Medicine
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This study investigated the relationship between self-determination, physical health status, and Health related Quality of Life (=HRQoL) among living kidney donors. A descriptive survey was conducted between 2019 and 2020 and included 111 kidney donors. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire on general and donation-related characteristics, self-determination, and HRQoL. ⋯ The explanatory power of these variables was 43.3%. HRQoL of living kidney donors can be affected by subjective and psychological factors. Therefore, health care providers should help living kidney donors have high self-determination during pre and post donation and concentrate on the subjective and psychological factors as well as objective health status.
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This study, based on a population, explored the prognostic value of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for Masaoka-Koga IIB stage thymomas. Patients diagnosed with thymoma from 2004 to 2017 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were included in the retrospective study. Through propensity score matching, the baseline characteristics of the patients were successfully matched to mitigate the selection bias of PORT. ⋯ In this study, 785 cases of IIB stage thymoma were included from the SEER database, and 303 patients were successfully matched between PORT and non-PORT groups through propensity score matching, with no significant differences in baseline characteristics. In the PORT and non-PORT groups, 10-year overall survival rates were 65.2% versus 59.6%, and cancer-specific survival rates were 87.0% vs. 84.4%, PORT did not yield statistically significant improvements in overall survival (P = .275) or cancer-specific survival (P = .336) for stage IIB thymomas. Based on the SEER database, the results of our study indicated that PORT does not confer a significant survival benefit for IIB stage thymomas.
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Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a major treatable cause of childhood blindness. Thus, epidemiological investigations are necessary for detecting and preventing ROP. Determining risk factors for ROP are also essential to improve screening methods. ⋯ In conclusion, the incidence of premature babies increased between 2008 and 2012. However, the overall incidence of ROP among premature infants remained unchanged by birth year. Our findings revealed the roles of birth weight, respiratory conditions, anemia, and intraventricular hemorrhage in ROP.
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Observational Study
Eagle syndrome: A rare neuropathic disorder affecting head and neck.
To investigate the clinical characteristics of Eagle syndrome (ES) and evaluate psychological distress of the patients. Ten cases of ES were enrolled, clinical characteristics and management were analyzed. Psychological disorders of the patients were assessed by the test of self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS). ⋯ Meticulous interrogation of illness history, proper examination, and radiological studies may be valuable in diagnostic confirmation of ES. It is the hyperostosis, abnormal angulation of the styloid process rather than the simple elongation which is more likely to be attributed to the development of ES. Psychological disorders in ES patients were observed in our study and should be paid more attention in the future research.
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The efficacy of surgical intervention for perianal infection in patients with hematologic malignancies is not well established. Therefore, our study aimed to investigate the clinical efficacy and complications of surgical treatment of perianal infection in patients with hematologic malignancies. This retrospective study included patients with hematological malignancies who were diagnosed with perianal infections and treated at the China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation 731 Hospital between 2018 and 2022. ⋯ Surgical intervention may improve the prognosis of patients with perianal abscess formation, particularly in patients who show no improvement with medical therapy and those who develop perianal sepsis. Granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia should be improved before surgery, which can significantly reduce postoperative complications. Although these findings are from a case series without a comparator, they may be of value to physicians because to the best of our knowledge, no randomized or prospective studies have been conducted on the management of perianal infections in patients with hematological malignancies.