Author: Jason Curtis

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns on planned cancer surgery for 15 tumour types in 61 countries: an international, prospective, cohort study (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
COVIDSurg Collaborative (includes *Blair J, *Lakhiani A, *Parry-Smith W, *Sahu B of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust)

Citation:
The Lancet Oncology;  November 2021, Volume 22, Issue 22, Pages 1507-1517

Abstract:
Background: Surgery is the main modality of cure for solid cancers and was prioritised to continue during COVID-19 outbreaks. This study aimed to identify immediate areas for system strengthening by comparing the delivery of elective cancer surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic in periods of lockdown versus light restriction.
Methods; This international, prospective, cohort study enrolled 20 006 adult (≥18 years) patients from 466 hospitals in 61 countries with 15 cancer types, who had a decision for curative surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic and were followed up until the point of surgery or cessation of follow-up (Aug 31, 2020). Average national Oxford COVID-19 Stringency Index scores were calculated to define the government response to COVID-19 for each patient for the period they awaited surgery, and classified into light restrictions (index <20), moderate lockdowns (20–60), and full lockdowns (>60). The primary outcome was the non-operation rate (defined as the proportion of patients who did not undergo planned surgery). Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to explore the associations between lockdowns and non-operation. Intervals from diagnosis to surgery were compared across COVID-19 government response index groups. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04384926.
Findings; Of eligible patients awaiting surgery, 2003 (10·0%) of 20 006 did not receive surgery after a median follow-up of 23 weeks (IQR 16–30), all of whom had a COVID-19-related reason given for non-operation. Light restrictions were associated with a 0·6% non-operation rate (26 of 4521), moderate lockdowns with a 5·5% rate (201 of 3646; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0·81, 95% CI 0·77–0·84; p<0·0001), and full lockdowns with a 15·0% rate (1775 of 11 827; HR 0·51, 0·50–0·53; p<0·0001). In sensitivity analyses, including adjustment for SARS-CoV-2 case notification rates, moderate lockdowns (HR 0·84, 95% CI 0·80–0·88; p<0·001), and full lockdowns (0·57, 0·54–0·60; p<0·001), remained independently associated with non-operation. Surgery beyond 12 weeks from diagnosis in patients without neoadjuvant therapy increased during lockdowns (374 [9·1%] of 4521 in light restrictions, 317 [10·4%] of 3646 in moderate lockdowns, 2001 [23·8%] of 11 827 in full lockdowns), although there were no differences in resectability rates observed with longer delays.
Interpretation: Cancer surgery systems worldwide were fragile to lockdowns, with one in seven patients who were in regions with full lockdowns not undergoing planned surgery and experiencing longer preoperative delays. Although short-term oncological outcomes were not compromised in those selected for surgery, delays and non-operations might lead to long-term reductions in survival. During current and future periods of societal restriction, the resilience of elective surgery systems requires strengthening, which might include protected elective surgical pathways and long-term investment in surge capacity for acute care during public health emergencies to protect elective staff and services.

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Optimising frontline learning and engagement between consultant-led neonatal teams in the West Midlands: a survey on the utility of an augmented simulation training technique (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
Pillay, Thillagavathie; Clarke, Lynsey; Abbott, Lee; Surana, Pinki; Shenvi, Asha; *Deshpande, Sanjeev; Cookson, Joanne; Nash, Matthew; Fawke, Joe; Rasiah, Vishna; Cusack, Jonathan

