Medicine (Austin & Northern Health) - Research Publications

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    P132 Research in the time of COVID-19: Recruitment to a clinical trial comparing models of NIV implementation in people with MND
    Sheers, N ; Howard, M ; Hannan, L ; Retica, S ; Berlowitz, D (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2021-10-07)
    Abstract Introduction A pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) examining the feasibility of a new model of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) implementation was due to commence in early 2020. Based on previous research, it was anticipated that 100% of people with motor neurone disease (MND) would be eligible, 60% would consent to participate and 20 people would be randomised in five months. The aim of this report is to describe the impact of COVID-19 pandemic contingencies on trial recruitment. Methods Report of project progress, participant screening and recruitment. Results First reports of COVID-19 coincided with study commencement and changed usual healthcare delivery. Lockdowns meant telehealth substituted for face-to-face assessment, respiratory function testing was limited and/or patients were reluctant to seek medical treatment. This modified pathway impacted evaluation of diagnosis, timing of need for NIV and procedural safety, with patients then referred specifically for a single-day hospital NIV implementation to enable face-to-face multidisciplinary assessment to aid decisions. Of 81 potential participants screened in an 8-month period, 64% were ineligible for the RCT. Despite this shift in eligibility rate, 16 people with MND have been recruited as of May 2021. Conclusion The current climate has amplified the significance of this research trial; people with MND have had reduced access to face-to-face services globally and clinicians have had to quickly adapt to a changing landscape of telemedicine and remote monitoring of patients. This trial’s screening data suggest that COVID-19 hasn’t stopped people with MND being implemented on NIV, but it has altered assessment pathways.
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    Basic Science Liver
    Rajapaksha, DIG (Wiley, 2017-08)
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    Osteoprotegerin Is an Independent Predictor of Vascular Events in Finnish Adults With Type 1 Diabetes
    Gordin, D ; Soro-Paavonen, A ; Thomas, MC ; Harjutsalo, V ; Saraheimo, M ; Bjerre, M ; Forsblom, C ; Flyvbjerg, A ; Groop, P-H (AMER DIABETES ASSOC, 2013-07)
    OBJECTIVE: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is involved in the process of vascular calcification. We investigated whether OPG is associated with the development and progression of diabetes complications in adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Serum OPG was measured in 1,939 adults with T1D participating in the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study. Patients with end-stage renal disease (dialysis or transplantation) at baseline were excluded from analysis. Data on cardiovascular (CV) events and mortality during follow-up were verified from hospital discharge registries (ICD codes) and the Finnish National Death Registry, respectively. The follow-up time was 10.4 ± 2.0 (mean ± SD) years. RESULTS: Only patients with macroalbuminuria and/or renal impairment had elevated OPG concentrations, when compared with participants without overt kidney disease. Patients with retinopathy or CV disease also had higher OPG concentrations, but this was attributable to their higher frequency of chronic kidney disease. OPG predicted an incident CV event (hazard ratio 1.21 [95% CI 1.01-1.45]; P = 0.035) and peripheral vascular disease/amputation events (1.46 [1.13-1.88]; P = 0.004) during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that serum OPG is an independent predictor of CV complications. OPG may be directly involved in extraosseous calcification, resulting in stiffening of the arteries and subsequent vascular insufficiency in patients with T1D.
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    Radiation Dose Optimization in Interventional Cardiology: A Teaching Hospital Experience.
