umcg

Background: Higher levels of physical activity are associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in the general population. Whether the same holds for women who underwent treatment for breast cancer is unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between physical activity in a typical week in the past 12 months and cardiac dysfunction in breast cancer survivors. Methods: We used data from a cohort of breast cancer survivors who were treated at ages 40 to 50 years (N = 559)...

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional study. OBJECTIVES: To investigate prevalence, types, and severity of fecal incontinence (FI) and constipation in adults with spina bifida (SB), in relation to self-perception and help-seeking, and to compare findings to data from a general population reference group. SETTING: University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), the Netherlands. METHODS: The 294 adults with SB registered at UMCG in 2017 were invited to participate...

STUDY QUESTION: Do mental health and sexual function differ between women with or without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with comparable BMI and fertility characteristics? SUMMARY ANSWER: Women with PCOS have a poorer mental quality of life than women without PCOS, but there were no differences in symptoms of depression, anxiety, physical quality of life or sexual function. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Various studies suggest that women with PCOS have poorer mental health, such as higher symptoms of anxiety and depression with a lower quality of life, and have an impaired sexual function compared to women without PCOS...

STUDY QUESTION: Is there an association between maternal occupational exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) early in pregnancy and subgroups of congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT), and hypospadias? SUMMARY ANSWER: Exposure to specific EDCs can increase the risk of CAKUT and no association with hypospadias was observed. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Previous studies showed an association between maternal occupational exposure to EDCs and hypospadias...

OBJECTIVES: The majority of women with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) suffer from vaginal dryness, which negatively impacts daily and sexual activities. As little is known about the aetiology and clinical context of this complaint, this study investigated the relationship between vaginal dryness and other clinical parameters associated with pSS. METHODS: Female participants of the REgistry of Sjögren syndrome at UMCG - LongiTudinal (RESULT) cohort who fulfilled ACR-EULAR and/or AECG classification criteria for pSS were included, using baseline data for analyses...

OBJECTIVES: To describe a new subclass of mec class B complex identified in Staphylococcus epidermidis. METHODS: Four S. epidermidis isolates obtained from bloodstream infections in patients at University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) were analysed by phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing and WGS. RESULTS: Sequence analysis revealed a new staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) structure in isolate UMCG335. In this structure, plasmid pUB110 was found to be integrated into SCCmec IVc, creating a new SCCmec subtype, IVUMCG335...

OBJECTIVES: To describe renal outcomes of the lupus nephritis (LN) population of the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG) in the Netherlands and to identify predictors for renal flares and long-term renal outcome in daily clinical practice. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of biopsy-proven LN patients with induction and maintenance treatment in the UMCG between 1982 and 2016 was performed. Data were collected at time of diagnosis, after 6 months and every year up to 10 years after diagnosis...

PURPOSE: New energy-based sutureless vessel ligation devices, such as the Thunderbeat (Olympus Medical Systems Corp., Tokyo, Japan), could reduce operative time and limit blood loss in head and neck surgery; however, efficacy and safety in major head and neck surgery have not been investigated in a prospective, randomized study. METHODS: This prospective, double-arm, randomized controlled trial consisted of two parts: total laryngectomy (TL) and neck dissection (ND)...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Head and neck (HN) radiotherapy can benefit from automatic delineation of tumor and surrounding organs because of the complex anatomy and the regular need for adaptation. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of a commercially available deep learning contouring (DLC) model on an external validation set. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CT-based DLC model, trained at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), was applied to an independent set of 58 patients from the Radboud University Medical Center (RUMC)...

Although acute psychotic symptoms are often reduced by antipsychotic treatment, many patients with schizophrenia are impaired in daily functioning due to the persistence of negative and cognitive symptoms. Raloxifene, a Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM) has been shown to be an effective adjunctive treatment in schizophrenia. Yet, there is a paucity in evidence for raloxifene efficacy in men and premenopausal women. We report the design of a study that aims to replicate earlier findings concerning the efficacy of raloxifene augmentation in reducing persisting symptoms and cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women, and to extend these findings to a male and peri/premenopausal population of patients with schizophrenia...

BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complications after chemotherapy, which cannot be completely controlled even with commonly prescribed antiemetic drugs, particularly in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy Acupuncture therapy is an effective replacement method for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), which effectiveness and safety have been observed by many clinicians. However, different acupuncture treatments have various effectiveness. Based on enough clinical researches, the study aims to uses Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate the effectiveness of different acupuncture therapies used for preventing CINV...

INTRODUCTION: The traumatic death of a loved one, such as death due to a traffic accident, can precipitate persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) and comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Waitlist-controlled trials have shown that grief-specific cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for such mental health problems. This is the first study that will examine the effectiveness of online CBT (vs waitlist controls) in a sample exclusively comprised of people bereaved by a traumatic death...

Rationale: Whether assessment of potential bone lesions in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) by means of 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET instead of 99mTechnetium (99m Tc) bone scintigraphy (BS) supports clinically relevant changes in MBC management, is currently unknown. Therefore, we retrospectively compared the management recommendations based on bone lesion assessment by FDG-PET plus contrast enhanced computed tomography (ceCT) or BS plus ceCT, for patients with newly diagnosed MBC. Methods: Baseline ceCT, BS and FDG-PET of all patients included in the IMPACT-MBC study (NCT01957332) at location University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), were reviewed for bone lesions...

BACKGROUND: Chronic use of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) is common in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). However, concerns are emerging about the potential long-term complications of PPI therapy. We aimed to investigate whether PPI use is associated with excess mortality risk in KTRs. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We investigated the association of PPI use with mortality risk using multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analyses in a single-center prospective cohort of 703 stable outpatient KTRs, who visited the outpatient clinic of the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) between November 2008 and March 2011 (ClinicalTrials...

INTRODUCTION: The radiochemical purity (RCP) of technetium-99m labelled radiopharmaceuticals (RP) is important to ensure optimal scintigraphic image quality. In low-income settings, it may not be possible to use compendial analytical methods or expensive equipment for radiochemical purity analysis. All radiochemical analysis methods should however be validated against compendial or otherwise proven methods. To ensure the efficacy of RP prepared at Yaoundé General Hospital (YGH) Cameroon, this study cross-validated a cost-effective routine chromatographic method using a simple survey meter technique...

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa ( Pa ) is the predominant pulmonary pathogen in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Tobramycin nebulization is used for the eradication of Pa infection. Nowadays, tobramycin dry powder inhalation (DPI) is available as well. This study reports the results of eradicating Pa with tobramycin DPI versus nebulization. METHODS: Adult CF patients with a Pa isolation between September 2010 and September 2017 from the University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), the Netherlands, were included in this retrospective study...

In the summer of 2012 the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg became the first new medical faculty to be founded in Germany in more than 20 years. The faculty was established within the framework of the European Medical School Oldenburg Groningen, a cooperation project between the University of Oldenburg and the University of Groningen. In addition to the University of Groningen and its faculty of medical sciences (Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen - UMCG), four hospitals in Oldenburg are involved in the programme as cooperation partners, as well as a network of general practitioner practices that provide training and academic teaching hospitals across northwest Germany...

STUDY QUESTION: Do ovarian stimulation (OS) and the in vitro laboratory procedures affect offsprings' cognitive and behavioural outcome at 9 years? SUMMARY ANSWER: OS and the in vitro laboratory procedures or the combination of both were not associated with cognitive and behavioural outcome at age 9 years. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: ART is not associated with an adverse short-term developmental outcome of the offspring, but limited knowledge is available on the offspring's long-term neurodevelopmental condition...

Aspergillus fumigatus is considered a common causative agent of human fungal infections. A restricted number of virulence factors have been described, and none of them lead to a differentiation in the virulence level among different strains. Variations in the virulence phenotype depending on the isolate origin, measured as survival percentage in animal infection models, have been previously reported. In this study, we analyzed the whole-genome sequence of A. fumigatus isolates from clinical and environmental origins to determine their virulence genetic content...

INTRODUCTION: The rising prevalence of modifiable risk factors (eg, obesity, hypertension and physical inactivity) is causing an increase in possible avoidable complications in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This study aims to assess whether a combined preoperative and postoperative multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programme (Heart-ROCQ programme) can improve functional status and reduce surgical complications, readmissions and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) as compared with standard care...