BMJ study: Patients treated by older physicians (60 and older) had higher mortality vs. younger physicians (39 and younger)

From BMJ:

The researchers evaluated a 20% random sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 and older admitted to hospital with a medical condition in 2011-14 and treated by hospitalist physicians.

Main outcome measures 30 day mortality and readmissions and costs of care.

The study included 700,000 admissions managed by 18,800 hospitalist physicians (median age 41).

Patients' adjusted 30 day mortality rates were:

- 10.8% for physicians younger than 40
- 11.1% for physicians aged 40-49
- 11.3% for physicians aged 50-59
- 12.1% for physicians aged 60 and older

See the figure here: http://ift.tt/2rdEi0N

Note: Among physicians with a high volume of patients, however, there was no association between physician age and patient mortality.

Within the same hospital, patients treated by older physicians had higher mortality than patients cared for by younger physicians, except those physicians treating high volumes of patients. The calculated "number need to harm (NNH)" was 77.

Patients treated by physicians aged younger than 40 had 0.85 times the odds of dying or an 11% lower probability of dying compared with patients cared for by physicians aged 60 and older. This difference in mortality is comparable with the impact of statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular mortality on all cause mortality (odds ratio of 0.86) or the impact of β blockers on mortality among patients with myocardial infarction (incidence rate ratio of 0.86), thus indicating that the observed difference in mortality is not only statistically significant but arguably clinically significant.

The adjusted risk difference of 1.3 percentage points suggests that for every 77 patients treated by doctors aged 60 and older, one fewer patient would die within 30 days of admission if those patients were cared for by physicians aged 39 and younger.

Though clinical skills and knowledge accumulated by more experienced physicians could lead to improved quality of care, physicians' skills might become outdated as scientific knowledge, technology, and clinical guidelines change.

Older physicians might have decreased clinical knowledge, adhere less often to standards of appropriate treatment, and perform worse on process measures of quality with respect to diagnosis, screening, and preventive care.

References:

Physician age and outcomes in elderly patients in hospital in the US: observational study. BMJ 2017; 357 doi: http://ift.tt/2pLxPdU (Published 16 May 2017)
Cite this as: BMJ 2017;357:j1797

Image source: OpenClipArt, http://ift.tt/2BlYPG5

Posted at Clinical Cases and Images. Stay updated and subscribe, follow us on Twitter and connect on Facebook.

http://ift.tt/2j3oIPP

Adipocytes promote cholangiocarcinoma metastasis through fatty acid binding protein 4

Abstract

Background

The early occurrence regional nodal and distant metastases cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is one of the major reasons for its poor prognosis. However, the related mechanisms are largely elusive. Recently, increasing evidences indicate that adipocytes might be involved in the proliferation, homing, migration and invasion of several malignancies. In the present study, we attempt to determine the effects and possible mechanisms of adipocytes on regulating progression of CCA.

Methods

Adipocyte–CCA cell co-culture system and CCA metastasis mice model were used to determine the effects of adipocytes on CCA metastasis. We identified the biological functions and possible mechanisms of adipocyte-derived fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) in regulating the adipocyte-induced CCA metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotypes, both in vitro and in vivo.

Results

Adipocyte–CCA cell co-culture promotes the in vitro and in vivo tumor metastasis, leading to increased adipocyte-derived fatty acid absorbance and intracellular lipids of CCA cells, which indicates adipocytes might function as the energy source for CCA progression by providing free fatty acids. Further, highly expressed FABP4 protein was identified in adipose tissues and fully differentiated adipocytes, and upregulated FABP4 was also detected by qRT-PCR assay in CCA cells co-cultivated with adipose extracts as compared to parental CCA cells. The specific FABP4 inhibitor BMS309403 significantly impaired adipocyte-induced CCA metastasis and EMT phenotypes both in vitro and in vivo.

Conclusions

Together, the results demonstrate that the adipocyte-CCA interaction and the energy extraction of CCA cells from adipocytes are crucial for the invasion, migration and EMT of CCA cells. FABP4 from adipocytes mediates these adipocyte-induced variations in CCA cells, which could serve as a potential target for the treatment of CCA.

http://ift.tt/2C24dL6

MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy for Patients with Medically-refractory Essential Tremor

High-intensity MRI guided focused ultrasound is an emerging noninvasive technique to precisely ablate brain tissue. It has been shown to be safe and effective in treating medically-refractory essential tremor. This article describes the protocol for thalamotomy from patient selection to equipment setup to post-treatment follow-up.

http://ift.tt/2BkCJUg

Using Extraordinary Optical Transmission to Quantify Cardiac Biomarkers in Human Serum

This work describes a nanoimprinting lithography method to fabricate high-quality sensing arrays that work on the principle of extraordinary optical transmission. The biosensor is low-cost, robust, easy to use, and can detect cardiac troponin I in serum at clinically relevant concentrations (99th percentile cutoff ∼10-400 pg/mL, depending on the assay).

http://ift.tt/2iXnWUC

Peritoneal Carcinomatosis of Urachus Origin Treated by Cytoreductive Surgery and Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC): An International Registry of 36 Patients

Abstract

Purpose

Peritoneal carcinomatosis or pseudomyxoma peritonei from urachus is a rare form of presentation, often diagnosed at an advanced state of tumor burden. Because of its rarity, little is known about its natural history, prognosis, or optimal treatment. We searched a large international multicenter database of peritoneal surface disease to identify cases of peritoneal carcinomatosis of urachus that were treated with cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) at expert centers. The aim is to improve knowledge and understanding of the disease and standardize its treatment.

Methods

A prospective multicenter international database was retrospectively searched to identify all patients with urachus tumor and peritoneal metastases who underwent CRS and HIPEC through the Peritoneal Surface Oncology Group International (PSOGI). Postoperative complications, long-term results, and principal prognostic factors were analyzed.

Results

The analysis included 36 patients. After median follow-up of 48 months, median overall survival (OS) was 58.5 months. Three- and 5-year OS was 55.4 and 46.2%, respectively. Patients who underwent complete macroscopic CRS had significantly better survival than those treated with incomplete CRS, with median OS not achieved and of 20.1 months, respectively [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.4–30.5, p < 0.001]. There were no postoperative deaths, and 37.9% of patients had major complications.

Conclusion

CRS and HIPEC may increase long-term survival in selected patients with peritoneal metastases of urachus origin, especially when complete CRS is achieved.

http://ift.tt/2BkLUnq

SEOM clinical guidelines for endometrial cancer (2017)

Abstract

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological cancer in developed countries. Most patients are diagnosed at an early stage with a low risk of relapse. However, there is a group of patients with a high risk of relapse and poor prognosis. Despite the recent publication of randomized trials, the adjuvant treatment of high-risk EC is still to be defined and there are many open questions about the best approach and the right timing. Unfortunately, the survival of metastatic or recurrent EC is short, due to the poor results of chemotherapy and the lack of a second line of treatment. Advances in the knowledge of the molecular abnormalities in EC have permitted the development of promising targeted therapies.

http://ift.tt/2ATJb1E

No apparent transmission of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 in a survey of staff at a regional Danish hospital

In recent years, livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) multi locus sequence type CC398 has spread widely in the livestock production in Europe. The rates of LA-MRSA in hospita...

http://ift.tt/2AksgUZ