| 1. |
- Bolkan, Håkon A, et al.
(författare)
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The Surgical Workforce and Surgical Provider Productivity in Sierra Leone: A Countrywide Inventory.
- 2016
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Ingår i: World Journal of Surgery. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-2323 .- 0364-2313. ; 40:6, s. 1344-1351
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Limited data exist on surgical providers and their scope of practice in low-income countries (LICs). The aim of this study was to assess the distribution and productivity of all surgical providers in an LIC, and to evaluate correlations between the surgical workforce availability, productivity, rates, and volume of surgery at the district and hospital levels.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Løvvik, Tone S., et al.
(författare)
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Use of metformin to treat pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PregMet2) : a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
- 2019
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Ingår i: The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. - : Elsevier. - 2213-8587 .- 2213-8595. ; 7:4, s. 256-266
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have an increased risk of pregnancy complications. Epi-analysis of two previous randomised controlled trials that compared metformin with placebo during pregnancy in women with PCOS showed a significant reduction in late miscarriages and preterm births in the metformin group. The aim of this third randomised trial (PregMet2) was to test the hypothesis that metformin prevents late miscarriage and preterm birth in women with PCOS.Methods: PregMet2 was a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicentre trial done at 14 hospitals in Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. Singleton pregnant women with PCOS aged 18-45 years were eligible for inclusion. After receiving information about the study at their first antenatal visit or from the internet, women signed up individually to participate in the study. Participants were randomly assigned (1: 1) to receive metformin or placebo by computer-generated random numbers. Randomisation was in blocks of ten for each country and centre; the first block had a random size between one and ten to assure masking. Participants were assigned to receive oral metformin 500 mg twice daily or placebo during the first week of treatment, which increased to 1000 mg twice daily or placebo from week 2 until delivery. Placebo tablets and metformin tablets were identical and participants and study personnel were masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome was the composite incidence of late miscarriage (between week 13 and week 22 and 6 days) and preterm birth (between week 23 and week 36 and 6 days), analysed in the intention-to-treat population. Secondary endpoints included the incidence of gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and admission of the neonate to the neonatal intensive care unit. We also did a post-hoc individual participant data analysis of pregnancy outcomes, pooling data from the two previous trials with the present study. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials. gov, number NCT01587378, and EudraCT, number 2011-002203-15.Findings: The study took place between Oct 19, 2012, and Sept 1, 2017. We randomly assigned 487 women to metformin (n=244) or placebo (n=243). In the intention-to-treat analysis, our composite primary outcome of late miscarriage and preterm birth occurred in 12 (5%) of 238 women in the metformin group and 23 (10%) of 240 women in the placebo group (odds ratio [OR] 0.50, 95% CI 0.22- 1.08; p = 0.08). We found no significant differences for our secondary endpoints, including incidence of gestational diabetes (60 [25%] of 238 women in the metformin group vs 57 [24%] of 240 women in the placebo group; OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.69-1.66; p=0.75). We noted no substantial between-group differences in serious adverse events in either mothers or offspring, and no serious adverse events were considered drug-related by principal investigators. In the post-hoc pooled analysis of individual participant data from the present trial and two previous trials, 18 (5%) of 397 women had late miscarriage or preterm delivery in the metformin group ]compared with 40 (10%) of 399 women in the placebo group (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.23-0.79; p=0.004).Interpretation: In pregnant women with PCOS, metformin treatment from the late first trimester until delivery might reduce the risk of late miscarriage and preterm birth, but does not prevent gestational diabetes.
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| 4. |
- Rydén, Isabelle, et al.
