Tag: statistics

Rev Esp Salud Publica. 2023 Apr 26;97:e202304034.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The multiple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are beginning to be seen from the alteration of vital statistics figures. This is summarized in changes in the usual causes of death and excess attributable mortality, which can finally be seen in structural changes in the populations of the countries. For this reason, this research was created with the objective of determining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal, perinatal and neonatal mortality in four locations in Bogotá D.C. (Colombia).

METHODS: A retrospective longitudinal investigation was carried out in which 217,419 mortality data were analyzed in the towns of Kennedy, Fontibón, Bosa and Puente Aranda in the city of Bogotá – Colombia that occurred between the years 2018 to 2021, of which maternal (54), perinatal (1,370) and neonatal (483) deaths in order to identify a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection that could be related to the excess mortality associated with COVID-19. The data were collected from the open records of vital statistics of the National Statistics Department (DANE), where they were analyzed from frequency measures or central tendency and dispersion according to the types of variables. The specific mortality indicators related to maternal, perinatal and neonatal death events were calculated.

RESULTS: A decrease in perinatal and neonatal mortality was evidenced since 2020, which was associated with the progressive decrease in pregnancies in those same years; Additionally, a considerable increase in maternal deaths was observed for 2021 compared to the other years analyzed. The proportion of maternal deaths in 2020 and 2021 by 10% and 17%, respectively, were attributed to COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS: It is observed that the trend of maternal mortality is related to the increase in mortality from COVID-19, maternal deaths associated with COVID-19 occurred specifically in the zonal planning units that registered more than 160 cases of COVID-19 for the year 2021.

PMID:37114485

Epilepsia. 2023 Apr 28. doi: 10.1111/epi.17633. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Electronic medical records allow for retrospective clinical research with large patient cohorts. However, epilepsy outcomes are often contained in free text notes that are difficult to mine. We recently developed and validated novel natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to automatically extract key epilepsy outcome measures from clinic notes. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of extracting these measures to study the natural history of epilepsy at our center.

METHODS: We applied our previously validated NLP algorithms to extract seizure freedom, seizure frequency, and date of most recent seizure from outpatient visits at our epilepsy center from 2010 – 2022. We examined the dynamics of seizure outcomes over time using Markov model-based probability and Kaplan-Meier analyses.

RESULTS: Performance of our algorithms on classifying seizure freedom was comparable to that of human reviewers (algorithm F₁ 0.88 vs. human annotator κ 0.86). We extracted seizure outcome data from 55,630 clinic notes from 9,510 unique patients written by 53 unique authors. Of these, 30% were classified as seizure-free since the last visit; 48% of non-seizure free visits contained a quantifiable seizure frequency; and 47% of all visits contained the date of most recent seizure occurrence. Among patients with at least five visits, the probabilities of seizure freedom at the next visit ranged from 12% to 80% in patients having seizures or seizure free at the prior three visits, respectively. Only 25% of patients who were seizure free for 6 months remained seizure free after 10 years.

SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings demonstrate that epilepsy outcome measures can be extracted accurately from unstructured clinical note text using NLP. At our tertiary center, the disease course often followed a remitting and relapsing pattern. This method represents a powerful new tool for clinical research with many potential uses and extensions to other clinical questions.

PMID:37114472 | DOI:10.1111/epi.17633

Acta Neuropsychiatr. 2023 Apr 28:1-29. doi: 10.1017/neu.2023.24. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: A dysbalance of the immune system in psychotic disorders has been well investigated. However, despite a higher prevalence of cannabis (THC) consumption in patients with psychosis, few studies have investigated the impact of this use on inflammatory markers.

METHODS: One hundred and two inpatients were included in this retrospective study. Leukocytic formula, hsCRP, fibrinogen levels and urinary THC were measured, and comparisons were performed at baseline and after 4 weeks of cannabis cessation between cannabis users (THC+) and non-users (THC-).

RESULTS: After cannabis cessation, we found a greater increase of leucocyte level (p < 0.01), monocyte level (p = 0.05) and a statistical trend to a highest increase of lymphocyte level (p = 0.06) between baseline and 4 weeks in the THC+ group as compared to the THC- group. At 4 weeks, highest leucocyte (p = 0.03), lymphocyte (p = 0.04) and monocyte (p < 0.01) counts were found in the THC+ group whereas at baseline no difference was found. A positive correlation was found between monocyte count at 4 weeks and baseline PANSS negative subscore (p = 0.045) and between the variation of monocyte count between baseline and 4 weeks and the PANSS total score at 4 weeks (p = 0.05).

CONCLUSION: THC cessation is associated with an increase in inflammatory markers, including white blood cell, lymphocyte, and monocyte levels, which correlates with symptomatology of patients with psychosis.

