Medicine
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Comparative Study Observational Study
Surgical management for lumbar brucella spondylitis: Posterior versus anterior approaches.
There has been no ideal surgical approach for lumbar brucella spondylitis (LBS). This study aims to compare clinical efficacy and safety of posterior versus anterior approaches for the treatment of LBS. From April 2005 to January 2015, a total of 27 adult patients with lumbar brucella spondylitis were recruited in this study. ⋯ There were no significant differences between the two groups in hospitalizations, bony fusion time, and visual analog scale score in the last follow-up (P = .055, P = .364, P = .125, respectively). Our results suggested that both anterior and posterior approaches can effectively cure lumbar brucella spondylitis. Nevertheless, posterior approach gives better kyphotic deformity correction, less surgical invasiveness, and less complications.
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Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common type of dementia; it has a significant impact on patients and exerts a great social and economic burden. However, there has been no comprehensive systematic review assessing the efficacy and safety of Buyang Huanwu-Tang (Boyang Hwano-Tang, BHT) for VaD. Therefore, this protocol was developed to conduct a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of BHT in the treatment of VaD. ⋯ 10.17605/OSF.IO/NDYGP.
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Case Reports
Importance of early detection of infantile inflammatory bowel disease with defective IL-10 pathway: A case report.
Infantile inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an extremely rare subgroup of IBD that includes patients whose age of onset is younger than 2 years old. These patients can have more surgical interventions, and a severe and refractory disease course with higher rates of conventional treatment failure. Monogenic defects play an important role in this subgroup of IBD, and identification of the underlying defect can guide the therapeutic approach. ⋯ Early detection of underlying genetic causes of patients with infantile-IBD is crucial, since it may prevent patients from undergoing unnecessary surgeries and adverse effects from ineffective medical therapies. Moreover, infantile-IBD patients with complex perianal disease, intractable early onset enterocolitis and extraintestinal manifestations including oral ulcers and skin folliculitis, should undergo genetic and functional testing for IL-10 pathway defect.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Therapeutic effects of puerarin on polycystic ovary syndrome: A randomized trial in Chinese women.
This study aims to assess the therapeutic effects of a well-known component (puerarin) obtained from a Chinese herb root in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). ⋯ The addition of puerarin to the present treatment protocol can be considered for the management of metabolic disorders and hyperandrogenism in PCOS patients.
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Cytopenias in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) require clinical and laboratory workup and bone marrow (BM) examination to determine the cause and for appropriate patient management. Common causes include an increase in SLE activity, immune-mediated hemolysis, iron deficiency, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, infection, or the effect of medications. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical and laboratory findings of patients with SLE and cytopenias who had undergone BM studies to determine the indicators of malignancy. ⋯ Clinical and laboratory findings, the number of transplants, and the use of immunosuppressive agents can guide physicians to identify patients with a higher risk of developing hematologic malignancy. BM findings of cytopenia in SLE are often due to increased disease activity causing global cell death and dysmaturation. SLE patients presenting with cytopenias, with a history of long-term exposure to immunosuppressive drugs, should be regularly screened for hematologic and nonhematologic malignancies.