(författare)
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Return to work following diagnosis of low-grade glioma: A nationwide matched cohort study.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Neurology. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 1526-632X .- 0028-3878. ; 95:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Return-to-work (RTW) following diagnosis of infiltrative low-grade gliomas (LGG) is unknown.Swedish patients with histopathological verified WHO grade II diffuse glioma diagnosed between 2005-2015 were included. Data were acquired from several Swedish registries. A total of 381 patients aged 18-60 were eligible. A matched control population (n=1900) was acquired. Individual data on sick leave, compensations, comorbidity and treatments assigned were assessed. Predictors were explored using multivariable logistic regression.One year before surgery/index date, 88 % of cases were working compared to 91 % of controls. The proportion of controls working remained constant, while patients had a rapid increase in sick leave approximately six months prior to surgery. After one and two years respectively, 52 % and 63 % of the patients were working. Predictors for no-RTW after one year were previous sick leave (OR 0.92, 95 % CI 0.88-0.96, p <0.001), older age (OR 0.96, 95 % CI 0.94-0.99, p=0.005) and lower functional level (OR 0.64 95% CI, 0.45-0.91 p=0.01). Patients receiving adjuvant treatment were less likely to RTW within the first year. At two years, biopsy (as opposed to resection), female sex and comorbidity were also unfavorable, while age and adjuvant treatment were no longer significant.Approximately half of the patients RTW within the first year. Lower functional status, previous sick leave, older age and adjuvant treatment were risk factors for no-RTW at one year after surgery. Female sex, comorbidity and biopsy only were also unfavorable for RTW at two years.
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| 5. |
- Thurin, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Impact of meningioma surgery on use of antiepileptic, antidepressant, and sedative drugs : A Swedish nationwide matched cohort study
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cancer Medicine. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7634. ; 10:9, s. 2967-2977
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Meningioma is the most common primary intracranial tumor and surgery is the main treatment modality. As death from lack of tumor control is rare, other outcome measures like anxiety, depression and post-operative epilepsy are becoming increasingly relevant. In this nationwide registry-based study we aimed to describe the use of antiepileptic drugs (AED), antidepressants and sedatives before and after surgical treatment of an intracranial meningioma compared to a control population, and to provide predictors for continued use of each drug-group two years after surgery.Methods: All adult patients with histopathologically verified intracranial meningiomas were identified in the Swedish Brain Tumor Registry and their data were linked to relevant national registries after assigning five matched controls to each patient. We analyzed the prescription patterns of antiepileptic drugs (AED), antidepressants and sedative drugs in the two years before and the two years following surgery.Results: For the 2070 patients and 10312 controls identified the use of AED, antidepressants and sedatives was comparable two years before surgery. AED use at time of surgery was higher for patients than for controls (22.2% vs. 1.9%, p < 0.01), as was antidepressant use (12.9% vs. 9.4%, p < 0.01). Both AED and antidepressant use remained elevated after surgery, with patients having a higher AED use (19.7% vs. 2.3%, p < 0.01) and antidepressant use (14.8% vs. 10.6%, p < 0.01) at 2 years post-surgery. Use of sedatives peaked for patients at the time of surgery (14.4% vs. 6.1%, p < 0.01) and remained elevated at two years after surgery with 9.9% versus 6.6% (p < 0.01). For all the studied drugs, previous drug use was the strongest predictor for use 2 years after surgery.Conclusion: This nationwide study shows that increased use of AED, antidepressants and sedatives in patients with meningioma started perioperatively, and remained elevated two years following surgery.
