Medicine
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Review Case Reports
Interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma presenting in the sigmoid colon mesentery: A case report and literature review.
Interdigitating dendritic cell sarcoma (IDCS) is an extremely rare disease. It commonly occurs in middle-aged males and mainly involves the lymph nodes. Pathological examination plays an important role in differentiating from other tumors, but far less published literature focuses on the imaging characteristics of IDCS. ⋯ This case adds to the experience with IDCS by summarizing its characteristics as well as reviewing the literature.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of probiotics on digestibility and immunity in infants: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a fetus in utero is sterile but it becomes colonized with environmental microorganisms shortly after birth. Since the gut microbiota undergoes substantial changes in early life, healthy gut microflora is essential to an infant's gut health and immune system and probably also has an effect on overall health status in later life. Probiotics, defined as viable microbial preparations that have a beneficial effect on the health of the host, represent a rapidly expanding field. ⋯ The secondary endpoints will include the change in salivary SIgA level, growth parameters, digestive tolerance, and adverse events. An effective, practical, and acceptable probiotic intervention in manipulating the gut microbiota and boosting the immune system in formula-fed infants would represent a major clinical advance. The administration of probiotic supplementation or follow-on formula to infant may be associated with some clinic benefits.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Application of remifentanil for conscious sedation and analgesia in short-term ERCP and EST surgery.
This study aims to observe and evaluate the use of remifentanil in conscious sedation and analgesia for the safety and comfort of patients undergoing short-term endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST). Sixty-eight patients who underwent ERCP and EST were randomly divided into two groups: research group and control group. Patients in the research group were intravenously injected with remifentanil (80-2/3* age) for 1 to 2 minutes, combined with the intravenous injection of propofol (20-30 mg) during the course of treatment. ⋯ There were no interruptions during surgery due to body movement, cough, or aspiration. The use of remifentanil for conscious sedation and analgesia can be broadly applied in short-term ERCP, which greatly improves patient comfort during the surgery. This approach may bear promise for a widespread use in future clinical practice.
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Observational Study
Elevated serum plasma fibrinogen is associated with advanced tumor stage and poor survival in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.
Hyperfibrinogenemia has been reported to be a predictor of poor prognosis in cancer patients, and in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, survival remains uncertain and unpredictable. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between the level of plasma fibrinogen and overall survival in HCC patients. Overall, 308 patients with histologically proven HCC were included in our study. ⋯ The results of the univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that high plasma fibrinogen remained independently associated with poorer overall survival. In addition, high plasma fibrinogen levels were associated with nonresponse to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) (P < .001). Elevated plasma fibrinogen was independently associated with advanced HCC stage, poor prognosis, and nonresponse to TACE and may, therefore, serve as a valuable clinical biomarker for predicting prognosis in HCC patients.
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The incidence of community-onset bacteremia caused by extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) producers is increasing. The adverse effects of ESBL production on patient outcome have been recognized and this antimicrobial resistance has significant implications in the delay of appropriate therapy. However, a simple scoring algorithm that can easily, inexpensively, and accurately be applied to clinical settings was lacking. ⋯ In conclusion, this simple scoring algorithm can be used to identify CoMEB patients with a high ESBL-producer infection risk. Of note, frequent ED user was firstly demonstrated to be a crucial predictor in predicting ESBL-producer infections. ED clinicians should consider adequate empirical therapy with coverage of these pathogens for patients with risk factors.