The emergency department incidence of incidental intracranial aneurysm on computed tomography angiography (EPIC-ACT) study.

BACKGROUND: Subarachnoid hemorrhage has been traditionally ruled-out in the emergency department (ED) through computed tomography (CT) followed by lumbar puncture if indicated. Mounting evidence suggests that non-contrast CT with CT angiography (CTA) can safely rule-out subarachnoid hemorrhage and obviate the need for lumbar puncture, but adoption of this approach is hindered by concerns of identifying incidental aneurysms. This study aims to estimate the incidence of incidental aneurysms identified on CTA head and neck in an ED population. METHODS: This was a health records review of all patients ≥ 18 years who underwent CTA head and neck for any indication at four large urban tertiary care EDs over a 3 month period. Patients were excluded if they underwent CT venogram only, had previously documented intracranial aneurysms, or had intracranial hemorrhage with or without aneurysm. Imaging reports were reviewed by two independent physicians before extracting relevant demographic (age, sex), clinical (CTAS level, CEDIS primary complaint) and radiographic (number, size, and location of aneurysms) information. The incidence rate of incidental aneurysms was calculated. RESULTS: A total of 1089 CTA studies were reviewed with a 3.3% (95% CI 2.3-4.6) incidence of incidental intracranial aneurysms. The median size of incidental aneurysms was 4 mm (0.7-11) and 10 (27.7%) patients had multiple aneurysms. Patients with incidental aneurysms did not differ based on mean age, sex, and CTAS levels. CONCLUSIONS: The "risk" of discovering an incidental aneurysm is 3.3%. Clinicians should not be deterred from using CTA in the appropriate clinical settings. These estimates can inform shared decision-making conversations with patients when comparing subarachnoid hemorrhage rule-out options.

RéSUMé: CONTEXTE: L'hémorragie sous-arachnoïdienne (HSA) a été traditionnellement exclue au service des urgences (SU) par tomodensitométrie cérébrale (TDM) suivie d'une ponction lombaire si indiquée. Des preuves de plus en plus nombreuses suggèrent que la tomographie sans contraste avec l'angiographie par tomodensitométrie (l'angio-TDM) permet d'exclure en toute sécurité les HSA et d'éviter la ponction lombaire, mais l'adoption de cette approche est entravée par les craintes d'identifier des anévrismes accidentels. Cette étude vise à estimer l'incidence des anévrismes accidentels identifiés par l'angiographie de la tête et du cou dans une population d'urgences. MéTHODES: Il s'agissait d'une étude des dossiers médicaux de tous les patients âgés de ≥ 18 ans qui ont subi une angioplastie de la tête et du cou, quelle qu'en soit l'indication, dans quatre grands services d'urgence urbains de soins tertiaires sur une période de trois mois. Les patients étaient exclus s'ils n'avaient subi qu'une phlébographie par tomodensitométrie, s'ils avaient déjà eu des anévrismes intracrâniens documentés ou s'ils avaient eu une hémorragie intracrânienne avec ou sans anévrisme. Les rapports d'imagerie ont été examinés par deux médecins indépendants avant d'extraire les informations démographiques pertinentes (âge, sexe), cliniques (niveau CTAS, plainte primaire CEDIS) et radiographiques (nombre, taille et emplacement des anévrismes). Le taux d'incidence des anévrismes accidentels a été calculé. RéSULTATS: Un total de 1089 études angio-TDM ont été examinées avec une incidence de 3,3 % (IC à 95 % : 2,3-4,6) d'anévrismes intracrâniens accidentels. La taille médiane des anévrismes fortuits était de 4 mm (plage : 0,7-11) et 10 (27,7 %) patients présentaient des anévrismes multiples. Les patients présentant des anévrismes accidentels ne différaient pas en fonction de l'âge moyen, du sexe et des niveaux CTAS. CONCLUSIONS: Le « risque ¼ de découvrir un anévrisme fortuit est de 3,3 %. Les cliniciens ne doivent pas être dissuadés d'utiliser l'angio-TDM dans les contextes cliniques appropriés. Ces estimations peuvent éclairer les conversations de prise de décision partagée avec les patients lors de la comparaison des options d'exclusion de l'HSA.

The Characteristics and Effectiveness of Interventions for Frequent Emergency Department Utilizing Patients With Chronic Noncancer Pain: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) present unique challenges to emergency department (ED) care providers and administrators. Their conditions lead to frequent ED visits for pain relief and symptom management and are often poorly addressed with costly, low-yield care. A systematic review has not been performed to inform the management of frequent ED utilizing patients with CNCP. Therefore, we synthesized the available evidence on interventional strategies to improve care-associated outcomes for this patient group. METHODS: We searched Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, CENTRAL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science from database inception to June 2018 for eligible interventional studies aimed at reducing frequent ED utilization among adult patients with CNCP. Articles were assessed in duplicate in accordance with methodologic recommendations from the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Outcomes of interest were the frequency of subsequent ED visits, type and amount of opioids administered in the ED and prescribed at discharge, and costs. Methodologic quality was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions and Risk of Bias tools for nonrandomized and randomized studies, respectively. RESULTS: Thirteen studies including 1,679 patients met the inclusion criteria. Identified interventions implemented pain policies (n = 4), individualized care plans (n = 5), ED care coordination (n = 2), chronic pain management pathways (n = 1), and behavioral health interventions (n = 1). All of the studies reported a decrease in ED visit frequency following their respective interventions. These reductions were especially pronounced in studies whose interventions were focused around individualized care plans and primary care involvement. Interventions implementing opioid restriction and pain management policies were largely successful in reducing the amounts of opioid medications administered and prescribed in the ED. CONCLUSIONS: Multifaceted interventions, especially those employing individualized care plans, can successfully reduce subsequent ED visits, ED opioid administration and prescription, and care-associated costs for frequent ED utilizing patients with CNCP.

