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Background: Early medical complications are potentially modifiable factors influencing in-hospital outcome. We investigated the influence of acute complications on mortality and poor outcome 3 months after ischemic stroke.
Methods: Data were obtained from patients admitted to one of 13 stroke units of the Berlin Stroke Registry (BSR) who participated in a 3-months-follow up between June 2010 and September 2012. We examined the influence of the cumulative number of early in-hospital complications on mortality and poor outcome (death, disability or institutionalization) 3 months after stroke using multivariable logistic regression analyses and calculated attributable fractions to determine the impact of early complications on mortality and poor outcome.
Results: A total of 2349 ischemic stroke patients alive at discharge from acute care were included in the analysis. Older age, stroke severity, pre-stroke dependency and early complications were independent predictors of mortality 3 months after stroke. Poor outcome was independently associated with older age, stroke severity, pre-stroke dependency, previous stroke and early complications. More than 60% of deaths and poor outcomes were attributed to age, pre-stroke dependency and stroke severity and in-hospital complications contributed to 12.3% of deaths and 9.1% of poor outcomes 3 months after stroke.
Conclusion: The majority of deaths and poor outcomes after stroke were attributed to non-modifiable factors. However, early in-hospital complications significantly affect outcome in patients who survived the acute phase after stroke, underlining the need to improve prevention and treatment of complications in hospital.
Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients would benefit from a safe and effective tool to detect early-stage, regional lung disease to allow for early intervention. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a safe, non-invasive procedure capable of providing quantitative assessments of disease without ionizing radiation. We developed a rapid normalized T1 MRI technique to detect regional lung disease in early-stage CF patients.
Materials and Methods: Conventional multislice, pulmonary T1 relaxation time maps were obtained for 10 adult CF patients with normal spirometry and 5 healthy non-CF control subjects using a rapid Look-Locker MRI acquisition (5 seconds/imaging slice). Each lung absolute T1 map was separated into six regions of interest (ROI) by manually selecting upper, central, and lower lung regions in the left and right lungs. In order to reduce the effects of subject-to-subject variation, normalized T1 maps were calculated by dividing each pixel in the absolute T1 maps by the mean T1 time in the central lung region. The primary outcome was the differences in mean normalized T1 values in the upper lung regions between CF patients with normal spirometry and healthy volunteers.
Results: Normalized T1 (nT1) maps showed visibly reduced subject-to-subject variation in comparison to conventional absolute T1 maps for healthy volunteers. An ROI analysis showed that the variation in the nT1 values in all regions was <= 2% of the mean. The primary outcome, the mean (SD) of the normalized T1 values in the upper right lung regions, was significantly lower in the CF subjects [.914 (.037)] compared to the upper right lung regions of the healthy subjects [.983 (.003)] [difference of .069 (95% confidence interval .032-.105); p=.001). Similar results were seen in the upper left lung region.
Conclusion: Rapid normalized T1 MRI relaxometry obtained in 5 seconds/imaging slice may be used to detect regional early-stage lung disease in CF patients.
The direct estimation of heritability from genome-wide common variant data as implemented in the program Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) has provided a means to quantify heritability attributable to all interrogated variants. We have quantified the variance in liability to disease explained by all SNPs for two phenotypically-related neurobehavioral disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette Syndrome (TS), using GCTA. Our analysis yielded a heritability point estimate of 0.58 (se = 0.09, p = 5.64e-12) for TS, and 0.37 (se = 0.07, p = 1.5e-07) for OCD. In addition, we conducted multiple genomic partitioning analyses to identify genomic elements that concentrate this heritability. We examined genomic architectures of TS and OCD by chromosome, MAF bin, and functional annotations. In addition, we assessed heritability for early onset and adult onset OCD. Among other notable results, we found that SNPs with a minor allele frequency of less than 5% accounted for 21% of the TS heritability and 0% of the OCD heritability. Additionally, we identified a significant contribution to TS and OCD heritability by variants significantly associated with gene expression in two regions of the brain (parietal cortex and cerebellum) for which we had available expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs). Finally we analyzed the genetic correlation between TS and OCD, revealing a genetic correlation of 0.41 (se = 0.15, p = 0.002). These results are very close to previous heritability estimates for TS and OCD based on twin and family studies, suggesting that very little, if any, heritability is truly missing (i.e., unassayed) from TS and OCD GWAS studies of common variation. The results also indicate that there is some genetic overlap between these two phenotypically-related neuropsychiatric disorders, but suggest that the two disorders have distinct genetic architectures.
