Procedures In France Research Articles

Influence of Age on Outcomes of Endovascular Treatment in Posterior versus Anterior Circulation Stroke: A Comparative Analysis in a Nationwide Registry.

It is unknown whether the influence of age on clinical outcomes post endovascular treatment (EVT) is similar in posterior circulation stroke (PCS) compared to anterior circulation stroke (ACS). Data were extracted from the ETIS registry, a nationwide prospective, multicenter, observational registry for stroke EVT procedures in France. We included patients treated with EVT for PCS or ACS between January 2015 - August 2023. The relationship between patient age and clinical outcome variables was studied using regression analysis. Good clinical outcome was defined as modified Rankin scale score ≤2 at 90 days. The study included 935 patients with PCS and 11427 patients with ACS. There were no significant differences between PCS and ACS in the influence of age on the likelihood of good clinical outcome. The influence of age on the likelihood of mortality was significantly different. Mortality was higher for PCS between 30-85 years, without significant differences in younger or older patients. Elderly patients (≥80 years) with PCS had similar rates of good clinical outcome and mortality compared to patients with ACS from the same age group. In this comparative analysis assessing the impact of age on EVT outcomes in posterior versus anterior circulation stroke, differences were observed in middle aged patients, whereas outcomes tended to converge in young and elderly age groups. Elderly PCS patients had similar outcomes as ACS patients from the same age group.

European Health Data Space, Use of Data and Data Subjects' Control over Their Own Health Data: Can an Opt-Out Restore the Balance?

The creation of the European Health Data Space is a milestone. It establishes something new and makes it possible to have faster and more efficient health treatment, but also to untap the potential of unused data for policy-making and development of new technologies. However, for the EHDS to be functional, it is imperative that a balance it struck between the aim of having useful data to achieve important public objectives on one side and the goal of enabling patients to have control over their health data. The original Draft Report of the European Parliament came closest to achieving these objectives and should have represented the blueprint for the final compromise. Having a harmonised opt-out for secondary use is crucial for striking the right balance between the mentioned objectives. The end result is far from perfect regarding primary use, but represents a good balance in the area of secondary use concerning the opt-out.

Average total weight of surgical waste and CO2 carbon footprint of orthopedic surgery in France, estimated on the basis of a representative panel

BackgroundReduction of waste and carbon footprint can be optimized. Awareness of carbon sources and quantification of the waste are two key parameters. To our knowledge, there is no study in France on waste production by the surgical team during the operation in orthopedic surgery, in a global scope. Therefore, we performed an observational investigation aiming to: (1) quantify and characterize the weight of the wastes generated after a panel of orthopedic procedures, (2) calculate the CO2 footprint generated by these wastes and extrapolate the figure at the national scale. HypothesisWaste production is highly variable according to the types of procedures and infectious clinical waste is still a predominant source of waste and CO2 emission. Materials and methodsIt is a comparative and prospective study in which a total of 14 procedures were selected as a representative panel: arthroplasties (hip, knee), spine fusions, arthroscopic procedures (shoulder, knee), nerve release, forefoot osteotomies, trauma procedures. The main outcome was the average total weight of waste for each of the fourteen categories (280 measurements: 140 times 2, at the end of each procedure), expressed in kilograms (kg), and the proportions of infectious clinical waste (ICW) and household wastes (HW), expressed in percentages. Ten measures were prospectively recorded for each type of procedure in a single teaching hospital from January to September 2022. The theoretical carbon footprint generated by the treatment of the wastes was estimated in kilograms of CO2 equivalent (KgEqCO2). The national extrapolation of the carbon footprint was performed by collecting the total number of procedures in France in 2021 using the VisuChir tool. ResultsA total of 937kg of waste were produced for the 140 procedures, amongst which 514kg of ICW (54.8%) and 423kg of HW (45.2%). The overall median waste weight was 5.9kg (Q1: 4.4, Q3: 8.1), ranging from 1.8kg to 18.3kg. The overall median waste weight for HW was 2.8kg (Q1: 2.5, Q3: 3.4), ranging from 1.8kg to 17.8kg. The overall median waste weight for ICW was 3.8kg (Q1: 2.7, Q3: 4.8), ranging from 0.8kg to 7.2kg. The knee surgeries were responsible for the heaviest waste weight; the least waste-productive procedures were the foot and the carpal tunnel release. The median proportions of ICW varied from 39% for the total knee replacements to 72% for the femoral nails. There was a significant inverse correlation between the total waste weight and the proportion of ICW: r=−0.47, p<10−4. The total median estimated carbon footprint was 4.3KgCO2Eq (Q1: 3.1, Q3: 5.8), ranging from 1.59KgCO2Eq (Q1: 1.5, Q3: 1.8) and 7.07KgCO2Eq (Q1: 6.7, Q3: 8.17). The total median estimated carbon footprint was 3.5KgCO2Eq for ICW (Q1: 2.5, Q3: 4.5) and 0.76KgCO2Eq (Q1: 0.54, Q3: 1.3) for HW. The national median estimated carbon footprint was 10.1 million KgEqCO2 in 2021 for orthopedic surgery. ConclusionOur study revealed that in most cases more than half of the wastes were ICW. The total estimated national carbon footprint for orthopedic procedures was 10 million kilograms. The reduction of the ICW constitutes a cornerstone, as they are responsible for more carbon emissions. Level of evidenceIII; prospective comparative observational in vivo study.

