Publications by authors named "Lovis A"

Article Synopsis
  • The Avalanche Victim Resuscitation Checklist (AVRC) was created to enhance the management of avalanche victims experiencing cardiac arrest, as prior compliance with international guidelines was poor.
  • A study over ten years examined the effectiveness of the AVRC, revealing significant improvements in guideline compliance (from 59% to 95%) and complete documentation after its implementation.
  • The findings suggest that while the AVRC enhances patient management for critically buried victims, further quality improvements are needed for those buried for extended periods.
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Central sleep apneas (CSA) can occur de novo at high-altitude in individuals without sleep-disordered breathing at low altitude. These apneas are usually brief, lasting only 5-15 s. This report presents the first documented case of a man experiencing extreme altitude-induced CSA lasting more than 100 s in the absence of any sleep breathing disorder in normoxia.

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Background: A BCG booster vaccination administered via the respiratory mucosa may establish protective immune responses at the primary site of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The primary objective of this trial was to compare the safety and immunogenicity of inhaled versus intramuscular administered ChAdOx1-85A.

Methods: We conducted a single-centre, randomised, double-blind, controlled phase 1 study (Swiss National Clinical Trials Portal number SNCTP000002920).

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Lung cancer is responsible for one in five cancer-related deaths. Screening for lung cancer using low-dose chest CT (LDCT) is supported by several international studies targeting the at-risk population as part of an organised programme. Given the organisational challenges for the healthcare systems of the countries concerned, this involves setting up pilot screening projects.

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Purpose: To evaluate the effect of lung stabilization using high-frequency non-invasive ventilation (HF-NIV) and breath-hold (BH) techniques on lung nodule detection and texture assessment in PET/CT compared to a free-breathing (FB) standard lung CT acquisition in PET/CT.

Materials And Methods: Six patients aged 65 ± 7 years, addressed for initial assessment of at least one suspicious lung nodule with F-FDG PET/CT, underwent three consecutive lung PET/CT acquisitions with FB, HF-NIV and BH. Lung nodules were assessed on all three CT acquisitions of the PET/CT and characterized for any size, volume and solid/sub-solid nature.

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Aims: Understanding the correlations between underlying medical and personal characteristics of a patient with cancer and the risk of lung metastasis may improve clinical management and outcomes. We used machine learning methodologies to predict the risk of lung metastasis using readily available predictors.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analysed a cohort of 11 164 oncological patients, with clinical records gathered between 2000 and 2020.

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A 40-year-old patient with cT4cN1M0 squamous cell lung cancer of the upper right lobe received preoperative induction chemotherapy. Systemic induction treatment failed to reverse tumour growth with the addition of conventional radiotherapy (RT). A salvage lattice RT boost of 12 Gy was administered immediately to increase the dose to the tumour.

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Article Synopsis
  • Despite advances in lung irradiation techniques, radiation-induced pneumonitis is still a common issue in lung cancer treatment.
  • This condition can be asymptomatic but may also escalate to respiratory distress, necessitating careful evaluation and management.
  • The article covers the possible causes, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment options for radiation-induced pneumonitis.
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Purpose: To compare three different radiotherapy devices able to perform pulmonary stereotactic radiotherapy: CyberKnife® (CK), Helical Tomotherapy® (HT), and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). This study aims to define the patients' outcome in terms of SBRT efficacy and toxicities depending of the device choice.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, radiological, and dosimetric data of patients treated with lung SBRT between 2016 and 2020 at Lausanne University Hospital, using the Chi test for proportions, the t-test for means comparisons, the Kaplan-Meier method for survival, and the Log-rank test and Cox-regression for intergroups comparisons.

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Heiniger, Grégory, Simon Walbaum, Claudio Sartori, Alban Lovis, Marco Sazzini, Andrew Wellman, and Raphael Heinzer. Altitude-Induced Sleep Apnea Is Highly Dependent on Ethnic Background (Sherpa Vs. Tamang).

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Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Switzerland. Despite this, there is no lung cancer screening program in the country. In the United States, low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening is partially established and endorsed by guidelines.

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Rationale And Objectives: Computed tomography (CT) lung nodule assessment is routinely performed and appears very promising for lung cancer screening. However, the radiation exposure through time remains a concern. With the overall goal of an optimal management of indeterminate lung nodules, the objective of this prospective study was therefore to evaluate the potential of optimized ultra-short echo time (UTE) MRI for lung nodule detection and volumetric assessment.

