Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA
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Minimizing multiple organ dysfunction-related mortality and morbidity is a critical issue for patients with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) receiving therapeutic hypothermia (TH). Although erythropoietin (EPO) has demonstrated protective effects on various hypoxic-ischemic organs in animal studies and clinical trials in adults, its effects on neonates with HIE require further investigation. ⋯ The use of EPO in addition to TH is safe for neonates with HIE. The neonates with moderate or severe HIE who received EPO may have a lesser risk of hypotension than those who received TH alone. Further clinical studies on renal and cardiac functions and long-term neurological effects of EPO are required.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A comparative study of the hemodynamic and clinical effects of using or not tourniquet in total knee arthroplasty.
Pneumatic tourniquet is widely used in lower limb surgery to provide a bloodless operating field. Previous studies on total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in which tourniquets have been applied during surgery have reported some vascular and soft-tissue complications. Nevertheless, it is still not well known exactly how use of tourniquets contributes to hemodynamics of the lower limb and its clinical relevance following TKA. In this prospective study, we wished to determine whether tourniquet affects the hemodynamics and postoperative healing of the lower limb in the first few weeks and its clinical relevancies following TKA. ⋯ Tourniquet use in TKA must be managed very carefully. Not only because of immediate complication resulted from tourniquet but also influence on post-operational functional recovery, especially in quadriceps muscle function. According to this study, TKA without tourniquet use preserves better quadriceps muscle function to provide faster recovery and less transfusion need. It avoids complications from tourniquets as well.
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Exoscope has been used in otoneurologic surgery in several reports. However, most ear surgeries are performed using either microscope or endoscopy today. The purpose of this study is to present our subjective and objective experience of using this instrument in our institution. ⋯ Exoscopic ear surgery is feasible, safe, and effective in managing various otologic conditions involving external ear, middle ear, mastoid, and lateral skull base. Its high-definition image quality, stereoscopic effects, sufficient magnification, reliability and teaching value made it a potential instrument in general ear surgeries. Further improvements to current drawbacks can be anticipated.
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Study on oxidative stress and inflammatory/antioxidant substance levels in autism spectrum disorder.
The etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes oxidative stress and brain inflammation. We investigated the relationship among oxidative stress markers, in vivo inflammatory substances, and antioxidants that can be easily measured in the clinic and compared them between children with ASD and those with typical development (TD). ⋯ The results suggest that serum levels of in vivo inflammatory substances, stress-related substances, and antioxidants are altered in ASD under oxidative stress.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
An open-label randomized non-inferior study of generic-name and brand-name of propafenone for rhythm control in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
Propafenone is a class IC antiarrhythmic agent that is commonly used as the first-line therapy for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) in Taiwan. This study compared the efficacy and safety of generic (Rhynorm) and brand name (Rytmonorm) propafenone for rhythm control of paroxysmal AF in Taiwan. ⋯ Our results verified that Rhynorm was noninferior to Rytmonorm in terms of efficacy and safety for treating paroxysmal AF in Taiwan ( ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03674658).