Current and future CT surgery division chiefs/department chairs are invited to apply for the AATS Leadership Academy Program.

Friday, April 28, 2017
AATS Centennial
Boston, MA

This intensive, didactic and interactive program brings together up to 20 international surgeons who have demonstrated significant promise as potential future division chiefs or have recent assumed that role. The program provides participants with administrative, interpersonal, mentoring and negotiating skills, as well as the opportunity to network with well-known thoracic surgeon leaders and potential mentors. 

Deadline: November 30, 2016

Qualifications/More Information 

Don’t miss the opportunity to submit to one of these AATS scholarship programs.

Deadline: January 20, 2017

AATS Member for a Day

North American medical students, and general and up to third year integrated CT Surgery
(I-6) surgery residents can accompany an AATS Member during portions of the AATS Centennial as an AATS Member for a Day.

The meeting takes place April 29-May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Those selected will receive free hotel accommodations for three to four night in an AATS Centennial hotel. They will also be given a $250 meal and $500 travel stipend at the end of the meeting.

Eligibility/More information

Summer Internship Opportunity for First/Second Year Medical Students

First and second year medical students can spend the summer being exposed to cardiothoracic surgery thanks to the AATS Summer Intern Scholarship. For eight weeks (June – September), students will work in the CT department of an AATS member.

Those chosen receive $2,500 for living expenses. They also will be able to attend the AATS Centennial gratis.

The meeting takes place April 29 – May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

More information

AATS Resident Poster Competition

International cardiothoracic surgery residents and/or congenital heart surgery fellows: Take advantage of this opportunity to represent your institution and present a scientific poster of your clinical/investigative research at the AATS Centennial.

The meeting will take place April 29 - May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Awardee institutions get a $500 stipend to offset meal/travel costs. Each winner receives free registration to the AATS Centennial and access to the Skills Course (April 30) and Postgraduate Course (May 1).

More information

Non-MD CT Surgical Team Scientific Poster Competition

Non-MD cardiothoracic team professionals can submit a scientific poster for the Perioperative/Team-Based Care Poster Competition.

Winning posters will be displayed at the AATS Centennial, April 29 – May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

The competition winner will receive a $1,000 stipend to offset travel and accommodation costs.

More information

Share:

Current and future CT surgery division chiefs/department chairs are invited to apply for the AATS Leadership Academy Program.

Friday, April 28, 2017
AATS Centennial
Boston, MA

This intensive, didactic and interactive program brings together up to 20 international surgeons who have demonstrated significant promise as potential future division chiefs or have recent assumed that role. The program provides participants with administrative, interpersonal, mentoring and negotiating skills, as well as the opportunity to network with well-known thoracic surgeon leaders and potential mentors. 

Deadline: November 30, 2016

Qualifications/More Information 

Don’t miss the opportunity to submit to one of these AATS scholarship programs.

Deadline: January 20, 2017

AATS Member for a Day

North American medical students, and general and up to third year integrated CT Surgery
(I-6) surgery residents can accompany an AATS Member during portions of the AATS Centennial as an AATS Member for a Day.

The meeting takes place April 29-May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Those selected will receive free hotel accommodations for three to four night in an AATS Centennial hotel. They will also be given a $250 meal and $500 travel stipend at the end of the meeting.

Eligibility/More information

Summer Internship Opportunity for First/Second Year Medical Students

First and second year medical students can spend the summer being exposed to cardiothoracic surgery thanks to the AATS Summer Intern Scholarship. For eight weeks (June – September), students will work in the CT department of an AATS member.

Those chosen receive $2,500 for living expenses. They also will be able to attend the AATS Centennial gratis.

The meeting takes place April 29 – May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

More information

AATS Resident Poster Competition

International cardiothoracic surgery residents and/or congenital heart surgery fellows: Take advantage of this opportunity to represent your institution and present a scientific poster of your clinical/investigative research at the AATS Centennial.

The meeting will take place April 29 - May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Awardee institutions get a $500 stipend to offset meal/travel costs. Each winner receives free registration to the AATS Centennial and access to the Skills Course (April 30) and Postgraduate Course (May 1).

More information

Non-MD CT Surgical Team Scientific Poster Competition

Non-MD cardiothoracic team professionals can submit a scientific poster for the Perioperative/Team-Based Care Poster Competition.

Winning posters will be displayed at the AATS Centennial, April 29 – May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

The competition winner will receive a $1,000 stipend to offset travel and accommodation costs.

More information

Share:

Current and future CT surgery division chiefs/department chairs are invited to apply for the AATS Leadership Academy Program.

Friday, April 28, 2017
AATS Centennial
Boston, MA

This intensive, didactic and interactive program brings together up to 20 international surgeons who have demonstrated significant promise as potential future division chiefs or have recent assumed that role. The program provides participants with administrative, interpersonal, mentoring and negotiating skills, as well as the opportunity to network with well-known thoracic surgeon leaders and potential mentors. 

Deadline: November 30, 2016

Qualifications/More Information 

Don’t miss the opportunity to submit to one of these AATS scholarship programs.

Deadline: January 20, 2017

AATS Member for a Day

North American medical students, and general and up to third year integrated CT Surgery
(I-6) surgery residents can accompany an AATS Member during portions of the AATS Centennial as an AATS Member for a Day.

The meeting takes place April 29-May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Those selected will receive free hotel accommodations for three to four night in an AATS Centennial hotel. They will also be given a $250 meal and $500 travel stipend at the end of the meeting.

Eligibility/More information

Summer Internship Opportunity for First/Second Year Medical Students

First and second year medical students can spend the summer being exposed to cardiothoracic surgery thanks to the AATS Summer Intern Scholarship. For eight weeks (June – September), students will work in the CT department of an AATS member.

Those chosen receive $2,500 for living expenses. They also will be able to attend the AATS Centennial gratis.

The meeting takes place April 29 – May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

More information

AATS Resident Poster Competition

International cardiothoracic surgery residents and/or congenital heart surgery fellows: Take advantage of this opportunity to represent your institution and present a scientific poster of your clinical/investigative research at the AATS Centennial.

The meeting will take place April 29 - May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Awardee institutions get a $500 stipend to offset meal/travel costs. Each winner receives free registration to the AATS Centennial and access to the Skills Course (April 30) and Postgraduate Course (May 1).

More information

Non-MD CT Surgical Team Scientific Poster Competition

Non-MD cardiothoracic team professionals can submit a scientific poster for the Perioperative/Team-Based Care Poster Competition.

Winning posters will be displayed at the AATS Centennial, April 29 – May 3, 2017 in Boston, MA.

The competition winner will receive a $1,000 stipend to offset travel and accommodation costs.

More information

Share:

Most pregnant women with a history of immune thrombocytopenia purpura need no treatment. Of those who do, neonatal outcomes were comparable for mothers who received treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and for those who received corticosteroids, results of an observational study indicate.

Though limited by its retrospective design and low event rates that limit inferences about treatment effects, this observational study – the first to compare the effectiveness of treatment with IVIg to treatment with corticosteroids for immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) in pregnancy – shows that outcomes did not significantly differ with the two regimens. The findings also highlight the need for ongoing neonatal platelet count monitoring throughout the first week of life, regardless of the maternal platelet count, the investigators said.

©iStock

A review of medical records at two tertiary care centers identified 235 pregnancies in 195 women with a history of ITP. No treatment was required in 137 pregnancies. Of the remaining 98 pregnancies in 91 women, 47 (48%) were treated initially with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and 51 were treated initially with corticosteroids, reported Dongmei Sun, MD, of University of Western Ontario, London, and colleagues (Blood. 2016;128[10]:1329-35).

The two treatment groups had similar mean maternal platelet counts at birth (68.7 x 10⁹/L and 77.3 x 10⁹/L for IVIg and corticosteroids, respectively). The proportion of mothers who achieved a platelet count response did not significantly differ (38% vs. 39%), the researchers reported.

“The sole difference between treatments was a higher maternal composite outcome noted in the IVIg group,” they wrote, referring to a secondary composite outcome of postpartum hemorrhage, predelivery platelet transfusion, peripartum transfusion of any blood product, or postpartum reduction in the hemoglobin concentration of 30 g/L or more. That composite outcome occurred in 46.8% of pregnancies in the IVIg group and 23.5% in the corticosteroid group.

Adverse events were reported in 13% of cases in each group, and included hemolytic anemia, headache, and “other” in those treated with IVIg, and hyperglycemia requiring treatment, hyperglycemia with neonatal hypoglycemia, infection, and “other” in those receiving corticosteroids.

No severe or fatal maternal, fetal, or neonatal hemorrhages occurred, but two newborns did experience intracranial hemorrhage. No maternal or neonatal deaths occurred, the investigators said.

In 203 neonates for whom platelet counts were available, 56 (28%) had a count of less than 150 x 10⁹/L and 18 (9%) had a count of less than 50 x 10⁹/L.

Nadir platelet counts occurred at birth for 30% of neonates. In two cases, the nadir occurred as late as day 6 postnatally. Of note, a drop in platelets to below 150 x 10⁹/L was found in 9 (11%) of 129 neonates who had a normal cord platelet count and had a repeat count.

ITP occurs in 1 to 10 of every 10,000 pregnancies, and about one-third of cases require intervention. IVIg and corticosteroids are acceptable treatments, but most data on their effectiveness are extrapolated from nonpregnant patients and the treatments have not been adequately assessed in pregnancy, the investigators said. The current study was designed to compare the efficacy of the two treatments for maternal ITP.

Study subjects were women with singleton pregnancies with an ITP diagnosis either before or during pregnancy.

At less than 40% in both groups, the response to ITP therapies was lower than has been reported for nonpregnant patients, the investigators noted.

“Our observation of a relative resistance to ITP treatment during pregnancy requires further validation in prospective studies. We speculate that increased potency of antiplatelet antibodies during pregnancy, pregnancy-associated changes in platelet turnover, or altered drug metabolism may contribute to the lower response rates we observed,” they wrote.

With respect to corticosteroids, this “may warrant consideration of starting therapy earlier in the third trimester to maximize the likelihood of reaching target platelet counts in time for delivery and raises the possibility that lower corticosteroid doses are ineffective in this setting,” they added.

