Elevated Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin Is Associated With the Severity of Kidney Injury and Poor Prognosis of Patients With COVID-19.

Introduction: Loss of kidney function is a common feature of COVID-19 infection, but serum creatinine (SCr) is not a sensitive or specific marker of kidney injury. We tested whether molecular biomarkers of tubular injury measured at hospital admission were associated with acute kidney injury (AKI) in those with COVID-19 infection.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort observational study consisting of 444 consecutive patients with SARS-CoV-2 enrolled in the Columbia University emergency department (ED) at the peak of the pandemic in New York (March 2020-April 2020).

Rule Out Acute Kidney Injury in the Emergency Department With a Urinary Dipstick.

Introduction: The identification of acute injury of the kidney relies on serum creatinine (SCr), a functional marker with poor temporal resolution as well as limited sensitivity and specificity for cellular injury. In contrast, urinary biomarkers of kidney injury have the potential to detect cellular stress and damage in real time.

Methods: To detect the response of the kidney to injury, we have tested a lateral flow dipstick that measures a urinary protein called neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL).

Natural history, clinical course and predictors of interval time from initial diagnosis to development of subsequent NSCLC brain metastases.

Purpose: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) brain metastases are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. During recent years, accompanying dramatic improvements in systemic disease control, NSCLC brain metastases have emerged as an increasingly relevant clinical problem. However, optimal surveillance practices remain poorly defined.

Local control and overall survival for adjuvant stereotactic radiosurgery in patients with residual or recurrent disease.

Prior studies of post-operative stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) have not distinguished between Adjuvant SRS (ARS) versus Adjuvant SRS to residual/recurrent disease (ARD). In this study, we defined ARS and ARD and investigated local control (LC), overall survival (OS), distant development of brain metastases (DBF), and leptomeningeal disease (LMD). We retrospectively identified BM patients who received surgical resection and SRS for BM from an IRB approved database between Jan 2009-Aug 2015.

Breast cancer subtype as a predictor for outcomes and control in the setting of brain metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery.

We investigated effects of breast cancer subtype on overall survival (OS), local and distant control, and time from initial diagnosis to brain metastases (BM). We also investigated advances in graded prognostic assessment (GPA) scores. A cohort of 72 patients treated for BM from breast cancer with Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery at our institution from 2000 to 2014 had subtyping available and were used for this study.

Control of brain metastases from radioresistant tumors treated by stereotactic radiosurgery.

Renal cell carcinoma, sarcoma, and melanoma are considered to be "radioresistant" tumor histologies. Brain metastases (BM) from these tumors are considered unlikely to be controlled using the relatively low doses used in whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). Our objective was to analyze the efficacy of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) on local control and overall survival of BM from radioresistant primary tumors.

Does lung cancer mutation status and targeted therapy predict for outcomes and local control in the setting of brain metastases treated with radiation?

Background: We investigated effects of genetic alterations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), and Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) on overall survival (OS) and local control after stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: A cohort of 89 out of 262 NSCLC patients (2003-2013) treated with gamma knife radiosurgery for brain metastases had genotyping available and were selected as our study population.

Results: Median follow-up was 12 months.

The Energy Index Does Not Affect Local Control of Brain Metastases Treated by Gamma Knife Stereotactic Radiosurgery.

Background: The energy index (EI) is a measure of dose homogeneity within a target volume calculated by the integral dose divided by the product of prescription dose and tumor volume.

Objective: To assess whether a higher EI is associated with greater local control for brain metastases (BMs) treated by Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS).

Methods: We reviewed all patients treated with GKRS for BM at our institution between January 2009 and February 2014.