Endoscopic scoring system utilization for inflammatory bowel disease activity assessment: A multicenter real-world study from Argentina / Uso de puntajes endoscopicos para la medicion de la actividad mucosa en pacientes con enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales: un estudio de vida real multicentrico de la Argentina

Background The frequency and patterns of use of scores for the assessment of endoscopic activity in inflammatory bowel disease patients are not known. Aim To describe the prevalence of adequate use of endoscopic scores in IBD patients who underwent colonoscopy in a real-life setting. Materials and methods A multicenter observational study comprising six community hospitals in Argentina was undertaken. Patients with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis who underwent colonoscopy for endoscopic activity assessment between 2018 and 2022 were included. Colonoscopy reports of included subjects were manually reviewed to determine the proportion of colonoscopies that included an endoscopic score report. We determined the proportion of colonoscopy reports that included all of the IBD colonoscopy report quality elements proposed by BRIDGe group. Endoscopist's specialty, years of experience as well as expertise in IBD were assessed. Results A total of 1556 patients were included for analysis (31.94% patients with Crohn's disease). Mean age was 45.94±15.46. Endoscopic score reporting was found in 58.41% of colonoscopies. Most frequently used scores were Mayo endoscopic score (90.56%) and SES-CD (56.03%) for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, respectively. In addition, 79.11% of endoscopic reports failed to comply with all recommendations on endoscopic reporting for inflammatory bowel disease. Conclusions A significant proportion of endoscopic reports of inflammatory bowel disease patients do not include the description of an endoscopic score to assess mucosal inflammatory activity in a real-world setting. This is also associated with a lack of compliance in recommended criteria for proper endoscopic reporting. (AU)

Introduccion La frecuencia y el patrón de uso de puntajes para evaluar la actividad endoscópica en pacientes con enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales no se conoce bien. Objetivo Describir la prevalencia de uso adecuado de puntajes de actividad endoscópica en colonoscopias de pacientes con enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales en la vida real. Materiales y métodos Se realizó un estudio multicéntrico observacional en seis hospitales de comunidad en Argentina. Se incluyeron pacientes con enfermedad de Crohn o colitis ulcerosa sometidos a colonoscopia para evaluación de la actividad endoscópica entre 2018 y 2022. Se revisaron los reportes de colonoscopias de sujetos incluidos evaluando la proporción de reportes que incluyeron algún puntaje de actividad endoscópica. Se evaluó la proporción de reportes que incluyeron los elementos de calidad en reporte de colonoscopia en enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales sugeridos por el grupo BRIDGe. Se evaluó la especialidad de los operadores, sus años de experiencia y su experiencia en el manejo de enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales. Resultados Se incluyeron 1556 pacientes (31.94% con enfermedad de Crohn). La edad promedio fue de 45.94±15.46. El reporte de algún puntaje endoscópico se identificó en el 58.41% de las colonoscopias. Los puntajes más utilizados fueron el puntaje endoscópico de Mayo (90.56%) y el SES-CD (56.03%). El 79.11% de los reportes de colonoscopias no contaban con todas las recomendaciones para el correcto reporte de colonoscopias en enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales. Conclusiones Una proporción signifivativa de reportes de colonoscopias en sujetos con enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales no incluyen puntajes endoscópicos de actividad. (AU)

Endoscopic scoring system utilization for inflammatory bowel disease activity assessment: A multicenter real-world study from Argentina.

BACKGROUND: The frequency and patterns of use of scores for the assessment of endoscopic activity in inflammatory bowel disease patients are not known. AIM: To describe the prevalence of adequate use of endoscopic scores in IBD patients who underwent colonoscopy in a real-life setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multicenter observational study comprising six community hospitals in Argentina was undertaken. Patients with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis who underwent colonoscopy for endoscopic activity assessment between 2018 and 2022 were included. Colonoscopy reports of included subjects were manually reviewed to determine the proportion of colonoscopies that included an endoscopic score report. We determined the proportion of colonoscopy reports that included all of the IBD colonoscopy report quality elements proposed by BRIDGe group. Endoscopist's specialty, years of experience as well as expertise in IBD were assessed. RESULTS: A total of 1556 patients were included for analysis (31.94% patients with Crohn's disease). Mean age was 45.94±15.46. Endoscopic score reporting was found in 58.41% of colonoscopies. Most frequently used scores were Mayo endoscopic score (90.56%) and SES-CD (56.03%) for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, respectively. In addition, 79.11% of endoscopic reports failed to comply with all recommendations on endoscopic reporting for inflammatory bowel disease. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of endoscopic reports of inflammatory bowel disease patients do not include the description of an endoscopic score to assess mucosal inflammatory activity in a real-world setting. This is also associated with a lack of compliance in recommended criteria for proper endoscopic reporting.

Eggsplorer: a rapid plant-insect resistance determination tool using an automated whitefly egg quantification algorithm.