Treatment of dysferlinopathy with deflazacort: a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial
(2013)
Background: Dysferlinopathies are autosomal recessive disorders caused by mutations in the dysferlin (DYSF) gene encoding the dysferlin protein. DYSF mutations lead to a wide range of muscular phenotypes, with the most prominent being Miyoshi myopathy (MM) and limb girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B).
Methods: We assessed the one-year-natural course of dysferlinopathy, and the safety and efficacy of deflazacort treatment in a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over trial. After one year of natural course without intervention, 25 patients with genetically defined dysferlinopathy were randomized to receive deflazacort and placebo for six months each (1 mg/kg/day in month one, 1 mg/kg every 2nd day during months two to six) in one of two treatment sequences. Results: During one year of natural course, muscle strength declined about 2% as measured by CIDD (Clinical Investigation of Duchenne Dystrophy) score, and 76 Newton as measured by hand-held dynamometry. Deflazacort did not improve muscle strength. In contrast, there is a trend of worsening muscle strength under deflazacort treatment, which recovers after discontinuation of the study drug. During deflazacort treatment, patients showed a broad spectrum of steroid side effects.
Conclusion: Deflazacort is not an effective therapy for dysferlinopathies, and off-label use is not warranted. This is an important finding, since steroid treatment should not be administered in patients with dysferlinopathy, who may be often misdiagnosed as polymyositis.
Fabry disease is a rare X-linked hereditary disease caused by mutations in the AGAL gene encoding the lysosomal enzyme alpha-galactosidase A. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) is the current cornerstone of Fabry disease management. Involvement of kidney, heart and the central nervous system shortens life span, and fibrosis of these organs is a hallmark of the disease. Fibrosis was initially thought to result from tissue ischemia secondary to endothelial accumulation of glycosphingolipids in the microvasculature. However, despite ready clearance of endothelial deposits, ERT is less effective in patients who have already developed fibrosis. Several potential explanations of this clinical observation may impact on the future management of Fabry disease. Alternative molecular pathways linking glycosphingolipids and fibrosis may be operative; tissue injury may recruit secondary molecular mediators of fibrosis that are unresponsive to ERT, or fibrosis may represent irreversible tissue injury that limits the therapeutic response to ERT. We provide an overview of Fabry disease, with a focus on the assessment of fibrosis, the clinical consequences of fibrosis, and recent advances in understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of fibrosis that may suggest novel therapeutic approaches to Fabry disease.
Four molecules of the tumor suppressor p53 assemble to cooperatively bind proapoptotic target genes. The structural basis for cooperativity consists of interactions between adjacent DNA binding domains. Mutations at the interaction interface that compromise cooperativity were identified in cancer patients, suggesting a requirement of cooperativity for tumor suppression. We report on an analysis of cooperativity mutant p53(E177R) mice. Apoptotic functions of p53 triggered by DNA damage and oncogenes were abolished in these mice, whereas functions in cell-cycle control, senescence, metabolism, and antioxidant defense were retained and were sufficient to suppress development of spontaneous T cell lymphoma. Cooperativity mutant mice are nevertheless highly cancer prone and susceptible to different oncogene-induced tumors. Our data underscore the relevance of DNA binding cooperativity for p53-dependent apoptosis and tumor suppression and highlight cooperativity mutations as a class of p53 mutations that result in a selective loss of apoptotic functions due to an altered quaternary structure of the p53 tetramer.
