Person: Massaro, Anthony
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Massaro
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Anthony
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Massaro, Anthony
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Publication Circulating Mitochondrial DNA in Patients in the ICU as a Marker of Mortality: Derivation and Validation(Public Library of Science, 2013) Nakahira, Kiichi; Kyung, Sun-Young; Rogers, Angela J.; Gazourian, Lee; Youn, Sojung; Massaro, Anthony; Quintana, Carolina; Osorio, Juan C.; Wang, Zhaoxi; Zhao, Yang; Lawler, Laurie A.; Christie, Jason D.; Meyer, Nuala J.; Causland, Finnian R. Mc.; Waikar, Sushrut S.; Waxman, Aaron; Chung, Raymond; Bueno, Raphael; Rosas, Ivan; Fredenburgh, Laura; Baron, Rebecca; Christiani, David; Hunninghake, Gary; Choi, Augustine M. K.Background: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a critical activator of inflammation and the innate immune system. However, mtDNA level has not been tested for its role as a biomarker in the intensive care unit (ICU). We hypothesized that circulating cell-free mtDNA levels would be associated with mortality and improve risk prediction in ICU patients. Methods and Findings: Analyses of mtDNA levels were performed on blood samples obtained from two prospective observational cohort studies of ICU patients (the Brigham and Women's Hospital Registry of Critical Illness [BWH RoCI, n = 200] and Molecular Epidemiology of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome [ME ARDS, n = 243]). mtDNA levels in plasma were assessed by measuring the copy number of the NADH dehydrogenase 1 gene using quantitative real-time PCR. Medical ICU patients with an elevated mtDNA level (≥3,200 copies/µl plasma) had increased odds of dying within 28 d of ICU admission in both the BWH RoCI (odds ratio [OR] 7.5, 95% CI 3.6–15.8, p = 1×10−7) and ME ARDS (OR 8.4, 95% CI 2.9–24.2, p = 9×10−5) cohorts, while no evidence for association was noted in non-medical ICU patients. The addition of an elevated mtDNA level improved the net reclassification index (NRI) of 28-d mortality among medical ICU patients when added to clinical models in both the BWH RoCI (NRI 79%, standard error 14%, p<1×10−4) and ME ARDS (NRI 55%, standard error 20%, p = 0.007) cohorts. In the BWH RoCI cohort, those with an elevated mtDNA level had an increased risk of death, even in analyses limited to patients with sepsis or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Study limitations include the lack of data elucidating the concise pathological roles of mtDNA in the patients, and the limited numbers of measurements for some of biomarkers. Conclusions: Increased mtDNA levels are associated with ICU mortality, and inclusion of mtDNA level improves risk prediction in medical ICU patients. Our data suggest that mtDNA could serve as a viable plasma biomarker in medical ICU patients. Please see later in the article for the Editors' SummaryPublication Diagnosing sepsis is subjective and highly variable: a survey of intensivists using case vignettes(BioMed Central, 2016) Rhee, Chanu; Kadri, Sameer S.; Danner, Robert L.; Suffredini, Anthony F.; Massaro, Anthony; Kitch, Barrett T.; Lee, Grace; Klompas, MichaelBackground: Sepsis is the focus of national quality improvement programs and a recent public reporting measure from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, diagnosing sepsis requires interpreting nonspecific signs and can therefore be subjective. We sought to quantify interobserver variability in diagnosing sepsis. Methods: We distributed five case vignettes of patients with suspected or confirmed infection and organ dysfunction to a sample of practicing intensivists. Respondents classified cases as systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, severe sepsis, septic shock, or none of the above. Interobserver variability was calculated using Fleiss’ κ for the five-level classification, and for answers dichotomized as severe sepsis/septic shock versus not-severe sepsis/septic shock and any sepsis category (sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock) versus not-sepsis. Results: Ninety-four physicians completed the survey. Most respondents (88 %) identified as critical care specialists; other specialties included pulmonology (39 %), anesthesia (19 %), surgery (9 %), and emergency medicine (9 %). Respondents had been in practice for a median of 8 years, and 90 % practiced at academic hospitals. Almost all respondents (83 %) felt strongly or somewhat confident in their ability to apply the traditional consensus sepsis definitions. However, overall interrater agreement in sepsis diagnoses was poor (Fleiss’ κ 0.29). When responses were dichotomized into severe sepsis/septic shock versus not-severe sepsis/septic shock or any sepsis category versus not-sepsis, agreement was still poor (Fleiss’ κ 0.23 and 0.18, respectively). Seventeen percent of