Background During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 a decrease of emergency consultations and modification in treatment of numerous medical conditions were observed. Aim of this paper was to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on incidence, treatment strategies, severity, length of hospital stay and time of presentation in adults and children with acute appendicitis. Methods A systematic literature search of Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane databases was performed, and eligible studies used to perform a meta-analysis. Results 46 suitable studies were identified with an overall reduction of appendicitis cases by 20.9% in adults and an increase of 13.4% in children. The rate of open appendectomies increased without statistical significance in both groups (adults: 8.5% vs. 7.1%, P = 0.32; children: 7.1% vs. 5.3%, P = 0.13), whereas the rate of antibiotic treatment increased significantly (P = 0.007; P = 0.03). Higher rates of complicated appendicitis were observed in adults (adults: OR 2.00, P < 0.0001; children: OR 1.64, P = 0.12). Time to first consultation did not change significantly (adults: 52.3 vs. 38.5 h – P = 0.057; children: 51.5 vs. 32.0 h – P = 0.062) and length of stay was also not lengthened during the pandemic (adults: 2.9 vs. 2.7 days, P = 0.057; children: 4.2 vs. 3.7 days, P = 0.062). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 had major impact on incidence and treatment strategies of acute appendicitis. Results of this meta-analysis might be another hint to support the theory that appendicitis is not a progressive disease and surgeons can safely consider antibiotic therapy for acute uncomplicated appendicitis.

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Pulsed laser polymerizations were used to study the propagation kinetics of hydroxypropyl methacrylate (HPMA) in ionic liquids (ILs) and common organic solvents. The functional monomer was chosen to investigate the complex interplay of all interactions between monomer molecules and between monomer and solvent molecules and to obtain a deeper understanding of the impact of these interactions. The solvent effect on the HPMA propagation rate coefficient (kp) was examined using a linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) based on Kamlet‐Taft solvatochromic parameters π*, α, and β. The results suggest that dipolarity/polarizability, associated with π*, and hydrogen bond–donating ability of the solvents, accounted for by α, majorly contribute to variations in kp. Hydrogen bond–accepting (electron pair donating) ability of the solvents (β parameter) is of much lesser importance. In addition, LSER enables the prediction of HPMA kp based on solvatochromic parameters of the solvents. The results suggest that interactions between the hydroxyl group of the monomer and the anion are dominant compared with classical hydrogen bonding between carbonyl and hydroxyl groups of the monomer units. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 3188–3199, 2010

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Most patients with metastatic CRC develop liver or lung metastases, while a minority suffer from brain metastases. There is little information available regarding the presentation, treatment, and overall survival of brain metastases (BM) from CRC. This systematic review and meta-analysis includes data collected from three major databases (PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase) based on the key words “brain”, “metastas*”, “tumor”, “colorectal”, “cancer”, and “malignancy”. In total, 1318 articles were identified in the search and 86 studies matched the inclusion criteria. The incidence of BM varied between 0.1% and 11.5%. Most patients developed metastases at other sites prior to developing BM. Lung metastases and KRAS mutations were described as risk factors for additional BM. Patients with BM suffered from various symptoms, but up to 96.8% of BM patients were asymptomatic at the time of BM diagnosis. Median survival time ranged from 2 to 9.6 months, and overall survival (OS) increased up to 41.1 months in patients on a multimodal therapy regimen. Several factors including age, blood levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), multiple metastases sites, number of brain lesions, and presence of the KRAS mutation were predictors of OS. For BM diagnosis, MRI was considered to be state of the art. Treatment consisted of a combination of surgery, radiation, or systemic treatment.

Lower-grade glioma (LGG) is a group of tumors arising from the cells of the central nervous system. Although various therapy interventions are used, the prognosis remains different. Novel biomarkers are needed for the prognosis of disease and novel therapeutic strategies in LGG. The procollagen-lysine, 2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase (PLOD) family contains three members and is related to multiple cancers, yet it was not investigated in LGG. Data from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohorts were used to analyze the role of PLOD in LGG. As the PLOD family is involved in processes, such as tumor formation and cancer metastasis, we focused on its relationship to the tumor microenvironment (TME) in LGG. A high expression of the PLOD family relates to poor prognosis and high infiltration of immune cells within the TME. The expression level of the PLOD family might become a novel biomarker for prognosis and is a potential target for individual treatment decisions in LGG.