Isr Med Assoc J
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Clinical Trial
COPD Exacerbator Phenotype is Inversely Associated with Current Smoking But Not with Haptoglobin Phenotype.
Frequent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbators are at a higher risk of adverse health outcomes when compared to infrequent exacerbators. A COPD frequent exacerbator phenotype and its definition has been reported. Haptoglobin (Hp) polymorphism has been associated with differing clinical outcomes in cardiovascular and renal disease. The Hp 2-2 phenotype has been found to have bacteriostatic properties, while the Hp 1-1 phenotype was found to be associated with infections. ⋯ We found no relationship between haptoglobin polymorphism and frequent exacerbator status. However, frequent exacerbator status had a statistically significant association with COPD Assessment Test scores and pack-years and a negative correlation with current smoking status.
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Basal-bolus (BB) insulin treatment is increasingly used in poorly controlled diabetes patients during hospitalization and is commonly recommended at discharge; however, the extent of adherence with this recommendation is unknown. ⋯ Short-term adherence with discharge recommendation for BB insulin treatment is associated with pre-hospitalization patient characteristics.
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Thymectomy is a reliable surgical method for treating patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and benign tumors of the thymus. Despite the advantages of minimally invasive surgical approaches for resection of thymic neoplasms, there are still controversies regarding the superiority of one type of surgery over another. ⋯ Robotic thymectomy is a safe, technically effective surgical method for resection of thymic neoplasms. The advantages of this technique are safety, short hospitalization period, little blood loss, and low complications. We have included this surgical procedure in our thoracic surgery residency program and recommend a learning curve program of 10 to 12 procedures during residency.
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Mortality and decrease in function after hip fracture are significantly related to patient factors including age, gender, co-morbidities, and mental status. Several studies demonstrated ethnic disparities in incidence, mortality, and functional outcome after hip fractures in the United States. ⋯ Our study demonstrated significant differences in incidence and fracture characteristic among ethnicities, but no difference in patient outcome. These findings differed from the available North American studies.