BioMed research international
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of Catheter Tip Location on the Spread of Sensory Block Caused by a Continuous Thoracic Paravertebral Block: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Study.
Single injections in the anterior region of the thoracic paravertebral space (TPVS) have been reported to generate a multisegmental longitudinal spreading pattern more frequently than those in the posterior region of the TPVS. In this trial, we examined the hypothesis that a continuous thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) administered through a catheter inserted into the anterior region of the TPVS allows a wider sensory block dispersion. Fifty consecutive patients undergoing video-assisted thoracic surgery were enrolled. ⋯ No significant differences in the other outcomes were found between the groups. In conclusion, a continuous TPVB administered using a catheter supposedly inserted into the anterior region of the TPVS allows a wider sensory block dispersion than a catheter inserted into the posterior region of the TPVS. This trial is registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000018578).
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It is the main goal of this study to investigate the concordance of a decision support system and the recommendation of spinal surgeons regarding back pain. 111 patients had to complete the decision support system. Furthermore, their illness was diagnosed by a spinal surgeon. ⋯ Besides, in almost 50% of the cases the recommendation for the treatment was concordant and overestimation occurred more often than underestimation. The results are discussed in relation to the "symptom checker" literature and the claim of further evaluations.
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Lung cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Although computed tomography (CT) examinations are frequently used for lung cancer diagnosis, it can be difficult to distinguish between benign and malignant pulmonary nodules on the basis of CT images alone. Therefore, a bronchoscopic biopsy may be conducted if malignancy is suspected following CT examinations. ⋯ The DCNN is trained using nodule images generated by the GAN and then fine-tuned using the actual nodule images to allow the DCNN to distinguish between benign and malignant nodules. This pretraining and fine-tuning process makes it possible to distinguish 66.7% of benign nodules and 93.9% of malignant nodules. These results indicate that the proposed method improves the classification accuracy by approximately 20% in comparison with training using only the original images.
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The endplate defects (EDs), Modic changes (MCs), disc degeneration (DD), facet orientation (FO), and facet tropism (FT) were demonstrated to be related to the low back pain (LBP). The aim of this study was to investigate possible correlations between them. ⋯ The relationship between weight, gender, and disc degeneration provided a mechanism by which increasing weight can predispose to DD. Different grades of EDs had different effects on patients with LBP. There was a significant correlation between EDs, MCs II, DD, FT, and FO.
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Clinical Trial Observational Study
Assessment of Changes in Lipids Metabolism in Patients with Degenerative Joints and Discs Diseases Subjected to Spa Therapy.
High levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and, connected with them, lipoprotein fractions may result in atherosclerosis. There are various forms of therapy used to prevent cardiovascular diseases, such as balneophysiotherapy, the effectiveness of which is confirmed by numerous scientific publications. ⋯ (1) After the end of therapy, there were no changes in lipid metabolism in men, while in the group of women an increase in HDL level was observed. (2) In the control group, statistically significant changes in the field of lipid metabolism may be related to lifestyle changes as a result of educational activities conducted prior to the research. (3) Due to the divergent results, it is advisable to conduct randomized studies in a larger population. This trial is registered with NCT03274128.