Vasectomy: An increasingly common procedure in France

ObjectivesTo analyze the evolutionary trends concerning vasectomy over the last 8 years in order to better understand the situation and identify measures to be implemented to develop this activity. MethodsThe number of vasectomy procedures performed between 2015 and 2022 was extracted from the Open CCAM file compiled from the national database of the Programme de médicalisation du système d’informations français (PMSI). ResultsOver the period 2015–2022, the number of vasectomy procedures increased from 3743 in 2015 to 29,890 in 2022. This increase was observed in all French metropolitan and overseas regions. The number of minimally invasive vasectomies (notably without scalpel) rose sharply, from 313 to 7760. Almost all vasectomies were performed during outpatient hospitalization (0 nights), with fewer than 300 acts reported/year in outpatient care. ConclusionIn France, vasectomy is becoming an increasingly frequent contraceptive method. This analysis is in line with recent surveys carried out in France, and tends to prove that more and more couples of childbearing age are in favour of sharing the contraceptive burden. Level of evidence3.

Selection of proxy indicators estimating the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions in general practice: a national consensus procedure in France.

GPs are responsible for more than 70% of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in France. Metrics are important antibiotic stewardship tools that can be used to set targets for improvement and to give feedback to professionals and stakeholders. The primary objective of the present study was to select a set of proxy indicators (PIs) based on 10 previously developed PIs, to estimate the appropriateness of antibiotic prescriptions by GPs. The secondary objective was to evaluate the clinimetric properties of the selected PIs. A RAND-modified Delphi consensus procedure was conducted with a multidisciplinary panel of stakeholders. This procedure consisted of two successive online surveys with a consensus meeting in between. Clinimetric properties (measurability, applicability and potential room for improvement) were evaluated for the PIs selected through the consensus procedure, using 2022 Regional Health Insurance data. Seventeen experts participated in the first-round survey and 14 in the second-round. A final set of 12 PIs was selected. Among the 10 initial PIs, 3 were selected without modification and 7 were modified and selected. Moreover, two newly suggested PIs were selected. Ten of the 12 PIs presented good clinimetric properties. The 12 selected PIs cover the main situations responsible for inappropriate and unnecessary use of antibiotics in general practice. These PIs, easily calculable using routinely collected health insurance reimbursement data, might be used to give feedback to prescribers and stakeholders and help improve antibiotic prescriptions in primary care.

