Medicine
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A large cohort of 220 HIV-1-infected children (median [range] age: 12 [4-17] years) was cared and followed up in the Central African Republic, including 198 in 1st-line and 22 in 2nd-line antiretroviral regimens. Patients were monitored clinically and biologically for HIV-1 RNA load and drug resistance mutations (DRMs) genotyping. A total of 87 (40%) study children were virological responders and 133 (60%) nonresponders. ⋯ Overall, more than half (55%) of children receiving 1st-line antiretroviral treatment for a median of 3.4 years showed virological failure and antiretroviral-resistance and thus eligible to 2nd-line treatment. Furthermore, two-third (64%) of children under 2nd-line therapy were eligible to 3rd-line regimen. Taken together, these observations point the necessity to monitor antiretroviral-treated children by plasma HIV-1 RNA load to diagnose as early as possible the therapeutic failure and operate switch to a new therapeutic line.
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Case Reports
Fluctuations in the amplitude of ST-segment elevation in vasospastic angina: Two case reports.
ST-segment elevation localizes an ischemic lesion to the coronary artery supplying the area of the myocardium reflected by the electrocardiographic leads. Dynamic ST-segment elevation can be due to severe transmural ischemia secondary to a thrombus, vasospasm, or a tightly fixed coronary artery lesion or a combination of these situations. ⋯ VSA can be associated with fluctuations in the amplitude of ST-segment elevation, indicating dynamic coronary vasospasm in different locations and extensions in patients with VSA.
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Primary renal pelvis squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an extremely rare neoplasm. In many patients, the SCC was associated with renal calculi. ⋯ Our case demonstrates that F-FDG PET/CT is a useful diagnostic tool to evaluate primary renal pelvic SCC and detect metastatic lymph nodes in patients with long-standing calculi.
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Observational Study
Preoperative ultrasound-guided carbon nanoparticles localization for metastatic lymph nodes in papillary thyroid carcinoma during reoperation: A retrospective cohort study.
Due to the damaged anatomical structure and a large amount of fibrous and scar tissues in the surgical field, reoperation of papillary thyroid carcinoma is difficult. This study introduces a new method of locating metastatic lymph nodes during reoperation and evaluates the effectiveness and safety of the preoperative ultrasound-guided carbon nanoparticles (CNs) localization. This retrospective cohort study enrolled 52 patients who were diagnosed with lymph node metastasis by histopathology and underwent reoperation from October 2015 to February 2016. ⋯ In addition, the positive rates of levels III, IV, and V in the CNs group were 35.6%, 21.9%, and 30.5%, respectively, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.001, P = 0.005, and P = 0.01). In additional, in the CNs group, the rate of temporary hypoparathyroidism was significantly lower compared with the control group (0% vs 26.9%, P = 0.021). Preoperative ultrasound-guided CNs injection is a safe and effective method for localization of the metastatic lymph nodes during reoperation.
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Observational Study
Liver resection associated with better outcomes for single large hepatocellular carcinoma located in the same section.
The influence of the anatomical location of single large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) on outcomes following hepatic resection (HR) is still unclear. This study examined the role of anatomical location profiles as prognostic markers for patients with single large HCC undergoing HR. A total of 374 consecutive patients with single large HCC undergoing HR between January 2009 and July 2013 were included. ⋯ The subgroup analysis showed that tumor in the same section was associated with better prognosis than those in different sections for both patients with tumor of ≤8 cm and of > 8 cm. Multivariate analysis revealed that age <60 years, portal hypertension, alpha-fetoprotein ≥400 ng/mL, tumor in different sections, microvascular invasion and poorly differentiated tumor are independent predictors of poor prognosis in patient with single large HCC. For patients with single large HCC, a tumor located in the same section may lead to better long-term survival and lower tumor recurrence rates than those in different sections following HR.