Medicine
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Comparative Study Observational Study
HBV is a risk factor for poor patient prognosis after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma: A retrospective case-control study.
Controversy exists regarding pathological factors affecting the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV-HCC). Their postoperative clinical behaviors and the exact HBV Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) thresholds that distinguish good and poor prognoses are unknown. This study aimed to compare clinicopathological, pre- and postoperative clinical factors and overall and recurrence-free survival (RFS) between HBV-HCC patients and nonhepatitis B and nonhepatitis C HCC (NBC-HCC) patients to determine the optimal prognostic HBV DNA threshold. ⋯ Finally, X-tile analysis revealed that the optimal HBV DNA cutoff points for predicting RFS and overall survival in HCC patients were 10,100 and 12,800 IU/mL, respectively. After hepatectomy for HCC, HBV-HCC patients had more complications and a worse prognosis than NBC-HCC patients. Antiviral therapy should be considered before hepatectomy in patients with high (more than approximately 10 IU/mL) HBV DNA levels.
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Advanced melanoma is an incurable disease with complex and expensive treatments. The best approach to prevent melanoma at advanced stages is an early diagnosis. A knowledge of factors associated with the process of detecting cutaneous melanomas and the reasons for delays in diagnosis is essential for the improvement of the secondary prevention of the disease. ⋯ Improper treatments without a histopathological confirmation occurred in 14.7% of patients. A professional delay was related to both inappropriate treatments performed without histopathological confirmation (P = 0.003) and long requirements for medical referrals (P < 0.001). A deficient knowledge in the population regarding melanoma and physicians' misdiagnoses regarding suspicious lesions contributed to delays in diagnosis.
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Anxiety and depressive symptoms are associated with adverse cardiovascular events after an acute myocardial infarction (MI). However, most studies focusing on anxiety or depression have used rating scales or self-report methods rather than clinical diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the association between psychiatrist-diagnosed psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular prognosis. ⋯ Greater risk for anxiety and depressive disorders was observed among women and patients aged 45 to 64 years following an acute MI. Patients with post-MI anxiety had a 9.37-fold (95% CI: 4.45-19.70) higher risk of recurrent MI than those without MI did after adjustment for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and comorbidities. This nationwide population-based cohort study provides evidence that MI increases the risk of anxiety and depressive disorders during the first 2 years post-MI, and post-MI anxiety disorders are associated with a higher risk of recurrent MI.
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Observational Study
Analysis of 4000 kidney transplantations in a single center: Across immunological barriers.
Kidney transplant (KT) is the optimal renal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The demand for kidneys, however, continues to exceed the supply. To overcome this problem, efforts to extend the donor pool by including human leukocyte antigen (HLA)- and ABO-incompatible (ABOi) KTs are increasing. ⋯ The overall GS, death-censored GS, and rejection-free GS also did not differ significantly between the FCXM KT and control groups (P = 0.99, 0.42, and 88). The outcomes of KTs continually improved during the study period, while the annual number of KTs increased. ABO or FCXM positive KTs can be performed safely with successful graft outcomes.
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To quantify the reference data concerning the morphometrics of the middle-upper thorax to guide the placement of cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screws. Eighty patients were studied on computed tomography (CT) scans. The reference anatomical parameters were measured. ⋯ The cadaveric anatomical study revealed that 5/240 screws penetrated in the medial or lateral areas, 5/240 screws penetrated in the superior or inferior pedicle wall, and 2/240 screws did not fit into the superior endplate of the pedicle. The CBT screws are safe for the middle-upper thorax. This study provides a theoretical basis for clinical surgery.