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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2025

Outcomes and effectiveness of decision aids for families affected by hereditary cancer syndromes: A scoping review.

PURPOSE: In the past 15 years, numerous decision aids (DAs) have been developed to assist families affected by hereditary cancer syndromes in decision-making for managing inheritance and cancer risk. We identified the range and characteristics of DAs, focusing on their development stage according to guideline recommendations, their outcomes, and effectiveness. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, and PsycINFO, along with manual searches. Eligible articles reported DAs for supporting families affected by hereditary cancer syndromes, published in English from inception to July 2024. Quality was assessed using the Mixed-Methods Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: From 15,066 records, 32 studies with a moderate risk of bias, reporting 23 unique DAs, were identified. Most DAs targeted women (69.6%) with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome (73.9%) in North America and Europe (81.3%), primarily supporting decisions on cancer risk-reduction strategies (56.5%) and genetic testing/counseling (47.8%). Only 4 DAs were consistent with guideline-recommended development process, including prototype development, alpha- and beta-testing. Development and alpha-testing outcomes included user experience, understandability, and psychological impact. Beta-testing evaluated decision-making capacity, quality of the decision-making process, psychological impact, and impact on decisions. DAs consistently improved decision-making capacity and quality of the decision-making process but showed variable effects on psychological outcomes and actual decision in risk management. CONCLUSION: DAs are underdeveloped for genetic, racial, or gender minorities, according to guideline-recommended development process. Future research should develop DAs for broader populations and clarify their effectiveness, particularly regarding psychological outcomes.

Humans↗
PubMed1977

Computer-aided medical decision making in radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy departments are becoming sophisticated in working with computers for isodose computations, treatment machine verifications and administrative and medical records. The next step lies in computer-assisted medical decision making. The logic for a patient's diagnostic work-up and treatment protocol can be stored in a computer. It can then be used as an aid in making the diagnosis, in prescribing the treatment and for quality control. For patients who fit established protocols the computer can select and list treatment using the logic of that protocol. Such a system has been implemented for the postoperative radiotherapy of breast cancer on a trial basis. Its potential usefulness is illustrated by results in 25 consecutive patients. Physician acceptance and costs of the program are under investigation.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1975

A strategy for thyroid function tests.

The concept of decision-aiding ranges were introduced to improve diagnostic efficiency. The clinical uncertainty in distinguishing borderline cases of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism among 1559 consecutive requests for thyroid function tests was 47%. This was reduced to 22% by using the free thyroxine index and to under 2% by using specific tests determined by the decision-aiding ranges.

Bayes Theorem↗
PubMed1977

Automated data processing. An essential decision-making aid in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction.

Automated data processing is playing an increasing role in evaluations of left ventricular function, infarct size, and ventricular dysrhythmia in patients with acute myocardial infarction. For example, radionuclide angiocardiography permits accurate, serial non-invasive assessments of ejection fraction and detection of ventricular wall motion abnormalities; estimation of infarct size from observed and projected plasma CPK changes facilitates evaluation of interventions designed to reduce ischemic injury; positron emission transaxial tomography (PETT) appears to offer prompt, objective, non-invasive determination of the extent of jeopardized myocardium; and automated analysis of rhythm characterizes relationships between infarction and ventricular dysrhythmia. These and related techniques are useful not only in patient management, but also as research tools. Thus, factors potentially responsible for early and late ventricular dysrhythmias may be delineated by objective characterization of large numbers of ectopic depolarizations; the mechanisms underlying early (malignant) and late ventricular dysrhythmias may be differentiated and clarified. These and other applications of automated data processing techniques should facilitate objective evaluation and development of more effective therapy and prove increasingly useful in the management of patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1975

[A system to aid decision-making. Application to automatic interpretation of vectorcardiograms].

This paper presents a complete and autonomous system for the automated diagnosis (heuristic approach). The system was worked out by means of a small computer. A flexible, evolutive, quasi-universal system is achieved through original procedures. A specialised language enables the users to describe diagnoses and their criteria in symbolic form. A suitable compiler translates this symbolic writing into an interpretable object program. This, with the Interpreter program, constitutes the 'Automated Diagnosis Program'. Our data are vectorcardiograms recorded according to the Frank orthogonal system. After an interactive pre-processing process, 180 parameters--mostly spatial--are computed. The data, the computed parameters and additional information are stored in a data bank. Finally, the medical interpretation is automatically selected from 125 possibilities. The user could also utilise a data bank interrogation language.

Computers↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Biomechanical testing as an aid to decision making in low-back pain patients.