“Also of significance is the finding that 9 neonates (11%) with normal cord platelet counts were found to have a reduction in their platelet count on repeat measurement. These findings highlight the need for determination of cord platelet counts in all neonates born to mothers with active or previous ITP and the need for continued monitoring of the neonatal platelet count during the first week of life, despite normal cord platelet counts,” they wrote.

“Prospective studies are needed to better characterize the safety of these regimens, to determine the optimal dose of corticosteroids, to identify risk factors for neonatal thrombocytopenia, and to explore new therapeutic options,” they concluded.

Among the options worth exploring are rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against B-cell surface antigen CD20, for which “pregnancy data are accumulating,” and romiplostim, a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, which has been used in a few cases without reported fetal complications, they noted.

This study was supported by Canadian Blood Services Small Projects Fund and Canadian Institute of Health Research/Canadian Blood Services New Investigator Award. Individual authors reported receiving support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and McMaster University. The authors reported having no other disclosures.

[email protected]

Most pregnant women with a history of immune thrombocytopenia purpura need no treatment. Of those who do, neonatal outcomes were comparable for mothers who received treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and for those who received corticosteroids, results of an observational study indicate.

Though limited by its retrospective design and low event rates that limit inferences about treatment effects, this observational study – the first to compare the effectiveness of treatment with IVIg to treatment with corticosteroids for immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) in pregnancy – shows that outcomes did not significantly differ with the two regimens. The findings also highlight the need for ongoing neonatal platelet count monitoring throughout the first week of life, regardless of the maternal platelet count, the investigators said.

©iStock

A review of medical records at two tertiary care centers identified 235 pregnancies in 195 women with a history of ITP. No treatment was required in 137 pregnancies. Of the remaining 98 pregnancies in 91 women, 47 (48%) were treated initially with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and 51 were treated initially with corticosteroids, reported Dongmei Sun, MD, of University of Western Ontario, London, and colleagues (Blood. 2016;128[10]:1329-35).

The two treatment groups had similar mean maternal platelet counts at birth (68.7 x 10⁹/L and 77.3 x 10⁹/L for IVIg and corticosteroids, respectively). The proportion of mothers who achieved a platelet count response did not significantly differ (38% vs. 39%), the researchers reported.

“The sole difference between treatments was a higher maternal composite outcome noted in the IVIg group,” they wrote, referring to a secondary composite outcome of postpartum hemorrhage, predelivery platelet transfusion, peripartum transfusion of any blood product, or postpartum reduction in the hemoglobin concentration of 30 g/L or more. That composite outcome occurred in 46.8% of pregnancies in the IVIg group and 23.5% in the corticosteroid group.

Adverse events were reported in 13% of cases in each group, and included hemolytic anemia, headache, and “other” in those treated with IVIg, and hyperglycemia requiring treatment, hyperglycemia with neonatal hypoglycemia, infection, and “other” in those receiving corticosteroids.

No severe or fatal maternal, fetal, or neonatal hemorrhages occurred, but two newborns did experience intracranial hemorrhage. No maternal or neonatal deaths occurred, the investigators said.

In 203 neonates for whom platelet counts were available, 56 (28%) had a count of less than 150 x 10⁹/L and 18 (9%) had a count of less than 50 x 10⁹/L.

Nadir platelet counts occurred at birth for 30% of neonates. In two cases, the nadir occurred as late as day 6 postnatally. Of note, a drop in platelets to below 150 x 10⁹/L was found in 9 (11%) of 129 neonates who had a normal cord platelet count and had a repeat count.

ITP occurs in 1 to 10 of every 10,000 pregnancies, and about one-third of cases require intervention. IVIg and corticosteroids are acceptable treatments, but most data on their effectiveness are extrapolated from nonpregnant patients and the treatments have not been adequately assessed in pregnancy, the investigators said. The current study was designed to compare the efficacy of the two treatments for maternal ITP.

Study subjects were women with singleton pregnancies with an ITP diagnosis either before or during pregnancy.

At less than 40% in both groups, the response to ITP therapies was lower than has been reported for nonpregnant patients, the investigators noted.

“Our observation of a relative resistance to ITP treatment during pregnancy requires further validation in prospective studies. We speculate that increased potency of antiplatelet antibodies during pregnancy, pregnancy-associated changes in platelet turnover, or altered drug metabolism may contribute to the lower response rates we observed,” they wrote.

With respect to corticosteroids, this “may warrant consideration of starting therapy earlier in the third trimester to maximize the likelihood of reaching target platelet counts in time for delivery and raises the possibility that lower corticosteroid doses are ineffective in this setting,” they added.

“Also of significance is the finding that 9 neonates (11%) with normal cord platelet counts were found to have a reduction in their platelet count on repeat measurement. These findings highlight the need for determination of cord platelet counts in all neonates born to mothers with active or previous ITP and the need for continued monitoring of the neonatal platelet count during the first week of life, despite normal cord platelet counts,” they wrote.

“Prospective studies are needed to better characterize the safety of these regimens, to determine the optimal dose of corticosteroids, to identify risk factors for neonatal thrombocytopenia, and to explore new therapeutic options,” they concluded.

Among the options worth exploring are rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against B-cell surface antigen CD20, for which “pregnancy data are accumulating,” and romiplostim, a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, which has been used in a few cases without reported fetal complications, they noted.

This study was supported by Canadian Blood Services Small Projects Fund and Canadian Institute of Health Research/Canadian Blood Services New Investigator Award. Individual authors reported receiving support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and McMaster University. The authors reported having no other disclosures.

[email protected]

Most pregnant women with a history of immune thrombocytopenia purpura need no treatment. Of those who do, neonatal outcomes were comparable for mothers who received treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin and for those who received corticosteroids, results of an observational study indicate.

Though limited by its retrospective design and low event rates that limit inferences about treatment effects, this observational study – the first to compare the effectiveness of treatment with IVIg to treatment with corticosteroids for immune thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP) in pregnancy – shows that outcomes did not significantly differ with the two regimens. The findings also highlight the need for ongoing neonatal platelet count monitoring throughout the first week of life, regardless of the maternal platelet count, the investigators said.

©iStock

A review of medical records at two tertiary care centers identified 235 pregnancies in 195 women with a history of ITP. No treatment was required in 137 pregnancies. Of the remaining 98 pregnancies in 91 women, 47 (48%) were treated initially with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and 51 were treated initially with corticosteroids, reported Dongmei Sun, MD, of University of Western Ontario, London, and colleagues (Blood. 2016;128[10]:1329-35).

The two treatment groups had similar mean maternal platelet counts at birth (68.7 x 10⁹/L and 77.3 x 10⁹/L for IVIg and corticosteroids, respectively). The proportion of mothers who achieved a platelet count response did not significantly differ (38% vs. 39%), the researchers reported.

“The sole difference between treatments was a higher maternal composite outcome noted in the IVIg group,” they wrote, referring to a secondary composite outcome of postpartum hemorrhage, predelivery platelet transfusion, peripartum transfusion of any blood product, or postpartum reduction in the hemoglobin concentration of 30 g/L or more. That composite outcome occurred in 46.8% of pregnancies in the IVIg group and 23.5% in the corticosteroid group.

Adverse events were reported in 13% of cases in each group, and included hemolytic anemia, headache, and “other” in those treated with IVIg, and hyperglycemia requiring treatment, hyperglycemia with neonatal hypoglycemia, infection, and “other” in those receiving corticosteroids.

No severe or fatal maternal, fetal, or neonatal hemorrhages occurred, but two newborns did experience intracranial hemorrhage. No maternal or neonatal deaths occurred, the investigators said.

In 203 neonates for whom platelet counts were available, 56 (28%) had a count of less than 150 x 10⁹/L and 18 (9%) had a count of less than 50 x 10⁹/L.

Nadir platelet counts occurred at birth for 30% of neonates. In two cases, the nadir occurred as late as day 6 postnatally. Of note, a drop in platelets to below 150 x 10⁹/L was found in 9 (11%) of 129 neonates who had a normal cord platelet count and had a repeat count.

ITP occurs in 1 to 10 of every 10,000 pregnancies, and about one-third of cases require intervention. IVIg and corticosteroids are acceptable treatments, but most data on their effectiveness are extrapolated from nonpregnant patients and the treatments have not been adequately assessed in pregnancy, the investigators said. The current study was designed to compare the efficacy of the two treatments for maternal ITP.

Study subjects were women with singleton pregnancies with an ITP diagnosis either before or during pregnancy.

At less than 40% in both groups, the response to ITP therapies was lower than has been reported for nonpregnant patients, the investigators noted.

“Our observation of a relative resistance to ITP treatment during pregnancy requires further validation in prospective studies. We speculate that increased potency of antiplatelet antibodies during pregnancy, pregnancy-associated changes in platelet turnover, or altered drug metabolism may contribute to the lower response rates we observed,” they wrote.

With respect to corticosteroids, this “may warrant consideration of starting therapy earlier in the third trimester to maximize the likelihood of reaching target platelet counts in time for delivery and raises the possibility that lower corticosteroid doses are ineffective in this setting,” they added.

“Also of significance is the finding that 9 neonates (11%) with normal cord platelet counts were found to have a reduction in their platelet count on repeat measurement. These findings highlight the need for determination of cord platelet counts in all neonates born to mothers with active or previous ITP and the need for continued monitoring of the neonatal platelet count during the first week of life, despite normal cord platelet counts,” they wrote.

“Prospective studies are needed to better characterize the safety of these regimens, to determine the optimal dose of corticosteroids, to identify risk factors for neonatal thrombocytopenia, and to explore new therapeutic options,” they concluded.

Among the options worth exploring are rituximab, a monoclonal antibody against B-cell surface antigen CD20, for which “pregnancy data are accumulating,” and romiplostim, a thrombopoietin receptor agonist, which has been used in a few cases without reported fetal complications, they noted.

This study was supported by Canadian Blood Services Small Projects Fund and Canadian Institute of Health Research/Canadian Blood Services New Investigator Award. Individual authors reported receiving support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and McMaster University. The authors reported having no other disclosures.

[email protected]

MUNICH – A combined eye, foot, and renal screening clinic identified undiagnosed painful diabetic neuropathy in 12% of diabetic patients who attended.

