Medicine
-
This study reports our experience, the therapeutic outcomes and complications of percutaneous sclerotherapy (PS) with polidocanol to treat venous malformations (VMs) in children. A retrospective analysis was conducted of pediatric patients with VMs who underwent PS using polidocanol under continuous ultrasound (US) guidance between January 2015 and January 2018 at our department. Medical records were reviewed to record demographic information, lesion characteristics, treatment sessions, therapeutic outcomes and complications. χ analysis was employed to evaluate the effects of these characteristics on outcomes. ⋯ No other lesion characteristic significantly affected the outcomes (good or excellent outcomes), including lesion location (χ = 2.011, P = .570) or lesion size (χ = 1.045, P = .307). After the PS procedure, temporary local swelling occurred in 81 sessions (81.0%), local pain occurred in 15 sessions (15.0%), fever occurred in 27 (27.0%) sessions, and transient local numbness occurred in four sessions (4.0%). PS with polidocanol under the guidance of US appears to be safe and effective for the treatment of VMs in children, especially for focal lesions.
-
The advent of imatinib mesylate (IM) has dramatically revolutionized the prognosis of advanced and metastatic/recurrent gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). The objective of this retrospective study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of combination of surgery following IM treatment in the management of advanced and metastatic/recurrent GISTs. We further explore the long-term clinical outcomes in these who underwent therapy of preoperative IM. ⋯ After the median follow-up of 43.70 months (range 14.2-131.1 months), 1- and 3-year overall survival (OS) were estimated to be 96.1% and 94.0%, respectively, and there was a significant improvement in OS for patients who received surgical intervention versus those who did not. Our study consolidates that patients were received preoperative IM therapy could shrink the size of tumors and facilitate organ-function preservation. The long-term analysis on this study supports that surgical intervention following IM therapy benefits for patients with primary advanced and recurrent or metastatic GISTs on long-term prognosis.
-
Ageing people with hemophilia (PWH) have a higher prevalence of hypertension than the general population. This study aimed to determine whether macroscopic hematuria was associated with hypertension in PWH in a post hoc analysis using data from a cross-sectional study conducted by the ADVANCE Working Group (the H3 study), which included PWH ≥ 40 years of age. Data from 16 contributing centers, located in 13 European countries and Israel, were analyzed using logistic regression models. ⋯ Macroscopic hematuria was not associated with hypertension FH-. Moreover, in a multivariate logistic regression the odds of hypertension FH+ were increased with the number of macroscopic hematuria episodes. The association between macroscopic hematuria and hypertension was significant for PWH with a family history of hypertension.
-
The potential association between antibiotic use and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has drawn significant attention from clinicians and researchers in recent years due to the wild usage of antibiotic. This study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to determine if antibiotic use is associated with an increased risk of RA, so as to provide an important reference for clinical decision-making. ⋯ This systemic review and meta-analysis will determine if antibiotic use is associated with an increased risk of RA. We hope this study can make a definitive conclusion for the association.
-
Case-control studies have shown that noxious thermal stimulation (TS) can improve arm function in patients with stroke. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this improvement are largely unknown. We explored functional neural activation due to noxious and innocuous TS intervention applied to the paretic arm of patients with stroke. ⋯ Greater activation responses were observed in the side contralateral to the lesion, suggesting a significant intervention effect. Our preliminary findings suggest that noxious TS may induce neuroplastic changes unconstrained to the local area. Trial registration: NCT01418404.