The latest medical research on Paediatric Surgery

The direct association between procedure risk and outcomes in elderly emergency general surgery (EGS) patients has not been analyzed. Studies only highlight the importance of frailty. A comprehensive analysis of relevant risk factors and their association with outcomes in elderly EGS patients is lacking. We hypothesized that procedure risk has a stronger association with relevant outcomes in elderly EGS patients compared to frailty.

Elderly patients (age > 65) undergoing emergency general surgery operative procedures were identified in the NSQIP) database (2018 to 2020) and stratified based on the presence of frailty calculated by the Modified 5 Item Frailty Index (mFI-5; mFI 0 Non-Frail, mFI 1-2 Frail, and mFI ≥3 Severely Frail) and based on procedure risk. Multivariable regression models and Receiving Operative Curve (ROC) analysis were used to determine risk factors associated with outcomes.

A total of 59,633 elderly EGS patients were classified into non-frail (17,496; 29.3%), frail (39,588; 66.4%), and severely frail (2,549; 4.3%). There were 25,157 patients in the low-risk procedure group and 34,476 in the high-risk group.Frailty and procedure risk were associated with increased mortality, complications, failure to rescue, and readmissions. Differences in outcomes were greater when patients were stratified according to procedure risk compared to frailty stratification alone. Procedure risk had a stronger association with relevant outcomes in elderly EGS patients compared to frailty.

Assessing frailty in the elderly EGS patient population without adjusting for the type of procedure or procedure risk ultimately presents an incomplete representation of how frailty impacts patient-related outcomes.

About 75% of medullary thyroid cancers (MTCs) are sporadic with 45-70% being driven by a RET mutation. Selpercatinib is an approved treatment for RET-mutated (mutRET) MTC, however, treatments are needed for wild-type RET MTC (wtRET). Genomic alterations and transcriptomic signatures of wtRET MTC may reveal new therapeutic insights.

We did a retrospective analysis of MTC samples submitted for DNA/RNA sequencing and PD-L1 expression using IHC at a CLIA/CAP-certified lab. Tumor microenvironment immune cell fractions were estimated using RNA deconvolution (quanTIseq). Transcriptomic signatures of inflammation and MAP kinase pathway activation scores (MPAS) were calculated. Mann-Whitney U, chi-square, and Fisher exact tests were applied (p-values adjusted for multiple comparisons).

The 160-patient cohort included 108 mutRET and 52 wtRET MTC samples. wtRET tumors frequently harbored MAPK pathway mutations, including HRAS (42.31%), KRAS (15.7%), NF1 (6.7%), and BRAF (2%) whereas only one MAPK pathway mutation (NF1) was identified among mutRET MTC. Recurrent mutations seen in wtRET MTC included MGA, VHL, APC, STK11, and NFE2L2. Increased transcriptional activation of the MAPK pathway was observed in wtRET patients harboring mutations in MAPK genes. While the frequency of PD-L1 expression was similar in wtRET and mutRET (10.2% vs 7.0%, p=0.531), wtRET tumors were more often TMB-high (7.7% vs 0.0%, p=0.011), and wtRET MTC exhibited higher expression of immune checkpoint genes.

We identified molecular alterations and immune-related features that distinguish wtRET from mutRET MTC. While RET mutation drives MTC in the absence of other alterations, we showed that wtRET MTC frequently harbors MAPK pathway mutations. These findings may indicate a potential basis for MAPK-targeted therapy, possibly in combination with oncology immune-oncology agents for selected patients with wtRET MTC.

Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) improve survival for patients with cardiac failure, but LVAD specific infections (VSI) remain a challenge with poorly understood predictive risk factors. Furthermore, the indications and utility of escalating medical treatment to surgical debridement and potential flap reconstruction are not well-characterized.

A retrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing primary LVAD implantation at a tertiary academic center was performed. The primary outcomes measures were 90-day and overall mortality after VSI. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to generate a risk-prediction score for mortality.

Of the 760 patients undergoing primary LVAD implantation, 255 (34%) developed VSI; of these 91 (36%) were managed medically, 134 (52%) with surgical debridement, and 30 (12%) with surgical debridement and flap reconstruction. One-year survival after infection was 85% with median survival of 2.40 years. Factors independently associated with increased mortality were diabetes (hazard ratio (HR) 1.44, p=0.04), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection (HR 1.64, p=0.03), deep space (pump pocket/outflow cannula) involvement (HR 2.26, p<0.001) and extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation after LVAD (HR 2.52, p<0.01. Factors independently associated with decreased mortality were flap reconstruction (HR 0.49, p=0.02) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus infection (HR 0.63, p=0.03). A clinical risk prediction score was developed using these factors and showed significant differences in median survival, which was 5.67 years for low-risk (score 0-1), 3.62 years for intermediate-risk (score 2), and 1.48 years for high-risk (score >3) (p<0.001) patients.

We developed a clinical risk prediction score to stratify VSI patients. In selected cases, escalating surgical treatment was associated with increased survival. Future work is needed to determine if early surgical debridement and flap reconstruction can alter outcomes in select cases of VSI.

Significant advancements in pediatric oncology have led to a continuously growing population of survivors. Although extensive research is being conducted on the short-, medium-, and long-term somatic effects, reports on psychosocial reintegration are often conflicting; therefore, there is an urgent need to synthesize the evidence to obtain the clearest understanding and the most comprehensive answer.

To provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the socioeconomic attainment of childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) compared with their unaffected peers.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using data obtained from a comprehensive search of MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) databases on October 23, 2021; the search was updated until July 31, 2023.

Eligible articles reported on educational attainment, employment, family formation, quality of life (QoL), or health-risk behavior-related outcomes of CCSs, and compared them with their unaffected peers. Study selection was performed in duplicate by 4 blinded independent coauthors.

Data extraction was performed in duplicate by 4 independent authors following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Outcome measures were odds ratios (ORs) and mean differences with 95% CIs; data were pooled using a random-effects model.

The search identified 43 913 articles, 280 of which were eligible for analysis, reporting data on a total of 389 502 survivors. CCSs were less likely to complete higher levels of education (OR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.40-1.18), had higher odds of health-related unemployment (OR, 2.94; 95% CI, 1.90-4.57), and showed lower rates of marriage (OR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.63-0.84) and parenthood (OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.49-0.74) compared with population-based controls.

Study findings suggest that CCSs face several socioeconomic difficulties; as a result, the next goal of pediatric oncology should be to minimize adverse effects, as well as to provide lifelong survivorship support aimed at maximizing social reintegration.