Category: Statistics

Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2023 Dec 2. doi: 10.1007/s00228-023-03600-6. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:38040994 | DOI:10.1007/s00228-023-03600-6

Ann Med. 2023;55(2):2281659. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2023.2281659. Epub 2023 Dec 1.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Individual genetic background can play an essential role in determining the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). PTPN13 and CHEK2 play important roles in the pathogenesis of ESCC. This case-control study aimed to analyze the association between gene polymorphisms and ESCC susceptibility.

METHODS: DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of patients. The Agena MassARRAY platform was used for the genotyping. Statistical analysis was conducted using the chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test, logistic regression analysis, and stratification analysis.

RESULTS: The ‘G’ allele of rs989902 (PTPN13) and the ‘T’ allele of rs738722 (CHEK2) were both associated with an increased risk of ESCC (rs989902: OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.02-1.47, p = 0.028; rs738722: OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.06-1.55, p = 0.011). Stratification analysis showed that SNPs (rs989902 and rs738722) were notably correlated with an increased risk of ESCC after stratification for age, sex, smoking, and drinking status. In addition, rs738722 might be associated with lower stage, while rs989902 had a lower risk of metastasis.

CONCLUSION: Our findings display that PTPN13 rs989902 and CHEK2 rs738722 are associated with an increased risk of ESCC in the Chinese Han population.

PMID:38039548 | DOI:10.1080/07853890.2023.2281659

Neurosurg Focus. 2023 Dec;55(6):E6. doi: 10.3171/2023.9.FOCUS23550.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the outcomes of outpatient oncological neurosurgery (OON) in a European clinical setting and to compare them with the conventional inpatient protocol.

METHODS: Patients who had undergone OON (either tumor removal or biopsy) at the authors’ center since 2019 were analyzed. A matched cohort of patients was selected from patients undergoing tumor surgery in the same period. Collected data included patient demographics, postoperative progress, specific location of the target lesion, and the procedure performed.

RESULTS: There were 18 patients in the case group and 59 patients in the control group. The outpatient surgeries had a same-day discharge rate of 89%, and all ambulatory patients successfully completed the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program within 6.24 hours of the procedure. All ambulatory patients underwent Hospital-at-Home postoperative follow-up for an average of 4.12 days. Radiological complications were present in 11% of the case group and 8% of the control group. Postoperative neurological deficit occurred in 6% of the same-day discharge group and 3% of the control group. Among the patients in the control group, 3% suffered from postoperative seizures, whereas no seizures were observed in the case group. These differences were not statistically significant. General anesthesia-related complications were not observed in any of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS: The authors’ findings demonstrate that Enhanced Recovery After Surgery protocols and same-day discharge craniotomy for tumor resection and image-guided biopsy under general anesthesia, when patients are carefully selected, can be safely performed with excellent outcomes in a European clinical setting. The OON program proved to be a viable alternative to conventional hospitalization, showing comparable safety records and offering advantages in terms of patient recovery.

PMID:38039530 | DOI:10.3171/2023.9.FOCUS23550

Neurosurg Focus. 2023 Dec;55(6):E7. doi: 10.3171/2023.9.FOCUS23316.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Enhanced recovery after surgery, or the enhanced recovery protocol (ERP), introduces a contemporary concept for perioperative care within neurosurgery. In recent years, mounting evidence has highlighted the significant impact of this approach on brain tumor surgery. The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of current publications, with a primary focus on assessing the efficiency and safety of implementing ERP in the management of patients undergoing elective craniotomies for brain tumor resection.

METHODS: This study followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and was registered in the PROSPERO database. A comprehensive search of the MEDLINE, Cochrane, Scopus, and Embase databases was performed, and two independent reviewers extracted the data, assessed bias, and resolved disagreements through discussion. Primary outcomes included hospital length of stay (LOS) and hospitalization cost. The secondary outcomes were complications, including death, reoperation, readmission, intracerebral hemorrhage, CNS infection, and deep vein thrombosis. A random-effects model was used to evaluate the effects of implementing the ERP using the mean difference (MD) for primary outcomes. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistics, and statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05.

RESULTS: Eight studies, including 3 randomized controlled trials, 3 prospective studies, and 2 retrospective studies, were included in this meta-analysis. The ERP group had significantly shorter LOS (MD -2.69, 95% CI -3.65 to -1.73; p < 0.00001, I2 = 87%) and lower hospitalization cost (MD -$1188 [US dollars] 95% CI -$1726 to -$650; p = 0.0008, I2 = 71%) than the non-ERP group. There were no significant differences in the incidence of perioperative complications between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the ERP in improving postoperative outcomes for patients undergoing elective craniotomies for brain tumors. This protocol has demonstrated the ability to reduce hospital stays and costs while maintaining a low complication rate. However, the study acknowledges the presence of clinical and statistical heterogeneity among the included articles, limiting the scope of its conclusions. Further high-quality comparative studies are necessary to substantiate these findings and establish their reliability.

