Medicine
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Observational Study
The effect of pretreatment BMI on the prognosis and serum immune cells in advanced LSCC patients who received ICI therapy.
This study aims to evaluate the prognosis and serum immune cells of patients with different pretreatment body mass index (BMI) values. The data of 61 newly diagnosed patients with advanced lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) who received immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) combined with chemotherapy were obtained from the database of Rizhao People's Hospital (Rizhao, Shandong). According to the cutoff value of BMI (23.2 kg/m2), 32 patients had a high BMI and the remaining 29 patients had a low BMI. ⋯ In addition, the number of serum immune cells in patients with high BMI was significantly higher than that in patients with low BMI (all P < .001). There was a linear relationship between BMI value and the number of serum immune cells (all R2 > 0.7). The current results showed that high BMI is associated with better prognosis in LSCC patients who received ICIs, which may be related to higher levels of serum immune cells.
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Observational Study
Image-based diagnosis of residual or recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma may be a phantom tumor phenomenon.
Some nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients may present convincing radiological evidence mimicking residual or recurrent tumor after radiotherapy. However, by means of biopsies and long term follow-up, the radiologically diagnosed residuals/recurrences are not always what they appear to be. We report our experience on this "phantom tumor" phenomenon. ⋯ However, the balance between under- and over-diagnosis must be carefully sought. Without a pathological confirmation, the diagnosis of residual or recurrent NPC must be made taking into account physical examination results, endoscopic findings and Epstein-Barr virus viral load. A subjective medical judgment is needed based on clinical and laboratory data and the unique anatomic complexities of the nasopharynx.
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Observational Study
Clinical characteristics and outcome of patients aged over 80 years with covid-19.
To investigate the clinical characteristics and outcome of octogenarians with covid-19. This is a observational, retrospective, descriptive study. Consecutive patients aged >80 years who were admitted for covid-19 pneumonia during a 6 weeks period (March 20-April 30, 2020). ⋯ Deceased patients had a significantly higher frequency of dyspnea, increased inflammatory parameters, and illness severity compared to survivors. One-third of octogenarians with covid-19 died during hospitalization and most had bilateral lung involvement. A further knowledge of the characteristics and outcome of this population may assist clinicians in the decision-making process in these patients.
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Comparative Study
The Use of hx-index to compare research achievements for ophthalmology authors in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan since 2010.
Ophthalmology authors in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan were interested in knowing their individual research achievements (IRAs). This study was to evaluate the most cited authors, institutes, and regions in the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in the field of ophthalmology in the recent 10 years using the hx-index and to display the result with visual representations. ⋯ With an overall increase in publications in the field of ophthalmology, contributions assessed by hx-indexes and the AWS should be encouraged and promoted more in the future.
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To review the orthopedic sequelae of pediatric patients diagnosed with osteoarticular infections (OAIs) and identify significant differences between those with and without sequelae. Medical charts between 2010 and 2016 from a tertiary-care pediatric hospital were reviewed to collect demographic and clinical data for this retrospective case series. The main inclusion criteria were: 1. age (≤10 years old); 2. absence of sickle cell anemia and immunocompromising disease or medication; 3. a minimum follow-up of 12 months with radiographs; and 4. diagnosis of osteomyelitis of long bones and/or septic arthritis. ⋯ Finally, the delay between the onset of symptoms and the beginning of antibiotic treatment was longer in the sequelae group. Patients with orthopedic sequelae had a longer antibiotic treatment and infectious disease follow-up, and were more likely to have presented with a sequestrum. Level of evidence: IV – case series.