Medicine
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Clinical researches indicate that acyclovir can be used to herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). However, no systematic review has explored its efficacy for the treatment of HSE. Therefore, this study systematically will investigate the efficacy and safety of acyclovir for patients with HSE. ⋯ PROSPERO CRD42019125999.
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Severity stratification and prognostic prediction at early stage is crucial for reducing the rates of mortality of patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). We aim to investigate the predicting performance of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and red-cell distribution width (RDW) combined with severity scores (sequential organ failure assessment [SOFA], bed-side index for severity of AP [BISAP], Ranson criteria, and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II [APACHE II]) for severe AP (SAP) and mortality. A total of 406 patients diagnosed with AP admitted in a tertiary teaching hospital were enrolled. ⋯ RDW (OR = 1.739), SOFA (OR = 1.554), BISAP (OR = 2.145), and Ranson (OR = 1.434) were all independent risk factors for predicting SAP, while RDW (OR = 7.361) and hematocrit (OR = 0.329) were independent risk factors for predicting mortality by logistic regression model. NLR, PLR, RDW, and BUN indicated good predictive value for SAP and mortality, while RDW had the highest discriminatory capacity. RDW is a convenient and reliable indicator for prediction not only SAP, but also mortality.
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Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) occurs in approximately 30% to 40% of patients who receive chemotherapy; however, standardized treatment for CIPN has not yet been developed. Acupuncture is widely used to treat CIPN in Korea, but its efficacy has not been investigated. The purpose of this study is to review the current literature on the efficacy of acupuncture and electroacupuncture (EA) in treating CIPN. ⋯ CRD42018111509.
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Case Reports
Laparoscopic approach to an incidentally found pelvic retroperitoneal liposarcoma: Case report and review.
Well-differentiated liposarcomas (WDLPS) are rare retroperitoneal tumors that can reach significant size as they can grow without constrains before becoming symptomatic. Laparotomic open radical tumor resection represents the most common surgical approach. ⋯ Despite computed tomography scan is the gold standard technique to identify WDLPS, such neoplasms can be misdiagnosed for mature ovarian teratomas. When a retroperitoneal mass is incidentally discovered during a surgery, an open core-needle biopsy is usually performed, and appropriate treatment planned only after complete staging and final pathology are available. Instead, when tumor margins are identified, resection of an incidentally diagnosed WDLPS would benefit from laparoscopic magnification that could improve distinguishing the disease from the surrounding tissues. Therefore, laparoscopy could represent a safe and effective technique to diagnose and treat retroperitoneal diseases.
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Comparative Study Observational Study
A technology-enabled electronic incident report to document and facilitate management of sport concussion: A cohort study of youth and young adults.
Despite the widespread awareness of concussion across all levels of sport, the management of concussion from youth to college is inconsistent and fragmented. A fundamental gap contributing to inconsistent care is the lack of a scalable, systematic approach to document initial injury characteristics following concussion. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in injury profiles and management of youth, high school, and college athletes using a mobile application for incident report documentation. ⋯ The high frequency of youth athletes sent to the emergency department, despite the absence of red flags, may be a reflection of inadequate medical coverage at youth events, ultimately resulting in unnecessary utilization of emergency medicine services. The relatively high incidence of delayed injury reporting implies that additional educational efforts targeting student-athletes and the utilization of resources to improve injury detection are warranted. The systematic collection of injury-related demographics through the electronic mobile application facilitated interdisciplinary communication and improved the efficiency of managing athletes with concussion.