Background: Uro-oncological neoplasms have both a high incidence and mortality rate and are therefore a major public health problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate research activity in uro-oncology over the last decade.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE and ClinicalTrials.gov systematically for studies on prostatic, urinary bladder, kidney, and testicular neoplasms. The increase in newly published reports per year was analyzed using linear regression. The results are presented with 95% confidence intervals, and a p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The number of new publications per year increased significantly for prostatic, kidney and urinary bladder neoplasms (all <0.0001). We identified 1,885 randomized controlled trials (RCTs); also for RCTs, the number of newly published reports increased significantly for prostatic (p = 0.001) and kidney cancer (p = 0.005), but not for bladder (p = 0.09) or testicular (p = 0.44) neoplasms. We identified 3,114 registered uro-oncological studies in ClinicalTrials.gov. However, 85% of these studies are focusing on prostatic (45%) and kidney neoplasms (40%), whereas only 11% were registered for bladder cancers.
Conclusions: While the number of publications on uro-oncologic research rises yearly for prostatic and kidney neoplasms, urothelial carcinomas of the bladder seem to be neglected despite their important clinical role. Clinical research on neoplasms of the urothelial bladder must be explicitly addressed and supported.
Background: It remains unclear to what extent asthma in adults is linked to allergic rhinitis (AR), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and acetylsalicylic acid exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD), and how these comorbidities may affect asthma outcomes in the general population. We therefore aimed to assess the prevalence of these major comorbidities among adults with asthma and examine their impact on asthma exacerbations requiring hospital care.
Methods: A total of 22,050 adults 18 years and older were surveyed in the German National Health Telephone Interview Survey (GEDA) 2010 using a highly standardized computer-assisted interview technique. The study population comprised participants with self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma, among which the current (last 12 months) prevalence of AR and GERD-like symptoms (GERS), and life-time prevalence of AERD was estimated. Weighted bivariate analyses and logistic regression models were applied to assess the association of each comorbid condition with the asthma outcome (any self-reported asthma-related hospitalization and/or emergency department (ED) admission in the past year).
Results: Out of 1,136 adults with asthma, 49.6% had GERS and 42.3% had AR within the past 12 months; 14.0% met the criteria of AERD, and 75.7% had at least one out of the three conditions. Overall, the prevalence of at least one exacerbation requiring emergency room or hospital admission within the past year was 9.0%. Exacerbation prevalence was higher among participants with comorbidities than among those without (9.8% vs. 8.2% for GERS; 11.2% vs. 7.6% for AR, and 22.2% vs. 7.0% for AERD), but only differences in association with AERD were statistically significant. A strong association between asthma exacerbation and AERD persisted in multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusting for sex, age group, level of body mass index, smoking status, educational attainment, and duration of asthma: odds ratio (OR) = 4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.5-8.2.
Conclusions: Data from this large nation-wide study provide evidence that GERS, AR and AERD are all common comorbidities among adults with asthma. Our data underline the public health and clinical impact of asthma with complicating AERD, contributing considerably to disease-specific hospitalization and/or ED admission in a defined asthma population, and emphasize the importance of its recognition in asthma care.
