Early spondyloarthritis: usefulness of clinical screening.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the usefulness of clinical parameters in screening for early SpA in patients meeting Calin's criteria for inflammatory back pain (IBP). METHODS: General practitioners used Calin's criteria for IBP to refer patients younger than 45 years to our early SpA clinic. We obtained the patients' medical history and performed a clinical examination including plain X-rays and magnetic resonance images of all affected areas. Laboratory tests for acute-phase reactants and HLA-B27 were also obtained. Two rheumatologists made a diagnosis of SpA according to the existing criteria. RESULTS: Of the 92 patients referred, 30 (33%) were diagnosed with SpA and 62 (67%) with a non-inflammatory disorder. Spontaneous awakening night pain, the presence of Calin's criteria for IBP and tenderness of the SI joints (SIJs) were independently associated with SpA. Neck pain and reduced cervical spine sagittal movement occurred mostly with non-inflammatory disease. A history of night pain and improvement of pain with exercise but not with rest, as well as expression of HLA-B27 and abnormal CRP levels were significantly more common in patients with SpA. CONCLUSIONS: Specific clinical symptoms such as spontaneous awakening night pain, cervical pain and tenderness of the SIJs on clinical examination appear useful in screening younger patients with back pain for early SpA.

Factors influencing the complication rate of subduroperitoneal shunt placement for the treatment of subdural hematomas in infants.

OBJECT: In this study the authors' goal was to identify the complication rate of subduroperitoneal (SDP) shunts for the treatment of subdural hematomas (SDHs) in infants and to determine the influences on and predictive factors for these complications. METHODS: The authors present a case series spanning the years 1994 to 2003 and include a statistical analysis of 161 children 2 years of age or younger with SDH who were treated using a unilateral valveless SDP shunt. The patient history, characteristics, and treatment methods including prior therapies, neuroimaging findings, and clinical outcomes were measures of evaluation. Thirty-six children (22.4%) suffered complications related to SDP shunts: obstruction in 27 (16.8%), infections in eight (5%), disconnection in four (2.5%), migration in three (1.9%), wound complications (leakage and skin ulceration) in two (1.2%), and symptomatic subdural rebleeding in one (0.6%) necessitating bur hole evacuation. Seventeen children (10.6%) underwent placement of a second SDP shunt because of ipsilateral or contralateral persistent fluid collections, or premature shunt removal. With the exception of 12 patients (7.4%), shunt removal was performed systematically and resulted in the following minor complications in 30 children (18.6%): an adherent proximal catheter in 16 (9.9%), transient symptoms of intracranial hypertension in six (3.7%), subcutaneous cerebrospinal fluid accumulation in four (2.5%), local infections in three (1.9%), and hydrocephalus requiring placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt in one (0.6%). Status epilepticus at presentation and neuroimaging findings such as areas of hyperdensity on computed tomography (CT) scans representing fresh blood in the subdural fluid collections before shunt insertion and at follow up were predictors of shunt-related complications. Correlations were also discovered for the following CT findings: ischemic lesions before shunt treatment, cerebral atrophy and ventricular dilation during the last follow up, and residual medium to large collections before shunt removal. Children who attained a good outcome were less affected by shunt-related complications, unlike those who presented with focal deficits and/or visual impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Subduroperitoneal shunt placement for the treatment of SDH in infants is--despite the complication rate--an effective and often inevitable treatment option, especially for most large and symptomatic SDHs; a certain number of complications could be reduced with careful and precise surgical techniques. Close observation for detection of risks is mandatory, and seizure control is essential to prevent further brain injury that may result in large subdural fluid collections that are difficult to treat.

