Psychological Health of Surgeons in a Time of COVID-19: A Global Survey

OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of psychological impact among surgical providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The COVID-19 pandemic has extensively impacted global healthcare systems. We hypothesized that the degree of psychological impact would be higher for surgical providers deployed for COVID-19 work, certain surgical specialties, and for those who knew of someone diagnosed with, or who died, of COVID-19. METHODS: We conducted a global web-based survey to investigate the psychological impact of COVID-19. The primary outcomes were the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) scores. RESULTS: 4283 participants from 101 countries responded. 32.8%, 30.8%, 25.9% and 24.0% screened positive for depression, anxiety, stress and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) respectively. Respondents who knew someone who died of COVID-19 were more likely to screen positive for depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD (OR 1.3, 1,6, 1.4, 1.7 respectively, all p < 0.05). Respondents who knew of someone diagnosed with COVID-19 were more likely to screen positive for depression, stress and PTSD (OR 1.2, 1.2 and 1.3 respectively, all p < 0.05). Surgical specialities that operated in the Head and Neck region had higher psychological distress among its surgeons. Deployment for COVID-19-related work was not associated with increased psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic may have a mental health legacy outlasting its course. The long-term impact of this ongoing traumatic event underscores the importance of longitudinal mental health care for healthcare personnel, with particular attention to those who know of someone diagnosed with, or who died of COVID-19

Dynamic sentinel node biopsy for inguinal lymph node staging in patients with penile cancer: a systematic review and cumulative analysis of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Dynamic sentinel node biopsy (DSNB) is used to evaluate the nodal status of patients with clinically node-negative penile carcinoma. Its use is not widespread, and the majority of patients with clinically node-negative disease undergo an elective inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND). However, a prophylactic bilateral ILND is a procedure with approximately 50% of morbidity. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the accuracy of DSNB in penile cancer. METHODS: This is a systematic review and cumulative analysis of studies published between 1966 and 2010. The Medline, Embase, Cancerlit, and American Society of Clinical Oncology abstract databases were searched for published studies on penile cancer and DSNB. The outcomes assessed were: sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and summary receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Ten articles covering 519 participants were included in the cumulative analysis. The pooled sensitivities and specificities for sentinel node biopsy for detection of metastasis were 77.1 and 100% versus ILND and 87.9 and 100% versus wait and see program. The false-negative rate founded was 3.1% in the ILND group and 3.5% in the wait and see group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of dynamic sentinel lymph node biopsy to detect lymph node metastasis in specialized centers appears to be justified. Addiction of other techniques to DSNB to reduce false-negative results is awaited and must be confirmed by future studies

Androgen Deprivation Therapy And Morbid Obesity: Do They Share Cardiovascular Risk Through Metabolic Syndrome?

Background: Although the use of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) has resulted in improved survival in men with advanced prostate cancer, the resulting hypogonadism is associated with profound adverse effects comparable to those found in morbid obesity, being cardiovascular risk among the most lethal. Objectives: Evaluate metabolic syndrome, metabolic abnormalities and cardiovascular risk in patients with prostate cancer under ADT, not under ADT and morbid obese men. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that involves 79 men presenting prostate cancer, of whom 54 under ADT and 25 not under ADT and 91 morbidly obese patients paired by sex and age. To define metabolic syndrome, we used the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria. Metabolic abnormalities, metabolic markers and Framingham score to predict the ten year coronary heart disease risk were compared among patients under ADT, not under ADT and morbid obese. Results: Patients under ADT presented significantly greater occurrence of diabetes and central obesity and higher levels of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) compared to eugonadal men. The mean cardiovascular risk was significantly higher in patients under ADT (39.97 +/- 12.53% vs. 26.09 +/- 14.80%; p = 0.021). Morbidly obese subjects had increased ten year coronary heart disease risk; comparable to patients under ADT (p = 0.054). Conclusion: This study suggests that patients under ADT show higher prevalence of metabolic abnormalities and cardiovascular risk similar to those found in morbidly obese subjects. It is possible that both processes share cardiovascular risk through metabolic syndrome. (C) 2010 AEU. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.35525926