BACKGROUND Alteration in gut microbiota has been recently linked with childhood leukemia and the use of chemotherapy. Whether the perturbed microbiota community is restored after disease remission and cessation of cancer treatment has not been evaluated.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/camostat-mesilate-foy-305.html  This study examines the chronological changes of gut microbiota in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) prior to the start-, during-, and following cessation of chemotherapy. METHODOLOGY We conducted a longitudinal observational study in gut microbiota profile in a group of paediatric patients diagnosed with ALL using 16 s ribosomal RNA sequencing and compared these patients' microbiota pattern with age and ethnicity-matched healthy children. Temporal changes of gut microbiota in these patients with ALL were also examined at different time-points in relation to chemotherapy. RESULTS Prior to commencement of chemotherapy, gut microbiota in children with ALL had larger inter-individual variability compared to healthy controls and was enriched with bacteria belonging to Bacteroidetes phylum and Bacteroides genus. The relative abundance of Bacteroides decreased upon commencement of chemotherapy. Restitution of gut microbiota composition to resemble that of healthy controls occurred after cessation of chemotherapy. However, the microbiota composition (beta diversity) remained distinctive and a few bacteria were different in abundance among the patients with ALL compared to controls despite completion of chemotherapy and presumed restoration of normal health. CONCLUSION Our findings in this pilot study is the first to suggest that gut microbiota profile in children with ALL remains marginally different from healthy controls even after cessation of chemotherapy. These persistent microbiota changes may have a role in the long-term wellbeing in childhood cancer survivors but the impact of these changes in subsequent health perturbations in these survivors remain unexplored.BACKGROUND Early prognostication in trauma patients is challenging, but particularly important. We wanted to explore the ability of copeptin, the C-terminal fragment of arginine vasopressin, to identify major trauma, defined as Injury Severity Score (ISS) > 15, in a heterogeneous cohort of trauma patients and to compare its performances with lactate. We also evaluated copeptin performance in predicting other clinical outcomes mortality, hospital admission, blood transfusion, emergency surgery, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission. METHODS This single center, pragmatic, prospective observational study was conducted at Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova, a level II trauma center in Reggio Emilia, Italy. Copeptin determination was obtained on Emergency Department (ED) arrival, together with venous lactate. Different outcomes were measured including ISS, Revised Trauma Score (RTS), hospital and ICU admission, blood transfusion, emergency surgery, and mortality. RESULTS One hundred and twenty five adult trauma patients admitted to the ED between June 2017 and March 2018. Copeptin showed a good ability to identify patients with ISS > 15 (AUC 0.819). Similar good performances were recorded also in predicting other outcomes. Copeptin was significantly superior to lactate in identifying patients with ISS > 15 (P 0.0015), and in predicting hospital admission (P 0.0002) and blood transfusion (P 0.016). Comparable results were observed in a subgroup of patients with RTS 7.84. CONCLUSIONS In a heterogeneous group of trauma patients, a single copeptin determination at the time of ED admission proved to be an accurate biomarker, statistically superior to lactate for the identification of major trauma, hospital admission, and blood transfusion, while no statistical difference was observed for ICU admission and emergency surgery. These results, if confirmed, may support a role for copeptin during early management of trauma patients.BACKGROUND There is a discrepancy about the metastatic rate of internal mammary lymph nodes (IMNs) between clinical and pathologic findings. We aimed to investigate the metastatic rate of IMNs and to provide recommendations on target volume delineation of IMNs for adjuvant radiotherapy in breast cancer patients. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed data from 114 breast cancer patients treated with surgery without adjuvant radiotherapy who developed local and/or regional lymph node recurrence/metastasis at our institute from January 2015 to January 2019. Patients with widely lung or pleural metastases were excluded. We first analyzed the recurrence rate with the chest wall, the metastatic rate of internal mammary/anterior mediastinal, ipsilateral axillary and supraclavicular lymph nodes, and then investigated the distribution of the IMNs. RESULTS Among the 114 included patients, the recurrence rate with the chest wall, metastatic rate of IMNs, IMNs/anterior mediastinal lymph nodes, ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes, and the ipsilateral supraclavicular lymph nodes was 43, 37.7, 59.6, 12.3, and 22.8%, respectively. The metastatic IMNs were mainly located from the first to the second intercostal space. However, metastatic lymph nodes could also be observed above the upper edge of the first rib. CONCLUSIONS The metastatic rate is high in the IMNs and irradiation of the internal mammary lymphatic chain is required. It is suggested that the upper bound of the internal mammary lymphatic chain should be up to the subclavian vein with a 5-mm margin, thus connecting to the caudal border of supraclavicular clinical target volume in breast cancer patients at high risk of recurrence.BACKGROUND This quality improvement (QI) project was performed at a single center to determine the incidence of postoperative complications associated with use of cuffed airway devices. An educational program was then completed that involved training our anesthesia providers about complications related to excessive cuff pressure and how to utilize a quantitative cuff pressure measurement device (manometer). The impact of this educational initiative was assessed by comparing the incidence of postoperative complications associated with the use of airway devices before and after the training period. METHODS After approval by our institution's Institutional Review Board, a pre-intervention (baseline) survey was obtained from 259 adult patients after having undergone surgery with general anesthesia with the use of an endotracheal tube (ETT) or laryngeal mask airway (LMA). Survey responses were used to determine the baseline incidence of sore throat, hoarseness, and dysphagia. Once these results were obtained, education was provided to the anesthesia department members addressing the complications associated with excessive cuff pressures, appropriate cuff pressures based on manufacturer recommendations, and instructions on the use of a quantitative monitor to determine cuff pressure (manometry).