Plos One
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A comparison of functional outcome in patients sustaining major trauma: a multicentre, prospective, international study.
To compare 6 month and 12 month health status and functional outcomes between regional major trauma registries in Hong Kong and Victoria, Australia. ⋯ The unadjusted analyses showed better outcomes for Victorian cases compared to Hong Kong but after adjusting for key confounders, there was no difference in 6-month or 12-month functional outcomes between the jurisdictions.
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Multicenter Study
Subject-specific increases in serum S-100B distinguish sports-related concussion from sports-related exertion.
The on-field diagnosis of sports-related concussion (SRC) is complicated by the lack of an accurate and objective marker of brain injury. ⋯ Relative and absolute increases in serum S100B can accurately distinguish SRC from sports-related exertion, and may be a useful adjunct to the diagnosis of SRC.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Screening for vulnerability in older cancer patients: the ONCODAGE Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study.
Geriatric Assessment is an appropriate method for identifying older cancer patients at risk of life-threatening events during therapy. Yet, it is underused in practice, mainly because it is time- and resource-consuming. This study aims to identify the best screening tool to identify older cancer patients requiring geriatric assessment by comparing the performance of two short assessment tools the G8 and the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13). ⋯ With good sensitivity and independent prognostic value on 1-year survival, the G8 questionnaire is currently one of the best screening tools available to identify older cancer patients requiring geriatric assessment, and we believe it should be implemented broadly in daily practice. Continuous research efforts should be pursued to refine the selection process of older cancer patients before potentially life-threatening therapy.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Human traumatic brain injury induces autoantibody response against glial fibrillary acidic protein and its breakdown products.
The role of systemic autoimmunity in human traumatic brain injury (TBI) and other forms of brain injuries is recognized but not well understood. In this study, a systematic investigation was performed to identify serum autoantibody responses to brain-specific proteins after TBI in humans. TBI autoantibodies showed predominant immunoreactivity against a cluster of bands from 38-50 kDa on human brain immunoblots, which were identified as GFAP and GFAP breakdown products. ⋯ TBI patients showed an average 3.77 fold increase in anti-GFAP autoantibody levels from early (0-1 days) to late (7-10 days) times post injury. Changes in autoantibody levels were negatively correlated with outcome as measured by GOS-E score at 6 months, suggesting that TBI patients with greater anti-GFAP immune-responses had worse outcomes. Due to the long lasting nature of IgG, a test to detect anti-GFAP autoantibodies is likely to prolong the temporal window for assessment of brain damage in human patients.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Serum levels of caspase-cleaved cytokeratin-18 and mortality are associated in severe septic patients: pilot study.
Apoptosis is increased in sepsis. Cytokeratin 18 (CK-18), a protein of the intermediate filament group present in most epithelial and parenchymal cells, is cleaved by the action of caspases and released into the blood as caspase-cleaved CK (CCCK)-18 during apoptosis. Circulating levels of CCCK-18 have scarcely been explored in septic patients. In one study with 101 severe septic patients, the authors reported higher serum CCCK-18 levels in non-survivors than in survivors; however, the sample size was too small to demonstrate an association between serum CCCK-18 levels and early mortality and whether they could be used as a biomarker to predict outcomes in septic patients. Thus, these were the objectives of this study with a large series of patients. ⋯ The major novel finding of our study, the largest cohort of septic patients providing data on circulating CCCK-18 levels, was that serum CCCK-18 levels are associated with mortality in severe septic patients.