Subtotal cholecystectomy patients had several indicators of difficulty including prior attempted cholecystectomy and previous cholecystostomy tube insertion. The most common indication for SC was marked inflammation in the hepatocystic triangle (51%). As our experience increased, fewer patients required open conversion to accomplish SC and SC was completed laparoscopically, usually subtotal fenestrating cholecystectomy (SFC). Most patients (85%) had a drain placed and 28% were discharged with a drain. The highest MAGS complication observed was grade 3 (11 patients, 15%). Six patients had a bile leak from the cystic duct resolved by ERCP. At mean follow-up of about 1 year no patient returned with recurrent symptoms.
Conclusions
Subtotal fenestrating cholecystectomy is a useful technique to avoid biliary injury in the difficult gallbladder and can be performed with very satisfactory rates of bile fistula, ERCP, and reoperation.
Heterotopic pancreas (HP) is an aberrant anatomic malformation that occurs most commonly in the upper gastrointestinal tract. While the majority of heterotopic pancreatic lesions are asymptomatic, ...many manifest severe clinical symptoms which require surgical or endoscopic intervention. Understanding of the clinical manifestations and symptoms of HP is limited due to the lack of large volume studies in the literature. The purpose of this study is to review symptomatic cases at a single center and compare these to a systematic review of the literature in order to characterize common clinical manifestations and treatment of this disease.
To classify the common clinical manifestations of heterotopic pancreas.
A retrospective review was conducted of pathologic samples containing heterotopic pancreas from 2000-2018. Review was limited to HP of the upper gastrointestinal tract due to the frequency of presentation in this location. Symptomatic patients were identified from review of the medical records and clinical symptoms were tabulated. These were compared to a systematic review of the literature utilizing PubMed and Embase searches for papers pertaining to heterotopic pancreas. Publications describing symptomatic presentation of HP were selected for review. Information including demographics, symptoms, presentation and treatment were compiled and analyzed.
Twenty-nine patient were identified with HP at a single center, with six of these identified has having clinical symptoms. Clinical manifestations included, gastrointestinal bleeding, gastric ulceration with/without perforation, pancreatitis, and gastric outlet obstruction. Systemic review of the literature yielded 232 publications detailing symptomatic cases with only 20 studies describing ten or more patients. Single and multi-patient studies were combined to form a cohort of 934 symptomatic patients. The majority of patients presented with abdominal pain (67%) combined with one of the following clinical categories: (1) Dyspepsia, (
= 445, 48%); (2) Pancreatitis (
= 260, 28%); (3) Gastrointestinal bleeding (
= 80, 9%); and (4) Gastric outlet obstruction (
= 80, 9%). The majority of cases (
= 832, 90%) underwent surgical or endoscopic resection with 85% reporting resolution or improvement in their symptoms.
Heterotopic pancreas can cause significant clinical symptoms in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Better understanding and classification of this disease may result in more accurate identification and treatment of this malformation.
•Consensus contouring guidelines for stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for spine metastasis suggest including the involved and adjacent vertebral compartments in the clinical target ...volume.•Deviations from the guidelines are associated with inferior local control after spine SBRT.•The main patterns of failure after treatments that deviate from consensus guidelines are marginal miss and epidural failure.•Local progression after guideline-compliant treatments mainly occurs in-field or in the epidural space.
To analyze the impact of target delineation on local control (LC) after stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for spine metastasis.
Patients with de novo metastasis of the spine treated with SBRT, excluding those with prostate or hematologic malignancies, were retrospectively reviewed. Deviations from consensus contouring guidelines included incomplete coverage of involved vertebral compartments, omission of adjacent compartments, or unnecessary circumferential coverage. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard analyses were performed using death as a competing risk.