Frequently, the diagnosis of disease of the low back is a difficult matter due to the multitude of factors affecting the patient's symptoms. In this report an attempt is made to use biomechanical testing to objectify certain aspects of the diagnostic process. Our philosophy is that a biomechanical assessment is one of the disciplines that should be brought to bear on the low-back pain patient. A group of biomechanical tests has been developed by adding quantitative measurement techniques to certain standard clinical maneuvers: muscle testing, range of motion testing, and straight leg raising testing. Moire fringe topography is employed for studying posture. Results of application of these techniques to 117 patients and 10 controls indicate potential utility in the method for epidemiologic and clinical research.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1978

[Validation of paternity in a father-mother-child trio, by the use of genetic markers. Description of a program to aid in the decision. Determination of the optimal sequence of examinations].

The knowledge of human polymorphism provides aid to the decision for the diagnosis parenthood. This work gives an algorithm of paternity diagnosis on a (presumed father, mother, child) triplet: the program verifies the logical relationships and calculates several indices used to estimate the likelihood of non-exclusion. We propose to attach greater importance to a neglected index: the percentage of subjects for which the paternity is excluded for the doublet (Mother, Child). Finally, we determine the most efficient and most economical sequence for the sequential use of genetic markers.

Alleles↗
PubMed1979

Evaluating the performance of a computer-based consultant.

The performance of a computer-based clinical consultation system is evaluated. The program, called MYCIN, is designed to function as an aid for infectious disease diagnosis and therapy selection, with an initial emphasis on bacteremias. The evaluation methodology is discussed, as well as the difficulties encountered in attempting to evaluate clinical judgments. Specialists in infectious diseases judged MYCIN's final therapy recommedation, and intermediate conclusions about the significance of the infection and identity of infecting organisms. The evaluation techniques described may be useful in assessing the performance of other clinical decision aids. Results of the evaluation show that the program's therapy recommedations meet Stanford experts' standards of acceptable practice 90.9% of the time (table 2), with some variation noted both among individual experts and between Stanford experts and others (tables 1, 2).

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Perspectives of participating neurologists and study nurses - Mixed-methods process evaluation of a web-based program for relapse management in multiple sclerosis (POWER@M2).

BACKGROUND: Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system and the leading cause of disability in young adults. In Germany, 90% of relapses are treated with high-dose intravenous glucocorticoids, despite limited evidence for long-term benefit and international preference for oral administration. Time constraints often hinder informed decision-making. The multicentre Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) POWER@MS2 (N = 160, 2020-2023), conducted at 18 German MS-centres, aimed to promote self-determined relapse management through a complex intervention (dialogue-based decision aid, nurse-led webinar, online-chat). OBJECTIVE: While RCTs demonstrate effectiveness, process evaluations are essential to understand implementation, mechanisms of impact and contextual factors. This study explored healthcare professionals' experiences and attitudes toward implementing relapse self-management and self-medication in clinical practice. METHODS: A mixed-methods process evaluation followed the UK Medical Research Council- framework. Quantitative data were collected via validated questionnaires at up to three time points and analysed descriptively. Interview guides were developed based on these results. Qualitative data from neurologist and study nurse interviews were thematically analysed. Results were triangulated using a joint display. RESULTS: Data were collected from 55 neurologists and 17 study nurses (quantitative) and from 7 neurologists and 4 nurses (qualitative) (2020-2024). Most neurologists opposed routine steroid use, reserving it for severe relapses. Some voiced concerns about self-management, but informed patients were generally viewed as capable of safe self-medication. Study nurses gave mixed feedback on the intervention, citing overload and improved guidance. CONCLUSION: Clinicians showed openness toward implementing the intervention. Enhancing accessibility and addressing specific concerns may support broader adoption.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

H&E to recurrence score: A step forward, but not yet a substitute for genomic testing.

Shamai and colleagues developed a multimodal deep-learning model that predicts Oncotype DX recurrence scores from routine H&E slides and clinicopathological variables in hormone receptor‑positive, HER2‑negative early breast cancer. Validated across the TAILORx trial and six external cohorts (over 5000 patients), the model achieved an AUC of 0.898 for identifying recurrence score ≥26 and recapitulated genomic assay patterns of chemotherapy benefit. Notably, 31% of clinically high-risk postmenopausal women were downgraded to low risk by AI, suggesting potential to reduce overtreatment. However, several limitations preclude immediate clinical substitution for genomic testing. First, intratumoural heterogeneity leads to discordant predictions with unclear management guidance. Second, the model's chemotherapy benefit estimates rely on TAILORx's age-based menopausal surrogates, which may not reflect real-world hormonal status or LHRH agonist use. Third, predictive value in node-positive disease remains untested in randomised datasets such as RxPONDER. Additionally, calibration uncertainty near risk thresholds and global scalability issues (including IHC requirements and digital pathology infrastructure) persist. While this represents a landmark step toward democratising precision oncology, the AI tool should currently serve as a complementary decision aid, with genomic testing remaining the gold standard for intermediate, borderline, or discordant cases.

Breast cancer↗
PubMed2025

Viral viability markers of SARS-CoV-2: a comparison of cell culture, genomic RNA RT-PCR, and subgenomic RNA RT-PCR.

