Medicine
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Review Case Reports
Multiorgan resection with inferior vena cava reconstruction for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis: A case report and literature review.
Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a life-threatening parasitic disease characterized by its tumor-like growth. Radical operation is deemed the curable method for AE treatment if R0-resection is achievable. ⋯ This patient had an uneventful postoperative recovery and a good prognosis. Multiorgan resection is justified and unavoidable in selected patients when AE lesions invade different organs and the main vascular structures.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Correlation of platelets count with endoscopic findings in a cohort of Egyptian patients with liver cirrhosis.
Screening endoscopy is recommended for early detection of esophageal varices (EVs) in cirrhotic patients with portal hypertension. However, this approach is limited by its invasiveness and cost. The aim of the study was to determine if platelet count can predict the presence of EVs, especially large (grade III, IV) EVs in need of prophylactic therapy, in a cohort of Egyptian patients with liver cirrhosis. ⋯ Platelet count is a noninvasive parameter with high accuracy for prediction of EVs. Cirrhotic patients with normal platelet counts (above 150,000), especially in financially deprived developing countries, can avoid screening endoscopy as they are at a low risk for variceal bleeding, and presence of large EVs in these patients is much less common than in those with thrombocytopenia. A 3.175 cut-off value of FIB-4 could be useful as a noninvasive predictor of large varices requiring prophylactic banding in cirrhotic patients.
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Multicenter Study
18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography and the risk of subsequent aortic complications in giant-cell arteritis: A multicenter cohort of 130 patients.
Previous studies reported a 2- to 17-fold higher risk of aortic complications (dilation or dissection) in patients with giant-cell arteritis (GCA). We aimed to determine whether or not GCA patients with large-vessel involvement demonstrated by positron emission tomography with F-fluorodeoxyglucose combined with computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) have a higher risk of aortic complications. We conducted a retrospective multicenter study between 1995 and 2014. ⋯ All of them displayed large-vessel inflammation on previous FDG-PET/CT. A positive FDG-PET/CT was significantly associated with a higher risk of aortic complications (P = 0.004). In our study, a positive FDG-PET/CT was associated with an increased risk of aortic complications at 5 years.
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Observational Study
Laser speckle contrast imaging identifies ischemic areas on gastric tube reconstructions following esophagectomy.
Gastric tube reconstruction (GTR) is a high-risk surgical procedure with substantial perioperative morbidity. Compromised arterial blood supply and venous congestion are believed to be the main etiologic factors associated with early and late anastomotic complications. Identifying low blood perfusion areas may provide information on the risks of future anastomotic leakage and could be essential for improving surgical techniques. ⋯ It was feasible to implement LSCI intraoperatively to produce blood perfusion assessments on intact and reconstructed whole stomachs. The analytical design presented in this study resulted in good reproducibility of gastric perfusion measurements between different investigators. LSCI provides spatial and temporal information on the location of adequate tissue perfusion and may thus be an important aid in optimizing surgical and anesthesiological procedures for strategically selecting anastomotic site in patients undergoing esophagectomy with GTR.
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Review Meta Analysis
The use of gabapentin in the management of postoperative pain after total knee arthroplasty: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Pain management after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) varies and has been widely studied in recent years. Some randomized controlled studies have carried out to evaluate the effects of gabapentin on pain relief after TKA. However, no solid result was made about it. ⋯ There was a high risk of selection bias and a higher heterogeneity of knee flexion range in this analysis. More high-quality large randomized controlled trials with long follow-up period are necessary for proper comparisons of the efficacy and safety of gabapentin with placebo. Systematic review registration number: No.