Medicine
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The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating effect of psychological contracts (including relational and transactional psychological contracts) on the relationship between medical service quality and patient loyalty. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between September and December 2017. Questionnaires assessing medical service quality, the psychological contract, and patient loyalty were distributed to a random sample of 600 patients across 6 hospitals. ⋯ Both relational psychological contract and transactional psychological contract mediate the relationship between medical service quality and patient loyalty. Our findings reveal that medical service quality is associated with patient loyalty and that this association is mediated by relational and transactional psychological contracts. Therefore, in order to improve patient loyalty, psychological contracts should be reinforced, and medical service quality should be improved.
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This study aimed to detail the clinical outcomes of patients suffering from celiac arterial aneurysm (CAA) that underwent treatment via stent occlusion. This is a single-center, retrospective study. A total of 8 consecutive CAA patients were treated via stent occlusion from March 2014 to September 2018 at our hospital. ⋯ Abdominal contrast-enhanced CT analyses of these patients exhibited stent and distal artery patency in 100% of patients, together with CAA obliteration. Visceral necrosis did not occur in any patients over the follow-up period. Stent occlusion can be safely and effectively used to treat CAA patients.
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Cyclophosphamide (CY) is an alkylating agent used widely to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. Hyponatremia is a common adverse effect of high-dose and moderate-dose of intravenous CY, but is rare in patients treated with low-dose (<15 mg/kg). ⋯ Hyponatremia induced by low-dose CY should be recognized as an underlying life-threatening complication in clinical practice.
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be a tool that allows the observation of structural injury patterns after cooling. The aim of this study was to determine the early pattern of brain injury in the MRIs of infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) after cooling and to search for any clinical factors related to abnormal MRI findings. The study retrospectively recruited 118 infants who were treated with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) between 2013 and 2016. ⋯ As a long-term outcome, more lesions in the basal ganglia and thalamus, posterior limb of internal capsule, or severe white matter lesions were associated with abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18 to 24 months of age. A higher frequency of clinical seizures and AED use were related to abnormal brain injury on MRI. A significant risk for poor long-term outcomes was found in the abnormal brain MRI group.
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Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a highly heterogeneous subtype of lung cancer. There are still no widely accepted prognostic parameters for stage III NSCLC. In this study, we evaluated the prognostic value of the standardized uptake value (SUV) max ratio of primary tumor to lymph node (T/N SUV max) and its correlation with various hematological parameters. ⋯ Low risk patients had a more favorable prognosis compared to high risk patients. We demonstrated that T/N SUV max can be of prognostic value in stage III NSCLC. T/N SUV max correlated only with hemoglobin and mean corpuscular volume.