Articles: disease.
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Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a rare and irreversible chronic respiratory disease. The diagnosis of BO is challenging, and there still needs to be specific therapies and uniform treatment guidelines available. Research on BO has grown steadily over the past 20 years, and with the continued interest of researchers in this area, a bibliometric study of BO becomes necessary. ⋯ We analyzed the publication trends in BO by bibliometrics and mapped the knowledge network of major contributing countries/regions, institutions, authors, and journals. Current research hotspots were found based on the main keywords and references. The outcome may help researchers identify potential collaborators, collaborating institutions, and hot fronts in BO to enhance collaboration on critical issues and improve the diagnosis and treatment of BO.
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The present study aimed to evaluate the radiological findings of coronavirus patients who had positive computed tomography of the lung following real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing. The data of 1727 patients who had reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing between May 2020 and August 2021 and had thoracic computed tomography (CT) on Days 7th to 8th were analyzed retrospectively. The Radiological Society of North America's recommended reporting system was used to categorize CT findings. ⋯ Thoracic CT is a critical diagnostic tool in Coronavirus Disease 2019 patients with RT-PCR negative. It also depicts the progression of lung involvement in RT-PCR-positive patients. Performing it late in the disease's progression may increase the risk of contracting the disease.
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Latent tuberculosis (TB) infection screening before inducing anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) alpha agents is important to prevent TB reactivation. However, latent TB infection reactivation may still occur, and the ideal therapeutic strategy for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who develop active TB infection has not been established. Vedolizumab (VDZ) has a good safety profile, with low incidence rates of serious infections. However, its safety in patients with latent TB infection reactivation associated with anti-TNF-alpha agents remains unknown. ⋯ This case report presented a patient in whom VDZ was continued as maintenance therapy without inducing TB relapse in a patient with CD who developed latent TB infection reactivation associated with anti-TNF-alpha agents and summarized the safety profile of VDZ for patients with IBD with active or latent TB infection. VDZ may be a safe option for induction and maintenance therapy in patients with CD, even in cases with latent TB infection reactivation.
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An ankle foot orthosis (AFO) is a standard type of orthosis applied to immediately treat foot drop symptoms. Kinesiology taping (KT) is a therapeutic method used in patients with neurological diseases, such as stroke, as well as in patients after orthopedic and sports injuries. This study aimed to compare outcomes of AFO treatment with those of KT to investigate the effect on gait ability in patients with foot drop after stroke. ⋯ As a result, gait ability after treatment with KT and that after treatment with AFO showed no significant differences in cadence (P = .851), velocity (P = .865), swing time (P = .289 and .123), stance time (P = .255 and .711), step length (P = .955 and .975), and stride length (P = .711 and .690) of the affected and less-affected limbs. This study demonstrated that KT and AFO use have similar effects on gait function in patients with foot drop after stroke. Thus, treatment of foot drop with KT may be an alternative in patients for whom AFO use is contraindicated.
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Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most common type of thyroid cancer, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is the major growth factor for thyroid cells. It is also an available, inexpensive test and performed routinely while evaluating thyroid nodules. Yet the relationship between TSH levels and PTC is still controversial. ⋯ A statistically significant increase in TSH levels was noticed by moving from the benign thyroid nodular disease (BTND) group to papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) group, then to thyroid cancer of larger size (TCLS) group (P = .001). A statistically significant relationship was also found between high TSH levels and lymph node metastases (LNM) (P = .008). TSH concentrations were significantly higher in patients with PTC, and higher TSH values were associated with TCLS and LNM.