Residual breast tissue after mastectomy and reconstruction: A substudy of the Spatial location of breast cancer local rECurRence aftEr masTectomy (SECRET) project.

Unlabelled: The current project is part of the Spatial location of breast cancer local rECurRence aftEr masTectomy (SECRET) study (NCT06130111). Herein we compared the chest wall thickness after non-skin sparing mastectomy (non-SSM) with the chest wall thickness after SSM, as a surrogate for residual breast tissue after mastectomy.

Methods: The study was approved by the ethics committee of relevant institutions.

Transforaminal epidural steroid injection for radiculopathy and the evolution to surgical treatment: a pragmatic prospective observational multicenter study.

The aim of this study is to analyze the real-world outcomes of transforaminal epidural steroid injections (TFESIs) in all patients with radiculopathy and their long-term outcomes. Patients with radiculopathy and failure of conservative treatment were included in a prospective, multicenter, observational cohort study. In total, 117 patients were treated with one or two TFESIs.

Fixed-duration venetoclax plus obinutuzumab improves quality of life and geriatric impairments in FCR-unfit patients with CLL.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)-related symptoms and morbidity related to the advanced age at diagnosis impairs the well-being of older adult patients. Therefore, it is essential to tailor treatment according to geriatric characteristics and aim for an improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as a primary treatment goal. In the HOVON139/GiVe trial, 12 cycles of fixed-duration venetoclax plus obinutuzumab (Ven-O) were shown to be effective and tolerable in FCR (fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, rituximab)-unfit patients with CLL (n = 67).

Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion as a Feasible Treatment for Thoracolumbar Spondylodiscitis: A Multicenter Belgian Case-Series.

Background: Spondylodiscitis is, after tissue sampling, initially managed with intravenous antibiotics. In patients with treatment failure, surgical debridement and stabilization is considered. An anterior or posterior approach has already been reported as a successful surgical access, but is associated with a large exposure and a significant morbidity.

Venetoclax consolidation after fixed-duration venetoclax plus obinutuzumab for previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (HOVON 139/GiVe): primary endpoint analysis of a multicentre, open-label, randomised, parallel-group, phase 2 trial.

Background: Fixed-duration 12 cycles of venetoclax plus obinutuzumab is established as first-line treatment for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. We aimed to determine the activity and safety of 12 cycles of venetoclax consolidation after fixed-duration venetoclax plus obinutuzumab for previously untreated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia who were unfit for fludarabine-based treatment, and whether this could be guided by minimal residual disease status.

Methods: We conducted an open-label, randomised, parallel-group, phase 2 trial (HOVON 139/GiVe) at 25 hospitals in the Netherlands.

Risk factors associated with positive surgical margins' location at radical cystectomy and their impact on bladder cancer survival.

Purpose: To evaluate the risk factors associated with positive surgical margins' (PSMs) location and their impact on disease-specific survival (DSS) in patients with bladder cancer (BCa) undergoing radical cystectomy (RC).

Methods: We analyzed a large multi-institutional cohort of patients treated with upfront RC for non-metastatic (cT1-4aN0M0) BCa. Multivariable binomial logistic regression analyses were used to assess the risk of PSMs at RC for each location after adjusting for clinicopathological covariates.

Geriatric Assessment and the Relation with Mortality and Hospitalizations in Older Patients Starting Dialysis.

Background And Objectives: A geriatric assessment (GA) is a structural method for identifying frail patients. The relation of GA findings and risk of death in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is not known. The objective of the GA in OLder patients starting Dialysis Study was to assess the association of GA at dialysis initiation with early mortality and hospitalization.

Association of Initiation of Maintenance Dialysis with Functional Status and Caregiver Burden.

Background And Objectives: Little is known about the functional course after initiating dialysis in elderly patients with ESKD. The aim of this study was to assess the association of the initiation of dialysis in an elderly population with functional status and caregiver burden.

Design, Setting, Participants & Measurements: This study included participants aged ≥65 years with ESKD who were enrolled in the Geriatric Assessment in Older Patients Starting Dialysis study.

Risk factors for atherosclerotic and medial arterial calcification of the intracranial internal carotid artery.

