Search

Objectives: The study sought to compare the risk of late outcome with a focus on very late definite stent thrombosis of the everolimus-eluting stent (EES) with that of the sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) at 3-year follow-up., Background: In the SORT OUT IV (SORT OUT IV Trial), comparing the EES with the SES in patients with coronary artery disease, the EES was noninferior to the SES at 9 months. The SORT OUT IV trial provides long-term head-to-head randomized comparison of the EES with the SES., Methods: We prospectively randomized 2,774 patients in the SORT OUT IV trial. Follow-up through 3 years was complete in 2,771 patients (99.9%). The 3-year pre-specified endpoints were composites of safety and efficacy (major adverse cardiac events [MACE]: cardiac death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and definite stent thrombosis)., Results: At 3 years, the composite endpoint MACE occurred in 9.8% of the EES group and in 11.1% of the SES group (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.89, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.70 to 1.12). Overall rate of definite stent thrombosis was lower in the EES group (0.2% vs. 1.4%; HR: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.50), which was largely attributable to a lower risk of very late definite stent thrombosis: 0.1% versus 0.8% (HR: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.70)., Conclusions: At 3-year follow-up, the MACE rate did not differ significantly between EES- and SES-treated patients. A significant reduction of overall and very late definite stent thrombosis was found in the EES group. (The SORT OUT IV TRIAL [SORT OUT IV]; NCT00552877)., (Copyright © 2014 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

During the 1980s and 1990s, there were large social and structural changes within the Nordic countries. Here we examine time changes in risks of preterm birth by maternal educational attainment in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Information on gestational age and maternal socio-economic position was obtained from the NorCHASE database, which includes comparable population-based register data of births from Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway from 1981 to 2000. The risks of very preterm birth (<32 gestational weeks) and moderately preterm birth (32-36 gestational weeks) were calculated by maternal educational attainment and analysed in 5-year intervals from 1981 to 2000. Compared with mothers with >12 years of education, mothers with <10 years of education had similarly increased risks of very, and to a lesser extent moderately, preterm birth in all four countries. The educational gradient increased slightly over time in very preterm births in Denmark, while there was a slight narrowing of the gap in Sweden. In moderately preterm births, the educational inequality gap was constant over the study period in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but narrowed in Finland. The educational gradient in preterm birth remained broadly stable from 1981 to 2000 in all four countries. Consequently, the socio-economic inequalities in preterm birth were not strongly influenced by structural changes during the period.

Scandiatransplant is the Nordic organ exchange organization. It has existed for 35 years and it is owned by all organ transplantation hospital departments in the five Nordic countries--Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The use of living organ donors for kidney transplantation has become a more common procedure not only in Norway but also in Sweden and Denmark. For the first time, in 2003, one transplant center performed relatively more living donor kidney transplantations than with deceased donors. The overall organ transplant activity reveals a remarkably stable situation in the area covered by Scandiatransplant. Scandiatransplant as an organ exchange organization has changed from a solely kidney exchange organization to an organization in which the more immediate vital organs as liver and heart are exchanged more commonly than kidneys.

The Nordic organ exchange organization Scandiatransplant was founded in 1969. It covers a population of 24.41 million inhabitants in five countries: Denmark (5.45 million), Finland (5.19 million), Iceland (0.29 million), Norway (4.54 million), and Sweden (8.94 million). Initially, the purpose of Scandiatransplant was to establish and maintain a common waiting list for all Nordic patients with end-stage renal failure waiting for a cadaveric kidney transplant. The basis of maintaining a common Nordic waiting list was the recognition of the wide polymorphism of the human leukocyte antigen system, which demands a substantial pool of waiting patients to provide optimal histocompatibility matching between organ donor and recipient. Thus, one of the major tasks of the organization was and still is to specify rules for the exchange of kidneys between the participating transplant centers. Scandiatransplant includes the cooperation of all 10 Nordic kidney transplant centers in addition to eight immunology laboratories. Denmark has four transplant centers located in Copenhagen, Herlev, Odense, and Aarhus. Finland has one center in Helsinki. Norway has one center located in Oslo. Sweden has four kidney transplantation centers located in each of the university hospitals in Göteborg, Malmö, Stockholm, and Uppsala. The fifth Nordic country, Iceland, is participating fully in organ donation but has no individual transplant center. Organ transplantation in Icelandic patients is performed in other Nordic countries.

