[en] The purpose of this study was to objectively quantify the impact of implementing picture archiving and communication system-electronic medical record (PACS-EMR) integration on the time required to access data in the EMR and the frequency with which data are accessed by radiologists. Time to access a clinic note in the EMR was measured before and after integration with a stopwatch and compared by t test. An IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant retrospective review of EMR access data from security audit logs was conducted for a 14-month period spanning the integration. Correlation of these data with report signatures identified the studies in which the radiologist accessed the EMR to obtain additional clinical data. Proportions of studies with EMR access were plotted and compared before and after integration using a chi-square test. Time to access the EMR decreased from 52 to 6 s (p < 0.001). Proportion of studies with EMR access increased from 36.7% (10,175/27,773) to 44.9% (10,843/24,153) after integration (p < 0.001). Integrating PACS and the EMR substantially decreases the time to access the EMR and is associated with a significant increase in the proportion of studies for which radiologists obtain additional clinical data.

[en] The authors surveyed all physicians who regularly referred patients to their department for their opinion of their radiology reports. Nearly 40% responded. The average overall rating for the reports was 8 on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). Of the respondents, 59% said our reports usually were clear, but 40% felt them occasionally confusing. Forty-nine percent noted the reports sometimes did not address the clinical question sufficiently. Equal numbers preferred the summary at the beginning and at the end of the report. Thirty-six percent felt the reports took too long to get to them. After modifying their reporting practices, the authors intend a follow-up survey to measure appreciation of those changes

[en] After the failure of first-line treatment, the clinical prognosis in head and neck cancer (HNSCC) deteriorates. Effective therapeutic strategies are limited due to the toxicity of previous treatments and the diminished tolerance of surrounding normal tissue. This study demonstrates a promising second-line regimen, with function preserving surgical tumor debulking, followed by a combination of postoperative interstitial brachytherapy and a simultaneous protocol of cetuximab and taxol. From January 2006 to May 2013, 197 patients with HNSCC were treated with brachytherapy at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein Campus Lübeck, including 94 patients due to recurrent cancer. Within these, 18 patients were referred to our clinic because of early progressive disease following first- or second-line treatment failure. They received the new palliative regimen. A matched-pair analysis including recurrent tumor stage, status of resection margins, tissue invasion and previous therapy was performed to evaluate this treatment retrospectively. Overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), functional outcome and treatment toxicity was analyzed on the basis of medical records and follow-up data. DFS and OS of the study group were 8.7 and 14.8 months. Whereas, DFS and OS of the control group, treated only by function preserving tumor debulking and brachytherapy, was 3.9 and 6.1 months respectively. This demonstrates a positive trend through the additional use of the cetuximab-taxane protocol. Furthermore, no increase of therapy induced toxicities was displayed. Pre-treated patients with a further relapse benefit from the ‘cetuximab-taxane recurrency scheme’. It seems to be a valuable complement to interdisciplinary and multimodal tumor therapy, which improves OS and results in acceptable toxicity. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13014-016-0583-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

[en] Purpose: To identify costs deriving from data migration of obsolete digital archives by measuring the workload, and to analyse migration-associated problems. Material and Methods: Two digital archives were used (DTL and MoD) and the capacity of these archives could no longer support the needs of the Medical Imaging Centre. The entire content of the DLT archive and selected data from the MoD archive were transferred to the current higher capacity (17 TB) tape archive. The running time of work processes was measured by self-reporting, and the cost of work was calculated. Results: The transfer of 43,096 studies required 314 working hours over the course of 15 months in total. The work was partly manual, partly automatic. The percentage of non-retrievable MoD images was 35. Less than 0.2% of the DLT image transfers failed due to incorrect patient or image data. The MoD - DLT transfer cost was six times higher per study than the DLT - DLT transmission cost. Conclusion: At present, data migration may be inevitable as the amount of data increases and technology advances. The data transfer proved to be labour intensive, with high fault sensitivity regarding the MoD archive. The cost of work of data migration was 0.4% of estimated digital archiving total yearly cost. Automated data migration is preferable

[en] 

Background

We assessed the feasibility and safety of single-site laparoscopic surgery for patients with colorectal cancer who required perioperative heparinization.

Methods

This retrospective study reviewed the medical records of 390 patients who underwent single-site laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer from January 2010 to December 2016. Antithrombotic drugs were stopped preoperatively and heparin was administered according to the operative risk of each patient, based on consultation with the cardiologist physician or neurosurgeon. Propensity score modeling was utilized to adjust for baseline characteristics.

Results

Of 390 patients, 29 were treated with standard bridging intravenous heparin therapy. Propensity matching identified 119 patients: 22 patients in the heparinization group and 97 in the control group. The matched groups were not significantly different in operation times, bleeding volumes, or conversion rate. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 17.9 days in the heparinization group and 9.5 days in the control group (p = 0.034). Postoperative bleeding was observed in 4 patients (18.2%) in the heparinization group and 11 patients (11.4%) in the control group (p = 0.646), while other complications were similar in the two study groups (p = 0.502). Of these other complications, thromboembolic events were observed in two patients in the heparinization group and one patient in the control group.

Conclusions

We found that single-site laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer with heparinization was feasible and safe. Heparinization did not increase the risk of postoperative bleeding complications, but postoperative hospital stay was prolonged.