Is there variation between hospitals within each region in postoperative mortality for lung cancer surgery in France? A nationwide study from 2013 to 2020.

The practice of thoracic surgery for lung cancer is subject to authorization in France. We evaluated the performance of hospitals using 30-day post-operative mortality as a quality indicator, estimating its distribution within each region and measuring its variability between regions. All data for patients who underwent pulmonary resection for lung cancer in France (2013-2020) were collected from the national hospital administrative database. Thirty-day mortality was defined as any patient who died in hospital (including transferred patients) within the first 30 days after the operation and those who died later during the initial hospitalization. The Standardized Mortality ratio (SMR) was the smoothed, adjusted, hospital-specific mortality rate divided by the expected mortality. To describe the variation in hospital mortality between hospitals in each region, we used different commonly used indicators of variation such as coefficients of variation (CV), interquartile interval or range (IQR), extreme ratio, and systematic component of variance (SCV). In 2013-2020, 87,232 patients underwent lung resection for cancer in France. The number of deaths was 2,537, a rate of 2.91%. The median SMR of 199 hospitals was 0.99 with an IQR of 0.86 to 1.18 and a CV of 0.25. Among the regions that had the most hospitals performing lung resections for cancer, the extreme ratio was >2, which means that the maximum value is twice as high as the minimum value. The SCV between hospitals was >10 for two of these regions, which is considered indicative of very high variation. For the other regions (with few hospitals performing lung resections for cancer), the variation between hospitals was lower. Globally, the variability between regions concerning the SMR was moderate, 6% of the variance was due to differences across regions. On the contrary, the hospital volume was significantly related to the SMR (p = 0.003) with a negative linear trend, whatever the region. This work shows significant differences in the practices of the various hospitals within regions. However, overall, the variability in the 30-day mortality rate between regions was moderate. Our findings raises questions regarding the regionalization of major surgical procedures in France.

Family Transformations and Asylum Procedures in France

Family Transformations and Asylum Procedures in France

Risk Factors for Intrauterine Tamponade Failure in Postpartum Hemorrhage.

To identify factors associated with intrauterine tamponade failure after vaginal or cesarean delivery. This was a nationwide population-based cohort study that used data from the French Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d'Information. This study compared the failure and effectiveness of intrauterine tamponade among all women who received the procedure in France from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2019. Failure was defined as the use of a second-line method (uterine artery embolization, conservative or radical surgery, or death) within 7 days of intrauterine tamponade. Factors associated with intrauterine tamponade failure were identified by univariate analyses and tested using multivariate generalized logistic regression models (with a random intercept on institution) to obtain adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% CI statistics. A total of 39,193 patients presented with postpartum hemorrhage in 474 French maternity wards. Of these patients, 1,761 (4.5%) received intrauterine tamponade for persistent bleeding. The effectiveness rate of intrauterine tamponade was 88.9%. For 195 women (11.1%), a second-line method was indicated. Patients for whom intrauterine tamponade failed had a higher maternal age, a lower mean gestational age, and more frequent instances of placental abnormalities, preeclampsia, cesarean birth, and uterine rupture. The multivariate analysis revealed that cesarean birth (aOR 4.2; 95% CI 2.9-6.0), preeclampsia (aOR 2.3; 95% CI 1.3-4.0), and uterine rupture (aOR 14.1; 95% CI 2.4-83.0) were independently associated with intrauterine tamponade failure. Cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, and uterine rupture are associated with intrauterine tamponade failure in the management of postpartum hemorrhage.

Guideline compliance in bariatric surgery: a French nationwide study.

