Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and individual patient data comparing minimally invasive with open oesophagectomy for cancer.

Background: Minimally invasive oesophagectomy (MIO) for oesophageal cancer may reduce surgical complications compared with open oesophagectomy. MIO is, however, technically challenging and may impair optimal oncological resection. The aim of the present study was to assess if MIO for cancer is beneficial.

Intermediate-term survival of robot-assisted versus open radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive and high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer in The Netherlands.

Background: Radical cystectomy with pelvic lymph node dissection is the recommended treatment in non-metastatic muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). In randomised trials, robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) showed non-inferior short-term oncological outcomes compared with open radical cystectomy (ORC). Data on intermediate and long-term oncological outcomes of RARC are limited.

Targeted test evaluation: a framework for designing diagnostic accuracy studies with clear study hypotheses.

Most randomized controlled trials evaluating medical interventions have a pre-specified hypothesis, which is statistically tested against the null hypothesis of no effect. In diagnostic accuracy studies, study hypotheses are rarely pre-defined and sample size calculations are usually not performed, which may jeopardize scientific rigor and can lead to over-interpretation or "spin" of study findings. In this paper, we propose a strategy for defining meaningful hypotheses in diagnostic accuracy studies.

Guided internet-based transdiagnostic intervention for Indonesian university students with symptoms of anxiety and depression: A pilot study protocol.

Background: There is an increasing prevalence of mental health problems among university student populations. In Indonesia, treatment rates are low among university students because of the high cost of treatment, stigma and the limited availability of mental care services. Internet-based interventions have been found to be effective in treating anxiety and depression in Western countries.

Neurofilament light as an immune target for pathogenic antibodies.

Antibodies to neuronal antigens are associated with many neurological diseases including paraneoplastic neurological disorders, epilepsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis. Immunization with neuronal antigens such as neurofilament light (NF-L), a neuronal intermediate filament in axons, has been shown to induce neurological disease and spasticity in mice. Also, although antibodies to NF-L are widely used as surrogate biomarkers of axonal injury in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis, it remains to be elucidated if antibodies to NF-L contribute to neurodegeneration and neurological disease.

Special Health Care Needs Across the School and Family Contexts: Implications for Service Utilization.

Objective: A fifth of children enter school with special health care needs (SHCN), many of whom have difficulties that are milder or not yet formally diagnosed (emerging SHCN). This study aimed to investigate how differing perceptions of children's emerging SHCN across the family and school contexts relates to service utilization.

Methods: Sample: The nationally representative birth cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, which includes parent reports on the abbreviated Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener.

Effects of Vitamin D Receptor Activation and Dietary Sodium Restriction on Residual Albuminuria in CKD: The ViRTUE-CKD Trial.

Reduction of residual albuminuria during single-agent renin-angiotensin-aldosterone blockade is accompanied by improved cardiorenal outcomes in CKD. We studied the individual and combined effects of the vitamin D receptor activator paricalcitol (PARI) and dietary sodium restriction on residual albuminuria in CKD. In a multicenter, randomized, placebo (PLAC)-controlled, crossover trial, 45 patients with nondiabetic CKD stages 1-3 and albuminuria >300 mg/24 h despite ramipril at 10 mg/d and BP<140/90 mmHg were treated for four 8-week periods with PARI (2 g/d) or PLAC, each combined with a low-sodium (LS) or regular sodium (RS) diet.

Word catheter and marsupialisation in women with a cyst or abscess of the Bartholin gland (WoMan-trial): a randomised clinical trial.

Objective: To compare recurrence of a cyst or abscess of the Bartholin gland after surgical treatment using a Word catheter or marsupialisation.

Design: Multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Eighteen hospitals in the Netherlands and one hospital in England.

Risk and Protective Factors for Middle- and Long-Distance Running-Related Injury.

Background: Despite a rapidly growing body of research, a systematic evidence compilation of the risk and protective factors for middle- and long-distance running-related injury (RRI) was lacking.

Objectives: Our objective was to compile the evidence about modifiable and non-modifiable training-related and behavioral risk and protective factors for middle- and long-distance RRI.

Methods: We searched five databases (PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, and PsycINFO) for the dates 1 January 1970 to 31 December 2015, inclusive, for original peer-reviewed articles.

Nifedipine versus atosiban for threatened preterm birth (APOSTEL III): a multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

Background: In women with threatened preterm birth, delay of delivery by 48 h allows antenatal corticosteroids to improve neonatal outcomes. For this reason, tocolytics are often administered for 48 h; however, there is no consensus about which drug results in the best maternal and neonatal outcomes. In the APOSTEL III trial we aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of the calcium-channel blocker nifedipine and the oxytocin inhibitor atosiban in women with threatened preterm birth.

Induction of labour at term with oral misoprostol versus a Foley catheter (PROBAAT-II): a multicentre randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

Background: Labour is induced in 20-30% of all pregnancies. In women with an unfavourable cervix, both oral misoprostol and Foley catheter are equally effective compared with dinoprostone in establishing vaginal birth, but each has a better safety profile. We did a trial to directly compare oral misoprostol with Foley catheter alone.

