Int J Med Sci
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Aims: Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) is a surgical procedure for patients with breast cancer without nipple-areolar complex (NAC) involvement. Robotic NSM (RNSM) with immediate breast reconstruction has been recently introduced; however, reports regarding RNSM are still lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the postoperative assessment with a focus on postoperative pain of RNSM with prepectoral immediate prosthesis breast reconstruction (IPBR) compared with conventional NSM (CNSM) in patients with breast cancer without NAC invasion. ⋯ Results: A statistical difference was observed in the resting NRS scores at 0-6 postoperative hours between the RNSM and CNSM groups (3.2 ± 1.5 versus 4.2 ± 1.6, respectively; Bonferroni corrected P = 0.005), however, no difference was shown at other time periods. Also, no between-group difference was found in the NRS scores for acting pain within 48 postoperative hours and the number of patients requiring additional analgesics. Conclusions: Despite a statistical difference in the resting NRS scores during the early postoperative phase, the absence of any significant difference in the requirement of additional analgesics between the groups suggested that RNSM does not significantly attenuate postoperative pain intensity.
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Background: There are no uniform guidelines on low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) follow-up in lung cancer screening. Few studies have analyzed the incidental abnormalities and role of tumor markers in lung cancer screening. The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic performance of LDCT, optimal follow-up duration, incidental findings, and role of tumor markers in diagnosing lung cancer. ⋯ A family history of lung cancer and abnormal serum CEA levels are important risk factors for lung cancer. A minimum of 4-year follow-up is required to track suspicious nodules. A purely radiological follow-up detects a high incidence of lung cancer.
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This study aimed to assess the incidence and associates of hypoglycemia in patients transferred after stabilization on an Acute Medical Unit to two general medical or two geriatric wards at an urban Australian hospital. In a six-month audit representing 20,284 patient-days of observation, 59 inpatients experienced hypoglycaemia (blood glucose ≤3.9 mmol/L) during 65 hospitalizations. ⋯ Inpatient hypoglycemia often had no precipitant such as a missed/delayed meal, occurred disproportionately at night (41% of episodes), was severe (blood glucose ≤3.0 mmol/L) in one-third of cases, and appeared more frequent in patients with psychiatric/cognitive issues. These data highlight the ongoing issue of hypoglycemia in relatively stable inpatients in an era of blood glucose-lowering therapies associated with a low rate of this acute metabolic complication.
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Observational Study
Elevated plasma fatty acid-binding protein 3 is related to prolonged corrected QT interval and reduced ejection fraction in patients with stable angina.
Background: Higher concentrations of plasma fatty acid-binding protein 3 (FABP3) play a role in the development of cardiovascular events, cerebrovascular deaths, and acute heart failure. However, little is known about the relationship between plasma FABP3 level and prolonged QT interval and reduced ejection fraction (EF). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between plasma FABP3 level and prolonged corrected QT (QTc) interval and reduced EF in patients with stable angina. ⋯ With increasing FABP3 tertiles, the patients had higher frequencies of abnormal QTc interval, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, and all-cause mortality, incrementally lower EF, higher WBC count, and higher levels of hs-CRP, visfatin, adiponectin, and FABP4. Conclusion: This study indicates that plasma FABP3 may act as a surrogate parameter of prolonged QTc interval and reduced EF in patients with stable angina, partially through the effects of inflammation or cardiomyocyte injury. Further studies are required to elucidate whether plasma FABP3 plays a role in the pathogenesis of QTc prolongation and reduced EF.
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Although accumulating evidence has revealed that metallothioneins (MTs) and its family member MT2A are strongly linked to the risk of various solid tumors, researches on the occurrence and development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have rarely been investigated. Here, we constructed a lentiviral vector with MT2A over-expression and the interfering plasmids with MT2A expression inhibition to study the influence of MT2A on the bioactivities of HL60 cells. After cells were infected with a lentiviral vector containing the MT2A gene, both transcription and translation levels of MT2A were significantly increased in the over-expressed group in comparison with control groups. ⋯ On the contrary, MT2A expression was down-regulated by interfering plasmids. We found that cell proliferative potential was notably increased in the interfering group compared with the negative and untreated group. What's more, MT2A may be closely related to AML cell proliferation and function via the NF-κB signal pathway.