Project description:BackgroundThis study aims to investigate the clinical efficacy of transoral laser microsurgery and open partial laryngectomy (OPL) in treating T1-2 laryngeal cancer.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted of 182 patients with T1-2 cancer with anterior vocal commissure (AVC) involvement. The local control (LC), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates at 5-year follow-up and the influencing factors were analyzed.ResultsNo significant difference was observed in the LC or DFS rates between the two groups at 3- and 5-year follow-up. No significant difference was found between the two groups with T1-stage disease. The 5-year LC rates were significantly different from patients with grade 3 or 4 tumors on indirect laryngoscopy and patients with class III or IV tumors on the modified Mallampati test (MMT) (log-rank test: χ2=8.037, P=0.005). The 3-year LC rate of OPL in the depth of pathological infiltration (3-5 mm) group was found to be significantly higher than that of TLM. Significant differences in pathological infiltration depth (3-5 mm) existed between the two groups (log-rank test: χ2=5.786, P=0.016).ConclusionsT1 lesions are generally limited and superficial, and laser surgery can be well-controlled. For patients with difficult airway exposure, surgeons should have extensive surgical experience and skills. It is recommended that a variety of equipment should be ready so that surgeons can convert to open surgery at any time. For patients with a deep infiltration depth, surgeons should examine laryngoscopy imaging results before surgery.
Project description:BackgroundSupracricoid partial laryngectomy has good oncologic results in the treatment of advanced laryngeal cancer with the advantage of preserving larynx phonatory function when compared with total laryngectomy. However the rehabilitation could be a challenge, especially regarding swallowing function. Is supracricoid partial laryngectomy associated with better quality of life than total laryngectomy?MethodsSurvey study that included 33 patients (16 total laryngectomy and 17 supracricoid partial laryngectomy) with advanced larynx cancer surgically treated and fully rehabilitated. The quality of life were evaluated with EORTC QLQ C30 and H&N 35 instrument.ResultsPatients who underwent supracricoid partial laryngectomy obtained better scores in global health status-quality of life and general activities and had lower levels of sensory and speech-related symptoms.ConclusionSPL was associated with better quality of life when compared with TL.
Project description:IntroductionIn 2019, our center attempted to transition all partial nephrectomies (PNs) to robotic-assisted laparoscopic PN (RALPN). The purpose of this study was to compare RALPN outcomes to laparoscopic PN (LPN) and open PN (OPN) at our institution, as there is limited literature from Canadian centers.MethodsIn this single-center, two-surgeon, retrospective cohort study, we compared RALPN outcomes during the early phase of our robotics program to OPN and LPN performed just before the introduction of RALPN.ResultsA total of 106 patients underwent OPN, 83 LPN, and 82 RALPN during the study period. Median RALPN REN AL score was 7 vs. 6 for LPN (p<0.05) and 8 for OPN (p=0.10). Median RALPN length of stay (LOS) was two days vs. three and four days for LPN and OPN (p<0.05), respectively. OPN median procedure time was 104 minutes vs. 94 and 82 minutes for LPN and RALPN (p<0.05), respectively. Median OPN operating room (OR) time was 160 minutes vs. 150 and 146 minutes for LPN and RALPN (p<0.05), respectively. There were no significant differences in intraoperative (p=0.92) or postoperative complication rates (p=0.47). RALPN warm ischemia time (WIT) was 17 minutes vs. 14.5 and 15 minutes for OPN and LPN (p<0.05), respectively. Median RALPN estimated blood loss (EBL) was 165 ml vs. 250 ml for OPN (p<0.05) and 125 ml for LPN (p=0.15).ConclusionsAlthough patients who underwent RALPN had longer WIT, they had similar rates of complications, required less total OR time, and had shorter procedure times and LOS compared with OPN and LPN despite similar REN AL scores compared to OPN and greater scores than LPN.
