Internal and emergency medicine
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Review Meta Analysis
Gender differences and survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Patients who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) have unacceptably high mortality rates. It remains unclear whether gender has an association with survival in this regard. Hence, we aimed to investigate the association between gender and survival by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. ⋯ Eleven studies with ORs were pooled, showing a significant survival benefit in women (OR = 1.08, p < 0.05, I2 = 52.3%). In the subgroup analysis, both premenopausal women (< 50 years) (OR = 1.42, p < 0.001, I2 = 0%) and postmenopausal women (≥ 50 years) (OR = 1.07, p < 0.05, I2 = 16.4%) had higher odds of survival compared with age-matched men. Despite the unfavorable factors, the pooled results showed a significant survival benefit in women after OHCA, especially in premenopausal women.
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Review Meta Analysis
Gender differences and survival after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Patients who experience out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) have unacceptably high mortality rates. It remains unclear whether gender has an association with survival in this regard. Hence, we aimed to investigate the association between gender and survival by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. ⋯ Eleven studies with ORs were pooled, showing a significant survival benefit in women (OR = 1.08, p < 0.05, I2 = 52.3%). In the subgroup analysis, both premenopausal women (< 50 years) (OR = 1.42, p < 0.001, I2 = 0%) and postmenopausal women (≥ 50 years) (OR = 1.07, p < 0.05, I2 = 16.4%) had higher odds of survival compared with age-matched men. Despite the unfavorable factors, the pooled results showed a significant survival benefit in women after OHCA, especially in premenopausal women.
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Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are episodes of acute worsening of respiratory symptoms that require additional therapy. These events play a pivotal role in the natural course of the disease and are associated with a progressive decline in lung function, reduced health status, a low physical activity level, tremendous health care costs, and increased mortality. Although most exacerbations have an infectious origin, the underlying mechanisms are heterogeneous and specific predictors of their occurrence in individual patients are currently unknown. ⋯ At present, microbial composition and host-microbiome interactions in the lung are increasingly recognized for their role in affecting the susceptibility to exacerbations, and may steer towards a novel direction in the management of COPD exacerbations. This narrative review describes the current challenges and unmet needs in the management of acute exacerbations of COPD. Exacerbation triggers, biological clusters, current treatment strategies, and their limitations, previously studied biomarkers and prediction tools, the lung microbiome and its role in COPD exacerbations as well as future directions are discussed.
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Recurrent pericarditis is a true challenge for clinicians, especially when the patient becomes unresponsive or not tolerant to conventional treatments. An accurate diagnosis of recurrent pericarditis, possibly supported by advanced imaging tools, is critical to provide timely and appropriate treatment of symptoms and prevention of further episodes. ⋯ This review will focus on the diagnostic assessment of recurrent pericarditis, along with the most modern therapeutic advances in this field. Bibliographic databases were searched (MEDLINE/PubMed, BioMed Central, the Cochrane Collaboration Database of Randomized Trials, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, EMBASE, Google Scholar) using the terms "recurrent pericarditis" AND "diagnosis" OR "treatment" OR "IL-1" OR "inflammation".