Annals of surgery
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To determine long-term survival in patients undergoing robot-assisted surgery (RAS) or laparoscopic surgery (LAS) for colon cancer. ⋯ Adopting RAS for colon cancer was associated with improved recurrence-free survival. However, it did not cause a lower all-cause- or colon cancer-specific mortality.
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To develop machine learning (ML) models that predict outcomes following endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). ⋯ Our newer ML models accurately predict 30-day outcomes following EVAR using preoperative data and perform better than logistic regression. Our automated algorithms can guide risk mitigation strategies for patients being considered for EVAR.
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We sought to develop and validate a preoperative model to predict survival after recurrence (SAR) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). ⋯ The SARScore demonstrated strong discriminatory ability and may be a clinically useful tool to help stratify risk and guide treatment for patients with recurrent HCC.
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To describe the current Medicaid coverage landscape for gender-affirming surgery across the United States at the procedure level and identify factors associated with coverage. ⋯ Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery is patchwork across the United States and is especially poor for facial and voice surgeries. Our study provides a convenient reference for patients and surgeons detailing which gender-affirming surgical procedures are covered by Medicaid within each state.
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Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 is an established perioperative prognostic biomarker for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, it is unclear how CA19-9 monitoring should be used during postoperative surveillance to detect recurrence and to guide the initiation of recurrence-focused therapy. ⋯ A relative increase in the postoperative serum CA19-9 level of 2.6-fold is a stronger predictive marker for recurrence than a continuous CA19-9 cutoff. A relative CA19-9 increase can precede the detection of recurrence on imaging for up to 7 to 10 months. Therefore, CA19-9 dynamics can be used as a biomarker to guide the initiation of recurrence-focused treatment.