PMID:38039526 | DOI:10.3171/2023.9.FOCUS23316

J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2023 Dec 1:1-7. doi: 10.3171/2023.11.PEDS23212. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Nonaccidental trauma (NAT) is a major cause of traumatic death during infancy and early childhood. Several findings are known to raise the index of clinical suspicion: subdural hematoma (SDH), retinal hemorrhage (RH), fracture, and external trauma. Combinations of certain injury types, determined via statistical frequency associations, may assist clinical diagnostic tools when child abuse is suspected. The present study sought to assess the statistical validity of the clinical triad (SDH + RH + fracture) in the diagnosis of child abuse and by extension pediatric NAT.

METHODS: A retrospective review of The University of Arizona Trauma Database was performed. All patients were evaluated for the presence or absence of the components of the clinical triad according to specific International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-10 codes. Injury type combinations included some variation of SDH, RH, all fractures, noncranial fracture, and cranial fracture. Each injury type was then correlated with the ICD-10 codes for child abuse or injury comment keywords. Statistical analysis via contingency tables was then conducted for test characteristics such as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value.

RESULTS: There were 3149 patients younger than 18 years of age included in the quantitative analysis, all of whom had at least one component of the clinical triad. From these, 372 patients (11.8%) had a diagnosis of child abuse. When compared to a single diagnosis of either SDH, RH, all fractures, noncranial fracture, or cranial fracture, the clinical triad had a significantly greater correlation with the diagnosis of child abuse (100% of cases) (p < 0.0001). The dyad of SDH + RH also had a significantly greater correlation with a child abuse diagnosis compared to single diagnoses (88.9%) (p < 0.0001). The clinical triad of SDH + RH + fracture had a sensitivity of 88.8% (95% CI 87.6%-89.9%), specificity of 100% (95% CI 83.9%-100%), and positive predictive value of 100% (95% CI 99.9%-100%). The dyad of SDH + RH had a sensitivity of 89.1% (95% CI 87.9%-90.1%), specificity of 88.9% (95% CI 74.7%-95.6%), and positive predictive value of 99.9% (95% CI 99.6%-100%). All patients with the clinical triad were younger than 3 years of age.

CONCLUSIONS: When SDH, RH, and fracture were present together, child abuse and by extension pediatric NAT were highly likely to have occurred.

PMID:38039524 | DOI:10.3171/2023.11.PEDS23212

Neurosurg Focus. 2023 Dec;55(6):E14. doi: 10.3171/2023.9.FOCUS23540.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Over the past decade, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program has demonstrated its effectiveness and efficiency in improving postoperative care and enhancing recovery across various surgical fields. Preliminary results of ERAS protocol implementation in craniosynostosis surgery are presented.

METHODS: An ERAS protocol was developed and implemented for cranial pediatric neurosurgery, focusing on craniosynostosis repair. The study incorporated a pre-ERAS group consisting of a consecutive series of patients who underwent craniosynostosis repair surgery prior to the implementation of the ERAS protocol; the results were compared with a consecutive group of patients who had been prospectively collected since the introduction of the ERAS for craniosynostosis protocol. The safety, feasibility, and efficiency of the ERAS protocol in pediatric neurosurgery was evaluated, through the collection of clinical data from the pre-, intra-, and postoperative phase. Surgery-related complications were evaluated according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Costs of the stays were obtained using a microcosting approach.

RESULTS: A total of 35 pre-ERAS patients and 10 ERAS patients were included. Scaphocephaly was the most common pathology in both groups. The overall compliance with the pre-, intra-, and postoperative criteria significantly increased-from 35.5%, 64.4%, and 54.7%, respectively, in each phase to 94%, 90%, and 84% (p < 0.001). The authors noticed a reduction in the average opioid dose used per patient in the ERAS group (p = 0.004), and they observed a trend toward a decreased mean length of stay from 5.2 days in the pre-ERAS group to 4.6 days in the ERAS group, without an increase of the rate of readmission within 30 days of surgery. The rate of complications decreased but this difference was not statistically significant. The hospital costs lowered significantly: from 21,958 Confederatio Helvetica Francs (CHF) in the pre-ERAS group to 18,936 CHF in the ERAS group (p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS: The ERAS protocol represents a safe and cost-effective tool for the perioperative management of craniosynostosis. It showed its positive impact on the analgesia provided and on the reduction of in-hospital costs for these patients. ERAS protocols may thus be interesting options in the pediatric neurosurgical field.

PMID:38039522 | DOI:10.3171/2023.9.FOCUS23540

J Neurosurg Spine. 2023 Dec 1:1-9. doi: 10.3171/2023.9.SPINE23325. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Selecting C2 versus C3 or C4 (i.e., C3/C4) as the rostral anchoring level in long-segment cervical fusions is a common clinical conundrum. The data regarding proximal failure in long constructs of the cervical spine is scarce. The objective of this study was to systematically review the published literature and perform a meta-analysis of the incidence for proximal adjacent-segment disease (ASD) in the context of long cervical fusions and cervicothoracic fusions ending in C2 versus those ending in the subaxial spine (C3 or C4).

