Comparability of clinical wear measurements by optical 3D laser scanning in two different centers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the use of different variables to measure the clinical wear of two denture tooth materials in two analysis centers.

Methods: Twelve edentulous patients were provided with full dentures. Two different denture tooth materials (experimental material and control) were placed randomly in accordance with the split-mouth design.

The combined expression of the stromal markers fibronectin and SPARC improves the prediction of survival in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Background: In diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, gene expression profiling studies attributed a major biologic role to non-neoplastic cells of the tumour microenvironment as its composition and characteristics were shown to predict survival. In particular, the expression of selected genes encoding components of the extracellular matrix was reported to be associated with clinical outcome. Nevertheless, the translation of these data into robust, routinely applicable immunohistochemical markers is still warranted.

Identifying Homogeneous Subgroups in Neurological Disorders: Unbiased Recursive Partitioning in Cervical Complete Spinal Cord Injury.

Background The reliable stratification of homogeneous subgroups and the prediction of future clinical outcomes within heterogeneous neurological disorders is a particularly challenging task. Nonetheless, it is essential for the implementation of targeted care and effective therapeutic interventions. Objective This study was designed to assess the value of a recently developed regression tool from the family of unbiased recursive partitioning methods in comparison to established statistical approaches (eg, linear and logistic regression) for predicting clinical endpoints and for prospective patients' stratification for clinical trials.

Leishmaniasis acquired by travellers to endemic regions in Europe: a EuroTravNet multi-centre study.

Background: Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis include cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). About 90% of cases occur in the tropics or subtropics but the disease is also endemic in the Mediterranean area.

Imaging non-specific wrist pain: interobserver agreement and diagnostic accuracy of SPECT/CT, MRI, CT, bone scan and plain radiographs.

Purpose: Chronic hand and wrist pain is a common clinical issue for orthopaedic surgeons and rheumatologists. The purpose of this study was 1. To analyze the interobserver agreement of SPECT/CT, MRI, CT, bone scan and plain radiographs in patients with non-specific pain of the hand and wrist, and 2.

Accuracy of cause of death data routinely recorded in a population-based cancer registry: impact on cause-specific survival and validation using the Geneva Cancer Registry.

Background: Information on the underlying cause of death of cancer patients is of interest because it can be used to estimate net survival. The population-based Geneva Cancer Registry is unique because registrars are able to review the official cause of death. This study aims to describe the difference between the official and revised cause-of-death variables and the impact on cancer survival estimates.

Central pain sensitization, COMT Val158Met polymorphism, and emotional factors in fibromyalgia.

Unlabelled: Neurobiological evidence points to altered central nervous system processing of nociceptive stimuli in fibromyalgia. Enzymes like catechol-O-methyl-transferase (COMT) are involved in the elimination of catecholamines playing a possible role in central sensitization and pain. We used quantitative sensory testing to evidence central sensitization in fibromyalgia patients and test whether COMTVal158Met polymorphism, associated with a reduction in enzyme activity, plays a role in sensitized patients.

Mental health literacy and the experience of depression in a community sample of gay men.

Background: Gay men are at higher risk of suffering from a variety of psychiatric disorders, yet the mental health literacy of this population has remained largely unknown.

Methods: In 2007 and 2011, surveys were conducted among gay men in Geneva, Switzerland, recruited by probability-based time-space sampling. Based on a case vignette of a man with major depression, respondents were asked a series of questions about labelling, perceived risk, and help-seeking beliefs.

The Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale: Further validity testing.

Background: Paediatric palliative care is still often introduced late in the illness trajectory of children with life-limiting diseases. Translating palliative care into practice continues to be a challenge.

Aim: To validate the Paediatric Palliative Screening Scale further by defining attributes that predict the need for palliative care in children between 1 and 18 years.

Breast lesions in reduction mammaplasty specimens: a histopathological pattern in 534 patients.

Background: The prevalence of breast lesions (benign, precancerous and cancer lesions) in reduction mammaplasty (RM) specimens has rarely been reported in Europe and never in the Swiss population.

Methods: Personal and histopathological data from 534 female patients who underwent RM were reviewed.

Results: Benign and/or malignant lesions were detected in 76.

Relative energy balance, CKD, and risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.

Background: Mortality risk for people with chronic kidney disease is substantially greater than that for the general population, increasing to a 7-fold greater risk for those on dialysis therapy. Higher body mass index, generally due to higher energy intake, appears protective for people on dialysis therapy, but the relationship between energy intake and survival in those with reduced kidney function is unknown.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study with a median follow-up of 14.

Surviving 20 years after heart transplantation: a success story.

Background: We report the long-term outcomes of patients who survived 20 years or greater after heart transplantation.

Methods: From 1985 to 2012, 386 patients underwent heart transplantation at our institution. Patient data were analyzed retrospectively for transplants performed from 1985 to 1991.

