Publications by authors named "Kevin McGrath"

Article Synopsis
  • Molecular studies indicate that ALT is a crucial prognostic marker for shorter relapse-free survival (RFS) in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) and other neoplasms.
  • The development of a new chromogenic ALT assay (ALT-CISH) was initiated to address clinical limitations of the traditional fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method, showing a 100% agreement with FISH results in validating that ALT is present in 31% of primary PanNETs.
  • The study demonstrated that ALT status is significantly associated with poorer RFS in both PanNET and leiomyosarcoma (LMS) patients, with ALT being an independent prognostic factor
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Gastrointestinal follicular lymphoma (GI-FL) is an uncommon non-Hodgkin lymphoma that affects the gastrointestinal tract. It typically occurs within the duodenum with the appearance of multiple nodules. Treatment options, depending on stage and grade of the tumor, include aggressive chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy, surgical or endoscopic resection, or simply monitoring as focal disease may be indolent.

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Purpose: Pancreatic intraductal oncocytic papillary neoplasms (IOPN) are rare precursors to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. We report cross-sectional computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (where available) findings of pancreatic IOPNs.

Materials And Methods: Consecutive cases of pancreatic IOPNs identified on pathology between 2008 and 2020 at University of Pittsburgh and Johns Hopkins University were included in the study.

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Background: The International Cancer of the Pancreas Screening Consortium recommended annual imaging for individuals at increased risk for developing a pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who did not have concerning pancreatic findings or a cyst <3 cm without worrisome features. We aimed to determine if 3-cm cyst size accurately predicted advanced precursor lesions in high-risk individuals undergoing surveillance.

Methods: Imaging for high-risk individuals (HRIs) undergoing PDAC surveillance from 2007 to 2021 was reviewed and pancreatic abnormalities were recorded including dominant cyst size and number of cysts.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study developed a new DNA/RNA next-generation sequencing platform called PancreaSeq Genomic Classifier to enhance the evaluation of pancreatic cysts, particularly in identifying cystic precursor neoplasms and advanced neoplasia.
  • This platform features a 74-gene targeted NGS panel that assesses various genomic alterations, and it was validated in separate cohorts, demonstrating high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing pancreatic conditions.
  • The results show that PancreaSeq significantly increased the sensitivity of traditional pancreatic cyst guidelines by over 10% while maintaining high specificity, indicating its potential to improve clinical decision-making.
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Objective: To evaluate variables that affect risk of contamination for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic ultrasound endoscopes.

Design: Observational, quality improvement study.

Setting: University medical center with a gastrointestinal endoscopy service performing ∼1,000 endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography and ∼1,000 endoscopic ultrasound endoscope procedures annually.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study aimed to prospectively evaluate the effectiveness of next-generation sequencing (NGS) on pancreatic cyst fluid in a multi-institutional setting, as previous research had mainly been retrospective or focused on single hospitals.
  • In total, 1933 pancreatic cyst specimens were tested, with 98% being satisfactory for NGS analysis, and findings were correlated with current guidelines and surgical outcomes.
  • Results indicated that mutations such as GNAS had high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing mucinous cysts and that combining genomic alterations with cytopathologic evaluation significantly improved diagnostic accuracy compared to existing guidelines.
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Many outpatient gastrointestinal procedures are completed with propofol anesthesia. A side effect of propofol is airway obstruction and subsequent hypoxia. This study was designed to determine whether the use of a high-flow nasal cannula is associated with a decreased incidence of hypoxia or airway obstruction in patients undergoing propofol sedation in the gastrointestinal laboratory with a STOP-BANG score ≥5.

