Medicine
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Exposure keratopathy (EK) is common among intensive care unit (ICU) patients, especially those under sedation and with incomplete eyelid closure. EK can be mild punctate epithelial erosions exhibiting spontaneous recovery; rarely, severe complications including bacterial ulcers causing corneal perforation or opacity could occur. We describe a patient with pre-existing Graves' orbitopathy (GO) who developed bilateral, rapidly progressing bacterial keratitis due to EK with secondary aerosol inoculation from respiratory pathogens in ICU. ⋯ GO increases ocular surface inflammation and exposure, which may exacerbate EK and subsequent complication risks. Careful monitoring and aggressive treatment through appropriate eye care regimen are required in these patients.
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Observational Study
Increased serum nesfatin-1 levels in patients with acromegaly.
Nesfatin-1 was identified as a satiety factor involved in the regulation of metabolism. Altered levels of circulating nesfatin-1 had been observed in a variety of diseases characterized by energy imbalance. However, there was no published data about nesfatin-1 levels in acromegaly. ⋯ There was no relationship between serum nesfatin-1 levels and tumor's size, Ki-67 index, mutant p53, or MGMT proteins. However, increased serum GH levels were positively correlated with tumors' size (P = .023) and mutant p53 proteins expression (P = .028). Circulating nesfatin-1 was increased in acromegaly, which was involved in metabolism regulation.
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Meta Analysis
Efficacy and safety of acupuncture for trigeminal neuralgia: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a disease accompanied by severe facial pain, which seriously affects the daily life of patients. Acupuncture is widely used by Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors to treat various painful diseases. Acupuncture combined with the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia can increase the analgesic effect and reduce side effects. However, there is still a lack of more quality multi-center clinical controlled trials and comprehensive meta-analysis, and a lack of more comprehensive and stronger evidence-based medical evidence. ⋯ The research has been registered and approved on the PROSPERO website. The registration number is CRD42019119606.
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Case Reports
Diffuse primary extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the peritoneum: A rare case report.
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors that present outside the gastrointestinal tract are known for extra-gastrointestinal stromal tumors (EGISTs) and they share the same morphological and immunohistochemical characteristics with gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Here we report a rare case of diffuse primary EGIST arising at peritoneum. ⋯ EGISTs are rare and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of the peritoneal tumors and immunohistochemistry helps to confirm the diagnosis. Further study with longer follow-up is desired to characterize these uncommon tumors.
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Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is one of the common complications of many serious liver diseases. Western medicine treatment is mainly symptomatic treatment such as neutralizing blood ammonia and protecting liver, which has poor curative effect, easy repetition and high mortality. Retention enema with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used on treatment of HE in China for many years. And it has been clinically proved that retention enema with TCM is effective and safe. But there is absent convincing evidence-based medicine to confirm the efficacy of retention enema with TCM for HE. Thus, we aimed to conduct this meta-analysis to summarize the efficacy of retention enema with TCM in patients with HE. ⋯ INPLASY202080107.