University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, formerly known as Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust is the organisation which runs Derriford Hospital, and the co-located Royal Eye Infirmary (REI), as well as the Child Development Centre in Plymouth, Devon. The trust is an NHS trust that provides secondary health services in Plymouth and surrounding areas.It is one of six centres used by the Defence Medical Services.
Abstract Background Obesity is a major global health challenge, strongly associated with diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, all of which increase stroke risk. Bariatric surgery is among the most effective treatments for severe obesity, leading to significant and sustained weight loss and improvements in metabolic health. However, its long-term impact on cerebrovascular outcomes remains unclear. Methods We searched multiple databases for cohort studies that compared stroke incidence in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was quantified using the I2 statistic. Meta-regression was performed to explore the effects of age, BMI and follow-up duration. Results Eighteen studies comprising 2,125,741 patients were included. Pooled analysis of 16 studies (975,351 patients) showed that bariatric surgery was associated with a 29% lower risk of stroke compared with non-surgical care (HR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.65–0.77, p < 0.0001). Heterogeneity was moderate (I2 = 60.6%) but resolved in sensitivity analyses. No significant publication bias was detected and meta-regression showed no effect modification by age, BMI or follow-up duration. Conclusion This meta-analysis provided a robust evidence that bariatric surgery is associated with a significantly reduced risk of stroke in patients with obesity. The findings highlight bariatric surgery not only as an effective intervention for weight loss and metabolic improvement but also as a meaningful strategy for long-term cerebrovascular risk reduction. Incorporating bariatric surgery into comprehensive cardiovascular and stroke prevention strategies could have substantial public health impact.
Follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FV-PTC) is a distinct subtype of thyroid cancer with intermediate clinical behavior between classical papillary and follicular carcinomas. While generally associated with favorable prognosis, FV-PTC can rarely present with distant metastases, including to the skull and scalp, posing diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. We report a 51-year-old woman initially diagnosed with primary hypothyroidism and a thyroid goitre, later confirmed as FV-PTC after total thyroidectomy. Three years postoperatively, she developed a painless scalp lump. Magentic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a large heterogeneously enhancing mass involving bilateral frontal skull bones with bone erosion and extension into scalp tissues, compressing adjacent brain structures without parenchymal invasion. Surgical excision of the scalp mass confirmed metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma. The patient was managed with levothyroxine replacement and calcium supplementation after receiving radioiodine ablation therapy. This case highlights the importance of recognizing late solitary skull and scalp metastases in FV-PTC, which can lead to bone erosion and potential involvement of the brain parenchyma. The complementary use of MRI and computed tomography (CT) is vital for thorough assessment of both soft tissue and bony invasion. Given the risk of intracranial extension, management often requires a neurosurgical approach combined with reconstructive surgery to achieve effective tumor resection and restore structural integrity. Long-term surveillance and multidisciplinary treatment strategies remain essential to optimize outcomes in these complex and atypical metastatic presentations.
We sought to describe current perceptions and attitudes to management of of brain abscess (BA) or sub-/extra-dural empyema (SDE/EDE) in the United Kingdom (UK) to compare this to the 2024 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases BA guidelines. We conducted a web-based survey of infection specialists (IS) and neurosurgeons (NS) at neurosurgical centres across the UK. IS from 27/39 (69
Introduction Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionised cancer treatment through targeted disruption of the physiological pathways that maintain tissue tolerance, but which are co-opted by cancers to evade immunosurveillance. Thus, the resultant T-cell activity often causes immune-related adverse events including immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced inflammatory arthritis (ICI-IA). ICI-IA results in functional impairment that frequently persists, even after ICI discontinuation, with substantial quality-of-life impacts for cancer survivors.A high-quality body of evidence to guide ICI-IA management remains an unmet need. Pharmacological treatment may be prolonged, typically begins with non-specific immunosuppression, including systemic steroids, and is usually only rationalised to more targeted therapy in resistant cases. Moreover, retrospective data suggest the high dose glucocorticoids sometimes used in new-onset ICI-IA may be associated with worse cancer