The clinic in Sheffield, England, was well attended and well liked, with 85% patient approval. The patients appreciated that the visit assured attention to their feet and also let them combine several individual clinic visits for diabetes complications screening, Solomon Tesfaye, MD, said at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

“Twenty percent of our attendants said they had never even had a foot exam before,” said Dr. Tesfaye, an endocrinologist at the University of Sheffield. “And almost half had never had any kind of diabetic foot education.”

Dr. Tesfaye said this lack of attention to foot care in diabetes patients in the United Kingdom is “completely unacceptable.” The country is facing an epidemic of diabetes-related foot amputations, he said.

“We have unacceptable numbers of amputations, on the order of 135 each week, and unfortunately that number is rising. Why is that? Because in the U.K., we tend to diagnose diabetic neuropathy mainly with the 10-g monofilament test, because that is reimbursed. And while it’s a good way of screening for foot ulceration risk, it’s not a good model of diagnosing neuropathy early. So we are now unfortunately diagnosing it late, when it’s advanced and completely irreversible.”

The consequences of foot damage are far-reaching, Dr. Tesfaye said. “Patients who have to be referred into a foot clinic have very high mortality, approaching 50% at 5 years. In the U.K., we’re adding more and more foot clinics every year, and this is not a measure of success. It’s a measure of failure.”

Diabetic retinopathy, however, is the country’s good news story. More than 90% of people – diabetic or not – attend an annual eye screening as part of their wellness visits. As a result, diabetic eye disease is no longer the leading cause of blindness in adults in the United Kingdom.

“Everyone attends this annual eye screening, which uses retinal photography, and anyone with early changes is referred to specialist care,” Dr. Tesfaye said. “This has resulted in a paradigm shift in blindness, and that’s fantastic news.”

It just made sense, he said, to use the popular eye screening visit as a chance to also intervene early in undiagnosed diabetic neuropathy. A recent German study underscored the importance of early intervention (Diabetes 2014 Jul;63[7]:2454-63).

This study demonstrated that intraepidermal nerve fibers were already significantly reduced in 20% of patients within a year of their diabetes diagnosis. Nerve conduction values and amplitude were already impacted as well.

“The neuropathic process starts early, but we are using very insensitive measures to diagnose it,” Dr. Tesfaye said.

The combination clinic used several devices to test nerve function in feet, in addition to the 10-g monofilament test:

• A handheld device called DPN-Check, which measures sural nerve conduction velocity and response amplitude.

• Sudoscan, which measures sudomotor dysfunction – one of the earliest neurophysiologic changes in distal small fiber neuropathies.

• The Toronto Clinical Scoring System, a clinical tool that assesses symptoms, reflexes, and sensory function.

The entire foot exam takes 15 minutes and is done after the patient receives the eyedrops necessary for the ocular exam. The renal screening consists of a blood draw for tests of renal function.

The study group comprised 180 patients, with a mean age of 64 years. Type 1 diabetes was present in 6%; the rest had type 2 disease.

The Toronto score was 5 or higher, indicating the presence of diabetic neuropathy, in almost 32%.

The Sudoscan identified small nerve dysfunction consistent with neuropathy in 40%. The DPN-Check score identified neuropathy in 55%. However, the monofilament test was positive in 12%.

In addition to the increased number of neuropathy patients identified, “we also had new diagnoses of painful diabetic neuropathy in about 12% of the group,” Dr. Tesfaye said.

The devices had very good individual diagnostic accuracy, and when the devices were combined, the results were “really staggering,” he said. The Sudoscan alone had a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 60%; the DPN-Check alone, a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 73%. But when combined, the two diagnostic tools yielded an overall sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 63%. This correlated very well with the Toronto Clinical Scoring System, he added.

“It’s obvious that the 10-g monofilament test grossly underestimated the true presence of diabetic neuropathy. But using these combined point-of-care devices, we were able to detect it with an extremely high sensitivity. This service enables our patients to be referred early to podiatric services. Whether this early referral will result in the reversal of these neuropathic changes is yet to be determined.”

Dr. Tesfaye reported relationships with NeuroMetrix, Impeto Medical, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Worwag Pharma, and TRIGOcare International.

[email protected]

MUNICH – A combined eye, foot, and renal screening clinic identified undiagnosed painful diabetic neuropathy in 12% of diabetic patients who attended.

The clinic in Sheffield, England, was well attended and well liked, with 85% patient approval. The patients appreciated that the visit assured attention to their feet and also let them combine several individual clinic visits for diabetes complications screening, Solomon Tesfaye, MD, said at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

“Twenty percent of our attendants said they had never even had a foot exam before,” said Dr. Tesfaye, an endocrinologist at the University of Sheffield. “And almost half had never had any kind of diabetic foot education.”

Dr. Tesfaye said this lack of attention to foot care in diabetes patients in the United Kingdom is “completely unacceptable.” The country is facing an epidemic of diabetes-related foot amputations, he said.

“We have unacceptable numbers of amputations, on the order of 135 each week, and unfortunately that number is rising. Why is that? Because in the U.K., we tend to diagnose diabetic neuropathy mainly with the 10-g monofilament test, because that is reimbursed. And while it’s a good way of screening for foot ulceration risk, it’s not a good model of diagnosing neuropathy early. So we are now unfortunately diagnosing it late, when it’s advanced and completely irreversible.”

The consequences of foot damage are far-reaching, Dr. Tesfaye said. “Patients who have to be referred into a foot clinic have very high mortality, approaching 50% at 5 years. In the U.K., we’re adding more and more foot clinics every year, and this is not a measure of success. It’s a measure of failure.”

Diabetic retinopathy, however, is the country’s good news story. More than 90% of people – diabetic or not – attend an annual eye screening as part of their wellness visits. As a result, diabetic eye disease is no longer the leading cause of blindness in adults in the United Kingdom.

“Everyone attends this annual eye screening, which uses retinal photography, and anyone with early changes is referred to specialist care,” Dr. Tesfaye said. “This has resulted in a paradigm shift in blindness, and that’s fantastic news.”

It just made sense, he said, to use the popular eye screening visit as a chance to also intervene early in undiagnosed diabetic neuropathy. A recent German study underscored the importance of early intervention (Diabetes 2014 Jul;63[7]:2454-63).

This study demonstrated that intraepidermal nerve fibers were already significantly reduced in 20% of patients within a year of their diabetes diagnosis. Nerve conduction values and amplitude were already impacted as well.

“The neuropathic process starts early, but we are using very insensitive measures to diagnose it,” Dr. Tesfaye said.

The combination clinic used several devices to test nerve function in feet, in addition to the 10-g monofilament test:

• A handheld device called DPN-Check, which measures sural nerve conduction velocity and response amplitude.

• Sudoscan, which measures sudomotor dysfunction – one of the earliest neurophysiologic changes in distal small fiber neuropathies.

• The Toronto Clinical Scoring System, a clinical tool that assesses symptoms, reflexes, and sensory function.

The entire foot exam takes 15 minutes and is done after the patient receives the eyedrops necessary for the ocular exam. The renal screening consists of a blood draw for tests of renal function.

The study group comprised 180 patients, with a mean age of 64 years. Type 1 diabetes was present in 6%; the rest had type 2 disease.

The Toronto score was 5 or higher, indicating the presence of diabetic neuropathy, in almost 32%.

The Sudoscan identified small nerve dysfunction consistent with neuropathy in 40%. The DPN-Check score identified neuropathy in 55%. However, the monofilament test was positive in 12%.

In addition to the increased number of neuropathy patients identified, “we also had new diagnoses of painful diabetic neuropathy in about 12% of the group,” Dr. Tesfaye said.

The devices had very good individual diagnostic accuracy, and when the devices were combined, the results were “really staggering,” he said. The Sudoscan alone had a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 60%; the DPN-Check alone, a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 73%. But when combined, the two diagnostic tools yielded an overall sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 63%. This correlated very well with the Toronto Clinical Scoring System, he added.

“It’s obvious that the 10-g monofilament test grossly underestimated the true presence of diabetic neuropathy. But using these combined point-of-care devices, we were able to detect it with an extremely high sensitivity. This service enables our patients to be referred early to podiatric services. Whether this early referral will result in the reversal of these neuropathic changes is yet to be determined.”

Dr. Tesfaye reported relationships with NeuroMetrix, Impeto Medical, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Worwag Pharma, and TRIGOcare International.

[email protected]

MUNICH – A combined eye, foot, and renal screening clinic identified undiagnosed painful diabetic neuropathy in 12% of diabetic patients who attended.

The clinic in Sheffield, England, was well attended and well liked, with 85% patient approval. The patients appreciated that the visit assured attention to their feet and also let them combine several individual clinic visits for diabetes complications screening, Solomon Tesfaye, MD, said at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

“Twenty percent of our attendants said they had never even had a foot exam before,” said Dr. Tesfaye, an endocrinologist at the University of Sheffield. “And almost half had never had any kind of diabetic foot education.”

Dr. Tesfaye said this lack of attention to foot care in diabetes patients in the United Kingdom is “completely unacceptable.” The country is facing an epidemic of diabetes-related foot amputations, he said.

“We have unacceptable numbers of amputations, on the order of 135 each week, and unfortunately that number is rising. Why is that? Because in the U.K., we tend to diagnose diabetic neuropathy mainly with the 10-g monofilament test, because that is reimbursed. And while it’s a good way of screening for foot ulceration risk, it’s not a good model of diagnosing neuropathy early. So we are now unfortunately diagnosing it late, when it’s advanced and completely irreversible.”

The consequences of foot damage are far-reaching, Dr. Tesfaye said. “Patients who have to be referred into a foot clinic have very high mortality, approaching 50% at 5 years. In the U.K., we’re adding more and more foot clinics every year, and this is not a measure of success. It’s a measure of failure.”

Diabetic retinopathy, however, is the country’s good news story. More than 90% of people – diabetic or not – attend an annual eye screening as part of their wellness visits. As a result, diabetic eye disease is no longer the leading cause of blindness in adults in the United Kingdom.

“Everyone attends this annual eye screening, which uses retinal photography, and anyone with early changes is referred to specialist care,” Dr. Tesfaye said. “This has resulted in a paradigm shift in blindness, and that’s fantastic news.”

