Evaluation of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative in assessing the quality of life in patients with advanced cancer.

Purpose Of Review: Two widely validated health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) tools, specifically designed for patients with advanced cancer, are the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Palliative (FACIT-Pal-14). This systematic review aims to evaluate the use of EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and FACIT-Pal-14 in prospective studies in patients with advanced cancer, focusing on study types, clinical settings, additional HR-QoL tools used, and completion rates.

Recent Findings: Sixty studies were included in the analysis.

Cutaneous Hemangioma With Epithelioid Features Harboring TPM3/4::ALK Fusions: A Distinct Entity or a Molecular Variant of Epithelioid Hemangioma?

Vascular neoplasms with epithelioid cytomorphology encompass a wide spectrum of benign and malignant lesions, including epithelioid hemangioma (EH), cutaneous epithelioid angiomatous nodule (CEAN), epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE), and epithelioid angiosarcoma (EAS). Recently, the first case of a cutaneous hemangioma with epithelioid features harboring a TPM3::ALK fusion was reported. Herein, we report 4 additional cases, including 1 case with an alternate TPM4::ALK fusion, and expand on the clinicopathologic and molecular genetic features of these unusual vascular lesions.

Compliance with transmission-based precautions, and associated factors among healthcare providers in Cameroon: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Transmission-based precautions (TBP) and the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are essential in preventing hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and in controlling the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This study, therefore, aimed to determine healthcare providers' compliance with TBP and its determinants in healthcare settings to help curb the burden of HAIs and AMR.

Method: This study was a cross-sectional, hospital-based research conducted among healthcare providers at four health facilities in the Fako division of Cameroon, from January 1 to May 31, 2024.

REM sleep quality is associated with balanced tonic activity of the locus coeruleus during wakefulness.

Background: Animal studies established that the locus coeruleus (LC) plays important roles in sleep and wakefulness regulation. Whether it contributes to sleep variability in humans is not yet established. Here, we investigated if the in vivo activity of the LC is related to the variability in the quality of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.

Dysbiosis Patterns in Glottic and Laryngeal Cancers: A Systematic Review of Microbiome Alterations.

Background: This systematic review summarized current evidence regarding the role of upper aerodigestive tract microbiomes (UAM) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) development, progression, clinical, and oncological outcomes.

Methods: Two investigators systematically search PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases for studies investigating microbiome characteristics, mechanistic roles, and associations with clinical and oncological outcomes in LSCC according to the Preferred Reporting Items For A Systematic Review And Meta-analysis statements. The bias analysis was conducted with the methodological index for nonrandomized studies.

Severe Amiodarone-Induced Thyrotoxicosis in 2 Patients Who Required Plasmapheresis Before Thyroidectomy.

Amiodarone is a class III antiarrhythmic medication known for its complex interplay with thyroid physiology. Its prolonged half-life can result in persistent effects on thyroid function even after discontinuation. Amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is a serious and challenging complication due to these lasting effects.

Optimization of screening strategy for chronic kidney disease by urine test strips using the albumin-creatinine read-out.

Introduction: Clinical laboratories play an important role in the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our aim was to evaluate the performance of qualitative and semi-quantitative albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and protein-to-creatinine ratio (PCR) test strip results as screening tools for albuminuria in multiple representative patient cohorts.

Materials And Methods: ACR and PCR were evaluated in both cross-sectional (n = 940) and validation (n = 927) patient cohorts.

A nationwide comprehensive genomic profiling and molecular tumor board platform for patients with advanced cancer.

The Belgian Approach for Local Laboratory Extensive Tumor Testing (BALLETT) study assessed the feasibility of using comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) in clinical decision-making for patients with advanced cancers. This multi-center study enrolled 872 patients from 12 Belgian hospitals. CGP was performed on tumor tissues using a standardized CGP panel (523 genes) across nine laboratories with success in 93% of patients and a median turnaround time of 29 days.

A functional single-cell metabolic survey identifies Elovl1 as a target to enhance CD8 T cell fitness in solid tumours.

Reprogramming T cell metabolism can improve intratumoural fitness. By performing a CRISPR/Cas9 metabolic survey in CD8 T cells, we identified 83 targets and we applied single-cell RNA sequencing to disclose transcriptome changes associated with each metabolic perturbation in the context of pancreatic cancer. This revealed elongation of very long-chain fatty acids protein 1 (Elovl1) as a metabolic target to sustain effector functions and memory phenotypes in CD8 T cells.

Pharmacological Countermeasures for Long-Duration Space Missions: Addressing Cardiovascular Challenges and Advancing Space-Adapted Healthcare.

Future long-duration crewed space missions beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) will bring new healthcare challenges for astronauts for which pharmacological countermeasures (pharmacological countermeasures) are crucial. This paper highlights current pharmacological countermeasures challenges described in the ESA SciSpacE Roadmap, with a focus on the cardiovascular system as a model to demonstrate the potential implication of the challenges and recommendations. New pharmacological approaches and procedures need to be adapted to spaceflight (spaceflight) conditions, including ethical and reglementary considerations.