    Badawy, MK ; Clark, T ; Carrion, D ; Deb, P ; Farouque, O (Hindawi Limited, 2018)
    Radiological interventions play an increasingly relevant role in cardiology. Due to the inherent risks of ionizing radiation, proper care must be taken with monitoring and optimizing the dose delivered in angiograms to pose as low risk as possible to staff and patients. Dose optimization is particularly pertinent in teaching hospitals, where longer procedure times are at times necessary to accommodate the teaching needs of junior staff, and thus impart a more significant radiation dose. This study aims to analyze the effects of different protocol settings in routine coronary angiograms, from the perspective of a large tertiary center implementing a rapid dose reduction program. Routine coronary angiograms were chosen to compare baseline levels of radiation, and the dose imparted before and after dose optimization techniques was measured. Such methods included lowering dose per pulse, fluoroscopic pulse rates, and cine acquisition frame rates. The results showed up to 63% reduction in radiation dose without adverse impact on clinical or teaching outcomes. A 10 fps/low and 5 pps/low setting was found to achieve maximum dose optimization, with the caveat that settings require incremental changes to accommodate for patient complexities.
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    Comprehensive arterial assessment in diabetic patients using combined quiescent interval single shot (QISS) imaging for leg imaging and QISS-arterial spin labeled MRA for pedal imaging: preliminary experience with comparison to DSA
    CHUEN, J ; Lim, RP ; Lam, ACY ; Lukies, M ; Ranatunga, D ; Hornsey, EK ; McColl, B ; Perchyonok, Y ; Heidrich, J ; Ko, PH ; Edelman, RR (International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 2014)
    Target Audience Clinicians and basic scientists with an interest in non-invasive imaging of peripheral arterial disease. Purpose Imaging diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is critical for revascularization planning. PAD in diabetic patients is commonly distal, and imaging of the pedal arteries is desirable to identify potential bypass targets. Concomitant renal impairment may contribute to difficulties with conventional imaging. Quiescent interval single shot (QISS) MRA is a recently described non-contrast enhanced technique with high reported accuracy. However, it is challenging to perform in the feet, due to inhomogeneous shim and slow arterial flow, with QISS with arterial spin labeling (QISS-ASL) described to improve pedal artery visualization. The purpose of this study was to evaluate feasibility and accuracy of a combined QISS/QISS-ASL approach (cQISS-MRA) for evaluating diabetic patients with symptomatic PAD, using DSA as the reference standard. Methods 15 diabetic patients (7M, 8F, mean 72y, range 42-91y, eGFR 7-91 ml/min/1.73m2) with symptomatic PAD were prospectively recruited for cQISS-MRA at 1.5T (Siemens, Avanto) 0-36 days prior to clinically required DSA. Initially, pedal QISS-ASL MRA was performed with a 12-channel head coil. Subsequently, QISS MRA of infrarenal aorta to feet was performed with peripheral, body and spine array coils. Common parameters for QISS MRA and QISS-ASL MRA were: FA 90°, in plane resolution 1 x 1mm2, BW 658 Hz/Px, acceleration factor 2 (GRAPPA). For QISS MRA: TR/TE 3.5/1.4ms, sl 3mm (additional 1.2mm imaging through calf), FOV 400 x 260, 9 stations, 48 sl, total acquisition 432 RR intervals, quiescent interval 350ms. For QISS-ASL: TR/TE 3.7/1.6ms, quiescent interval 228ms, FOV 400 x 240, sl 1.2mm, 2 stations, 128 sl, total acquisition 256 RR intervals. DSA was performed with iodinated contrast (n=14) or carbon dioxide (CO2, n=1) with coverage determined by clinical indication. MRA and DSA images were anonymized and evaluated by a cardiovascular and vascular/interventional radiologist respectively on a PACS workstation (Impax, Agfa). Diagnostic confidence (1=non- diagnostic, 3=diagnostic, 5=highly confident) was recorded and compared with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. MRA diagnostic confidence was compared between regions (pelvis, thigh, calf and foot) with the Mann-Whitney U test. Segmental stenosis was graded in up to 39 segments per patient. cQISS- MRA sensitivity and specificity for hemodynamically significant (≥50%) stenosis was calculated against DSA for all available