Strict adherence to guidelines with a comprehensive preoperative assessment and rigorous follow-up are essential to improve postoperative and long-term outcomes of bariatric surgery (BS). To investigate the trends in BS in France and to assess the compliance to guidelines in people with obesity before and after BS. University Hospital of Bordeaux, France. Data on patients who were admitted for a primary BS procedure in France between January 1 and April 1, 2014, were extracted from the French national health insurance system database. Data on patients' characteristics, preoperative assessment, hospitalization, and postoperative follow-up, including medical consultations, laboratory tests, and drug consumption, during the year preceding and the 2 years after BS were collected. Most of the 11,824 patients (60.4%) had sleeve gastrectomy. Rates of reimbursement for preoperative consultations with general practitioners, digestive surgeons, and endocrinologists or internists were 94.5%, 89.2%, and 63%, respectively. Laboratory tests for nutritional and obesity-related co-morbidity evaluations were performed in 94.3% and 91.4%, respectively. Rates of consultation with general practitioners, digestive surgeons, and endocrinologists or internists dropped from 93.1%, 91.2%, and 29.2%, respectively, the first year to 88.4%, 50.3%, and 20%, respectively, the second year after BS (P < .001). Reimbursements for vitamin, iron, and calcium supplementation dropped from 66.6%, 24.9%, and 21%, respectively, the first year to 52.1%, 19.3%, and 11.7%, respectively, the second year after BS (P < .001). Overall compliance with guidelines is improving. While preoperative medical assessment is nearly optimal, efforts still should be made in order to improve long-term follow-up in general and patient adherence to micronutrient supplementation in particular.

Association of Healthcare and Aesthetic Procedures with Infections Caused by Nontuberculous Mycobacteria, France, 2012‒2020.

We describe nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections during 2012–2020 associated with health care and aesthetic procedures in France. We obtained epidemiologic data from the national early warning response system for healtcare-associated infections and data on NTM isolates from the National Reference Center for Mycobacteria. We compared clinical and environmental isolates by using whole-genome sequencing. The 85 original cases were reported after surgery (48, 56%), other invasive procedures (28, 33%) and other procedures (9, 11%). NTM isolates belonged to rapidly growing (73, 86%) and slowly growing (10, 12%) species; in 2 cases, the species was not identified. We performed environmental investigations for 38 (45%) cases; results for 12 (32%) were positive for the same NTM species as for the infection. In 10 cases that had environmental and clinical samples whose genomes were similar, the infection source was probably the water used in the procedures. NTM infections could be preventable by using sterile water in all invasive procedures.

Quality assessment of mitigation translocation protocols for protected plants in France

Mitigation translocations are increasingly used worldwide in response to land planning pressures. The quality of translocation protocols and their adjustment to the ecological traits of the translocated populations are crucial to optimise translocation success. We studied the quality of translocation protocols presented in derogation requests, a mandatory step in France to translocate a protected plant species. We analysed 103 translocation proposals for 93 different species in 92 files examined between 2018 and 2020. After tracing the history of the place of translocations in legal procedures in France, we assessed each translocation proposal according to an evaluation grid, which involved the quantity and quality of information on plant species and translocation sites in the files and the quality of translocation protocols. We have shown that the translocation protocols are of low quality, with a lot of missing information. The biology and ecology of the species suggested for translocation are not sufficiently known, nor are the ecological characteristics of the host sites. Derogation requests that received a favourable opinion from the assessment body are more likely to propose a protected host site and post-translocation monitoring. We believe that, to optimise their outcome, mitigation translocations need to be improved upstream, with more detailed protocols and better species knowledge. We highly recommend following the same guidelines for mitigation translocations as for conservation translocations.

