Enhancing hospital emergency response based on the experience of COVID-19.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic required a significant response from global healthcare systems. In Belgium, the crisis began in March 2020, prompting quick action in hospitals. This study assesses the effectiveness of Belgium's hospital emergency plans and compares them with global standards for potential enhancements.

DICER1 Mutations Define the Landscape of Poorly Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma in Children and Young Adults : Case Report and Literature Review.

Poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma (PDTC) is a rare malignancy, representing ~1% of all thyroid tumors. It is characterized by high-grade histologic features without the anaplastic characteristics observed in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Although rare in children and young adults, there is emerging evidence of clinical and genetic differences with PDTC in adults.

Have We Neglected to Study Target-Site Drug Exposure in Children? A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Background And Objective: Drug dosing should ideally be based on the drug concentrations at the target site, which, for most drugs, corresponds to the tissue. The exact influence of growth and development on drug tissue distribution is unclear. This systematic review compiles the current knowledge on the tissue distribution of systemically applied drugs in children, with the aim to identify priorities in tissue pharmacokinetic (PK) research in this population.

Parathyroid adenoma apoplexy mimicking a thyroid bleeding cyst: a seemingly innocent condition that can be life-threatening.

Summary: Primary hyperparathyroidism most commonly presents with hypercalcaemia. Rarely, parathyroid apoplexy or haemorrhage mimicking a thyroid bleeding cyst is the first presentation of a parathyroid adenoma. A woman presented with a sudden-onset painful 'goitre'.

Predictors of augmented renal clearance based on iohexol plasma clearance in critically ill children.

Background: Augmented renal clearance (ARC) holds a risk of subtherapeutic drug concentrations. Knowledge of patient-, disease-, and therapy-related factors associated with ARC would allow predicting which patients would benefit from intensified dosing regimens. This study aimed to identify ARC predictors and to describe ARC time-course in critically ill children, using iohexol plasma clearance (CL) to measure glomerular filtration rate (GFR).

Fibroepithelial Stromal Polyp of the Vulvovaginal Region as Part of the RB1 Family of Tumors: Friend or Foe?

Fibroepithelial stromal polyps (FSPs) are benign mesenchymal lesions occurring in the vulvovaginal region. Following the identification of loss of Retinoblastoma 1 (RB1) on immunohistochemical staining in routine practice, we stained a series of FSPs and performed additional fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and copy number variation (CNV) sequencing to detect losses/deletions in the Retinoblastoma transcriptional corepressor 1 (RB1) gene. Fifteen FSP cases were stained for RB1, and subsequently, 9 cases were examined by FISH to detect a loss of RB1 (13q).

Alternative genetic alterations of MYC, BCL2, and/or BCL6 in high-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL): Can we identify different prognostic subgroups?

High-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL)/diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) with rearrangements (R) in MYC and BCL2 and/or BCL6 are correlated with poor prognosis. Little is known about the impact of other genetic alterations (gain (G) or amplification (A)) of these genes. The aim of the study was to investigate whether we can identify new prognostic subgroups.

Microdialysis as a safe and feasible method to study target-site piperacillin-tazobactam disposition in septic piglets and children.

Objectives: Knowledge on the tissue penetration of piperacillin-tazobactam in children with sepsis is lacking. In this study, the feasibility and performance of microdialysis experiments were explored in septic piglets and children as part of a translational research project.

Methods: Multiple-day microdialysis investigations were performed in muscle tissue of 22 piglets (of which 11 were septic) and 6 children with sepsis.

Lessons learnt from the process of designing care coordination interventions through participatory action research in public healthcare networks of six Latin American countries.

Background: The participation of health professionals in designing interventions is considered vital to effective implementation, yet in areas such as clinical coordination is rarely promoted and evaluated. This study, part of Equity-LA II, aims to analyse the design process of interventions to improve clinical coordination, taking a participatory-action-research (PAR) approach, in healthcare networks of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. This participatory process was planned in four phases, led by a local steering committee (LSC): (1) dissemination of problem analysis results and creation of professionals' platform, (2) selection of problems and intervention (3) intervention design and planning (4) adjustments after evaluation of first implementation stage.

Breast implant associated EBV-positive Diffuse Large B-cell lymphoma: an underrecognized entity?

Breast-implant associated (BIA) lymphoma is an infrequent type of cancer occurring in the fluid and fibrous capsule around a textured breast implant. Recently, both the 2022 WHO 5th edition classification of Haematological tumours (WHO HAEM5) and 2022 International Consensus Classification of Mature Lymphoid Neoplasms (22ICC), recognized breast implant-associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) as a definitive entity, defined as a mature CD30-positive T-cell lymphoma, confined by a fibrous capsule, in a breast implant setting. Only few B-cell lymphomas have been reported in the literature to be associated with breast implants.

