Determinant Of Survival In Patients Research Articles

Determinants of survival in patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmia associated with coronary artery disease

The long-term survival data in patients with coronary artery disease and a history of malignant ventricular arrhythmia, defined as noninfarction ventricular fibrillation (VF) or hemodynamically compromising ventricular tachycardia (VT) followed for up to 9 years, were analyzed. In this group of 161 patients there was a total of 57 deaths, of which 35 (63%) were sudden. Life-table analysis demonstrated a 10% sudden death rate for all patients in the first year and a 7% annual rate in the subsequent 4 years. In patients managed noninvasively, the overall mortality rate was 27% over 9 years, or 3% per year. Suppression of ventricular tachycardia on both ambulatory monitoring and exercise testing was associated with improved survival. In patients evaluated by electrophysiologic testing the sudden death rate was 1.4% per year over an average of 5 years. This survival rate was not different compared with the noninvasive group (p = 0.09). Measures of left ventricular dysfunction and the frequency of ventricular arrhythmia before and after drug therapy were associated with a risk of sudden cardiac death by univariate analysis. Multivariate regression analysis identified 4 variables as independent predictors of sudden cardiac death: rales (p = 0.009), the number of runs of VT during exercise testing while receiving antiarrhythmic drug therapy (p = 0.0003), a history of congestive heart failure (p = 0.0009) and the number of premature beats on Holter monitoring (p = 0.01). These findings support the concept that suppression of repetitive arrhythmia on Holter monitor and exercise testing is a marker for improved survival among patients with malignant ventricular arrhythmia. However, in the coronary population at high risk of sudden cardiac death, ventricular function is the most powerful predictor of survival and, when severely depressed, the control of ventricular arrhythmia does not significantly improve outcome.

Survival after Stereotactic Biopsy of Malignant Gliomas

For many patients with malignant gliomas in inaccessible or functionally important locations, stereotactic biopsy followed by radiation therapy (RT) may be a more appropriate initial treatment than craniotomy and tumor resection. We studied the long term survival in 91 consecutive patients with malignant gliomas diagnosed by stereotactic biopsy: 64 had glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and 27 had anaplastic astrocytoma (AA). Sixty-four per cent of the GBMs and 33% of the AAs involved deep or midline cerebral structures. The treatment prescribed after biopsy, the tumor location, the histological findings, and the patient's age at presentation (for AAs) were statistically important factors determining patient survival. If adequate RT (tumor dose of 5000 to 6000 cGy) was not prescribed, the median survival was less than or equal to 11 weeks regardless of tumor histology or location. The median survival for patients with deep or midline tumors who completed RT was similar in AA (19.4 weeks) and GBM (27 weeks) cases. Histology was an important predictor of survival only for patients with adequately treated lobar tumors. The median survival in lobar GBM patients who completed RT was 46.9 weeks, and that in lobar AA patients who completed RT was 129 weeks. Cytoreductive surgery had no statistically significant effect on survival. Among the clinical factors examined, age of less than 40 years at presentation was associated with prolonged survival only in AA patients. Constellations of clinical features, tumor location, histological diagnosis, and treatment prescribed were related to survival time.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Expression of A9 antigen and loss of blood group antigens as determinants of survival in patients with head and neck squamous carcinoma.

The murine monoclonal antibody (A9), raised to the human squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cell-line UM-SCC-1, defines a squamous cell antigen associated with aggressive biologic behavior of SCC cell lines in vivo and in vitro. In the present investigation, A9 antigen was detected in tissue sections from 37 consecutive, previously untreated patients with SCC of the head and neck. All tumors were positive for A9 binding, although three distinct patterns (reflecting different intensities of A9 expression) were identified. The intensity of A9 expression was independent of primary tumor site, tumor differentiation, keratinization, or growth pattern. The frequency of high expression (Pattern 1) grew with increasing T class, N class, and tumor stage, and was associated with loss of blood group expression in the tumor and with low levels of lymphocyte infiltration in the tumor. Strong A9 expression had a statistically significant association with low nuclear grade (i.e., tumors with more mature and fewer enlarged nuclei, P = 0.019), low vascular/stromal response (i.e., patchy response rather than continuous, P = 0.014), and impaired in vitro lymphokine production by peripheral blood leukocytes (P = 0.0011). Of greatest interest, however, was the strong association of high A9 expression with shortened disease-free interval (DFI) (P = 0.085) and survival (P = 0.081) relative to patients with weak A9 tumor staining (Patterns 2 and 3). Similarly, the loss of blood group antigen expression was strongly associated with decreased DFI (P = 0.038) and survival (P = 0.062). While neither Pattern 1 A9 expression nor loss of blood group reach statistical significance in prediction of survival, the combination of Pattern 1 A9 expression and loss of blood group expression in primary tumors was significantly associated, both with decreased disease-free interval (P = 0.017) and with decreased overall survival (P = 0.011) (median length of follow-up = 22 months). The length of follow-up (LFU) ranged from 2 to 38 months, with a median LFU of 22 months. While the number of patients (37) is small, the significant association between the expression of these cell-surface markers with relapse and survival indicates that immunohistologic staining of the primary tumor will be an important prognostic indicator useful in identification of individual patients at greatest risk of recurrence or early death from head and neck cancer, independent of tumor size, site, or stage at presentation. These markers may thus provide means of selecting patients who should receive adjuvant therapy and more intensive monitoring for the early detection of recurrent disease.