Citation:
Advances in Simulation; Aug 2021; vol. 6 (no. 1); p. 29

Abstract:
BACKGROUND In England, neonatal care is delivered in operational delivery networks, comprising a combination of the Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU), Local-Neonatal (LNU) or Special-Care Units (SCU), based on their ability to care for babies with different degrees of illness or prematurity. With the development of network care pathways, the most premature and sickest are mostly triaged for delivery in services linked to NICU. This has created anxiety for teams in LNU and SCU. Less exposure to sicker babies has resulted in limited opportunities to maintain expertise for when these babies unexpectedly deliver at their centre and thereafter require transfer for care, to NICU. Simultaneously, LNU and SCU teams develop skills in the care of the less ill and premature baby which would also be of benefit to NICU teams. A need for mutual learning through inter-unit multidirectional collaborative learning and engagement (hereafter also called neonatal networking) between teams of different designations emerged. Here, neonatal networking is defined as collaboration, shared clinical learning and developing an understanding of local systems strengths and challenges between units of different and similar designations. We describe the responses to the development of a clinical and systems focussed platform for this engagement between different teams within our neonatal ODN. METHOD An interactive 1-day programme was developed in the West Midlands, focussing on a non-hierarchical, equal partnership between neonatal teams from different unit designations. It utilised simulation around clinical scenarios, with a slant towards consultant engagement. Four groups rotating through four clinical simulation scenarios were developed. Each group participated in a clinical simulation scenario, led by a consultant and supported by nurses and doctors in training together with facilitators, with a further ~two consultants, as observers within the group. All were considered learners. Consultant candidates took turns to be participants and observers in the simulation scenarios so that at the end of the day all had led a scenario. Each simulation-clinical debrief session was lengthened by a further ~ 20 min, during which freestyle discussion with all learners occurred. This was to promote further bonding, through multidirectional sharing, and with a systems focus on understanding the strengths and challenges of practices in different units. A consultant focus was adopted to promote a long-term engagement between units around shared care. There were four time points for this neonatal networking during the course of the day. Qualitative assessment and a Likert scale were used to assess this initiative over 4 years. RESULTS One hundred fifty-five individuals involved in frontline neonatal care participated. Seventy-seven were consultants, supported by neonatal trainees, staff grade doctors, clinical fellows, advanced neonatal nurse practitioners and nurses in training. All were invited to participate in the survey. The survey response rate was 80.6%. Seventy-nine percent felt that this learning strategy was highly relevant; 96% agreed that for consultants this was appropriate adult learning. Ninety-eight percent agreed that consultant training encompassed more than bedside clinical management, including forging communication links between teams. Thematic responses suggested that this was a highly useful method for multi-directional learning around shared care between neonatal units. CONCLUSION Simulation, enhanced with systems focussed debrief, appeared to be an acceptable method of promoting multidirectional learning within neonatal teams of differing designations within the WMNODN.

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Adult North Star Network (ANSN): Consensus Guideline For The Standard Of Care Of Adults With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
Quinlivan, R; Messer, B; Murphy, P; Astin, R; Mukherjee, R; Khan, J; Emmanuel, A; Wong, S C; Kulshresha, R; Willis, T; Pattni, J; *Willis, D; Morgan, A; Savvatis, K; Keen, R; Bourke, J; Marini Bettolo, C; Hewamadduma, C; ANSN

Citation:
Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases; Sep 2021 [epub ahead of print]

Abstract:
There are growing numbers of adults with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy living well into their fourth decade. These patients have complex medical needs that to date have not been addressed in the International standards of care. We sought to create a consensus based standard of care through a series of multi-disciplinary workshops with specialists from a wide range of clinical areas: Neurology, Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Palliative Care Medicine, Rehabilitation, Renal, Anaesthetics and Clinical Psychology. Detailed reports of evidence reviewed and the consensus building process were produced following each workshop and condensed into this final document which was approved by all members of the Adult North Star Network including service users. The aim of this document is to provide a framework to improve clinical services and multi-disciplinary care for adults living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Primary acinic cell carcinoma in a young female patient: a case report (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Venkatasami, M ; *Harrison, K

Citation:
Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology & Oral Radiology; Jul 2021; vol. 132 (no. 1)

Abstract:
Background: Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) is a rare, low-grade tumor, accounting for about 5% of all primary salivary gland malignancies. ACCs predominate in the parotid gland, are seen in the fifth and sixth decades of life, and have a female predilection. Well-differentiated and low-grade tumors are associated with a favorable prognosis.
Description: We report a case of a 16-year-old female patient presenting with a right parotid lump that had been slowly increasing over the past year. Clinical examination revealed a 1.5-cm right parotid nodule with no facial nerve involvement and presence of cervical lymphadenopathy. Her past medical history was unremarkable.
Findings: Radiological investigations revealed a well-circumscribed, lobulated lesion in the anterior right parotid gland with presence of reactive lymph nodes bilaterally. Fine-needle aspiration showed granular cells with a differential diagnosis of oncocytoma, Warthin's tumor, or acinic cell carcinoma. Histologic examination showed a multinodular appearance with some marked granular cytoplasm with oncolytic and lymphoid infiltrate. The results of immunohistochemistry were negative for S100 and positive with DOG-1. There were widespread periodic acid-Schiff diastase-resistant granules throughout the tumor cells, with a Ki67 proliferation index of approximately 5%.
Outcome: The tumor was completely excised, and the patient made a full recovery and was considered to have a good long-term prognosis.
Conclusions: This is an unusual case of ACC seen in this age group and gender, where less than 4% of cases of ACC have been reported in patients younger than 20. It is important to consider differential diagnoses of salivary gland pathology, such as ACC, in the young female patient.

