Medicine
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Surgical management for lumbar brucella spondylitis: Posterior versus anterior approaches.
There has been no ideal surgical approach for lumbar brucella spondylitis (LBS). This study aims to compare clinical efficacy and safety of posterior versus anterior approaches for the treatment of LBS. From April 2005 to January 2015, a total of 27 adult patients with lumbar brucella spondylitis were recruited in this study. ⋯ There were no significant differences between the two groups in hospitalizations, bony fusion time, and visual analog scale score in the last follow-up (P = .055, P = .364, P = .125, respectively). Our results suggested that both anterior and posterior approaches can effectively cure lumbar brucella spondylitis. Nevertheless, posterior approach gives better kyphotic deformity correction, less surgical invasiveness, and less complications.
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Case Reports
Importance of early detection of infantile inflammatory bowel disease with defective IL-10 pathway: A case report.
Infantile inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an extremely rare subgroup of IBD that includes patients whose age of onset is younger than 2 years old. These patients can have more surgical interventions, and a severe and refractory disease course with higher rates of conventional treatment failure. Monogenic defects play an important role in this subgroup of IBD, and identification of the underlying defect can guide the therapeutic approach. ⋯ Early detection of underlying genetic causes of patients with infantile-IBD is crucial, since it may prevent patients from undergoing unnecessary surgeries and adverse effects from ineffective medical therapies. Moreover, infantile-IBD patients with complex perianal disease, intractable early onset enterocolitis and extraintestinal manifestations including oral ulcers and skin folliculitis, should undergo genetic and functional testing for IL-10 pathway defect.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Therapeutic effects of puerarin on polycystic ovary syndrome: A randomized trial in Chinese women.
This study aims to assess the therapeutic effects of a well-known component (puerarin) obtained from a Chinese herb root in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). ⋯ The addition of puerarin to the present treatment protocol can be considered for the management of metabolic disorders and hyperandrogenism in PCOS patients.
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Comparative Study
Stent insertion for inoperable hilar cholangiocarcinoma: Comparison of radioactive and normal stenting.
To assess effectiveness and safety associated with radioactive stenting for hilar cholangiocarcinoma (HCCA) patients. This single-center retrospective study compared baseline and treatment data of recruited consecutive patients with HCCA underwent either normal or radioactive stenting between January 2016 and December 2019. Clinical success was defined by total bilirubin (TBIL) levels falling below 70% of the preoperative baseline within 2 weeks post stent insertion. ⋯ During follow-up, all patients died from tumor progression, with respective median survival of 198 days (normal group) and 256 days (radioactive group) (P < .001). Seven and 5 patients in the normal and radioactive groups suffered from stent-related complications (P = .730). Radioactive stenting is effective and safe for inoperable HCCA patient and may prolong stent patency and survival.
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Sexual dysfunction is a common problem after cerebral infarction; however, little is known about sexual arousal in poststroke patients. Thus, this study aimed to investigate brain activation in response to visual sexual stimuli in patients with right middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory infarction using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Using fMRI in 20 participants (11 right MCA infarction patients and 9 age-matched healthy controls), we assessed brain activation elicited by visual sexual stimuli (erotic images) and visual nonsexual stimuli (landscape images). ⋯ Brain areas that were more activated by visual sexual stimuli in right MCA infarction patients than in controls included the right parahippocampal gyrus and the bilateral frontal subgyral area. These fMRI results suggest that brain activation patterns in response to visual sexual stimuli might be influenced by right MCA infarction. Further research is needed to explore the association between sexual dysfunction and brain activation in poststroke patients.