Mayo Clinic Laboratory and Pathology Research Roundup: Jan. 28

By Kelley Luedke • January 28, 2019

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The Research Roundup provides an overview of the past week’s research from Mayo Clinic Laboratories consultants, including featured abstracts and a complete list of published studies and reviews.

Featured Abstract

Diagnostic Accuracy of Echocardiography and Intraoperative Surgical Inspection of the Unicuspid Aortic Valve

Unicuspid aortic valve (UAV) is a rare malformation that is often difficult to distinguish from a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) with commissural fusion by echocardiography or intraoperative surgical inspection. This study assessed the accuracy of intraoperative surgical inspection and two-dimensional echocardiography in diagnosing UAV compared to a gold standard of pathological diagnosis. The Mayo Clinic echocardiographic database, tissue registry database, and electronic medical record were searched for all patients assigned a diagnosis of UAV by any technique. Transthoracic (TTE), transesophageal (TEE) echocardiographic, and surgical diagnoses were compared to pathological diagnosis as the standard. A clinical diagnosis of UAV was applied to 380 patients by 1 or more method and in 196 a pathologic evaluation was available to compare to the clinical description given by TTE, TEE, or surgical inspection. Of these 196 patients, only 58 had a pathological diagnosis of UAV; the majority were found to be BAVs by pathologic evaluation. For diagnosing UAV, the sensitivity and specificity were 15% and 87% for TTE, 28% and 82% for TEE, and 52% and 51% for surgical inspection, respectively. Valves with bicuspid morphology and extensive commissural fusion were frequently misclassified as UAV by all methods. In conclusion, intraoperative surgical inspection and echocardiography have limitations for diagnosing UAV due to difficulties in accurately assigning a correct morphological diagnosis, which suggests that the current understanding of the natural history of UAV may be inaccurate. The study was published in the American Journal of Cardiology.

Published to PubMed This Week

• • • • • Factor V Deficiency with a Thrombotic Clinical Phenotype
          Seminars in Thrombosis and Hemostasis
          
        • Clinical and Laboratory Diagnosis of Autoimmune Factor V Inhibitors: A Single Institutional Experience
          Thrombosis Research
          
        • Uncovering a Novel Stone in 27 Patients: Calcium Tartrate Tetrahydrate
          Urology
          
        • Characteristics and Proposed Classification System of Posterior Pilon Fractures
          Medicine
        • PDGFB Rearrangements in Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans of the Vulva: A Study of 11 Cases Including Myxoid and Fibrosarcomatous Variants
          International Journal of Gynecological Pathology
          
        • Risk Prediction Models for Cancer-Specific Survival Following Cytoreductive Nephrectomy in the Contemporary Era
          Urologic Oncology
          
        • Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Presenting as Acute Pancreatitis: A Rare Occurrence
          Clinical Case Reports

Kelley Luedke

Kelley Luedke is a Marketing Channel Manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. She is the principle editor and writer of Insights and leads social media and direct marketing strategy. Kelley has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2013. Outside of work, you can find Kelley running, traveling, playing with her kitty, and exploring new foods.