Medicine
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Obesity is a disorder with increasing frequency in children and adolescents, directly linked with various diseases. Variants in the FTO (fat mass and obesity-related) gene have been associated with body mass index and waist and hip circumferences in widespread populations. The aim of this case-control study was to assess if there is any association between FTO gene variants rs9939609, respectively, rs17817449 with anthropometric and metabolic biomarkers (fasting glucose, TC, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides) and adipokines (adiponectin and leptin), in Romanian obese children. ⋯ Risk allele carriers of rs17817449 SNP had somewhat higher values of weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, adiponectin, and fasting glucose. This study revealed the genetic association between rs9939609 SNP of FTO and obesity in a Romanian population, and to the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to investigate this association in a Romanian population. This study also established that combined variant genotypes (AA/GG) of FTO rs9939609 /rs17817449 are strongly associated with several measures of adiposity (weight, BMI-SD, mid-upper arm circumference, tricipital skinfold thicknesses) and are also associated with total cholesterol, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol levels.
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Case Reports
Death Due to Intra-aortic Migration of Kirschner Wire From the Clavicle: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.
Migration of orthopedic fixation wires into the ascending aorta though a rare occurrence can have devastating consequences. Therefore, prompt recognition, with immediate and cautious retrieval of the implant is paramount in averting these complications. We present a case of a 5-year-old boy with the intra-aortic migration of a K-wire used for the treatment of a right clavicle fracture. ⋯ As the migration of wires and pins during orthopedic surgery can cause potentially fatal complications, these should be used very cautiously, especially for percutaneous treatment of shoulder girdle fractures. The patients with such implants should be followed frequently, both clinically and radiographically. If migration occurs, the patient should be closely monitored for emergent complications and the K-wire should be extracted immediately.
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The promoter is the center for regulation of gene transcription due to containing numerous transcription factor binding sites. The aim of the study was to determine whether genetic variations at excision repair cross complementation group 5 (ERCC5) promoter could affect transcription factor binding and whether such single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-dependent binding could affect gene expression, drug response, and clinical outcome. A total of 170 patients who were cytologically or histologically confirmed with advanced colorectal cancer (CRC), at least 1 measurable lesion, and underwent oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy were studied. ⋯ Allelic variants (-763AA vs -763AG or -763GG, +25GG versus +25AG or +25AA) were significantly associated with shorter progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) (P < 0.05, respectively). At multivariate analysis, patients with risk genotypes (-763AA or +25GG genotype) demonstrated a significantly increasing risk of progression (P = 0.01) or worse OS (P = 0.001). The ERCC5 promoter polymorphisms at -763 and +25 may be important functional variants and predictors of clinical outcome of CRC patients who received oxaliplatin chemotherapy.
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No study has been published on aortic valve calcification (AVC) extent at lung cancer screening low-dose CT (LDCT) and its relationship with aortic stenosis (AS). The purpose of this study was to estimate the cutoff value of AVC on LDCT for detecting AS in asymptomatic Asian subjects. Six thousand three hundred thirty-eight subjects (mean age, 55.9 years ± 8.6) self-referred to health-promotion center underwent LDCT, coronary calcium scoring CT (CSCT), and echocardiography. ⋯ Cutoff value of AVC score for detecting AS was 138.37 with sensitivity of 90.0% and specificity 83.2%. On multivariate analysis, age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.09-1.12) and hypertension (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.10-1.76) were associated with the presence of AVC, whereas AVC extent at LDCT (OR = 104.32, 95% CI: 16.16-673.70) was the only significant clinical factor associated with AS; AVC extent on LDCT (OR = 104.32, 95% CI: 16.16-673.70) was the significant clinical factor associated with AS. The AVC extent on LDCT is significantly related to the presence of AS, and we recommend echocardiography for screening AS based on quantified AVC values on LDCT.
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To evaluate the predictive and prognostic significance of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in a large cohort of gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy. Assessing a patient's immune and nutritional status, PNI has been reported as a predictive marker for surgical outcomes in various types of cancer. We retrospectively reviewed data from a prospectively maintained database of 7781 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy from January 2001 to December 2010 at a single center. ⋯ For long-term outcomes, low PNI was a poor prognostic factor for overall survival, but not recurrence (overall survival: hazard ratio [HR] = 1.383, 95% CI = 1.221-1.568, P < 0.001; recurrence-free survival: HR = 1.142, 95% CI = 0.985-1.325, P = 0.078). PNI can be used to predict patients at increased risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Although PNI was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival, the index was not associated with cancer recurrence.