Abstract: We previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15–20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in ~ 80% of cases. Methods We report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded. Results No gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7 , with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5–528.7, P  = 1.1 × 10 −4 ) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR = 3.70[95%CI 1.3–8.2], P  = 2.1 × 10 −4 ). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR = 19.65[95%CI 2.1–2635.4], P  = 3.4 × 10 −3 ), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR = 4.40[9%CI 2.3–8.4], P  = 7.7 × 10 −8 ). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD] = 43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P  = 1.68 × 10 −5 ). Conclusions Rare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60 years old.

Abstract: Background Endoscopic ultrasound-guided gastroenterostomy (EUS-GE) using lumen-apposing metal stents (LAMSs) appears to be effective and safe in gastric outlet obstruction (GOO); however, the EUS-GE procedure is not standardized, with the use of assisted or direct methods still debated. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of EUS-GE techniques focusing on an assisted with orointestinal drain wireless endoscopic simplified technique (WEST) and the nonassisted direct technique over a guidewire (DTOG). Method This was a multicenter European retrospective study involving four tertiary centers. Consecutive patients who underwent EUS-GE for GOO between August 2017 and May 2022 were included. The primary aim was to compare the technical success and adverse event (AE) rates of the different EUS-GE techniques. Clinical success was also analyzed. Results 71 patients (mean [SD] age 66.2 10 years; 42.3 % men; 80.3 % malignant etiology) were included. Technical success was higher in the WEST group (95.1 % vs. 73.3 %; estimate of relative risk from odds ratio (eRR) 3.2, 95 %CI 0.94–10.9; P = 0.01). The rate of AEs was lower in the WEST group (14.6 % vs. 46.7 %; eRR 2.3, 95 %CI 1.2–4.5; P = 0.007). Clinical success was comparable between the two groups at 1 month (97.5 % vs. 89.3 %). The median follow-up was 5 months (range 1–57). Conclusion The WEST resulted in a higher technical success rate with fewer AEs, with clinical success comparable with the DTOG. Therefore, the WEST (with an orointestinal drain) should be preferred when performing EUS-GE.

Abstract: No studies have compared ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and non-VAP following cardiac surgery (CS). The aim of this study was to assess the incidence, clinical and microbiologic features, treatment characteristics and prognosis of postoperative pneumonia following CS with a special focus on non-VAP. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study based on a prospectively collected database. We compared cases of non-VAP and VAP following CS observed between January 2005 and December 2012. Statistical analysis consisted of bivariate and multivariate analysis. Results A total of 257 (3.5%) of 7,439 consecutive CS patients developed postoperative pneumonia, including 120 (47%) cases of non-VAP. Patients with VAP had more frequent history of congestive heart failure (31% vs. 17%, P  = 0.006) and longer duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (105 vs 76 min, P   〈  0.0001), than patients with non-VAP. No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups in terms of the types of microorganisms isolated with high proportions of Enterobacteriaceae (35%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20.2%) and Haemophilus spp (20.2%), except for a lower proportion of Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus in the non-VAP group (3.2% vs 7.9%, P  = 0.03). In the intensive care unit, patients with non-VAP had lower sequential organ failure assessment scores than patients with VAP (8 ± 3 versus 9 ± 3, P  = 0.004). On multivariate analysis, in-hospital mortality was similar in both groups (32% in the non-VAP group and 42% in the VAP group, adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 1.4; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.7-2.5; P  = 0.34) and appropriate empiric antibiotic therapy was associated with a reduction of in-hospital mortality (aOR: 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-1; P  = 0.05). Piperacillin/tazobactam or imipenem monotherapy constituted appropriate empiric therapy in the two groups, with values reaching 93% and 95% with no differences between VAP and non-VAP cases. Conclusions Intensive care patients with VAP are more severely ill than non-VAP patients following CS. Nevertheless, patients with non-VAP and VAP following CS have similar outcomes. This study suggests that the empiric antibiotic regimen in patients with pneumonia following CS should include at least a broad-spectrum antibiotic targeting non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli, regardless of the type of pneumonia, and targeting S. aureus in VAP patients.

