Development and validation of a prognostic 40-day mortality risk model among hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Objectives: The development of a prognostic mortality risk model for hospitalized COVID-19 patients may facilitate patient treatment planning, comparisons of therapeutic strategies, and public health preparations.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic health records of patients hospitalized within a 13-hospital New Jersey USA network between March 1, 2020 and April 22, 2020 with positive polymerase chain reaction results for SARS-CoV-2, with follow-up through May 29, 2020. With death or hospital discharge by day 40 as the primary endpoint, we used univariate followed by stepwise multivariate proportional hazard models to develop a risk score on one-half the data set, validated on the remainder, and converted the risk score into a patient-level predictive probability of 40-day mortality based on the combined dataset.

Implementing a Review Process to Facilitate and Prioritize COVID-19 Research: Staying One Step Ahead of the Pandemic.

The first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient in the state of New Jersey (NJ) was admitted on March 2, 2020. With the number of hospitalized patients increasing exponentially in the following days and no established treatment approaches, research was to play a significant role in this fight. To facilitate review of all COVID-19 research proposals in a large health care network in NJ, we established the COVID-19 Research Review Committee (RRC) and implemented a peer-review process prior to the Institutional Review Board submission.

Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of outpatients with mildly symptomatic COVID-19: a multi-center observational study.

Background: Hydroxychloroquine has not been associated with improved survival among hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the majority of observational studies and similarly was not identified as an effective prophylaxis following exposure in a prospective randomized trial. We aimed to explore the role of hydroxychloroquine therapy in mildly symptomatic patients diagnosed in the outpatient setting.

Methods: We examined the association between outpatient hydroxychloroquine exposure and the subsequent progression of disease among mildly symptomatic non-hospitalized patients with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Tocilizumab among patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit: a multicentre observational study.

Background: Tocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the interleukin-6 receptor, has been proposed to mitigate the cytokine storm syndrome associated with severe COVID-19. We aimed to investigate the association between tocilizumab exposure and hospital-related mortality among patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) support for COVID-19.

Methods: We did a retrospective observational cohort study at 13 hospitals within the Hackensack Meridian Health network (NJ, USA).

Hydroxychloroquine and tocilizumab therapy in COVID-19 patients-An observational study.

Hydroxychloroquine has been touted as a potential COVID-19 treatment. Tocilizumab, an inhibitor of IL-6, has also been proposed as a treatment of critically ill patients. In this retrospective observational cohort study drawn from electronic health records we sought to describe the association between mortality and hydroxychloroquine or tocilizumab therapy among hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in the morbidly obese patient.

Introduction. Obesity and prostate cancer are among the more common health issues affecting men in the United States. Methods.

National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines for use of tumor markers in liver, bladder, cervical, and gastric cancers.

Background: Updated National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines for the use of tumor markers in the clinic have been developed.

Methods: Published reports relevant to use of tumor markers for 4 cancer sites--liver, bladder, cervical, and gastric--were critically reviewed.

Results: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) may be used in conjunction with abdominal ultrasound for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis associated with hepatitis B or C virus infection.

Robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in patients with prostate cancer with high-risk features: predictors of favorable pathologic outcome.

Introduction: Preoperative determination of pathologic outcomes in patients with high-risk prostate cancer is challenging because of limitations of existing nomograms. We aimed to assess whether certain preoperative clinical and pathologic characteristics correlate with pathologic outcome in high-risk prostate cancer patients who underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP).

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of patients with high-risk disease (prostate-specific antigen [PSA] >or=10 ng/dL with high volume disease or Gleason score >or=8) who underwent RALP between December 2004 and September 2008 was conducted.

Female sexual dysfunction in urological patients: findings from a major metropolitan area in the USA.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in a practice focused mainly on female urology.

Patients And Methods: A modified version of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to assess the prevalence of FSD in 587 patients who completed the questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors.

A single-institution experience with induction and maintenance intravesical docetaxel in the management of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer refractory to bacille Calmette-Guérin therapy.

Objective: To analyse the durability of response for patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) refractory to bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) therapy and treated with intravesical docetaxel in a combined induction and maintenance regimen.

Patients And Methods: A previous phase I trial showed docetaxel to be safe for intravesical therapy, with no systemic absorption and minimal toxicity after six weekly instillations for patients with BCG-refractory NMIBC. In that trial, docetaxel gave a 56% complete response (CR) rate at 12 weeks, but the durability was only 22%.

Vascular anomalies during laparoscopic renal surgery: incidence and management of left-sided inferior vena cava.

Background: Left-sided inferior vena cava (IVC) is an unusual abnormality that may be clinically significant during renal surgery.

Methods: We report the unique case of a patient with a centrally located left renal mass who underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy. During the hilar dissection, unusual vascular anatomy was encountered.

Cryoablation of small renal tumors in patients with solitary kidneys: initial experience.

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of renal cryoablation in patients with solitary kidneys with the goals of tumor destruction and maximal renal parenchymal preservation. Methods.

Quality of life of men treated for localized prostate cancer: outcomes at 6 and 12 months.

Goals Of Work: Treatments for early-stage prostate cancer (PCa) are highly effective; therefore, research studies that explore quality of life (QOL) issues associated with different treatments are important. The purposes of this study were to (a) examine differences among treatment groups of men treated with either radiation therapies or radical prostatectomy for PCa and (b) examine quality of life outcomes over time.