PMID:37114467 | DOI:10.1017/neu.2023.24

J Korean Assoc Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2023 Apr 30;49(2):75-85. doi: 10.5125/jkaoms.2023.49.2.75.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Suspending bisphosphonates (BPs) to reduce the risk and severity of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) remains controversial. In this study, we quantitatively evaluated the clinical significance of BP suspension before surgery in osteoporosis patients with MRONJ.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 24 osteoporosis patients with MRONJ who were treated from 2012 to 2020 at Seoul National University Dental Hospital and compared the treatment outcomes of those who suspended BPs with those who did not. The number of surgical interventions, follow-up panoramic radiographs for relative bone density measurement, and laboratory blood tests including white blood cells, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, absolute neutrophil count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and alkaline phosphatase were analyzed. ANOVA, Student’s t -test, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare results. Fisher’s exact test was used to discover the association between treatment outcome and BP suspension, and Pearson’s correlation test was used to measure the statistical relationship between the changes in serum inflammatory markers.

RESULTS: The number of interventions was significantly higher in the non-drug suspension group due to recurrence (p<0.05). The relative bone density in patients who suspended BPs was significantly different over time (p<0.05), with the highest density at one-year follow-up. Fisher’s exact test shows an association between successful treatment outcomes and BP suspension. The alkaline phosphatase and erythrocyte sedimentation rate levels decreased significantly in the BP-suspended group, and a positive correlation was found between these elevated markers.

CONCLUSION: A significant increase in bone density throughout follow-up and a lower number of interventions were found in the BP suspension group compared to the non-drug suspension group. Also, BP suspension decreased inflammatory markers in the serum after surgery, resulting in good treatment outcomes. BP suspension is a prognostic factor for MRONJ and should be implemented before surgery.

PMID:37114445 | DOI:10.5125/jkaoms.2023.49.2.75

J Korean Assoc Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2023 Apr 30;49(2):68-74. doi: 10.5125/jkaoms.2023.49.2.68.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Drug holidays are suggested to reduce the formation of osteonecrosis in patients under intravenous (IV) bisphosphonates (BPs) therapy. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the incidence of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) following tooth extraction in cancer patients using IV BP, and to assess the effect of drug holiday on the development of MRONJ. Patients and.

METHODS: A manuel search of the patient folders of Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University was undertaken to identify cancer patients who used IV BPs and had at least one tooth extraction between 2012 and 2022. Patents’ age, sex, systemic condition, the type of BP used, duration of BP used, number of tooth extraction, duration of drug holiday, localization of tooth extraction and incidence of MRONJ were recorded.

RESULTS: One hundred nine teeth were removed from 57 jaws in 51 patients. All tooth extractions were performed under perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis and with primary wound closure. The incidence of MRONJ was 5.3%. Stage 1 MRONJ developed in 3 patients (only one had a drug holiday). The median duration of drug holiday was 2 months. No significant difference between the patients with and without a drug holiday and MRONJ development was found (P=0.315). The mean age of patients developed MRONJ was 40.33±8.08 years. A statistically significant difference was found between age and MRONJ development (P=0.002).

CONCLUSION: The effect of a short-term drug holiday on the development of MRONJ may be limited because BPs remain in bone tissue for a long time. Drug holidays should be applied with the approval of an oncologist with other preventive measurements.

PMID:37114444 | DOI:10.5125/jkaoms.2023.49.2.68

Platelets. 2023 Dec;34(1):2200836. doi: 10.1080/09537104.2023.2200836.

ABSTRACT

Thrombocytopenia represents one of the most prevalent hematologic complications observed in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In this study, we sought to analyze the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with coexisting HIV and thrombocytopenia. Specifically, we retrospectively examined the medical records of 45 patients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and thrombocytopenia at the Yunnan Infectious Diseases Specialist Hospital between January 2010 and December 2020, all of whom received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with/without glucocorticoids. The median follow-up period was 79 days, ranging between 14 and 368 days, the total platelet count was higher after receiving treatment than before (Z = -5.662, P < .001). Among the cohort, 27 patients (60.0%) responded to treatment, with 12 patients (44.44%) experiencing relapse during the follow-up period. The response rate (80.00%) of newly diagnosed ITP were significantly higher than of persistent ITP (28.57%) and chronic ITP (38.46%) ($\text{x}$² = 9.560, P = .008) and the relapse rate of the newly diagnosed ITP (30.00%) was significantly lower than the persistent ITP and chronic ITP (100.00%, 80.00%) ($\text{x}$² = 6.750, P = .034). Notably, we found that the number of CD4+ T cells, duration of HIV infection, selection of HAART and type of glucocorticoids administered displayed no statistically significant effect on platelet count, treatment response, or relapse rate. However, we observed a significant decrease in platelet count in hepatitis C virus-positive individuals coinfected with HIV compared to those with HIV alone (Z = -2.855, P = .003). Our findings suggest that patients diagnosed with HIV and thrombocytopenia exhibit a low response rate to treatment and have an increased likelihood of relapse.

