Training general practitioners to improve evidence-based drug treatment of patients with heart failure: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

AIMS: To assess whether a single training session for general practitioners (GPs) improves the evidence-based drug treatment of heart failure (HF) patients, especially of those with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). METHODS AND RESULTS: A cluster randomised controlled trial was performed for which patients with established HF were eligible. Primary care practices (PCPs) were randomised to care-as-usual or to the intervention group in which GPs received a half-day training session on HF management. Changes in HF medication, health status, hospitalisation and survival were compared between the two groups. Fifteen PCPs with 200 HF patients were randomised to the intervention group and 15 PCPs with 198 HF patients to the control group. Mean age was 76.9 (SD 10.8) years; 52.5% were female. On average, the patients had been diagnosed with HF 3.0 (SD 3.0) years previously. In total, 204 had HFrEF and 194 HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). In participants with HFrEF, the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers decreased in 6 months in both groups [5.2%; (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.0-10.0)] and 5.6% (95% CI 2.8-13.4)], respectively [baseline-corrected odds ratio (OR) 1.07 (95% CI 0.55-2.08)], while beta-blocker use increased in both groups by 5.2% (95% CI 2.0-10.0) and 1.1% (95% CI 0.2-6.3), respectively [baseline-corrected OR 0.82 (95% CI 0.42-1.61)]. For health status, hospitalisations or survival after 12-28 months there were no significant differences between the two groups, also not when separately analysed for HFrEF and HFpEF. CONCLUSION: A half-day training session for GPs does not improve drug treatment of HF in patients with established HF.

Staging laparoscopy with ultrasound and near-infrared fluorescence imaging to detect occult metastases of pancreatic and periampullary cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Up to 38% of pancreatic and periampullary cancer patients undergoing curative intended surgery turn out to have incurable disease. Therefore, staging laparoscopy (SL) prior to laparotomy is advised to spare patients the morbidity, inconvenience and expense of futile major surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the added value of SL with laparoscopic ultrasonography (LUS) and laparoscopic near-infrared fluorescence imaging (LFI). METHODS: All patients undergoing curative intended surgery of pancreatic or periampullary cancer were included prospectively in this single arm study. Patients received an intravenous infusion of 10 mg indocyanine green (ICG) one or two days prior to surgery to allow LFI. Suspect lesions were analyzed via biopsy or resection. Follow-up visits after surgery occurred every three months. RESULTS: A total of 25 patients were included. Suspect lesions were identified in 7 patients: liver metastases (n = 2; identified by inspection, LUS, and LFI), peritoneal metastases (n = 1; identified by inspection only), and benign lesions (n = 4; identified by inspection or LUS). Quality of LFI was good in 67% (10/15) of patients dosed one day and 89% (8/9) dosed two days prior to surgery. A futile laparotomy was averted in 3 patients (12%). Following SL the primary tumor was resected in 20 patients. Two patients (10%) developed metastases within 3 months after resection. CONCLUSIONS: Despite current preoperative imaging modalities metastases are still identified during surgery. This study shows limited added value of LUS during SL in patients with pancreatic or periampullary cancer. LFI was of added value due to its high negative predictive value in case of suspect hepatic lesions identified by inspection.

Correlation Between Preoperative Serum Carcinoembryonic Antigen Levels and Expression on Pancreatic and Rectal Cancer Tissue.

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)-targeted imaging and therapeutic agents are being tested in clinical trials. If CEA overexpression in malignant tissue corresponds with elevated serum CEA, serum CEA could assist in selecting patients who may benefit from CEA-targeted agents. This study aims to assess the relationship between serum CEA and CEA expression in pancreatic (n = 20) and rectal cancer tissues (n = 35) using histopathology. According to local laboratory standards, a serum CEA >3 ng/mL was considered elevated. In pancreatic cancer patients a significant correlation between serum CEA and percentage of CEA-expressing tumor cells was observed (P = .04, ρ = .47). All 6 patients with homogeneous CEA expression in the tumor had a serum CEA >3 ng/mL. Most rectal cancer tissues (32/35) showed homogeneous CEA expression, independent of serum CEA levels. This study suggests that selection of pancreatic cancer patients for CEA-targeted agents via serum CEA appears adequate. For selection of rectal cancer patients, serum CEA levels are not informative.