Determinants of survival in patients with congestive cardiomyopathy: quantitative morphologic findings and left ventricular hemodynamics.

We analyzed data from 68 consecutive patients with congestive cardiomyopathy to evaluate the prognostic significance of quantitative morphologic findings in left ventricular myocardium as compared with the prognostic significance of left ventricular hemodynamics. Left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy specimens were obtained from all patients during diagnostic heart catheterization. Myocardial fiber diameter, volume fraction of interstitial fibrosis, and intracellular volume fraction of myofibrils were determined by light-microscopic morphometry. All patients had normal coronary arteriograms, but reduced left ventricular ejection fractions. There were 23 deaths during a mean follow-up period of 1124 days. Multivariate regression analysis (Cox model) revealed that left ventricular ejection fraction (p less than .00001) and left ventricular systolic pressure (p less than .01), but not morphometric findings in biopsy specimens, were independent predictors of cardiac death. Thus, morphologic findings in the left ventricular myocardium do not contribute significantly to the prognostic evaluation in patients with congestive cardiomyopathy studied by hemodynamic and angiographic methods.

Determinants of survival after vena caval injury. Analysis of a 14-year experience.

The records of 70 patients with vena caval injuries who were treated from 1970 through 1983 were reviewed to define factors determining patient survival. Fifty-two percent of patients survived, with the highest mortality in patients with blunt or shotgun injuries. The primary determinants of survival were the mechanism and type of injury, the initial BP, the hemodynamic response to fluid resuscitation, the location of the vena caval injury, the presence of multiple other vascular and solid organ injuries.

Bacteriologic and surgical determinants of survival in patients with mycotic aneurysms

Mycotic aneurysms are a fulminant infectious process frequently resulting in rupture and death if not properly treated. A review of the University of California, Los Angeles, medical records identified 10 patients with extrathoracic, extracranial mycotic aneurysms. In addition, a search of the English literature revealed 178 patients with 243 mycotic aneurysms. These patients were reviewed to identify the aneurysm location, etiology, bacteriology, and modality of treatment in order to determine the relationship between these factors and the outcome. The femoral artery was the most common site (38%), followed by the abdominal aorta (31%). Arterial trauma was the primary etiology in 42% of mycotic aneurysms. In 25% no clear source of infection could be identified. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from 28% of mycotic aneurysms, and Salmonella from 15%. A trend toward the involvement of more gram-negative aerobes and anaerobes is noted. Aortic aneurysms were repaired with in situ Dacron in 61% of patients with a 32% mortality rate and 16% reinfection rate. Simple ligation of femoral artery mycotic aneurysms resulted in a 34% incidence of ischemia necessitating amputation. Methods of treatment of superior mesenteric, carotid, iliac, and peripheral arteries are also analyzed. On the basis of these data, specific surgical procedures are recommended for the treatment of mycotic aneurysms.

Bacteriologic and surgical determinants of survival in patients with mycotic aneurysms

Bacteriologic and surgical determinants of survival in patients with mycotic aneurysms

Emergency Medical Service

A major concern in emergency medical services (EMS) planning has been the need to minimize ambulance response time, only one of several delays in reaching definitive care. Other important delays include patient delay in seeking medical care and dispatch delay. In this study, the importance of response time in light of other delays is discussed, and response time as one determinant of patient survival is analyzed, using Seattle's EMS system as a case study. The major conclusion is that paramedic response times influence short-term patient survival.

Neural basis for the genesis and control of arrhythmias associated with myocardial infarction.

Alterations of autonomic tone appear to have important effects on the electrical stability of the heart. Since altered electrical stability, ventricular fibrillation, is the cause of death in the majority of patients who die from ischemic heart disease, the effects of the autonomic nervous system on ventricular electrical stability have been examined. Increased vagal tone increases the electrical stability of the heart and reduces the incidence of spontaneous ventricular fibrillation after coronary occlusion. These salutary effects of increased cholinergic tone appear to be mediated by cholinergic innervation of the ventricular conducting system. Conversely, increased adrenergic tone decreases the electrical stability of the heart and increases the propensity of the heart to develop ventricular arrhythmias during coronary occlusion. The interaction of the adrenergic and cholinergic system during myocardial ischemia may be one of the important determinants of survival in patients with coronary artery disease and acute myocardial infarction.

Pulmonary dysfunction in shock.

The pulmonary lesions associated with shock often seem to be the prime determinants of patient survival. These lesions are apparently manifested in two ways. The first is an early syndrome of acute hypoxia, most typically seen in the septic shock patient. We can duplicate this hypoxic state in the laboratory by insult with an endotoxin or live organism injection. In our animal experiments, the effects suggest some degree of pulmonary micro-embolic phenomena. Histologically, aggregates of leukocytes are evident which promote an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance and seem to produce shunting in the pulmonary vascular bed. We have corroborated this in different ways, primarily by using an isogravimetric lung perfusion model.