Patients And Methods: We report outcomes 6 and 12 months after 159 men began treatment for PCa with either one of two types of radiation treatment (intensity-modulated radiation therapy plus high dose rate or intensity-modulated radiation therapy plus seed implantation) or radical prostatectomy.

Paraneoplastic hypertension associated with renal oncocytoma: management with cryoablation.

Paraneoplastic hypertension associated with a renal oncocytoma is an unreported syndrome. We report a unique case of a patient with multidrug-resistant hypertension who was found to have a solitary renal mass. Cryoablation was performed and resulted in an immediate and dramatic decrease in blood pressure.

Transition from open to robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy: 7 years experience at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Background and objective Open radical prostatectomy (ORP) is the standard approach for the surgical management of localized prostate cancer. The steep learning curve for laparoscopic prostatectomy poses a challenge for surgeons with minimal laparoscopic experience. As robotic-assisted surgery becomes more prevalent in the urologic community, there appears to be an increasing interest in robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) among urologists throughout the United States.

Role of carbonic anhydrases in the progression of renal cell carcinoma subtypes: proposal of a unified hypothesis.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has the highest rate of occurrence within the US when compared with other countries. Recent advances in the basic research and molecular diagnostics of this malignancy have revealed that RCC is not a single disease, but it is a mixture of several types of malignancies with unique molecular mechanisms and pathological attributes. RCC is now divided into clear cell carcinoma (80% of all kidney cancers), papillary type 1 and papillary type 2 neoplasms (10-15% of all RCC patients) and RCC with chromophobic and oncocytic features, called the Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD) subtype, in roughly 5% of all patients.

Exploratory factor analysis: strategies used by patients to promote health.

Strategies used by patients to promote health (SUPPH) was used to measure self-care self-efficacy in patients with cancer. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the extent to which self-efficacy theory explained the factor structure of the SUPPH and (2) to determine the relationship of demographic data with factors of the SUPPH. Subjects were diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa) and treated with either: (a) radical prostatectomy, (b) intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) + radioactive seed implantation, or (c) IMRT + high dose rate.

Reevaluation of TNM staging of renal cortical tumors: recurrence and survival for T1N0M0 and T3aN0M0 tumors are equivalent.

Objectives: The current TNM staging system for renal cortical tumors (RCTs) differentiates between tumors confined to the kidney (T1, T2) and tumors that extend through the renal capsule and invade into the perinephric fat (T3a). We examined the relative survival rates of patients with T1 and T3a tumors to determine the accuracy of the current TNM staging classification.

Methods: We analyzed the Columbia University Surgical Urological Oncology Database for all patients with clinically localized Stage T1, T2, and T3a RCTs treated surgically from 1988 to 2004.

Variability in the performance of nuclear matrix protein 22 for the detection of bladder cancer.

Purpose: We assessed variability in the diagnostic performance of NMP22 for detecting recurrence and progression in patients with Ta, T1, and/or CIS transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder in a large international cohort.

Materials And Methods: NMP22 voided urine levels were measured in 2,871 patients who underwent office cystoscopy for monitoring previous stage Ta, T1 and/or CIS transitional cell carcinoma at 12 participating institutions.

Results: Patient characteristics varied considerably among institutions.

Detection of carbonic anhydrase-9 gene expression in peripheral blood cells predicts risk of disease recurrence in patients with renal cortical tumors.

Objectives: To present extended follow-up on a cohort of patients with renal cortical tumors treated with partial or radical nephrectomy and preoperatively assess for carbonic anhydrase 9 tumor marker expression in the peripheral blood.

Methods: All patients were originally enrolled in an institutional review board-approved study assessing the role of a reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction peripheral blood assay designed to detect the tumor-specific gene carbonic anhydrase-9 (CA9). A total of 41 patients with renal cortical tumors confined to the kidney were enrolled at a single institution and assessed preoperatively with peripheral blood test for CA9 expression before undergoing partial or radical nephrectomy.

Prospective study of quality of life of patients receiving treatment for prostate cancer.

Background: No research was found that compared quality of life (QOL) outcomes of prostate cancer patients receiving intensity-modulated radiation therapies with prostate cancer patients receiving radical prostatectomy.

Objectives: To (a) describe differences in QOL before and after three types of treatment for prostate cancer: radical prostatectomy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy + seed implantation (permanent brachytherapy), or intensity-modulated radiation therapy + high dose rate radiotherapy (temporary brachytherapy); and (b) investigate demographic, physical, and psychosocial variables that impact QOL of men with prostate cancer.

Methods: Data were collected on three occasions: baseline (prior to treatment), 1 month, and 3 months after beginning treatment.

Prostate HDR radiation therapy: a comparative study evaluating the effectiveness of pain management with peripheral PCA vs. PCEA.

Introduction: High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is considered one of the most advanced treatment technologies currently available for treatment of localized prostate cancer. It gives the advantage of applying higher dose radiation, with greater precision, directly to the tumor while sparing healthy tissue and surrounding organs, thereby resulting in fewer side effects. In this facility, the treatment requires an overnight stay in the hospital, in a supine position, with a perineal template sutured to the perineum to prevent catheter movement or dislodgement.