Annals of medicine
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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.
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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.
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To assess in vivo confocal microscopy features of corneal sub-basal nerve plexus in patients with congenital or aponeurogenic blepharoptosis using a fully automated software (ACCMetrics). ⋯ These data suggested that corneal confocal microscopy demonstrated no significant changes in patients with blepharoptosis as compared with normal controls, except for relatively wider CNFW in congenital affected eyes. However, in some children and young adults with congenital blepharoptosis, the density of corneal sub-basal nerve plexus was evidently decreased, which needs to be cautioned when ones with congenital blepharoptosis want to take corneal surgeries or wear contact lens.Key messagesWhen compared with normal controls, no significant effect was found in the influence of blepharoptosis on the most of corneal nerve parameters, except for corneal nerve fibre width (CNFW) in the group of congenital blepharoptosis.The age of onset of blepharoptosis may influence corneal nerve fibres, so timely surgical treatment of congenital blepharoptosis is not only conducive to the development of normal vision, but also beneficial to the reduction of corneal nerve lesions to some extent.We noted that some young blepharoptosis patients revealed sparse corneal nerve, which should be taken precaution when ones with congenital blepharoptosis who want to take corneal surgeries or wear contact lens.
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Adequate bowel preparation is an essential factor in colonoscopy. Enhanced education on the procedure of bowel preparation is very necessary for patients before colonoscopy. We analysed the influence of a novel education platform on bowel preparation quality before colonoscopy. ⋯ The smartphone education platform may effectively improve bowel preparation quality, PDR, and patients' compliance.Key messagesThe quality of bowel preparation mainly relies on the patients' compliance with the bowel preparation instructions.The study reveals that the superiority of the smartphone education platform by Mini Program in improving bowel preparation and colorectal polyp detection rate.The smartphone education platform may provide a more effective, convenient, and labour-saving way to provide further improvements to patients prior to colonoscopy.
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This study aims to identify potential prognostic and therapeutic biomarkers in papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC). ⋯ Eight genes were identified as a prognostic biomarker and the expression level of PTTG1 was also found to serve as a potential predictor for ICB response in pRCC patients.Key messages:Eight genes, including BUB1B, CCNB1, CCNB2, MAD2L1, TTK, CDC20, PTTG1, and MCM were found to be negatively associated with pRCC patients' prognosis.Expression level of PTTG1 was significantly associated with tumour microenvironment including lymphocytes, immunomodulators, and chemokines.Higher expression level of PTTG1 was significantly associated with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) response in FUSCC cohort.