Christel Weiss

• Prof. Dr. PhD
• Heidelberg University

Automated tools have been proposed to quantify brain volume for suspected dementia diagnoses. However, their robustness in longitudinal, real-life cohorts remains unexplored. This exploratory study examined if expert visual assessment (EVA) of atrophy progression is reflected by automated volumetric analyses (AVA) on sequential MR-imaging. We analy...

Background Local tumor-related anatomical changes can complicate the anesthetic airway management of patients with carcinoma of the oral cavity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are predictive factors for the occurrence of a difficult airway in this patient cohort and whether a difficult airway influences postoperative outcome...

Introduction Despite spectacular visuals and the seemingly convincing rationale of using indocyanine-green-enhanced fluo-rescence in assessing bowel perfusion during colorectal resections, a lingering sense of subjectivity remains in the challenge of quantifying this fluorescence. This prospective study analyzed the application of O2C® spectrophoto...

531 Background: Primary liver cancer (PLC), comprising hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), is a leading cause of cancer mortality globally. The combined hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC) subtype may be less common but is relevant to treatment efficacy. We therefore evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of various appr...

Anastomotic leaks are a significant complication in colorectal surgery. Indocyanine green fluorescence angiography (ICG-FA) has been suggested as a method to reduce the risk. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the effect of ICG-FA on reducing anastomotic leaks in colorectal surgery. This study follows PRISMA guidelines and is registered on PROSPER...

Background Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) account for <3% of vascular anomalies. This study aims to present the 10-year experience of a German vascular anomaly center (VAC) with AVMs and evaluate diagnostic imaging for treatment-relevant information for minimally invasive therapy planning. Material and methods A retrospective study including p...

Background Obesity is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), yet an ‘obesity paradox’ has been observed in various CVD contexts. The impact of obesity on heart failure (HF) patients treated with a wearable cardioverter‐defibrillator (WCD) remains underexplored. Methods In a multicentre international registry, we retrospectively coll...

Purpose Evaluation of a kidney-adjusted enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS®) protocol (kERAS) in patients undergoing nephron-sparing surgery (PN). Methods The kERAS protocol is a multidimensional protocol focusing on optimized perioperative fluid and nutrition management as well as strict intraoperative and postoperative blood pressure limits....

Background Therapies targeting epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR/ErbB/Her) fail to achieve clinical benefit in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) who have alterations in components of the downstream RAS-ERK1/2 and PI3K signaling pathways. Herein, KRAS and BRAF gene mutations lead to constitutive signal activation, thereby preventing the tr...

This study investigated whether adjuvant treatments in stage III cutaneous melanoma (CM) influenced patterns of recurrence. Patients with primary (n = 1033) or relapsed CM (n = 350) who received adjuvant therapies with Nivolumab (N), Pembrolizumab (P), or Dabrafenib and Trametinib (D + T) were extracted from the prospective multicenter real‐world s...

Background: The prevalence of peripheral arterial disease and the number of revascularization procedures performed in symptomatic patients are steadily increasing. However, uncertainties remain regarding hemodynamic monitoring after revascularization and the prediction of clinical outcomes. This study aimed to investigate hemodynamic parameters wit...

According to Sir Archibald Cochrane systematic errors can be avoided in clinical studies if the three dimensions of health care are confirmed: (a) the objective principle of action (the Proof of Principle, PoP) (b) the objective suitability in everyday care (the Real-World Effectiveness, RWE), and (c) the subjectively perceived value (Value). The s...

Background Acute cellular rejection (ACR) in heart transplant (HTx) recipients may be accompanied by cardiac cell damage with subsequent exposure to cardiac autoantigens and the production of cardiac autoantibodies (aABs). This study aimed to evaluate a peptide array screening approach for cardiac aABs in HTx recipients during ACR (ACR-HTx). Metho...