It just made sense, he said, to use the popular eye screening visit as a chance to also intervene early in undiagnosed diabetic neuropathy. A recent German study underscored the importance of early intervention (Diabetes 2014 Jul;63[7]:2454-63).

This study demonstrated that intraepidermal nerve fibers were already significantly reduced in 20% of patients within a year of their diabetes diagnosis. Nerve conduction values and amplitude were already impacted as well.

“The neuropathic process starts early, but we are using very insensitive measures to diagnose it,” Dr. Tesfaye said.

The combination clinic used several devices to test nerve function in feet, in addition to the 10-g monofilament test:

• A handheld device called DPN-Check, which measures sural nerve conduction velocity and response amplitude.

• Sudoscan, which measures sudomotor dysfunction – one of the earliest neurophysiologic changes in distal small fiber neuropathies.

• The Toronto Clinical Scoring System, a clinical tool that assesses symptoms, reflexes, and sensory function.

The entire foot exam takes 15 minutes and is done after the patient receives the eyedrops necessary for the ocular exam. The renal screening consists of a blood draw for tests of renal function.

The study group comprised 180 patients, with a mean age of 64 years. Type 1 diabetes was present in 6%; the rest had type 2 disease.

The Toronto score was 5 or higher, indicating the presence of diabetic neuropathy, in almost 32%.

The Sudoscan identified small nerve dysfunction consistent with neuropathy in 40%. The DPN-Check score identified neuropathy in 55%. However, the monofilament test was positive in 12%.

In addition to the increased number of neuropathy patients identified, “we also had new diagnoses of painful diabetic neuropathy in about 12% of the group,” Dr. Tesfaye said.

The devices had very good individual diagnostic accuracy, and when the devices were combined, the results were “really staggering,” he said. The Sudoscan alone had a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 60%; the DPN-Check alone, a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 73%. But when combined, the two diagnostic tools yielded an overall sensitivity of 94% and specificity of 63%. This correlated very well with the Toronto Clinical Scoring System, he added.

“It’s obvious that the 10-g monofilament test grossly underestimated the true presence of diabetic neuropathy. But using these combined point-of-care devices, we were able to detect it with an extremely high sensitivity. This service enables our patients to be referred early to podiatric services. Whether this early referral will result in the reversal of these neuropathic changes is yet to be determined.”

Dr. Tesfaye reported relationships with NeuroMetrix, Impeto Medical, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Worwag Pharma, and TRIGOcare International.

[email protected]

For patients with large-vessel ischemic stroke, endovascular thrombectomy produces better functional outcomes at 90 days than does optimal medical therapy, as long as the procedure is started within 7.3 hours of symptom onset, according to a report published online Sept. 27 in JAMA.

The benefit of thrombectomy was greatest when the procedure was begun under 2 hours from symptom onset, and it became nonsignificant after 7 hours and 18 minutes elapsed. This emphasizes “the importance of programs to enhance patient awareness, out-of-hospital care, and in-hospital management to shorten symptom onset-to-treatment times,” wrote Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and his associates.

Five major randomized trials have demonstrated the benefit of second-generation endovascular recanalization therapies over medical therapy in this patient population, but uncertainties persist regarding the timing of the intervention. For example, practice guidelines in the United States recommend thrombectomy until 6 hours after symptom onset, but the Food and Drug Administration allows thrombectomy devices to be used up to 8 hours after symptom onset and Canadian guidelines recommend the procedure for selected patients up to 12 hours after symptom onset.

The investigators for the five trials formed the Highly Effective Reperfusion Evaluated in Multiple Endovascular Stroke Trials (HERMES) collaboration to pool their individual patient data and perform a meta-analysis to clarify the issue of timing. They assessed patients’ functional independence at 90 days using the modified Rankin Score (mRS). The study participants included 634 patients who had been randomly assigned to endovascular thrombectomy and 653 randomly assigned to medical therapy.

The intervention correlated with a substantially lower degree of patient disability at 90 days than did medical therapy: the mean mRS was 2.9 in the thrombectomy group and 3.6 in the medical therapy group. In addition, increasing delays in treatment were associated with higher levels of residual disability in the thrombectomy group but not in the medical therapy group, the investigators reported.

“Based on the current study, and assuming the findings are generalizable to the population of patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion, among every 1,000 patients achieving substantial endovascular reperfusion, for every 15-minute faster ED door-to-reperfusion time, an estimated 39 patients would have a less-disabled outcome at 3 months, including 25 more who would achieve functional independence (mRS 0-2),” Dr. Saver and his associates wrote (JAMA. 2016;316[12]:1279-88).

These findings reinforce current recommendations to attempt endovascular thrombectomy when the procedure can be initiated within 6 hours of symptom onset, and they also “provide evidence that potentially supports strengthening of the recommendation for treatment from 6 through 7.3 hours after symptom onset,” they added.

No specific sponsor of this study was cited. Dr. Saver reported ties to Medtronic, Stryker, Cognition Medical, Covidien, Neuravi, BrainsGate, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, ZZ Biotech, St. Jude Medical, and Genentech. His associates reported ties to numerous industry sources.

For patients with large-vessel ischemic stroke, endovascular thrombectomy produces better functional outcomes at 90 days than does optimal medical therapy, as long as the procedure is started within 7.3 hours of symptom onset, according to a report published online Sept. 27 in JAMA.

The benefit of thrombectomy was greatest when the procedure was begun under 2 hours from symptom onset, and it became nonsignificant after 7 hours and 18 minutes elapsed. This emphasizes “the importance of programs to enhance patient awareness, out-of-hospital care, and in-hospital management to shorten symptom onset-to-treatment times,” wrote Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and his associates.

Five major randomized trials have demonstrated the benefit of second-generation endovascular recanalization therapies over medical therapy in this patient population, but uncertainties persist regarding the timing of the intervention. For example, practice guidelines in the United States recommend thrombectomy until 6 hours after symptom onset, but the Food and Drug Administration allows thrombectomy devices to be used up to 8 hours after symptom onset and Canadian guidelines recommend the procedure for selected patients up to 12 hours after symptom onset.

The investigators for the five trials formed the Highly Effective Reperfusion Evaluated in Multiple Endovascular Stroke Trials (HERMES) collaboration to pool their individual patient data and perform a meta-analysis to clarify the issue of timing. They assessed patients’ functional independence at 90 days using the modified Rankin Score (mRS). The study participants included 634 patients who had been randomly assigned to endovascular thrombectomy and 653 randomly assigned to medical therapy.

The intervention correlated with a substantially lower degree of patient disability at 90 days than did medical therapy: the mean mRS was 2.9 in the thrombectomy group and 3.6 in the medical therapy group. In addition, increasing delays in treatment were associated with higher levels of residual disability in the thrombectomy group but not in the medical therapy group, the investigators reported.

“Based on the current study, and assuming the findings are generalizable to the population of patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion, among every 1,000 patients achieving substantial endovascular reperfusion, for every 15-minute faster ED door-to-reperfusion time, an estimated 39 patients would have a less-disabled outcome at 3 months, including 25 more who would achieve functional independence (mRS 0-2),” Dr. Saver and his associates wrote (JAMA. 2016;316[12]:1279-88).

These findings reinforce current recommendations to attempt endovascular thrombectomy when the procedure can be initiated within 6 hours of symptom onset, and they also “provide evidence that potentially supports strengthening of the recommendation for treatment from 6 through 7.3 hours after symptom onset,” they added.

No specific sponsor of this study was cited. Dr. Saver reported ties to Medtronic, Stryker, Cognition Medical, Covidien, Neuravi, BrainsGate, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, ZZ Biotech, St. Jude Medical, and Genentech. His associates reported ties to numerous industry sources.

For patients with large-vessel ischemic stroke, endovascular thrombectomy produces better functional outcomes at 90 days than does optimal medical therapy, as long as the procedure is started within 7.3 hours of symptom onset, according to a report published online Sept. 27 in JAMA.

The benefit of thrombectomy was greatest when the procedure was begun under 2 hours from symptom onset, and it became nonsignificant after 7 hours and 18 minutes elapsed. This emphasizes “the importance of programs to enhance patient awareness, out-of-hospital care, and in-hospital management to shorten symptom onset-to-treatment times,” wrote Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and his associates.

Five major randomized trials have demonstrated the benefit of second-generation endovascular recanalization therapies over medical therapy in this patient population, but uncertainties persist regarding the timing of the intervention. For example, practice guidelines in the United States recommend thrombectomy until 6 hours after symptom onset, but the Food and Drug Administration allows thrombectomy devices to be used up to 8 hours after symptom onset and Canadian guidelines recommend the procedure for selected patients up to 12 hours after symptom onset.

The investigators for the five trials formed the Highly Effective Reperfusion Evaluated in Multiple Endovascular Stroke Trials (HERMES) collaboration to pool their individual patient data and perform a meta-analysis to clarify the issue of timing. They assessed patients’ functional independence at 90 days using the modified Rankin Score (mRS). The study participants included 634 patients who had been randomly assigned to endovascular thrombectomy and 653 randomly assigned to medical therapy.

The intervention correlated with a substantially lower degree of patient disability at 90 days than did medical therapy: the mean mRS was 2.9 in the thrombectomy group and 3.6 in the medical therapy group. In addition, increasing delays in treatment were associated with higher levels of residual disability in the thrombectomy group but not in the medical therapy group, the investigators reported.

“Based on the current study, and assuming the findings are generalizable to the population of patients with acute ischemic stroke due to large-vessel occlusion, among every 1,000 patients achieving substantial endovascular reperfusion, for every 15-minute faster ED door-to-reperfusion time, an estimated 39 patients would have a less-disabled outcome at 3 months, including 25 more who would achieve functional independence (mRS 0-2),” Dr. Saver and his associates wrote (JAMA. 2016;316[12]:1279-88).

These findings reinforce current recommendations to attempt endovascular thrombectomy when the procedure can be initiated within 6 hours of symptom onset, and they also “provide evidence that potentially supports strengthening of the recommendation for treatment from 6 through 7.3 hours after symptom onset,” they added.

