Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Multicenter Study
Long-term prognostic effect of serum albumin concentration in diabetic patients with stable coronary artery disease: A multicenter cohort study.
Diabetes and insulin resistance alter the physiological state of serum albumin (SA), which is a prognostic marker for stable coronary artery disease (CAD). However, whether the SA concentration is associated with long-term cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in diabetic patients with stable CAD remains unclear. ⋯ In diabetic patients with stable CAD, a low SA concentration (<4 g/dL) was associated with increased long-term mortality regardless of all-cause or CV reasons but not nonfatal CV events.
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Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) followed by MRI-targeted prostate biopsy is the current standard for diagnosing prostate cancer (PCa). However, studies evaluating the value of biomarkers, including prostate health index (PHI) and its derivatives using this method are limited. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of PHI density (PHID) in guiding MRI-targeted prostate biopsies to identify clinically significant PCas (csPCa). ⋯ PHI-derived biomarkers, including PHID, performed better than other PSA-derived biomarkers in diagnosing PCa in MRI-detected lesions.
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Multicenter Study
The long-term outcome of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: Pulmonary endarterectomy and balloon pulmonary angioplasty.
The long-term outcome on patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) has not been ideal after standard medical treatment. However, good outcome for patients with CTEPH after interventions such as pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) and balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) has been reported recently. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of PEA or BPA on long-term outcomes for CTEPH patients in Han-Chinese population. ⋯ This multicenter prospective case-control study demonstrated that intervention such as PEA and BPA increased the long-term survival rate for patient with CTEPH significantly. Intervention was an independent factor in long-term outcome for patients with CTEPH, including all-cause mortality and CTEPH mortality.
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Multicenter Study
Iron deficiency in Taiwanese patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.
Iron deficiency (ID) is a common comorbidity among patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), and is associated with poorer outcomes independent of anemia. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and prognostic significance of ID in Taiwanese patients with HFrEF. ⋯ Iron profiles were tested in less than one-fifth of the Taiwanese HFrEF cohort. ID was present in 43.6% of tested patients and was independently associated with poor prognosis in these patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
An open-label randomized non-inferior study of generic-name and brand-name of propafenone for rhythm control in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
Propafenone is a class IC antiarrhythmic agent that is commonly used as the first-line therapy for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) in Taiwan. This study compared the efficacy and safety of generic (Rhynorm) and brand name (Rytmonorm) propafenone for rhythm control of paroxysmal AF in Taiwan. ⋯ Our results verified that Rhynorm was noninferior to Rytmonorm in terms of efficacy and safety for treating paroxysmal AF in Taiwan ( ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03674658).