Ziekenhuis Rivierenland

Background:Many athletes experience pubalgia. Although much is known about ligament injuries in other joints, the importance of ligament injuries in the pubic joint remains understudied.Purpose:To determine the frequency of an inferior pubic ligament (IPL) injury on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a population of athletes with isolated pubic-related groin pain and to compare this group with a control group of athletes with adductor-related groin pain to assess the clinical relevance and association of an IPL injury with pubic-related groin pain.Study Design:Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:Inclusion criteria consisted of athletes with pubic-related groin pain. All included participants were given a standardized questionnaire, a clinical examination, and a MRI examination of the pelvis. All MRI scans were reviewed to assess the IPL and other pubic-related pathologies, including pubic bone marrow edema and adductor injuries. The prevalence of an IPL lesion in patients with pubic-related groin pain is reported with the 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A control group with adductor-related groin pain was retrospectively included for comparison. Group characteristics were compared using the Pearson χ2 test, Fisher exact test, and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test. Risk factors of IPL injury were analyzed by logistic regression.Results:A total of 60 athletes were included (56 male, 4 female); 18% showed definite MRI signs of IPL injury. In addition, 15% showed an equivocal IPL abnormality. This resulted in an IPL lesion prevalence of 33% (95% CI, 23%-46%) in this group. Of the 20 athletes with an IPL injury, 18 were soccer players and 2 were track and field athletes. All were men. The median age was 30 years (IQR, 26-36). The risk of IPL lesion was significantly higher in patients with trauma (odds ratio, 8.76; 95% CI, 2.56-29.91; P < .001). No IPL lesions were observed in the control group of 28 athletes with adductor-related groin pain (P < .001).Conclusion:On the basis of MRI analysis, there is a relatively high frequency of IPL injuries (33%) in athletes with pubic-related groin pain in addition to pubic bone and adductor pathology. No IPL injuries (0%) were observed in a control group of athletes with adductor-related groin pain. Our findings support the consideration of IPL injury in the diagnostic workup of pubic-related groin pain, particularly in posttraumatic cases. Further research is needed to refine the diagnostic process and to better understand the implications of IPL injury for rehabilitation and return-to-play outcomes.

There is evidence that the treatment of symptomatic femoropopliteal disease with a drug-coated balloon (DCB) effectively inhibits restenosis. However for longer and more complex lesions, "bailout" remains stenting almost inevitable. Although the combination therapy of DCBs and modern bare metal stent (BMS) has not been widely studied, there are indications that this combination therapy is doing better than BMS alone and could be a potential alternative for drug-eluting stent treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term outcome of the combination therapy with the Luminor DCB and the iVolution stent of iVascular for the treatment of long femoropopliteal lesions Transatlantic InterSociety Consensus (TASC) C and D. The T.I.N.T.I.N. trial is a physician-initiated, prospective, non-randomized, multicenter trial conducted in Belgium, investigating the safety and efficacy of the treatment with the Luminor DCB and the iVolution self-expanding stent in 100 patients. The primary efficacy endpoint was freedom from clinically-driven target lesion revascularization (CD-TLR) at 12 months. The key secondary endpoints were primary patency at 12 months, CD-TLR at 24 months, and survival at 12 and 24 months. Participants had a mean age of 73.5 ± 9.4 years, with 67.0% being male participants. Sixty-two percent of the patients suffered from severe claudication (Rutherford 3) and 26.0% had limb-threatening ischemia (Rutherford 5). Freedom from CD-TLR at 12 and 24 months was 94.6% (95% CE: 90.0-99.2) and 89.6% (95% CE: 83.2-96.0), respectively. The primary patency rate at 12 months was 90.5% (95% CE: 84.2-96.8). Survival rate at 1 and 2 years was 92.8% (95% CE: 87.8-97.8) and 82.0% (95% CE: 74.2-89.8), respectively. None of the causes of death were procedure or device related. The combination of a Luminor DCB followed by an iVolution stent implantation resulted in safe and effective outcomes in the treatment of femoropopliteal lesions for up to 24 months. Adding paclitaxel to the bare nitinol stent platform by predilating with a Luminor DCB appears to improve efficacy at 1 and 2 years compared to the use of BMSs only, as observed in the precursor Evolution study.Clinical ImpactThis study proofs that especially in long and complex femoropopliteal lesions (full cohort of 100 patients instead of a subanalysis in a small subgroup with risk of biases), a combination therapy of a Paclitaxel coated balloon and a modern bare metal stent offers high levels of safety and efficacy up to 2 years. For clinicians it means that beside bypass surgery, covered self-expandable stents and drug eluting stents, they have an extra treatment option in the armamentarium for complex vascular disease in this anatomic area. Depending on personal preferences, reimbursement systems and device availabilities they can opt for one of these methods.

