Background and objective: Physical frailty is associated with increased mortality and hospitalizations in older adults. We describe the prevalence of physical frailty and its prognostic impact in patients with a spectrum of fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD). Methods: Patients with fibrotic ILD at the McMaster University ILD programme were prospectively followed up from November 2015 to March 2020. Baseline data were used to classify patients as non-frail (score = 0), pre-frail (score = 1-2) or frail (score = 3-5) based on modified Fried physical frailty criteria. The association between physical frailty and mortality was assessed using time-to-event models, adjusted for age, sex, lung function and diagnosis using the ILD Gender-Age-Physiology (ILD-GAP) score. Results: We included 463 patients (55% male, mean [SD] age 68 [11] years); 82 (18%) were non-frail, 258 (56%) pre-frail and 123 (26%) frail. The most common ILD diagnoses were idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (n = 183, 40%) and connective tissue disease-associated-ILD (n = 79, 17%). Mean time since diagnosis was 2.7 AE 4.6 years. There were 56 deaths within the median follow-up of 1.71 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.24, 2.31) years. Both frail and pre-frail individuals had a higher risk of death compared to those categorized as non-frail at baseline (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 4.14, 95% CI 1.27-13.5 for pre-frail and aHR 4.41, 95% CI 1.29-15.1 for frail). Conclusion: Physical frailty is prevalent in patients with ILD and is independently associated with an increased risk of death. Assessment of physical frailty provides additional prognostic value to recognized risk scores such as the ILD-GAP score, and may present a modifiable target for intervention.

Background. There is a considerable dissimilarity in the survival duration of the patients with gastric cancer. We aimed to assess the systemic inflammatory response (SIR) and nutritional status of these patients before the commencement of chemotherapy to find the appropriate prognostic factors and define a new score for predicting metastasis. Methods. SIR was assessed using Glasgow Prognostic Score (GPS). Then a score was defined as prealbumin/CRP based prognostic score (PCPS) to be compared with GPS for predicting metastasis and nutritional status. Results. 71 patients with gastric cancer were recruited in the study. 87% of patients had malnutrition. There was a statistical difference between those with metastatic (n = 43) and those with nonmetastatic (n = 28) gastric cancer according to levels of prealbumin and CRP; however they were not different regarding patient generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) and GPS. The best cut-off value for prealbumin was determined at 0.20 mg/dL and PCPS could predict metastasis with 76.5% sensitivity, 63.6% specificity, and 71.4% accuracy. Metastatic and nonmetastatic gastric cancer patients were different in terms of PCPS (P = 0.005). Conclusion. PCPS has been suggested for predicting metastasis in patients with gastric cancer. Future studies with larger sample size have been warranted.

BackgroundThe impact of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) on survival in patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD) is unknown. Given the challenges conducting a large randomised controlled trial, we aimed to determine whether improvement in 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) was associated with better survival.MethodsThis retrospective, international cohort study included patients with fibrotic ILD participating in either inpatient or outpatient PR at 12 sites in 5 countries. Multivariable models were used to estimate the association between change in 6MWD and time to death or lung transplantation accounting for clustering by centre and other confounders.Results701 participants (445 men and 256 women) with fibrotic ILD were included. The mean±SD ages of the 196 inpatients and 505 outpatients were 70±11 and 69±12 years, respectively. Baseline/changes in 6MWD were 262±128/55±83 m for inpatients and 358±125/34±65 m for outpatients. Improvement in 6MWD during PR was associated with lower hazard rates for death or lung transplant on adjusted analysis for both inpatient (HR per 10 m 0.94, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.97, p<0.001) and outpatient PR (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.00, p=0.042). Participation in ≥80% of planned outpatient PR sessions was associated with a 33% lower risk of death (95% CI 0.49% to 0.92%).ConclusionsPatients with fibrotic ILD who improved physical performance during PR had better survival compared with those who did not improve performance. Confirmation of these hypothesis-generating findings in a randomised controlled trial would be required to definitely change clinical practice, and would further support efforts to improve availability of PR for patients with fibrotic ILD.

The complications and symptoms of hypoparathyroidism remain incompletely defined. Measuring serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcium levels early after total thyroidectomy may predict the development of chronic hypoparathyroidism. The study aimed (i) to identify symptoms and complications associated with chronic hypoparathyroidism and determine the prevalence of those symptoms and complications (Part I), and (ii) to examine the utility of early postoperative measurements of PTH and calcium in predicting chronic hypoparathyroidism (Part II). We searched Medline, Medline In‐Process, EMBASE, and Cochrane CENTRAL to identify complications and symptoms associated with chronic hypoparathyroidism. We used two predefined criteria (at least three studies reported the complication and symptom and had statistically significantly greater pooled relative estimates). To estimate prevalence, we used the median and interquartile range (IQR) of the studies reporting complications and symptoms. For testing the predictive values of early postoperative measurements of PTH and calcium, we used a bivariate model to perform diagnostic test meta‐analysis. In Part I, the 93 eligible studies enrolled a total of 18,973 patients and reported on 170 complications and symptoms. We identified nine most common complications or symptoms probably associated with chronic hypoparathyroidism. The complications or symptoms and the prevalence are as follows: nephrocalcinosis/nephrolithiasis (median prevalence among all studies 15%), renal insufficiency (12%), cataract (17%), seizures (11%), arrhythmia (7%), ischemic heart disease (7%), depression (9%), infection (11%), and all‐cause mortality (6%). In Part II, 18 studies with 4325 patients proved eligible. For PTH measurement, regarding the posttest probability, PTH values above 10 pg/mL 12–24 hours postsurgery virtually exclude chronic hypoparathyroidism irrespective of pretest probability (100%). When PTH values are below 10 pg/mL, posttest probabilities range from 3% to 64%. Nine complications and symptoms are probably associated with chronic hypoparathyroidism. A PTH value above a threshold of 10 pg/mL 12–24 hours after total thyroidectomy is a strong predictor that the patients will not develop chronic hypoparathyroidism. Patients with PTH values below the threshold need careful monitoring as some will develop chronic hypoparathyroidism. © 2022 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).

The efficacy and safety of parathyroid hormone (PTH) therapy for managing long‐term hypoparathyroidism is being evaluated in ongoing clinical trials. We undertook a systematic review and meta‐analysis of currently available randomized controlled trials to investigate the benefits and harms of PTH therapy and conventional therapy in the management of patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism. To identify eligible studies, published in English, we searched Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane CENTRAL from inception to May 2022. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. We defined patients' important outcomes and used grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) to provide the structure for quantifying absolute effects and rating the quality of evidence. Seven randomized trials of 12 publications that enrolled a total of 386 patients proved eligible. The follow‐up duration ranged from 1 to 36 months. Compared with conventional therapy, PTH therapy probably achieves a small improvement in physical health‐related quality of life (mean difference [MD] 3.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–5.3, minimally important difference 3.0, moderate certainty). PTH therapy results in more patients reaching 50% or greater reduction in the dose of active vitamin D and calcium (relative risk [RR] = 6.5, 95% CI 2.5–16.4, 385 more per 1000 patients, high certainty). PTH therapy may increase hypercalcemia (RR =2.4, 95% CI 1.2–5.04, low certainty). The findings may support the use of PTH therapy in patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism. Because of limitations of short duration and small sample size, evidence from randomized trials is limited regarding important benefits of PTH therapy compared with conventional therapy. Establishing such benefits will require further studies. © 2022 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).