Reference Values of Human Bone Marrow and Peripheral Blood Levels of 49 Cytokines According to Age and Clonal Hematopoiesis

INTRODUCTIONCytokines are involved in many processes, including hematopoiesis and inflammation. Aging is associated with the onset of clonal hematopoiesis (CH) of indeterminate potential, putatively associated with a higher risk of progression to hematological malignancies such as myelodysplastic syndromes or acute myeloid leukemia. Moreover, CH may participate to create a pro-inflammatory environment contributing to the pathogenesis of age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases. This is likely to be driven by or translated in changes in bone marrow (BM) and/or peripheral blood (PB) soluble factors for which reference values still remain unclear, because BM cytokines levels have never been determined in strictly selected healthy people. Indeed, control BM samples classically used in studies are from subjects undergoing surgeries for non-hematologic causes, such as total hip replacement or cardiac surgery, patients suffering from immune thrombocytopenic purpura, brain death patients or allogeneic BM donors. In this study, the BM and PB plasma concentrations of 49 hematopoietic and inflammatory cytokines were measured in a representative panel of 94 healthy adult volunteers and the results were analyzed considering their age and presence of CH.METHODNinety-four healthy donors aged from 18.6 to 80.1 years old (yo), including 58 women were recruited for this study (HEALTHOX protocol, CPP Tours, AFSSAPS identifier ID-RCB: 2016-A00571-50 and ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT02789839). The presence or absence of CH (>1% of variant allele frequency) in this cohort is already known (Guermouche H, Ravalet N et al, Blood Adv 2020;4(15):3550-3557). BM samples were obtained through sternal aspiration using a classical procedure in France, and PB sampling was performed at the same time by venipuncture. Samples were collected on sodium heparin or EDTA, centrifuged twice (1200 g, 10 min, 20 C°), aliquoted and stored at -80°C. A 48-plex human cytokine panel assay was used to quantify 48 human cytokines in PB and BM plasmas [beta-NGF, CCL2, CCL3, CCL4, CCL5, CCL7, CCL11, CCL27, CLEC11A, CXCL1, CXCL8, CXCL9, CXCL10, CXCL12, FGF-2, G-CSF, GM-CSF, HGF, IFN-alpha-2, IFN-gamma, IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-2-RA, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12, IL-12B, IL-13, IL-15, IL-16, IL-17A, IL-18, KITLG, LIF, LT-alpha, M-CSF, MIF, PDGF subunit B, TNF, TNFSF10, VEGF-A]. MIF and FLT3L quantification were performed by ELISA. Regarding CH, the controls were subjects older than 50 yo without CH. Statistical analyses were performed with the R (3.6.3) and Rstudio version 1.2.5042 (www.rstudio.org) software. Comparisons were computed by Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests. All pairwise multiple comparisons were performed using Dunn's-test for multiple comparisons of independent samples (PMCMR package). Correlations between cytokine levels in PB and BM were tested with Pearson and Spearman methods. Correlation matrices were plotted using the “corrplot” package.RESULTSCH was detected in 16 volunteers, mostly in individuals over 50 yo. BM and PB plasma samples were studied in 3 age-groups: 18-40, 40-60 and 60-80 yo. With aging, variations were observed for 18 BM cytokine levels, with 7 increasing (FLT3L, CXCL9, HGF, FGF-2, CCL27, IL-16, IL-18) and 8 decreasing (G-CSF, TNF, IL-2, IL-15, IL-17a, IL-4, LT-alpha, IL-1 alpha). In PB, 10 cytokines significantly increased with age (CXCL9, FLT3L, CCL27, CXCL10, HGF, CCL11, IL-16, IL-6, IL-1 beta, CCL2). CH was associated with significantly higher BM levels of MIF and IL-1 beta, lower BM levels of IL-9 and IL-5 and higher PB levels of IL-15, VEGF-A, IL-2, CXCL8, CXCL1 and G-CSF (Table).CONCLUSIONIn this study and for the first time, we concomitantly analyzed BM and PB concentrations of a panel of hematopoietic and inflammatory cytokines in a cohort of strictly selected healthy volunteers. In addition to the establishment of reference values, useful for various biological studies, and correlations between blood and BM levels, we identify variations in the BM of key cytokines according to age and CH. The differences in these cytokine concentrations, either as causes or as consequences, may shape both the BM microenvironment and hematopoietic processes, eventually leading to the beginning of age-related myeloid malignancies or inflammatory conditions. [Display omitted] DisclosuresHirsch: Daiichi Sankyo Oncology: Consultancy; Novartis Pharma: Consultancy. Suner: Sanofi - Genzyme: Consultancy. Delhommeau: Celgene: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy.