Project description:Achieving a better understanding of the consequences of nutrition to animal fitness and human health is a major challenge of our century. Nutritional ecology studies increasingly use nutritional landscapes to map the complex interacting effects of nutrient intake on animal performances, in a wide range of species and ecological contexts. Here, we argue that opening access to these hard-to-obtain, yet considerably insightful, data is fundamental to develop a comparative framework for nutrition research and offer new quantitative means to address open questions about the ecology and evolution of nutritional processes.
Project description:In this paper, we investigate the informativeness of 4- to 6-year-old (N = 125) children's questions using a combined qualitative and quantitative approach. Children were presented with a hierarchical version of the 20-questions game, in which they were given an array of objects that could be organized into three category levels based on shared features. We then tested whether it is possible to scaffold children's question-asking abilities without extensive training. In particular, we supported children's categorization performance by providing the object-related features needed to ask effective constraint-seeking questions. We found that with both age and scaffolding children asked more effective questions, targeting higher category levels and therefore reaching the solution with fewer questions. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these results.
Project description:Sample size determination for open-ended questions or qualitative interviews relies primarily on custom and finding the point where little new information is obtained (thematic saturation). Here, we propose and test a refined definition of saturation as obtaining the most salient items in a set of qualitative interviews (where items can be material things or concepts, depending on the topic of study) rather than attempting to obtain all the items. Salient items have higher prevalence and are more culturally important. To do this, we explore saturation, salience, sample size, and domain size in 28 sets of interviews in which respondents were asked to list all the things they could think of in one of 18 topical domains. The domains-like kinds of fruits (highly bounded) and things that mothers do (unbounded)-varied greatly in size. The datasets comprise 20-99 interviews each (1,147 total interviews). When saturation was defined as the point where less than one new item per person would be expected, the median sample size for reaching saturation was 75 (range = 15-194). Thematic saturation was, as expected, related to domain size. It was also related to the amount of information contributed by each respondent but, unexpectedly, was reached more quickly when respondents contributed less information. In contrast, a greater amount of information per person increased the retrieval of salient items. Even small samples (n = 10) produced 95% of the most salient ideas with exhaustive listing, but only 53% of those items were captured with limited responses per person (three). For most domains, item salience appeared to be a more useful concept for thinking about sample size adequacy than finding the point of thematic saturation. Thus, we advance the concept of saturation in salience and emphasize probing to increase the amount of information collected per respondent to increase sample efficiency.
Project description:ImportanceTechnical skill in complex surgical procedures may affect clinical outcomes, and there is growing interest in understanding the clinical implications of surgeon proficiency levels.ObjectivesTo determine whether surgeon scores representing technical skills of robot-assisted kidney surgery are associated with patient outcomes.Design, setting, and participantsThis quality improvement study included 10 urological surgeons participating in a surgical collaborative in Michigan from July 2021 to September 2022. Each surgeon submitted up to 7 videos of themselves performing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Videos were segmented into 6 key steps, yielding 127 video clips for analysis. Each video clip was deidentified and distributed to at least 3 of the 24 blinded peer surgeons from the collaborative who also perform robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Reviewers rated technical skill and provided written feedback. Statistical analysis was performed from May 2023 to January 2024.Main outcomes and measuresReviewers scored each video clip using a validated instrument to assess technical skill for partial nephrectomy on a scale of 1 to 5 (higher scores indicating greater skill). For all submitting surgeons, outcomes from a clinical registry were assessed for length of stay (LOS) greater than 3 days, estimated blood loss (EBL) greater than 500 mL, warm ischemia time (WIT) greater than 30 minutes, positive surgical margin (PSM), 30-day emergency department (ED) visits, and 30-day readmission.ResultsAmong the 27 unique surgeons who participated in this study as reviewers and/or individuals performing the procedures, 3 (11%) were female, and the median age was 47 (IQR, 39-52) years. Risk-adjusted outcomes were associated with scores representing surgeon skills. The overall performance score ranged from 3.5 to 4.7 points with a mean (SD) of 4.1 (0.4) points. Greater skill was correlated with significantly lower rates of LOS greater than 3 days (-6.8% [95% CI, -8.3% to -5.2%]), EBL greater than 500 mL (-2.6% [95% CI, -3.0% to -2.1%]), PSM (-8.2% [95% CI, -9.2% to -7.2%]), ED visits (-3.9% [95% CI, -5.0% to -2.8%]), and readmissions (-5.7% [95% CI, -6.9% to -4.6%]) (P < .001 for all). Higher overall score was also associated with higher partial nephrectomy volume (β coefficient, 11.4 [95% CI, 10.0-12.7]; P < .001).Conclusions and relevanceIn this quality improvement study on video-based evaluation of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy, higher technical skill was associated with lower rates of adverse clinical outcomes. These findings suggest that video-based evaluation plays a role in assessing surgical skill and can be used in quality improvement initiatives to improve patient care.