Multimorbidity poses substantial challenges in healthcare, primarily due to the increasing need for coordinated care among patients with multiple chronic conditions. This study utilizes the Adjusted Clinical Groups (ACG) classification to segment patients into Patient Need Groups (PNG), advocating a shift from condition-based to patient-centered integrated care. Key elements include fostering stakeholder acceptance, advancing infrastructure to support care coordination, and transitioning to multi-condition national quality standards. The study begins developing and implementing PNG care programs at the hospital level, using this environment to refine clinical strategies tailored to multimorbid patients. Once the program demonstrates success, it will be expanded to the regional level, integrating services from healthcare providers such as primary care, specialists, and community services into a cohesive, integrated care program. Additionally, the regional expansion will explore the need of a regional information platform, to enhance communication and regional health record creation to support collaboration among healthcare providers and patients. The regional rollout will address systemic challenges, including optimizing resource allocation and aligning funding mechanisms with the new integrated care model. This may involve restructuring payment models to incentivize coordinated care, improve long-term outcomes, and support preventive services, ultimately creating an effective and sustainable care model for managing the health of patient populations. The primary goals are to improve care coordination and ensure that patients receive seamless, well-integrated care across various healthcare settings, with a strong emphasis on health maintenance.

Due to the heterogeneity of literature findings, stent type selection for the endovascular treatment of complex aorto-iliac occlusive disease remains challenging. The BELSTREAM study, a physician-initiated, prospective, multicenter, single-arm study, aims to report the safety and efficacy of the balloon expandable LifeStream Peripheral Stent Graft System (BD, Tempe, Arizona, USA) for the treatment of complex TASC C and D aorto-iliac artery lesions. Seventy patients and 133 lesions were included at six Belgian institutions. The primary efficacy endpoint of the study is primary patency at 12 months' follow-up. The primary safety endpoint is freedom from periprocedural serious adverse events (SAEs). Primary patency rate at 12-month follow-up was 94.5%. Target Lesion Revascularization (TLR) was reported in three patients at 12-month follow-up, resulting in a freedom from TLR rate of 95.3%. In a subgroup of patients with aorto-iliac stenting in kissing configuration, primary patency at 12-month follow-up was 97.4% with freedom from TLR 97.9%. Freedom from a negative primary safety outcome (NPSO) was 100% at 30 days in the overall study patient population. The patency and freedom from TLR rates, low adverse event rates, and up to one year sustained improvement in clinical outcomes demonstrate that the LifeStream™ Balloon Expandable Vascular Covered Stent is a well-suited device for the treatment of complex TASC C and D lesions, the challenging kissing configuration included.

A genotype-guided P2Y12-inhibitor de-escalation strategy, switching acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients without a CYP2C19 loss-of-function allele from ticagrelor or prasugrel to clopidogrel, has shown to reduce bleeding risk without affecting the effectivity of therapy by increasing ischaemic risk. We estimated the cost-effectiveness of this personalized approach compared to standard dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT; aspirin plus ticagrelor/prasugrel) in the Netherlands. We developed a 1-year decision tree based on results of the FORCE-ACS registry, comparing a cohort of ACS patients who underwent genotyping with a cohort of ACS patients treated with standard DAPT. This was followed by a lifelong Markov model to compare lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for a fictional cohort of 1000 patients. The cost-effectiveness analysis was performed from the perspective of the Dutch healthcare system. A genotype-guided de-escalation strategy led to an increase of 57.73 QALYs and saved €808788 compared to standard DAPT based on a lifetime horizon. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that the genotype-guided strategy was cost-saving in 96% and increased QALYs in 87% of simulations. The intervention remained cost-effective in the scenario where prices for all P2Y12 inhibitors were equalized. The genotype-guided strategy remained dominant in various other scenarios and sensitivity analyses. A genotype-guided de-escalation strategy in patients with ACS was both cost-saving and yielded higher QALYs compared to standard DAPT, highlighting its potential for implementation in clinical practice. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03823547.