Postoperative irradiation in breast cancer patients with one to three positive axillary lymph nodes. Is there an impact of axillary extranodal tumor extension on locoregional and distant control?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of extracapsular extension (ECE) on locoregional and distant control in breast cancer patients with one to three positive axillary lymph nodes treated with postoperative irradiation. As shown in literature, ECE is diagnosed in up to 30% of node-positive breast cancer patients. Consequences of ECE and prognosis of these patients are unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The medical records of 1,142 node-positive females with a carcinoma of the breast, postoperatively irradiated between 1994 and 2003, were retrospectively reviewed. Of the 274 patients presenting with one to three positive axillary lymph nodes, 91 (33.2%) showed ECE. While all patients were irradiated using tangential fields, only eight out of 274 patients received additional nodal irradiation. RESULTS: Patients' mean age was 58.2 years (range, 28-96 years), and the mean observation period 42.9 months (range, 6.6-101 months). In 93.4% of patients, locoregional control was achieved. On multivariate analysis of metastases-free survival, the hazard ratios for ECE and histological grade 3 were 2.71 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.316-5.581; p = 0.007) and 2.435 (95% CI, 1.008-5.885; p = 0.048), respectively. The 3-year and 5-year metastases-free survival rates for patients with ECE were 78% and 66%, compared to 90% and 87% in patients without ECE (p = 0.0048). CONCLUSION: Locoregional recurrence remains low in breast cancer patients (one to three positive axillary lymph nodes +/- ECE) treated with surgery, adequate axillary dissection, and tangential field irradiation only. However, ECE is significantly linked to a considerable risk for subsequent distant failure.

Immune reconstitution after purified autologous and allogeneic blood stem cell transplantation compared with unmanipulated bone marrow transplantation in children.

Immune reconstitution is critical for the long-term success of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). We prospectively analysed immune reconstitution parameters after transplantation of autologous (group 1; n = 10) and allogeneic (group 2; n = 12) highly purified CD34+ peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) and unmanipulated allogeneic bone marrow (BM) (group 3; n = 9) in children. Median follow-up after HSCT was 56 (group 1), 61 (group 2), and 40.5 months (group 3). Median CD34-cell dose transplanted in the three groups was 9.4 x 10(6)/kg, 20.3 x 10(6)/kg, and 4.25 x 10(6)/kg recipient's body weight (BW) respectively. Complete haematopoietic engraftment was seen in all patients without any significant differences between the three groups. T-cell reconstitution at 6 months was significantly delayed in autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT) compared with allogeneic BM transplantation (P < 0.028) and allogeneic PBSCT (P < 0.034). At 3 months after transplantation numbers of CD56+/3- natural killer cells were higher in the allogeneic PBSC group (P < 0.01) compared with the BM group. The numbers of proven bacterial and viral infections were equally distributed between the three groups. In conclusion, recipients of allogeneic highly purified CD34+ PBSC or unmanipulated BM have higher lymphocyte subset counts at 6 months after transplantation than recipients of autologous CD34-selected PBSC. Infection rates and outcome, however, were not significantly different.

Comparison and validation of simple noninvasive tests for prediction of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C.

Liver biopsy is recommended before antiviral treatment, particularly for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, but it may cause complications and is limited by sampling error. Several non-invasive tests comprising routine laboratory parameters (simple fibrosis tests) have been proposed to predict fibrosis in chronic HCV. The aim of the current study was to validate and compare the diagnostic accuracies of the simple fibrosis tests, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AAR), cirrhosis discriminant score (CDS), age-platelet (AP) index, Pohl score, AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and platelet count per se. Staging was performed in liver biopsy specimens of 194 treatment-naive patients with chronic HCV according to Ishak et al. by two independent pathologists. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed comparable diagnostic accuracies of CDS, AP index, APRI, and platelet count for prediction of significant fibrosis (F3-F6) (area under the ROC curve [AUROC], 0.71, 0.74, 0.80, and 0.71, respectively; pathologist A) and for prediction of cirrhosis (F5-F6) (AUROC, 0.91, 0.91, 0.90, and 0.89, respectively; pathologist A). Diagnostic accuracy of APRI for prediction of significant fibrosis was superior to that of AAR (P < .05). Significant fibrosis was reliably predicted by APRI > or = 1.5 and platelet count <150 x10(9)/L in 24% and 22% of the patients, respectively, whereas cirrhosis was reliably excluded by APRI <2.0 and platelet count > or = 150 x10(9)/L in 85% and 78% of the patients, respectively. In conclusion, simple fibrosis tests may render liver biopsy unnecessary only in a minority of patients with chronic HCV. Improved serum fibrosis markers with greater sensitivity for severe fibrosis or cirrhosis are needed.

