Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers in Asia, which de-serves more research group participants. However, statistical and technical biases can easily lead to miscon-ception and false directions. We expressed our interest and opinion on the article based on a prospective du-al-tracer [18s F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) and 11C-acetate] PET/CT study in the evaluation of primary and metastatic HCC. The opinions were stated in the light of some important technical issues including statistics, diagnostic criteria and sampling differences for the detection of small primary HCC, metastatic HCC and cholangiocarcinoma.

Metastasis from unknown primary is always a challenge because finding the true primary tumor significantly affects subsequent management. We present a case of malignant abdominal wall nodule initially diagnosed as metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma through excisional biopsy and immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. Dual-tracer positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with 11 C-acetate and 18 F-FDG, however, showed metabolic findings in favor of metastasis from lung origin, which was finally confirmed by ensuing a lung biopsy with additional IHC stains. This case illustrates the complementary molecular role of PET to pathology, particularly when dual-tracer or multi-tracer PET is used in conjunction with pathology methods for cross referencing and confirmation.

Background: To compare risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) between patients taking sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and those taking glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) in routine care. Methods: This retrospective cohort study emulating a target trial included patient data from the multi-institutional Chang Gung Research Database in Taiwan. Totally, 33,021 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus using SGLT2is and GLP1-RAs between 2016 and 2019 were identified. 3,249 patients were excluded due to missing demographics, age <40 years, prior use of any study drug, a diagnosis of retinal disorders, a history of receiving vitreoretinal procedure, no baseline glycosylated hemoglobin, or no follow-up data. Baseline characteristics were balanced using inverse probability of treatment weighting with propensity scores. DR diagnoses and vitreoretinal interventions served as the primary outcomes. Occurrence of proliferative DR and DR receiving vitreoretinal interventions were regarded as vision-threatening DR. Results: There were 21,491 SGLT2i and 1,887 GLP1-RA users included for the analysis. Patients receiving SGLT2is and GLP-1 RAs exhibited comparable rate of any DR (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 0.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79 to 1.03), whereas the rate of proliferative DR (SHR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.68) was significantly lower in the SGLT2i group. Also, SGLT2i users showed significantly reduced risk of composite surgical outcome (SHR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.48 to 0.70). Conclusion Compared to those taking GLP1-RAs, patients receiving SGLT2is had a lower risk of proliferative DR and vitreoretinal interventions, although the rate of any DR was comparable between the SGLT2i and GLP1-RA groups. Thus, SGLT2is may be associated with a lower risk of vision-threatening DR but not DR development.

Early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis with the initiation of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs is important to prevent future disability. Seronegative rheumatoid arthritis lacks the classical immunological markers, thus imposing clinical diagnostic difficulty. In this case, we reported 68 Ga-FAPI PET/CT findings of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis in a 60-year-old lady. This case illustrates how 68  Ga-FAPI PET/CT aids in the diagnosis of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis.

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of upper tract involvement in ketamine-associated uropathy, and to determine the predictors of hydronephrosis in patients with a history of ketamine abuse. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of a prospective cohort of patients with ketamine-associated uropathy. Data including demographics, pattern of ketamine abuse, pelvic pain and urgency or frequency (PUF) symptom score, uroflowmetry (UFM) parameters, serum renal function, and liver function tests were collected. Upon consultation, ultrasonography was performed to assess the function of the urinary system. RESULTS: From December 2011 to October 2015, we treated 572 patients with ketamine-associated uropathy. Of these patients, 207 (36.2%) had managed to achieve abstinence at the time of their first consultation. Ninety-six patients (16.8%) in the cohort were found to have hydronephrosis on ultrasonography. Univariate analysis identified age, duration of ketamine abuse, PUF symptom score, voided volume on UFM, serum creatinine levels >100 μmol/L, and an abnormal serum liver enzyme profile as factors associated with hydronephrosis. Logistic regression revealed the following parameters to be statistically related to hydronephrosis: age (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.090; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.020–1.166; P=0.012), functional bladder capacity (adjusted OR, 0.997; 95% CI, 0.995–0.999; P=0.029), serum creatinine >100 μmol/L (adjusted OR, 3.107; 95% CI, 1.238–7.794; P=0.016, and an abnormal serum liver enzyme profile (adjusted OR, 1.967; 95% CI, 1.213–3.187; P=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Ketamine-associated uropathy can involve the upper urinary tract. Patient demographics as well as investigations of UFM, renal function tests, and liver function tests may allow us to identify at-risk patients.
Cohort Studies ; Creatinine ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Cystitis ; Demography ; Humans ; Hydronephrosis ; Ketamine ; Liver ; Liver Function Tests ; Logistic Models ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Odds Ratio ; Pelvic Pain ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Ultrasonography ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract* ; Urination Disorders

BACKGROUNDCardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective electrical therapy for patients with moderate to severe heart failure and cardiac dyssynchrony. This study aimed to investigate the degree of acute left ventricular (LV) resynchronization with biventricular pacing (BVP) at different LV sites and to examine the feasibility of performing transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to quantify acute LV resynchronization during CRT procedure.