PMID:37114424 | DOI:10.1080/09537104.2023.2200836

Nucl Med Commun. 2023 Apr 28. doi: 10.1097/MNM.0000000000001702. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to compare the role of 68Ga-labeled FAP inhibitor (68Ga-FAPI)-04 PET/computed tomography (CT) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT in the evaluation of primary tumor and metastases in patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our prospective study included 21 patients with histopathological diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma who underwent both 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging between April 2022 and September 2022. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume, total lesion glycolysis, tumor-to-background ratio (TBR) and highest SUVpeak (HPeak) values and lesion numbers were calculated from primary and metastatic lesions on FDG and FAPI PET/CT images. Findings obtained from FAPI and FDG PET/CT were compared.

RESULTS: More lesions were detected in 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT compared to 18F-FDG PET/CT in primary tumor and lymph node metastases. Statistically significantly higher SUVmax and TBR values were found with FAPI PET/CT (primary lesion SUVmax and TBR, P = 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively; lymph node SUVmax and TBR, P = 0.016 and P = 0.005, respectively). With FAPI PET/CT, upstage was observed according to tumor-node-metastasis staging in a total of seven patients including three patients with pleural origin, three patients with peritoneal origin and one patient with pericardial origin.

CONCLUSION: In addition to the stage change with 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT in malignant mesothelioma patients, a statistically significant superiority was observed in SUVmax, TBR and volumetric parameters in primary tumors and metastases.

PMID:37114422 | DOI:10.1097/MNM.0000000000001702

J Comp Eff Res. 2023 Apr 28:e220212. doi: 10.57264/cer-2022-0212. Online ahead of print.

NO ABSTRACT

PMID:37114420 | DOI:10.57264/cer-2022-0212

Acta Orthop. 2023 Apr 27;94:207-214. doi: 10.2340/17453674.2023.12306.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Radiostereometric analysis (RSA) is the gold standard for migration analysis, but computed tomography analysis methods (CTRSA) have shown comparable results in other joints. We attempted to validate precision for CT compared with RSA for a tibial implant.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: RSA and CT were performed on a porcine knee with a tibial implant. Marker-based RSA, model-based RSA (MBRSA), and CT scans from 2 different manufacturers were compared. CT analysis was performed by 2 raters for reliability evaluation.

RESULTS: 21 double examinations for precision measurements for RSA and CT-based Micromotion Analysis (CTMA) were analysed. Mean (95% confidence interval) precision data for maximum total point motion (MTPM) using marker-based RSA was 0.45 (0.19-0.70) and 0.58 (0.20-0.96) using MBRSA (F-statistic 0.44 [95% CI 0.18-1.1], p = 0.07). Precision data for total translation (TT) for CTMA was 0.08 (0.03-0.12) for the GE scanner and 0.11 (0.04-0.19) for the Siemens scanner (F-statistic 0.37 [0.15-0.91], p = 0.03). When comparing the aforementioned precision for both RSA methods with both CTMA analyses, CTMA was more precise (p < 0.001). The same pattern was seen for other translations and migrations. Mean effective radiation doses were 0.005 mSv (RSA) (0.0048-0.0050) and 0.08 mSv (CT) (0.078-0.080) (p < 0.001). Intra- and interrater reliability were 0.79 (0.75-0.82) and 0.77 (0.72-0.82), respectively.

CONCLUSION: CTMA is more precise than RSA for migration analysis of a tibial implant, has overall good intra- and interrater reliability but higher effective radiation doses in a porcine cadaver.

PMID:37114404 | DOI:10.2340/17453674.2023.12306

Rev Esp Enferm Dig. 2023 Apr 28. doi: 10.17235/reed.2023.9536/2023. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

AIM: Endoscopy identifies inflammatory activity, however it is an unpleasant test and is not always accessible. The aim of the study was to compare the usefulness of quantitative fecal immunochemical test (FIT) versus fecal calprotectin (FC) to determine endoscopic activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS: Cross-sectional prospective observational study. The stool samples were collected within 3 days before starting the preparation for the colonoscopy. We used the Mayo index for ulcerative colitis (UC) and the simplified endoscopic index for Crohn’s disease (CD). Mucosal healing (MH) was defined as the score 0 points in each of the endoscopic indices.

RESULTS: 84 patients were included, 40 (47.6%) with UC. In patients with IBD, FIT and FC showed a significant correlation with the presence of inflammatory activity/MH on endoscopy; without showing statistical differences between the two receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Both tests improved their diagnostic performance when assessing patients with UC, the Spearman correlations between FIT and FC and endoscopic inflammatory activity were r = 0.6 (p = 0.0001) and r = 0.7 (p = 0.0001), respectively. In Crohn´s disease, the diagnostic utility of both tests was lower.

CONCLUSIONS: FIT is an alternative to monitor endoscopic activity among ulcerative colitis patients. In Crohn´s disease, more studies are needed to determine the role of fecal biomarkers.

PMID:37114398 | DOI:10.17235/reed.2023.9536/2023