respondents classified one of the five cases as severe sepsis/septic shock, 27.7 % rated two cases, 33.0 % respondents rated three cases, 19.2 % rated four cases, and 3.2 % rated all five cases as severe sepsis/septic shock. Among respondents who felt strongly confident in their ability to use sepsis definitions (n = 45), agreement was no better (Fleiss’ κ 0.28 for the five-category classification, and Fleiss’ κ 0.21 for the dichotomized severe sepsis/septic shock classification). Cases were felt to be extremely or very realistic in 74 % of responses; only 3 % were deemed unrealistic. Conclusions: Diagnosing sepsis is extremely subjective and variable. Objective criteria and standardized methodology are needed to enhance consistency and comparability in sepsis research, surveillance, benchmarking, and reporting. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-016-1266-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Publication Influence of Patients' Preferences and Treatment Site on Cancer Patients' End-of-Life Care(Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) Wright, Alexi; Mack, Jennifer; Kritek, Patricia A.; Balboni, Tracy; Massaro, Anthony; Matulonis, Ursula; Block, Susan; Prigerson, HollyBACKGROUND: Research suggests that patients' end-of-life (EOL) care is determined primarily by the medical resources available, and not by patient preferences. The authors examined whether patients' desire for life-extending therapy was associated with their EOL care. METHODS: Coping with Cancer is a multisite, prospective, longitudinal study of patients with advanced cancer. Three hundred one patients were interviewed at baseline and followed until death, a median of 4.5 months later. Multivariate analyses examined the influence of patients' preferences and treatment site on whether patients received intensive care or hospice services in the final week of life. RESULTS: Eighty-three of 301 patients (27.6%) with advanced cancer wanted life-extending therapy at baseline. Patients who understood that their disease was terminal or who reported having EOL discussions with their physicians were less likely to want life-extending care compared with others (23.4% vs 42.6% and 20.7% vs 44.4%, respectively; P≤.003). Patients who were treated at Yale Cancer Center received more intensive care (odds ratio [OR], 3.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-8.47) and less hospice services (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29-0.92) compared with patients who were treated at Parkland Hospital. However, in multivariate analyses that controlled for confounding influences, patients who preferred life-extending care were more likely to receive intensive care (adjusted OR [AOR], 2.91; 95% CI, 1.09-7.72) and were less likely to receive hospice services (AOR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.26-0.78). Treatment site was not identified as a significant predictor of EOL care. CONCLUSIONS: The treatment preferences of patients with advanced cancer may play a more important role in determining the intensity of medical care received at the EOL than previously recognized. Future research is needed to determine the mechanisms by which patients' preferences for care and treatment site interact to influence EOL care.Publication Expired Nitric Oxide after Bronchoprovocation and Repeated Spirometry in Patients with Asthma(American Thoracic Society, 1998-03) Deykin, Aaron; Halpern, Orit; Massaro, Anthony; Drazen, Jeffrey; Israel, ElliotCompared with normal individuals, subjects with asthma have elevated levels of expired nitric oxide (NO). These levels are hypothesized to reflect the degree of airway inflammation. Expired NO levels rise during the late phase of allergen challenge and decrease in asthmatics after steroid treatment. Isocapnic cold air hyperventilation (ISH) is believed to cause airway narrowing through noninflammatory mechanisms. We measured mixed expired NO in 10 individuals with atopic asthma who underwent both ISH challenge and allergen challenge, and compared these measurements with the change in expired NO that occurred after serial spirometry alone. We found that ambient NO levels affected mixed expired NO. Controlling for inspired NO, we found that repeated spirometry alone produced a significant fall in mixed expired NO (p < 0.01) that was maximal after 30 min (36.6 ± 8.5% fall). After allergen and ISH challenges, expired NO was elevated relative to levels after repeated spirometry (p < 0.01 and p = 0.065, respectively). In addition, we found that prechallenge expired NO levels were significantly correlated with the magnitude of the late fall in FEV1 following allergen challenge (r = 0.80, p < 0.01). These data demonstrate that repeated spirometry results in reduced mixed expired NO and suggest that both ISH and allergen-induced bronchoconstriction share pathobiologic mechanisms that produce increases in mixed expired NO.