segments. Results Imaging was completed in 13/15 patients with 2 incomplete studies (BMI 40 precluding imaging of pelvis and thigh, n=1; patient discomfort, n=1). DSA correlation (Fig 1) was available in 19 legs in 15 patients, with pelvic DSA only in 1 patient. For all segments where DSA was available, cQISS-MRA mean diagnostic confidence was 4.00±0.96, significantly higher than DSA 3.72±0.84, p<0.0001, with 12 non-diagnostic (score of 1) DSA segments at CO2 angiography, and 5 non-diagnostic MRA segments (susceptibility from joint prostheses). For cQISS-MRA, there was significantly lower diagnostic confidence in the foot compared with other regions (pelvis 3.87±0.93, thigh 4.0±1.0, calf 4.2±0.77, foot 2.41±1.1, p<0.0001 for all regions compared to the foot). Factors negatively impacting MRA diagnostic confidence and accuracy were: for QISS- MRA, step artifact from motion/ mistriggering and inhomogeneous fat suppression; for QISS-ASL MRA, motion artifact and image noise. Excluding non-diagnostic DSA and MRA segments, 309 segments were assessed for stenosis, with 142 (46.0%) demonstrating hemodynamically significant stenosis. Overall, there was 74.7% sensitivity and 86.8% specificity for cQISS-MRA, highest for aortoiliac segments, and lowest for pedal segments (Table 1). Discussion/ Conclusion A combined QISS MRA and QISS-ASL MRA approach is feasible for infrarenal aorta to pedal arterial assessment in diabetic patients with symptomatic PAD. There is good diagnostic confidence for pelvic to calf imaging and lower diagnostic confidence for pedal imaging. Accuracy of the technique is higher for proximal stations, with susceptibility artifact and inhomogeneous fat suppression impacting stenosis assessment. Pedal imaging is degraded by motion and relatively low SNR, however still enables identification of potential distal bypass targets in a patient population with a substantial burden of disease. This includes patients with end stage renal failure, where even DSA may be challenging. Assessment of potential clinical utility of cQISS-MRA for guiding management is planned. Further refinements to accelerate QISS-ASL MRA, and strategies to improve robustness to motion, including non-Cartesian acquisition, could improve test accuracy for pedal arterial stenosis.
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    Endovascular repair of ruptured AAA: barriers to uptake in Australian and New Zealand centres
    CHUEN, J ; Jedynak, J ; Lo, J (ANZ Journal of Surgery, 2014)
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    Ocular Ischaemic Syndrome: An Indication for Carotid Endarterectomy
    CHUEN, J ; Gupta, P ; Cabalag, M ; Bayat, I ; Stokes, M (ANZSVS, 2014)
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    Multi detector (64+) CT angiography of the lower limb in symptomatic peripheral arterial disease - preliminary assessment of accuracy and inter-observer agreement in an Australian tertiary care setting
    CHUEN, J ; Lim, J ; Ranatunga, D ; Owen, A ; Spelman, T ; Mulcahy, T ; Lim, R ; Barbaro, G ; Bezak, E ; Burton, A ; Churcher, K ; Clarke, K ; Collier, D ; Gelber, N ; Hindson, B ; Leach, D ; Metcalfe, P ; Naidoo, A ; Percy, S ; Taylor, P ; Vukolova, N (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, 2014)
    Multidetector computed tomography angiography (CTA) is a reliable, widely available technology now commonly used in the initial evaluation of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Meta-analyses comparing mainly 2-, 4-, and 16-detector multidetector CTA with the gold standard, digital subtraction angiography (DSA), have shown it to be highly accurate in patients with symptomatic lower extremity PAD [1,2]. CTA has a number of advantages over DSA including minimal invasiveness, shorter examination times, smaller volumes of contrast material used and a lower rate of complications. However, limitations of CTA include its susceptibility to 'blooming artifacts' when vessel wall calcifications are present, and potentially decreased accuracy in detecting and quantifying in-stent restenosis due to metallic or beam hardening artefact [3,4]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and inter-observer agreement of current generation (64+ detector) multidetector CTA for detection of haemodynamically significant stenosis in patients with symptomatic PAD in a tertiary care setting using digital subtraction angiography DSA as the reference standard.