Annals of medicine
-
To investigate the age at recognition and presentation for surgery for congenital and developmental cataract at Kazakh Eye Research Institute in Kazakhstan. ⋯ The average age at cataract surgery in the population of Kazakhstan is much older than in developed countries. It is essential to study barriers that associated with delayed presentation to build strategies to overcome them.Key messagesIt is known that cataract surgery in children early in life provides favourable visual outcome.Children with congenital and developmental cataract in Kazakhstan experience delay in surgical treatment.Children from rural areas undergo cataract surgery later than urban citizens.
-
To address the feasibility, reliability and internal validity of natural language processing (NLP) for automated functional assessment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in key International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) categories and levels from unstructured text in electronic health records (EHR) from a large teaching hospital. ⋯ Using a limited amount of annotated EHR sentences, a proof-of-concept was obtained for automated functional assessment of COVID-19 patients in ICF categories and levels. This allows for instantaneous assessment of the functional consequences of new diseases like COVID-19 for large numbers of patients.Key messagesHospitalised Covid-19 survivors may persistently suffer from low physical and mental functioning and a reduction in overall quality of life requiring appropriate and personalised rehabilitation strategies.For this, assessment of functioning within multiple domains and categories of the International Classification of Function is required, which is cumbersome using structured data.We show a proof-of-concept using Natural Language Processing techniques to automatically derive the aforementioned information from free-text notes within the Electronic Health Record of a large academic teaching hospital.
-
The aim of this study is to determine whether infertile couples who are carriers of chromosomal abnormalities have distinct cumulative clinical pregnancy and cumulative live birth rates among patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART). ⋯ There were no significant differences in the cumulative clinical pregnancy rate or cumulative live birth rate between infertile couples with or without chromosomal abnormalities. KEY MESSAGESThe prevalence of infertility is rising year by year worldwide.Carriers of chromosomal abnormalities undergoing ART have the similar cumulative clinical pregnancy rate or cumulative live birth rate.The data we analysed have a certain significance for clinical decision-making involving ART for couples with chromosomal abnormalities, and it provides a meaningful reference for patients and physicians in the selection of PGT.
-
Colchicine, because of its anti-inflammatory and possible anti-viral properties, has been proposed as potential therapeutic option for COVID-19. The role of colchicine to mitigate "cytokine storm" and to decrease the severity and mortality associated with COVID-19 has been evaluated in many studies. ⋯ Based on the available data, colchicine shall not be recommended to treat COVID-19. Further high-quality and multi-center RCTs are required to assess the meaningful impact of this drug in COVID-19.KEY MESSAGESColchicine, an anti-inflammatory agent has demonstrated anti-viral properties in in-vitro studies by degrading the microtubules, as well as by inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.Colchicine has been studied as a potential therapeutic option for COVID-19, with variable results.Until further research can establish the efficacy of colchicine in COVID-19, the use of colchicine in COVID-19 shall be restricted to clinical trials.
-
Immunothrombosis has recently been used to describe the responses/mechanisms in thrombosis. Systemic inflammatory markers are prognostic markers for a variety of thrombotic conditions; however, their potential value in predicting portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is unknown. This study aimed to establish an easy-to-use nomogram based on systemic inflammatory markers to predict portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in patients with liver cirrhosis. ⋯ PVT in patients with cirrhosis is associated with increased levels of systemic inflammatory markers. We successfully developed a practical nomogram based on NLR and PLR to accurately predict PVT, which is a practical method helping clinicians rapidly and conveniently diagnose and guide the treatment of PVT in patients with cirrhosis.Key MessagesThe present study is the first report on a nomogram based on systemic inflammatory markers in patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT).The nomogram had good predictive efficiency and a good clinical application value for predicting PVT in patients with cirrhosis.