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| 6. |
- Werlenius, Katja, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of Disulfiram and Copper Plus Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone on Survival in Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
- 2023
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Ingår i: JAMA network open. - : American Medical Association (AMA). - 2574-3805. ; 6:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Disulfiram has demonstrated broad antitumoral effect in several preclinical studies. One of the proposed indications is for the treatment of glioblastoma.To evaluate the efficacy and safety of disulfiram and copper as add-on to alkylating chemotherapy in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.This was a multicenter, open-label, randomized phase II/III clinical trial with parallel group design. Patients were recruited at 7 study sites in Sweden and 2 sites in Norway between January 2017 and November 2020. Eligible patients were 18 years or older, had a first recurrence of glioblastoma, and indication for treatment with alkylating chemotherapy. Patients were followed up until death or a maximum of 24 months. The date of final follow-up was January 15, 2021. Data analysis was performed from February to September 2022.Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive either standard-of-care (SOC) alkylating chemotherapy alone, or SOC with the addition of disulfiram (400 mg daily) and copper (2.5 mg daily).The primary end point was survival at 6 months. Secondary end points included overall survival, progression-free survival, adverse events, and patient-reported quality of life.Among the 88 patients randomized to either SOC (n=45) or SOC plus disulfiram and copper (n=43), 63 (72%) were male; the mean (SD) age was 55.4 (11.5) years. There was no significant difference between the study groups (SOC vs SOC plus disulfiram and copper) in 6 months survival (62% [26 of 42] vs 44% [19 of 43]; P=.10). Median overall survival was 8.2 months (95% CI, 5.4-10.2 months) with SOC and 5.5 months (95% CI, 3.9-9.3 months) with SOC plus disulfiram and copper, and median progression-free survival was 2.6 months (95% CI, 2.4-4.6 months) vs 2.3 months (95% CI, 1.7-2.6 months), respectively. More patients in the SOC plus disulfiram and copper group had adverse events grade 3 or higher (34% [14 of 41] vs 11% [5 of 44]; P=.02) and serious adverse events (41% [17 of 41] vs 16% [7 of 44]; P=.02), and 10 patients (24%) discontinued disulfiram treatment because of adverse effects.This randomized clinical trial found that among patients with recurrent glioblastoma, the addition of disulfiram and copper to chemotherapy, compared with chemotherapy alone, resulted in significantly increased toxic effects, but no significant difference in survival. These findings suggest that disulfiram and copper is without benefit in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02678975; EUDRACT Identifier: 2016-000167-16.
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| 7. |
- Carstam, Louise, et al.
(författare)
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Socioeconomic factors affect treatment delivery for patients with low grade glioma : a Swedish population-based study
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Neuro-Oncology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-594X .- 1573-7373. ; 146:2, s. 329-337
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Despite aspirations to achieve equality in healthcare we know that socioeconomic differences exist and may affect treatment and patient outcome, also in serious diseases such as cancer. We investigated disparities in neurosurgical care and outcome for patients with low-grade glioma (LGG).METHODS: In this nationwide registry-based study, patients who had undergone surgery for LGG during 2005-2015 were identified (n = 547) through the Swedish Brain Tumor Registry. We linked data to multiple national registries with individual level data on income, education and comorbidity and analyzed the association of disease characteristics, surgical management and outcome, with levels of income, education and sex.RESULTS: Patients with either low income, low education or female gender showed worse pre-operative performance status. Patients with low income or education also had more comorbidities and those with low education endured longer waiting times for surgery. Median time from radiological imaging to surgery was 51 days (Q1-3 27-191) for patients with low education, compared to 32 days (Q1-3 20-80) for patients with high education (p = 0.006). Differences in waiting time over educational levels remained significant after stratification for age, comorbidity, preoperative performance status, and tumor size. Overall survival was better for patients with high income or high education, but income- and education-related survival differences were not significant after adjustment for age and comorbidity. The type of surgical procedure or complications did not differ over socioeconomic groups or sex.CONCLUSION: The neurosurgical care for LGG in Sweden, a society with universal healthcare, displays differences that can be related to socioeconomic factors.
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| 8. |
- Fyllingen, Even Hovig, et al.
