Background Large national databases have become a common source of information on patterns of cancer care in the United States, particularly for low-incidence diseases such as sarcoma. Although aggregating information from many hospitals can achieve statistical power, this may come at a cost when complex variables must be abstracted from the medical record. There is a current lack of understanding of the frequency of use of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database and the National Cancer Database (NCDB) over the last two decades in musculoskeletal sarcoma research and whether their use tends to produce papers with conflicting findings. Questions/purposes (1) Is the number of published studies using the SEER and NCDB databases in musculoskeletal sarcoma research increasing over time? (2) What are the author, journal, and content characteristics of these studies?(3) Do studies using the SEER and the NCDB databases for similar diagnoses and study questions report concordant or discordant key findings? (4) Are the administrative data reported by our institution to the SEER and the NCDB databases concordant with the data in our longitudinally maintained, physician-run orthopaedic oncology dataset? Methods To answer our first three questions, PubMed was searched from 2001 through 2020 for all studies using the SEER or the NCDB databases to evaluate sarcoma. Studies were excluded from the review if they did not use these databases or studied anatomic locations other than the extremities, nonretroperitoneal pelvis, trunk, chest wall, or spine. To answer our first question, the number of SEER and NCDB studies were counted by year. The publication rate over the 20-year span was assessed with simple linear regression modeling. The difference in the mean number of studies between 5-year intervals

BACKGROUND: Frequent neurological examinations in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) disrupt sleep-wake cycles and potentially contribute to the development of delirium. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the risk of delirium among patients with TBI with respect to their neuro-check frequencies. METHODS: A retrospective study of patients presenting with TBI at a single level I trauma center between January 2018 and December 2019. The primary exposure was the frequency of neurological examinations (neuro-checks) assigned at the time of admission. Patients admitted with hourly (Q1) neuro-check frequencies were compared with those who received examinations every 2 (Q2) or 4 (Q4) hours. The primary outcomes were delirium and time-to-delirium. The onset of delirium was defined as the first documented positive Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit score. RESULTS: Of 1552 patients with TBI, 458 (29.5%) patients experienced delirium during their hospital stay. The median time-to-delirium was 1.8 days (IQR: 1.1, 2.9). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that patients assigned Q1 neuro-checks had the greatest rate of delirium compared with the patients with Q2 and Q4 neuro-checks (P < .001). Multivariable Cox regression modeling demonstrated that Q2 neuro-checks (hazard ratio: 0.439, 95% CI: 0.33-0.58) and Q4 neuro-checks (hazard ratio: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.34-0.68) were protective against the development of delirium compared with Q1. Other risk factors for developing delirium included pre-existing dementia, tobacco use, lower Glasgow Coma Scale score, higher injury severity score, and certain hemorrhage patterns. CONCLUSION: Patients with more frequent neuro-checks had a higher risk of developing delirium compared with those with less frequent neuro-checks.