Background: Sclerostin is a Wnt pathway antagonist regulating osteoblast activity and bone turnover. Here, we assessed the potential association of sclerostin with the development of coronary artery (CAC) and aortic valve calcifications (AVC) in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multi-slice computed tomography (MS-CT) scanning study in 67 chronic HD patients (59.4 +/- 14.8 yrs) for measurement of CAC and AVC. We tested established biomarkers as well as serum sclerostin (ELISA) regarding their association to the presence of calcification. Fifty-four adults without relevant renal disease served as controls for serum sclerostin levels. Additionally, sclerostin expression in explanted aortic valves from 15 dialysis patients was analysed ex vivo by immunohistochemistry and mRNA quantification (Qt-RT-PCR). Results: CAC (Agatston score > 100) and any AVC were present in 65% and in 40% of the MS-CT patient group, respectively. Serum sclerostin levels (1.53 +/- 0.81 vs 0.76 +/- 0.31 ng/mL, p < 0.001) were significantly elevated in HD compared to controls and more so in HD patients with AVC versus those without AVC (1.78 +/- 0.84 vs 1.35 +/- 0.73 ng/mL, p = 0.02). Multivariable regression analysis for AVC revealed significant associations with higher serum sclerostin. Ex vivo analysis of uraemic calcified aortic valves (n = 10) revealed a strong sclerostin expression very close to calcified regions (no sclerostin staining in non-calcified valves). Correspondingly, we observed a highly significant upregulation of sclerostin mRNA in calcified valves compared to non-calcified control valves. Conclusion: We found a strong association of sclerostin with calcifying aortic heart valve disease in haemodialysis patients. Sclerostin is locally produced in aortic valve tissue adjacent to areas of calcification.
Background: We present a descriptive and retrospective analysis of revision total hip arthroplasties (THA) using the MRP-TITAN stem (Peter Brehm, Weisendorf, GER) with distal diaphyseal fixation and metaphyseal defect augmentation. Our hypothesis was that the metaphyseal defect augmentation (Impaction Bone Grafting) improves the stem survival.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the aggregated and anonymized data of 243 femoral stem revisions. 68 patients with 70 implants (28.8%) received an allograft augmentation for metaphyseal defects; 165 patients with 173 implants (71.2%) did not, and served as controls. The mean follow-up was 4.4 +/- 1.8 years (range, 2.1-9.6 years). There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the study and control group regarding age, body mass index (BMI), femoral defects (types I-III as described by Paprosky), and preoperative Harris Hip Score (HHS). Postoperative clinical function was evaluated using the HHS. Postoperative radiologic examination evaluated implant stability, axial implant migration, signs of implant loosening, periprosthetic radiolucencies, as well as bone regeneration and resorption.
Results: There were comparable rates of intraoperative and postoperative complications in the study and control groups (p > 0.05). Clinical function, expressed as the increase in the postoperative HHS over the preoperative score, showed significantly greater improvement in the group with Impaction Bone Grafting (35.6 +/- 14.3 vs. 30.8 +/- 15.8; p <= 0.05). The study group showed better outcome especially for larger defects (types II C and III as described by Paprosky) and stem diameters >= 17 mm. The two groups did not show significant differences in the rate of aseptic loosening (1.4% vs. 2.9%) and the rate of revisions (8.6% vs. 11%). The Kaplan-Meier survival for the MRP-TITAN stem in both groups together was 93.8% after 8.8 years. [Study group 95.7% after 8.54 years; control group 93.1% after 8.7 years]. Radiologic evaluation showed no significant change in axial implant migration (4.3% vs. 9.3%; p = 0.19) but a significant reduction in proximal stress shielding (5.7% vs. 17.9%; p < 0.05) in the study group. Periprosthetic radiolucencies were detected in 5.7% of the study group and in 9.8% of the control group (p = 0.30). Radiolucencies in the proximal zones 1 and 7 according to Gruen occurred significantly more often in the control group without allograft augmentation (p = 0.05).
Conclusion: We present the largest analysis of the impaction grafting technique in combination with cementless distal diaphyseal stem fixation published so far. Our data provides initial evidence of improved bone regeneration after graft augmentation of metaphyseal bone defects. The data suggests that proximal metaphyseal graft augmentation is beneficial for large metaphyseal bone defects (Paprosky types IIC and III) and stem diameters of 17 mm and above. Due to the limitations of a retrospective and descriptive study the level of evidence remains low and prospective trials should be conducted.
Background: To describe changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis treated with teriparatide for up to 18 months and followed-up for a further 18 months, and to assess the influence of recent prior and incident fractures.
