Surgical outcomes of neoadjuvant endocrine treatment in early breast cancer: meta-analysis.

Background: Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy presents an important downstaging option with lower toxicity than neoadjuvant chemotherapy in oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive early breast cancer. Meta-analysis of the effects of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy on surgical outcomes across randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and cohort studies has not previously been performed.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy on surgical outcomes (PROSPERO (international prospective register of systematic reviews, 2020)) compared with surgery followed by adjuvant endocrine therapy.

The bacteriology of pleural infection (TORPIDS): an exploratory metagenomics analysis through next generation sequencing.

Background: Pleural infection is a common and severe disease with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. The knowledge of pleural infection bacteriology remains incomplete, as pathogen detection methods based on culture have insufficient sensitivity and are biased to selected microbes. We designed a study with the aim to discover and investigate the total microbiome of pleural infection and assess the correlation between bacterial patterns and 1-year survival of patients.

Machine learning optimized polygenic scores for blood cell traits identify sex-specific trajectories and genetic correlations with disease.

Genetic association studies for blood cell traits, which are key indicators of health and immune function, have identified several hundred associations and defined a complex polygenic architecture. Polygenic scores (PGSs) for blood cell traits have potential clinical utility in disease risk prediction and prevention, but designing PGS remains challenging and the optimal methods are unclear. To address this, we evaluated the relative performance of 6 methods to develop PGS for 26 blood cell traits, including a standard method of pruning and thresholding (P + T) and 5 learning methods: LDpred2, elastic net (EN), Bayesian ridge (BR), multilayer perceptron (MLP) and convolutional neural network (CNN).

Maternal iron kinetics and maternal-fetal iron transfer in normal-weight and overweight pregnancy.

Background: Inflammation during pregnancy may aggravate iron deficiency (ID) by increasing serum hepcidin and reducing iron absorption. This could restrict iron transfer to the fetus, increasing risk of infant ID and its adverse effects.

Objectives: We aimed to assess whether iron bioavailability and/or iron transfer to the fetus is impaired in overweight/obese (OW) pregnant women with adiposity-related inflammation, compared with normal-weight (NW) pregnant women.

Integrative analysis of the plasma proteome and polygenic risk of cardiometabolic diseases.

Cardiometabolic diseases are frequently polygenic in architecture, comprising a large number of risk alleles with small effects spread across the genome. Polygenic scores (PGS) aggregate these into a metric representing an individual's genetic predisposition to disease. PGS have shown promise for early risk prediction and there is an open question as to whether PGS can also be used to understand disease biology.

The IDEAL framework in neurosurgery: a bibliometric analysis.

Background: The Idea, Development, Exploration, Assessment and Long-term study (IDEAL) framework was created to provide a structured way for assessing and evaluating novel surgical techniques and devices.

Objectives: The aim of this paper was to investigate the utilization of the IDEAL framework within neurosurgery, and to identify factors influencing implementation.

Methods: A bibliometric analysis of the 7 key IDEAL papers on Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases (2009-2019) was performed.

An extended stroke rehabilitation service for people who have had a stroke: the EXTRAS RCT.

Background: There is limited evidence about the effectiveness of rehabilitation in meeting the longer-term needs of stroke patients and their carers.

Objective: To determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an extended stroke rehabilitation service (EXTRAS).

Design: A pragmatic, observer-blind, parallel-group, multicentre randomised controlled trial with embedded health economic and process evaluations.

The relationship of perivascular adipose tissue and atherosclerosis in the aorta and carotid arteries, determined by magnetic resonance imaging.

Background And Aims: Imaging studies have relied on the 'overall' volumetric quantification of perivascular adipose tissue. We sought to assess the relationship of circumferential distribution between perivascular adipose tissue and adjacent wall thickness of carotid and aortic arteries using dedicated magnetic resonance imaging sequences.

Methods: Vessel wall and perivascular adipose tissue were acquired using magnetic resonance imaging (1.

Leukocyte Trafficking in Cardiovascular Disease: Insights from Experimental Models.

Chemokine-induced leukocyte migration into the vessel wall is an early pathological event in the progression of atherosclerosis, the underlying cause of myocardial infarction. The immune-inflammatory response, mediated by both the innate and adaptive immune cells, is involved in the initiation, recruitment, and resolution phases of cardiovascular disease progression. Activation of leukocytes via inflammatory mediators such as chemokines, cytokines, and adhesion molecules is instrumental in these processes.