The Nordic countries have experienced a steady increase in breast cancer incidence throughout the past 35 years. We analysed the incidence in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the period 1958 to 1992 using age-period-cohort models and taking the systematic mammography screening into account. Assuming the age dependency of the incidence pattern in old age to be common for the Nordic countries, an internal comparison could be made among the four countries of the cohort effects and the period effects. The study indicated that the period effects have been of importance for the increase in breast cancer incidence seen in the Nordic countries. The widespread practice of neglecting the period effects in age-period-cohort analysis of time trends in breast cancer incidence therefore probably needs reconsideration. A key finding was that Danish women born in the 20th century seem to have been exposed to an increasing load of cohort borne breast cancer risk factors not experienced to the same extent by Norwegian women, whereas they were seemingly subjected to the same period effects., (Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

The Nordic organ exchange organization, Scandiatransplant was established in 1969. The organization, which covers a population of 23.9 million inhabitants, includes all 11 organ transplant centers in the 5 Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The economy is solely based on transplant center fees. All Nordic patients waiting for an organ transplant are registered on one common waiting list. Rules for the exchange of organs are settled by unanimous decision, and the compliance to the rules is excellent. Kidney exchange is based on HLA matching, whereas the exchange of livers and hearts is based on clinical urgency. In 1997, 43% of the liver transplantations in Scandiatransplant were performed with an exchanged organ and the exchange rate for kidneys was 20%. Currently, the Scandiatransplant waiting list includes 1,538 patients waiting for a kidney transplant, 20 patients are waiting for a liver, 37 for a heart, and 156 patients are waiting for a lung transplant. The organ donation rate in Scandiatransplant has declined in recent years, from 16.0 per million population (PMP) in 1993 to a level of 13.5 PMP in 1997. The number of kidney transplants has varied between 800-900 per year during the past 10 years, corresponding to 33-38 transplants PMP. Approximately 30% of the renal transplants were performed with kidneys from living donors. The liver transplantation activity was approximately 7 PMP per year. Heart transplantation was performed at a rate of 4-5 PMP per year, and lung transplants at 4 PMP per year.

Scandiatransplant is an organ exchange organisation founded in 1969. It serves a population of 23 million inhabitants in the five Nordic countries; Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Scandiatransplant maintains a common central waiting list for all Nordic patients waiting for necro-organ transplantation. The waiting lists are maintained on a central computer by each of the eleven transplant centres in the organisation. The number of necro-organ donors in Scandiatransplant is about 340-375 yearly, corresponding to 15-16 donors per million population (PMP) per year. Since the foundation, a total of 14,500 necro-kidney transplants have been performed, and the number of transplants with extrarenal organs is steadily increasing. Presently, about 7-8 liver transplants PMP are being performed, and the heart transplant activity amounts to about 5 PMP. The supreme authority of Scandiatransplant is the Council of Representatives, in which each transplant centre is represented by one or more professionals who are clinically active in organ transplantation. The responsibility for day-to-day operations lies with the Board which has one member appointed by each of the five Nordic countries and a chairman elected by the Council. The activities of Scandiatransplant are financed exclusively by the participating centres.

Scandiatransplant is an organ exchange organisation serving a population of about 23 million inhabitants in the five Nordic countries, Iceland, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Scandiatransplant maintains a central waiting list for Scandinavian patients scheduled for cadaver organ transplantation. Since its establishment in 1969, more than 13,000 cadaver renal transplants have been performed, and the numbers of liver, heart and lung transplantations are steadily increasing.