Medicine
-
Observational Study
Real-world experience with interferon-free, direct acting antiviral therapies in Asian Americans with chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease.
Real-life data on interferon (IFN)-free direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapies for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is limited for Asian Americans. To evaluate sustained virologic response (SVR) and adverse events (AE) in Asian Americans treated with sofosbuvir (SOF)-based, IFN-free DAA therapies. This is a retrospective study of 110 consecutive Asian Americans with HCV genotypes 1 to 3 or 6 treated with IFN-free SOF-based regimens for 8 to 24 weeks between February 2014 and March 2016 at a university center in Northern California. ⋯ There was 1 treatment-unrelated serious adverse effect (SAE). There were 7 dose reductions due to anemia or fatigue from RBV and 2 treatment discontinuations due to fatigue or loss of insurance authorization. This real-life cohort of Asian American CHC patients treated with IFN-free SOF-based therapies showed high overall treatment response and good tolerability, despite very high rates of advanced disease and prior treatment failure.
-
Comparative Study Observational Study
De-escalation empirical antibiotic therapy improved survival for patients with severe aplastic anemia treated with antithymocyte globulin.
We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of de-escalation empirical therapy for controlling infection in patients with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) treated with antithymocyte globulin (ATG). Eighty-seven ATG-treated SAA patients who had microbiological culture-confirmed infections from 2006 to 2015 in our center were retrospectively analyzed. The efficacy of de-escalation and non-de-escalation therapy was compared. ⋯ We concluded that de-escalation antibiotics improved survival in SAA patients after ATG treatment. Early administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics pending microbiological cultures combined with a commitment to change to narrow-spectrum antibiotics should be recommended for controlling infections in SAA patients treated with ATG. Granulocyte transfusions might be an adjunctive therapy in controlling infections.
-
Observational Study
True rise in anaphylaxis incidence: Epidemiologic study based on a national health insurance database.
The incidence trend of anaphylaxis in Asia is not well investigated. The aim of this study is to estimate the entire population-based incidence of anaphylaxis in Korea using a nationwide administrative database. Data over a 7-year period (2008-2014) was obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) claims database which covers 97.9% of the entire Korean population. ⋯ Female was significantly less predisposed than male (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% confident interval [CI], 0.66-0.72; P < 0.001). The incidence was the lowest in 0 to 19 age group and the highest in 40 to 69 age group (adjusted OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 2.29-2.54; P < 0.001). In conclusion, we report the increasing time trend of anaphylaxis incidence rates using nationwide claims database for the first time in Asia.
-
Observational Study
Differential effects of stress and African ancestry on preterm birth and related traits among US born and immigrant Black mothers.
Preterm birth (PTB, <37 weeks of gestation) is influenced by a wide range of environmental, genetic and psychosocial factors, and their interactions. However, the individual and joint effects of genetic factors and psychosocial stress on PTB have remained largely unexplored among U. S. born versus immigrant mothers. ⋯ S. born women, our study is one of the first to identify a subset of immigrant women could be at significantly increased risk of PTB and related outcomes if they have high AAP and are under high LS or PS. In light of the growing number of immigrant mothers in the U. S., our findings may have important clinical and public health implications.
-
Evaluation of acute white matter injuries caused by carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning can be limited by conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. We aim to evaluate the feasibility of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) for early detection of white matter alterations in patients with acute CO intoxication. A total of 30 subjects including 15 acute CO patients and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. ⋯ On the contrary, significant differences of FA values were merely shown in the regions of corticospinal tracts. DKI demonstrated comparably stronger potential than diffusion tensor imaging in terms of early detection of white matter changes in patients with acute CO intoxication. This may have implications in therapeutic strategy for managing acute CO intoxication patients.