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling is essential for the differentiation and migration of early stem cell populations during cerebellar development. Dysregulation of SHH-signaling can result in cerebellar overgrowth and the formation of the brain tumor medulloblastoma. Treatment for medulloblastoma is extremely aggressive and patients suffer life-long side effects including behavioral deficits. Considering that other behavioral disorders including autism spectrum disorders, holoprosencephaly, and basal cell nevus syndrome are known to present with cerebellar abnormalities, it is proposed that some behavioral abnormalities could be inherent to the medulloblastoma sequalae rather than treatment. Using a haploinsufficient SHH receptor knockout mouse model (Ptch1 +/-), a partner preference task was used to explore activity, social behavior and neuroanatomical changes resulting from dysregulated SHH signaling. Compared to wild-type, Ptch1 +/-females displayed increased activity by traveling a greater distance in both open-field and partner preference tasks. Social behavior was also sex-specifically modified in Ptch1 +/-females that interacted more with both novel and familiar animals in the partner preference task compared to same-sex wild-type controls. Haploinsufficency of PTCH resulted in cerebellar overgrowth in lobules IV/V and IX of both sexes, and female-specific decreases in hippocampal size and isocortical layer thickness. Taken together, neuroanatomical changes related to deficient SHH signaling may alter social behavior.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Spinal cord compression caused by spinal tumors is measured using the epidural spinal cord compression scale, also known as the Bilsky score. Whether Bilsky score predicts short-/long-term outcomes remains unknown. The objectives were to determine the correlation of Bilsky score 0–1 vs 2–3 with regards to (1) preoperative presentation, (2) perioperative variables, and (3) long-term outcomes. METHODS: A single-center, retrospective evaluation of a cohort of patients undergoing metastatic spine surgery was performed between 01/2010 and 01/2021. Multivariable logistic/linear/Cox regression were performed controlling for age, body mass index, race, total decompressed levels, tumor size, other organ metastases, and postoperative radiotherapy/chemotherapy. RESULTS: Of 343 patients with extradural spinal metastasis, 92 (26.8%) were Bilsky 0–1 and 251 (73.2%) were Bilsky 2–3. Preoperatively, patients with Bilsky 2–3 lesions were older (P = .008), presented more with sensory deficits (P = .029), and had worse preoperative Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) (P = .002). Perioperatively, Bilsky 2–3 patients had more decompressed levels (P = .005) and transpedicular decompression (P < .001), with similar operative time (P = .071) and blood loss (P = .502). Although not statistically significant, patients with Bilsky 2–3 had more intraoperative neuromonitoring changes (P = .412). Although rates of complications (P = .442) and neurological deficit (P = .852) were similar between groups, patients with Bilsky 2–3 lesions had a longer length of stay (P = .007) and were discharged home less frequently (P < .001). No difference was found in 90-day readmissions (P = .607) and reoperation (P = .510) Long-term: LR (P=.100) and time to LR (log-rank; P=0.532) were not significantly different between Bilsky 0-1 and Bilsky 2-3 lesions. However, patients with Bilsky 2–3 lesions had worse postoperative KPS (P < .001), worse modified McCormick scale score (P = .003), shorter overall survival (OS) (log-rank; P < .001), and worse survival at 1 year (P = .012). Bilsky 2–3 lesions were associated with shorter OS on multivariable Cox regression (hazard ratio = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.27-2.49, P < .001), with no significant impact on time to LR (hazard ratio = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.37-1.44, P = .359). CONCLUSION: Bilsky 2–3 lesions were associated with longer length of stay, more nonhome discharge, worse postoperative KPS/modified McCormick scale score, shorter OS, and reduced survival at 1 year. Higher-grade Bilsky score lesions appear to be at a higher risk for worse outcomes. Efforts should be made to identify metastatic spine patients before they reach the point of severe spinal cord compression..

Study Design. Retrospective case-control study. Objective. In a cohort of patients undergoing metastatic spine surgery, we sought to: (1) identify risk factors associated with unplanned readmission, and (2) determine the impact of an unplanned readmission on long-term outcomes. Summary of Background Data. Factors affecting readmission after metastatic spine surgery remain relatively unexplored. Materials and Methods. A single-center, retrospective, case-control study was undertaken of patients undergoing spine surgery for extradural metastatic disease between 02/2010 and 01/2021. The primary outcome was 3-month unplanned readmission. Preoperative, perioperative, and tumor-specific variables were collected. Multivariable Cox regression was performed, controlling for tumor size, other organ metastasis, and preoperative/postoperative radiotherapy/chemotherapy. Results. A total of 357 patients underwent surgery for spinal metastases with a mean follow-up of 538.7±648.6 days. Unplanned readmission within 3 months of surgery occurred in 64/357 (21.9%) patients, 37 (57.8%) were medical, 27 (42.2%) surgical, and 21 (77.7%) were related to their spine surgery. No significant differences were found regarding demographics and preoperative variables, except for insurance, where most readmitted patients had private insurance compared with nonreadmitted patients (P=0.021). No significant difference was found in preoperative radiotherapy/chemotherapy. Regarding perioperative exposure variables, readmitted patients had a higher rate of postoperative complications (68.8% vs. 24.2%, P<0.001) and worse postoperative Karnofsky Performance Score (P=0.021) and Modified McCormick Scale (P=0.015) at the time of first follow-up. On multivariate logistic regression, postoperative complications were associated with increased readmissions (odds ratio=1.38, 95% CI=1.25–1.52, P<0.001). Regarding the impact of unplanned readmission on long-term tumor control, unplanned readmission was associated with shorter time to local recurrence (log-rank; P=0.029) and reduced overall survival (OS) (log-rank; P<0.001). On multivariate Cox regression, other organ metastasis [hazard ratio (HR)=1.48, 95% CI=1.13–1.93, P=0.004] and 3-month readmission (HR=1.75, 95% CI=1.28–2.39, P<0.001) were associated with worsened OS, with no impact on LR. Postoperative chemotherapy was significantly associated with longer OS (HR=0.59, 95% CI=0.45–0.77, P<0.001). Conclusions. Postoperative complications were associated with unplanned readmission following metastatic spine surgery. Furthermore, 3-month unplanned readmission was associated with a shorter time to local recurrence and decreased OS. These results help surgeons understand the drivers of readmissions and the impact of readmissions on patient outcomes. Level of Evidence. 3.