Use of hospital big data to optimize and personalize laboratory test interpretation with an application.

Background And Aims: In laboratory medicine, test results are generally interpreted with 95% reference intervals but correlations between laboratory tests are usually ignored. We aimed to use hospital big data to optimize and personalize laboratory data interpretation, focusing on platelet count.

Material And Methods: Laboratory tests were extracted from the hospital database and exploited by an algorithmic stepwise procedure.

Editor's Choice -- European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) 2024 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Abdominal Aorto-Iliac Artery Aneurysms.

Objective: The European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) has developed clinical practice guidelines for the care of patients with aneurysms of the abdominal aorta and iliac arteries in succession to the 2011 and 2019 versions, with the aim of assisting physicians and patients in selecting the best management strategy.

Methods: The guideline is based on scientific evidence completed with expert opinion on the matter. By summarising and evaluating the best available evidence, recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of patients have been formulated.

Breast cancer survival analysis agents for clinical decision support.

Personalized support and assistance are essential for cancer survivors, given the physical and psychological consequences they have to suffer after all the treatments and conditions associated with this illness. Digital assistive technologies have proved to be effective in enhancing the quality of life of cancer survivors, for instance, through physical exercise monitoring and recommendation or emotional support and prediction. To maximize the efficacy of these techniques, it is challenging to develop accurate models of patient trajectories, which are typically fed with information acquired from retrospective datasets.

AI-Based Chest CT Analysis for Rapid COVID-19 Diagnosis and Prognosis: A Practical Tool to Flag High-Risk Patients and Lower Healthcare Costs.

Early diagnosis of COVID-19 is required to provide the best treatment to our patients, to prevent the epidemic from spreading in the community, and to reduce costs associated with the aggravation of the disease. We developed a decision tree model to evaluate the impact of using an artificial intelligence-based chest computed tomography (CT) analysis software (icolung, icometrix) to analyze CT scans for the detection and prognosis of COVID-19 cases. The model compared routine practice where patients receiving a chest CT scan were not screened for COVID-19, with a scenario where icolung was introduced to enable COVID-19 diagnosis.

Predictive factors for the presence and long-term persistence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in healthcare and university workers.

While patient groups at risk for severe COVID-19 infections are now well identified, the risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) transmission and immunization are still poorly understood. In a cohort of staff members of a Belgian tertiary academic hospital tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies during the early phase of the pandemic and followed-up after 6 weeks, 3 months and 10 months, we collected personal, occupational and medical data, as well as symptoms based on which we constructed a COVID-19 score. Seroprevalence was higher among participants in contact with patients or with COVID-19 confirmed subjects or, to a lesser extent, among those handling respiratory specimens, as well as among participants reporting an immunodeficiency or a previous or active hematological malignancy, and correlated with several symptoms.

Editor's Choice - European Society for Vascular Surgery Clinical Practice Guideline Development Scheme: An Overview of Evidence Quality Assessment Methods, Evidence to Decision Frameworks, and Reporting Standards in Guideline Development.

Objective: A structured and transparent approach is instrumental in translating research evidence to health recommendations and evidence informed clinical decisions. The aim was to conduct an overview and analysis of principles and methodologies for health guideline development.

Methods: A literature review on methodologies, strategies, and fundamental steps in the process of guideline development was performed.

Establishing an Expert Consensus on Key Indicators of the Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Modified Delphi Study.

(1) Background: The needs of cancer survivors are often not reflected in practice. One of the main barriers of the use of patient-reported outcomes is associated with data collection and the interpretation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) due to a multitude of instruments and measuring approaches. The aim of the study was to establish an expert consensus on the relevance and key indicators of quality of life in the clinical practice of breast cancer survivors.

Long-term longitudinal evaluation of the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in healthcare and university workers.

Asymptomatic and pauci-symptomatic cases contribute to underestimating the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. Moreover, we have few studies available on the longitudinal follow-up of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after natural infection. We tested staff members of a Belgian tertiary academic hospital for SARS-CoV-2 IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies.