Medicine
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Observational Study
Obesity was an independent risk factor for febrile infection after prostate biopsy: A 10-year single center study in South China.
To detect the best antibiotic protocol for prostate biopsy and to assess the potential risk factors postbiopsy in Chinese patients. A total of 1526 patients underwent biopsy were assessed retrospectively. The effect of 3 antibiotic protocols was compared, including fluoroquinolone (FQ) monotherapy, third-generation cephalosporin combined with FQ and targeted antibiotics according to the prebiopsy rectal swab culture result. ⋯ Obesity remained as risk factor (OR = 12.827, 95% CI: 0.983-8.925, P = .001) while overweight and diabetes were close to significance (P = .052, .053, respectively). The combined cephalosporin with FQ prophylaxis could significantly decrease the risk of infectious complications. Obesity was an independent risk factor for PBI.
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The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and its associated factors in middle-school students in Suzhou, China. From September 2010 to January 2011, across-sectional study was conducted in junior- and senior middle-school students aged 10 to 18 years using a battery of confidential questionnaires. ⋯ The main symptoms of CFS in these students included being afraid of going to school, despondency, and irritability in addition to those specified in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Our study shows that CFS is prevalent among Chinese teenagers, and requiring proper intervention and treatment.
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Left ventricular non-compaction cardiomyopathy (LVNC) is a rare heart disorder related to thrombosis. Anticoagulant therapy is suggested for the treatment of this disease. The success of the novel oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban as a treatment option for this disorder is unclear. ⋯ Low dose of rivaroxaban may serve as a viable option for anticoagulation therapy in LVNC patients, with large clinical trials needed to determine the best course of treatment.
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Malignant melanoma (MM) is a highly malignant melanocytic tumor, it occurs mostly in the skin, the mucous membrane close to the skin, but also in the tunicae rhagoides and the pia mater. The Uyghur is the largest ethnic group living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, accounting for 46% of the total population of 20 million. Large-scale studies on MMs in Asian countries are limited. ⋯ No significant association was found among BRAF mutations, sex, ulceration, or lymph node metastasis. MMs lymph node metastasis (hazard ratio 2.54 [95% confidence interval 1.062 - 6.066], P = .01) affected survival. This study indicated that BRAF mutations and expression might serve as independent adverse prognostic factors in melanoma.
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Observational Study
The effectiveness of Korean medicine treatment in male patients with infertility: a study protocol for a prospective observational pilot study.
Male factor subfertility has increasingly been considered the cause of infertility in couples. Many men with male infertility have sperm problems such as oligozoospermia, asthenozoospermia, or teratozoospermia. Because abnormal semen parameters are idiopathic to some extent, no standard therapy has been established to date. Herbal medicine has been reported to have beneficial properties in the treatment of subfertility, especially in improving semen quality both in vivo and in human studies. Therefore, we intend to investigate the effectiveness and safety of treatment using Korean medicine (KM) for infertile male patients with poor semen quality.This will be a single-center, prospective, case-only observational pilot study. About 20 male patients with infertility who visit Conmaul Hospital of Korean Medicine will be recruited. We will follow the standard treatment protocol, which has shown good results in the treatment of male infertility. The protocol is composed mainly of a 10-week herbal decoction treatment; acupuncture and/or pharmacopuncture are added when needed. Semen samples, quality of life, and the scrotal temperatures of infertile men will be observed before and after the 10-week treatment with KM.The study has received ethical approval from the Public Institutional Review Board (approval number: P01-201708-21-008). The findings will be disseminated to appropriate audiences via peer-reviewed publication and conference presentations.