J Formos Med Assoc
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This mini-review provides the practice guideline recommendations for ventilation of remodeled negative-pressure isolation wards for COVID-19 Patients. Remodeled "quasi-negative-pressure" isolation wards had been proved a feasible, inexpensive, safe, and effective measure to contain nosocomial outbreaks. ⋯ Beyond adequate ventilation volume, the "clean to less-clean" directional airflow remains the golden rule for the solution of indoor ventilation. The virus-laden exhaust should be treated with HEPA/UV device or be kept away from living organisms, buildings, and air inlets.
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Case Reports
Successful treatment of acute encephalitis and hepatitis in a child with COVID-19 infection.
We present the case of a 6-year-old Taiwanese boy with a fulminant course of COVID-19 manifesting as high fever, acute consciousness changes, and status epilepticus. Brain MRI showed restricted diffusion in the bilateral hemisphere. Electroencephalogram showed diffuse slow waves with few spikes. ⋯ Viral sequencing confirmed infection with the Omicron BA.2.3 variant, one of the dominant strains in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Whole-exome sequencing revealed heterozygous uncertain significance variants in TICAM-1, RNF 31, and mitochondrial MT-RNR1, which provide additional support for the fulminant course. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of COVID-19 in a child with a fulminant course of acute encephalitis and hepatitis who successfully recovered by hybrid continuous renal replacement therapy and plasma exchange.
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In children, the use of stainless steel crowns to treat caries has a high success rate. However, due to the unnatural color of stainless steel crowns, it still needs to modify crown types. The present meta-analysis study aims to explore the previous articles on the comparison of stainless steel crowns and zirconia crowns. ⋯ Zirconia crowns for deciduous teeth had its advantages for gingival health. Although stainless steel crowns were more likely to have plaque deposition and gingival inflammation, zirconia crowns relatively caused the opposite tooth wearing and chipping. Therefore, the comprehensive consideration is important to choose deciduous tooth crown.
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Multicenter Study
Outcomes of pediatric patients supported with ventricular assist devices single center experience.
There has been a remarkable increase in the number of pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD) implanted over the past decade. Asian pediatric heart centers had not participated in the multicenter registries among the Western countries. This article aimed to report the outcomes of pediatric VAD in our hospital. ⋯ We demonstrated a favorable outcome in pediatric patients supported with VAD at our institution.
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Gut microbiology is associated with liver disease due to gut-liver circulation via the gut microbial-liver axis. There is a paucity of data regarding the effects of treatment to cure hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on the gut microbiota. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fecal microbiota before and after treatment with direct antiviral agents (DAA) in patients with HCV infection. ⋯ Individuals with CHC do not exhibit significant gut microbiota alterations and eradication of HCV by DAA is not associated with significant modification of the gut microbiota.