TY - JOUR A1 - Sherif, Mohammad A. A1 - Herold, Joerg A1 - Voelker, Wolfram A1 - Maniuc, Octavian A1 - Ertl, Georg A1 - Praast, Christian A1 - Braun-Dullaeus, Ruediger Christian T1 - Feasibility of a new method using two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography for aortic annular sizing in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation; a case-control study JF - BMC Cardiovascular Disorders N2 - Background: Accurate preoperative assessment of the aortic annulus dimension is crucial for successful transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). In this study we validated a new method using two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D-TEE) for measurement of the aortic annulus prior to TAVI. Methods: We analysed 124 patients who underwent successful TAVI using a self-expandable prosthesis, divided equally into two groups; in the study group we used the cross sectional short axis 2D-TEE for measurement of the aortic annulus and in the control group we used the long axis 2D-TEE. Results: Both groups were comparable regarding the clinical parameters. On the other hand, patients in the study group had less left ventricular ejection fraction (38.9 % versus 45.6 %, p = 0.01). The aortic valve annulus was, although not statistically significant, smaller in the study group (21.58 versus 23.28 mm, p = 0.25). Post procedural quantification of the aortic regurgitation revealed that only one patient in both groups had severe aortic regurgitation (AR), in this patient the valve was implanted deep. The incidence of significant AR was higher in the control group (29.0 % versus 12.9 %, p = 0.027). Conclusions: Sizing of the aortic valve annulus using cross-sectional 2D-TEE offers a safe and plausible method for patients undergoing TAVI using the self-expandable prosthesis and is significantly superior to using long axis 2D-TEE. KW - paravalvular regurgitation KW - multicenter KW - management KW - sizing KW - echocardiography KW - replacement KW - tomography KW - guidelines KW - outcomes KW - impact KW - recommendations KW - stenosis KW - TAVI Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-148328 VL - 15 IS - 78 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mergl, Roland A1 - Koburger, Nicole A1 - Heinrichs, Katherina A1 - Székely, András A1 - Tóth, Mónika Ditta A1 - Coyne, James A1 - Quintão, Sónia A1 - Arensman, Ella A1 - Coffey, Claire A1 - Maxwell, Margaret A1 - Värnik, Airi A1 - van Audenhove, Chantal A1 - McDaid, David A1 - Sarchiapone, Marco A1 - Schmidtke, Armin A1 - Genz, Axel A1 - Gusmão, Ricardo A1 - Hegerl, Ulrich T1 - What Are Reasons for the Large Gender Differences in the Lethality of Suicidal Acts? An Epidemiological Analysis in Four European Countries JF - PLoS ONE N2 - Background In Europe, men have lower rates of attempted suicide compared to women and at the same time a higher rate of completed suicides, indicating major gender differences in lethality of suicidal behaviour. The aim of this study was to analyse the extent to which these gender differences in lethality can be explained by factors such as choice of more lethal methods or lethality differences within the same suicide method or age. In addition, we explored gender differences in the intentionality of suicide attempts. Methods and Findings Methods. Design: Epidemiological study using a combination of self-report and official data. Setting: Mental health care services in four European countries: Germany, Hungary, Ireland, and Portugal. Data basis: Completed suicides derived from official statistics for each country (767 acts, 74.4% male) and assessed suicide attempts excluding habitual intentional self-harm (8,175 acts, 43.2% male). Main Outcome Measures and Data Analysis. We collected data on suicidal acts in eight regions of four European countries participating in the EU-funded "OSPI-Europe"-project (www.ospi-europe.com). We calculated method-specific lethality using the number of completed suicides per method * 100 /(number of completed suicides per method + number of attempted suicides per method). We tested gender differences in the distribution of suicidal acts for significance by using the \(\chi\)\(^{2}\)-test for two-by-two tables. We assessed the effect sizes with phi coefficients (φ). We identified predictors of lethality with a binary logistic regression analysis. Poisson regression analysis examined the contribution of choice of methods and method-specific lethality to gender differences in the lethality of suicidal acts. Findings Main Results Suicidal acts (fatal and non-fatal) were 3.4 times more lethal in men than in women (lethality 13.91% (regarding 4106 suicidal acts) versus 4.05% (regarding 4836 suicidal acts)), the difference being significant for the methods hanging, jumping, moving objects, sharp objects and poisoning by substances other than drugs. Median age at time of suicidal behaviour (35-44 years) did not differ between males and females. The overall gender difference in lethality of suicidal behaviour was explained by males choosing more lethal suicide methods (odds ratio (OR) = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.65 to 2.50; p < 0.000001) and additionally, but to a lesser degree, by a higher lethality of suicidal acts for males even within the same method (OR = 1.64; 95% CI = 1.32 to 2.02; p = 0.000005). Results of a regression analysis revealed neither age nor country differences were significant predictors for gender differences in the lethality of suicidal acts. The proportion of serious suicide attempts among all non-fatal suicidal acts with known intentionality (NFSAi) was significantly higher in men (57.1%; 1,207 of 2,115 NFSAi) than in women (48.6%; 1,508 of 3,100 NFSAi) (\(\chi\)\(^{2}\) = 35.74; p < 0.000001). Main limitations of the study Due to restrictive data security regulations to ensure anonymity in Ireland, specific ages could not be provided because of the relatively low absolute numbers of suicide in