Ahmed Abdoh

Prognostic implications of mandibular invasion in oral cancer.

Mandibular invasion alters the clinical staging and management of oral epidermoid carcinoma on the assumption that underresection of mandibular bone invaded by tumor can result in disease progression and poor outcome.

Comparing comorbid-illness indices assessing outcome variation : The case of prostatectomy

OBJECTIVE: We investigated and compared the effects of three different comorbid indices on selection of procedure and outcome variation to determine which, if any, could be used for interpreting outcomes data.DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study.SETTING: Large multispecialty group practice.PATIENTS: Patients (aged 55–85 years) with residence in the United States who underwent a first-time prostatectomy for benign prostatic hyperplasia: 302 total; 253 transurethral procedures (TURP) versus 49 open procedures (OP).MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The following indices were used to assess comorbid disease: Charlson index (CI), index of coexistent disease (ICED), and Kaplan-Feinstein index (KFI). The main outcome measure was the five-year mortality rate. The unadjusted five-year mortality rates were 16% (40/ 253) for TURP and 4% (2/49) for OP; survival analysis revealed this difference to be marginally significant at thep=.05 level. In an effort to control for the effect of comorbidity, CI, ICED, and KFI were independently assessed; together with age, they each had similar effects in rendering the risk of death associated with procedure type insignificant. However, comorbidity, as derived with ICED (not CI or KFI), was identified as a confounding variable when assessing the five-year mortality rate after prostatectomy as ICED was associated with the procedure type (predictor variable) and the five-year mortality (outcome variable).CONCLUSION: Differences in the composition and scoring of comorbid indices may have important implications for interpreting outcomes data. Nevertheless, these results, together with those of previous studies, suggest that the reported increased mortality for patients undergoing TURP is probably due to case-mix differences.

Post—Tympanostomy Tube Otorrhea: A Meta-Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Post—tympanostomy tube otorrhea is the most common complication of tympanostomy tube placement. The incidence of this problem varies from 3.4% to 74%. Trials that study post—tympanostomy tube otorrhea may involve valid randomization “by patient” or “by ear.” In an attempt to define “best practice,” we conduct a meta-analysis to quantify the benefit of using topical prophylactic antibiotic drops in the postoperative period. We then compare our findings with previous results found in the literature. METHODS: We selected randomized studies for which antibiotic drops had been used for at least 48 hours after tympanostomy tube insertion. Nine studies, 3 “by ear” and 6 “by patient,” met our inclusion criteria. The odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each to conduct the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Overall, prophylaxis appears to be effective at reducing the incidence of post—tympanostomy tube otorrhea. The odds ratios for all studies were less than 1.0. However, none of the 3 “by ear” studies and only 3 of the 6 “by patient” studies were statistically significant. The mean odds ratio was 52%, suggesting that prophylaxis may reduce the incidence of post—tympanostomy tube otorrhea by half. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis suggests that routine post—tympanostomy tube prophylaxis is beneficial, but this finding is dependent on selection criteria used. EBM rating: A-1a

Treatment outcomes in squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary alveolus and palate: a population-based study

OBJECTIVE This population-based historical cohort study evaluates the treatment outcomes of primary squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary alveolus and hard palate. METHODS A historical cohort of 37 cases of previously untreated biopsy-proven squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jaw registered in the Province of Manitoba from January 1975 to January 2004 was analyzed. RESULTS The tumor epicenter involved the maxillary alveolus in 26 patients and the hard palate in 11 patients. The mean age of the study population was 72.8 years and 67% were women with a documented tobacco use rate of 50%. Forty-one percent had stage I or II disease, 51% stage III or IV, and 8% could not be staged. Treatment included radiotherapy as a single modality (13.5%), surgery (38%), surgery and radiotherapy (24%), and palliative treatment (24%). Local recurrence was observed in 10 patients with 6 failing at the primary site. The absolute and disease-free survival at 5 years was 33% and 62% respectively. The 5-year disease-free survival was 82% for stage I and II and 48% for stage III and IV (P = .056). No patient treated with radiotherapy as a single treatment modality survived 5 years. Disease-free survival for patients treated with surgery, and surgery +/- radiotherapy, was 69% and 73% at 5 years, respectively (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS Squamous cell carcinoma of the maxillary alveolus and palate differs from other oral cancers in that the patients are relatively older with a slight female predilection. Treatment with surgery, with or without radiotherapy, appears to improve disease control.

Patient and physician satisfaction in a clinical study of telemedicine in a hypertensive patient population.

We studied patient and physician satisfaction with telemedicine for the care of a hypertensive population. Once recruited, participants were seen both in person and via telemedicine (in random order) on the same day. After each meeting, patient and physician satisfaction surveys were completed. In the 12-month study, there were 107 pairs of visits. The physicians reported a small but significant increase in workload, mental effort, technical skills and visit duration for telemedicine when compared with face-to-face consultations. They noted that the telemedicine system worked well in the majority of cases and could reduce the need for future treatment. Patients reported slightly but significantly higher satisfaction scores for the following for in-person than for telemedicine meetings: technical quality, interpersonal care and time spent. Patients reported high satisfaction scores for both telemedicine and in-person visits.