French hip resurfacing registry: A study of 1650 cases

BackgroundHip resurfacing has been the focus of many evaluations based on international registries but, to date, no prospective studies have evaluated this procedure in France. In 2015, the French Society for Orthopaedics and Traumatology (SoFCOT) and the French Hip and Knee Society concluded an agreement with the French Medicines Agency (ANSM) and French National Health Authority (HAS) to establish an exhaustive observational hip resurfacing registry. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the hip resurfacing survival rate since the creation of the registry 5 years ago. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the clinical, functional, and radiological outcomes of hip resurfacing and to check the absence of specific complications related to this implant. HypothesisThe hypothesis was that the registry survival rate was below 0.5% per year. MethodsSince 2015, data from all patients undergoing hip resurfacing were collected into a monitored database using the software suite OrthoWave. The following were collected for each patient: demographics, anthropometric characteristics, clinical parameters (Postel Merle d’Aubigné score, Harris Hip Score, Oxford Hip Score, and UCLA Activity Score), and radiological findings. Completeness of data collection was checked once a year. ResultsIn total, 1650 hip resurfacings in 1506 patients (1409 males and 97 females) with a mean age of 50.7 years (range, 17–70 years) were included. Mean follow-up was 3.8 years (range, 2–4.8 years). Mean completeness of data recording was 98.2%. All clinical scores improved significantly. Hip revision was required for 7 (0.4%) complications including 4 femoral neck fractures, 1 aseptic lymphocyte-dominant vasculitis-associated lesion with a large joint effusion, 1 femoral component loosening, and 1 delayed sepsis requiring bipolar removal. At 5 years, the survival rate without hip revision for any cause was 99.6% (95% confidence interval, 99.3–100%). DiscussionThe short-term outcomes of patients in the French registry are encouraging in terms of complication and surgical revision rates. The near absence of complications related to metal-on-metal bearing surfaces demonstrates that the criteria used in France (at least 48mm head diameter, use of implants for which long-term data are available, and specific training of surgeons) ensure successful long-term outcomes. Level of evidenceII.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on functional urology procedures in France: a prospective study.

PurposeTo evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on functional urology procedures in France.MethodsA prospective study was conducted within 11 secondary and tertiary referral centers in France. Patients aged > 18 years who were diagnosed with a functional urology disease before the national lockdown (March 17th, 2020) and who required a surgery were included. Study period went from March 17th to September 30th 2020. The included interventions were listed according to the guidelines for functional urology enacted by the French Association of Urology and delay of reoperation was compared to the guidelines’ delay. The primary outcome was the number of procedures left unscheduled at the end of the study period. Descriptive statistics were performed.ResultsFrom March 17th 2020 to September 3 rd 2020, 1246 patients with a previous diagnosis of a functional urological disease requiring a surgery were included. The mean follow-up was 140.4 days (± 53.4). Overall, 316 interventions (25.4%) were maintained whereas 74 (5.9%) were canceled, 848 (68.1%) postponed and 8 patients (0.6%) died. At the end of the follow-up, 184 patients (21.7%) were still not rescheduled. If the intervention was postponed, the mean delay between the initial and final date was 85.7 days (± 64.4).ConclusionOverall, more than two thirds of interventions had to be postponed and the mean delay between the initial and final date was about three months.