No specific sponsor of this study was cited. Dr. Saver reported ties to Medtronic, Stryker, Cognition Medical, Covidien, Neuravi, BrainsGate, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, ZZ Biotech, St. Jude Medical, and Genentech. His associates reported ties to numerous industry sources.

SAN FRANCISCO – Prodromal anxiety and depression are common in Parkinson’s disease and may develop years earlier than conventionally thought, according to data presented at the 2016 congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

“In some cases, the psychiatric prodrome can appear 25 or more years earlier than the onset of motor symptoms,” said Andrea Seritan, MD, a geriatric psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco. Psychiatrists need to keep this fact in mind when treating patients with anxiety or depression, and refer them to a neurologist if they notice or are informed of motor symptoms, she emphasized.

Amy Karon/Frontline Medical News

Patients with Parkinson’s disease often have developed anxiety or depression before the onset of motor symptoms. Historically, this psychiatric prodrome was thought to begin anywhere from 5 to 10 years before motor symptoms, “depending on which expert you ask,” Dr. Seritan said. But after observing that some of her Parkinson’s patients reported decades-long histories of anxiety or depression, she and her colleagues reviewed medical charts for 39 patients aged 50 years or more with confirmed Parkinson’s disease who were referred for psychiatric evaluation at the UCSF Movement Disorder and Neuromodulation Center in 2015 or 2016. A total of 28 patients (72%) were men, mean age at referral was 65 years (standard deviation, 7.6 years), and the patients had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease an average of 12 years previously (standard deviation, 6.7 years).

At referral, a total of 34 (87%) patients met DSM-5 criteria for major depressive disorder, dysthymia, or an unspecified depressive disorder, while 68% met DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, other anxiety disorders, Dr. Seritan said. About two-thirds of patients had comorbid depression and anxiety. Other DSM-5 diagnoses included impulse control disorders (15% of patients), substance abuse disorders (13%), and mild (21%) or major (13%) neurocognitive disorders.

Exactly 50% of patients had depression preceding their Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, while 43% of patients had prodromal anxiety, Dr. Seritan and her colleagues determined. The average age of onset of psychiatric symptoms was in the 30s, but this ranged from childhood or adolescence into the 60s. Mean ages of Parkinson’s diagnosis were much later – 58 years for patients whose primary prodrome was anxiety and 56 years for patients whose primary prodrome was depression, with a standard deviation of 9.8 years for each group.

The findings suggest that a decades-long prodrome of anxiety or depression is common in Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Seritan concluded. Psychiatrists should be alert to the possibility of Parkinson’s disease in patients with depression or anxiety, because individuals with movement disorders can be very susceptible to the side effects of antidepressants and antipsychotics, she emphasized.

Dr. Seritan reported no funding sources and had no conflicts of interest.

SAN FRANCISCO – Prodromal anxiety and depression are common in Parkinson’s disease and may develop years earlier than conventionally thought, according to data presented at the 2016 congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

“In some cases, the psychiatric prodrome can appear 25 or more years earlier than the onset of motor symptoms,” said Andrea Seritan, MD, a geriatric psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco. Psychiatrists need to keep this fact in mind when treating patients with anxiety or depression, and refer them to a neurologist if they notice or are informed of motor symptoms, she emphasized.

Amy Karon/Frontline Medical News

Patients with Parkinson’s disease often have developed anxiety or depression before the onset of motor symptoms. Historically, this psychiatric prodrome was thought to begin anywhere from 5 to 10 years before motor symptoms, “depending on which expert you ask,” Dr. Seritan said. But after observing that some of her Parkinson’s patients reported decades-long histories of anxiety or depression, she and her colleagues reviewed medical charts for 39 patients aged 50 years or more with confirmed Parkinson’s disease who were referred for psychiatric evaluation at the UCSF Movement Disorder and Neuromodulation Center in 2015 or 2016. A total of 28 patients (72%) were men, mean age at referral was 65 years (standard deviation, 7.6 years), and the patients had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease an average of 12 years previously (standard deviation, 6.7 years).

At referral, a total of 34 (87%) patients met DSM-5 criteria for major depressive disorder, dysthymia, or an unspecified depressive disorder, while 68% met DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, other anxiety disorders, Dr. Seritan said. About two-thirds of patients had comorbid depression and anxiety. Other DSM-5 diagnoses included impulse control disorders (15% of patients), substance abuse disorders (13%), and mild (21%) or major (13%) neurocognitive disorders.

Exactly 50% of patients had depression preceding their Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, while 43% of patients had prodromal anxiety, Dr. Seritan and her colleagues determined. The average age of onset of psychiatric symptoms was in the 30s, but this ranged from childhood or adolescence into the 60s. Mean ages of Parkinson’s diagnosis were much later – 58 years for patients whose primary prodrome was anxiety and 56 years for patients whose primary prodrome was depression, with a standard deviation of 9.8 years for each group.

The findings suggest that a decades-long prodrome of anxiety or depression is common in Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Seritan concluded. Psychiatrists should be alert to the possibility of Parkinson’s disease in patients with depression or anxiety, because individuals with movement disorders can be very susceptible to the side effects of antidepressants and antipsychotics, she emphasized.

Dr. Seritan reported no funding sources and had no conflicts of interest.

SAN FRANCISCO – Prodromal anxiety and depression are common in Parkinson’s disease and may develop years earlier than conventionally thought, according to data presented at the 2016 congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

“In some cases, the psychiatric prodrome can appear 25 or more years earlier than the onset of motor symptoms,” said Andrea Seritan, MD, a geriatric psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco. Psychiatrists need to keep this fact in mind when treating patients with anxiety or depression, and refer them to a neurologist if they notice or are informed of motor symptoms, she emphasized.

Amy Karon/Frontline Medical News

Patients with Parkinson’s disease often have developed anxiety or depression before the onset of motor symptoms. Historically, this psychiatric prodrome was thought to begin anywhere from 5 to 10 years before motor symptoms, “depending on which expert you ask,” Dr. Seritan said. But after observing that some of her Parkinson’s patients reported decades-long histories of anxiety or depression, she and her colleagues reviewed medical charts for 39 patients aged 50 years or more with confirmed Parkinson’s disease who were referred for psychiatric evaluation at the UCSF Movement Disorder and Neuromodulation Center in 2015 or 2016. A total of 28 patients (72%) were men, mean age at referral was 65 years (standard deviation, 7.6 years), and the patients had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease an average of 12 years previously (standard deviation, 6.7 years).

At referral, a total of 34 (87%) patients met DSM-5 criteria for major depressive disorder, dysthymia, or an unspecified depressive disorder, while 68% met DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, other anxiety disorders, Dr. Seritan said. About two-thirds of patients had comorbid depression and anxiety. Other DSM-5 diagnoses included impulse control disorders (15% of patients), substance abuse disorders (13%), and mild (21%) or major (13%) neurocognitive disorders.

Exactly 50% of patients had depression preceding their Parkinson’s disease diagnosis, while 43% of patients had prodromal anxiety, Dr. Seritan and her colleagues determined. The average age of onset of psychiatric symptoms was in the 30s, but this ranged from childhood or adolescence into the 60s. Mean ages of Parkinson’s diagnosis were much later – 58 years for patients whose primary prodrome was anxiety and 56 years for patients whose primary prodrome was depression, with a standard deviation of 9.8 years for each group.

The findings suggest that a decades-long prodrome of anxiety or depression is common in Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Seritan concluded. Psychiatrists should be alert to the possibility of Parkinson’s disease in patients with depression or anxiety, because individuals with movement disorders can be very susceptible to the side effects of antidepressants and antipsychotics, she emphasized.

Dr. Seritan reported no funding sources and had no conflicts of interest.

SAN FRANCISCO – Autism spectrum disorders often are missed in older adults, even though they cause substantial morbidity; identifying these disorders enables clinicians to teach more effective caregiving strategies and adjust medications, which can substantially reduce distress for all concerned, according to Shabbir Amanullah, MD.

About 1% of adults have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and so will about 700,000 U.S. seniors by 2030, said Dr. Amanullah, a geriatric psychiatrist at Woodstock General Hospital in Ontario. Like their younger peers, older patients with ASD show persistent social deficit and rigid thinking, adhere to inflexible routines, and may have perseverative interests. Many also are high-functioning retired professionals with children, belying stereotypes of autism as a severely disabling disorder of childhood, Dr. Amanullah said. These factors can complicate diagnosis of ASD, especially when patients or family members cannot or will not provide a detailed childhood and psychiatric history.

Undetected ASD is especially burdensome in institutional settings, where patients struggle to adjust and “become angry, even violent,” Dr. Amanullah said at the 2016 congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

He noted the case of a 72-year-old nursing home resident referred to him for persistently hostile behavior; she “had never really settled in,” slept poorly, and constantly complained about the staff, food, and other residents, whom she “smacked on the bum with her cane.” She also had complained about the facility to local officials, triggering investigations of minor issues. Staff avoided her whenever possible, her children were estranged, and she failed to improve despite therapy with several psychotropic medications.

This is a classic case of autism spectrum disorder, said Dr. Amanullah, also an adjunct professor  Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., and at the University of Western Ontario. The patient acted out most in high-stimulus environments such as the crowded nursing home cafeteria, and interpreted promises to help her “in a minute” literally, becoming enraged when staff arrived 5 minutes later instead. When questioned, she reported having always been “disliked” and without friends. But instead of ruminating over past wrongs as patients with paranoia tend to do, she became uncomfortable and looked down when describing having been bullied as a child.

All these clues had gone unrecognized, according to Dr. Amanullah. “Nobody gave importance to the real reason this patient was complaining. Staff were distracted by the fact that she’d been employed and had children, and did not recognize that someone with ASD can meet this description,” he said.

But staff members often did know children with autism, and so their frustration often turned to compassion after they were educated about her diagnosis and connected it with her behaviors, he said. The patient, for her part, stopped complaining as much about the food after she was allowed to avoid the dining room during busy times and eat in her room if she wished. She also became less recalcitrant after staff began reviewing her schedule with her each morning. If she avoided her most severe behaviors, a staff person also sat with her to keep her company at the end of the day.

