Annals of medicine
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Meta Analysis
Thoracic sympathectomy for the treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis: systematic review and proportional meta-analysis.
Primary hyperhidrosis is a disorder that involves excessive sweat production, which has a negative impact on the quality of life. ⋯ This review demonstrated that thoracic sympathectomy by VATS is a viable and safe option for the treatment of PAH. There was no difference between high and lower levels of resection. However, the estimation of the effect is quite uncertain because the quality of evidence was extremely low.Key messagePure axillary hyperhidrosis has great potential to compromise quality of life.Surgery should be indicated only when clinical treatment fails.Thoracic sympathectomy by video-assisted thoracoscopy is a viable and safe option for the treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis.
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Systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) has been reported in numerous studies to effectively predict the survival outcomes of urinary system cancers; however no agreement has been reached. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the prognostic significance of pre-treatment SII in tumours of the urinary system. ⋯ Pre-treatment SII could be used as a non-invasive and promising biomarker to indicate the prognosis of urinary system cancer patients.KEY MESSAGES:This meta-analysis evaluates the predictive value of systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) for patients with urinary system cancer.A high pre-treatment SII indicates a poor prognosis.SII can serve as a promising non-invasive biomarker to help clinicians assess the prognosis and develop treatment strategies for urinary system cancer patients.
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Acute variceal bleeding (AVB) is a life-threatening condition that needs risk stratification to guide clinical treatment. Which risk system could reflect the prognosis more accurately remains controversial. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of the predictive value of GBS, AIMS65, Rockall (clinical Rockall score and full Rockall score), CTP and MELD. ⋯ No risk scores were ideally identified by our systematic review. CTP was superior to other risk scores in identifying AVB patients at high risk of death in hospital and patients at low risk within follow-up. Guidelines have recommended the use of GBS to risk stratification of patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. However, if the cause of upper gastrointestinal bleeding is suspected oesophageal and gastric varices, extra care should be taken. Because in this meta-analysis, the ability of GBS was limited.Key messageCTP was superior in identifying AVB patients at high risk of death in hospital and low risk within follow-up.GBS, though recommended by the Guidelines, should be cautiously used when assessing AVB patients.
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Meta Analysis
Is interleukin-2 an optimal marker for diagnosing tuberculosis infection? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a huge reservoir for the deadlier TB disease. Accurate identification of LTBI is a key strategy to eliminate TB. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis approach was used to assess diagnostic potential of IL-2 for LTBI. ⋯ These findings showed that IL-2 is a powerful marker for differentiating LTBI from non-TB controls and a good marker for differentiating ATB from LTBI individuals.
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Emerging data suggest that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has extrapulmonary manifestations but its renal manifestations are not clearly defined. We aimed to evaluate renal complications of COVID-19 and their incidence using a systematic meta-analysis. ⋯ Frequent renal complications reported among hospitalized COVID-19 patients are electrolyte disturbance, AKI and RRT. Aggressive monitoring and management of these renal complications may help in the prediction of favourable outcomes. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO 2020: CRD42020186873 KEY MESSAGES COVID-19 affects multiple organs apart from the respiratory system; however, its renal manifestations are not clearly defined. In this systematic meta-analysis of 22 observational cohort studies, the prevalence of pre-existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) in COVID-19 patients was 5.2%. The most frequent renal complication was electrolyte disturbance (particularly hyperkalaemia) with an incidence of 12.5% followed by acute kidney injury (AKI) with an incidence of 11.0%; US populations and groups with higher prevalence of CKD had higher incidence of AKI.