Implementation of the principle of competitiveness of the parties and free- dom in the presentation of their evidence to the court in the criminal process of some countries of the world

One of the tasks of criminal proceedings is to protect the individual, society and the state from criminal offenses, which is achieved through the implementation of other tasks, in particular, by ensuring a rapid, complete and im-partial investigation and trial. In this case, any procedural decisions in criminal proceedings must be based on evi-dence that serves as a kind of link between the event of a criminal offense and the consciousness of the investigator, prosecutor, investigating judge, court. Evidence itself is the main content of criminal procedure in both the pre-trial investigation and in the judicial stages of criminal proceedings in most countries.The authors note that the Constitution of Ukraine as one of the main principles of justice provides for adversarial parties and freedom in providing the court with their evidence and proving their persuasiveness before the court. Factor The Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine has significantly expanded the scope of this principle of the do-mestic criminal process, including in the field of evidence. Thus, the defense, as well as the prosecution, was given the opportunity to collect evidence during the pre-trial investigation, as a result of which the right of the parties and other participants in criminal proceedings to submit evidence (things and documents) is becoming increasingly important.The article also examines that the principles of criminal procedure in France include: the principle of formality, prosecution, legality, equality, dignity, protection of the victim, urgency of the trial, presumption of innocence, publicity, oral and adversarial proceedings. And the main principles of the criminal process in Germany include: the principle of formality (publicity); the principle of charge; the principle of legality and the principle of compulsory research. A characteristic feature of modern law in the field of criminal procedure in the United States is the consis-tent expansion of the institution of delegated legislation. The US Congress has delegated to the Supreme Court the right to establish rules of criminal procedure that have the force of federal law.

Features of legal regulation of the institute inquiry in the legislation of Ukraine and foreign countries

Features of legal regulation of the institute inquiry in the legislation of Ukraine and foreign countries

Incidence, epidemiology, diagnosis and prognosis of atrio-oesophageal fistula following percutaneous catheter ablation: a French nationwide survey.

Rate, incidence, risk factors, and optimal management of atrio-oesophageal fistula (AOF) after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) remain obscure. All French centres performing AF ablation were identified and surveys were sent concerning the number of procedures, eventual cases of AOF, and characteristics of such cases. Eighty-two of the 103 centres (80%) performing AF ablation in France were included, with a total of 129286 AF ablations since 2006 (93% of the whole procedures in France). Thirty-three AOF were reported (reported rate 0.026% per procedure) with a stable reported annual incidence despite the increasing number of procedures. Sensitivity of computed tomography (CT) scan for AOF was 81%. Mortality was 60%, significantly lower in case of surgical corrective therapy (31 vs. 93%, P = 0.001). The reported rate of AOF after AF ablation in this nationwide survey was 0.026%, with a stable reported annual incidence over time. A normal CT scan does not rule out the diagnosis and should be repeated in case of suspicion. Prognosis remains poor with a mortality of 60% and crucially dependant of immediate surgical correction. No clear protective strategy has been proven effective.

Progression and projection for shoulder surgery in France, 2012–2070: Epidemiologic study with trend and projection analysis

IntroductionShoulder surgery has been rapidly expanding over the past 20 years and now makes up a large share of orthopedic surgery practice. Data on how this activity has changed is not available in France due to a lack of registries. The study objectives were to: (1) quantify the number of shoulder surgeries in France, (2) predict how this activity will change over the next 50 years based on extreme scenarios. MethodsThis study involved an analysis of shoulder surgery data taken from the French hospital discharge database (PMSI). Two mathematical scenarios were applied to define the change over time: the first only considered the evolution in the population and changes in the age brackets over time; the second extrapolated the trends observed over the past few years (2012 to 2018). ResultsIn 2018, there were 234,612 procedures coded as primary shoulder surgery procedures in France. This activity increased 24.5% between 2012 and 2018 and is projected to increase 18% to 161% from now to 2050, depending on the scenario (p<0.0001). Rotator cuff surgery procedures were done 173,799 times – of which 61,055 were tendon repair – representing 74% of all shoulder procedures. The scenarios point to an increase of 13.6% to more than 300% (p<0.0001). Primary shoulder arthroplasty corresponded to 17,043 procedures in 2018 (7.3% of all procedures), with a 47% increase between 2012 and 2018. Between 2018 and 2050, the number of total shoulder arthroplasty procedures is expected to increase 31% to 322% (p<0.0001). The total number of revision arthroplasty procedures was 1508, increasing by 39% from 2012 to 2018. There were 14,229 procedures done for anterior or posterior instability in 2018 (6% of total). Bone block procedures made up 53% of these cases. This increased 17% between 2012 and 2018, with a projected increase of 5% to 82% up to 2050 (p<0.01). DiscussionShoulder surgery is the third largest activity in the orthopedic realm after hip and knee surgery, although it has seen the largest increases in recent years. This growth in shoulder procedures should continue over the next decades. Level of evidenceIV, descriptive epidemiology study.