Such changes can make a tremendous difference in and outside of institutional settings, but patients with ASD often also need treatment for concurrent Axis I disorders, Dr. Amanullah said. This patient met that description, and Dr. Amanullah increased her antidepressant dose while tapering her off an antipsychotic. He said 20 mg citalopram once daily works well but can manifest as inappropriate jokes rather than physical behaviors. "Autistic individuals vary in their expression of sexuality and may make odd remarks that can be misconstrued," he said in an interview. "But generally, they don't act out." All this underscores the need for clinicians to “consider the power of bias” in their thinking, he said. “We have to be willing to change the way we see things, and even more importantly, recognize what the problem was to begin with.”

Dr. Amanullah disclosed no funding sources or relevant financial conflicts.

SAN FRANCISCO – Autism spectrum disorders often are missed in older adults, even though they cause substantial morbidity; identifying these disorders enables clinicians to teach more effective caregiving strategies and adjust medications, which can substantially reduce distress for all concerned, according to Shabbir Amanullah, MD.

About 1% of adults have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and so will about 700,000 U.S. seniors by 2030, said Dr. Amanullah, a geriatric psychiatrist at Woodstock General Hospital in Ontario. Like their younger peers, older patients with ASD show persistent social deficit and rigid thinking, adhere to inflexible routines, and may have perseverative interests. Many also are high-functioning retired professionals with children, belying stereotypes of autism as a severely disabling disorder of childhood, Dr. Amanullah said. These factors can complicate diagnosis of ASD, especially when patients or family members cannot or will not provide a detailed childhood and psychiatric history.

Undetected ASD is especially burdensome in institutional settings, where patients struggle to adjust and “become angry, even violent,” Dr. Amanullah said at the 2016 congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

He noted the case of a 72-year-old nursing home resident referred to him for persistently hostile behavior; she “had never really settled in,” slept poorly, and constantly complained about the staff, food, and other residents, whom she “smacked on the bum with her cane.” She also had complained about the facility to local officials, triggering investigations of minor issues. Staff avoided her whenever possible, her children were estranged, and she failed to improve despite therapy with several psychotropic medications.

This is a classic case of autism spectrum disorder, said Dr. Amanullah, also an adjunct professor  Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., and at the University of Western Ontario. The patient acted out most in high-stimulus environments such as the crowded nursing home cafeteria, and interpreted promises to help her “in a minute” literally, becoming enraged when staff arrived 5 minutes later instead. When questioned, she reported having always been “disliked” and without friends. But instead of ruminating over past wrongs as patients with paranoia tend to do, she became uncomfortable and looked down when describing having been bullied as a child.

All these clues had gone unrecognized, according to Dr. Amanullah. “Nobody gave importance to the real reason this patient was complaining. Staff were distracted by the fact that she’d been employed and had children, and did not recognize that someone with ASD can meet this description,” he said.

But staff members often did know children with autism, and so their frustration often turned to compassion after they were educated about her diagnosis and connected it with her behaviors, he said. The patient, for her part, stopped complaining as much about the food after she was allowed to avoid the dining room during busy times and eat in her room if she wished. She also became less recalcitrant after staff began reviewing her schedule with her each morning. If she avoided her most severe behaviors, a staff person also sat with her to keep her company at the end of the day.

Such changes can make a tremendous difference in and outside of institutional settings, but patients with ASD often also need treatment for concurrent Axis I disorders, Dr. Amanullah said. This patient met that description, and Dr. Amanullah increased her antidepressant dose while tapering her off an antipsychotic. He said 20 mg citalopram once daily works well but can manifest as inappropriate jokes rather than physical behaviors. "Autistic individuals vary in their expression of sexuality and may make odd remarks that can be misconstrued," he said in an interview. "But generally, they don't act out." All this underscores the need for clinicians to “consider the power of bias” in their thinking, he said. “We have to be willing to change the way we see things, and even more importantly, recognize what the problem was to begin with.”

Dr. Amanullah disclosed no funding sources or relevant financial conflicts.

SAN FRANCISCO – Autism spectrum disorders often are missed in older adults, even though they cause substantial morbidity; identifying these disorders enables clinicians to teach more effective caregiving strategies and adjust medications, which can substantially reduce distress for all concerned, according to Shabbir Amanullah, MD.

About 1% of adults have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and so will about 700,000 U.S. seniors by 2030, said Dr. Amanullah, a geriatric psychiatrist at Woodstock General Hospital in Ontario. Like their younger peers, older patients with ASD show persistent social deficit and rigid thinking, adhere to inflexible routines, and may have perseverative interests. Many also are high-functioning retired professionals with children, belying stereotypes of autism as a severely disabling disorder of childhood, Dr. Amanullah said. These factors can complicate diagnosis of ASD, especially when patients or family members cannot or will not provide a detailed childhood and psychiatric history.

Undetected ASD is especially burdensome in institutional settings, where patients struggle to adjust and “become angry, even violent,” Dr. Amanullah said at the 2016 congress of the International Psychogeriatric Association.

He noted the case of a 72-year-old nursing home resident referred to him for persistently hostile behavior; she “had never really settled in,” slept poorly, and constantly complained about the staff, food, and other residents, whom she “smacked on the bum with her cane.” She also had complained about the facility to local officials, triggering investigations of minor issues. Staff avoided her whenever possible, her children were estranged, and she failed to improve despite therapy with several psychotropic medications.

This is a classic case of autism spectrum disorder, said Dr. Amanullah, also an adjunct professor  Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., and at the University of Western Ontario. The patient acted out most in high-stimulus environments such as the crowded nursing home cafeteria, and interpreted promises to help her “in a minute” literally, becoming enraged when staff arrived 5 minutes later instead. When questioned, she reported having always been “disliked” and without friends. But instead of ruminating over past wrongs as patients with paranoia tend to do, she became uncomfortable and looked down when describing having been bullied as a child.

All these clues had gone unrecognized, according to Dr. Amanullah. “Nobody gave importance to the real reason this patient was complaining. Staff were distracted by the fact that she’d been employed and had children, and did not recognize that someone with ASD can meet this description,” he said.

But staff members often did know children with autism, and so their frustration often turned to compassion after they were educated about her diagnosis and connected it with her behaviors, he said. The patient, for her part, stopped complaining as much about the food after she was allowed to avoid the dining room during busy times and eat in her room if she wished. She also became less recalcitrant after staff began reviewing her schedule with her each morning. If she avoided her most severe behaviors, a staff person also sat with her to keep her company at the end of the day.

Such changes can make a tremendous difference in and outside of institutional settings, but patients with ASD often also need treatment for concurrent Axis I disorders, Dr. Amanullah said. This patient met that description, and Dr. Amanullah increased her antidepressant dose while tapering her off an antipsychotic. He said 20 mg citalopram once daily works well but can manifest as inappropriate jokes rather than physical behaviors. "Autistic individuals vary in their expression of sexuality and may make odd remarks that can be misconstrued," he said in an interview. "But generally, they don't act out." All this underscores the need for clinicians to “consider the power of bias” in their thinking, he said. “We have to be willing to change the way we see things, and even more importantly, recognize what the problem was to begin with.”

Dr. Amanullah disclosed no funding sources or relevant financial conflicts.

There are “no clinically meaningful differences” between Amgen’s biosimilar adalimumab (Amjevita) and AbbVie’s branded product Humira, the Food and Drug Administration noted it its Sept. 23 announcement of Amjevita’s approval.

Although Amjevita (adalimumab-atto) is expected to cost less than Humira, Amgen has not released price information or a launch date pending ongoing litigation with AbbVie over intellectual property rights, an Amgen spokeswoman said.

[email protected]

There are “no clinically meaningful differences” between Amgen’s biosimilar adalimumab (Amjevita) and AbbVie’s branded product Humira, the Food and Drug Administration noted it its Sept. 23 announcement of Amjevita’s approval.

Although Amjevita (adalimumab-atto) is expected to cost less than Humira, Amgen has not released price information or a launch date pending ongoing litigation with AbbVie over intellectual property rights, an Amgen spokeswoman said.

[email protected]

There are “no clinically meaningful differences” between Amgen’s biosimilar adalimumab (Amjevita) and AbbVie’s branded product Humira, the Food and Drug Administration noted it its Sept. 23 announcement of Amjevita’s approval.

Although Amjevita (adalimumab-atto) is expected to cost less than Humira, Amgen has not released price information or a launch date pending ongoing litigation with AbbVie over intellectual property rights, an Amgen spokeswoman said.

[email protected]

VIENNA – The year 2016 has brought answers to two key questions regarding the off-label use of intravenous ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression: What’s the optimal dosing schedule? And what’s the likely mechanism of benefit?

Ketamine has generated enormous interest among psychiatrists and patients because the response is so dramatic, with marked improvement seen within hours in a much higher proportion of patients than respond to conventional antidepressants, which target the serotonergic system. But the benefits are not long lasting, and psychiatrists have wondered how often the treatment should be repeated. That question has been answered in a multicenter, double-blind U.S. randomized trial, Eduard Vieta, MD, PhD, noted at the annual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Investigators randomized 67 patients with treatment-resistant depression to ketamine at 0.5 mg/kg of body weight at either two or three times per week, or to placebo. The mean reduction on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale at day 15 was 18.4 points with twice-weekly therapy and similar at 17.7 with thrice-weekly therapy, both significantly better than with placebo (Am J Psychiatry. 2016 Aug 1;173[8]:816-26).

“It turns out that two and three times per week were equally effective, so obviously twice per week is enough,” said Dr. Vieta, professor of psychiatry and head of the bipolar disorders program at the University of Barcelona.

Ketamine’s approved indication is as an anesthetic agent. Its long-term safety as an antidepressant remains an open question. The drug has undesirable psychotropic side effects, including dissociation, but related compounds without those issues are speeding through the developmental pipeline. The Food and Drug Administration has granted Janssen Pharmaceuticals “fast track” and “breakthrough therapy” status for intranasal esketamine, the S(+) enantiomer of ketamine, which is now in phase III clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression as well as for depression with suicidal thoughts. The FDA reserves these designations for potential therapies addressing a major unmet need. Allergan has received the same designations from the FDA for its drug rapastinel, which also is now in phase III clinical trials.

