Characterization of patients with advanced chronic pancreatitis using natural language processing of radiology reports.

STUDY AIM: To develop and apply a natural language processing algorithm for characterization of patients diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis in a diverse integrated U.S. healthcare system. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study including patients initially diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis (CP) within a regional integrated healthcare system between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2015. Imaging reports from these patients were extracted from the electronic medical record system and split into training, validation and implementation datasets. A natural language processing (NLP) algorithm was first developed through the training dataset to identify specific features (atrophy, calcification, pseudocyst, cyst and main duct dilatation) from free-text radiology reports. The validation dataset was applied to validate the performance by comparing against the manual chart review. The developed algorithm was then applied to the implementation dataset. We classified patients with calcification(s) or ≥2 radiographic features as advanced CP. We compared etiology, comorbid conditions, treatment parameters as well as survival between advanced CP and others diagnosed during the study period. RESULTS: 6,346 patients were diagnosed with CP during the study period with 58,085 radiology studies performed. For individual features, NLP yielded sensitivity from 88.7% to 95.3%, specificity from 98.2% to 100.0%. A total of 3,672 patients met cohort inclusion criteria: 1,330 (36.2%) had evidence of advanced CP. Patients with advanced CP had increased frequency of smoking (57.8% vs. 43.0%), diabetes (47.6% vs. 35.9%) and underweight body mass index (6.6% vs. 3.6%), all p<0.001. Mortality from pancreatic cancer was higher in advanced CP (15.3/1,000 person-year vs. 2.8/1,000, p<0.001). Underweight BMI (HR 1.6, 95% CL 1.2, 2.1), smoking (HR 1.4, 95% CL 1.1, 1.7) and diabetes (HR 1.4, 95% CL 1.2, 1.6) were independent risk factors for mortality. CONCLUSION: Patients with advanced CP experienced increased disease-related complications and pancreatic cancer-related mortality. Excess all-cause mortality was driven primarily by potentially modifiable risk factors including malnutrition, smoking and diabetes.

Iliac vein compression syndrome: Clinical, imaging and pathologic findings.

May-Thurner syndrome (MTS) is the pathologic compression of the left common iliac vein by the right common iliac artery, resulting in left lower extremity pain, swelling, and deep venous thrombosis. Though this syndrome was first described in 1851, there are currently no standardized criteria to establish the diagnosis of MTS. Since MTS is treated by a wide array of specialties, including interventional radiology, vascular surgery, cardiology, and vascular medicine, the need for an established diagnostic criterion is imperative in order to reduce misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Although MTS has historically been diagnosed by the presence of pathologic features, the use of dynamic imaging techniques has led to a more radiologic based diagnosis. Thus, imaging plays an integral part in screening patients for MTS, and the utility of a wide array of imaging modalities has been evaluated. Here, we summarize the historical aspects of the clinical features of this syndrome. We then provide a comprehensive assessment of the literature on the efficacy of imaging tools available to diagnose MTS. Lastly, we provide clinical pearls and recommendations to aid physicians in diagnosing the syndrome through the use of provocative measures.

Sensitivity of QuantiFERON-TB GOLD In-Tube for diagnosis of recent versus remote M. tuberculosis infection.

The sensitivity of QuantiFERON-TB GOLD In-Tube was measured in 104 subjects with recent (≤2 years) and remote Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection using tuberculin skin test conversion as the reference standard. The sensitivity was not significantly different between the 2 groups (33% versus 20%, P = 0.3). This finding suggests interferon-γ release assays may not be more sensitive for diagnosis of recent than remote infection. Longitudinal studies are needed to validate this finding.