Craniofacial osteosarcoma: a case report (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Venkatasami, M ; *Harrison, K

Citation:
Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology & Oral Radiology; Jul 2021; vol. 132 (no. 1)

Abstract:
Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone tumor, with 10% of cases affecting the head and neck. Demographics of head and neck osteosarcoma are different from those elsewhere in the musculoskeletal system. Prognosis is strongly dependent on negative resection margins with the use of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in select cases.
Description: We present a case of a 58-year-old male nonsmoker patient who presented with a lump in his left upper jaw. Clinical examination revealed an exophytic mass in the upper left tuberosity of the maxilla suspicious for squamous cell carcinoma with no associated lymphadenopathy.
Findings: Radiological investigations revealed a metabolically active left maxillary lesion with destruction of the maxillary sinus. Histologic examination of a superficial biopsy initially suggested a proliferative fibro-osseous lesion; however, a second deeper biopsy was diagnostic of osteosarcoma, and the patient was referred to a sarcoma center. Immunohistochemistry showed AE1/AE3 and CK(MNF.116) positivity in occasional cells with a Ki67 proliferation index of 60%. This was diagnostic of grade 2-3 osteosarcoma. Multidisciplinary management of the patient included neoadjuvant chemotherapy and total maxillectomy and dental prosthetic rehabilitation. The patient is still under follow-up.
Conclusions: This case of primary osteosarcoma of the maxilla is rare and scarcely reported in the literature. Clinical differential diagnoses include squamous cell carcinoma, and histologic differential diagnosis includes fibro-osseous proliferative lesions in undersampled cases. It is important to consider osteosarcoma in destructive lesions, as it requires prompt and early specialist intervention to maximize the chances of negative surgical margins, which is the mainstay of treatment for this disease for prognosis.

A rare case of isolated laryngeal metastasis 23 years after nephrectomy for clear cell renal carcinoma (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Eastwood, Michael J ; *Ahsan, Syed F; *Harris, Richard

Citation:
British Journal of Hospital Medicine; Aug 2021; vol. 82 (no. 8); p. 1-3

Abstract:
The article describes the case of isolated laryngeal metastasis 23 years after nephrectomy for clear cell renal
carcinoma in an 84-year-old man.

The experience of implementing a discovery system in a pandemic (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
*Curtis, Jason

Citation:
HLG Nursing Bulletin; Jan 2021; vol. 40 (no. 1); p. 6-11

Abstract:
The article explores the transition of Shropshire Health Libraries from a legacy library management system
(OLIB) to a full discovery system using Worldshare Management Services and WorldCat Discovery in 2020.
Topics discussed include the advantages of the discovery system such as access to the WorldCat global catalog
for co-operative cataloguing, project management training given by Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) to
Shropshire, and disadvantages of WorldShare for Shropshire.

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Predictors of in-hospital mortality in Covid-19: A study across two peripheral district general hospitals in UK (2021)

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Type of publication:
Journal article

Author(s):
Samanta N.K.; Bandyopadhyay S.K.; *Herman D.; Chakraborty B.; *Marsh A.; *Kumaran S.; *Burnard L.; *Gnanaseelan G.; *Gibson S.; *Florence B.; Ganguly S.

Citation:
British Journal of Medical Practitioners; Jul 2021; vol. 14 (no. 1)

Abstract:
Aim-The mortality from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has remained a significant medical challenge. Internationally, patient demographics and pre-existing co-morbidities are significant determinants of mortality from COVID-19. The mortality-risk in a local population is difficult to determine. The objective of our study is to examine the risk posed by epidemiological and demographic variables, and co-morbidities in our local population. Method-A retrospective, observational study was conducted on confirmed COVID-19 patients, identified from the local microbiology database. A search of the electronic patient records was performed to collect demographic details and co-morbidities. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis of the demographic variables and co-morbidities were utilised to calculate the predictive-risk for in-hospital mortality of adult COVID-19 patients. Results-Final analysis included 263 samples. Univariate logistic regression analysis was performed using age as an independent categorical predictor with two cohorts – those <60 and those >=60 years old. Age (2=17.12, p<0.001) was found to be an independent predictor of mortality – this was independent of sex (2=1.784, p<0.182). Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score was found to be a significant predictor of adverse outcome. The odds of death for patients with CCI scores 0-4 was less than half (44.8%) of those with CCI scores >=5 (p=0.005). Patients with no pre-existing medical conditions had a lower mortality-risk (OR=0.181, p=0.022) than those with known medical conditions. Pre-existing renal disease predicted a poor outcome (OR=1.996, p=0.027). The odds of death for the patients coming from their own-home was only 26% of the odds for those from a long-term care-home. Long-term care facility, advanced age (OR=1.058, p <0.001), and long-term oral steroid (OR=3.412, p=0.016) use were all associated with a poor prognosis. Conclusion People aged >=60 years, residence in a long-term care-home, pre-existing renal diseases, a high CCI score and long-term oral steroids use were associated with an increased mortality-risk.

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