“Ketamine is clearly not something to use as first-line therapy. I think there is a problem in certain places: I know in the U.S. there are now plenty of ketamine clinics administering the drug to first comers. That doesn’t make sense to me. But ketamine does open an important new avenue,” he said.

Dr. Vieta asserted that the future of new drug development for mood disorders lies in the glutamatergic system. However, a recent study by investigators at the National Institute of Mental Health – who pioneered the use of ketamine as an antidepressant – and colleagues at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, casts doubt upon the conventional wisdom that ketamine’s mechanism of benefit as an antidepressant involves N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA) antagonism.

Instead, they reported, the antidepressant effect is actually exerted by a ketamine metabolite known as HNK, or (2S,6S;2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine. And HNK’s antidepressant effect is not related to NMDA receptors, but is instead tied to activation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors. And in mice, at least, HNK lacks the unwelcome psychotomimetic side effects of ketamine (Nature. 2016 May 4;533[7604]:481-6).

“This is a very nice paper and very important. This opens up a new avenue in drug development, looking at agents that act on AMPA receptors to provide rapid relief of depressive symptoms in unipolar depression but probably also in bipolar depression,” said Dr. Vieta.

He reported receiving research grants from numerous pharmaceutical companies having an interest in treatments for mood disorders.

[email protected]

VIENNA – The year 2016 has brought answers to two key questions regarding the off-label use of intravenous ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression: What’s the optimal dosing schedule? And what’s the likely mechanism of benefit?

Ketamine has generated enormous interest among psychiatrists and patients because the response is so dramatic, with marked improvement seen within hours in a much higher proportion of patients than respond to conventional antidepressants, which target the serotonergic system. But the benefits are not long lasting, and psychiatrists have wondered how often the treatment should be repeated. That question has been answered in a multicenter, double-blind U.S. randomized trial, Eduard Vieta, MD, PhD, noted at the annual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Investigators randomized 67 patients with treatment-resistant depression to ketamine at 0.5 mg/kg of body weight at either two or three times per week, or to placebo. The mean reduction on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale at day 15 was 18.4 points with twice-weekly therapy and similar at 17.7 with thrice-weekly therapy, both significantly better than with placebo (Am J Psychiatry. 2016 Aug 1;173[8]:816-26).

“It turns out that two and three times per week were equally effective, so obviously twice per week is enough,” said Dr. Vieta, professor of psychiatry and head of the bipolar disorders program at the University of Barcelona.

Ketamine’s approved indication is as an anesthetic agent. Its long-term safety as an antidepressant remains an open question. The drug has undesirable psychotropic side effects, including dissociation, but related compounds without those issues are speeding through the developmental pipeline. The Food and Drug Administration has granted Janssen Pharmaceuticals “fast track” and “breakthrough therapy” status for intranasal esketamine, the S(+) enantiomer of ketamine, which is now in phase III clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression as well as for depression with suicidal thoughts. The FDA reserves these designations for potential therapies addressing a major unmet need. Allergan has received the same designations from the FDA for its drug rapastinel, which also is now in phase III clinical trials.

“Ketamine is clearly not something to use as first-line therapy. I think there is a problem in certain places: I know in the U.S. there are now plenty of ketamine clinics administering the drug to first comers. That doesn’t make sense to me. But ketamine does open an important new avenue,” he said.

Dr. Vieta asserted that the future of new drug development for mood disorders lies in the glutamatergic system. However, a recent study by investigators at the National Institute of Mental Health – who pioneered the use of ketamine as an antidepressant – and colleagues at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, casts doubt upon the conventional wisdom that ketamine’s mechanism of benefit as an antidepressant involves N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA) antagonism.

Instead, they reported, the antidepressant effect is actually exerted by a ketamine metabolite known as HNK, or (2S,6S;2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine. And HNK’s antidepressant effect is not related to NMDA receptors, but is instead tied to activation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors. And in mice, at least, HNK lacks the unwelcome psychotomimetic side effects of ketamine (Nature. 2016 May 4;533[7604]:481-6).

“This is a very nice paper and very important. This opens up a new avenue in drug development, looking at agents that act on AMPA receptors to provide rapid relief of depressive symptoms in unipolar depression but probably also in bipolar depression,” said Dr. Vieta.

He reported receiving research grants from numerous pharmaceutical companies having an interest in treatments for mood disorders.

[email protected]

VIENNA – The year 2016 has brought answers to two key questions regarding the off-label use of intravenous ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression: What’s the optimal dosing schedule? And what’s the likely mechanism of benefit?

Ketamine has generated enormous interest among psychiatrists and patients because the response is so dramatic, with marked improvement seen within hours in a much higher proportion of patients than respond to conventional antidepressants, which target the serotonergic system. But the benefits are not long lasting, and psychiatrists have wondered how often the treatment should be repeated. That question has been answered in a multicenter, double-blind U.S. randomized trial, Eduard Vieta, MD, PhD, noted at the annual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Investigators randomized 67 patients with treatment-resistant depression to ketamine at 0.5 mg/kg of body weight at either two or three times per week, or to placebo. The mean reduction on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale at day 15 was 18.4 points with twice-weekly therapy and similar at 17.7 with thrice-weekly therapy, both significantly better than with placebo (Am J Psychiatry. 2016 Aug 1;173[8]:816-26).

“It turns out that two and three times per week were equally effective, so obviously twice per week is enough,” said Dr. Vieta, professor of psychiatry and head of the bipolar disorders program at the University of Barcelona.

Ketamine’s approved indication is as an anesthetic agent. Its long-term safety as an antidepressant remains an open question. The drug has undesirable psychotropic side effects, including dissociation, but related compounds without those issues are speeding through the developmental pipeline. The Food and Drug Administration has granted Janssen Pharmaceuticals “fast track” and “breakthrough therapy” status for intranasal esketamine, the S(+) enantiomer of ketamine, which is now in phase III clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression as well as for depression with suicidal thoughts. The FDA reserves these designations for potential therapies addressing a major unmet need. Allergan has received the same designations from the FDA for its drug rapastinel, which also is now in phase III clinical trials.

“Ketamine is clearly not something to use as first-line therapy. I think there is a problem in certain places: I know in the U.S. there are now plenty of ketamine clinics administering the drug to first comers. That doesn’t make sense to me. But ketamine does open an important new avenue,” he said.

Dr. Vieta asserted that the future of new drug development for mood disorders lies in the glutamatergic system. However, a recent study by investigators at the National Institute of Mental Health – who pioneered the use of ketamine as an antidepressant – and colleagues at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, casts doubt upon the conventional wisdom that ketamine’s mechanism of benefit as an antidepressant involves N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDA) antagonism.

Instead, they reported, the antidepressant effect is actually exerted by a ketamine metabolite known as HNK, or (2S,6S;2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine. And HNK’s antidepressant effect is not related to NMDA receptors, but is instead tied to activation of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors. And in mice, at least, HNK lacks the unwelcome psychotomimetic side effects of ketamine (Nature. 2016 May 4;533[7604]:481-6).

“This is a very nice paper and very important. This opens up a new avenue in drug development, looking at agents that act on AMPA receptors to provide rapid relief of depressive symptoms in unipolar depression but probably also in bipolar depression,” said Dr. Vieta.

He reported receiving research grants from numerous pharmaceutical companies having an interest in treatments for mood disorders.

[email protected]

ORLANDO – Boys with hemophilia have a better quality of life when they are managed with intensive bleeding prophylaxis with clotting factor concentrates rather than on-demand therapy, results of an international study suggest.

An analysis of pooled data from six studies conducted in eight countries showed that boys with severe hemophilia who received limited on-demand factor replacement had significantly lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores than did boys treated prophylactically, reported Victoria Price, MB, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., and colleagues.

Crystal/Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

“Early initiation of intensive prophylaxis has the greatest impact on HRQoL in boys with severe hemophilia. HRQoL in boys with severe hemophilia exposed to early initiation of intensive prophylaxis is comparable to boys with mild hemophilia receiving on-demand therapy,” they wrote in a scientific poster presented at the World Federation of Hemophilia World Congress.

In countries where patients have access to safe clotting factor concentrates, prophylaxis has become the standard of care for management of hemophilia A and B, because it has been shown to reduce the frequency of bleeds. But because of the small sample sizes in most studies of hemophilia, it has been difficult to determine whether prophylaxis actually has a significant effect on HRQoL, the investigators noted.

To get an answer to that question, they looked at data from six studies in boys younger than 18 that measured HRQoL using the same standard instrument, the Canadian Haemophilia Outcomes–Kids’ Life Assessment Tool (CHO-KLAT). The studies were conducted in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Patients in the studies were grouped into one of five categories:

• Early initiation with intensive prophylaxis (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, UK)

• Gradual initiation with intensive prophylaxis (Canada, France)

• Late initiation with limited prophylaxis (Brazil, China)

• On-demand with good access to factor (Canada and European nations)

• On-demand with variable or limited access to factor (Brazil and China).

Data on a total of 254 boys with severe hemophilia were analyzed and compared with estimated scores from boys with mild hemophilia in the pooled dataset.

Of the boys with severe hemophilia, 220 (86.6% had hemophilia A, and 34 (13.4%) had hemophilia B. They ranged in age from 4.4 to 17.9 years; 21 of the boys were younger than 7 years.

The investigators found that in a linear regression model, patients with early initiation and intensive prophylaxis had the highest CHO-KLAT scores, followed by those who had gradual initiation with intensive prophylaxis (P = .003), late initiation/limited prophylaxis (P = .005), on-demand with good access (P = .008) and, lastly, on-demand with limited access to factor (P less than .001)

The authors noted that the differences by treatment group in the analysis were defined by expert consensus, and may not reflect changes in treatment protocols over the last 10 years. The studies were published between 2006 and 2016.

“Despite this limitation, important differences were observed between groups,” they wrote.

The studies were supported by grants from the Canadian Haemophilia Society and the Society of Haemophilia Clinic Directors of Canada, Bayer, Baxalta, and CSL Behring. The authors did not report conflict of interest disclosures.

ORLANDO – Boys with hemophilia have a better quality of life when they are managed with intensive bleeding prophylaxis with clotting factor concentrates rather than on-demand therapy, results of an international study suggest.

