Medicine
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Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive cases have been reported among people who injected drugs in Liangshan Prefecture in southwest of China since 1995 and Liangshan has become one of the most seriously affected epidemic areas in China. In 2004, several patients with HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) initiated antiretroviral treatment (ART) at the Central Hospital of Liangshan Prefecture. From 2005 to 2013, the number of patients receiving ART dramatically increased. ⋯ Patients with a baseline CD4 cell count <50/mm (AHR = 9.8, 95% CI: 6.0-15.9), 50-199/mm (AHR = 3.3, 95% CI: 2.3-4.6), and 200-349/mm (AHR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-2.3) were at a higher risk of death than those with a CD4 cell count ≥350/mm. ART prolonged survival time of patients with HIV/AIDS and improved their survival probability. Patients with HIV/AIDS should be consistently followed up and the CD4 T-cell count regularly monitored, and timely and early antiretroviral therapy initiated in order to achieve a better survival rate.
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We aimed to study the prevalence of oral sex and its possible association with human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 infection in the development of oropharyngeal cancer in the US population for possible prevention. ⋯ Family physicians will play a key role in prevention and educating the public about the risk of oral sex.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Longitudinal comparison of quality of life in patients undergoing laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication versus magnetic sphincter augmentation: Observational cohort study with propensity score analysis.
Only a minority of patients with gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) are offered a surgical option. This is mostly due to the fear of potential side effects, the variable success rate, and the extreme alteration of gastric anatomy with the current gold standard, the laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication. It has been reported that laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication (LTF) and laparoscopic sphincter augmentation using a magnetic device (LINX) can treat reflux more physiologically and with a lower incidence of side-effects and reoperation rate. ⋯ Over time, patients in both groups had similar GERD-HRQL scores (odds ratio [OR] 1.04, confidence interval [CI] 0.89-1.27; P = 0.578), PPI use (OR 1.18, CI 0.81-1.70; P = 0.388), gas-related symptoms (OR 0.69, CI 0.21-2.28; P = 0.542), dysphagia (OR 0.62, CI 0.26-1.30; P = 0.241), and reoperation-free probability (stratified log-rank test = 0.556). In 2 concurrent cohorts of patients with early stage GERD undergoing LTF or LINX and matched by propensity score analysis, health-related quality of life significantly improved and GERD-HRQL scores had a similar decreasing trend over time up to 7 years of follow-up. We conclude that LTF and LINX provide similar disease-specific quality of life over time in patients with early stage GERD.
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Comparative Study
Association between gastroesophageal reflux disease and coronary heart disease: A nationwide population-based analysis.
In this study, we aimed to determine the association between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and subsequent coronary heart disease (CHD) development, if any, and to evaluate whether longer use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) increases the risk of CHD. Patients diagnosed with GERD between 2000 and 2011 were identified as the study cohort (n = 12,960). Patients without GERD were randomly selected from the general population, frequency-matched with the study group according to age, sex, and index year, and evaluated as the comparison cohort (n = 51,840). ⋯ The GERD cohort had a higher risk of CHD than the comparison cohort did after adjustment for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, alcohol-related illness, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, biliary stone, anxiety, depression, chronic kidney disease, and cirrhosis (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 1.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.34-1.66). The risk of CHD was greater for the patients treated with PPIs for more than 1 year (aHR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.34-2.08) than for those treated with PPIs for <1 year (aHR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.39-1.74). Our population-based cohort study results indicate that GERD was associated with an increased risk of developing CHD, and that PPI use for more than 1 year might increase the risk of CHD.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
The feasibility of CT lung volume as a surrogate marker of donor-recipient size matching in lung transplantation.
Donor-recipient size matching in lung transplantation (LTx) by computed tomography lung volume (CTvol) may be a reasonable approach because size matching is an anatomical issue. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of CTvol as a surrogate marker of size matching in LTx by comparing CTvol and predicted total lung capacity (pTLC) to reference total lung capacity (TLC) values. From January to December 2014, data from 400 patients who underwent plethysmography, pulmonary function testing (PFT), and chest computed tomography scans were reviewed retrospectively. ⋯ CTvol showed similar or better correlation with TLC compared to the pTLC in normal participants and patients with obstructive or restrictive pulmonary diseases. CTvol showed a smaller error rate in patients with restrictive disease. The results suggest that CTvol may be a feasible method for size matching in LTx.