Risk factors in the prediction of long-term patency of Resonance metallic ureteric stent in malignant ureteric obstruction.

Objectives: Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally in 2018 with an estimated 9.6 million deaths. The costs of managing malignant ureteric obstruction (MUO) is a significant burden to any healthcare system. However, the management of MUO has long been a challenge for urologists. The standard options of percutaneous nephrostomy or polymer double J stents are fraught with problems. We report a large patient series with long-term follow-up in the use of Resonance metallic ureteric stents to relieve MUO, and identification of risk factors associated with stent failure. Patients and methods: All patients with MUO who were arranged to have Resonance metallic ureteric stent insertion at two university hospitals were included in this cohort study, starting from June 2011 to July 2016. Data were retrieved retrospectively. The primary outcome was the total duration of stent patency before stent failure due to malignant disease progression. Stent failure was defined as ureteric obstruction identified on imaging (functional radioisotope scan or antegrade pyelogram), acute renal failure resolved by subsequent percutaneous nephrostomy, or any other cause requiring stent removal prematurely. Secondary outcomes were identification of factors associated with stent failure, grade III or above complication, and development of a risk-adopted model to predict metallic ureteric stent patency rates in MUO patients. Median duration of functioning metallic ureteric stent was determined with Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Results: A total of 124 renal units in 95 patients with MUO were eligible for the study, with a median follow-up period of 22.9 months. About 106 (85.5%) renal units had successful metallic stent insertion, of whom 41 (33.1%) renal units ultimately progressed to ureteric obstruction despite the metallic stents, and required subsequent insertion of nephrostomies. Median duration of functioning metallic ureteric stents was 25 months. Female gender (HR 3.0, 95% CI: 1.3-7.2, P = .014) and suspicious bladder lesion (HR 2.9, 95% CI: 1.4-6.2, P = .005) were independent risk factors for stent failure, respectively. Stratifying patients into low (0 risk factor), intermediate (1 risk factor), and high (2 risk factors) risk groups, we found that this could predict the duration of stent patency in MUO with the metallic stents. (Low risk: 30.3 months vs intermediate group: 17.8 months vs high risk: 4.9 months, P < .001). Conclusion: Resonance metallic ureteral stents are able provide a median of 25 months of ureteric drainage in patients with MUO. Determining whether a patient has one or both risks factors (female gender and bladder lesion) will allow one to estimate the duration of metallic stent patency, which in turn may aid in determining cost-effectiveness in individual patients.

Health-related quality of life of Chinese patients with prostate cancer in comparison to general population and other cancer populations.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of Chinese patients with prostate cancer against the general population and patients with colorectal cancer, breast cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, and leukemia. METHODS: Chinese male patients (n = 291) with a confirmed diagnosis of prostate cancer were recruited from a urological specialist outpatient clinic in Hong Kong. HRQOL was measured by a condition-specific Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate (FACT-P) and a generic Chinese (HK) SF-12 Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12v2) questionnaire. Mean HRQOL scores of condition-specific and generic questionnaires were compared to available scores derived from other cancers and age-matched male general population, respectively. RESULTS: Chinese patients with prostate cancer had lower general health and vitality domains and lower mental component summary scores than the age-matched Hong Kong normative population. Patients with prostate cancer reported better condition-specific HRQOL (physical well-being, emotional well-being and function well-being) when compared to general cancer population, patients with breast cancer, colorectal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, and leukemia in Hong Kong. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with prostate cancer substantially perceived their HRQOL to be better, compared to patients with other cancers, with overall health, energy, and mental health below of Hong Kong general population. Interventions should target at these domains in order to improve the HRQOL of patients with prostate cancer. It is reassuring to find that prostate cancer had less negative impact on HRQOL than other cancer types did.

Fatigue failure in the cement mantle of a simplified acetabular replacement model.

Although the role of fatigue failure in aseptic loosening of cemented total hip replacements has been extensively studied in femoral components, studies of fatigue failure in cement mantle of acetabular replacements have yet to be reported, despite that the long-term failure rate in the latter is about three times that of femoral components. Part of the reason may be that a complex pelvic bone structure does not land itself readily for a 2D representation as that of a femur.In this work, a simple multilayer model has been developed to reproduce the stress distributions in the cement mantle of an acetabular replacement from a plane strain finite element pelvic bone model. The experimental multilayer model was subjected to cyclic loading up to peak hip contact force during normal walking. Radial fatigue cracks were observed in the vicinity of the maximum tangential and compressive stresses, as predicted by the FE models. Typical fatigue striations were also observed on the fracture surfaces post cyclic testing. The results were examined in the context of retrieval studies, 3D FE analysis and in vitro experimental results using full-sized hemi-pelvic bone models.