Background: Flexible sigmoidoscopy screening reduces colorectal cancer incidence and mortality; however, uncertainty exists about the duration of protection and differences by sex and age. We assessed effects of once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy screening after 21 years' follow-up.
Methods: The UK Flexible Sigmoidoscopy Screening Trial is a multicentre randomised controlled trial that recruited men and women aged 55-64 years from general practices serving 14 hospitals. Among participants indicating that they would attend flexible sigmoidoscopy screening if invited, randomisation (2:1) to the control (no further contact) or intervention (invited to once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy screening) group was performed centrally in blocks of 12, stratified by centre, general practice, and household type. Masking of intervention was infeasible. Primary outcomes were colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. The Kaplan-Meier method estimated cumulative incidence. Primary analyses estimated intention-to-treat hazard ratios (HRs) and risk differences, overall and stratified by subsite, sex, and age. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, number 28352761.
Findings: Among participants recruited between Nov 14, 1994, and March 30, 1999, 170 432 were eligible and 113 195 were randomly assigned to the control group and 57 237 were randomly assigned to the intervention group. 406 participants were excluded from analyses (268 in the control group and 138 in the intervention group), leaving 112 927 participants in the control group (55 336 [49%] men and 57 591 [51%] women) and 57 099 in the intervention group (27 966 [49%] men and 29 103 [51%] women). Of participants who were invited to be screened, 40 624 (71%) attended screening. Median follow-up was 21·3 years (IQR 18·0-22·2). In the invited-to-screening group, colorectal cancer incidence was reduced compared with the control group (1631 vs 4201 cases; cumulative incidence at 21 years was 3·18% [95% CI 3·03 to 3·34] vs 4·16% [4·04 to 4·29]; HR 0·76 [95% CI 0·72 to 0·81]) with 47 fewer cases per 100 000 person-years (95% CI -56 to -37). Colorectal cancer mortality was also reduced in the invited-to-screening group compared with the control group (502 vs 1329 deaths; cumulative incidence at 21 years was 0·97% [0·88 to 1·06] vs 1·33% [1·26 to 1·40]; HR 0·75 [0·67 to 0·83]) with 16 fewer deaths per 100 000 person-years (-21 to -11). Effects were particularly evident in the distal colorectum (726 incident cancer cases in the invited-to-screening group vs 2434 cases in the control group; HR 0·59 [0·54 to 0·64]; 47 fewer cases per 100 000 person-years [-54 to -41]; 196 cancer deaths in the invited-to-screening group vs 708 deaths in the control group; HR 0·55 [0·47 to 0·64]; 15 fewer deaths per 100 000 person-years [-19 to -12]) and not the proximal colon (871 incident cancer cases in the invited-to-screening group vs 1749 cases in the control group; HR 0·98
Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) refers to the development of a non-malignant obstruction of the portal vein, its branches, its radicles, or a combination. This Review first provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of PVT, namely the specifics of the portal venous system, the risk factors for PVT, the pathophysiology of portal hypertension in PVT, the interest in non-invasive tests, as well as therapeutic approaches including the effect of treating risk factors for PVT or cause of cirrhosis, anticoagulation, portal vein recanalisation by interventional radiology, and prevention and management of variceal bleeding in patients with PVT. Specific issues are also addressed including portal cholangiopathy, mesenteric ischaemia and intestinal necrosis, quality of life, fertility, contraception and pregnancy, and PVT in children. This Review will then present endpoints for future clinical studies in PVT, both in patients with and without cirrhosis, agreed by a large panel of experts through a Delphi consensus process. These endpoints include classification of portal vein thrombus extension, classification of PVT evolution, timing of assessment of PVT, and global endpoints for studies on PVT including clinical outcomes. These endpoints will help homogenise studies on PVT and thus facilitate reporting, comparison between studies, and validation of future studies and trials on PVT.
Background: Appendicitis is a common surgical emergency that poses a large clinical and economic burden. Understanding the global burden of appendicitis is crucial for evaluating unmet needs and implementing and scaling up intervention services to reduce adverse health outcomes. This study aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the global, regional, and national burden of appendicitis, by age and sex, from 1990 to 2021.
Methods: Vital registration and verbal autopsy data, the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODEm), and demographic estimates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) were used to estimate cause-specific mortality rates (CSMRs) for appendicitis. Incidence data were extracted from insurance claims and inpatient discharge sources and analysed with disease modelling meta-regression, version 2.1 (DisMod-MR 2.1). Years of life lost (YLLs) were estimated by combining death counts with standard life expectancy at the age of death. Years lived with disability (YLDs) were estimated by multiplying incidence estimates by an average disease duration of 2 weeks and a disability weight for abdominal pain. YLLs and YLDs were summed to estimate disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs).
Findings: In 2021, the global age-standardised mortality rate of appendicitis was 0·358 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 0·311-0·414) per 100 000. Mortality rates ranged from 1·01 (0·895-1·13) per 100 000 in central Latin America to 0·054 (0·0464-0·0617) per 100 000 in high-income Asia Pacific. The global age-standardised incidence rate of appendicitis in 2021 was 214 (174-274) per 100 000, corresponding to 17 million (13·8-21·6) new cases. The incidence rate was the highest in high-income Asia Pacific, at 364 (286-475) per 100 000 and the lowest in western sub-Saharan Africa, at 81·4 (63·9-109) per 100 000. The global age-standardised rates of mortality, incidence, YLLs, YLDs, and DALYs due to appendicitis decreased steadily between 1990 and 2021, with the largest reduction in mortality and YLL rates. The global annualised rate of decline in the DALY rate was greatest in children younger than the age of 10 years. Although mortality rates due to appendicitis decreased in all regions, there were large regional variations in the temporal trend in incidence. Although the global age-standardised incidence rate of appendicitis has steadily decreased between 1990 and 2021, almost half of GBD regions saw an increase of greater than 10% in their age-standardised incidence rates.
Interpretation: Slow but promising progress has been observed in reducing the overall burden of appendicitis in all regions. However, there are important geographical variations in appendicitis incidence and mortality, and the relationship between these measures suggests that many people still do not have access to quality health care. As the incidence of appendicitis is rising