(författare)
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Does Risk of Brain Cancer Increase with Intracranial Volume? A Population-Based Case-Control Study.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Neuro-oncology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1523-5866 .- 1522-8517. ; 20:9, s. 1225-1230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glioma is the most common primary brain tumor and is believed to arise from glial stem cells. Despite large efforts there are limited established risk factors. It has been suggested that tissue with more stem cells may exhibit higher risk of cancer due to chance alone. Assuming a positive correlation between the number of stem cell divisions in an organ and size of the same organ, we hypothesized that variation in intracranial volume, as a proxy for brain size may be linked to risk of high-grade glioma.Intracranial volume was calculated from pre-treatment 3D T1-weighted MRI brain scans from 124 patients with high-grade glioma and 995 general population based controls. Binomial logistic regression analyses were performed to ascertain the effect of intracranial volume and sex on the likelihood that participants have high-grade glioma.An increase in intracranial volume of 100 mL was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of high-grade glioma of 1.69 (95 % CI 1.44 to 1.98; P < 0.001). After adjusting for intracranial volume, female sex emerged as a risk factor for high-grade glioma (OR for male sex = 0.56, 95 % CI 0.33 to 0.93; P = 0.026).Intracranial volume is strongly associated with risk of high-grade glioma. After correcting for intracranial volume, risk of high-grade glioma was higher in women. The development of glioma is correlated to brain size and may to a large extent be a stochastic event related to the number of cells at risk.
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| 9. |
- Fyllingen, Even Hovig, et al.
(författare)
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Survival of glioblastoma in relation to tumor location: a statistical tumor atlas of a population-based cohort.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Acta neurochirurgica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0942-0940 .- 0001-6268. ; 163, s. 1895-1905
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous studies on the effect of tumor location on overall survival in glioblastoma have found conflicting results. Based on statistical maps, we sought to explore the effect of tumor location on overall survival in a population-based cohort of patients with glioblastoma and IDH wild-type astrocytoma WHO grade II-III with radiological necrosis.Patients were divided into three groups based on overall survival: < 6 months, 6-24 months, and > 24 months. Statistical maps exploring differences in tumor location between these three groups were calculated from pre-treatment magnetic resonance imaging scans. Based on the results, multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to explore the possible independent effect of centrally located tumors compared to known prognostic factors by use of distance from center of the third ventricle to contrast-enhancing tumor border in centimeters as a continuous variable.A total of 215 patients were included in the statistical maps. Central tumor location (corpus callosum, basal ganglia) was associated with overall survival < 6 months. There was also a reduced overall survival in patients with tumors in the left temporal lobe pole. Tumors in the dorsomedial right temporal lobe and the white matter region involving the left anterior paracentral gyrus/dorsal supplementary motor area/medial precentral gyrus were associated with overall survival > 24 months. Increased distance from center of the third ventricle to contrast-enhancing tumor border was a positive prognostic factor for survival in elderly patients, but less so in younger patients.Central tumor location was associated with worse prognosis. Distance from center of the third ventricle to contrast-enhancing tumor border may be a pragmatic prognostic factor in elderly patients.
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| 10. |
- Gulati, Sasha, et al.
(författare)
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Risk of intracranial hemorrhage in users of oral antithrombotic drugs: Study protocol for a nationwide study
- 2015
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Ingår i: F1000 Research. - : F1000 Research Ltd. - 2046-1402. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background A wide range of antithrombotic medications can be used in the prevention and treatment of thrombosis. Among hemorrhagic complications of antithrombotic drugs, intracranial hemorrhage may have particularly devastating consequences with high morbidity, disability and mortality rates. The incidence and risks of intracranial hemorrhage in patients on antithrombotic treatments from regular clinical practice outside clinical trials remain largely unknown. It is not known if results from clinical trials can be extrapolated to everyday clinical practice. We will conduct a nationwide study to investigate the risks and incidence rates of intracranial hemorrhage in users oral antithrombotic drugs in Norway from 2008 through 2014. Methods and design The aim of this nationwide study is to investigate the incidence rates of intracranial hemorrhage requiring hospitalization in users of oral antithrombotic drugs. The study will be conducted within the approximately 4.7 million inhabitants of Norway from January 1st, 2008, to December 31st, 2014. Treatment and outcome data are obtained from the Norwegian patient registry and the Norwegian prescription database.
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