Contemporary national trends and disparities for head CT use in emergency department settings: Insights from National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) 2007-2017.

BACKGROUND: The exponential growth in CT utilization in emergency department (ED) until 2008 raised concerns regarding cost and radiation exposure. Head CT was one of the commonest studies. This led to mitigating efforts such as appropriate use guidelines, policy and payment reforms. The impact of these efforts is not fully understood. In addition, disparities in outcomes of acute conditions presenting to the ED is well known however recent trends in imaging utilization patterns and disparities are not well understood. In this study, we describe nationwide trends and disparities associated with head CT in ED settings between 2007 and 2014. METHODS: We analyzed 2007-2017 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) with the primary goal to assess the rate and patterns of head CT imaging in ED. RESULTS: There were an estimated 117 million in 2007 and 139 million ED visits in 2017. There was a 4% increase in the any CT use in 2017 compared to 2007. No significant change in head CT utilization rate was seen. The 2007 head CT rate was 6.7% (95% CI: 6.1-7.3) compared to 7.7% (95% CI: 6.8-8.6) in 2017. Trauma, Headache and Dizziness are the top three indications for head CT use in the ED respectively. On adjusted analyses, significantly higher head CT utilization was seen in elderly, (age>65 yrs) and significantly lower utilization rate was seen in Non-Hispanic Black and Medicaid patients, and patients in rural locations. CONCLUSIONS: Previously reported exponential growth of CT use in ED is no longer seen. In particular, there was no significant change in ED head CT use between 2007 and 2017. Headache and Dizziness remain commonly used indications despite limited utility in most clinical scenarios, indicating continued need for appropriate use of imaging. There is significantly lower CT utilization in Non-Hispanic Black, Medicaid patients and those in rural locations, suggesting disparities in diagnostic work-up in marginalized and rural populations. This underscores the need for standardizing care regardless of race, insurance status and location.

COVID-19-related state-wise racial and ethnic disparities across the USA: an observational study based on publicly available data from The COVID Tracking Project.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate COVID-19 infection and mortality disparities in ethnic and racial subgroups in a state-wise manner across the USA. METHODS: Publicly available data from The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic were accessed between 9 September 2020 and 14 September 2020. For each state and the District of Columbia, % infection, % death, and % population proportion for subgroups of race (African American/black (AA/black), Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN), and white) and ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino, non-Hispanic) were recorded. Crude and normalised disparity estimates were generated for COVID-19 infection (CDI and NDI) and mortality (CDM and NDM), computed as absolute and relative difference between % infection or % mortality and % population proportion per state. Choropleth map display was created as thematic representation proportionate to CDI, NDI, CDM and NDM. RESULTS: The Hispanic population had a median of 158% higher COVID-19 infection relative to their % population proportion (median 158%, IQR 100%-200%). This was followed by AA, with 50% higher COVID-19 infection relative to their % population proportion (median 50%, IQR 25%-100%). The AA population had the most disproportionate mortality, with a median of 46% higher mortality than the % population proportion (median 46%, IQR 18%-66%). Disproportionate impact of COVID-19 was also seen in AI/AN and Asian populations, with 100% excess infections than the % population proportion seen in nine states for AI/AN and seven states for Asian populations. There was no disproportionate impact in the white population in any state. CONCLUSIONS: There are racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection/mortality, with distinct state-wise patterns across the USA based on racial/ethnic composition. There were missing and inconsistently reported racial/ethnic data in many states. This underscores the need for standardised reporting, attention to specific regional patterns, adequate resource allocation and addressing the underlying social determinants of health adversely affecting chronically marginalised groups.

Obstructive hydrocephalus due to aqueductal stenosis from developmental venous anomaly draining bilateral medial thalami: a case report.

Hydrocephalus is a pathological buildup of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles leading to ventricular enlargement out of proportion to sulci and subarachnoid spaces. Developmental venous anomaly is a common benign and usually asymptomatic congenital cerebrovascular malformation. Hydrocephalus caused by aqueductal developmental venous anomaly is extremely rare. We describe a case of a 47-year-old man who presents with short-term memory impairment who was found to have a developmental venous anomaly draining bilateral medial thalami through a common collector vein that causes aqueductal stenosis and obstructive hydrocephalus.

Clinicopathologic analysis of renal cell carcinoma containing Intratumoral fat with and without osseous metaplasia.

