Medicine
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Optimal management of clinical stage IIIA (N2) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is controversial. This study is a systematic review and meta-analysis of published randomized control trials of multimodality management strategies for NSCLC. We conducted a comprehensive literature search of the Pubmed, Embase, Medline, and CENTRAL databases for relevant studies comparing patients with stage IIIA (N2) NSCLC undergoing surgery alone, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy alone, or surgical resection after neoadjuvant treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. ⋯ There was a significant increase in pathological complete remission in the mediastinal lymph nodes in stage IIIA (N2) NSCLC patients who received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy prior to surgical resection compared to those who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (OR 3.61; 95% CI 1.07-12.15; P = 0.04), but no difference in tumor downstaging, OS, or PFS. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy prior to surgical resection do not appear to be clinically superior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy prior to definitive radiotherapy in IIIA (N2) NSCLC patients. Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy does not improve survival compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone.
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A 65-year-old previously healthy male heavy smoker was hospitalized with a 2-week history of progressive muscle weakness in the lower and upper extremities. After 10 days of hospitalization, urinary sphincter incompetence and fecal incontinence were added and tetraparesis was established. The computer-tomography scan examination revealed a massive right hydrothorax and multifocal solid acinar structures with peripheral localization in the left lung, which suggested pulmonary cancer. ⋯ A huge thrombus in the abdominal aorta and acute pancreatitis was also seen at autopsy. This case highlights the difficulty of diagnosis of lung carcinomas and the necessity of a complex differential diagnosis of severe progressive ascending neuropathies. This is the 6th reported case of small cell lung cancer-associated acute Guillain-Barre-like syndrome and the first report about an association with a coin-like peripheral pattern.
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Epidural Analgesia With Bupivacaine and Fentanyl Versus Ropivacaine and Fentanyl for Pain Relief in Labor: A Meta-Analysis.
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of the combinational use of bupivacaine and fentanyl versus ropivacaine and fentanyl in epidural analgesia for labor. Multiple electronic databases were searched by using appropriate MeSH terms, and keywords for original research papers published before October 2014. Meta-analyses were based on mean differences between the groups as well as odds ratios. ⋯ Women who received ropivacaine and fentanyl had significantly lower incidence of motor blocks (odds ratio [95% CI] = 0.38 [0.30, 0.48] P < 0.00001, fixed effect and 0.38 [0.27, 0.54] P < 0.0001, random effects I² 30%) when compared with women who received bupivacaine and fentanyl. Incidence of side effects was similar for both the combinations. Analgesia with ropivacaine in combination with fentanyl at 0.1%:0.0002% ratio for labor pain relief is associated with lower incidence of motor blocks in comparison with analgesia with bupivacaine and fentanyl at similar ratio (0.1%: 0.0002%).
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Comparison of Existing Clinical Scoring Systems in Predicting Severity and Prognoses of Hyperlipidemic Acute Pancreatitis in Chinese Patients: A Retrospective Study.
It is important to identify the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) in the early course of the disease. Clinical scoring systems may be helpful to predict the prognosis of patients with early AP; however, few analysts have forecast the accuracy of scoring systems for the prognosis in hyperlipidemic acute pancreatitis (HLAP). The purpose of this study was to summarize the clinical characteristics of HLAP and compare the accuracy of conventional scoring systems in predicting the prognosis of HLAP. ⋯ Among the HLAP patients, the area under curves for BISAP, Ranson, SIRS, and CTSI in predicting SAP were 0.905, 0.938, 0.812, and 0.834, 0.874, 0.726, 0.668, and 0.848 for local complications, and 0.904, 0.917, 0.758, and 0.849 for organ failure, respectively. HLAP patients were characterized by younger age at onset, higher recurrence rate, and being more prone to pancreatic necrosis, organ failure, and SAP. BISAP, Ranson, SIRS, and CTSI all have accuracy in predicting the prognosis of HLAP patients, but each has different strengths and weaknesses.
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Review Meta Analysis
The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with Alzheimer disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
The use of acupuncture for treating Alzheimer disease (AD) has been increasing in frequency over recent years. As more studies are conducted on the use of acupuncture for treating AD, it is necessary to re-assess the effectiveness and safety of this practice. The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for treating AD. Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Chinese Biomedicine Literature (CBM), Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched from their inception to June 2014. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with AD treated by acupuncture or by acupuncture combined with 1 kind of drugs were included. Two authors extracted data independently. The continuous data were expressed as mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Weighted MD (WMD) was used instead of standardized MD (SMD) when the same scales were used. Adverse reactions related to acupuncture were also investigated.Ten randomized controlled trials with a total of 585 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The combined results of 6 trials showed that acupuncture was better than drugs at improving scores on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale (MD 1.05, 95% CI 0.16-1.93). Evidence from the pooled results of 3 trials showed that acupuncture plus donepezil was more effective than donepezil alone at improving the MMSE scale score (MD 2.37, 95% CI 1.53-3.21). Out of 141 clinical trials, 2 trials reported the incidence of adverse reactions related to acupuncture. Seven out of 3416 patients had adverse reactions related to acupuncture during or after treatment; the reactions were described as tolerable and not severe.Acupuncture may be more effective than drugs and may enhance the effect of drugs for treating AD in terms of improving cognitive function. Acupuncture may also be more effective than drugs at improving AD patients' ability to carry out their daily lives. Moreover, acupuncture is safe for treating people with AD. ⋯ PROSPERO CRD42014009619. Protocol published in BMJ-open.