Abstract: Background and study aims Recent evidence suggests that lugol chromoendoscopy (LCE) and narrow-band imaging (NBI) have comparable sensitivity for detection of superficial esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). However, LCE is time-consuming and associated with side effects. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of NBI and LCE in defining resection margins of esophageal SCC. Patients and methods This was a retrospective observational cohort study of patients with esophageal SCC and dysplasia who underwent en-bloc resection between 1999 and 2017 at the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels. Two groups were defined: 1) inspection with NBI only; and 2) inspection with LCE (with or without NBI). The primary endpoint was complete lateral resection rate. Multivariate regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. Results A total of 102 patients with 132 lesions were included. Lesions were inspected with LCE in 52 % (n = 68) and with NBI only in 48 % (n = 64). Lesions 0-IIa were more frequent in the NBI group (37 %) and 0-IIb (60 %) in LCE. Lesion location, size, and histology and resection technique (endoscopic submucosal dissection in 122/132 cases, 92 %) were similar between the groups. The rate of complete lateral resection for invasive carcinoma was 90 % in LCE group and 94 % in NBI group (P = 0.498) and 65 % and 67 % (P = 0.813), respectively, for dysplasia complete lateral resection. These results remained non-significant after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusions Mucosal inspection and delineation of tumors with lugol chromoendoscopy before endoscopic resection of esophageal squamous cell lesions was not associated with increased complete lateral resection rate when compared to NBI.

Abstract: Introduction : High total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) measured on 18F-FDG PET/CT before R-CHOP has been shown to be significantly associated with worse progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL; Cottereau et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2016;22:3801-9) . The REMARC study (NCT01122472) is an international, multicenter, double-blind, randomized phase III trial that assessed lenalidomide (LEN) maintenance therapy versus placebo (PBO) in 650 patients responding to R-CHOP. With a median follow-up of ~40 months, independent review demonstrated that 2 years of LEN maintenance therapy significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS); median was not reached in the LEN arm vs 58.9 months in the PBO arm (HR=0.71 [95% CI, 0.54-0.93]; p=0.0135; Thieblemont et al. J Clin Oncol. 2017;35:2473-81). Methods: For these analyses, patients enrolled in the REMARC trial who had baseline PET/CT before R-CHOP (not mandatory per study protocol) with available fused images and end of treatment PET/CT were included. Total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV, defined as the sum of the regions of the local tumors with FDG uptake) was measured on baseline PET/CT with the 41% SUVmax thresholding method using the free semiautomatic software Beth Israel Fiji20 (http://petctviewer.org). The optimal TMTV cut-off to PFS (per FDA censoring rule) and overall survival (OS) was determined by Receiver Operating Curve (ROC) curves and X-tile analyses. Survival was estimated using Kaplan Meier (KM) curves. Multivariable analysis were performed with descending Cox model including TMTV, IPIaa, treatment arm and PET/CT response evaluated by Deauville criteria. Analyses were performed on the evaluable population and separate arms Results: 228 of 650 REMARC patients had TMTV data available for analysis, including n=108 in the PBO arm and n=120 in the LEN arm. Clinical characteristics were similar to the overall population. The median baseline TMTV was 295 cm3 (Q1-Q3, 99-702). After a median follow-up of 51.6 mo, 4y-PFS was 73% and 4y-OS was 85%. The optimal TMTV cut-off determined by ROC was 300 cm3 for PFS and OS. Patients with TMTV 〉 300 vs ≤300 cm3 presented with worse ECOG performance status (ECOG ≥2: 19% vs 9%, p=0.034), higher Ann Arbor stage (stage III-IV: 95% vs 86%, p=0.042), more extra-nodal sites ( 〉 1: 65% vs 38%, p 〈 0.001), more frequently elevated LDH (76% vs 43%, p 〈 0.001), higher IPI (IPI 3-5: 87% vs 51%, p 〈 0.001), and higher aaIPI (aaIPI 2-3: 76% vs 34%, p 〈 0.001). In all evaluated patients, a significant impact of TMTV for cut-offs of 〉 300 vs ≤300 cm3 was observed for PFS (HR=2.09; 95% CI, 1.22-3.69) and OS (HR=2.99; 95% CI, 1.44-6.18). Patients with high TMTV 〉 300 cm3 vs low TMTV ≤300 cm3, respectively, had a 4-year PFS of 57% vs 73% and OS of 70% vs 88%. These results were more disparate when a higher TMTV cut-off of 〉 1000 was applied. In multivariate analysis, only TMTV maintained an independent prognostic value. The prognostic impact of TMTV 〉 300 vs ≤300 cm3 on PFS (HR=2.4; 95% CI, 1.1-5.22) and OS (HR=5.0; 95% CI, 1.4-17.) was maintained in the PBO arm (Figure 1A). In contrast, when the analysis was focused on patients in LEN arm, TMTV 〉 300 vs ≤300 cm3 lost its prognostic impact on PFS and OS. In the LEN arm, 4-year PFS and OS did not differ significantly between patients with high and low TMTV (Figure 1B). Conclusion: TMTV measured on baseline PET/CT is a strong prognosticator of outcome in DLBCL, even in patients in response after R-CHOP. High TMTV at baseline was significantly associated with worse PFS and OS in patients receiving PBO following a response to R-CHOP in the REMARC study. Interestingly, LEN maintenance reduces the negative impact of high baseline TMTV on survival in patients with DLBCL Disclosures Casasnovas: takeda: Consultancy; merck: Consultancy; MSD: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy; Gilead Sciences: Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria; Takeda: Honoraria; Merck: Honoraria; Gilead Sciences: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria; Celgene: Honoraria; MSD: Honoraria; Roche: Research Funding; Gilead Sciences: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy. Tilly:Celgene: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Honoraria; Karyopharm: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Astra-Zeneca: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Feugier:Roche: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Janssen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding. Ribrag:Infinity: Consultancy, Honoraria; Servier: Consultancy, Honoraria; Amgen: Research Funding; Roche: Honoraria, Other: travel; MSD: Honoraria; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Other: travel; epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria; NanoString Technologies: Consultancy, Honoraria; Gilead: Consultancy, Honoraria; argenX: Research Funding; pharmamar: Other: travel; Incyte Corporation: Consultancy. Macro:Celgene: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Financial support for congress; Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Financial support for congress; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Financial support for congress; Takeda: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other: Financial support for congress. Morschhauser:Gilead: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Epizyme: Consultancy; Janssen: Other: Scientific Lectures; Roche: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; BMS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Trotman:Janssen: Other: Unremunerated member of Ad Board, Research Funding; F. Hoffman-La Roche: Other: Travel to meeting, Unremunerated member of Ad Board, Research Funding; Takeda: Other: Unremunerated member of Ad Board; Celgene: Other: Unremunerated member of Ad Board, Research Funding; PCYC: Research Funding; Beigene: Research Funding. Godmer:CELGENE: Other: Invitation to congress. Salles:Servier: Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Honoraria; Morphosys: Honoraria; Servier: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Celgene: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board, Research Funding; Acerta: Honoraria; Merck: Honoraria; Janssen: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Pfizer: Honoraria; Epizyme: Honoraria; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd: Consultancy, Honoraria, Research Funding; Gilead: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; BMS: Honoraria, Other: Advisory Board; Takeda: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria; Abbvie: Honoraria. Coiffier:CELGENE: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MUNDIPHARMA: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; CELLTRION: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; MORPHOSYS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; NOVARTIS: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Meignan:F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd: Honoraria.

