Skeletal muscle quality predicts overall survival in advanced liver hepatocellular carcinoma treated with SIRT and sorafenib: A subanalysis of the SORAMIC trial.

Background And Aims: Our purpose was to assess the impact of muscle quality on overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced HCC.

Methods: This is a subanalysis of the SORAMIC trial. Overall, 363 patients were included.

Occurrence and trends of Clostridioides difficile infections in hospitalized patients: a prospective multi-centre cohort study in six German university hospitals, 2016-2020.

Background: For Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) in Germany no longitudinal multi-centre studies with standardized protocols for diagnosing CDI are available. Recent evaluations of general surveillance databases in Germany indicate a downward trend in CDI rates. We aimed to describe the actual burden and trends of CDI in German university hospitals from 2016 to 2020.

Osteoporosis and fracture risk are multifactorial in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Patients with inflammatory rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (iRMDs) such as rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue diseases, vasculitides and spondyloarthropathies are at a higher risk of osteoporosis and fractures than are individuals without iRMDs. Research and management recommendations for osteoporosis in iRMDs often focus on glucocorticoids as the most relevant risk factor, but they largely ignore disease-related and general risk factors. However, the aetiopathogenesis of osteoporosis in iRMDs has many facets, including the negative effects on bone health of local and systemic inflammation owing to disease activity, other iRMD-specific risk factors such as disability or malnutrition (for example, malabsorption in systemic sclerosis), and general risk factors such as older age and hormonal loss resulting from menopause.

Contemporary educational methods in periodontology.

Aim: The 1st European Workshop on Periodontal Education in 2009 made recommendations regarding the scope of periodontal education at undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG) and continuing professional development (CPD) levels, defining competencies and learning outcomes that were instrumental at the time in helping to define periodontal teaching curricula. The 19th European Workshop on Periodontology and 2nd European Consensus Workshop on Education in Periodontology (Education in Periodontology in Europe) was held in 2023 to identify changes and future developments in periodontal education (including those informed by the COVID-19 pandemic) and embracing methods and formats of periodontal teaching and training. The aim of this review was to assess current knowledge regarding education methods in periodontology, including traditional face-to-face (F2F) teaching and the move to student-centred methods, virtual learning methods and use of digital technology, as well as blended teaching and learning (including teaching delivery and assessment) at UG, PG and CPD levels.

Listening to patients, for the patients: The COVAD Study-Vision, organizational structure, and challenges.

Background: The pandemic presented unique challenges for individuals with autoimmune and rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) due to their underlying condition, the effects of immunosuppressive treatments, and increased vaccine hesitancy.

Objectives: The COVID-19 vaccination in autoimmune diseases (COVAD) study, a series of ongoing, patient self-reported surveys were conceived with the vision of being a unique tool to gather patient perspectives on AIRDs. It involved a multinational, multicenter collaborative effort amidst a global lockdown.

5qSMA: standardised retrospective natural history assessment in 268 patients with four copies of SMN2.

Newborn screening for 5qSMA offers the potential for early, ideally pre-symptomatic, therapeutic intervention. However, limited data exist on the outcomes of individuals with 4 copies of SMN2, and there is no consensus within the SMA treatment community regarding early treatment initiation in this subgroup. To provide evidence-based insights into disease progression, we performed a retrospective analysis of 268 patients with 4 copies of SMN2 from the SMArtCARE registry in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Consensus on the definitions and descriptions of the domains of the OMERACT Core Outcome Set for shared decision making interventions in rheumatology trials.

Objective: To gain consensus on the definitions and descriptions of the domains of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) core domain set for rheumatology trials evaluating shared decision making (SDM) interventions.

Methods: Following the OMERACT Handbook methods, our Working Group (WG), comprised of 90 members, including 17 patient research partners (PRPs) and 73 clinicians and researchers, had six virtual meetings in addition to email exchanges to develop draft definitions and descriptions. The WG then conducted an international survey of its members to gain consensus on the definitions and descriptions.

OMERACT Core outcome measurement set for shared decision making in rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions: a scoping review to identify candidate instruments.

