Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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The effects of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) on the symptom burden of Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) patients were investigated. ⋯ ETD symptoms can be effectively alleviated in most patients within 3 months following ESS. However, 5.4% of patients reported worsening of their symptoms at the 1-year follow-up. Additional objective studies should be conducted to evaluate Eustachian tube function thoroughly in CRS patients.
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Endovascular aneurysm coiling is a minimally invasive method to manage intracranial aneurysms. However, aneurysm coiling may fail in very small aneurysms (VSAs); thus, flow diverter (FD) is recommended as an alternative in these difficult aneurysms. Herein, we report our experience and outcomes of FD to treat VSA of the internal carotid artery (ICA). ⋯ The use of FD to manage VSA was technically feasible, and the procedure was simpler than those of larger aneurysms. FD stenting of VSAs was confirmed to be effective and safe and had higher CO rate than those in larger aneurysms in a midterm angiographic follow-up.
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Patients with diabetes have a relatively high risk of fracture due to osteoporosis. However, the risk of osteoporosis associated with the use of oral hypoglycemic drugs and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor (DPP-4i) by patients with diabetes is unclear. This study aimed to explore the effect of DPP-4i on the risk of osteoporosis in Taiwanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). ⋯ Compared with not using DPP-4i, the use of DPP-4i in Taiwanese T2DM patients was associated with a lower risk of osteoporosis due to the class effect, and the preventive effect was dose-dependent. However, larger prospective studies are needed to validate this finding and to explore the possible mechanism of the preventive effect of DPP-4i.
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Pre-excitation syndrome can either mimic or mask myocardial infarction, making the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction difficult. Herein, we report the case of a male patient with Wolf-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome who presented to our emergency department with severe chest pain. ⋯ One month later, he underwent successful radiofrequency catheter ablation for his accessory pathway and tachycardia. We present the series of electrocardiographic ST-T abnormalities to raise awareness of the value of diagnosing myocardial injury early in patients with WPW syndrome.
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Although teleophthalmology has gained traction in recent years, it is at the center of the coronavirus disease pandemic. However, most hospitals are not ready owing to a severe lack of real-world experience. Furthermore, a limited number of studies have evaluated telemedicine applications on remote islands. This study aimed to evaluate real-world clinical and referral accuracy, image quality, physician-perceived diagnostic certainty, and patient satisfaction with telemedicine eye screening using a novel handheld fundus camera in a rural and medically underserved population. ⋯ Novel fundus camera-based telemedicine screening demonstrated high accuracy in detecting clinically significant retinopathy in real-world settings. It achieved high patient satisfaction and physician-perceived certainty in diagnosis with reliable image quality, which may be scaled internationally to overcome geographical barriers under the global pandemic.