Methods: The European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS) is an observational, prospective, multinational study measuring HRQoL using the EQ-5D. The primary objective was to assess changes in HRQoL during 36 months in the whole study population. A secondary post-hoc analysis examined fracture impact on HRQoL in four subgroups classified based on recent prior fracture 12 months before baseline and incident clinical fractures during the study. Changes from baseline were analysed using a repeated measures model.
Results: Of the 1581 patients, 48.4% had a recent prior fracture and 15.6% of these patients had an incident fracture during follow-up. 10.9% of the 816 patients with no recent prior fracture had an incident fracture. Baseline mean EQ-VAS scores were similar across the subgroups. In the total study cohort (n = 1581), HRQoL (EQ-VAS and EQ-5D index scores) improved significantly from baseline to 18 months and this improvement was maintained over the 18-month post-teriparatide period. Improvements were seen across all five EQ-5D domains during teriparatide treatment that were maintained after teriparatide was discontinued. Subjects with incident clinical fractures had significantly less improvement in EQ-VAS than those without incident fractures. Recent prior fracture did not influence the change in EQ-VAS during treatment.
Conclusions: EFOS is the first longitudinal study in women with severe postmenopausal osteoporosis in the real world setting to show a substantial improvement in HRQoL during teriparatide treatment that was sustained during subsequent treatment with other medications. The increase in HRQoL was lower in the subgroups with incident fracture but was not influenced by recent prior fracture. The results should be interpreted in the context of the design of an observational study.
Background: Diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2) is highly associated with increased risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD), end stage renal disease (ESRD) and cardiovascular morbidity. Epidemiological and genetic studies generate hypotheses for innovative strategies in DM2 management by unravelling novel mechanisms of diabetes complications, which is essential for future intervention trials. We have thus initiated the DIAbetes COhoRtE study (DIACORE).
Methods: DIACORE is a prospective cohort study aiming to recruit 6000 patients of self-reported Caucasian ethnicity with prevalent DM2 for at least 10 years of follow-up. Study visits are performed in University-based recruiting clinics in Germany using standard operating procedures. All prevalent DM2 patients in outpatient clinics surrounding the recruiting centers are invited to participate. At baseline and at each 2-year follow-up examination, patients are subjected to a core phenotyping protocol. This includes a standardized online questionnaire and physical examination to determine incident micro-and macrovascular DM2 complications, malignancy and hospitalization, with a primary focus on renal events. Confirmatory outcome information is requested from patient records. Blood samples are obtained for a centrally analyzed standard laboratory panel and for biobanking of aliquots of serum, plasma, urine, mRNA and DNA for future scientific use. A subset of the cohort is subjected to extended phenotyping, e. g. sleep apnea screening, skin autofluorescence measurement, non-mydriatic retinal photography and non-invasive determination of arterial stiffness.
Discussion: DIACORE will enable the prospective evaluation of factors involved in DM2 complication pathogenesis using high-throughput technologies in biosamples and genetic epidemiological studies.
Background: International disease management guidelines recommend the regular assessment of depression and anxiety in heart failure patients. Currently there is little data on the effect of screening for depression and anxiety on the quality of life and the prognosis of heart failure (HF). We will investigate the association between the recognition of current depression/anxiety by the general practitioner (GP) and the quality of life and the patients' prognosis.
Methods/Design: In this multicenter, prospective, observational study 3,950 patients with HF are recruited by general practices in Germany. The patients fill out questionnaires at baseline and 12-month follow-up. At baseline the GPs are interviewed regarding the somatic and psychological comorbidities of their patients. During the follow-up assessment, data on hospitalization and mortality are provided by the general practice. Based on baseline data, the patients are allocated into three observation groups: HF patients with depression and/or anxiety recognized by their GP (P+/+), those with depression and/or anxiety not recognized (P+/-) and patients without depression and/or anxiety (P-/-). We will perform multivariate regression models to investigate the influence of the recognition of depression and/or anxiety on quality of life at 12 month follow-up, as well as its influences on the prognosis (hospital admission, mortality).
