Belfast Health and Social Care Trust

Individual-level health inequalities in breast cancer stage and survival in Northern Ireland: a population-based cohort study

Abstract Background Understanding the impact of health inequalities on breast cancer presentation, treatment and survival is important. This study investigated individual-level health inequalities on stage at diagnosis and mortality. Methods Women newly diagnosed with breast canc...

Diagnostic Yield of Sequencing in Prenatal Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum in a Well‐Phenotyped International Cohort

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the incremental diagnostic yield of sequencing in a large, well‐phenotyped international cohort of fetuses with prenatally diagnosed agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC) and to identify associated genes and variants. Methods Retrospective multicent...

The multifaceted role of the potassium channel KCNK1 in the early detection and prognostication of high-grade serous cancer

Abstract Background The sixth most common cancer in females in the UK, ovarian cancer remains a significant health burden due to its aggressive nature and stagnant mortality trends. The current gold standard biomarker, CA-125, has notable limitations, including low sensitivity in...

Post-therapy imaging of adult brain tumours: patterns, pitfalls, and practical framework

Abstract Post-therapy imaging of adult brain tumours is among the most challenging tasks in neuroradiology. Distinguishing true tumour progression from treatment-related changes—including pseudoprogression, radiation necrosis, and atypical immunotherapy responses—requires integra...

Prevalence and healthcare utilization of eosinophilic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the UK: an observational electronic health record-based cohort study

Abstract Background Biologic therapies offer new treatment opportunities for patients with eosinophilic COPD. However, the number and proportions of patients with COPD who would be eligible are unknown. Methods Using data from Optimum Patient Care Research Database, we conducted...

Effects of hyperoxia on pulmonary inflammation and organ injury in a human in vivo model (HIPI): a randomised controlled trial

Introduction It is uncertain whether hyperoxia contributes to adverse intensive care unit outcomes. Potential harm is likely mediated by oxidative stress driving pulmonary and systemic inflammation. Methods We conducted a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to test...

Quality standards for preclinical research in cardio-oncology

Preclinical research in cancer therapy-related cardiovascular toxicity (CTR-CVT) is a major domain of cardio-oncology and has provided biological explanation for the cardiovascular adverse effects of many cancer therapies. However, the choice of the experimental models to investi...

Impact of diabetes mellitus on the menopausal experience: A scoping review

Abstract Aims To identify, appraise and synthesise the current evidence relating to symptoms, experiences, management and impact of menopause on QoL among women with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) or type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and to identify evidence gaps. Methods We conducted a scoping rev...

Obtaining a Diagnostic Yield via Scan findings prior to the introduction of SEquencing retrospectivelY ( ODYSSEY ): a cohort study

ABSTRACT Objective To determine the retrospective yield of prenatal exome sequencing (PES) by establishing the proportion of children with a postnatal monogenic diagnosis that could have been diagnosed prenatally if PES had been available. Methods The study cohort comprised a sam...