Objectives: Shared decision making (SDM) is a central tenet in rheumatic and musculoskeletal care. The lack of standardization regarding SDM instruments and outcomes in clinical trials threatens the comparative effectiveness of interventions. The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) SDM Working Group is developing a Core Outcome Set for trials of SDM interventions in rheumatology and musculoskeletal health.

Premature termination, satisfaction with care, and shared decision-making during home treatment compared to inpatient treatment: A quasi-experimental trial.

Background: Inpatient equivalent home treatment (IEHT), implemented in Germany since 2018, is a specific form of home treatment. Between 2021 and 2022, IEHT was compared to inpatient psychiatric treatment in a 12-months follow-up quasi-experimental study with two propensity score matched cohorts in 10 psychiatric centers in Germany. This article reports results on the treatment during the acute episode and focuses on involvement in decision-making, patient satisfaction, and drop-out rates.

Prognostic role of radiomics-based body composition analysis for the 1-year survival for hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Background: Parameters of body composition have prognostic potential in patients with oncologic diseases. The aim of the present study was to analyse the prognostic potential of radiomics-based parameters of the skeletal musculature and adipose tissues in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Radiomics features were extracted from a cohort of 297 HCC patients as post hoc sub-study of the SORAMIC randomized controlled trial.

Association between vmPFC gray matter volume and smoking initiation in adolescents.

Smoking of cigarettes among young adolescents is a pressing public health issue. However, the neural mechanisms underlying smoking initiation and sustenance during adolescence, especially the potential causal interactions between altered brain development and smoking behaviour, remain elusive. Here, using large longitudinal adolescence imaging genetic cohorts, we identify associations between left ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) gray matter volume (GMV) and subsequent self-reported smoking initiation, and between right vmPFC GMV and the maintenance of smoking behaviour.

Worldwide variation in cardiovascular magnetic resonance practice models.

Introduction: The use of cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) for diagnosis and management of a broad range of cardiac and vascular conditions has quickly expanded worldwide. It is essential to understand how CMR is utilized in different regions around the world and the potential practice differences between high-volume and low-volume centers.

Methods: CMR practitioners and developers from around the world were electronically surveyed by the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) twice, requesting data from 2017.

S2k-Guideline SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 and (early) rehabilitation - a consensus-based guideline for Germany.

The consensus-based guideline "SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 and (early) rehabilitation" for Germany has two sections: In the first part, the guideline addresses infection protection-related procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the second part, it provides practice recommendations for rehabilitation after COVID-19. The specific recommendations for rehabilitation after COVID-19 as issued by 13 German medical societies and two patient-representative organizations are presented together with general background information for their development.

Federated vs Local vs Central Deep Learning of Tooth Segmentation on Panoramic Radiographs.

Objective: Federated Learning (FL) enables collaborative training of artificial intelligence (AI) models from multiple data sources without directly sharing data. Due to the large amount of sensitive data in dentistry, FL may be particularly relevant for oral and dental research and applications. This study, for the first time, employed FL for a dental task, automated tooth segmentation on panoramic radiographs.

Testing the stress of higher status hypothesis. Variation of occupational stress among physicians and nurses at a German university hospital.

Studies show especially for the UK and the US that physicians experience more occupational stress than nurses. It has also been shown that a higher status within the medical and nursing hierarchy is associated with less occupational stress. Our study's aim is to examine whether these results also can be found in the context of the German university hospital sector.

A machine learning-derived echocardiographic algorithm identifies people at risk of heart failure with distinct cardiac structure, function, and response to spironolactone: Findings from the HOMAGE trial.

Aim: An echocardiographic algorithm derived by machine learning (e'VM) characterizes pre-clinical individuals with different cardiac structure and function, biomarkers, and long-term risk of heart failure (HF). Our aim was the external validation of the e'VM algorithm and to explore whether it may identify subgroups who benefit from spironolactone.

Methods And Results: The HOMAGE (Heart OMics in AGEing) trial enrolled participants at high risk of developing HF randomly assigned to spironolactone or placebo over 9 months.