showing 7 related works from this author
Stagewise pseudo-value regression for time-varying effects on the cumulative incidence
2015
In a competing risks setting, the cumulative incidence of an event of interest describes the absolute risk for this event as a function of time. For regression analysis, one can either choose to model all competing events by separate cause-specific hazard models or directly model the association between covariates and the cumulative incidence of one of the events. With a suitable link function, direct regression models allow for a straightforward interpretation of covariate effects on the cumulative incidence. In practice, where data can be right-censored, these regression models are implemented using a pseudo-value approach. For a grid of time points, the possibly unobserved binary event s…
PanCareLIFE
2018
Aims: Survival after cancer diagnosed during childhood or adolescence continues to improve with new treatments and supportive therapies. Optimal long-term care requires that risks to vulnerable organs are clearly defined and translated into guidelines that are implemented into practice. PanCareLIFE is a pan-European consortium that addresses survivorship issues comprising fertility, hearing impairment and quality of life. This article describes the scientific basis of PanCareLIFE's studies.Methods: PanCareLIFE involves 17 partner institutions from eight European countries, with additional 11 data providers from five other countries. Study designs and methods include molecular genetic, cohor…
Association of smoking but not HLA-DRB1*15:01, APOE or body mass index with brain atrophy in early multiple sclerosis
2019
Background: The course of multiple sclerosis (MS) shows substantial inter-individual variability. The underlying determinants of disease severity likely involve genetic and environmental factors. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of APOE and HLA polymorphisms as well as smoking and body mass index (BMI) in the very early MS course. Methods: Untreated patients ( n = 263) with a recent diagnosis of relapsing-remitting (RR) MS or clinically isolated syndrome underwent standardized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Genotyping was performed for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs3135388 tagging the HLA-DRB1*15:01 haplotype and rs7412 (Ɛ2) and rs429358 (Ɛ4) in APOE. …
Telemedicine for pediatric surgical outpatient follow-up: A prospective, randomized single-center trial
2018
Telemedicine is gaining popularity for a variety of indications. We performed a randomized controlled trial comparing telemedical versus conventional clinic follow-up in terms of feasibility and quality.Patients discharged from pediatric surgery were randomized to telemedical or onsite follow-up. In the telemedical group, video telephony was used to obtain interim history and physical findings. Onsite patients were personally seen in the outpatient clinic. Caregivers completed a postvisit survey on satisfaction and efficiency. Providers scored data transmission quality and clinical interpretability.From March 2015 until January 2017, 224 patients were randomized equally to the study groups.…
Automatic variable selection for exposure-driven propensity score matching with unmeasured confounders.
2020
Multivariable model building for propensity score modeling approaches is challenging. A common propensity score approach is exposure-driven propensity score matching, where the best model selection strategy is still unclear. In particular, the situation may require variable selection, while it is still unclear if variables included in the propensity score should be associated with the exposure and the outcome, with either the exposure or the outcome, with at least the exposure or with at least the outcome. Unmeasured confounders, complex correlation structures, and non-normal covariate distributions further complicate matters. We consider the performance of different modeling strategies in …
Sarcopenia as prognostic factor for survival after orthotopic liver transplantation
2020
Background and aim Body composition has emerged as a prognostic factor for end-stage liver disease. We therefore investigated muscle mass, body fat and other clinical-pathological variables as predictors of posttransplant survival. Methods A total of 368 patients, who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) at our institution, were assessed prior to OLT and followed for a median of 9.0 years (range 2.0-10.0 years) after OLT. Psoas, erector spinae and the combined paraspinal muscle area, as well as the corresponding indices normalized by body-height squared, were quantified by a lumbar (L3) cross-sectional computed tomography. In addition, absolute body fat and bone density were est…
MSJ763541_supplementary_material – Supplemental material for Association of smoking but not HLA-DRB1*15:01, APOE or body mass index with brain atroph…
2018
Supplemental material, MSJ763541_supplementary_material for Association of smoking but not HLA-DRB1*15:01, APOE or body mass index with brain atrophy in early multiple sclerosis by Christiane Graetz, Adriane Gröge, Felix Luessi, Anke Salmen, Daniela Zöller, Janine Schultz, Nelly Siller, Vinzenz Fleischer, Barbara Bellenberg, Achim Berthele, Viola Biberacher, Joachim Havla, Michael Hecker, Reinhard Hohlfeld, Carmen Infante-Duarte, Jan S Kirschke, Tania Kümpfel, Ralf Linker, Friedemann Paul, Steffen Pfeuffer, Philipp Sämann, Gerrit Toenges, Frank Weber, Uwe K Zettl, Antje Jahn-Eimermacher, Gisela Antony, Sergiu Groppa, Heinz Wiendl, Bernhard Hemmer, Mark Mühlau, Carsten Lukas, Ralf Gold, Chri…