BACKGROUND: There is minimal information regarding the prevalence of intratumoral adipose in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and no study has assessed the impact of intratumoral adipose on the preoperative imaging diagnosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and histopathologic characteristics of entrapped adipose with or without osseous metaplasia in RCC nephrectomy specimens and to determine if this finding impacted the preoperative imaging interpretation. METHODS: 704 RCC specimens were prospectively evaluated for entrapped adipose and osseous metaplasia (423 partial nephrectomies, 281 total nephrectomies; 327 pT1a, 377 ≥ pT1b; 510 clear cell, 119 papillary, 30 chromophobe, 22 clear cell papillary, 23 other). Imaging reports were obtained, and the presence of intratumoral fat or calcification and the radiologic diagnostic impression were recorded. RESULTS: 3% (n = 21) contained microscopically identified intratumoral adipose, with a similar frequency in the main histologic subtypes (p = 0.76). Mean metaplastic deposit size was 0.4 cm, mean deposit to capsule distance 0.2 cm, and 29% involved the tumor capsule. Histologically identified adipose was infrequently noted via imaging (13%), and only 1 case with histologically identified metaplasia had a radiologic diagnostic differential of angiomyolipoma (1/704, 0.1%). CONCLUSION: While intratumoral adipose and/or osseous metaplasia can be observed within RCC, it is extremely rare for the radiologic diagnostic impression to have been confounded by histologically identified entrapped adipose. Awareness that metaplastic deposits are usually near the tumor capsule and may be minute could help prevent errors in diagnosis or staging.

Breast cancer biomarkers before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: does repeat testing impact therapeutic management?

In patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), there is no consensus on retesting biomarkers within the excision specimen. Our aim was to investigate the clinical relevance of biomarker changes post-NAC at a large tertiary medical center. A retrospective search was performed to identify cases from 2012 to 2015 with needle biopsy-confirmed invasive breast carcinoma treated with NAC and subsequent excision containing residual invasive tumor. Biomarkers (estrogen receptor [ER], progesterone receptor [PR], and HER2/neu [HER2]) were performed on all pre-NAC biopsies. One hundred fifty-four NAC-treated cases were identified in which 83 (54%) had repeat testing of at least 1 biomarker on the surgical specimen. Twenty-five (30%) of 83 repeated cases demonstrated changes in pre-NAC biopsy versus post-NAC resection biomarker status. There was no impact of age or grade on biomarker status changes. Tumors that were triple negative at biopsy were more likely to remain triple negative. Clinically relevant changes were identified including the following: (1) ER negative to ER positive, 2 (3%) of 75; (2) PR negative to PR positive with ER negative both pre- and post-NAC, 2 (3%) of 73; and (3) HER2 negative to positive, 1 (1%) of 77. Four of 5 of the changes led to modifications of the adjuvant treatment regimen, including the addition of adjuvant tamoxifen, anastrazole, or trastuzumab. In summary, post-NAC biomarker repeat testing in patients with breast cancer impacts therapeutic management in a small subset of patients and therefore, repeat testing may be considered for patients that are hormone receptor and/or HER2 negative before NAC.

RNA Sequencing Analysis Detection of a Novel Pathway of Endothelial Dysfunction in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

RATIONALE: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is characterized by endothelial dysregulation, but global changes in gene expression have not been related to perturbations in function. OBJECTIVES: RNA sequencing was used to discriminate changes in transcriptomes of endothelial cells cultured from lungs of patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension versus control subjects and to assess the functional significance of major differentially expressed transcripts. METHODS: The endothelial transcriptomes from the lungs of seven control subjects and six patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension were analyzed. Differentially expressed genes were related to bone morphogenetic protein type 2 receptor (BMPR2) signaling. Those down-regulated were assessed for function in cultured cells and in a transgenic mouse. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Fold differences in 10 genes were significant (P < 0.05), four increased and six decreased in patients versus control subjects. No patient was mutant for BMPR2. However, knockdown of BMPR2 by siRNA in control pulmonary arterial endothelial cells recapitulated 6 of 10 patient-related gene changes, including decreased collagen IV (COL4A1, COL4A2) and ephrinA1 (EFNA1). Reduction of BMPR2-regulated transcripts was related to decreased ß-catenin. Reducing COL4A1, COL4A2, and EFNA1 by siRNA inhibited pulmonary endothelial adhesion, migration, and tube formation. In mice null for the EFNA1 receptor, EphA2, versus control animals, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor blockade and hypoxia caused more severe pulmonary hypertension, judged by elevated right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, and loss of small arteries. CONCLUSIONS: The novel relationship between BMPR2 dysfunction and reduced expression of endothelial COL4 and EFNA1 may underlie vulnerability to injury in pulmonary arterial hypertension.