Antwerp University Hospital

The next generation of maternal vaccines: scientific advances, regulatory readiness, and strategic planning in Europe

With the recent approval of maternal RSV vaccines and late-phase trials underway for a GBS vaccine, Europe is entering a new era of maternal immunisation. Yet scientific progress is outpacing pregnancy-specific evidence and preparedness for equitable implementation. Pregnant wome...

Weight Loss and Long-Term Weight Trajectories After a Structured Nutritional and Behavioral Intervention: A Large Real-World Cohort Study

Background/Objectives: Achieving and maintaining intentional weight loss is a major challenge in routine clinical practice, and real-world evidence is limited. Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated initial weight loss in 56,093 adults from a total of 126,659 who comm...

Redefining axillary management by selecting patients for omission of sentinel lymph node surgery in early breast cancer

Axillary staging has traditionally been performed routinely in early breast cancer to provide prognostic information and guide adjuvant therapy. In the era of targeted anti-tumor therapy and biology-driven treatment selection, however, the therapeutic relevance of nodal status ha...

Premedication practices prior to neonatal laryngoscopy: a nationwide observational study in Belgian NICUs

Intubation or less invasive surfactant administration (LISA) in neonates both require laryngoscopy, a stressful and painful procedure. This study aimed to document premedication practices before laryngoscopy in Belgium and explore reasons for absence of premedication. Sub-analysi...

Smoking habits, smoking cessation, and stigma in a population-based lung cancer screening pilot study in Belgium: a focus group study

Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can reduce lung cancer mortality, but implementation depends on understanding how individuals at increased risk experience screening, smoking cessation and stigma. This study explored smoking habits, cessation experie...

Low awareness of and adherence to preventive guidelines for hepatitis B reactivation among Belgian specialist physicians: the CHOICe study

Despite preventive screening guidelines and antiviral prophylaxis, hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation continues to be a problem in clinical practice, resulting in patient mortality. The CHOICe study has two main research objectives: firstly, to identify knowledge gaps relating...

Survival benefit of deceased donor kidney transplantation versus continued dialysis: international target trial emulation

Abstract Objective To quantify the survival benefit of deceased donor kidney transplantation versus continued dialysis according to patients’ characteristics (age, diabetes, cardiovascular disease), donor quality (standard criteria donor or expanded criteria donor) and donor retr...

Induction failure and early death in paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia in Uganda: a developing country experience

Dose-intensive therapy for paediatric acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) has improved outcomes in high-income countries (HICs); however, outcomes remain poor in resource-limited settings, where induction failure and early death continue to pose significant challenges. This study aimed...

Accuracy of Virtual Surgical Planning in Le Fort III Distraction Osteogenesis: A 3-Dimensional Evaluation of Planned and Achieved Outcomes

BACKGROUND: Syndromic hypoplasia of the midface can be addressed by Le Fort III osteotomy. Three-dimensional planning tools and cutting guides have the potential to facilitate the design of Le Fort III osteotomy and distraction vectors, anticipate potential challenges, and mitiga...

The enduring role of sulfasalazine in the treatment of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a retrospective cohort study on safety and effectiveness

Abstract Background Sulfasalazine (SSZ) is a commonly used disease-modifying antirheumatic drug for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) that is primarily recommended within the group of juvenile spondyloarthropathies. Current treatment guidelines increasingly limit its role in th...

GATA2: a small gene with big impact – a case report and literature review

OBJECTIVES: We present a case of GATA2 deficiency in a young adult with recurrent infections, highlighting uncommon clinical manifestations including persistent eosinophilia and primary sclerosing cholangitis, to raise awareness of this underdiagnosed condition and emphasize the...

BIOCOST: A Costing Tool for Belgian Biobanks

BACKGROUND: Biobanks are essential infrastructures for biomedical research, yet their long-term sustainability is increasingly challenged by complex and often underestimated costs. While numerous cost-accounting approaches have been proposed over the past decade, comparable empir...

Morphology-Based Surgery for Chronic Pancreatitis Across Europe: Toward the Next Generation of Unified Guidelines

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use and impact of current surgical guidelines for chronic pancreatitis (CP) across Europe. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Current guidelines recommend morphology-based surgery for CP, but international studies evaluating their use and impact are lacking. METH...

Pattern-Anchored Diagnosis of Oral Epithelial Dysplasia: A Position Paper From COST Action INTERCEPTOR Working Group 2

Abstract Purpose Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED) is the principal histopathological marker for malignant risk stratification in oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). Current World Health Organisation (WHO) three-tier and other binary grading systems are limited by modest...

Influences of socioeconomic and environmental factors on STEMI incidence and related mortality: Insights from the Belgian Environmental Myocardial Infarction Risk (EMIR) Study

Abstract Background Current risk models for myocardial infarction incidence and post-event mortality primarily rely on clinical parameters and do not account for environmental or socioeconomic factors. We aimed to provide a more comprehensive assessment of determinants of ST-elev...

Safety and Performance of the Colovac Anastomosis Protection Device. A Pooled Analysis of Prospective Studies Compared With Diverting Loop Ileostomy (SAFE-2025)

Objective: To compare the safety and effectiveness of the Colovac Anastomosis Protection Device with standard diverting ostomy (DO) following low anterior resection (LAR) for rectal cancer. Summary Background Data: DO is standard of care (SOC) following LAR for rectal cancer but...

AI for tumour proportion scoring of programmed death‐ligand 1 immunohistochemistry in non‐small cell lung cancer: a review of commercial and non‐commercial tools

Programmed death‐ligand 1 (PD‐L1) expression, commonly quantified as tumour proportion score (TPS), is a key biomarker guiding immunotherapy in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Manual scoring of PD‐L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) is time‐consuming and challenged by preanalytical...

P1.005. Preliminary Pilot Study Cohort Results - Cost-Effective Surveillance Strategies and Prediction of Cancer Recurrence After Endoscopic Therapy for Barrett’s Esophagus (Endeavor)

Abstract Topic Esophageal Cancer: Barrett‘s Esophagus: High-Grade Dysplasia and Early Invasive Cancer Background In many European countries, esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) incidence is increasing [1]. Barrett’s esophagus(BE), strongly associated with EAC, can progress via dyspla...

P1.006. Improving Cellular Yield During Endoscopic Brush Sampling in Patients With Barrett Esophagus by Not Resheathing - a Simple Modification

Abstract Topic Benign Disease: Barrett’s Esophagus: Pathology and Pathophysiology; Non-invasive Neoplasia Background Brush cytology allows sampling of broad mucosal areas. It has various gastrointestinal indications such as malignancy, Barrett’s esophagus and Helicobacter pylori...

Efficacy and safety of fenfluramine in Dravet syndrome: The impact of patient clinical characteristics

Abstract Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of fenfluramine in patients with Dravet syndrome (DS) stratified by age, number of previously attempted antiseizure medications (ASMs), and SCN1A pathogenic variant status. Methods In this post hoc analysis, data from three ran...