Medicine
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Nocardia are Gram-positive filamentous bacteria responsible for infections ranging from opportunistic life-threatening disseminated diseases to chronic skin and soft-tissue infections. Even if virtually all organs can be infected, articular involvement is rare. Therefore, we report 3 recent cases and performed a literature review of cases of Nocardia arthritis in order to describe clinical features, therapeutic challenges, and outcome of these patients. ⋯ Eighty-two percent of patients (28 out of 34) received trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-containing regimens and median antibiotic treatment duration was 24 weeks (range, 12-120) for hematogenous infections and 12 weeks (range, 6-24) for direct inoculations. Outcome was favorable in 27 cases despite unsystematic surgical management (17 cases) without sequelae in 70% of the cases. Nocardia arthritis is rare but its management is complex and should rely on a combined approach with rheumatologist, infectious diseases expert, and surgeon.
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Observational Study
Effect of Hypovitaminosis D on Postoperative Pain Outcomes and Short-Term Health-Related Quality of Life After Knee Arthroplasty: A Cohort Study.
Vitamin D may have an important role in pain perception. Inadequate vitamin D levels are associated with suboptimal recovery after surgery. However, the effects of hypovitaminosis D on postoperative pain-related outcomes and its impact on health-related quality of life after surgery are not well understood. ⋯ Hypovitaminosis D increased the risk of moderate-to-severe persistent pain (adjusted odds ratio 2.64, 95% CI: 1.03-6.77). Preoperative hypovitaminosis D had subtle effects on pain intensity scores in the early postoperative period and is a risk factor for moderate-to-severe persistent pain after knee arthroplasty. Hypovitaminosis D was not associated with worse health-related quality of life at 3 months after knee arthroplasty.
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Observational Study
Second-Line HIV Therapy Outcomes and Determinants of Mortality at the Largest HIV Referral Center in Southern Vietnam.
The growing numbers of HIV-infected patients requiring second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Vietnam make essential the evaluation of treatment efficacy to guide treatment strategies. We evaluated all patients aged ≥15 years who initiated second-line ART after documented failure of first-line therapy at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City. The primary outcome was time from second-line ART initiation to death, or to a new or reoccurrence of a WHO-defined immunological or clinical failure event, whichever occurred first. ⋯ Older age, history of injection drug use, lower CD4 count, medication adherence <95%, and previous protease inhibitor use independently predicted treatment failure. While treatment efficacy was similar to that reported from other resource-limited settings, mortality was higher. Early deaths may be averted by prioritizing second-line therapy for those with lower CD4 counts and by improving treatment adherence support.
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Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) has been proven to reduce the ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, its effect on children receiving congenital cardiac surgery (CCS) was inconsistent. We therefore performed the current meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to comprehensively evaluate the effect of RIPC in pediatric patients undergoing CCS. ⋯ Additionally, RIPC could not reduce postoperative cTnI (at 4-6 hours: SMD -0.25, 95% CI -0.73-0.23; P = 0.311; at 20-24 hours: SMD 0.09, 95% CI -0.51-0.68; P = 0.778) or postoperative inotropic score (at 4-6 hours: SMD -0.19, 95% CI -0.51-0.14; P = 0.264; at 24 hours: SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.49-0.18; P = 0.365). RIPC may have no beneficial effects in children undergoing CCS. However, this finding should be interpreted with caution because of heterogeneity and large-scale RCTs are still needed.
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Review Meta Analysis
Diagnostic Value of Fetal Echocardiography for Congenital Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Prenatal diagnosis of fetal congenital heart disease (CHD) has been shown to have a significant effect on prenatal and postnatal management and outcomes. However, the factors influencing the diagnostic accuracy and which pregnant trimester is the most adaptive for fetal heart disease remain uncertain despite of extensive researches. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of echocardiography for detecting CHD and potential influence factors. ⋯ The sensitivity analysis was robust and risk level was significant source of heterogeneity. Deek test indicated no potential significant publication bias. Prenatal ultrasound is a powerful tool for the diagnosis of CHD; however, echocardiography has individual sensitivity for different gestation period, different levels of risk, and different echo-views.