Assessment of mitral valve area during percutaneous mitral valve repair using the MitraClip system: comparison of different echocardiographic methods.

Background: Quantification of the mitral valve area (MVA) is important to guide percutaneous mitral valve repair using the MitraClip system. However, little is known about how to best assess MVA in this specific situation.

Methods And Results: Immediately before and after MitraClip implantation, comprehensive 3-dimensional (3D) transesophageal echocardiography data were acquired for MVA assessment by the pressure half-time method and by two 3D quantification methods (mitral valve quantification software and 3D quantification software).

Use of anti-malarial drugs and the risk of developing eye disorders.

Background: Ocular toxicity was described in the late 1950s for some anti-malarial drugs, but only limited information is available on the comparison of ocular toxicity of different anti-malarials.

Methods: We conducted a follow-up study with a nested case-control analysis using the General Practice Research Database to compare the risk of developing a first-time diagnosis of an eye disorder during exposure of mefloquine, chloroquine and/or proguanil or atovaquone/proguanil use to non-users. We calculated incidence rates with 95% confidence intervals (CI) and odds ratios using multivariate conditional logistic regression analyses.

No association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with exacerbations in primary care patients with COPD.

Background: Cross-sectional studies suggest an association of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with exacerbations in patients with COPD, but longitudinal evidence from cohort studies is scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with exacerbations and mortality in primary care patients with COPD.

Methods: In the main analysis, we included 356 patients with COPD (GOLD [Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease] stages II-IV, free from exacerbations for ≥ 4 weeks) from a prospective cohort study in Dutch and Swiss primary care settings.

Reduced estimated GFR and cancer mortality.

Background: Chronic kidney disease is associated with an increased risk of cancer, but whether reduced kidney function also leads to increased cancer mortality is uncertain. The aim of our study was to assess the independent effects of reduced kidney function on the risk of cancer deaths.

Study Design: Prospective population-based cohort study.

Accounting for baseline differences and measurement error in the analysis of change over time.

If change over time is compared in several groups, it is important to take into account baseline values so that the comparison is carried out under the same preconditions. As the observed baseline measurements are distorted by measurement error, it may not be sufficient to include them as covariate. By fitting a longitudinal mixed-effects model to all data including the baseline observations and subsequently calculating the expected change conditional on the underlying baseline value, a solution to this problem has been provided recently so that groups with the same baseline characteristics can be compared.

Computed tomographic perfusion imaging for the prediction of response and survival to transarterial radioembolization of liver metastases.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate prospectively, in patients with liver metastases, the ability of computed tomographic (CT) perfusion to predict the morphologic response and survival after transarterial radioembolization (TARE).

Methods: Thirty-eight patients (22 men; mean [SD] age, 63 [12] years) with otherwise therapy-refractory liver metastases underwent dynamic, contrast-enhanced CT perfusion within 1 hour before treatment planning catheter angiography, for calculation of the arterial perfusion (AP) of liver metastases, 20 days before TARE with Yttrium-90 microspheres. Treatment response was evaluated morphologically on follow-up imaging (mean, 114 days) on the basis of the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria (version 1.

Effect of supervised training on FEV1 in cystic fibrosis: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Long-term exercise interventions have been shown to improve vital capacity in cystic fibrosis (CF). Yet, no data are available indicating positive effects of long-term exercise training on FEV1.

Methods: 39 Swiss patients with CF were randomly divided into strength training (ST, n=12), endurance training (AT, n=17) and controls (CON(CH), n=10), and also compared with age-matched Swiss (n=35) and German (n=701) CF registry data.

Importance and determinants of Gleason score undergrading on biopsy sample of prostate cancer in a population-based study.

Background: In this population-based study, we investigated the degree of concordance between Gleason scores obtained from prostate biopsies and those obtained from prostatectomy specimens, as well as the determinants of biopsy understaging.

Methods: We considered for this study all 371 prostate cancer patients recorded at the Geneva Cancer Registry diagnosed from 2004 to 2006 who underwent a radical prostatectomy. We used the kappa statistic to evaluate the Gleason score concordance from biopsy and prostatectomy specimens.

Serial lactate and admission SOFA scores in trauma: an analysis of predictive value in 724 patients with and without traumatic brain injury.

Objective: Arterial lactate, base excess (BE), lactate clearance, and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score have been shown to correlate with outcome in severely injured patients. The goal of the present study was to separately assess their predictive value in patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) as opposed to patients suffering from injuries not related to the brain.

Materials And Methods: A total of 724 adult trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥ 16 were grouped into patients without TBI (non-TBI), patients with isolated TBI (isolated TBI), and patients with a combination of TBI and non-TBI injuries (combined injuries).

Robust parametric indirect estimates of the expected cost of a hospital stay with covariates and censored data.

We consider the problem of estimating the mean hospital cost of stays of a class of patients (e.g., a diagnosis-related group) as a function of patient characteristics.