Automated tools have been proposed to quantify brain volume for suspected dementia diagnoses. However, their robustness in longitudinal, real-life cohorts remains unexplored. We investigated if expert visual assessment (EVA) of atrophy progression is reflected by automated volumetric analyses (AVA) on sequential MR-imaging. We analyzed a random sub...

Sir Archibald Cochrane requested about 100 years ago answers to three questions before implementation of innovations in health care. These answers request the confirmation of efficacy, i.e. the “Proof of Principle (PoP)”, of the objective “Real-World Effectiveness (RWE)” and of the subjectively perceived value (VAL) of health care services. At the...

Sir Archibald Cochrane requested about 100 years ago answers to three questions before implementation of innovations in health care. These answers request the confirmation of efficacy, i.e. the “Proof of Principle (PoP)”, of the objective “Real-World Effectiveness (RWE)” and of the subjectively perceived value (VAL) of health care services. At the...

Background Primary cutaneous B‐cell lymphomas (CBCL) are a group of rare malignant skin diseases that represent approximately 20%–30% of all primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCL). Previous studies revealed impaired health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous T‐cell lymphoma (CTCL). Currently, only small‐sized stu...

441 Background: Current guidelines emphasize the use of CT or MRI for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) diagnosis, with strict regulation of biopsies. However, Hepatocellular-Cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC), a liver cancer variant displaying histological elements of both HCC and cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC), typically exhibits radiological features...

Manipulation of the subcellular localization of transcription factors by preventing their shuttling via the nuclear pore complex (NPC) emerges as a novel therapeutic strategy against cancer. One transmembrane component of the NPC is POM121, encoded by a tandem gene locus POM121A/C on chromosome 7. Overexpression of POM121 is associated with metabol...

Objective: Fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is broadly used as a method for assessing prognosis in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). In addition to the extent of lung hypoplasia, determined by measuring the lung volume, cardiac impairment due to pulmonary hypertension and left cardiac hypoplasia is decisive for the prognosis. The percen...

Purpose Analysis of clinical and diagnostic findings in rare urogenital and perineal vascular malformations only occurring in 2–3 % of vascular anomalies with regard to clinical symptoms and treatment decisions. Materials and Methods All 25 out of 537 patients presenting with congenital urogenital and perineal vascular malformations at our institut...

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which regular monitoring of maternal free thyroxine level and pregnancy-adapted L-thyroxine replacement therapy before and during pregnancy in patients with existing or newly diagnosed latent and manifest hypothyroidism as well as hypothyroxinemia can influence the rate of premature births. This...

Published Abstract (Oncol Res Treat 2023;46(suppl 5):280-281,P786; https://doi.org/10.1159/000533576) Introduction: The achievement of major molecular remission (MMR) within the first year of treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) is crucial for the further therapeutic management of patients with newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leu- kemia...

Background: Vascular malformations are rare diseases that should be treated in dedicated vascular anomaly centers (VAC). There is only a small amount of data on the diagnostic and therapeutic handling of these patients, before they are referred to a VAC. Purpose: To demonstrate the disease-specific patient characteristics in a German VAC, which...

Methods: Herein we summarize data from relevant studies of the Hellenic National Registry of Myelodysplastic and Hypoplastic Syndromes (HNRMHS), a nationwide retrospective observational study that collected data from 1167 patients who were treated with AZA from 28 centers in Greece. Results: Regarding predictive biomarkers we identified monosomal k...

Purpose Botulinum toxin injections in the anal sphincter apparatus (Botox) and enteral neuromodulation (ENM) are options for treatment of refractory chronic constipation. We present a retrospective comparative observational study. Patients and methods From 2014 to 2022, pediatric patients with chronic constipation were either treated with Botox or...

The primary aim of this study was to assess the incidence of a difficult airway and emergency tracheostomy in patients with orofacial infections originating in the mandible, and a secondary aim was to determine the potential predictors of difficult intubation. This retrospective single-center study included all patients who were referred between 20...

The aim of the study was to determine the factors influencing the development of recurrence after the surgical treatment of odontogenic maxillary sinusitis in an oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic over a 7-year period. Demographic and anamnesis data, clinical and radiological findings, treatment and outcome were analyzed. A multivariable analysi...

Background In Head and neck cancer (HNC) angiogenesis is essential for tumor progression and metastasis. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from HNC cell lines alter endothelial cell (EC) functions towards a pro-angiogenic phenotype. However, the role of plasma sEVs retrieved from HNC patients in this process is not clear so far. Methods Plasma s...

The primary aim was to evaluate the compliance of cranial CT indication with the national guideline-based decision rules in patients after mTBI. The secondary aim was to determine the incidence of CT pathologies among justified and unjustified CT scans and to investigate the diagnostic value of these decision rules. This is a retrospective, single-...

Purpose Postoperative wound complications are common in patients undergoing resection of lower extremity soft tissue tumors. Postoperative drainage therapy ensures adequate wound healing but may delay or complicate it. The aim of this study is to evaluate the incidence of postoperative wound complications and delayed or prolonged drainage treatment...

The primary aim was to determine the clinical indicators for primary cranial CT imaging in patients after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The secondary aim was to evaluate the need for post-traumatic short-term hospitalization based on primary clinical and CT findings. This was an observational retrospective single-centre study of all the patie...

Background Depres sion is reported in up to 90% of cancer patients but to this date, a standardized screening tool for depression specifically modified for patients diagnosed with brain tumors is lacking. Thus, this study aims to develop an adapted screening tool and identify a suitable time slot for screening. Methods Sixty-one patients with brai...

Background Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most frequent comorbidities in patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with a higher rate of severe course of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, data about post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) in patients with DM are limited. Methods This multicenter, propen...

Simple Summary There is still a lack of reliable molecular predictors to achieve major molecular response (MMR, BCR::ABL1 ≤ 0.1% IS) within the first year of treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) in the therapeutic management of newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Employing a proprietary fluorogenic flow cytometry assay, we re...

Background: The aging of our societies leads to a higher prevalence of multimorbidity and therefore polypharmacy, which often results in inappropriate drug treatment. To address this issue, numerous listing approaches, such as the Fit fOR The Aged (FORTA) list have been developed. FORTA's positive impact on the quality of medications and relevant...

Purpose The primary aim was to determine the incidence of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in patients aged ≥ 65 years. The secondary aim was to identify risk factors for intracranial lesions and evaluate the need for in-hospital observation in this age group. Methods This observational retrospective single-ce...

Background Therapeutic principles of fistula-in-ano (FIA) are lacking evidence-based consensus on treatment options. Non-cutting, sphincter-sparing options have not been published for infancy and childhood FIA. Patients and methods We are presenting retrospective data on FIA treatment with non-cutting seton placement between 2011 and 2020. Data we...

Background: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an effective therapeutic approach in patients with liver metastases. However, long-term changes in hepatic normal tissue have to be taken into account in multimodal treatment regimes. Magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) based morphologic liver alterations (MMA) after liver SBRT have been analyzed l...

Study Design Very few studies exist regarding the fracture pattern variability of the zygomaticoorbital (ZMO) complex. The retrospective evaluation of a large series of surgically treated unilateral ZMO fractures would in certain circumstances help intraoperative predictability and define sensitive indicators for open reduction and internal fixatio...

Background: Botulinum toxin injections in the anal sphincter apparatus (Botox) and non-invasive sacral neuromodulation (niSNM) are options for treatment of refractory chronic constipation. We present a retrospective comparative observational study. Patients and Methods: From 2014 to 2022, pediatric patients with chronic constipation were either tre...

PurposeThe primary aim was to compare the prevalence of acute and delayed intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in patients on antithrombotic medication referred to a clinic for oral and plastic maxillofacial surgery. The secondary aim was to evaluate the need for short-term hospitalisation based on initial rad...