UNLABELLED: Accurate methods to assess viral viability are crucial for determining isolation duration and antiviral therapy in immunocompromised patients. Although cell culture (CC) is the gold standard, it has limitations. Cycle threshold (Ct) values from genomic RNA (gRNA) RT-PCR and subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) RT-PCR have been proposed as markers of active viral replication. This study evaluated the correlation between CC, gRNA Ct values, and sgRNA to identify the best viral viability marker. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between CC, gRNA Ct values, and sgRNA to identify the best viral viability marker. We conducted a prospective study on immunocompromised patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection at a tertiary hospital (May 2021 to May 2023). Nasopharyngeal swabs were inoculated into Vero E6 cells and tested for gRNA using RT-PCR (Cobas 6800, Roche) and for sgRNA (non-commercial RT-PCR). The sensitivity (S), specificity (SP), positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were calculated using CC as the gold standard. Among 285 samples from 108 patients, gRNA RT-PCR had high S and NPV (1.0) but low SP (0.24) and moderate PPV (0.63). Ct analysis improved performance in extreme but not intermediate values. A Ct ≤ 30 maximized S but had low SP; Ct ≤ 25 yielded S (0.88), SP (0.89), PPV (0.92), NPV (0.84), and accuracy (0.88); sgRNA showed the highest S (0.99), SP (0.96), PPV (0.97), NPV (0.99), and accuracy (0.98). sgRNA detection is the best marker for identifying viable SARS-CoV-2, aiding decisions on isolation, antiviral treatment, or delaying chemotherapy in immunocompromised patients. IMPORTANCE: Identifying whether a patient still has contagious SARS-CoV-2 is essential for managing isolation, antiviral treatment, and other clinical decisions-especially in immunocompromised individuals. While viral culture is the gold standard for confirming viral viability, it is slow, expensive, and not widely available. Many hospitals rely on RT-PCR tests, but these detect viral genetic material whether or not the virus is still active. This study shows that detecting subgenomic RNA (sgRNA), a molecule only present when the virus is actively replicating, is a highly accurate way, a molecule only present when the virus is actively replicating, is a highly accurate way to determine whether the virus is still viable. Compared to standard PCR or viral culture, sgRNA testing better predicts who is truly infectious. These findings support sgRNA as a useful tool to guide clinical management and infection control in vulnerable patients.

Humans↗
PubMed1979

Screening and diagnosis of hyperthyroidism: an attempt at test reduction.

A sequencial strategy for the diagnosis of hyperthyroidism has been prospectively appraised on 410 patients using a pocket calculator-aided diagnostic system. It was found that for 64% of the patients final diagnosis could be established from nine clinical signs, ankle jerk time and free thyroxin index. For the 36% of doubtful subjects, T3 determination permitted the reduction of uncertainty to 9%. No misdiagnosis was observed. By comparing this strategy with the physician's usual diagnosis process, in which all clinical signs and several thyroid function tests were used, it appeared that the number of tests was reduced by 65% for T3 requests and by 70% for other tests (99mTc uptake and TRH). The cost-saving was estimated to be about 28%. The interest of this calculator-aided decision model resides in the possibility for the general practitioner to refer only doubtful and hyperthyroid subjects to a thyroid unit.

Ankle Joint↗
PubMed1979

[Deep duodenoscopy and ERCP].

The deep duodenoscopy serves for the endoscopico-bioptic clarification of radiologically unclear findings distally from the bulb (niches, sockets, stenoses) and of the positional relations between diverticulum and papilla. As a rule, it is connected with an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP). The endoscopic retrograde pancreaticography is indicated in relapsing chronic pancreatitis for proving or excluding of changes needing operation which are taken into consideration as partial factors of the relapsing course as well as in suspicion to a local pancreatitis complication and carcinoma of the pancreas. The endoscopic retrograde cholangiography is a decisive aid for the differentiation of the cholostatic icterus. It improves the diagnostics of complaints after operative interventions at the system of the biliary ducts, facilitates the diagnosis of the papillary stenosis and is indicated in insufficient conventional contrasting the biliary ducts. The complications (pancreatitis, cholangitis, cystic infection) have become rare with increasing experience. Contraindications are the florid pancreatitis and cholangitis.

Cholangiography↗
PubMed1978

Videotape aids informed consent decision.

Obtaining informed consent for clinical investigations represents a major legal, ethical, and moral consideration in human experimentation. Mechanisms for informing the patient vary widely, and usually no system exists to confirm the degree of information retained by the patient. A Veterans Administration Cooperative Study, begun in 1975, has used a videotape information package in addition to a standard written consent form to ensure uniformity. Each presentation was followed by a questionnaire to assess the amount of material learned before attempting randomization. Repeated showings were occasionally necessary and did not affect the rate of randomization. A videotape presentation, especially in cooperative studies, ensures uniformity, makes allowance for varying educational levels of patients, and provides documentation of the degree of informed consent.

Audiovisual Aids↗