outcomes.Tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibition strategies are well established with excellent efficacy and safety profiles in ‘spontaneous’ inflammatory arthritides including rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis. Mechanistic evidence from ex vivo and murine studies also supports the utility of anti-TNF therapy for steroid-refractory cases of ICI-IA. Although good clinical responses have been reported in this setting, the REACT trial (REmission induction of Arthritis caused by Cancer ImmunoTherapy) aims to provide randomised and robust clinical evidence for deploying targeted therapy earlier in ICI-IA management. It will test whether up-front anti-TNF therapy can more effectively and quickly control symptoms, reduce glucocorticoid exposure, prevent early ICI discontinuation and increase the frequency of drug-free ICI-IA remission.Methods and analysis REACT is a prospective, multicentre, open-label, superiority, two-arm, randomised controlled clinical trial to guide initial therapy for patients with ICI-IA. The trial will compare the current standard of care (initial prednisolone; Arm A) with the anti-TNF drug, adalimumab without glucocorticoids (Arm B).The primary outcome is glucocorticoid-free arthritis remission rate at 24 weeks where remission is defined as: (i) No use of systemic or intra-articular glucocorticoids (except when used for adrenal insufficiency) within 4 weeks prior to assessment at 24 weeks; and (ii) absence of synovitis on clinical examination.Ethics and dissemination The protocol was approved by East Midlands—Leicester South Research Ethics Committee on 31-Oct-2024 (Ref: 24/EM/0202). Participants are required to provide written informed consent. The results of this trial will be disseminated through national and international presentations and peer-reviewed publications.Trial registration number ISRCTN18217497.
BACKGROUND & AIMS:Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is characterised by multiorgan failure and high short-term mortality in hospitalised patients with acute decompensation of cirrhosis. Although the EASL-CLIF criteria are widely used for diagnosis and prognostication, evolving definitions of organ dysfunction and emerging therapies require updated, tailored criteria to improve diagnostic accuracy, treatment assessment, and applicability in clinical trials. We aimed to develop and validate the A-TANGO organ failure (OF) score to refine ACLF diagnosis and enhance its utility for treatment response evaluation and risk stratification. METHODS:We performed a retrospective analysis of prospective observational cohorts. The derivation cohort comprised three EF-CLIF consortium studies conducted in Europe and Latin America (CANONIC, PREDICT, ACLARA; n = 3,896). Validation cohorts included one study from India (Ambi-spective study n = 2,055) and one from China (CATCH-LIFE; n = 2,568). Patients were enrolled between 2011 and 2023, with follow-up completed in 2023. The primary objective was to redefine thresholds for organ dysfunction and failure using three subscores per organ, with subscore 3 corresponding to ≥15% 28-day mortality and defining organ failure. RESULTS:Compared with the CLIF-C OF score, the A-TANGO OF score introduced revised thresholds for organ failure and added an ACLF grade 4 to address the wide mortality variation within CLIF-C OF grade 3. A-TANGO identified more organ failures, increasing ACLF diagnosis from 24% to 36% and improving the net reclassification index by 16%, while maintaining similar predictive accuracy for 28- and 90-day mortality. Two additional prognostic models (A-TANGO ACLF-WBC and A-TANGO ACLF-CRP) demonstrated strong associations with 28- and 90-day mortality and improved prognostic performance. Findings were confirmed in external validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS:The A-TANGO OF score is a reproducible and comprehensive tool for ACLF diagnosis with preserved prognostic performance, validated across large international cohorts. It provides a robust framework for clinical trials by enabling more accurate diagnosis, reducing required sample sizes, and offering clinically meaningful endpoints such as ACLF resolution for treatment response assessment. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS:The A-TANGO organ failure (OF) score provides a scientifically justified advancement in ACLF research by refining organ-specific dysfunction thresholds and introducing a new grade 4, thereby addressing limitations in current EASL-CLIF criteria and improving identification of high-risk patients. These findings are important for clinicians, researchers, and healthcare systems globally, as they increase detection of organ failure, enhance risk stratification, and enable more accurate prediction of short-term mortality in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. The A-TANGO OF score and its associated prognostic scores (ACLF-WBC and ACLF-CRP) can be applied in clinical practice to guide treatment decisions, and serve as reliable, measurable endpoints in clinical trials evaluating emerging therapies. Although limitations such as missing data, cohort-specific recruitment differences, and historical classification criteria exist, the consistent and robust performance of the A-TANGO scores across large, multinational cohorts highlights their potential applicability and utility on a global scale.