Evaluation and Management of Chronic Kidney Disease: Synopsis of the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes 2024 Clinical Practice Guideline.

Description: The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) organization updated its existing clinical practice guideline in 2024 to provide guidance on the evaluation, management, and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults and children who are not receiving kidney replacement therapy.

Methods: The KDIGO CKD Guideline Work Group defined the scope of the guideline and determined topics for systematic review. An independent Evidence Review Team systematically reviewed the evidence and graded the certainty of evidence for each of the review topics.

Spondylodiscitis.

Diagnosis of spondylodiscitis remains a challenge for clinicians. It results from various causative agents and conditions that can be challenging to identify. Prompt and appropriate treatment are necessary to prevent long-term irreversible complications and sequelae.

Role of FDG PET/CT in bacteremia and fever of unknown origin: a pictorial overview of finding the culprit.

F fluorodeoxyglucose ([F]FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) has established itself as a critical diagnostic tool in the evaluation of patients with bacteremia and fever of unknown origin (FUO), particularly following futile conventional investigations. These conditions are often challenging due to diverse underlying etiologies, including infections, inflammatory conditions and malignancies. PET/CT has the advantage of being a whole-body imaging technique with high sensitivity for detecting areas of increased metabolism often associated with infection or inflammation.

Proceedings of the 29th Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society.

The 2024 Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) was from May 1-4th in Houston, Texas, USA, under the theme "Liver Disease and Transplantation: Breaking Barriers and Exploring New Frontiers". In addition to a robust scientific program, the congress also hosted a hands-on cadaveric robotic liver surgery course, a machine perfusion workshop, and a transesophageal echocardiography course. In this report, the ILTS Vanguard and Basic Sciences Committees present a summary of the congress proceedings.

Peripheral Giant Cell Granuloma in a Child Following Tooth Extraction.

Peripheral giant cell granuloma (PGCG) is a common benign hyperplastic reactive lesion that originates from the soft tissues of the oral cavity and should be considered following a tooth extraction.

Control of HIV across the WHO European region: progress and remaining challenges.

Despite the ambitious global goal to control HIV transmissions by 2030, more than 30% of people with HIV from the WHO European Region show persistent transmissible levels of the virus. Successful introduction of oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has led to significant decreases in new HIV transmissions in some areas of Europe, particularly among men who have sex with men. However, the limited PrEP access or lack of state funding in many European countries underlines the need to increase efforts to make PrEP consistently and equitably available for all individuals in need.

Using prior information to individualize start item selection when assessing physical functioning with the EORTC CAT Core.

Background: Computerized adaptive test (CAT) provides individualized measurement, using the patient's previous responses to select the next most informative item. However, the first item, the start item, is usually not individualized as no score estimate is available a priori. The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) CAT Core covers 15 health-related quality of life domains.

Combined Pancreas-Kidney Transplantation After Rescue Allocation: The Eurotransplant Experience: A Retrospective Multicenter Outcome Analysis.

Background: Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) is the therapy of choice for selected patients with complicated type 1 diabetes mellitus and end-stage renal disease. Pancreas rescue allocation was implemented in Eurotransplant allocation algorithms to increase organ utilization, concurrently facilitating transplantation of supposedly inferior quality organs. The aim of this study was to examine whether outcomes of SPKT after rescue allocation, which can either be recipient-oriented extended allocation or competitive rescue allocation, were as good as after standard allocation.

Effectiveness of the XBB.1.5 COVID-19 Vaccines Against SARS-CoV-2 Hospitalisation Among Adults Aged ≥ 65 Years During the BA.2.86/JN.1 Predominant Period, VEBIS Hospital Study, Europe, November 2023 to May 2024.

We estimated the effectiveness of the adapted monovalent XBB.1.5 COVID-19 vaccines against PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 hospitalisation during the BA.

To rescue or not to rescue immature oocytes: Prospects and challenges.

In vitro maturation (IVM) of immature oocytes has been explored for research and clinical purposes since the dawn of assisted reproduction technologies. Oocyte maturation is a highly specific process, based on complex mutual relationships between the germ and somatic cell compartments. The complexity of this relationship has made the quest for achieving oocyte maturation in vitro arduous.

Improving lung cancer pathological hyperspectral diagnosis through cell-level annotation refinement.

Lung cancer remains a major global health challenge, and accurate pathological examination is crucial for early detection. This study aims to enhance hyperspectral pathological image analysis by refining annotations at the cell level and creating a high-quality hyperspectral dataset of lung tumors. We address the challenge of coarse manual annotations in hyperspectral lung cancer datasets, which limit the effectiveness of deep learning models requiring precise labels for training.

Discrepancy between parallel anti-Xa and APTT is related to mortality in patients with Impella™ supported cardiogenic shock.

Background: Managing unfractionated heparin (UFH) during percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (PMCS) for cardiogenic shock (CS) is challenging due potential discrepancies between coagulation tests.

Objectives: To study the causes and consequences of discrepancies between anti-Xa and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) for UFH-monitoring during micro-axial flow pump support (Impella™) for CS.

Patients/methods: We assessed patients in CS supported with Impella™ in two tertiary care centres over 62 months.