[en] We report on the development and clinical deployment of an in-house incident reporting and learning system that implements the taxonomy of the Canadian National System for Incident Reporting – Radiation Treatment (NSIR-RT). In producing our new system, we aimed to: Analyze actual incidents, as well as potentially dangerous latent conditions. Produce recommendations on the NSIR-RT taxonomy. Incorporate features to divide reporting responsibility among clinical staff and expedite incident categorization within the NSIR-RT framework. Share anonymized incident data with the national database. Our multistep incident reporting workflow is focused around an initial report and a detailed follow-up investigation. An investigator, chosen at the time of reporting, is tasked with performing the investigation. The investigation feature is connected to our electronic medical records database to allow automatic field population and quick reference of patient and treatment information. Additional features include a robust visualization suite, as well as the ability to flag incidents for discussion at monthly Risk Management meetings and task ameliorating actions to staff. Our system was deployed into clinical use in January 2016. Over the first three months of use, 45 valid incidents were reported; 31 of which were reported as actual incidents as opposed to near-misses or reportable circumstances. However, we suspect there is ambiguity within our centre in determining the appropriate event type, which may be arising from the taxonomy itself. Preliminary trending analysis aided in revealing workflow issues pertaining to storage of treatment accessories and treatment planning delays. Extensive analysis will be undertaken as more data are accrued.

[en] To evaluate the incidence of sternal fracture due to trauma, the CT features of sternal fractures, and the hospitalization period. The medical records and CT images of 755 patients who suffered trauma from January 2012 to August 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. We compared the incidence of sternal fracture due to various traumatic causes. We evaluated the location and shape of the sternal fracture on CT scans and the relationship between a sternal fracture and the hospitalization period. The incidence of sternal fracture was 9.27% (70/755) in all patients; 11.7% (53/453) due to a traffic accident (TA), and 5.63% (17/302) due to other causes. TA was the most frequent cause (75.71%) of a sternal fracture, fracture incidences after a TA differed by traumatic cause (p < 0.05). Among sternal fractures, the body was the most commonly involved (68.57%), one wall was limited (32.85%), and anteroposterior length increased (7.14%). Body fractures involving two or more segments included 33.33% of the cases. The hospitalization period was not related with sternal fracture (p = 0.30). Fracture was more frequent after a TA than due to other causes. Fracture incidences after a TA depended on the traumatic causes. Involvement of two or more segments and one wall-limitation were common among sternal fractures. Sternal fractures occurred even in slightly injured patients.

[en] The daily radiation therapy record is the vital basis for treatment reporting and communication. A review of the literature reveals this to be an overlooked topic that deserves much more attention. This communication reviews one institution's experience in developing a reliable and accurate recording format. The design of a daily radiation therapy record is highly subjective. With the subjectivity of this process in mind, the purpose of this presentation is to describe the advantages of the author's form and to acquaint the reader with the literature useful in preparing a therapy record that fulfills their facility's requirements

[en] 

Purpose

Multiple approaches to radiologically inserted gastrostomy (RIG) exist. The goal of this study was to compare 30-day outcomes and associated complications between large bore balloon-retained (BR), loop-retained (LR), and pull-type (PT) RIG devices.

Methods

Data on 1477 patients who underwent RIG between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2016 were collected retrospectively using a dedicated interventional radiology database and electronic medical record. Statistical analysis was performed to compare complication rates between BR, LR, and PT devices.

Results

Ninety-eight percent (1477/1507) of the procedures were successfully performed. A total of 752 BR, 323 LR, and 402 PT gastrostomy tubes were placed. The overall complication rate for BR catheters was 5.7% (25 major [3.3%] and 18 minor [2.4%]). The overall complication rate for PT catheters was 3.7% (8 major [2.0%] and 7 minor [1.7%]). The overall complication rate for LR catheters was 1.6% (4 major [1.4%] and 1 minor [0.8%]). Compared to BR catheters, LR catheters had significantly fewer total complications (P = 0.01) but not minor complications (P = 0.052). There were no significant differences in the number of complications between LR and PT catheters or between BR and PT catheters.

Conclusions

Use of BR, LR, and PT devices for RIG is safe with a low incidence of complications. Compared to BR catheters, primary insertion of a LR gastrostomy was associated with significantly fewer overall complications within the first 30 days. Therefore, for initial tube placement, large bore LR catheters may be preferred over BR devices.

[en] Thyroid associated orbitopathy is a common manifestation of Graves disease. Many options can be considered for treatment. In this case series, we reviewed the medical records of 17 patients who received radiation therapy (RT) for GO in a tertiary care center between 1997 and 2007. All patients received 20 Gy to both orbits and 12 of them (71%) had already received one or more trials of steroid therapy prior to RT. After a median follow-up of 2 years, a subjective improvement in exophthalmos and vision was reported by all patients at the end of RT but only 3 patients reported a decrease in their diplopia immediately after therapy. Symptoms continued to improve with time in many patients: 22% had complete reversal of their symptoms and signs, and the remaining 78% had partial improvement. Two patients developed recurrent signs and symptoms, both of them were smokers who continued to smoke after treatment. About 60-65% of patients responded favorably to RT alone which increased to 87-97% when RT is combined with steroids. No patients developed late toxicity during the follow-up period. We conclude that RT is an effective treatment option in GO even in patients who failed previous treatment with steroids or surgical decompression. Based on our own clinical experiences and the literature data, the combination of RT and intravenous corticosteroid administration may improve the response rate