Medicine
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Early right ventricular dysfunction in patients with non-advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has not been fully elucidated. Thus, we aimed to assess right ventricular functions in IPF patients and controls by speckle-tracking strain echocardiography at rest and peak exercise. We screened 116 IPF patients from February to August 2019 to include 20 patients with no history of oxygen therapy, peripheral saturation levels ≥92% at rest, Gender-Age-Physiology Index score ≤5, and modified Medical Research Council score ≤3. ⋯ Right ventricular dysfunction was unveiled by speckle-tracking echocardiography during exercise in non-advanced IPF patients. We suggest that this reflects an inadequate right ventricular-arterial coupling decreasing the right ventricular longitudinal contraction during exercise in these patients. This parameter may be useful as an early index of suspected pulmonary hypertension.
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2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a new acute infectious disease of respiratory system, posed a great threat to human health because of its strong infectivity and rapid progress. This study aimed to assess the severity of COVID-19 Pneumonia by analyzing the change of CT manifestations and body temperature. This retrospective review included 22 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. ⋯ Three patients had normalized body temperature increased more than 1°C within 1 to 2 days after admission. Ten patients fluctuated more than 1°C within 1 to 7 days after admission and the second CT scans showed the disease was at the progressive stage. Dynamic analysis of CT manifestations and body temperature have the potential to predict the severity of COVID-19 pneumonia.
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Lung cancer (LC) is a prevalent malignancy worldwide with increased morbidity and mortality. Mitochondrial nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-dependent deacetylase sirtuin-3 (SIRT3) has been reported to be involved in tumorigenesis. In this retrospective study, we measured the expression and diagnostic value of SIRT3 in LC patients. ⋯ The optimal cutoff value was 3.12, reaching a sensitivity of 86.4%, and a specificity of 94%. SIRT3 expression is significantly down-regulated in LC serum and tissues. SIRT3 may be employed as a promising biomarker in the early diagnosis of LC.
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To evaluate whether the preoperative serum albumin level can predict the survival outcome in patients with bladder urothelial carcinoma (BUC) undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). ⋯ Our study determined that a low preoperative albumin level predicted poor OS in patients with BUC who underwent TURBT. Preoperative serum albumin is an inexpensive and easily available marker that has the potential to be a good prognostic factor for predicting mortality in patients with BUC treated with TURBT.
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More attention has been placed on nonfunctioning pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors due to the increase in its incidence in recent years. Whether tumor resection at the primary site of metastatic NFpNET is effective remains controversial. Moreover, clinicians need a more precise prognostic tool to estimate the survival of these patients. ⋯ Coarsened exact matching analysis using SEER data indicated the survival advantages of resection of primary tumors. Our study is the first to build a nomogram model for patients with metastatic NFpNETs. This predictive tool can help clinicians identify high-risk patients and more accurately assess patient survival times.