An analysis of pooled data from six studies conducted in eight countries showed that boys with severe hemophilia who received limited on-demand factor replacement had significantly lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores than did boys treated prophylactically, reported Victoria Price, MB, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., and colleagues.

Crystal/Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

“Early initiation of intensive prophylaxis has the greatest impact on HRQoL in boys with severe hemophilia. HRQoL in boys with severe hemophilia exposed to early initiation of intensive prophylaxis is comparable to boys with mild hemophilia receiving on-demand therapy,” they wrote in a scientific poster presented at the World Federation of Hemophilia World Congress.

In countries where patients have access to safe clotting factor concentrates, prophylaxis has become the standard of care for management of hemophilia A and B, because it has been shown to reduce the frequency of bleeds. But because of the small sample sizes in most studies of hemophilia, it has been difficult to determine whether prophylaxis actually has a significant effect on HRQoL, the investigators noted.

To get an answer to that question, they looked at data from six studies in boys younger than 18 that measured HRQoL using the same standard instrument, the Canadian Haemophilia Outcomes–Kids’ Life Assessment Tool (CHO-KLAT). The studies were conducted in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Patients in the studies were grouped into one of five categories:

• Early initiation with intensive prophylaxis (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, UK)

• Gradual initiation with intensive prophylaxis (Canada, France)

• Late initiation with limited prophylaxis (Brazil, China)

• On-demand with good access to factor (Canada and European nations)

• On-demand with variable or limited access to factor (Brazil and China).

Data on a total of 254 boys with severe hemophilia were analyzed and compared with estimated scores from boys with mild hemophilia in the pooled dataset.

Of the boys with severe hemophilia, 220 (86.6% had hemophilia A, and 34 (13.4%) had hemophilia B. They ranged in age from 4.4 to 17.9 years; 21 of the boys were younger than 7 years.

The investigators found that in a linear regression model, patients with early initiation and intensive prophylaxis had the highest CHO-KLAT scores, followed by those who had gradual initiation with intensive prophylaxis (P = .003), late initiation/limited prophylaxis (P = .005), on-demand with good access (P = .008) and, lastly, on-demand with limited access to factor (P less than .001)

The authors noted that the differences by treatment group in the analysis were defined by expert consensus, and may not reflect changes in treatment protocols over the last 10 years. The studies were published between 2006 and 2016.

“Despite this limitation, important differences were observed between groups,” they wrote.

The studies were supported by grants from the Canadian Haemophilia Society and the Society of Haemophilia Clinic Directors of Canada, Bayer, Baxalta, and CSL Behring. The authors did not report conflict of interest disclosures.

ORLANDO – Boys with hemophilia have a better quality of life when they are managed with intensive bleeding prophylaxis with clotting factor concentrates rather than on-demand therapy, results of an international study suggest.

An analysis of pooled data from six studies conducted in eight countries showed that boys with severe hemophilia who received limited on-demand factor replacement had significantly lower health-related quality of life (HRQoL) scores than did boys treated prophylactically, reported Victoria Price, MB, of Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., and colleagues.

Crystal/Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

“Early initiation of intensive prophylaxis has the greatest impact on HRQoL in boys with severe hemophilia. HRQoL in boys with severe hemophilia exposed to early initiation of intensive prophylaxis is comparable to boys with mild hemophilia receiving on-demand therapy,” they wrote in a scientific poster presented at the World Federation of Hemophilia World Congress.

In countries where patients have access to safe clotting factor concentrates, prophylaxis has become the standard of care for management of hemophilia A and B, because it has been shown to reduce the frequency of bleeds. But because of the small sample sizes in most studies of hemophilia, it has been difficult to determine whether prophylaxis actually has a significant effect on HRQoL, the investigators noted.

To get an answer to that question, they looked at data from six studies in boys younger than 18 that measured HRQoL using the same standard instrument, the Canadian Haemophilia Outcomes–Kids’ Life Assessment Tool (CHO-KLAT). The studies were conducted in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Patients in the studies were grouped into one of five categories:

• Early initiation with intensive prophylaxis (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, UK)

• Gradual initiation with intensive prophylaxis (Canada, France)

• Late initiation with limited prophylaxis (Brazil, China)

• On-demand with good access to factor (Canada and European nations)

• On-demand with variable or limited access to factor (Brazil and China).

Data on a total of 254 boys with severe hemophilia were analyzed and compared with estimated scores from boys with mild hemophilia in the pooled dataset.

Of the boys with severe hemophilia, 220 (86.6% had hemophilia A, and 34 (13.4%) had hemophilia B. They ranged in age from 4.4 to 17.9 years; 21 of the boys were younger than 7 years.

The investigators found that in a linear regression model, patients with early initiation and intensive prophylaxis had the highest CHO-KLAT scores, followed by those who had gradual initiation with intensive prophylaxis (P = .003), late initiation/limited prophylaxis (P = .005), on-demand with good access (P = .008) and, lastly, on-demand with limited access to factor (P less than .001)

The authors noted that the differences by treatment group in the analysis were defined by expert consensus, and may not reflect changes in treatment protocols over the last 10 years. The studies were published between 2006 and 2016.

“Despite this limitation, important differences were observed between groups,” they wrote.

The studies were supported by grants from the Canadian Haemophilia Society and the Society of Haemophilia Clinic Directors of Canada, Bayer, Baxalta, and CSL Behring. The authors did not report conflict of interest disclosures.

Patients with relapsed multiple myeloma treated with carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) experienced improved Global Health Status/Quality of Life scale scores, compared with similar patients who received lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) in the open-label, randomized, phase III ASPIRE trial.

In addition to the improved progression-free survival with KRd vs. Rd, which was previously reported (N Engl J Med. 2015 Jan 8;372[3]:142-52), 396 patients randomized to receive KRd had higher scores on the Global Health Status/Quality of Life (GHS/QoL) scale across 18 28-day treatment cycles, as compared with 396 patients randomized to receive Rd. Statistically significant differences were seen at cycle 12 when 25.5% of KRd-treated patients and 17.4% of Rd patients met the responder definition of at least a 5-point improvement on the GHS/QoL scale. At cycle 18, 24.2% vs. 12.9% of patients in the groups, respectively, met the responder definition, A. Keith Stewart, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and his colleagues reported online ahead of print (J Clin Oncol. 2016 Sep. 6. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.66.9648).

At least a 15-point improvement was seen in 19.9% of KRd-treated patients and 12.4% of Rd-treated patients at cycle 12, and in 17.7% and 10.6%, respectively, at cycle 18. The minimal important difference of 5.6 points on the GHS/QoL scale was met at cycle 12 and was approached (4.8) at cycle 18, the researchers said.

The addition of carfilzomib to Rd improved health-related quality of life without negatively affecting patient-reported symptoms or increasing adverse treatment effects, they concluded.

Dr. Stewart reported consulting or advisory roles with several drug companies including Amgen, the maker of carfilzomib. Detailed disclosures for all authors are available with the full text of the article at JCO.org.

[email protected]

Patients with relapsed multiple myeloma treated with carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) experienced improved Global Health Status/Quality of Life scale scores, compared with similar patients who received lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) in the open-label, randomized, phase III ASPIRE trial.

In addition to the improved progression-free survival with KRd vs. Rd, which was previously reported (N Engl J Med. 2015 Jan 8;372[3]:142-52), 396 patients randomized to receive KRd had higher scores on the Global Health Status/Quality of Life (GHS/QoL) scale across 18 28-day treatment cycles, as compared with 396 patients randomized to receive Rd. Statistically significant differences were seen at cycle 12 when 25.5% of KRd-treated patients and 17.4% of Rd patients met the responder definition of at least a 5-point improvement on the GHS/QoL scale. At cycle 18, 24.2% vs. 12.9% of patients in the groups, respectively, met the responder definition, A. Keith Stewart, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and his colleagues reported online ahead of print (J Clin Oncol. 2016 Sep. 6. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.66.9648).

At least a 15-point improvement was seen in 19.9% of KRd-treated patients and 12.4% of Rd-treated patients at cycle 12, and in 17.7% and 10.6%, respectively, at cycle 18. The minimal important difference of 5.6 points on the GHS/QoL scale was met at cycle 12 and was approached (4.8) at cycle 18, the researchers said.

The addition of carfilzomib to Rd improved health-related quality of life without negatively affecting patient-reported symptoms or increasing adverse treatment effects, they concluded.

Dr. Stewart reported consulting or advisory roles with several drug companies including Amgen, the maker of carfilzomib. Detailed disclosures for all authors are available with the full text of the article at JCO.org.

[email protected]

Patients with relapsed multiple myeloma treated with carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) experienced improved Global Health Status/Quality of Life scale scores, compared with similar patients who received lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) in the open-label, randomized, phase III ASPIRE trial.

In addition to the improved progression-free survival with KRd vs. Rd, which was previously reported (N Engl J Med. 2015 Jan 8;372[3]:142-52), 396 patients randomized to receive KRd had higher scores on the Global Health Status/Quality of Life (GHS/QoL) scale across 18 28-day treatment cycles, as compared with 396 patients randomized to receive Rd. Statistically significant differences were seen at cycle 12 when 25.5% of KRd-treated patients and 17.4% of Rd patients met the responder definition of at least a 5-point improvement on the GHS/QoL scale. At cycle 18, 24.2% vs. 12.9% of patients in the groups, respectively, met the responder definition, A. Keith Stewart, MD, of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and his colleagues reported online ahead of print (J Clin Oncol. 2016 Sep. 6. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.66.9648).

At least a 15-point improvement was seen in 19.9% of KRd-treated patients and 12.4% of Rd-treated patients at cycle 12, and in 17.7% and 10.6%, respectively, at cycle 18. The minimal important difference of 5.6 points on the GHS/QoL scale was met at cycle 12 and was approached (4.8) at cycle 18, the researchers said.

The addition of carfilzomib to Rd improved health-related quality of life without negatively affecting patient-reported symptoms or increasing adverse treatment effects, they concluded.

Dr. Stewart reported consulting or advisory roles with several drug companies including Amgen, the maker of carfilzomib. Detailed disclosures for all authors are available with the full text of the article at JCO.org.

[email protected]