Medicine
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The early detection and diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is critical to providing appropriate and timely treatment. We explored a new active case-finding strategy for COPD using handheld spirometry. We recruited subjects over 40 years of age with a smoking history of more than 10 pack-years who visited a primary clinic complaining of respiratory symptoms. ⋯ This study suggested that physicians should recommend handheld spirometry for people over the age of 40, who have a smoking history of more than 10 pack-years, regardless of respiratory symptoms. Furthermore, people who have abnormal results, determined using the FEV1/FEV6 ≤0.77 cut-off, should be referred for further conventional spirometry to confirm the diagnosis of COPD. However, further studies within the general population are necessary to establish efficacy in the public.
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Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) is a new approach to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). The INTREPID trial suggested that SRT could reduce the frequency of regular intravitreal injections (IVIs) with antivascular endothelial growth factor drugs, which are necessary to control disease activity. However, the efficacy of SRT in nAMD and resulting morphological changes have not been validated under real-life circumstances, an issue, which we would like to address in this retrospective analysis. ⋯ Morphological evaluation showed that most changes affect outer retinal layers. Stereotactic radiotherapy significantly reduced IVI retreatment in nAMD patients under real-life circumstances. Therefore, SRT might be the first step to stop visual loss as a result of IVI undertreatment, which is a major risk.
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Anatomical resection (AR) is superior to nonanatomical resection (NAR) in theory, but the actual clinical benefit of AR for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial due to the substantial heterogeneity of HCC. Here, we retrospectively compared AR and NAR outcomes for solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) <5 cm in the right posterior section (RPS) and investigated the risk factors for HCC recurrence and liver-related mortality. The study included 99 consecutive patients who underwent curative surgical resection of an HCC in the RPS (S6 and S7) between January 2003 and December 2009. ⋯ The corresponding liver-related overall survival rates were 96.3%, 84.7%, and 77.0% in the AR group and 97.2%, 90.1%, and 88.7% in the NAR group, respectively (P = 0.335). NAR was not associated with HCC recurrence or liver-related mortality in multivariate analysis. The outcomes of NAR for a solitary HCC <5 cm in the RPS are comparable to those achieved with AR with respect to long-term liver-related overall survival and disease-free survival.
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The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between sleep duration and glaucoma, stratified by obesity status. This study was conducted using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V 2010 to 2012. Open-angle glaucoma was diagnosed according to the International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology criteria. ⋯ Unlike for overweight individuals, sleep duration in nonoverweight individuals was not statistically significantly associated with glaucoma. Our results reveal a U-shaped association between sleep duration and the prevalence of glaucoma. An effect of sleep duration on glaucoma was present in the subgroup of overweight patients.
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Currently, there are few guidelines for the use of vitamin K1 in the maintenance treatment of long-acting anticoagulant rodenticide (LAAR) poisonings. We explored factors in the treatment of LAAR poisoning during the maintenance period in order to suggest feasible treatment models. Data from 24 cases of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning in our hospital were collected from January 2013 to May 2016. ⋯ Only VKSTT (partial regression coefficient -1.133, 0.59, P = 0.035) had an obvious influence on the therapeutic dose of vitamin K1 required during the maintenance period. After an initial pulse therapy, the bleeding and coagulation functions were stabilized, and the patients were subsequently treated with vitamin K1 during the maintenance period. Over time, the maintenance dose of vitamin K1 (10-120 mg/d, intravenous drip) was gradually decreased and was not related to toxicant concentration.