Medicine
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Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is a particularly common problem in preterm infants. Although surgical ligation is rarely performed in many contemporary neonatal intensive care units, it remains a necessary treatment option for preterm infants with a large hemodynamically significant PDA under strict clinical criteria, and it can reduce mortality in preterm infants. However, the optimal timing of surgical ligation is still controversial. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the mortality and morbidity of early and late surgical ligation of PDA in preterm or very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants. ⋯ CRD42019133686.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of subcutaneous needling on visual analogue scale, IgG and IgM in patients with lumbar disc herniation: Study protocol clinical trial (SPIRIT Compliant).
Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a disease commonly seen in clinical practice. In the majority of such patients presenting in clinic, the symptoms can be relieved or even abolished after non-surgical treatment. Floating needle therapy has attracted considerable attention as a promising non-surgical technique to treat LDH, as demonstrated in previous studies. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the outcomes of patients treated using this therapy in a single blind and randomized controlled trial by recording patient report questionnaires and objective test data, and to explore the feasibility and preliminary effects of floating needle therapy for patients with LDH. ⋯ PROSPERO (registration number ChiCTR1900024045).
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Patients with advanced gastric or gastro-oesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJC) that fail to respond to prior chemotherapy have poor clinical prognosis. Lately, many trials have paid much attention on the oncological outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). A new therapy based on programmed death 1 (PD-1)/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors has recognized as promising prospects for advanced GC/GEJC. We assessed efficacy and safety of PD-L1 antibody versus chemotherapy alone in previously treated non-small cell lung cancer. ⋯ Treatment of patients with advanced GC/GEJC with PD-1/PD-L1 targeted did result in an improvement in some but not all survival endpoints. Moreover, it had a comparable toxicity profile as compared with chemotherapy alone. More well designed studies are needed to develop a database of all anti-PD1/PD-L1 sub-groups and their individual impact on the differing anti-PD1/PD-L1 treatments.
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Meta Analysis
Whether statin use improves the survival of patients with glioblastoma?: A meta-analysis.
Glioblastomas are malignant brain tumors associated with high mortality and poor prognosis. Evidence from preclinical studies suggests that statins have an antitumor role, but their effects on the survival of patients with glioblastoma remain controversial. This meta-analysis attempts to assess the association between statins and glioblastoma. ⋯ Use of statins was not associated with prolonged survival of patients with glioblastoma. Further well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm.
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Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common etiology for vision loss. There is contrasting evidence on the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and the risk of RVO. We performed a meta-analysis of published articles before October 31, 2019, to estimate a pooled odds ratio for the association between DM and RVO, including central and branch RVO by a fixed or random effects model. ⋯ Subgroup analysis indicated that DM was significantly associated with CRVO (OR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.29-3.03, I = 67.9%), but not significantly associated with BRVO (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 0.95-1.56, I = 64.1%). In conclusion, the result of present meta-analysis suggested that DM is a risk factor for RVO. More well-designed studies on the relationship between RVO and DM should be undertaken in the future.