METHODS: Using the PRISMA guidelines, the authors performed a search of the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase/Ovid, and Cochrane Central databases to identify all full-text articles in the English-language literature with the following inclusion criteria: 1) studies including patients with the upper instrumented vertebra (UIV) at C2 versus C3/C4; 2) patients undergoing ≥ 3-level posterior cervical fusion; and 3) indication for surgery of degenerative disc disease, cervical spondylotic myelopathy, or cervical deformity. Studies that were not published in the English language, case reports, review articles, letters to the editor, and meeting abstracts were excluded. A meta-analysis was conducted using a fixed-effects model when I2 values were below 70%. Conversely, when I2 values were equal to or greater than 70%, a random-effects model was used. A funnel plot was used to assess the presence of publication bias.

RESULTS: Seven studies consisting of 1215 patients were included in the meta-analysis. There were 403 (32.8%) patients in the C2 UIV group and 812 (67.2%) patients in the C3/C4 UIV group. When the 7 studies were analyzed, the overall rate of reoperation was comparable between the C2 (9.2%) and C3/C4 (9.4%) UIV groups (p = 0.93) but the rate of surgical ASD due to proximal pathology was 1.2% and 3%, respectively (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.15-0.86; p = 0.02). When comparing between groups, no statistical difference was found regarding the rate of reoperation due to distal pathology or surgical infection.

CONCLUSIONS: Long-segment cervical or cervicothoracic constructs that anchor into C2 may have similar complication rates but lower revision rates for proximal ASD than constructs that anchor into the subaxial spine.

PMID:38039517 | DOI:10.3171/2023.9.SPINE23325

J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2023 Dec 1. doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000901. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Current methods used to measure incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) underestimate its true public health burden. The use of self-report surveys may be an approach to improve these estimates. An important step in public health surveillance is to define a public health problem using a case definition. The purpose of this article is to outline the process that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention undertook to refine a TBI case definition to be used in surveillance using a self-report survey.

SETTING: Survey.

PARTICIPANTS: A total of 10 030 adults participated via a random digit-dial telephone survey from September 2018 to September 2019.

MAIN MEASURES: Respondents were asked whether they had sustained a hit to the head in the preceding 12 months and whether they experienced a series of 12 signs and symptoms as a result of this injury.

DESIGN: Head injuries with 1 or more signs/symptoms reported were initially categorized into a 3-tiered TBI case definition (probable TBI, possible TBI, and delayed possible TBI), corresponding to the level of certainty that a TBI occurred. Placement in a tier was compared with a range of severity measures (whether medical evaluation was sought, time to symptom resolution, self-rated social and work functioning); case definition tiers were then modified in a stepwise fashion to maximize differences in severity between tiers.

RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences in the severity measure between cases in the probable and possible TBI tiers but not between other tiers. Timing of symptom onset did not meaningfully differentiate between cases on severity measures; therefore, the delayed possible tier was eliminated, resulting in 2 tiers: probable and possible TBI.

CONCLUSION: The 2-tiered TBI case definition that was derived from this analysis can be used in future surveillance efforts to differentiate cases by certainty and from noncases for the purpose of reporting TBI prevalence and incidence estimates. The refined case definition can help researchers increase the confidence they have in reporting survey respondents’ self-reported TBIs as well as provide them with the flexibility to report an expansive (probable + possible TBI) or more conservative (probable TBI only) estimate of TBI prevalence.

PMID:38039496 | DOI:10.1097/HTR.0000000000000901

Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Nov 17;131(20):206901. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.206901.

ABSTRACT

Bosonic condensation and lasing of exciton polaritons in microcavities is a fascinating solid-state phenomenon. It provides a versatile platform to study out-of-equilibrium many-body physics and has recently appeared at the forefront of quantum technologies. Here, we study the photon statistics via the second-order temporal correlation function of polariton lasing emerging from an optical microcavity with an embedded atomically thin MoSe_{2} crystal. Furthermore, we investigate the macroscopic polariton phase transition for varying excitation powers and temperatures. The lower-polariton exhibits photon bunching below the threshold, implying a dominant thermal distribution of the emission, while above the threshold, the second-order correlation transits towards unity, which evidences the formation of a coherent state. Our findings are in agreement with a microscopic numerical model, which explicitly includes scattering with phonons on the quantum level.

PMID:38039456 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.206901

Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Nov 17;131(20):200801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.200801.

ABSTRACT

The lack of ability to determine and implement accurately quantum optimal control is a strong limitation to the development of quantum technologies. We propose a digital procedure based on a series of pulses where their amplitudes and (static) phases are designed from an optimal continuous-time protocol for given type and degree of robustness, determined from a geometric analysis. This digitalization combines the ease of implementation of composite pulses with the potential to achieve global optimality, i.e., to operate at the ultimate speed limit, even for a moderate number of control parameters. We demonstrate the protocol on IBM’s quantum computers for a single qubit, obtaining a robust transfer with a series of Gaussian or square pulses in a time T=382 ns for a moderate amplitude. We find that the digital solution is practically as fast as the continuous one for square subpulses with the same peak amplitudes.

PMID:38039452 | DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.200801