CONCLUSIONS Statistical process control charts can provide surgeons with early warning of systematic poor performance. They are robust to volume-outcome influences, since the outcome is tested sequentially after each procedure or patient. They have application in a specialty with low frequencies of operations such as children's surgery. TYPE OF STUDY Diagnostic test. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level II. Crown All rights reserved.PURPOSE Sun-exposure can cause health problems, including melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer, especially in Australia where the incidence of skin cancer is particularly high. Childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) have an augmented risk due to previous cancer history and treatment. Despite recommendations advising sun protection, CCSs may be placing themselves at risk. We considered daily summer sun-exposure in an Australian cohort of CCSs and in community reference groups, and identified factors associated with sun-exposure in these populations. METHODS Summer sun-exposure data were collected on 471 CCSs (119 parents of survivors aged less then 16, and 352 survivors aged ≥16) and a reference group of 470 participants from the community (155 parents of children aged less then 16, and 355 adults aged ≥16). Survivors completed paper questionnaires and the reference groups completed an online survey. Medical records confirmed survivors' clinical information. Ordinal logistic regressions identified factors associaf skin cancer in CCSs. OBJECTIVES Adult obesity may increase the risks of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and there are genetic links between adult height and SLE. Thus, it is plausible that size earlier in life may be important in the aetiology of SLE as well. We investigated whether birthweight, childhood body mass index (BMI; [kg/m2]), height and growth are associated with risks of adult SLE. METHODS The study included 346,627 children from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register, born 1930-1996 with measured weights and heights from 7-13 years. Birthweight information was available from 1936. Linkages were made to the Danish National Patient Register for information on registrations of SLE. During follow-up, 435 individuals (366 women) were registered with SLE. Cox proportional hazards regressions were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS No differences by sex were detected in any of the associations. Birthweight was not associated with SLE risks. Childhood BMI and height were positively and linearly associated with SLE risks. For BMI at age 7, the HR was 1.11 (95% CI 1.01-1.23) per z-score. For height at age 7, the HR was 1.13 (95% CI 1.02-1.24) per z-score. The estimates were similar in magnitude across all childhood ages for BMI and height. There were limited indications that change in BMI or growth in height during childhood influence the risks of SLE in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS Childhood body size is associated with risks of adult SLE, which supports the hypothesis that early life factors are important in SLE aetiology. OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of remission defined by the absence of the various disease manifestations of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and identify predictors for remission. METHODS Patients followed at the PsA clinic between 2000 and 2015 were included. Patients are assessed at 6- to 12-month intervals according to a standard protocol. Remission was defined as a visit that patients had no tender or swollen joints, no inflammatory back pain, no tender entheseal sites, minimal skin involvement with BSA less then 1%, patient pain on visual analog scale (VAS) score of less then 15, patient global disease activity VAS score of less then 20, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score less then 0.5. We used imputation approach to determine remission status for visits with incomplete criteria for each patient. RESULTS Data from 985 patients (57% males, average age of 47.4 years) were included in this study. From 2000 to 2015, 175 (18%) patients achieved remission at least once and 92 (9%) experienced sustained remission over at least 2 consecutive visits. In a multivariate Weibull regression analysis for the time to remission, higher BMI was associated with lower chance of remission (HR = 0.96, p = 0.012), while the use of biologics increased the chance of achieving remission (HR = 1.48, p = 0.034). The effect of biologics was also significant on the chance of achieving sustained remission for 2 or more consecutive visits (HR = 1.76, p = 0.020). However, biologics were not significantly associated with sustained remission when it was defined based on 3 or more consecutive visits. CONCLUSION Remission occurred at least once in 18% of the patients with PsA while sustained remission occurred in 9% of the study sample. Having higher BMI would reduce the achievement of remission. The use of biologic agents increased not only the chance of remission, but also the chance of sustained remission for at least 12 months. OBJECTIVES To assess associations between neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)-level patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) treatment rates (pharmacologic or surgical) and neonatal outcomes. STUDY DESIGN This cohort study included infants born at 24-28 weeks of gestation and birth weight less then 1500 g in 2007-2015 in NICUs caring for ≥100 eligible infants in 6 countries. The ratio of observed/expected (O/E) PDA treatment rates was derived for each NICU by estimating the expected rate using a logistic regression model adjusted for potential confounders and network. The primary composite outcome was death or severe neurologic injury (grades III-IV intraventricular hemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia). The associations between the NICU-level O/E PDA treatment ratio and neonatal outcomes were assessed using linear regression analyses including a quadratic effect (a square term) of the O/E PDA treatment ratio. RESULTS From 139 NICUs, 39 096 infants were included. The overall PDA treatment rate was 45% in the cohort (13%-77% by NICU) and the O/E PDA treatment ratio ranged from 0.30 to 2.14. The relationship between the O/E PDA treatment ratio and primary composite outcome was U-shaped, with the nadir at a ratio of 1.13 and a significant quadratic effect (P less then .001). U-shaped relationships were also identified with death, severe neurologic injury, and necrotizing enterocolitis. CONCLUSIONS Both low and high PDA treatment rates were associated with death or severe neurologic injury, whereas a moderate approach was associated with optimal outcomes. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/n6f11.html