Background: Depression is reported in up to 90% of cancer patients but to this date a standardized screening tool for depression specifically modified for patients diagnosed with brain tumors is lacking. Thus, this study aims to develop an adapted screening tool and identify a suitable time slot for screening. Methods: 61 Patients with brain lesio...

Einleitung Ziel war es, herauszufinden, inwieweit regelmäßige Kontrollen des mütterlichen freien Thyroxinspiegels und eine schwangerschaftsadaptierte L-Thyroxin-Substitution vor und in der Schwangerschaft bei bestehender oder neu diagnostizierter latenter und manifester Hypothyreose sowie Hypothyroxinämie die Frühgeburtenrate beeinflussen können. M...

Background: Topical aluminum salts are a commonly used remedy for excessive axillary perspiration. To the contrary, less is known about their anhidrotic potential in the groin. This study sought to compare the anhidrotic efficacy and tolerability of an aluminum chloride-based antiperspirant to an innovative aluminum lactate-based antiperspirant in...

Background Uterine fibroid embolisation (UFE) is an established treatment method for symptomatic uterine myomas. This study evaluates the efficacy of UFE using objective magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for size and perfusion analysis as well as patient questionnaires assessing fibroid-related symptoms. Method Patients underwent MR-Angiograph...

Hintergrund: Topische Aluminiumsalze werden häufig gegen übermäßiges axilläres Schwitzen verwendet. Über ihr anhidrotisches Potenzial in der Leistengegend ist dagegen weniger bekannt. Diese Studie vergleicht die anhidrotische Wirksamkeit und Verträglichkeit eines Aluminiumchlorid-basierten mit dem eines innovativen Aluminiumlactat-basierten Antitra...

Hintergrund und zielsetzung: Die chirurgische Exzision ist die bedeutendste Therapiemodalität zur Versorgung von Basalzellkarzinomen (BCC). Oft kommt es zu einer unvollständigen Exzision, die eine Reexzision nach sich zieht. Allerdings enthalten Reexzisionspräparate häufig keine Tumorreste, weswegen die Reexzision im Nachhinein überflüssig ist. Zi...

Ureteral stenosis and urinary leakage are relevant problems after kidney transplantation. A standardized definition of ureterovesical anastomosis complications after kidney transplantation has not yet been established. This study was designed to demonstrate the predictive power of quantitative indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography. This...

Background: The coefficient of friction (CoF) serves as an indicator for the mechanical properties of natural and regenerated articular cartilage (AC). After tribological exposure, a height loss (HL) of the cartilage pair specimens can be measured. Our aim was to determine the CoF and HL of regenerated AC tissue and compare them with those of natu...

Delayed graft function (DGF) after renal transplantation is a relevant clinical problem affecting long-term organ function. The early detection of patients at risk is crucial for postoperative monitoring and treatment algorithms. In this prospective cohort study, allograft perfusion was evaluated intraoperatively in 26 kidney recipients by visual a...

Background and objective: Surgical excision is the primary mode of treating basal cell carcinoma (BCC). Incomplete excision is a common phenomenon usually dealt with by re-excision. However, re-excision specimens often do not contain any tumor residues, rendering the procedure superfluous in hindsight. Our study objective is the identification of...

Background: Vascular malformations are rare diseases that are best managed in multidisciplinary vascular anomaly centers (VAC). So far, there are few published data on the logistic structure, patient allotment, and internal workflow in an interdisciplinary VAC. Purpose: To demonstrate the referral structure and patient allotment in a European VA...

Simple Summary In biomechanical research, fresh frozen cadaver material and embalmed specimens are often used to evaluate surgical approaches. Unlike, biomechanical research using fresh cadaver material is rare. There are no reliable data on the point of time when rigor mortis starts to have an impact on results with fresh cadaver material. In this...

EULAR highlighted the essential role of digital health in increasing self-management and improving clinical outcomes in patients with arthritis. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the digital health application (DHA) in patients with inflammatory arthritis. We assessed demographic parameters, treatment regimen, d...

Helicobacter (H.) pylori -induced gastritis is a risk factor for gastric cancer (GC). Deleted-in-liver-cancer-1 (DLC1/ARHGAP7) inhibits RHOA, a downstream mediator of virulence factor cytotoxin-A (CagA) signalling and driver of consensus-molecular-subtype-2 diffuse GC. DLC1 located to enterochromaffin-like and MIST1+ stem/chief cells in the stomach...

Previous studies have demonstrated that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is upregulated in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). The use of Bevacizumab as an anti-angiogenic treatment agent seems promising. The purpose of the present in vitro study was to determine the efficacy and potential toxicity levels of bevacizu...

Zusammenfassung Die positive Seite der Covid-19-Pandemie ist die Stimulation von Innovationen. Als Beispiel diskutieren wir das Pragmatic Controlled Trial (PCT), eine Twinstudie, mit der die Real-World Effectiveness (RWE) von Gesundheitsleistungen unter den nicht standardisierten Bedingungen des Versorgungsalltags bestätigt werden kann. Der Nachwei...

Background Self-management strategies play a central role in improving clinical outcomes in patients with inflammatory arthritis. EULAR recently highlighted the essential role of digital health to increase the self-management of patients. Evidence regarding these supporting digital tools, including mobile apps, is currently however very limited [1]...

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) continues to cause high morbidity and mortality. Identifying early predictors for severe NEC is essential to improve therapy and optimize timing for surgical intervention. We present a retrospective study of patients with NEC, treated between 2010 and 2020, trying to identify factors influencing the severity of NEC....

Background: Little is known about the sex-specific impact of drug optimization tools such as the Fit fOR The Aged (FORTA) list on drug use and relevant clinical endpoints in older people. Objective: We aimed to detect gender differences of interventional effects on medication quality and related clinical effects in the VALFORTA trial. Patients...

DOAC Dipstick determines specifically the presence and absence of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) from patients’ urine samples and handmade test strips performed as well as the commercial version. To compare plasma activity (chromogenic substrate assays) from plasma samples with results from urine samples (DOAC test strips) of patients treated w...

Background Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common genetic disorder in the Caucasian population. Despite remarkable improvements in morbidity and mortality during the last decades, the disease still limits survival and reduces quality of life of affected patients. Moreover, CF still represents substantial economic burden for healthcare systems. Inf...

Background and purpose Cognitive transfer represents an important issue in surgical education. It is essential for the acquisition of competence, such as decision making and error avoidance. This randomized study aims to compare the effectivity of cognitive transfer by observing the surgery versus using modern virtual reality simulators for learnin...

Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may occur with several simultaneous tumor foci in the liver (multifocal HCC). Molecular biology indicated that the larger the distance between two tumor nodules, the more those two nodules differed in their genetic composition. Therefore, we explored whether the overall survival of patients with HCC dep...

Circulating monocytes are a major source of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). TAMs in human breast cancer (BC) support primary tumor growth and metastasis. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is a commonly used treatment for BC patients. The absence of the response to NAC has major negative consequences for the patient: increase of tumor mass, delaye...

In certain clinical situations, it is necessary to determine whether clinically relevant plasma levels of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are present. We examined whether qualitative testing of DOACs in urine samples can exclude DOAC plasma concentrations of ≥30 ng/mL. This prospective single-center cohort study included consecutive patients tre...

Hyperglycemia, a hallmark of diabetes, can induce inflammatory programming of macrophages. The macrophage scavenger receptor CD163 internalizes and degrades hemoglobin-haptoglobin (Hb-Hp) complexes built due to intravascular hemolysis. Clinical studies have demonstrated a correlation between impaired scavenging of Hb-Hp complexes via CD163 and diab...

Introduction The interval slide procedure (IS) has been introduced to improve mobility in massive, retracted rotator cuff tears. As clinical studies showed controversial results, the benefit of the IS is still widely discussed. Aim Aim of this study was to analyze the effect of IS procedure on tendon mobility in a fresh porcine cadaver model. Mat...