Short- and long-term effects of imatinib in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A randomized trial.

Objectives: We studied the short- and long-term effects of imatinib in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Participants were randomized to receive standard of care (SoC) or SoC with imatinib. Imatinib dosage was 400 mg daily until discharge (max 14 days).

Explicitly encoding the cyclic nature of breathing signal allows for accurate breathing motion prediction in radiotherapy with minimal training data.

Background And Purpose: Active breathing motion management in radiotherapy consists of motion monitoring, quantification and mitigation. It is impacted by associated latencies of a few 100 ms. Artificial neural networks can successfully predict breathing motion and eliminate latencies.

An Observational Study to Determine the Real-Life Effectiveness of MP-AzeFlu in Austrian Patients with Persistent Allergic Rhinitis.

Background: Many patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) have moderate-to-severe persistent AR. Meda Pharma's AzeFlu (MP-AzeFlu) is an intranasal AR treatment comprising a novel formulation of azelastine hydrochloride and fluticasone propionate in a single device.

Methods: This prospective observational study of 214 adults and adolescents in Austria with moderate-to-severe persistent AR assessed the effectiveness of MP-AzeFlu (one spray/nostril twice daily; daily doses: azelastine hydrochloride 548 μg; and fluticasone propionate 200 μg) for AR control in clinical practice using the visual analog scale.

Blocking P2Y2 purinergic receptor prevents the development of lipopolysaccharide-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high morbidity and mortality resulting from a direct or indirect injury of the lung. It is characterized by a rapid alveolar injury, lung inflammation with neutrophil accumulation, elevated permeability of the microvascular-barrier leading to an aggregation of protein-rich fluid in the lungs, followed by impaired oxygenation in the arteries and eventual respiratory failure. Very recently, we have shown an involvement of the Gq-coupled P2Y2 purinergic receptor (P2RY2) in allergic airway inflammation (AAI).

Increasing Quality and Efficiency of the Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Process by Constructing and Implementing a Workflow-Monitoring Application.

Purpose: To demonstrate how the efficiency of the treatment planning processes of a university radiation oncology department (2,500 new patients/year) could be improved by constructing and implementing a workflow-monitoring application.

Methods: A web-based application was developed in house, which enhanced the process management tools of the clinic's oncology information system. The application calculates the days left for the next task in the treatment planning process and visualizes the information on a browser-based whiteboard.

On the sensitivity of PROMs during breast radiotherapy.

Purpose: To investigate the sensitivity of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to detect treatment-related side effects in patients with breast cancer undergoing external beam photon radiotherapy.

Methods: As part of daily clinical care, an in-house developed PROM tool was used to assess side effects in patients during a) whole-breast irradiation (WBI) to 40 Gy, b) WBI with a sequential boost of 10 Gy, and c) partial-breast irradiation (PBI) to 40 Gy.

Results: 414 patients participated in this prospective study between October 2020 and January 2022, with 128 patients (31 %) receiving WBI, 241 (58 %) receiving WBI followed by a sequential boost, and 50 patients (12 %) receiving PBI.

Realistic 3D printed CT imaging tumor phantoms for validation of image processing algorithms.

Medical imaging phantoms are widely used for validation and verification of imaging systems and algorithms in surgical guidance and radiation oncology procedures. Especially, for the performance evaluation of new algorithms in the field of medical imaging, manufactured phantoms need to replicate specific properties of the human body, e.g.

Effect of remdesivir post hospitalization for COVID-19 infection from the randomized SOLIDARITY Finland trial.

We report the first long-term follow-up of a randomized trial (NCT04978259) addressing the effects of remdesivir on recovery (primary outcome) and other patient-important outcomes one year after hospitalization resulting from COVID-19. Of the 208 patients recruited from 11 Finnish hospitals, 198 survived, of whom 181 (92%) completed follow-up. At one year, self-reported recovery occurred in 85% in remdesivir and 86% in standard of care (SoC) (RR 0.

A novel bone suppression algorithm in intensity-based 2D/3D image registration for real-time tumor motion monitoring: Development and phantom-based validation.

Background: Real-time tumor motion monitoring (TMM) is a crucial process for intra-fractional respiration management in lung cancer radiotherapy. Since the tumor can be partly or fully located behind the ribs, the TMM is challenging.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to develop a bone suppression (BS) algorithm designed for real-time 2D/3D marker-less TMM to increase the visibility of the tumor when overlapping with bony structures and consequently to improve the accuracy of TMM.

Technical note: A PET/MR coil with an integrated, orbiting 511 keV transmission source for PET/MR imaging validated in an animal study.

