Medicine
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Meta Analysis
Warfarin Use and Risk of Stroke in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Meta-Analysis.
In spite of the substantial burden of atrial fibrillation and associated elevated ischemic stroke risk in patients undergoing hemodialysis, the role of warfarin in these high-risk patients remains uncertain. Our objective was to clarify the association between warfarin use and risk of stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing dialysis. PubMed and Embase from January 1966 to January 2015 were searched to identify relevant studies. ⋯ By stroke type, warfarin was not significantly linked to risk of ischemic stroke (RR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.65-1.57, P = 0.97), but was related to greater hemorrhagic stroke risk (RR 2.30, 95% CI: 1.62-3.27). Warfarin heightened overall bleeding risk (RR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.03-1.56), but not death (RR 0.67, 95% CI: 0.37-1.21). Among patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing hemodialysis, use of warfarin is associated with a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke, but did not increase overall mortality.
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Review Case Reports
Campylobacter Fetus Meningitis in Adults: Report of 2 Cases and Review of the Literature.
The zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter fetus is a rare cause of bacterial meningitis. Little is known about the clinical characteristics, predisposing factors and outcome of C fetus meningitis in adults. We report cases of C fetus meningitis in a nationwide cohort study of adult bacterial meningitis patients in the Netherlands and performed a review of the literature. ⋯ C fetus is a rare cause of bacterial meningitis and is associated with an immunocompromised state. Based on the apparent slow clinical response seen in this limited number of cases, the authors of this study recommend a prolonged course of antimicrobial therapy when C fetus is identified as a causative agent of bacterial meningitis. Cases appeared to do best with carbapenem therapy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Intraoperative Dexmedetomidine Improves the Quality of Recovery and Postoperative Pulmonary Function in Patients Undergoing Video-assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery: A CONSORT-Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Trial.
Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has been known to be a stressful event for patients, and dexmedetomidine is known to attenuate surgery-induced sympathetic responses and potentiate analgesia in perioperative periods. The present was designed to evaluate the effects of intraoperative dexmedetomidine administration on the quality of recovery (QoR) and pulmonary function after VATS. Patients with lung cancer undergoing VATS were randomized to Dex group (loading of 1.0 μg/kg for 20 minutes before the termination of surgery, n = 50) or Control group (comparable volume of normal saline, n = 50). ⋯ The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter (6.7 [3-9] vs 8.4 [4-9] days, P = 0.045) in the Dex group compared with the Control group. Intraoperative dexmedetomidine administration improved QoR, postoperative pulmonary function, and emergence agitation in patients undergoing VATS. Consequently, intraoperative dexmedetomidine administration could improve postoperative outcomes and reduced the length of hospital stay in patients undergoing VATS.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Change of Nutritional Status Assessed Using Subjective Global Assessment Is Associated With All-Cause Mortality in Incident Dialysis Patients.
Subjective global assessment (SGA) is associated with mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. However, little is known whether improvement or deterioration of nutritional status after dialysis initiation influences the clinical outcome. We aimed to elucidate the association between changes in nutritional status determined by SGA during the first year of dialysis and all-cause mortality in incident ESRD patients. ⋯ Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that the mortality risk was significantly higher in group 3 than in group 1 (hazard ratio [HR] 2.77, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27-6.03, P = 0.01) whereas the mortality risk was significantly lower in group 2 compared with group 4 (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.17-0.71, P < 0.01) even after adjustment for confounding factors. Moreover, mortality risk of group 3 was significantly higher than in group 2 (HR 2.89, 95% CI 1.22-6.81, P = 0.02); there was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2. The changes in nutritional status assessed by SGA during the first year of dialysis were associated with all-cause mortality in incident ESRD patients.
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Review Case Reports
Small-Cell Lung Cancer Transformation in Patients With Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma: A Case Report and Review of Literature.
Despite the demonstrated benefit from epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) based therapies, EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinoma will eventually acquire drug resistance. Transformation to small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is considered to be a rare resistance mechanism of EGFR-TKI therapy. We describe a case of a 46-year-old man presenting with refractory cough. ⋯ However, despite the brief success of chemotherapy, our patient died of aggressive cancer progression and complications of chemotherapy. Our case highlights the importance of rebiopsy when managing drug resistance and presents a possible origin of the transformed cells. We also summarize the clinical characteristics of cases involving transformed SCLC from previous studies and discuss whether it could be a new subtype of SCLC.