283 patients with 360 discrete lesions were included with a median follow up of 14.6 months (range 1.2–131.3). The prescription dose was 24–27 Gy in 2–3 fractions for the majority of lesions. Median survival after SBRT was 18.3 months (95 % confidence interval CI: 14.8–22.8). The 1 and 2-year local control (LC) rates were 81.1 % (95 % CI: 75.5–85.6 %) and 70.6 % (95 % CI: 63.2–76.8 %), respectively. In total, 60 deviations (16.7 %) from consensus contouring guidelines were identified. Deviation from guidelines was associated with inferior LC (1-year LC 63.0 % vs 85.5 %, p < 0.001). Gastrointestinal primary, epidural extension, and paraspinal extension were all associated with inferior LC on univariable analyses. After adjusting for confounding factors, deviation from guidelines was the strongest predictor of inferior LC (HR 3.52, 95 % CI: 2.11–5.86, p < 0.001). Among guideline-compliant treatments, progressions were mainly in field (61 %) and/or epidural (49 %), while marginal (42 %) and/or epidural progressions (58 %) were most common for those with deviations.
Adherence to consensus contouring guidelines for spine SBRT is associated with superior LC and fewer marginal misses.
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Treatment options are limited for large, unresectable brain metastases.
OBJECTIVE
To report a single institution series of staged stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) that allows for ...tumor response between treatments in order to optimize the therapeutic ratio.
METHODS
Patients were treated with staged SRS separated by 1 mo with a median dose at first SRS of 15 Gy (range 10-21 Gy) and a median dose at second SRS of 14 Gy (range 10-18 Gy). Overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cumulative incidences were estimated for neurological death, radiation necrosis, local failure (marginal or central), and distant brain failure. Absolute cumulative dose–volume histogram was created for each treated lesion. Logistic regression and competing risks regression were performed for each discrete dose received by a certain volume.
RESULTS
Thirty-three patients with 39 lesions were treated with staged radiosurgery. Overall survival at 6 and 12 mo was 65.0% and 60.0%, respectively. Cumulative incidence of local failure at 6 and 12 mo was 3.2% and 13.3%, respectively. Of the patients who received staged therapy, 4 of 33 experienced local failure. Radiation necrosis was seen in 4 of 39 lesions. Two of 33 patients experienced a Radiation Therapy Oncology Group toxicity grade > 2 (2 patients had grade 4 toxicities). Dosimetric analysis revealed that dose (Gy) received by volume of brain (ie, VDose(Gy)) was associated with radiation necrosis, including the range V44.5Gy to V87.8Gy.
CONCLUSION
Staged radiosurgery is a safe and effective option for large, unresectable brain metastases. Prospective studies are required to validate the findings in this study.
Purpose/objective(s)
Brain metastasis velocity (BMV) is a metric that describes the rate of development of new brain metastases (BM) after initial stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). A limitation in the ...application of BMV is it cannot be applied until time of first BM failure after SRS. We developed initial BM velocity (iBMV), a new metric that accounts for the number of BM at first SRS and the time since initial cancer diagnosis.
Materials/methods
We reviewed patients with BM treated at our institution with upfront SRS without WBRT. iBMV was calculated as the number of BM at initial SRS divided by time (years) from initial cancer diagnosis to first SRS. We performed a linear regression to correlate BMV as a continuous variable and with low, intermediate, and high BMV risk groups. Kaplan–Meier estimation of OS was calculated from time of first SRS to death. iBMV was not calculated for patients who presented with BM at initial cancer diagnosis.
Results
994 patients were treated with upfront SRS without WBRT between 2000 and 2017. Median OS was 8.5 mos. 595 (60%) patients developed BM after cancer diagnosis and median time to first SRS from time of initial diagnosis was 2.2 years. Median iBMV was 0.79 BM/year. iBMV correlated with BMV (β = 1.57 p = 0.021) and independently predicted for mortality Cox proportional hazard ratio (HR) 1.11, p = 0.036 after accounting for histology, number of initial brain metastases (HR 1.03, p = 0.32), time from cancer diagnosis to SRS (HR 0.98, p = 0.157) in a multivariate model.
Conclusion
iBMV correlates with BMV and OS. With further validation, iBMV could serve as a metric to risk stratify patients for WBRT or SRS at time of first BM presentation.