Abstract: Early identification of ultra-risk diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients is needed to aid stratification to innovative treatment. Previous studies suggested high baseline total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) negatively impacts survival of DLBCL patients. We analyzed the prognostic impact of TMTV and prognostic indices in DLBCL patients, aged 60 to 80 years, from the phase 3 REMARC study that randomized responding patients to R-CHOP (rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone) into maintenance lenalidomide or placebo. TMTV was computed on baseline positron emission tomography/computed tomography using the 41% maximum standardized uptake value method; the optimal TMTV cutoff for progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was determined and confirmed by a training validation method. There were 301 out of 650 evaluable patients, including 192 patients classified as germinal center B-cell–like (GCB)/non-GCB and MYC/BCL2 expressor. Median baseline TMTV was 238 cm3; optimal TMTV cutoff was 220 cm3. Patients with high vs low TMTV showed worse/higher Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) ≥2, stage III or IV disease, & gt;1 extranodal site, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, International Prognostic Index (IPI) 3-5, and age-adjusted IPI 2-3. High vs low TMTV significantly impacted PFS and OS, independent of maintenance treatment. Although the GCB/non-GCB profile and MYC expression did not correlate with TMTV/survival, BCL2 & gt;70% impacted PFS and could be stratified by TMTV. Multivariate analysis identified baseline TMTV and ECOG PS as independently associated with PFS and OS. Even in responding patients, after R-CHOP, high baseline TMTV was a strong prognosticator of inferior PFS and OS. Moreover, TMTV combined with ECOG PS may identify an ultra-risk DLBCL population. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01122472.