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Stereotactic body radiation therapy is an alternative to surgery for early-stage, inoperable peripheral non-small cell lung cancer. As opposed to linear accelerator (linac)-based ( gating) and free-breathing techniques, CyberKnife® with Synchrony® technology allows accurate radiation delivery by means of a real-time respiratory motion tracking system using, in most cases, metal fiducial markers (FMs) placed in the vicinity of the target. The aims of this review are as follows.

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Background: Sleeve lobectomy (SL) is a lung-sparing procedure, which is accepted as a valid operation for centrally-located advanced tumors. These tumors often require induction treatment by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy to downstage the disease and thus facilitate subsequent surgery. However, induction therapy may potentially increase the risk of bronchial anastomotic complications and related morbidity.

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Widespread use of CT-scans leads to increased discovery of mediastinal and hilar lymph node enlargement, a frequent motive for consulting a pulmonologist. The persistence or progression of such lymphadenopathies outside of an oncological context is most often associated with an infectious process or inflammatory disorders. The history will also point to possible occupational or environmental exposure.

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Invasive mold infections (IMIs) are difficult to diagnose. This analysis of histopathologically proven IMIs at our institution (2010-2019) showed that 11/41 (27%) of them were not suspected at the time of biopsy/autopsy (9/17, 53% among autopsies). The rate of missed diagnosis was particularly high (8/16, 50%) among nonhematologic cancer patients.

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Endoscopic management of benign or malignant airway obstructions sometimes requires stenting after dilatation or debulking of the tumor. Straight stents are highly prone to migration in the trachea and the main bronchus, with potential catastrophic consequences. Multiple fixation strategies have been described to secure subglottic stents, each having certain limitations.

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is a rare cause of invasive mold infection, mostly described in patients with hematological malignancies. We describe two cases of invasive infections in patients with acute myeloid leukemia, successfully managed with complete surgical resection of the lesions and antifungal therapy of voriconazole alone or liposomal amphotericin B, followed by voriconazole, highlighting the key role of a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of this rare and severe invasive mold infection.

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Introduction: Local recurrence after lung SBRT for early stage NSCLC is rare but its treatment remains a challenge due to limited surgical options. We report a case series of 5 patients treated by stereotactic lung salvage reirradiation for local relapse after a previous lung SBRT.

Material And Methods: Included patients presented an isolated primary lung relapse within at least the 50% isodose of the previous SBRT treatment.

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Background And Objective: SBRT is an alternative treatment for early-stage inoperable lung cancer. Metallic FM allow to increase tumour tracking precision by CyberKnife®. Currently used techniques for FM placement have many limitations; transthoracic insertion has a high risk for pneumothorax, endovascular insertion requires expertise and dedicated angiography infrastructure and endobronchial linear-gold FM dislocate frequently.

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Professional societies encourage the establishment of coordinated national screening programs for lung cancer by « low-dose » chest CT scans. The interdisciplinary Swiss Lung Cancer Screening Implementation Group (CH-LSIG) is exploring the feasibility of such a project. However, several questions still remain unanswered, namely the -financing of such a program, the ideal « number-needed to screen », the definition and follow-up of « positive cases », as well as the role of smoking cessation measures.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The NLST study in 2011 indicated that low-dose lung CT scans can lower lung cancer mortality, but their routine use was hampered by a high rate of false positives (96%).
  • - The NELSON trial in 2020 confirmed a 24% reduction in lung cancer mortality and improved the accuracy of screenings by focusing on lung nodule volume, bringing false positive rates down to 56%.
  • - With the anticipated implementation of lung cancer screening programs in Europe, including Switzerland, a decision aid has been created to help patients understand the benefits, risks, and uncertainties associated with lung cancer screening.
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Purpose: To investigate three MR pulse sequences under high-frequency noninvasive ventilation (HF-NIV) at 3 T and determine which one is better-suited to visualize the lung parenchyma.

Methods: A 3D ultra-short echo time stack-of spirals Volumetric Interpolated Breath-hold Examination (UTE Spiral VIBE), without and with prospective gating, and a 3D double-echo UTE sequence with spiral phyllotaxis trajectory (3D radial UTE) were performed at 3 T in ten healthy volunteers under HF-NIV. Three experienced radiologists evaluated visibility and sharpness of normal anatomical structures, artifacts assessment, and signal and contrast ratio computation.

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Background: Conidiobolus spp. (mainly C. coronatus) are the causal agents of rhino-facial conidiobolomycosis, a limited soft tissue infection, which is essentially observed in immunocompetent individuals from tropical areas.

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