Mutations in MAP3K7 that Alter the Activity of the TAK1 Signaling Complex Cause Frontometaphyseal Dysplasia.

Frontometaphyseal dysplasia (FMD) is a progressive sclerosing skeletal dysplasia affecting the long bones and skull. The cause of FMD in some individuals is gain-of-function mutations in FLNA, although how these mutations result in a hyperostotic phenotype remains unknown. Approximately one half of individuals with FMD have no identified mutation in FLNA and are phenotypically very similar to individuals with FLNA mutations, except for an increased tendency to form keloid scars.

HIV-1-Related Cardiovascular Disease Is Associated With Chronic Inflammation, Frequent Pericardial Effusions, and Probable Myocardial Edema.

Background: Patients with treated HIV infection have clear survival benefits although with increased cardiac morbidity and mortality. Mechanisms of heart disease may be partly related to untreated chronic inflammation. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging allows a comprehensive assessment of myocardial structure, function, and tissue characterization.

A mathematical model of the murine ventricular myocyte: a data-driven biophysically based approach applied to mice overexpressing the canine NCX isoform.

Mathematical modeling of Ca(2+) dynamics in the heart has the potential to provide an integrated understanding of Ca(2+)-handling mechanisms. However, many previous published models used heterogeneous experimental data sources from a variety of animals and temperatures to characterize model parameters and motivate model equations. This methodology limits the direct comparison of these models with any particular experimental data set.

An unusual cause of caecal perforation in a child.

Faecolith impaction leading to caecal perforation is a rare cause of acute abdominal pain in children. We present a case of an 11-year-old boy who was admitted to our department with a perforated caecum caused by faecolith impaction. Histology demonstrated a normal appendix with ganglion cells present.

Comparison between open and thoracoscopic resection of congenital lung lesions.

Purpose: This study compares the outcome between thoracoscopic and thoracotomy resection of congenital lung lesions.

Methods: From November 2005 to August 2007, 14 consecutive cases of video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lung resections have been performed in our institution. A retrospective review comparing these cases to the previous open thoracotomies for lung resection was performed.

Congenital lung lesions: classification and concordance of radiological appearance and surgical pathology.

Congenital lung lesions are diagnosed antenatally in the majority of cases. Postnatal management includes chest radiography and CT-scanning, followed by either surgical resection or CT surveillance. Pre-operatively, lesions are often "labelled" as CCAM (and the Stocker classification incorrectly applied), sequestration, or lobar emphysema, and their frequent "hybrid" nature sometimes missed.

Postnatal outcome of antenatally diagnosed intra-abdominal cysts.

The aim of this study is to establish the postnatal diagnosis and outcome of all abdominal cystic lesions diagnosed antenatally over a 13-year period. All prenatally suspected and postnatally confirmed intra-abdominal cysts seen and delivered between 1991 and 2004 were identified. Antenatal diagnosis, gestational age at delivery, sex and postnatal diagnosis and outcome were recorded.

Coronary artery stents and non-cardiac surgery.

The utility of interventional cardiology has developed significantly over the last two decades with the introduction of coronary angioplasty and stenting, with the associated antiplatelet medications. Acute coronary stent occlusion carries a high morbidity and mortality, and the adoption of therapeutic strategies for prophylaxis against stent thrombosis has major implications for surgeons and anaesthetists involved in the management of these patients in the perioperative period. Currently, there is limited published information to guide the clinician in the optimal care of patients who have had coronary stents inserted when they present for non-cardiac surgery.

Rectal adenocarcinoma following cranio-spinal radiotherapy for cerebellar medulloblastoma.

The authors present a case of a 16-year-old female diagnosed with rectal adenocarcinoma 10 years after receiving cranio-spinal radiotherapy for a cerebellar medulloblastoma. While the risk of a second malignancy is recognised to be increased in children previously treated with radiotherapy, rectal adenocarcinoma is a rare presentation. A child presenting with symptoms of weight loss and a change in bowel habit in a patient who has previously received radiotherapy should alert practitioners to the possibility of a colorectal malignancy.