Medicine
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Observational Study
Association between severity of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency and computed tomography-based morphological severity in patients with chronic pancreatitis.
The association between pancreatic exocrine insufficiency (PEI) and morphologic findings in chronic pancreatitis has not yet been fully studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between PEI severity and computed tomography (CT)-based morphological severity in patients with chronic pancreatitis. This nationwide survey included 180 Korean participants with chronic pancreatitis aged 18 years or older between January 2018 and December 2021. ⋯ PEI severity showed a significant improvement after PERT (P < .001). In conclusion, PEI severity had significant associations with CT-based morphological severities, including severities of pancreatic duct caliber and pancreatic duct stricture or intraductal obstructing calculus. In addition, PEI-Q could be a useful indicator for evaluating the therapeutic effect of PERT in clinical practice.
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Observational Study
Assessment of frontal QRS-T angle in distinguishing mild and severe acute pancreatitis in emergency department: A retrospective study.
Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a disease that poses significant health risks with potential severe outcomes. Identifying markers for severity can aid in early intervention and improve prognoses. This study, conducted in the emergency department, investigates the QRS-T angle as a potential indicator of severity in patients with acute pancreatitis. ⋯ Additionally, severe pancreatitis group showed higher QRS-T angle (P < .001), higher rates of abnormal QRS angles (31.8% vs 10.1%, P = .002), and QRS-T angles (31.8% vs 8.1%, P < .001). The QRS-T angle may serve as a valuable clinical tool for differentiating between mild and severe forms of acute pancreatitis. This could potentially help clinicians in stratifying patients according to their risk and tailoring their management accordingly.
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Observational Study
Ruptured middle cerebral artery bifurcation aneurysms with concomitant intracerebral hematoma: Clinical and morphological risk factors.
The prognosis for intracerebral hematoma (ICH) following the rupture of a middle cerebral artery bifurcation (Mbif) aneurysm is poor. We compared patients with isolated diffuse subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (without ICH) following Mbif aneurysm rupture to those with both SAH and ICH to evaluate clinical and morphological risk factors for ICH. A retrospective study was conducted on 112 patients with ruptured Mbif aneurysms treated between July 2016 and December 2021. ⋯ Morphological analysis revealed that the decrease in M1 diameter and α angle, along with an increase in aneurysm size and neck, were significantly different in the ICH group (P = .025, P = .012, P = .009, and P = .005, respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that a cutoff value of α = 125° had the highest diagnostic accuracy (area under the curve = 0.71), with a sensitivity of 86.26% and specificity of 68.7%. The formation of ICH following the rupture of Mbif aneurysms is associated with specific morphological parameters.
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Observational Study
Comprehensive analysis of rheumatic diseases, comorbidities, and mortality in geriatric population: Real-world data of 515 patients in a single rheumatology clinic.
Rheumatic diseases present unique challenges in the elderly, with changes in the immune system contributing to varied clinical presentations. More individuals are now living with chronic diseases due to greater life expectancy, but there is a lack of real-world data about rheumatic diseases and comorbidities in older people. This study aimed to investigate disease types, comorbidities, treatments, and mortality in geriatric patients in comparison to non-geriatric patients at a rheumatology clinic. ⋯ These patients used more corticosteroids (74.5% vs 44%, P < .001), and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (62.4% vs 49.4%, P < .001) but fewer biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (9.2% vs 23.1%, P < .001). Mortality rates were significantly higher in geriatric patients (6% vs 0.3%), with cancer (P = .001), ischemic heart disease (P = .04), heart failure (P = .01), chronic kidney disease (P = .02), and interstitial lung disease (P = .01) being associated with increased mortality. Geriatric rheumatology should receive greater focus in future research to help address the anticipated increases in demand and to develop tailored management strategies for elderly patients with rheumatic diseases and comorbidities.
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Observational Study
The correlation between the number of endothelial progenitor cells in the peripheral blood and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
This study was to investigate the correlation between the number of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral blood and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), and provide a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of AAA. Patients with AAA evaluated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from June 2018 to October 2018 (n = 7) were included in this study. All patients were confirmed as AAA by vascular CTA with an increase of more than 50% of the abdominal aortic diameter. ⋯ Mononuclear cells were collected by density gradient centrifugation, stained by CD34-FITC and CD309-PE antibodies, and analyzed by flow cytometry. The number of EPCs in the peripheral blood of patients with AAA (0.874 ± 0.129‰) was significantly lower than that in the control group (1.420 ± 0.289‰) (P < .01). The number of EPCs may be used as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and monitoring of AAA following treatment.