Increased accuracy in diagnosing diverticulitis using predictive clinical factors.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify clinical factors leading to increased diagnostic accuracy for acute colonic diverticulitis. Methods: Patients with clinical suspicion of acute colonic diverticulitis verified with computed tomography (CT) from two hospitals in Sweden between 9 January 2017 and 31 October 2017 were prospectively included. Symptoms, comorbidities, and laboratory results were documented. Candidate variables were analyzed using logistic regression, and the final variable set that yielded the most accurate predictions was identified using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression and evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: In total, 146 patients were included (73% women; median age 68 years; age range, 50-94 years). The clinical diagnostic accuracy was 70.5%. In the multiple logistic regression analysis, gender (female vs male odds ratio [OR]: 4.82; confidence interval [CI], 1.56-14.91), age (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.87-0.98), pain on the lower left side of the abdomen (OR, 15.14; 95% CI, 2.65-86.58), and absence of vomiting (OR, 14.02; 95% CI, 2.90-67.88) were statistically significant and associated with the diagnosis of CT-verified diverticulitis. With seven predictors (age, gender, urinary symptoms, nausea, temperature, C-reactive protein, and pain left lower side), the area under the ROC curve was 0.82, and a formula was developed for calculating a risk score. Conclusion: We present a scoring system using common clinical variables that can be applied to patients with clinical suspicion of colonic diverticulitis to increase the diagnostic accuracy. The developed scoring system is available for free of charge at https://phille-wagner.shinyapps.io/Diverticulitis_risk_model/.

Pulmonary carcinoid tumours: incidence, histology, and surgical outcome. A population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary carcinoids (PCs) represent only a minority of all primary pulmonary malignancies but they are the most common type of pulmonary malignancy diagnosed in children and adolescents. In this nationwide study, we analyzed data on all PC tumours in the Icelandic population over a 60-year period and concentrated especially on incidence and patient outcomes. METHODS: We studied all cases of PCs diagnosed in Iceland in the period 1955‒2015. Histological specimens were re-evaluated and the tumours were staged according to the TNM system (seventh edition). Survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, with a mean follow-up of 15.7 years. RESULTS: Altogether, 88 patients (median age 51.0 years, 65.9% women) were diagnosed with PCs in the study period. The incidence increased from 0.19/100,000/year in the first decade (1955‒1964) to 0.58/100,000/year in the last decade (2005‒2015), with a mean increase of 29.0% per decade of the study period (p < 0.001). The rise in incidental detection was, however, not significant. The median tumour diameter was 2.2 cm (range 0.4‒7.0) and typical histology was seen in 74 patients (84.1%). The other 14 patients (15.9%) had atypical histology. In all, 90.9% of the patients underwent pulmonary resection, 81.2% of them with lobectomy, with all of them surviving at least 30 days postoperatively. Most patients (n = 52, 62.7%) were stage IA at diagnosis, 15 (18.1%) were stage IB, nine (10.8%) were stage IIA, and three were stage IIIA (3.6%). Four patients (4.8%) had distant metastases (stage IV), two of whom had typical histology. Five-year survival was 89.8% for all patients: 93.2% for patients with typical histology and 70.7% for those with atypical histology. CONCLUSION: The incidence of PCs in Iceland has increased significantly over the last six decades, which cannot be explained by a rise in incidental detection at chest imaging. Most patients have localized disease and a favourable histology, where the long-term outcome is excellent.

[Histology does not accurately predict the clinical behaviour of bronchopulmonary carcinoids - results from an Icelandic population-based study]. / Vefjagerd krabbalíkisaexla í lungum spáir ekki fyrir um klíníska hegdun: nidurstödur úr íslenskri rannsókn.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Bronchopulmonary carcinoids (BPC) are rare tumors of neuroendocrine origin. These tumors are histologically classified into two distinctive forms, typical and the more malignant atypical BPC. We evaluated the epidemiology and results of treatment for BPC in Iceland with special emphasis on how atypical vs. typical histology relates to clinical behavior. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This retrospective nation-wide study included all cases of BPC diagnosed in Iceland from 1955-2005. Histology of all the cases was reviewed and survival was based on data obtained from medical records and vital statistics. RESULTS: BPC was diagnosed in 64 patients (22 males, mean age 49 yrs.), accounting for 1.9% of all lung neoplasms in Iceland. Average tumor-diameter was 2.5 cm (range 0.4-5.5), with typical histology in 54 (84%) and atypical in 10 patients (16%). Altogether 56 patients (87.5%) were operated on, most with lobectomy (82.1%). Forty eight patients were diagnosed in TNM stage I, two patients in stage II, four patients had mediastinal lymph node metastases (stage III) and distant metastases were diagnosed in 6 patients (stage IV), 2 of whom had typical histology. At follow-up, 5 out of 64 patients had died of the disease (7.8%), two of them with typical histology. Five-year disease specific survival was 96% for patients with typical and 70% with atypical histology (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: BPCs usually behave as benign neoplasms, with excellent long-term survival after surgical removal. Metastases are more common in patients with atypical histology (40%), and their survival is worse. However patients with typical histology can metastasize (14.8%) and die from the disease. Therefore, histology (typical vs. atypical) can not be used with certainty to predict the clinical behaviour of these tumors.