Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre
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Ego-resiliency is attributed the status of a "meta resource" that is responsible for a flexible selection of coping strategies depending on the requirements of a specific difficult situation. A considerably burdensome critical life event is the development of a chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Apart from coping with the symptoms, a fundamental task confronting patients is maintaining their quality of life. This raises the question of whether ego-resiliency serves as a mediator between coping strategies and quality of life. ⋯ Our observations partly support the assumption about a controlling role of ego-resiliency in the process of selecting coping strategies according to demands of situations.
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Coccydynia is a disorder that decreases quality of life with significant functional failure. Extra-corporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is used to treat several painful musculoskeletal disorders. ⋯ In our patient group, ESWT provided effective pain control. In order to evaluate the efficacy of ESWT more accurately and sensitively, prospective randomized studies with longer follow-up periods, in which ESWT is compared with different energy doses and different treatment methods, are needed.
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An increased left atrial volume index (LAVI) is related to increased mortality in hemodialysis patients. In the present study, we evaluated the association between the LAVI and the P wave peak time (PWPT), a newly introduced electrocardiographic parameter, in hemodialysis patients. ⋯ This study showed that a prolonged PWPTD2 was independently associated with an increased LAVI in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, measuring the PWPTD2 duration on an electrocardiogram may help define high-risk hemodialysis patients with increased LAVIs.
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Pulmonary hypertension (PH) can complicate the course of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). Echocardiography is a useful noninvasive screening test for PH in populations at risk. We aimed to investigate the echocardiographic evidence of PH and clinical characteristics of patients with MPNs. ⋯ Our results suggest that patients with myelofibrosis are more likely to develop PH than other MPNs patients. Disease duration may predict the development of PH in MPN patients.
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A tonsillolith is a concretion of the tonsillar crypt. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare panoramic radiography (PR) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) for the detection of tonsilloliths. ⋯ The results of this study showed that more than half of the tonsilloliths observed in CBCT were also detected in PR. Tonsilloliths larger than 2 mm were more likely to be detected on PR images.