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Objective: Recent studies have found aristaless-related homeobox gene (ARX)/pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX1), alpha-thalassemia/mental retardation X-linked (ATRX)/death domain-associated protein (DAXX) and alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) to be promising prognostic biomarkers for non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NF-PanNETs). However, they have not been comprehensively evaluated, especially among small NF-PanNETs (≤2.0 cm).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how socioeconomic status (SES) influences the treatment and survival outcomes of pancreatic cancer patients, especially in the context of a multidisciplinary clinic (MDC).
  • It finds that low-SES patients have poorer treatment access and outcomes compared to high-SES patients when not managed by the MDC, but these disparities disappear under MDC care.
  • Overall, the MDC standardizes treatment and significantly improves survival rates for low-SES patients, highlighting its importance in addressing healthcare inequalities.
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Article Synopsis
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, gastroenterologists were required to wear N95 masks while performing procedures, prompting a study on the physiological effects of this protective gear.
  • In the study, many gastroenterologists experienced negative symptoms like difficulty breathing, fatigue, and headaches while using N95 masks, with a significant number showing elevated heart rates.
  • The research concluded that wearing N95 respirators leads to acute physiological changes and discomfort among healthcare providers, while alternative powered air-purifying respirators were better tolerated but still caused some issues.
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Background & Aims: The assessment of therapeutic response after neoadjuvant treatment and pancreatectomy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been an ongoing challenge. Several limitations have been encountered when employing current grading systems for residual tumor. Considering endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) represents a sensitive imaging technique for PDAC, differences in tumor size between preoperative EUS and postoperative pathology after neoadjuvant therapy were hypothesized to represent an improved marker of treatment response.

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Objective: To evaluate the significance of UDD in IPMNs.

Background: The uncinate process of the pancreas has an independent ductal drainage system. International consensus guidelines of IPMNs still consider it as a branch-duct, even though it is the main drainage system for the uncinate process.

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Chronic inflammatory gastric reflux alters the esophageal microenvironment and induces metaplastic transformation of the epithelium, a precancerous condition termed Barrett's esophagus (BE). The microenvironmental niche, which includes the extracellular matrix (ECM), substantially influences cell phenotype. ECM harvested from normal porcine esophageal mucosa (eECM) was formulated as a mucoadhesive hydrogel, and shown to largely retain basement membrane and matrix-cell adhesion proteins.

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Severe weather events including tornadoes, damaging winds, hail, and their combination produce changes in land surface vegetation and urban settings that are frequently observed through remote sensing. Capabilities continue to improve through a growing constellation of governmental and commercial assets, increasing the spatial resolution of visible, near to shortwave infrared, and thermal infrared remote sensing. Here, we highlight cases where visual interpretation of imagery benefitted severe weather damage assessments made within the NOAA/NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

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Aims: Abnormal p53 protein expression detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in Barrett's oesophagus (BO) is reported to be a prognostic biomarker for progression to high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC). We evaluated our use of p53 IHC for patients with BO under surveillance from 2010 to 2016 in a single academic institution.

Methods And Results: We identified 78 patients under surveillance for BO who had biopsies evaluated for abnormal p53 expression in conjunction with routine histology and 892 patients who had histological evaluation alone.

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Introduction: A risk prediction test was previously validated to predict progression to high-grade dysplasia (HGD) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE). The aim of our study was to independently validate this test to predict the risk of progression to HGD/EAC in BE patients with nondysplastic (ND), indefinite for dysplasia and low-grade dysplasia (LGD).

Methods: A single-blinded, case-control study was conducted to stratify patients with BE as low, intermediate, or high risk for progression to HGD/EAC within 5 years using a previously described risk prediction test.

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Background & Aims: Intraductal oncocytic papillary neoplasms (IOPNs) of the pancreas and bile duct contain epithelial cells with numerous, large mitochondria and are cystic precursors to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), respectively. However, IOPNs do not have the genomic alterations found in other pancreatobiliary neoplasms. In fact, no recurrent genomic alterations have been described in IOPNs.

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Objective: Despite improvements in imaging, serum CA19-9 and pathological evaluation, differentiating between benign and malignant bile duct strictures remains a diagnostic conundrum. Recent developments in next-generation sequencing (NGS) have opened new opportunities for early detection and management of cancers but, to date, have not been rigorously applied to biliary specimens.

Design: We prospectively evaluated a 28-gene NGS panel (BiliSeq) using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography-obtained biliary specimens from patients with bile duct strictures.

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Objective: The objective of this study was to identify imaging characteristics in patients with known pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PanNETs) that predict the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) phenotype by blinded retrospective review of preoperative multiphasic CT scans.

Materials And Methods: For this retrospective study of 121 preoperative CT examinations of patients with resected PanNETs, two radiologists independently reviewed the CT examinations for tumor characteristics including size, shape, cystic or necrotic elements, calcifications, invasion of adjacent organs and vessels, biliary duct dilatation, pancreatic duct dilatation, and hepatic metastases. Univariate analysis of association of CT characteristics with ALT phenotype was performed with Fisher exact tests or t tests, and multivariate analysis was assessed by multiple logistic regression.

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