An Evaluation of Three Ways of Communicating Carrier Status Results to the Parents of Children in a Neonatal Sickle Cell Screening Programme.

Aim: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most frequent monogenic disease worldwide; ~5–7% of the world population carry a hemoglobin disorder trait. In the US, one in every 1,941 newborns has SCD, whereas one in every 3,000 newborns in France is affected - resulting in 385 new cases and 5,883 newly identified carriers per year. The objective of the present study was to evaluate three different ways of providing information to parents at risk of having a child with SCD, with a view to increasing the parental screening rate and decreasing the number of new cases per year in France.Method: In a randomized study, we contacted 300 couples of parents after their child had been identified as a SCD carrier in the French national newborn screening programme: 100 couples received an information letter (the standard procedure in France: arm A), 100 couples received a letter and then a follow-up phone call (arm B), and 100 received a letter and then three follow-up text messages at 5-day intervals (arm C). The primary endpoint was the number of parents in each arm screened in the 120 days after the letter had been sent. In a modified intention-to-treat analysis, the screening rate was 17% in arm A, 35% in arm B, and 30% in arm C.Results: Telephone and text message follow-ups were associated with higher screening rates, compared with no follow-up. After being informed of their child's carrier status, some parents had consulted a healthcare professional but had not been referred for screening (16% in arm A, 19% in arm B, and 13% in arm C).Conclusion: A letter followed by a phone call or three text messages is more effective than a letter alone for informing parents at risk of having a child with SCD. The effective implementation of this follow-up programme probably requires better training of all the healthcare professionals involved.

Knee surgery trends and projections in France from 2008 to 2070

IntroductionKnee surgery makes up a large share of the orthopedic surgery practice. Data on how this activity has changed over time is not available in France, thus we wanted to do a study to determine 1) how many knee surgeries were performed in France in 2018, 2) how this changed between 2012 and 2018, and 3) how it is projected to change by 2070. The hypothesis is that the number of knee surgeries will increase over the next 50 years. MethodsThis was an epidemiology study analysing coding data for surgical procedures in France between 2012 and 2018. Two scenarios were defined to assess the change over time: the first only considered population growth and how the age distribution changes over time, and the second extrapolated the trends observed over the past few years. ResultsIn 2018, 321,179 procedures were coded as a main knee surgery procedure. The three most frequent were primary knee arthroplasty with 113,600 procedures (31.2% of procedures) then meniscus surgery (110,510 procedures or 30.3%) and then ligament surgery (57,053 procedures or 15.7%). The number of primary knee arthroplasty procedures increased by 32.2% between 2012 and 2018. Between 2018 and 2050, the different scenarios suggested an increase of 30.8% to 152.8%. The number of ligament surgery procedures increased by 17.3% between 2012 and 2018. Between 2018 and 2050, an increase of 1.2% to 49.2% is expected. The number of meniscus procedures decreased by 14.2% between 2012 and 2018. Between 2018 and 2050, scenario 1 projects a 5.6% increase and scenario 2 a 73.6% reduction. DiscussionThe number of knee surgery procedures per year has increased over the past few years in France and should continue to increase. Level of evidenceIV, descriptive epidemiology study.