Background: MR-based methods for attenuation correction (AC) in PET/MRI either neglect attenuation of bone, or use MR-signal derived information about bone, which leads to a bias in quantification of tracer uptake in PET. In a previous study, we presented a PET/MRI specific MR coil with an integrated transmission source (TX) system allowing for direct measurement of attenuation. In phantom measurements, this system successfully reproduced the linear attenuation coefficient of water.

Comparison of EBRT and I-125 seed brachytherapy concerning outcome in intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Purpose: This study's objective was the comparison of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and I‑125 seed brachytherapy regarding clinical outcome and development of side effects.

Patients And Methods: In all, 462 localized intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients treated between 2000 and 2019 at our department using either I‑125 seed brachytherapy or EBRT with a dose of 74 or 78 Gy were included: 297 patients were treated with EBRT and 165 with seeds. Biochemical no evidence of disease (bNED) rates according to Phoenix definition as well as late gastrointestinal and urogenital side effects (EORTC/RTOG) were assessed.

Acute epiglottitis after COVID-19 infection.

In patients with acute epiglottitis, the possibility of COVID-19 should be ruled out. Repeated nasofiberoscopy examinations or a tracheostomy, which may produce infectious aerosols, may be required.

Dupilumab rapidly improves asthma control in predominantly anti-IL5/IL5R pretreated Austrian real-life severe asthmatics.

Dupilumab is a monoclonal antibody against the IL-4 receptor alpha which has shown efficacy in T2 high severe asthmatics in phase 3 randomized controlled trials. The purpose of this real-life study is to demonstrate the real-life effectiveness of dupilumab in Austrian severe asthma patients. We retrospectively analyzed all patients receiving dupilumab at our severe asthma clinic.

TRICOP - A Real-world effectiveness study with a single-inhaler extrafine triple therapy over 52 weeks in Austrian patients with COPD.

Objective: Evidence of the efficacy of single-inhaler triple therapy in COPD patients inferred from RCTs has not been assessed in a real-world setting in Austria. In this non-interventional study (NIS) tolerability and effectiveness of extrafine beclometasone-dipropionate, formoterol-fumarate and glycopyrronium (Trimbow® 87/5/9 μg) was evaluated in COPD patients.

Methods: A prospective NIS was conducted over 52 weeks in 24 sites in Austria.

COVID-19 in two severe asthmatics receiving benralizumab: busting the eosinophilia myth.

https://bit.ly/3cnEFvg.

New Anti-Chemokine Oral Drug XC8 in the Treatment of Asthma Patients with Poor Response to Corticosteroids: Results of a Phase 2A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

Introduction: A significant number of patients with moderate asthma remain symptomatic despite treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). These patients do not yet meet the criteria for oral corticosteroids (OCS) and monoclonal antibodies. The new anti-chemokine oral drug XC8 could represent an alternative treatment option for these patients.

Effectiveness of mepolizumab therapy in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma: Austrian real-life data.

Background: Mepolizumab was effective in several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, but evidence for symptom control in a real-world population is scarce.

Objective: To assess asthma symptom control, lung function, use of oral corticosteroids, and biomarkers after mepolizumab initiation in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: Thirty-five adult patients with severe eosinophilic asthma and inadequate asthma symptom control, including former smokers and patients with cardiac disease, were enrolled in a prospective single-arm real-world study.

COVID-19 in a severe eosinophilic asthmatic receiving benralizumab - a case study.

Introduction: Only little is known about COVID-19 in patients with asthma. There is no data on COVID-19 in patients with severe asthma or patients with asthma who are treated with monoclonal antibodies.

Case Study: Here, we present the case of a severe eosinophilic asthmatic in whom benralizumab treatment, an anti-IL-5R monoclonal antibody, was initiated 2 years ago.

Safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a novel anti-asthmatic drug, XC8, in healthy probands.

Introduction: XC8 (histamine glutarimide) is a novel agent which targets eosinophilic migration and mast cell degranulation and has shown anti-asthmatic effects in animal studies.

Objective: The objective of this placebo-controlled phase 1 study was to assess the safety of oral XC8 and to evaluate its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties.

Methods: 32 healthy volunteers in three dose-escalation treatment groups (10 mg [n = 8], 50 mg [n = 8] and 200 mg [n = 16]) were randomized in a 3:1 ratio to XC8 or placebo respectively.

Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Head and Neck MRI RF Array Integrated with a 511 keV Transmission Source for Attenuation Correction in PET/MR.

The goal of this work is to further improve positron emission tomography (PET) attenuation correction and magnetic resonance (MR) sensitivity for head and neck applications of PET/MR. A dedicated 24-channel receive-only array, fully-integrated with a hydraulic system to move a transmission source helically around the patient and radiofrequency (RF) coil array, is designed, implemented, and evaluated. The device enables the calculation of attenuation coefficients from PET measurements at 511 keV including the RF coil and the particular patient.