Pharmacokinetics and Target Attainment of ß-lactam Antibiotics in Older People: A Systematic Review of Current Literature.

Background And Objective: (Patho)physiological changes in older people may influence the pharmacokinetics (PK), and consequently the target attainment, of ß-lactam antibiotics using standard dosing regimens. This systematic review compiles the current knowledge on the PK and target attainment of ß-lactam antibiotics in older people, with the aim to identify priorities for dose optimization in this patient population.

Methods: A systematic literature search of the PubMed and EMBASE databases was conducted.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma presenting as an inguinal hernia - case report.

Background: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) masquerading as a recurrent inguinal hernia is rare. We report the case of a 73-year-old male patient who presented with a symptomatic bulge in his left groin. Medical history revealed bilateral preperitoneal inguinal hernia repair, osteoporosis and atrial fibrillation.

Reliability of glomerular filtration rate estimating formulas compared to iohexol plasma clearance in critically ill children.

Unlabelled: Accurate renal function assessment is crucial to guide intensive care decision-making and drug dosing. Estimates of glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) are routinely used in critically ill children; however, these formulas were never evaluated against measured GFR (mGFR) in this population. We aimed to assess the reliability of common eGFR formulas compared to iohexol plasma clearance (CL) in a pediatric intensive care (PICU) population.

Suboptimal Beta-Lactam Therapy in Critically Ill Children: Risk Factors and Outcome.

Objectives: In critically ill children, severely altered pharmacokinetics may result in subtherapeutic β-lactam antibiotic concentrations when standard pediatric dosing regimens are applied. However, it remains unclear how to recognize patients most at risk for suboptimal exposure and their outcome. This study aimed to: 1) describe target attainment for β-lactam antibiotics in critically ill children, 2) identify risk factors for suboptimal exposure, and 3) study the association between target nonattainment and clinical outcome.

Identification of Codon 146 Variants in Isolated Epidermal Nevus and Multiple Lesions in Oculoectodermal Syndrome: Confirmation of the Phenotypic Continuum of Mosaic RASopathies.

Mosaic RASopathies are a molecularly heterogeneous group of (neuro)cutaneous syndromes with high phenotypical variability. Postzygotic variants in have been described in oculoectodermal syndrome (OES), encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL) and epidermal nevus syndrome (ENS). This study confirms the continuum of mosaic neurocutaneous RASopathies showing codon 146 variants in an individual with OES and, for the first time, in an individual with (isolated) epidermal nevus.

Stratified Mucin-producing Intraepithelial Lesions of the Cervix: Clinical Diversity of Cases and Literature Review.

Background: This report discusses the current literature on both non-invasive and invasive SMILE ((i)SMILE) lesions of the cervix with focus on the pathology and its related clinical diversity in several cases. Currently, the knowledge on (i)SMILE is limited to single case reports and series. As a consequence, consensus guidelines regarding the management are lacking.

Trends in diagnosis, referral, red flag onset, patient profiles and natural outcome of de novo cardiac amyloidosis and their multidisciplinary implications.

Background: Cardiac amyloidosis (CA) is often overlooked or misdiagnosed. Effects of growing disease awareness, diagnostic ameliorations and novel treatment options on CA diagnosis and management are scarcely reported.

Objective: To report trends in diagnosis, referral routes, clinical presentation, early onset diagnostic red flags and outcome in de novo CA subjects.

The Development of a Juvenile Porcine Augmented Renal Clearance Model Through Continuous Infusion of Lipopolysaccharides: An Exploratory Study.

Augmented renal clearance (ARC) as observed in the critically ill (pediatric) population can have a major impact on the pharmacokinetics and posology of renally excreted drugs. Although sepsis has been described as a major trigger in the development of ARC in human critically ill patients, mechanistic insights on ARC are currently lacking. An appropriate ARC animal model could contribute to reveal these underlying mechanisms.

Estimation of Ontogeny Functions for Renal Transporters Using a Combined Population Pharmacokinetic and Physiology-Based Pharmacokinetic Approach: Application to OAT1,3.

To date, information on the ontogeny of renal transporters is limited. Here, we propose to estimate the in vivo functional ontogeny of transporters using a combined population pharmacokinetic (popPK) and physiology-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling approach called popPBPK. Clavulanic acid and amoxicillin were used as probes for glomerular filtration, combined glomerular filtration, and active secretion through OAT1,3, respectively.

Vancomycin dosing and therapeutic drug monitoring practices: guidelines versus real-life.

Background Correct dosing and therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) practices are essential when aiming for optimal vancomycin treatment. Objective To assess target attainment after initial dosing and dose adjustments, and to determine compliance to dosing and TDM guidelines. Setting Tertiary care university hospital in Belgium.