Medicine
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The aim of this study was to determine whether inflammation is related to cancer development, and whether the incidence of cancer is increased and occurs in a site-specific manner in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). This study included a nationwide dynamic cohort of patients with various newly diagnosed SARDs from 1997 to 2010 with follow-up until 2012. This study included 75,123 patients with SARDs. ⋯ Overall, patients with most SARDs had a significantly higher risk of inflammation-associated site-specific cancers and hematologic malignancies. This study confirms that autoimmunity is associated with site-specific and hematological malignancies and provides clinical evidence of an association between inflammation and subsequent site-specific cancer development. These findings support the importance of inflammation in site-specific organ system carcinogenesis.
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Case Reports
Case Report of Low Virulence Francisella tularensis Presented as Severe Bacteremic Pneumonia.
Tularemia is a zoonotic infection seen primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. It is caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis. Although the ulceroglandular form of the disease is the more common manifestation of infection, F tularensis is known to cause pneumonia. ⋯ The patient's fever, pneumonia, and pleural effusion were resolved with appropriate antibiotics for tularemia. This case involving severe bacteremic pneumonia in an immune-compromised patient is rare. This case suggests that low virulence F tularensis should be included in the differential diagnoses of bacteremic pneumonia for endemic tularemia.
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Pulmonary artery dissection (PAD) is a rare condition with high mortality and has not been reported in patient with infective endocarditis (IE). Here, we report the first case of such patient who experienced PDA and survived after surgical intervention. A 10-year-old female child was diagnosed as IE with a patent ductus arteriosis (PDA) and a vegetation on the left side of pulmonary artery trunk (10 × 5 mm). ⋯ The patient recovered uneventfully. From this case, we learned that the surgical intervention should be considered at an early time for IE patients who have a vegetation in pulmonary artery and PDA. After the infection is under control, the earlier surgery may prevent severe complications.
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Early diagnosis was the main way to improve the survival rate of lung cancer patients. At present, the methods to diagnose lung cancer were varied, but early diagnosis of lung cancer was still difficult. In experimental and clinical studies, lung cancer related tumor markers were helpful to the early diagnosis of lung cancer. ⋯ Only SCC level was higher in Han population than Uygur population because of the differences of smoking constituent ratio between 2 populations. So, it could be unified to research the application value of the 6 indicators for the Han and Uygur population. Then, we suggested a primary diagnostic utility of 6 commonly by lung cancer biomarkers in both the Han and Uygur populations in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China.
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The aim of our study was to assess the usefulness of the MUNIX method in reflecting the clinical dysfunction in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as to assess an intra-rater reproducibility of MUNIX. The study group consisted of a total of 15 ALS patients. The mean age of symptoms onset was 55 years, and the mean disease duration was 10 months. ⋯ The global MUNIX showed a higher monthly decline (4.3%) as compared with ALFRS-R (0.7%) and the MRC global score (0.5%). This study confirms that the MUNIX method is a sensitive, reliable, and accurate tool reflecting both motor dysfunction and disease progression in ALS. We have found this approach to be more reliable and technically easier in distal muscles with less atrophy and a better strength.