BACKGROUND: A well-known method for evaluating plant resistance to insects is by measuring insect reproduction or oviposition. Whiteflies are vectors of economically important viral diseases and are, therefore, widely studied. In a common experiment, whiteflies are placed on plants using clip-on-cages, where they can lay hundreds of eggs on susceptible plants in a few days. When quantifying whitefly eggs, most researchers perform manual eye measurements using a stereomicroscope. Compared to other insect eggs, whitefly eggs are many and very tiny, usually 0.2 mm in length and 0.08 mm in width; therefore, this process takes a lot of time and effort with and without prior expert knowledge. Plant insect resistance experiments require multiple replicates from different plant accessions; therefore, an automated and rapid method for quantifying insect eggs can save time and human resources. RESULTS: In this work, a novel automated tool for fast quantification of whitefly eggs is presented to accelerate the determination of plant insect resistance and susceptibility. Leaf images with whitefly eggs were collected from a commercial microscope and a custom-built imaging system. A deep learning-based object detection model was trained using the collected images. The model was incorporated into an automated whitefly egg quantification algorithm, deployed in a web-based application called Eggsplorer. Upon evaluation on a testing dataset, the algorithm was able to achieve a counting accuracy as high as 0.94, r2 of 0.99, and a counting error of ± 3 eggs relative to the actual number of eggs counted by eye. The automatically collected counting results were used to determine the resistance and susceptibility of several plant accessions and were found to yield significantly comparable results as when using the manually collected counts for analysis. CONCLUSION: This is the first work that presents a comprehensive step-by-step method for fast determination of plant insect resistance and susceptibility with the assistance of an automated quantification tool.

Correction: Prognostic factors for severity and mortality in patients infected with COVID-19: A systematic review.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241955.].

Prognostic factors for severity and mortality in patients infected with COVID-19: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The objective of our systematic review is to identify prognostic factors that may be used in decision-making related to the care of patients infected with COVID-19. DATA SOURCES: We conducted highly sensitive searches in PubMed/MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and Embase. The searches covered the period from the inception date of each database until April 28, 2020. No study design, publication status or language restriction were applied. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: We included studies that assessed patients with confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infectious disease and examined one or more prognostic factors for mortality or disease severity. Reviewers working in pairs independently screened studies for eligibility, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. We performed meta-analyses and used GRADE to assess the certainty of the evidence for each prognostic factor and outcome. RESULTS: We included 207 studies and found high or moderate certainty that the following 49 variables provide valuable prognostic information on mortality and/or severe disease in patients with COVID-19 infectious disease: Demographic factors (age, male sex, smoking), patient history factors (comorbidities, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cardiac arrhythmia, arterial hypertension, diabetes, dementia, cancer and dyslipidemia), physical examination factors (respiratory failure, low blood pressure, hypoxemia, tachycardia, dyspnea, anorexia, tachypnea, haemoptysis, abdominal pain, fatigue, fever and myalgia or arthralgia), laboratory factors (high blood procalcitonin, myocardial injury markers, high blood White Blood Cell count (WBC), high blood lactate, low blood platelet count, plasma creatinine increase, high blood D-dimer, high blood lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), high blood C-reactive protein (CRP), decrease in lymphocyte count, high blood aspartate aminotransferase (AST), decrease in blood albumin, high blood interleukin-6 (IL-6), high blood neutrophil count, high blood B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), high blood urea nitrogen (BUN), high blood creatine kinase (CK), high blood bilirubin and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)), radiological factors (consolidative infiltrate and pleural effusion) and high SOFA score (sequential organ failure assessment score). CONCLUSION: Identified prognostic factors can help clinicians and policy makers in tailoring management strategies for patients with COVID-19 infectious disease while researchers can utilise our findings to develop multivariable prognostic models that could eventually facilitate decision-making and improve patient important outcomes. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: Prospero registration number: CRD42020178802. Protocol available at: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20056598v1.

Association of Nasal Tip Rotation Outcome Estimation With the New Domes Technique in Primary Rhinoplasty.

IMPORTANCE: The postoperative changes in the rotation of the nasal tip in rhinoplasty must be estimated for the surgical planning. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the outcome in the rotation angle of the nasal tip can be estimated in patients undergoing primary rhinoplasty with the new domes technique. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective analytic cohort study included 323 patients undergoing primary rhinoplasty with the new domes technique in a private clinic in Bogotá, Colombia, by a single surgeon from January 1, 2011, through January 31, 2016. Patients undergoing secondary rhinoplasty and those with less than 6 months of follow-up were excluded. EXPOSURES: Primary rhinoplasty using the new domes technique. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Measurement of the rotation angle of the nasal tip before and 1 week and 6 months after surgery. The main variable taken into consideration was the measurement, in millimeters, of the lateralized nasal domes. RESULTS: A total of 323 patients (288 women [89.2%] and 35 men [10.8%]; mean age, 27.8 years; age range, 13-70 years) were included in the study. The mean (SD) preoperative nasolabial angle was 92.7° (4.4°; range, 77°-107°); at 1 postoperative week, 105.5° (4.9°; range, 92°-120°); and at 6 postoperative months, 102.1° (4.6°; range, 90°-115°). The mean (SD) increase of the rotation that was achieved per lateralized millimeter was 3.6° (2.0°). The mean (SD) rotation angle at 6 months decreased to 3.4° (2.4°). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The new domes technique was reliable and reproducible in most patients. Despite the unpredictable inflammatory changes, the exact lateralization in millimeters with the new domes technique allowed precise estimation of the long-term outcome of the rotation of the nasal tip, enabling the surgeon to determine from the preoperative plan the definitive rotation angle of the nose. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.