Background And Aims: Calcifications of the intracranial internal carotid artery (iICA) are an important risk factor for stroke. The calcifications can occur both in the intimal and medial layer of the vascular wall. The aim of this study is to assess whether medial calcification in the iICA is differently related to risk factors for cardiovascular disease, compared to intimal calcification.

Effects of psychosocial factors on monitoring treatment effect in newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis patients over time: response data from the tREACH study.

Objectives: To investigate whether, apart from effects of patient- and disease-related factors, psychosocial factors have additional effects on disease activity; and which factors are most influential during the first year of treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Method: The study assessed 15 month follow-up data from patients in tREACH, a randomized clinical trial comparing initial triple disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug therapy to methotrexate monotherapy, with glucocorticoid bridging in both groups. Patients were evaluated every 3 months and treated to target.

The feasibility and safety of extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal to avoid intubation in patients with COPD unresponsive to noninvasive ventilation for acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (ECLAIR study): multicentre case-control study.

Introduction: The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of avoiding invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) by using extracorporeal CO2 removal (ECCO2R) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute hypercapnic respiratory failure refractory to noninvasive ventilation (NIV).

Methods: Case-control study. Patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure refractory to NIV being treated with a pump-driven veno-venous ECCO2R system (iLA-Activve(®); Novalung, Heilbronn, Germany) were prospectively observed in five European intensive care units (ICU).

CT angiography and CT perfusion improve prediction of infarct volume in patients with anterior circulation stroke.

Introduction: We investigated whether baseline CT angiography (CTA) and CT perfusion (CTP) in acute ischemic stroke could improve prediction of infarct presence and infarct volume on follow-up imaging.

Methods: We analyzed 906 patients with suspected anterior circulation stroke from the prospective multicenter Dutch acute stroke study (DUST). All patients underwent baseline non-contrast CT, CTA, and CTP and follow-up non-contrast CT/MRI after 3 days.

The ACCURE-trial: the effect of appendectomy on the clinical course of ulcerative colitis, a randomised international multicenter trial (NTR2883) and the ACCURE-UK trial: a randomised external pilot trial (ISRCTN56523019).

Background: Over the past 20 years evidence has accumulated confirming the immunomodulatory role of the appendix in ulcerative colitis (UC). This led to the idea that appendectomy might alter the clinical course of established UC. The objective of this body of research is to evaluate the short-term and medium-term efficacy of appendectomy to maintain remission in patients with UC, and to establish the acceptability and cost-effectiveness of the intervention compared to standard treatment.

The effect of the Operating Room Coordinator's risk appreciation on operating room efficiency.

Background: The Operating Room Coordinator (ORC) is responsible for filling gaps in every operating room (OR) schedule. We have observed differences among the personalities of the four ORCs with regard to their willingness to agree to assume more risk concerning their daily planning. The hypothesis to be tested is that the relationship between the personality of each of the four ORCs and the risk an ORC is willing to take of cases running late affects OR efficiency.

About hearsay - or reappraisal of the role of the anamnesis as an instrument of meaningful communication.

As a result of the ICT revolution and enhancement of diagnostic possibilities, the anamnesis, as an instrument of meaningful communication in disease and a cornerstone of medical practice throughout the ages, has lost in importance. Nowadays, we are on the brink of a more patient-tailored and individualised therapy, so there is a growing need for an open dialogue in the doctor-patient relationship, a situation very similar to the beginning of the professionalisation of assistance in disease in ancient medicine. Reappraisal of the anamnesis and awareness of the patient-doctor relationship are therefore warranted and for that reason its roots and evolution are discussed from a historic perspective.

Pliny's pharmacopoeia or the Roman treat.

Pliny's pharmacopoeia is considered to be the cradle of pharmacotherapy. Its compilation, accessibility and distribution on a larger scale then ever before took care of the spread of knowledge, which contributed to its name and fame throughout the ages. References to a (nonspecified) cardiac diagnosis are discussed with special interest in glycosides, flavonoids, alkaloids and synergy in drug action.

Scientific progress - or just another day at the office.

Harvey is generally accepted as the patron saint of cardiology. Some shading is not amiss because a medical history canon is by definition an instantaneous photograph. Therefore De Motu Cordis is set in a historic perspective and portrayed as the result of genuine scientific progress.