ABSTRACT
Understanding the trends in causes of death for different diseases during the current COVID-19 pandemic is important to determine whether there are excess deaths beyond what is normally expected. Using the most recent report from National Records Scotland (NRS) on 29 April 2020, we examined the percentage difference in crude numbers of deaths in 2020 compared to the average for 2015-2019 by week of death within calendar year. To determine if trends were similar, suggesting underreporting/underdiagnosed COVID-19 related deaths, we also looked at the trends in % differences for cardiovascular disease deaths. From the first 17 weeks of data, we found a peak in excess deaths at week 14 of 2020, about four weeks after the first case in Scotland was detected on 1 March 2020-- but by week 17 these excesses had returned to normal levels, 4 weeks after lockdown in the UK began. Similar observations were seen for cardiovascular disease-related deaths. These observations suggest that the short-term increase in excess cancer and cardiovascular deaths might be associated with undetected/unconfirmed deaths related to COVID-19. Both of these conditions make patients more susceptible to infection and lack of widespread access to testing for COVID-19 are likely to have resulted in under-estimation of COVID-19 mortality. These data further suggest that the cumulative toll of COVID-19 on mortality is likely undercounted. More detailed analysis is needed to determine if these excesses were directly or indirectly related to COVID-19. Disease specific mortality will need constant monitoring for the foreseeable future as changes occur in increasing capacity and access to testing, reporting criteria, changes to health services and different measures are implemented to control the spread of the COVID-19. Multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, national and international collaborations for complementary and population specific data analysis is required to respond and mitigate adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and to inform planning for future pandemics.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The Brooker classification is a commonly used tool to characterize the extent of heterotopic ossification (HTO), which is the dystrophic formation of mature lamellar bone in non-osseous tissues such as muscles, connective tissue or nerves. We aim to provide illustrative cases to describe the limitations and challenges of this system. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted in all patients who had retrieved hip and/or pelvic radiotherapy for HTO prophylaxis at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre between July 1998 and August 2016. An independent musculoskeletal radiologist who was blinded to the condition of the patient and the clinical outcome evaluated the imaging studies based on the Brooker classification. RESULTS: 22 patients were identified for analysis. Three patient cases were presented to illustrate the discrepancies between the Brooker classification and radiographic images, CT images and different radiographical projections. Two patient cases were presented to demonstrate the inability of the Brooker classification to account for volumetric differences in HTO and arthroplasty lengths. CONCLUSION: Although the Brooker classification for HTO is a widely used quantitative and qualitative assessment tool given its simplicity and familiarity, it possesses several limitations. Utilization of other radiographic modalities, such as CT, and orthogonal projections may reduce ambiguities from using the HTO system. Development of a classification method that can appropriately correspond to the clinical outcomes such as functional capabilities to further HTO development is warranted. Advances in knowledge: The present study critically evaluated the Brooker classification system, and identified areas in which improvement is warranted on characterizing HTO. This is important in further research that aims to improve the accuracy of HTO classification guidelines.