Discussion: We will display the frequency of GP-acknowledged depression and anxiety and the frequency of installed therapeutic strategies. We will also describe the frequency of depression and anxiety missed by the GP and the resulting treatment gap. Effects of correctly acknowledged and missed depression/anxiety on outcome, also in comparison to the outcome of subjects without depression/anxiety will be addressed. In case results suggest a treatment gap of depression/anxiety in patients with HF, the results of this study will provide methodological advice for the efficient planning of further interventional research.
The prognosis of patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer can be improved if secondary complete (R0) resection is possible. In patients initially staged as unresectable this may be achieved with neoadjuvant treatment which is usually chemoradiotherapy based. We report the case of a 46-year-old patient with an unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer (pT4 Nx cM0 G2) who was treated with a sequential neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen consisting of 2 cycles of nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine followed by 4 cycles of FOLFIRINOX. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy resulted in secondary resectability (R0 resection). After 2 cycles of nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine, the patient already had a complete metabolic remission as measured by integrated fludeoxyglucose ((18)F) positron emission tomography and computerized tomography. After a follow-up of 18 months the patient is alive without progression of disease. We propose to assess the clinical benefit of sequencing the combinations nab-paclitaxel plus gemcitabine and FOLFIRINOX as neoadjuvant therapy for patients with locally advanced and initially unresectable pancreatic cancer in a controlled clinical trial.
Background
“Tako-Tsubo cardiomyopathy” (TTC) is a syndrome characterized by left ventricular (LV) wall motion abnormalities, usually without coronary artery disease, mimicking the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. It most often affects post-menopausal women and TTC tends to run a benign course with very low rates of recurrence, complications or mortality. The condition is also called “stress-induced cardiomyopathy” because acute physical or emotional stress appears to be frequently related to its onset. The pathogenic role of premorbid or comorbid psychiatric illnesses has been discussed controversially. For the first time, we present a case of fourfold recurrent TTC with severe complications in a pre-menopausal woman. Furthermore, a long history of flaring posttraumatic stress symptoms anteceded the first event.
Case presentation
A 43-year old, pre-menopausal Caucasian woman was hospitalized with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome. Clinical examination revealed hypokinetic wall motion in the apical ventricular region with no signs of coronary artery disease and diagnosis of TTC was established. She experienced recurrence three times within the following ten months, which led to thrombembolism and myocardial scarring among others. The circumstances of chronic distress were striking. 16 years ago she miscarried after having removed a myoma according to her doctor’s suggestion. Since then, she has suffered from symptoms of posttraumatic distress which peaked annually at the day of abortion. Chronic distress became even more pronounced after the premature birth of a daughter some years later. The first event of TTC occurred after a family dispute about parenting.
Conclusion
This is the first case report of fourfold TTC in a pre-menopausal woman. From somatic perspectives, the course of the disease with recurrences and complications underlines the fact that TTC is not entirely benign. Furthermore, it is the first case report of long lasting symptoms of traumatic stress anteceding TTC. Close connections between adrenergic signaling and late onset of clinical stress symptoms are well known in the psychopathology of traumatization. Although larger clinical trials are needed to elucidate possible interactions of premorbid psychiatric illnesses and TTC, cardiologists should be vigilant especially in cases of recurrent TTC.
We are reporting a long-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-up in a rare case of cardiac left lateral wall hypertrophy. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic cardiovascular disorder and a significant cause of sudden cardiac death. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging can be a valuable tool for assessment of detailed information on size, localization, and tissue characteristics of hypertrophied myocardium. However, there is still little knowledge of long-term evolution of HCM as visualized by magnetic resonance imaging. Recently, our group reported a case of left lateral wall HCM as a rare variant of the more common forms, such as septal HCM, or apical HCM. As we now retrieved an old cardiac MRI acquired in this patient more than 20 years ago, we are able to provide the thrilling experience of an ultra-long MRI follow-up presentation in this rare case of left lateral wall hypertrophy. Furthermore, this case outlines the tremendous improvements in imaging quality within the last two decades of CMR imaging.
