Medicine
-
Review Meta Analysis
Efficacy of intense pulsed light and meibomian gland expression treatments in meibomian gland dysfunction: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
This review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intense pulsed light treatment combined with meibomian gland expression treatments in meibomian gland dysfunction. ⋯ IPL-MGX is safer and more efficacious as compared to the MGX alone in the treatment of patients with meibomian gland dysfunction-related dry eye. We recommend discussing the decision with the ophthalmologist for an appropriate choice.
-
Some studies have reported using ultrasonic evaluations to assess diaphragm function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, they have limitations and thus cannot provide strong evidence to support ultrasound evaluations for diaphragm function and dysfunction severity assessments in this patient population. Additionally, quantitative studies on the relationship between ultrasound evaluations and diaphragm function do not exist. Therefore, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the usefulness of ultrasonography for evaluating diaphragm function in patients with COPD. ⋯ Ultrasonography effectively evaluates diaphragm function in patients with COPD. The diaphragm offset can be used as an auxiliary diagnostic index for COPD, which is also related to disease severity.
-
Breast cancer is one of the highest rates of malignancy of women, approximate 70% metastatic breast cancer are hormone receptor positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-). Hormone therapy is the primary strategy of HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer. ⋯ In recent years, the research on dealing with drug resistance has become a hot topic, a large number of molecular mechanisms have been focused, and a lot of experiments have been carried out at the preclinical level. This review summarizes the current knowledge of CDK4/6i resistance mechanism, systematically expounds the signaling pathways and targets leading to CDK4/6i resistance, analyzes different ways and mechanisms, and provides theoretical guidance for the clinical reversal of endocrine therapy resistance.
-
Fibrosis is the end stage of many chronic inflammatory diseases and eventually leads to organ failure. Periplaneta americana (P. americana) is referred to as "the product of flesh and blood" in traditional Chinese medicine and has a wide range of therapeutic effects. Owing to the growing interest in this insect for its application in the treatment of tissue injury-healing disorders that induce organ fibrosis, it has attracted the interest of researchers. ⋯ Emerging evidence suggests that P. americana extracts may improve scarring, pulmonary fibrosis, liver fibrosis, and kidney fibrosis through the regulation of fibroblast activation, cytokine secretion, and deposition of fibrin, indicating the potential role of P. americana as a therapeutic option for organ fibrosis. P. americana is a potential therapeutic agent for treating fibrosis. Further studies are required for a more in-depth characterization of the antifibrogenic mechanism of P. americana prior to its clinical application in the treatment of organ fibrosis. (Fig. 1).
-
There is a myriad of microwave ablation (MWA) systems used in clinical settings worldwide for the management of liver cancer that offer a variety of features and capabilities. However, an analysis on which features and capabilities result in the most favorable efficacy and safety results has never been completed due to a lack of head-to-head comparisons. The aim of this study is to compare single-antenna and multiple-antenna MWA using radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as a common comparator in the treatment of very-early, early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and ≤5 cm liver metastases. ⋯ Multi-antenna and single-antenna MWA showed similar effectiveness for local treatment of liver tumors, but synchronous multi-antenna MWA exhibited better LTPF compared to other MWA approaches, particularly for larger liver tumors (≥2 cm). Large-scale RCTs should be further conducted.