Pharmacogenomic study in patients with multiple sclerosis: Responders and nonresponders to IFN-β.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association between polymorphisms located in type I interferon (IFN)-induced genes, genes belonging to the toll-like receptor (TLR) pathway, and genes encoding neurotransmitter receptors and the response to IFN-β treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: In a first or screening phase of the study, 384 polymorphisms were genotyped in 830 patients with MS classified into IFN-β responders (n = 416) and nonresponders (n = 414) according to clinical criteria. In a second or validation phase, the most significant polymorphisms associated with IFN-β response were genotyped in an independent validation cohort of 555 patients with MS (281 IFN-β responders and 274 nonresponders).

Chest radiograph findings in children with tuberculous meningitis.

Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is diagnosed based on a combination of clinical, laboratory and radiological findings, including signs suggestive of tuberculosis (TB) on a standard chest X-ray (CXR).

Methods: We describe the radiological features suggestive of intrathoracic TB in children diagnosed with TBM during a prospective evaluation of TBM suspects seen at Tygerberg Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

Results: Of 84 children treated for TBM, 31 (37%) had 'definite' TBM, 45 (55%) 'probable' TBM and 8 (9%) 'possible' TBM.

2nd ESMO Consensus Conference on Lung Cancer: non-small-cell lung cancer first-line/second and further lines of treatment in advanced disease.

To complement the existing treatment guidelines for all tumour types, ESMO organises consensus conferences to focus on specific issues in each type of tumour. The 2nd ESMO Consensus Conference on Lung Cancer was held on 11-12 May 2013 in Lugano. A total of 35 experts met to address several questions on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in each of four areas: pathology and molecular biomarkers, first-line/second and further lines of treatment in advanced disease, early-stage disease and locally advanced disease.

PP167. A process evaluation of an innovative implementation strategy of the Dutch guidelines on hypertensive disorders in pregnancy using a computerized decision support system.

Introduction: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy remain the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands. The Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NVOG) has developed evidence-based guidelines on the management of hypertension in pregnancy. Previous studies showed a low adherence rate to other NVOG guidelines and a large variation in usual care in different hospitals.

PP095. Guideline-based development of quality indicators for hypertensive diseases in pregnancy.

Introduction: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are one of the main causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. Internationally, several organizations have developed clinical guidelines to assist professionals and to supply patients with the best possible care. To improve the care for this group of patients, insight into the application of clinical guidelines in daily practice is needed.

Oral treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Background: The armamentarium for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is increasing rapidly. Several oral treatments have shown benefit and will generate much interest because of the convenience of such administration. However, availability of convenient oral drugs will not necessarily translate into clinical effectiveness and safety.

Prevalence of impairment of visual function in European drivers.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of impairment of visual function amongst European drivers.

Methods: A total of 2422 drivers from five European countries underwent a battery of visual function tests, including tests for visual acuity (VA), visual field (VF), contrast sensitivity, straylight (glare sensitivity) and useful field of view (UFOV). Subjects belonged to the following age categories: 45-54 years; 55-64 years; 65-74 years, and ≥ 75 years.

Neurological signs in relation to type of cerebrovascular disease in vascular dementia.

Background And Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of a number of neurological signs in a large population of patients with vascular dementia (VaD) and to compare the relative frequency of specific neurological signs dependent on type of cerebrovascular disease.

Methods: Seven hundred six patients with VaD (NINDS-AIREN) were included from a large multicenter clinical trial (registration number NCT00099216). At baseline neurological examination, the presence of 16 neurological signs was assessed.

Relationship between clinical features of Crohn's disease and the risk of developing extraintestinal manifestations.

Objectives: Crohn's disease is frequently associated with extraintestinal manifestations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of association between the development of extraintestinal manifestations, the clinical forms of Crohn's disease according to the Vienna Classification and to the presence of several potential risk factors of the disease.

Methods: One hundred and seventy-three consecutive Crohn's disease patients were studied.

The Benjamini-Hochberg method in the case of discrete test statistics.

We present a reformulation of the Benjamini-Hochberg method that is useful in 'large-scale' multiple testing problems based on discrete test statistics and derive its basic asymptotic (as the number of hypotheses tends to infinity) properties, subsuming earlier results. A set of gene expression data is used to illustrate the workings of the method in a multiple testing problem based on Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Mann-Whitney statistics.

The paradox of declining fertility but increasing twinning rates with advancing maternal age.

Background: Advancing female age is associated with declining fertility potential due to decreasing numbers and quality of oocytes but also with a distinct increase in dizygotic twinning rates, a phenomenon that has never been explained.

Method: An analysis of follicle development was made in 959 spontaneous ovulatory cycles of 507 women.

Results: Multiple ovarian follicular development (>1 follicle >14 mm) and, by implication, multiple rather than single ovulations occurred in 105 women whose mean age (36.

Corneal surface reconstruction algorithm that uses Zernike polynomial representation.

We developed an algorithm that directly determines Zernike coefficients for the corneal anterior surface derived from the reflection image of a stimulus with pseudorandom encoding. This algorithm does not need to include calculation of corneal height maps. The numerical performance of the algorithm is good.