Medicine
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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a crucial public health problem. To improve outcomes of patients after cardiac arrest, the American Heart Association promotes the concept of the chain of survival. We report a case of a 19-year-old man with no markedly past medical history who suffered from OHCA, and he was resuscitated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, without interruption, during the rescue process for 120 minutes until return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). ⋯ Therefore, the patient was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome. Postcardiac arrest care was performed after ROSC, including mild therapeutic hypothermia, hemodynamic monitoring and management, and ICD implantation, and then the patient completely recovered without any noticeable neurological or intellectual deficits in the follow-up examinations. Our case demonstrates that even after an OHCA with prolonged time (120 minutes) until ROSC, survival with a favorable neurological outcome is possible, provided implementation of an extremely effective rescue chain.
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β-Blockers have been reported to exhibit potential anticancer effects in cancer cell lines and animal models. However, clinical studies have yielded inconsistent results regarding cancer outcomes and cancer risk when β-blockers were used. This study investigated the association between propranolol and cancer risk. ⋯ The protective effect of propranolol for head and neck, stomach, colon, and prostate cancers was most substantial when exposure duration exceeded 1000 days. This study supports the proposition that propranolol can reduce the risk of head and neck, esophagus, stomach, colon, and prostate cancers. Further prospective study is necessary to confirm these findings.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival benefit of palliative gastrectomy for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal seeding proven intraoperatively and to identify positive predictive factors for improving survival. The value of palliative resection for gastric cancer patients with peritoneal metastasis is controversial. From 2006 to 2013, 267 gastric cancer patients with intraoperatively identified peritoneal dissemination were retrospectively analyzed. ⋯ In multivariate analysis, P3 disease (P = 0.000), absence of resection (P = 0.000), and lack of chemotherapy (P = 0.000) were identified as independently associated with poor survival. Palliative gastrectomy might be beneficial to the survival of gastric cancer patients with intraoperatively proven P1/P2 alone, rather than P3. Postoperative palliative chemotherapy could improve survival regardless of operation and should be recommended.
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Pharmacists record data on all drugs claimed and may build a personal relationship with their clients. We hypothesized that loyalty to a single pharmacy could be associated with a better quality of drug use. To assess the association between pharmacy loyalty and quality of drug use among individuals treated with oral antidiabetes drugs (OADs). ⋯ Quality of drug use decreased as the number of different pharmacies increased (linear contrast tests <0.001). Results underscore the important role pharmacists could play in helping their clients with chronic diseases to better manage their drug treatments. Further research is needed to determine to what extent the positive effects associated with pharmacy loyalty are specifically due to pharmacists.
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Observational Study
The Association of Hematological Malignancy and End-of-Life Expenditure in Cancer Decedents: A Population-Based Study in an Asian Country.
Within the overall National Health Insurance (NHI) budget in Taiwan, there has been a remarkable increase in expenditure for cancer patients. This study was designed to explore whether hematological malignancy is associated with higher end-of-life (EOL) medical expenditure in their last 6 months of life. We used data from the Taiwan NHI Research Database to do a retrospective cohort and population-based study. ⋯ The primary physician's specialty between acute leukemia, lymphoma, and nonhematological malignancy patients had statistically difference. The medical expenditure of cancer patients in acute leukemia and lymphoma was more than nonhematological malignancy. Treatment strategies for acute leukemia should be studied further in order to save the health care budget.