Dose-volume predictors of cardiac adverse events after high-dose thoracic radiation therapy for lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality and may require high-dose thoracic radiation therapy (RT). However, RT significantly increases the risk of radiation-induced cardiac events, such as pericarditis, cardiomyopathy, and ischemic heart diseases. Despite evidence from clinical trials showing that higher RT doses are associated with poorer survival outcomes due to these cardiac effects, data on dose-volume predictors of such events in lung cancer remain sparse.

Lower reporting of venous thromboembolisms events with natural estrogen-based combined oral contraceptives compared to ethinylestradiol-containing pills: A disproportionality analysis of the Eudravigilance database.

Objectives: Pharmacovigilance data analysis can accelerate the identification of drug-related safety signals or reassure on the safety profile. This study evaluates the venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk of newer combined oral contraceptive (COC) formulations with natural estrogens, such as estradiol (E2) and estetrol (E4), using data from the EudraVigilance database.

Study Design: We conducted a disproportionality reporting rate analysis of VTE events associated with various COC formulations by extracting individual case reports from EudraVigilance database up to July 28, 2024.

Neurofilament-light chains (NF-L), a biomarker of neuronal damage, is increased in patients with severe sarcopenia: results of the SarcoPhAge study.

Background: As clinical tests, such as gait speed, require nervous system integrity to be performed properly, sarcopenia shares features with neurological diseases. Neurofilament light chains (NF-L) are now used as a blood-biomarker of neuronal damage, and its expression might be altered in sarcopenia. We aimed to assess NF-L concentrations in a large cohort of older individuals screened for sarcopenia.

Sarcopenia and health-related quality of life: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

The decrease of physical abilities and functional decline that can be caused by musculoskeletal conditions such as sarcopenia, can lead to higher levels of dependency and disability. Therefore, it may influence patient reported outcome measures (PROM), such as the health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to provide a comprehensive overview of the relationship between sarcopenia and HRQoL.

Early Coronary Artery Calcification Progression over Two Years in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Radiation Therapy: Association with Cardiac Exposure (BACCARAT Study).

Background: Radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer (BC) can induce coronary artery disease many years after RT. At an earlier stage, during the first two years after RT, we aimed to evaluate the occurrence of increased coronary artery calcium (CAC) and its association with cardiac exposure. Methods: This prospective study included 101 BC patients treated with RT without chemotherapy.

Subclinical Left Ventricular Dysfunction Detected by Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography in Breast Cancer Patients Treated With Radiation Therapy: A Six-Month Follow-Up Analysis (MEDIRAD EARLY-HEART study).

Background: In the case of breast cancer (BC), radiotherapy (RT) helps reduce locoregional recurrence and BC-related deaths but can lead to cardiotoxicity, resulting in an increased risk of long-term major cardiovascular events. It is therefore of primary importance to early detect subclinical left ventricular (LV) dysfunction in BC patients after RT and to determine the dose-response relationships between cardiac doses and these events.

Methods: Within the frame of the MEDIRAD European project (2017-2022), the prospective multicenter EARLY-HEART study (ClinicalTrials.

Clinical prediction models for diagnosis of COVID-19 among adult patients: a validation and agreement study.

Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals have been constantly overcrowded, with several observed waves of infected cases and hospitalisations. To avoid as much as possible this situation, efficient tools to facilitate the diagnosis of COVID-19 are needed.

Objective: To evaluate and compare prediction models to diagnose COVID-19 identified in a systematic review published recently using performance indicators such as discrimination and calibration measures.

Neurofilament light chain concentration in an aging population.

Background: Neurofilament light chain (NF-L) concentration is recognized to be modified in neurological diseases and traumatic brain injuries, but studies in the normal aging population are lacking. It is, therefore, urgent to identify influencing factors of NF-L concentration in the aging population.

Method: We assessed NF-L concentration in sera of a large cohort of 409 community-dwelling adults aged over 65 years.

Frailty but not sarcopenia nor malnutrition increases the risk of developing COVID-19 in older community-dwelling adults.

Background: The identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk factors is requested to implement prevention strategies.

Aim: To explore the associations between the COVID-19 incidence and malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty, identified as potential risk factors in previous cross-sectional studies.

Methods: Malnutrition, sarcopenia, and frailty were assessed at the last available follow-up from the Sarcopenia and Physical Impairments with Advancing Age (SarcoPhAge) cohort (i.

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 After COVID-19 Screening and Mitigation Measures for Primary School Children Attending School in Liège, Belgium.

Importance: Recent data suggest a relatively low incidence of COVID-19 among children. The possible role that children attending primary school may play in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 remains poorly understood.

Objective: To gain a better understanding of the possible role of children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Exploring the feasibility of the Magnet Hospital concept within a European university nursing department: a mixed-methods study.

Background: Human resource management in hospitals has become increasingly challenging. Nursing staff are a major asset in achieving the quality and safety objectives of health care institutions. The concept of Magnet Hospitals seeks to promote a positive work environment.

Patients' preferences for quality-of-life aspects in sarcopenia: a best-worst scaling study.

Purpose: As information on patients' preferences regarding quality-of-life aspects in sarcopenia is lacking, this study aims to assess the relative importance of the 14 items of a QoL questionnaire designed for sarcopenia (the SF-SarQoL) using a best-worst scaling (BWS) survey.

Methods: Participants, aged 65 years or older and community dwelling, who previously participated in the SarcoPhAge study, received a BWS survey via the mail. An object case BWS was selected in which participants completed 12 choice tasks, picking the most and least important aspect from 4 out of 14 SF-SarQoL items for each task.