Project description:Partial nephrectomy (PN) is the gold standard treatment for localized renal masses. Robot-assisted PN (RAPN) has overcome laparoscopy's technical limitations, greatly expanding the indications of minimally invasive PN, which is dominated by renal artery clamping in almost all published series. We compared off-clamp RAPN (OFFC-RAPN) with the open approach (OFFC-OPN) using propensity score (PS) matching. A favourable pentafecta outcome was defined as a combination of no positive surgical margins (PSM), no complications of Clavien-Dindo (CD) grade ≥ 3, post-operative eGFR loss <10%, length of hospital stay (LOS) ≤ 5 days and estimated blood loss (EBL) < 200 mL. A total of 340 consecutive patients were included. The PS-matched cohort included 142 patients: 71 matched pairs well-balanced for all covariates. The OFFC-RAPN group showed significantly shorter operative time (149.8 vs. 173.9 min, p = 0.003), lower EBL (182.1 vs. 329.3 mL, p = 0.001), and shorter LOS (5.8 vs. 6.9 days, p = 0.02), with a higher proportion of patients with LOS ≤ 5 days (57.7% vs. 23.9%, p < 0.001). No significant differences were found for PSM rate (2.8% vs. 8.4%, p = 0.27), CD > 2 complication rate (4.2% vs. 2.8%, p = 1.00) and mean ± SD eGFR change (-0.06 ± 0.3 vs. -0.8 ± 0.3, p = 0.5). Pentafecta was achieved in 56.3% and 21.1% in the OFFC-RAPN and OFFC-OPN series, respectively (p < 0.0001). On multivariable analysis, surgical approach and BMI proved to be independent predictors of achieving pentafecta. After adjusting for potential treatment selection bias, OFFC-RAPN outperformed OFFC-OPN for important peri-operative outcomes, without compromising oncological and functional safety.
Project description:BackgroundThis study aimed to determine whether surgical multiple-choice questions generated by ChatGPT are comparable to those written by human experts (surgeons).MethodsThe study was conducted at a medical school and involved 112 fourth-year medical students. Based on five learning objectives in general surgery (colorectal, gastric, trauma, breast, thyroid), ChatGPT and surgeons generated five multiple-choice questions. No change was made to the ChatGPT-generated questions. The statistical properties of these questions, including correlations between two group of questions and correlations with total scores (item discrimination) in a general surgery clerkship exam, were reported.ResultsThere was a significant positive correlation between the ChatGPT-generated and human-written questions for one learning objective (colorectal). More importantly, only one ChatGPT-generated question (colorectal) achieved an acceptable discrimination level, while other four failed to achieve it. In contrast, human-written questions showed acceptable discrimination levels.ConclusionWhile ChatGPT has the potential to generate multiple-choice questions comparable to human-written ones in specific contexts, the variability across surgical topics points to the need for human oversight and review before their use in exams. It is important to integrate artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT with human expertise to enhance efficiency and quality.