To describe the 12-month mortality of Dutch COVID-19 intensive care unit patients, the total COVID-19 population and various subgroups on the basis of the number of comorbidities, age, sex, mechanical ventilation, and vasoactive medication use. We included all patients admitted with COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and March 29, 2022, from the Dutch National Intensive Care (NICE) database. The crude 12-month mortality rate is presented via Kaplan-Meier survival curves for each patient subgroup. We used Cox regression models to analyze the effects of patient characteristics on 12-month mortality after hospital discharge. We included 16,605 COVID-19 patients. The in-hospital mortality rate was 28.1%, and the 12-month mortality rate after intensive care unit admission was 29.8%. Among hospital survivors, 12-month mortality after hospital discharge was 2.5% (300/11,931). The hazard of death at 12 months after hospital discharge was greater in patients between 60 and 79 years (HR 4.74; 95%CI 2.23 - 10.06) and ≥ 80 years (HR 22.77; 95%CI 9.91 - 52.28) than in patients < 40 years of age; in male patients than in female patients (HR 1.38; 95%CI 1.07 - 1.78); and in patients with one (adjusted HR 1.95; 95%CI 1.5 - 2.53), two (adjusted HR 4.49; 95%CI 3.27 - 6.16) or more than two comorbidities (adjusted HR 4.99; 95%CI 2.62 - 9.5) than in patients with no comorbidities. Neither vasoactive medication use nor mechanical ventilation resulted in statistically significant results. For Dutch COVID-19 intensive care unit patients, most deaths occurred during their hospital stay. For hospital survivors, the crude 12-month mortality rate was low. Patient age (older than 60), sex and the number of comorbidities were associated with a greater hazard of death at 12 months after hospital discharge, whereas mechanical ventilation and vasoactive medication were not.

ObjectivesThe number of indicators used to monitor and improve the quality of care is debatable and may influence professionals’ joy in work. We aimed to assess intensive care unit (ICU) professionals’ perceived burden of documenting quality indicator data and its association with joy in work.DesignCross-sectional survey.SettingICUs of eight hospitals in the Netherlands.ParticipantsHealth professionals (ie, medical specialists, residents and nurses) working in the ICU.MeasurementsThe survey included reported time spent on documenting quality indicator data and validated measures for documentation burden (ie, such documentation being unreasonable and unnecessary) and elements of joy in work (ie, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, autonomy, relatedness and competence). Multivariable regression analysis was performed for each element of joy in work as a separate outcome.ResultsIn total, 448 ICU professionals responded to the survey (65% response rate). The overall median time spent on documenting quality data per working day is 60 min (IQR 30–90). Nurses spend more time documenting these data than physicians (medians of 60 min vs 35 min, p<0.01). Most professionals (n=259, 66%) often perceive such documentation tasks as unnecessary and a minority (n=71, 18%) perceive them as unreasonable. No associations between documentation burden and measures of joy in work were found, except for the negative association between unnecessary documentations and sense of autonomy (β=−0.11, 95% CI −0.21 to −0.01, p=0.03).ConclusionsDutch ICU professionals spend substantial time on documenting quality indicator data they often regard as unnecessary. Despite the lacking necessity, documentation burden had limited impact on joy in work. Future research should focus on which aspects of work are affected by documentation burden and whether diminishing the burden improves joy in work.

To improve medical care for young people in the Netherlands, various professional groups representing physicians who provide medical care to children have developed a vision called ‘strengthening medical care for young people’. The purpose of this viewpoint is to reflect on the implementation of proposals to augment cooperation and coordination between the professional groups involved. Our reflection demonstrates that additional action regarding cooperation and coordination is still necessary to strengthen this care for young people. First, regarding the practical implementation of collaboration, the guidelines are unclear, and many are out-of-date. Second, adequate structured interdisciplinary training and intervision are lacking for physicians frequently collaborating in the care of young people. Third, interdisciplinary access to patient files is too complex and time-consuming. We recommend structured monitoring of the implementation of all improvement proposals, regarding both processes and outcomes. In addition, we recommend collaboration with physicians treating mentally disabled individuals to improve medical care for this group.

PurposeThe second-generation multi-electrode catheter, PVAC Gold, was designed to improve the safe delivery of phased radiofrequency energy using a “single shot” approach for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), while retaining efficacy. This large registry presents long-term performance in a daily practice setting.MethodsA total of 1011 patients undergoing first time ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) using PVAC Gold were included, 639 patients with PVI for paroxysmal AF (PAF PVI) and 372 patients with persistent or long-standing persistent AF, divided into 175 patients receiving PVI only (PersAF PVI) and 197 patients receiving PVI with additional substrate ablation (PersAF PVI +).ResultsAt 24-month follow-up, single procedure freedom from atrial tachyarrhythmia (ATA) was 58% (368/639) in the PAF PVI group, 44% (77/175) in the PersAF PVI group, and 29% (57/197) in the PersAF PVI + group. Allowing one repeat procedure in 33% of patients, 76%, 65%, and 54% were free from ATA at 24 months, respectively. Pulmonary vein reconnection was observed in 98% of patients with recurrent arrhythmia after PVI.ConclusionsAlthough phased RF ablation with PVAC Gold is quick and safe, the efficacy outcomes are modest compared to current mainstream ablation strategies.