Assessment of the performance of the SarQoL questionnaire in screening for sarcopenia in older people.

Background: Because of its low prevalence and the need for physical tests to establish a diagnosis, recruiting sarcopenic people for clinical studies can be a resource-intensive process.

Aims: We investigated whether the SarQoL, a 55-item questionnaire designed to measure quality of life in sarcopenia, could be used to identify older people with a high likelihood of being sarcopenic, and to compare its performance to the SARC-F tool.

Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from older, community-dwelling participants of the SarcoPhAge study, evaluated for sarcopenia according to the EWGSOP2 criteria, and who completed the SarQoL and SARC-F questionnaires.

A systematic review of prediction models to diagnose COVID-19 in adults admitted to healthcare centers.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is putting significant pressure on the hospital system. To help clinicians in the rapid triage of patients at high risk of COVID-19 while waiting for RT-PCR results, different diagnostic prediction models have been developed. Our objective is to identify, compare, and evaluate performances of prediction models for the diagnosis of COVID-19 in adult patients in a health care setting.

Malnutrition, assessed by the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria but not by the mini nutritional assessment (MNA), predicts the incidence of sarcopenia over a 5-year in the SarcoPhAge cohort.

Background: The capacity of malnutrition screening to predict the onset of sarcopenia is unknown.

Aim: Our first objective is to explore the association between the screening of malnutrition and the incidence of sarcopenia and then, to assess the added value of the diagnosis of malnutrition to predict sarcopenia over a 5-year follow-up.

Methods: Malnutrition was screened at baseline according to the MNA short-form (MNA-SF) and long-form (MNA-LF) and was diagnosed by the GLIM definition.

Evaluating quality of life in frailty: applicability and clinimetric properties of the SarQoL questionnaire.

Background: The SarQoL® questionnaire was specifically designed to measure quality of life (QoL) in sarcopenia. Frailty and sarcopenia have areas of overlap, notably weak muscle strength and slow gait speed, which may mean that the SarQoL could provide a measure of QoL in frailty. This study aimed to evaluate the clinimetric properties of the SarQoL questionnaire in physical frailty using the Fried criteria.

Impact of Malnutrition Status on Muscle Parameter Changes over a 5-Year Follow-Up of Community-Dwelling Older Adults from the SarcoPhAge Cohort.

This study aimed to assess the impact of malnutrition on the 5-year evolution of physical performance, muscle mass and muscle strength in participants from the SarcoPhAge cohort, consisting of community-dwelling older adults. The malnutrition status was assessed at baseline (T0) according to the "Global Leadership Initiatives on Malnutrition" (GLIM) criteria, and the muscle parameters were evaluated both at T0 and after five years of follow-up (T5). Lean mass, muscle strength and physical performance were assessed using dual X-ray absorptiometry, handgrip dynamometry, the short physical performance battery test and the timed up and go test, respectively.

The presence of erosive joints is a strong predictor of radiological progression in hand osteoarthritis: results of a 2-year prospective follow-up of the Liège Hand Osteoarthritis Cohort (LIHOC).

Background: This study measured the magnitude and determinants of clinical and radiological progression in patients with hand osteoarthritis (HOA) over a 2-year prospective follow-up to gain a greater understanding of the disease time course.

Methods: Two hundred three consecutive outpatients diagnosed with HOA were followed for 2 years (183 women, median age 69 years). Pain and function were evaluated using the Australian/Canadian Osteoarthritis Hand Index (AUSCAN), and clinical examination recorded the number of painful/swollen joints and nodes.

Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry (REMS) for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in a European multicenter clinical context.

Background: Radiofrequency Echographic Multi Spectrometry (REMS) is a non-ionizing technology for the densitometric assessment of osteoporosis. It has already been validated in Italian women with respect to the current clinical reference technology, Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA).

Purpose: Aim of the current study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of REMS technology with respect to DXA in a wider European clinical context.

Association between Changes in Nutrient Intake and Changes in Muscle Strength and Physical Performance in the SarcoPhAge Cohort.

Muscle weakness and physical performance impairment are common geriatric conditions that raise morbidity and mortality. They are known to be affected by nutrition, but only a few longitudinal studies exist. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the association, over 3 years, between variations of nutrient intakes, as well as, on one side, the variations of handgrip strength, as a surrogate of muscle strength, and on the other side, the physical performance, assessed by gait speed.

Prediction of 5-year mortality risk by malnutrition according to the GLIM format using seven pragmatic approaches to define the criterion of loss of muscle mass.

Objectives: To assess the association between baseline malnutrition according to the GLIM format, using seven pragmatic approaches to define the criterion of loss of muscle mass, with mortality in the SarcoPhAge (Sarcopenia and Physical Impairment with advancing Age) study during a 5-year follow-up. Secondarily, to calculate diagnostic performance indicators, concordance, and feasibility of these 7 pragmatic approaches compared to the original GLIM criteria.

Methods: Post-hoc analysis of the SarcoPhAge cohort, which included 534 community-dwelling volunteers ≥65-year-old, followed-up from 2013 to 2019.

Mortality in malnourished older adults diagnosed by ESPEN and GLIM criteria in the SarcoPhAge study.

Background: The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria have been recently launched by consensus of the major nutrition societies. GLIM criteria are partly constructed on the previous definition of malnutrition developed by the European Society of Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). We aimed to assess malnutrition according to the ESPEN and GLIM criteria at baseline and to determine the corresponding risk of mortality during a 4-year follow-up in community-dwelling older adults from the SarcoPhAge (Sarcopenia and Physical Impairment with advancing Age) study.