J Formos Med Assoc
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Comment Letter
Corticosteroids and rehabilitation in COVID-19 survivors.
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Observational Study
Direct-acting antiviral therapy of chronic hepatitis C improves liver fibrosis, assessed by histological examination and laboratory markers.
Direct-acting antiviral agents achieve sustained virological response in most chronic hepatitis C patients. However, histological responses are not consistent among all patients. We conducted an observational study to analyze the histological changes after direct-acting antiviral agent therapy. ⋯ Reversal of liver inflammation and fibrosis was achieved in a significant number of patients who received direct-acting antiviral agent. No baseline host or virological factor was predictive of histological regression after antiviral treatment.
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Prognostic factors remain unclear in patients undergoing transcatheter implantation of Venus P-valve for their severe pulmonary regurgitation associated with native right ventricular (RV) outflow tract. ⋯ In the small cohort with severe pulmonary regurgitation, implantation of a Venus P-valve led to promising reductions in RV volume. However, no definite improvement in cardiopulmonary exercise capacity or RV ejection fraction was achieved. Levels of NT-proBNP and LVEDP may be helpful for refining the indications of the Venus P-valve implantation.
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Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is increasingly being used instead of surgical resection for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor measuring ≦2 cm. However, the long-term outcomes of RFA, especially in comparison to surgical resection, are still debated. We compared the outcomes of surgical resection and RFA in patients with a solitary HCC tumor measuring ≦2 cm from a 10-year cohort study. ⋯ The liver reserve determined the long-term OS of patients with an HCC tumor ≦ 2 cm, and surgical resection offered better RFS than RFA (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04525833.).
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The HCV core antigen (HCV Ag) assay displays high sensitivity and strong correlation with HCV RNA. However, the feasibility of anti-HCV reflex HCV Ag screening in a community-wide setting is rarely discussed. ⋯ Anti-HCV reflex HCV Ag screening is a feasible strategy for aiding HCV-prone communities.