Incisional hernia postrepair of abdominal aortic occlusive and aneurysmal disease: five-year incidence

The aim of this study was to report the five-year incidence of incisional hernia after vascular repair of abdominal aortic occlusive (AOD) and aneurysmal disease (AAA), and to determine the factors associated with the development of this complication. Consecutive patients who underwent AAA and AOD at the University of Manitoba, Canada, between January 1999 and December 2002, were recruited and evaluated by clinical examination one week, one month and six months after the surgery, and through medical records review thereafter. The development of postoperative incisional hernia was recorded and analyzed. Two-hundred four patients, with a mean age of 70.1 years, provided consent for the study. The overall five-year incidence of incisional hernia was 69.1% and the overall median failure time was 48 months. The median failure time was 48 months for AOD and 36 months for AAA (P < 0.01). The urgent and ruptured AAA repair had a higher five-year incidence of incisional hernia as compared with AOD or elective AAA repair (P < 0.01). A history of bilateral inguinal hernia was significantly associated with incisional hernia (P < 0.05). Men and patients who were 65 years and older had a higher five-year incidence of incisional hernia (P < 0.01). Age ≥65 years, male gender, hypertension and past bilateral inguinal hernia repair double the risk for the development of incisional hernia (hazard ratio = 2.1. 2.2, 1.7 and 2.8, respectively). In conclusion, the five-year incidence of incisional hernia after vascular repair of AOD or AAA is 69.1%, and tends to occur late after vascular repair.

Safety and Efficacy of Fast Track in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Background: The incidence of coronary artery bypass surgery has been increasing annually with increasing pressure on the health care system. Fast track has been proposed as a means to increase efficiency and volume, without an increase in hospital re‐sources. To date this approach has not been critically assessed in Canada. Methods: We examined 617 consecutive patients undergoing isolated CABG surgery. The patients were divided into (1) fast track (FT) recovery (n = 219), without admission to an ICU, and (2) nonfast track (NFT) recovery (n = 398) with direct admission to the ICU. There were no differances in age, gender, timing of surgery, left main stenosis, preoperative myocardial infarction, renal failure, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, or in the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease between the two groups. The NFT group had a higher proportion of patients with NYHA Class III/IV symptoms preoperatively (65.7% vs. 57.3%, p = 0.048), in patients with an ejection fraction < 40% (42.5% vs. 30.6%, p = 0.004), or in the number of individuals with an IABP inserted before surgery (13 vs. 1, p < 0.001). Results: In the FT group the average period of aortic occlusion (40.7 ± 15.2 min vs. 71.8 ± 26.5 min, p < 0.001) and perfusion time (67.8 ± 24.5 min vs. 117.5 ± 40.2 min, p < 0.001) were significantly less than in the NFT group. The number of grafts per patient was 3.3 ± 1.0 vs. 3.2 ± 1.0, respectively (p = 0.38). Operative mortality was 0.9% in the FT group and 1.3% in the NFT group (p = 1.0). Significant differences were seen in the proportion of patients that suffered from postoperative ventilatory failure (3.2% in FT vs. 12.1% in NFT, p < 0.001), and the proportion of patients that suffered any postoperative complication was significantly higher in the NFT group (21.4%) than in the FT group (9.1%, p < 0.001). The differences in postoporative complications resulted in a shorter length of stay (LOS) in FT patients (5.6 ± 4.1 days vs. 9.7 ± 9.4 days NFT, p < 0.001). Only 4.1% of patients that entered the FT group failed and required admission to the ICU. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis identified non‐fast track recovery as an independent predictor of morbidity in CABG surgery patients. Conclusions: The data indicate it is possible to perform isolated CABG surgery, in a large proportion of the population, without the need for admission to an ICU for postoperative care.

Accuracy of Telemedicine in Detecting Uncontrolled Hypertension and Its Impact on Patient Management

This study was aimed at assessing the diagnostic accuracy of telemedicine among hypertensive patients. This was a cross-sectional analysis of patients attending a hypertension clinic over a year-long study. Patients were seen both by telemedicine and in-person on the same day with order of the encounters randomly determined. A telemedicine system, which utilized phone lines, was employed. For each type of encounter, whether telemedicine (TM) or in-person (IP), clinical data on blood pressure (BP) control as well as physician ordering patterns were collected. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the validity of TM as compared to IP in the assessment of uncontrolled hypertension. Sixty-two patients participated resulting in 107-paired visits over the year-long study period. The mean age of the 62 participants was 67.1 +/- 11.4 years; 56.6% were men. ROC curves for detecting elevated mean blood pressure provided an area under the curve (auc) of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.80-0.95). ROC curves for the detection of uncontrolled systolic hypertension provided an auc of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.78-0.93). Telemedicine-determined BP differed slightly, but statistically significant (p < 0.05), from IP assessments. Meanwhile, there was no difference in ordering diagnostic tests or therapeutics detectable between the two encounter types. Telemedicine proved to be a valid means for detecting uncontrolled BP among hypertensive patients.

Financial impact of thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair

We have reviewed our experience regarding hospital costs and reimbursement for 72 patients who underwent thoracoabdominal aneurysm repair. Preoperative risk factors, postoperative complications, length of stay, and source of reimbursement were recorded for all patients. Patients covered by Medicare resulted in a mean net institutional loss of

P-glycoprotein as a prognostic indicator in pre- and postchemotherapy ovarian adenocarcinoma

16,472 per patient, whereas a mean net profit of