the Irish intervention and control region. Therefore, analyses of the interaction between gender and age could only be conducted for three of the four countries. Attempted suicides were assessed for patients presenting to emergency departments or treated in hospitals. An unknown rate of attempted suicides remained undetected. This may have caused an overestimation of the lethality of certain methods. Moreover, the detection of attempted suicides and the registration of completed suicides might have differed across the four countries. Some suicides might be hidden and misclassified as undetermined deaths. Conclusions Men more often used highly lethal methods in suicidal behaviour, but there was also a higher method-specific lethality which together explained the large gender differences in the lethality of suicidal acts. Gender differences in the lethality of suicidal acts were fairly consistent across all four European countries examined. Males and females did not differ in age at time of suicidal behaviour. Suicide attempts by males were rated as being more serious independent of the method used, with the exceptions of attempted hanging, suggesting gender differences in intentionality associated with suicidal behaviour. These findings contribute to understanding of the spectrum of reasons for gender differences in the lethality of suicidal behaviour and should inform the development of gender specific strategies for suicide prevention. KW - case fatality rates KW - behavior KW - multicenter KW - depression KW - deaths KW - alliance KW - states Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-151547 VL - 10 IS - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neudecker, Jens A1 - Malzahn, Uwe A1 - Heuschmann, Peter A1 - Behrens, Uwe A1 - Walles, Thorsten T1 - Pulmonary wedge resection plus parietal pleurectomy (WRPP) versus parietal pleurectomy (PP) for the treatment of recurrent primary pneumothorax (WOPP trial): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial JF - Trials N2 - Background For the surgical treatment of recurrent primary spontaneous pneumothoraces (rPSP) different operative therapies are applied to achieve permanent freedom from recurrence. Methods/design This multicenter clinical trial evaluates the long-term results of two commonly applied surgical techniques for the treatment of rPSP. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and after obtaining the patients’ informed consent, participants are randomized into the two surgical treatment arms: pulmonary wedge resection plus parietal pleurectomy (WRPP) or parietal pleurectomy alone (PP). Consecutively, all study participants will be followed up for two years to evaluate the surgical long-term effect. The primary efficacy endpoint is the recurrence rate of pneumothorax within 24 months after surgery. The calculated sample size is 360 patients (n = 180 per treatment arm) to prove superiority of one of the two treatments. So far, 22 surgical sites have submitted their declaration of commitment, giving the estimated number of participating patients. Discussion A prospective randomized clinical trial has been started to compare two established surgical therapies to evaluate the long-term results regarding recurrence rates. Furthermore, cost of treatment, and influence on the perioperative morbidity and mortality as well as on quality of life are analyzed. If the study reveals equivalence for both surgical techniques, unnecessary pulmonary resections could be avoided. KW - multicenter KW - prospective randomized trial KW - pulmonary wedge resection KW - parietal pleurectomy KW - recurrent primary pneumothorax Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-145869 VL - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Sherif, Mohammad A. A1 - Ince, Hüseyin A1 - Maniuc, Octavian A1 - Reiter, Therese A1 - Voelker, Wolfram A1 - Ertl, Georg A1 - Öner, Alper T1 - Two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography for aortic annular sizing in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation JF - BMC Cardiovascular Disorders N2 - Background: Accurate preoperative assessment of the aortic annulus dimension is crucial for successful transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). In this study we examined the accuracy of a novel method using two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography (2D-TEE) for measurement of the aortic annulus. Methods: We evaluated the theoretical impact of the measurement of the annulus diameter and area using the circumcircle of a triangle method on the decision to perform the procedure and choice of the prosthesis size. Results: Sixty-three consecutive patients were scheduled for TAVI. Mean age was 82 +/- 4 years, and 25 patients (55.6 %) were female. Mean aortic annulus diameter was 20.3 +/- 2.2 mm assessed by TEE on the mid-esophageal long-axis view and 23.9 +/- 2.3 mm using CT (p < 0.001). There was a tendency for the TEE derived areas using the new method to be higher (p < 0.001). The TEE measurements were on average 42.33 mm(2) higher than the CT measurements without an evidence of a systematic over-or under-sizing (p = 1.00). Agreement between TEE and CT chosen valve sizes was good overall (kappa = 0.67 and weighted kappa = 0.71). For patients who turned out to have no AR, the two methods agreed in 84.6 % of patients. Conclusions: CT remanis the gold standard in sizing of the aortic valve annulus. Nevertheless, sizing of the aortic valve annulus using TEE derived area may be helpful. The impact of integration of this method in the algorithm of aortic annulus sizing on the outcome of patients undergoing TAVI should be examined in future studies. KW - multicenter KW - TAVI KW - impact KW - complex KW - anatomy KW - dimensions KW - regurgitation KW - root KW - sizing KW - echocardiography KW - multidetector computed-tomography KW - replacement KW - outcomes Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-136002 VL - 15 IS - 181 ER -