Community-acquired respiratory virus (CARV) infections have been recognized as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with leukemia and those undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Progression to lower respiratory tract infection with clinical and radiological signs of pneumonia and respiratory failure appears to depend on the intrinsic virulence of the specific CARV as well as factors specific to the patient, the underlying disease, and its treatment. To better define the current state of knowledge of CARVs in leukemia and HSCT patients, and to improve CARV diagnosis and management, a working group of the Fourth European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia (ECIL-4) 2011 reviewed the literature on CARVs, graded the available quality of evidence, and made recommendations according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America grading system. Owing to differences in screening, clinical presentation, and therapy for influenza and adenovirus, ECIL-4 recommendations are summarized for CARVs other than influenza and adenovirus.
This predefined analysis of the European Forsteo Observational Study (EFOS) aimed to describe clinical fracture incidence, back pain, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during 18 months of teriparatide treatment and 18 months post-teriparatide in the subgroup of 589 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis aged ≥75 years. Data on clinical fractures, back pain (visual analogue scale, VAS), and HRQoL (EQ-5D) were collected over 36 months. Fracture data were summarized in 6-month intervals and analyzed using logistic regression with repeated measures. A repeated-measures model analyzed changes from baseline in back pain VAS and EQ-VAS. During the 36-month observation period, 87 (14.8 %) women aged ≥75 years sustained a total of 111 new fractures: 37 (33.3 %) vertebral fractures and 74 (66.7 %) nonvertebral fractures. Adjusted odds of fracture was decreased by 80 % in the 30 to <36–month interval compared with the first 6-month interval (P < 0.009). Although the older subgroup had higher back pain scores and poorer HRQoL at baseline than the younger subgroup, both age groups showed significant reductions in back pain and improvements in HRQoL postbaseline. In conclusion, women aged ≥75 years with severe postmenopausal osteoporosis treated with teriparatide in normal clinical practice showed a reduced clinical fracture incidence by 30 months compared with baseline. An improvement in HRQoL and, possibly, an early and significant reduction in back pain were also observed, which lasted for at least 18 months after teriparatide discontinuation when patients were taking other osteoporosis medication. The results should be interpreted in the context of an uncontrolled observational study.
In situ guided tissue regeneration, also addressed as in situ tissue engineering or endogenous regeneration, has a great potential for population-wide “minimal invasive” applications. During the last two decades, tissue engineering has been developed with remarkable in vitro and preclinical success but still the number of applications in clinical routine is extremely small. Moreover, the vision of population-wide applications of ex vivo tissue engineered constructs based on cells, growth and differentiation factors and scaffolds, must probably be deemed unrealistic for economic and regulation-related issues. Hence, the progress made in this respect will be mostly applicable to a fraction of post-traumatic or post-surgery situations such as big tissue defects due to tumor manifestation. Minimally invasive procedures would probably qualify for a broader application and ideally would only require off the shelf standardized products without cells. Such products should mimic the microenvironment of regenerating tissues and make use of the endogenous tissue regeneration capacities. Functionally, the chemotaxis of regenerative cells, their amplification as a transient amplifying pool and their concerted differentiation and remodeling should be addressed. This is especially important because the main target populations for such applications are the elderly and diseased. The quality of regenerative cells is impaired in such organisms and high levels of inhibitors also interfere with regeneration and healing. In metabolic bone diseases like osteoporosis, it is already known that antagonists for inhibitors such as activin and sclerostin enhance bone formation. Implementing such strategies into applications for in situ guided tissue regeneration should greatly enhance the efficacy of tailored procedures in the future.