J Formos Med Assoc
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Letter Case Reports
The first Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 strain isolated in Taiwan.
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There are great diversities of clinical phenotypes among the various familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) families. We aimed to systematically review all the previously reported cases of FAD and to perform comparisons between Asian and white patients. In this regard, we collected individual-level data from 658 pedigrees. ⋯ Asian patients with PSEN1 mutations presented more frequently with disorientation (p = 0.02) and personality change (p = 0.01) but less frequently with atypical clinical features. Asian patients with APP mutations presented less frequently with aphasia (p = 0.02). Thus, clinical features could be modified by underlying mutations, and Asian FAD patients may have different clinical features when compared with whites.
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The Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) reflects the physiological changes of cardiac arrest and has been used in identifying patient deterioration. Physiological reserve capacity is an important outcome predictor, but is seldom reported due to recording limitations in cardiac arrest patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether periarrest MEWS could be a further prognostic factor in in-hospital cardiac arrest. ⋯ The simplest MEWS system not only can be used as a prevention measure, but the periarrest MEWS could also be considered as an independent predictor of mortality after in-hospital cardiac arrest.
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BRAF and NRAS mutations have been described in melanomas among Caucasians and some Asian populations. However, few large-scale studies have investigated the status and clinical significance of BRAF and NRAS mutations in a Taiwanese population. ⋯ As BRAF and NRAS mutations are rare in Taiwan, BRAF- or NRAS-targeted therapies may be effective only for selected Taiwanese melanoma patients.