Medicine
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Comparative Study
One-Year Mortality after Traumatic Brain Injury in Liver Cirrhosis Patients--A Ten-Year Population-Based Study.
This study investigated the 1-year mortality of patients who underwent brain surgery following traumatic brain injury (TBI) who also had alcoholic and/or nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis (LC) using a nationwide database in Taiwan. A longitudinal cohort study matched by propensity score with age, gender, length of ICU stay, HTN, DM, MI, stroke, HF, renal diseases, and year of TBI diagnosis in TBI patients with alcoholic and/or nonalcoholic LC and TBI patients without LC was conducted using the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan between January 1997 and December 2007. The main outcome studied was 1-year mortality. ⋯ The main findings were (1) TBI patients with LC had a higher 1-year mortality (52.18% vs 30.61%) and a 1.75-fold increased risk of mortality (95% CI 1.61-1.90) compared with non-LC TBI patients, (2) renal diseases and HF are risk factors, but hypertension could be a protective factor in cirrhotic TBI patients, and (3) TBI patients with non-alcoholic LC and the coexistence of alcoholic and nonalcoholic LC had higher 1-year mortality compared with TBI patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. This study showed that patients with LC who have undergone brain surgery might have higher risk of 1-year mortality than those without LC. In addition, nonalcoholic and the coexistence of alcoholic and nonalcoholic LC show higher 1-year mortality risk than alcoholic in TBI patients with LC, especially in those with comorbidities of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and stroke.
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Observational Study
Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor-2 Gene Polymorphisms Associate With Coronary Atherosclerosis in Chinese Population.
Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) may play critical roles in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between TFPI-2 gene polymorphisms and coronary atherosclerosis. Four hundred and seven patients with coronary atherosclerosis and 306 individuals with normal coronary artery were enrolled in the present study. ⋯ At follow-up (median 53 months, range 1-60 months), 85 patients experienced CVE. However, there was no strong association between the gene polymorphisms and the occurrence of CVE. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 gene polymorphisms were associated with coronary atherosclerosis in the Chinese population, suggesting that the information about TFPI-2 gene polymorphisms was useful for assessing the risk of developing coronary atherosclerosis, but there was not enough evidence showing it could predict occurrence of CVE.
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Observational Study
Clinical Characteristics and Treatment of Extremity Chronic Osteomyelitis in Southern China: A Retrospective Analysis of 394 Consecutive Patients.
Although extremity chronic osteomyelitis is common in China, updated data were still limited regarding its characterizations. The present study aimed to review clinical features of extremity chronic osteomyelitis in Southern China. A retrospective analysis was conducted in the patients who had sought medical attention from January 2010 to April 2015 for extremity chronic osteomyelitis in Nanfang Hospital in Southern China. ⋯ S. aureus was the most frequent pathogenic organism. Preoperative elevated levels of serum IL-6, TNF-α, and ESR may be helpful diagnostic indicators of the disease. Most patients achieved a favorable clinical efficacy after appropriate treatment.
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In the present study, we aimed to verify associations between ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) and pediatric obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in a hospital-based population. This was a cross-sectional observational study on children aged 4 to 16 years with OSA-related symptoms from a tertiary referral medical center. All children received overnight polysomnography and 24-hour recording of ABP. ⋯ Multiple linear regression analyses revealed an independent association between AHI and nighttime systolic BP and MAP after adjusting for adiposity variables. This large hospital-based study showed that children with moderate-to-severe OSA had a higher ABP compared with children who were primary snorers. As elevated BP in childhood predicts future cardiovascular risks, children with severe OSA should be treated properly to prevent further adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
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Observational Study
STK39, But Not BST1, HLA-DQB1, and SPPL2B Polymorphism, Is Associated With Han-Chinese Parkinson's Disease in Taiwan.
Neuroinflammation is emerging as an important pathway involved in Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. Herein, we investigated the effect of 4 top PD-associated genetic variants in Caucasians listed on the top risk loci identified by meta-analysis of genome wide-association studies in PDGene database (http://www.pdgene.org/top_results), including serine threonine kinase 39 (STK39) rs1955337, bone marrow stromal cell antigen 1 (BST1) rs11724635, major histocompatibility complex, class II, DQ beta 1 (HLA-DQB1) rs9275326, and signal peptide peptidase-like 2B (SPPL2B) rs62120679, by genotyping 596 Han-Chinese patients with PD and 597 age-matched control subjects. Compared with subjects with STK39 rs1955337 GG genotype, those with TT genotype had a 1.64-fold increased risk of PD (95% confidence interval: 1.13-2.39, P = 0.010). ⋯ PD patients demonstrate a similar genotypic and allelic frequency in BST1 rs11724635, HLA-DQB1 rs9275326, and SPPL2B rs62120679 compared with controls. These findings suggested that the STK39 rs1955337 TT genotype is a risk factor for Han-Chinese patients with PD in Taiwan. The ethnic discrepancies of the other 3 genetic variants may indicate a distinct genetic background of neuroinflammation between PD patients in Han-Chinese and Caucasians.