Regional nodal recurrence in the management of breast cancer patients with one to three positive axillary lymph nodes. Outcome of patients following tangential irradiation without a separate nodal field.

PURPOSE: To examine the prognosis of breast cancer patients (T1-3, one to three positive axillary lymph nodes) and locoregional failure rate after breast-conserving therapy/modified radical mastectomy and adequate axillary dissection following tangential radiotherapy without irradiation of the regional lymph nodes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1994 to 2002, the medical records of 183 breast cancer patients (T1-3, one to three involved axillary lymph nodes) were examined in order to identify those experiencing regional nodal recurrence, with or without local recurrence. The median age of the patient population was 58 years (range, 28-86 years). All patients underwent surgical treatment, either breast-conserving therapy (n = 146) or modified radical mastectomy (n = 37). The median number of lymph nodes removed was twelve (range, seven to 26 nodes). Irradiation was given to the breast through tangential fields. Chemotherapy was administered to 101 patients (55%), hormonal therapy to 124 (60%), and combined systemic treatment to 47 (26%). RESULTS: The median observation time was 44.4 months (range, 11-102 months). Of the 14 patients (7.7%) with a relapse, six (3.3%) had a local recurrence, five (2.8%) a regional relapse, and three (1.6%) a simultaneous recurrence. Nine out of 14 patients with locoregional relapse developed distant failure subsequently and seven of them (78%) died of the disease. CONCLUSION: Regional recurrence is uncommon among patients with one to three positive axillary lymph nodes treated with surgery, adequate axillary dissection, and tangential field irradiation only. The authors conclude that regional nodal irradiation should not routinely be given following adequate axillary dissection when only one to three lymph nodes are positive.

Extracapsular extension in positive axillary lymph nodes in female breast cancer patients. Patterns of failure and indications for postoperative locoregional irradiation.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There has been little information regarding lymph node-positive breast cancer patients with extracapsular extension (ECE). The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of ECE in predicting survival and relapse rates. PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1994-2002, 1,078 lymph node-positive women with breast carcinoma were treated at our institution, whereas 301 patients (27.9%) presented with ECE. 91 patients (30.2%) were identified as having three or less lymph nodes involved, 27.9% patients four to six, 15.6% patients seven to nine, and 26.2% patients ten or more nodes, respectively. The median age was 58.4 years (range: 28-84 years) and the median follow-up 34 months (range: 2-99 months). Nodal irradiation was given to patients with four or more positive lymph nodes. Chemotherapy was administered to 69.8%, hormonal therapy to 53.2%, and combined systemic treatment to 26% of patients. RESULTS: The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) was 98%, 84%, and 73%, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) 95%, 69%, and 58%, and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year metastasis-free survival (MFS) 96%, 73%, and 60%. The relapse rates were 6.6% (local), 0.3% (supraclavicular), 0.7% (isolated axillary), 1% (local + axillary), and 0.7% (local + supraclavicular), respectively. 81 patients (27%) developed distant metastases. In December 2002, 245 patients (81.4%) were alive, 202/245 without progression, 32/245 with distant metastases, 5/245 with local/locoregional recurrence, and 6/245 patients with local and distant failure. CONCLUSION: Isolated axillary nodal failure remains low in lymph node-positive patients with ECE. Balancing the risks and benefits of irradiation, we continue to recommend that complete axillary irradiation is not routinely indicated after adequate axillary dissection.