Medicine
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Epidural blood patch (EBP) is an effective treatment for spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). However, its effectiveness can only be judged through subjective symptom improvement; no objective markers have been reported. Linear indices of ventricular volume on brain computed tomography (CT) may aid the objective evaluation of the effectiveness of EBP in patients with SIH. ⋯ The effectiveness of EBP, which is currently evaluated solely based on changes in symptom severity, can be assessed using linear indices of ventricular volume.
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To investigate the efficacy of high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) combined with pulmonary surfactant (PS) in the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS). ⋯ HFOV combined with PS has a significant effect on NRDS, which can improve the arterial blood gas index without increasing the incidence of complications.
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Cerebral fat embolism (CFE) is a rare but critical disease in a clinical setting. Considering that manifestations and CT findings of CFE tend to be atypical, this condition is very difficult to diagnose. The purpose of this article was to assess the value of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) in the diagnosis of CFE. ⋯ This case report shows the characteristics of CFE on SWI, which can help clinicians in diagnosing which can help clinicians in diagnosing CFE.
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We have aimed at exposing left ventricular diastolic functions and the presence of known genetic mutations for familial erythrocytosis, in patients who exhibit idiopathic erythrocytosis. ⋯ This study has shown that LV diastolic functions were impaired in patients with idiopathic erythrocytosis. In this patient group with increased risk of cardiovascular disorders, the frequent genetic mutations have been detected in 5 patients only. Therefore, further clinical investigations are needed as novel genetic mutations may be discovered in patients with idiopathic erythrocytosis because of cardiovascular risk.
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In epithelial ovarian cancer, first-line adjuvant chemotherapy is necessary, and patients sometimes require protraction; however, there are only a few recent studies to show its influence. In this study, we investigated whether the protraction of the total period of first-line chemotherapy has a negative influence on the survival outcomes. Of the 101 patients we recruited from February 2011 to February 2021, 70 (69.3%) and 31 (30.7%) were classified into the not protracted and protracted groups, respectively. ⋯ For the PFS, the hazard ratio of protraction was 1.646 in the univariate analysis (95% confidence interval, 1.020-2.658; P = .041). Excessive protraction of chemotherapy over 20 days or more can result in significantly shorter PFS within 5 years. A better therapeutic strategy is required for patients requiring protracted first-line chemotherapy in advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.