Articles: prospective-studies.
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Meta Analysis
The diagnostic value of interleukin 6 as a biomarker for gastric cancer: A meta-analysis and systematic review.
Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers and a main cause of global cancer death. The expression of interleukin 6 is associated with the risk of gastric cancer. But the diagnostic accuracy of interleukin 6 remains unclear. This study was designed to assess the diagnostic performance of interleukin 6 in gastric cancer diagnosis. ⋯ Higher interleukin 6 expression was detected in GC patients, and interleukin 6 could be a helpful indicator of diagnosis of gastric cancer. Further large-scale prospective studies are required for identifying the diagnostic value of interleukin 6 in gastric cancer.
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Meta Analysis
The impact of plant-based diets on female bone mineral density: Evidence based on seventeen studies.
An increase in awareness of plant-based diets has brought forth numerous studies on bone mineral density (BMD). The present systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to compare the effect between plant-based diets and omnivores on female BMD. ⋯ The present meta-analysis indicated that plant-based diets may be correlated with lower BMD of women when compared with omnivore population. However, this does not diminish the fact that a plant-based diet can be a harmful option to the overall bone health of population and more prospective researches are needed to clear the impact of plant-based diets on bone health.
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Clinical prediction rules (CPRs) can assist clinicians by focusing their clinical evaluation on the most important signs and symptoms, and if used properly can reduce the need for diagnostic testing. This study aims to perform an updated systematic review of clinical prediction rules and classification and regression tree (CART) models for the diagnosis of influenza. ⋯ Well-designed validation studies, studies of interrater reliability between telehealth an in-person assessment, and studies using novel data mining and artificial intelligence strategies are needed to improve diagnosis of this common and important infection.
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Palindromic rheumatism (PR) characterised by self-resolving attacks of arthritis and peri-arthritis that may progress to other autoimmune connective tissue diseases (CTDs). The aim of this systematic review was to analyse the effectiveness of different treatments on PR. ⋯ Although case series and retrospective studies showed that DMARDs can control attacks of the disease, our review suggests that randomised clinical trials and prospective studies with adequate sample size are needed to prove that DMARDs can prevent progression of PR to autoimmune CTDs and which DMARDs are preferred for the treatment of PR.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jul 2021
Review Meta AnalysisMedical adjuvant treatment to increase patency of arteriovenous fistulae and grafts.
People with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) often require either the formation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or an interposition prosthetic arteriovenous graft (AVG) for haemodialysis. These access sites should ideally have a long life and a low rate of complications (e.g. thrombosis, infection, stenosis, aneurysm formation and distal limb ischaemia). Although some of the complications may be unavoidable, any adjuvant technique or medical treatment aimed at decreasing complications would be welcome. This is the fourth update of the review first published in 2003. ⋯ The meta-analyses of three studies for ticlopidine (an antiplatelet treatment), which all used the same dose of treatment but with a short follow-up of only one month, suggest ticlopidine may have a beneficial effect as an adjuvant treatment to increase the patency of AVFs and AVGs in the short term. There was insufficient evidence to determine if there was a difference in graft patency between placebo and other treatments such as aspirin, fish oil, clopidogrel, dipyridamole, dipyridamole plus aspirin, warfarin, sulphinpyrazone and GTN patch. The certainty of the evidence was low to moderate due to short follow-up periods, the small number of studies for each comparison, small sample sizes, heterogeneity between trials and risk of bias due to incomplete reporting. Therefore, it appears reasonable to suggest further prospective studies be undertaken to assess the use of these antiplatelet drugs in renal patients with an AVF or AVG.