Plos One
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Computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) has not only become the method of choice for diagnosing acute pulmonary embolism (PE), it also allows for risk stratification of patients with PE. To date, no study has specifically examined the predictive value of CTPA findings to assess short-term prognosis in elderly patients with acute PE who are particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes. ⋯ In elderly patients with acute PE, the CTOI was associated with PE-related 90-day mortality but not with overall 90-day mortality. The RV/LV diameter ratio did not predict mortality. Both measures predicted VTE recurrence and LOS. The evaluated CTPA findings do not appear to offer any advantage over the PESI in terms of mortality prediction.
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Comparative Study
An in vivo comparison study in goats for a novel motion-preserving cervical joint system.
Cervical degenerative disease is one of the most common spinal disorders worldwide, especially in older people. Anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF) is a useful method for the surgical treatment of multi-level cervical degenerative disease. Anterior cervical disc replacement (ACDR) is considered as an alternative surgical method. ⋯ Compared with the intact state and the ACCF group, ACVC could provide immediate stability and preserve segmental movement after discectomy and corpectomy. Besides, HA biocoating provide a better bone ingrowth, which is essential for long-term stability. In conclusion, ACVC-HA brings new insight to treat cervical degenerative disease.
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Maternal obesity in pregnancy has been linked with increased risk of pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH). In some tertiary referral hospitals in Ghana, PIH is the leading cause of institutional maternal mortality. ⋯ Obese women have a significantly increased risk of PIH. Women should be screened at booking for obesity status. Antenatal protocols should have interventions for prevention or early detection of obesity and management of obesity to improve outcomes.
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Lung transplant patients are a vulnerable group of immunosuppressed patients that are prone to frequent respiratory infections. We studied 60 episodes of respiratory symptoms in 71 lung transplant patients. Almost half of these episodes were of unknown infectious etiology despite extensive routine diagnostic testing. ⋯ This study highlights the potential of metagenomic sequencing for virus diagnostics in cases with previously unknown etiology of infection and in complex diagnostic situations such as in immunocompromised hosts.
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The aim of the study was to determine the longitudinal validity, reproducibility, responsiveness and interpretability of the adult version of the Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile, a patient-report measure of health-related quality of life. ⋯ Support was found for the reproducibility, longitudinal validity, responsiveness and interpretability of most groups of Brisbane Burn Scar Impact Profile items and some individual items in the test population. Potential redundancy of items should be investigated further.