Medicine
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The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy for elderly patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). ⋯ CRD42020225245.
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Adenomyoepithelioma (AME) is a rare biphasic tumor consisting of epithelial and Myoepithelial cell. Most of the AME is benign, and only a few will progress to malignancy, Here, we report a case of low-grade malignant adenomyoepithelioma, and review the related literature, in a bid to investigate its clinical and pathological features and thus, enhance our understanding of this tumor. ⋯ Treatment of AME remains controversial owing to the lack of high volume data and absence of prospective studies. Simple mastectomy is an acceptable treatment of this tumor.
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Observational Study
Usefulness of cardiac biomarkers for prognosis of better outcomes in chronic heart failure: Retrospective 18-year follow-up study.
Brain natriuretic peptide is an established, surrogate follow-up marker, strongly correlated with heart failure severity. Several other biomarkers and tests are useful for assessing the prognosis of patients with HF, such as oxidized low-density lipoprotein antibodies and C-reactive protein. Some inflammatory cells, including monocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils, are involved in coronary heart disease and may be useful for prognosis also. ⋯ Mortality rate was 41%. Regression analysis showed New York Heart Association class, lymphocyte count and alkaline phosphatase were independent predictors of survival, with hazard ratios of 1.0, 0.973, and 1.006, respectively (P < .05). N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, alkaline phosphatase, and lymphocyte count are important prognostic predictors for very long-term follow-up among patients with chronic HF.
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Observational Study
Predicting factors of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Thai patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: A STROBE-compliant study.
Studies on predicting factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) in Thai patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are limited. This retrospective observation study determined APOs and their predictors in Thai patients with SLE. Medical records of pregnant SLE patients in a lupus cohort, seen from January 1993 to June 2017, were reviewed. ⋯ Cutaneous vasculitis (33.87 [1.05-1,094.65], P = .047), and renal (31.89 [6.66-152.69], P < .001), mucocutaneous (9.17 [1.83-45.90], P = .007) and hematologic involvement (128.00 [4.60-3,564.46], P = .004) during pregnancy predicted flare; while prednisolone (>10 mg/day) and immunosuppressive drug use at conception reduced that risk (0.08 [0.01-0.68, P = .021). APOs remain a problem in Thai pregnant SLE patients. Renal involvement and SLE flares were associated with the risk of APOs.
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Observational Study
Effect of medications after cardiac surgery on long-term outcomes in patients with cirrhosis.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) after cardiac surgery in the liver cirrhosis (LC) patients. We conducted a population-based cohort study using data from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 2001 to 2013. The outcomes of interest included all-cause mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) and liver and renal outcomes. ⋯ The risk of negative liver outcomes was significantly lower in the ARB group compared with the ACEI group (9.6% vs 22.7%, hazard ratio [HR] 0.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.31-0.83). Furthermore, the risk of MACCE (44.2% vs 54.7%, HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.65-0.96), all-cause mortality (35.3% vs 46.4%, HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.60-0.92), composite liver outcomes (9.6% vs 16.5%, HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.85) and hepatic encephalopathy (2.7% vs 5.7%, HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.21-0.94) were lower in the ARB group than the control group. Our study demonstrated that ARBs provide a greater protective effect than ACEIs in regard to long-term outcomes following cardiac surgery in patients with LC.