METHODSFourteen patients with NYHA Class III-IV heart failure, LV ejection fraction < or = 35%, QRS duration > or = 120 ms and septal-lateral delay (SLD) > or = 60 ms on tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), underwent CRT implant. TDI was obtained from three apical views during BVP at each accessible LV site and SLD during BVP was derived. Synchronicity gain index (Sg) by SLD was defined as (1 + (SLD at baseline--SLD at BVP)/SLD at baseline).

RESULTSSeventy-two sites were studied. Positive resynchronization (R+, Sg > 1) was found in 42 (58%) sites. R+ was more likely in posterior or lateral than anterior LV sites (66% vs. 36%, P < 0.001). Concordance of empirical LV lead implantation sites and sites with R+ was 50% (7/14).

CONCLUSIONSThe degree of acute LV resynchronization by BVP depends on LV lead location and empirical implantation of LV lead results in only 50% concordance with R+. Performing TTE during CRT implantation is feasible to identify LV sites with positive resynchronization.

Aged ; Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy ; methods ; Echocardiography ; methods ; Female ; Heart Failure ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; therapy

BACKGROUNDProactive infection control management is crucial in preventing the introduction of multiple drug resistant organisms in the healthcare setting. In Hong Kong, where vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) endemicity is not yet established, contact tracing and screening, together with other infection control measures are essential in limiting intra- and inter-hospital transmission. The objective of this study was to illustrate the control measures used to eradicate a VRE outbreak in a hospital network in Hong Kong.

METHODSWe described an outbreak of VRE in a healthcare region in Hong Kong, involving a University affiliated hospital and a convalescent hospital of 1600 and 550 beds respectively. Computer-assisted analysis was utilized to facilitate contact tracing, followed by VRE screening using chromogenic agar. Multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) was performed to assess the clonality of the VRE strains isolated. A case-control study was conducted to identify the risk factors for nosocomial acquisition of VRE.

RESULTSBetween November 26 and December 17, 2011, 11 patients (1 exogenous case and 10 secondary cases) in two hospitals with VRE colonization were detected during our outbreak investigation and screening for 361 contact patients, resulting in a clinical attack rate of 2.8% (10/361). There were 8 males and 3 females with a median age of 78 years (range, 40 - 87 years). MLST confirmed sequence type ST414 in all isolates. Case-control analysis demonstrated that VRE positive cases had a significantly longer cumulative length of stay (P < 0.001), a higher proportion with chronic cerebral and cardiopulmonary conditions (P = 0.001), underlying malignancies (P < 0.001), and presence of urinary catheter (P < 0.001), wound or ulcer (P < 0.001), and a greater proportion of these patients were receiving β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitors (P = 0.009), carbapenem group (P < 0.001), fluoroquinolones (P = 0.003), or vancomycin (P = 0.001) when compared with the controls.

CONCLUSIONExtensive contact tracing and screening with a "search-and-confine" strategy was a successful tool for outbreak control in our healthcare region.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Enterococcus faecium ; growth & development ; pathogenicity ; Female ; Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Hong Kong ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Vancomycin Resistance

Objective: Epilepsy is understudied in Southeast Asian (SEA) countries. This systematic review aimed to determine the number of epilepsy publications performed in SEA and identify factors associated with research output in this region. Methods: Existing academic journal article searches were performed using PubMed, Scopus, Medline and Web of Science till 1st March 2018. Openness is determined by the use of English in medical school and overseas epilepsy fellowship. Results: A total of 702 epilepsy articles have been published in the last 50 years in the SEA region, with an exponential increase of publications after the year 1997, with the cumulative number doubled every 5 years. Only half (54%) were published in the journals with impact factor (IF) ≥1. Majority of the publications (48.2%) employed cross sectional design, followed by animal or laboratory studies (21.1%), with few randomized controlled trials and systematic review/meta-analysis studies (1.7% and 2.3%, respectively). Half (52.9%) of the publications were clinical studies. The number of papers with IF≥1 correlated positively with openness to international standard (R=0.720, p<0.05), and knowledge-based economy (p=0.01). Conclusion: Epilepsy research output in SEA is low in quantity and quality. The output is mainly related to the type of economy (knowledge-based or non-knowledge-based) and openness to international ideas and standard.

Background/Aims: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients who failed antiviral therapy are at increased risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study assessed the potential role of metformin and statins, medications for diabetes mellitus (DM) and hyperlipidemia (HLP), in reducing HCC risk among these patients. Methods: We included CHC patients from the T-COACH study who failed antiviral therapy. We tracked the onset of HCC 1.5 years post-therapy by linking to Taiwan’s cancer registry data from 2003 to 2019. We accounted for death and liver transplantation as competing risks and employed Gray’s cumulative incidence and Cox subdistribution hazards models to analyze HCC development. Results: Out of 2,779 patients, 480 (17.3%) developed HCC post-therapy. DM patients not using metformin had a 51% increased risk of HCC compared to non-DM patients, while HLP patients on statins had a 50% reduced risk compared to those without HLP. The 5-year HCC incidence was significantly higher for metformin non-users (16.5%) versus non-DM patients (11.3%; adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio [aSHR]=1.51; P=0.007) and metformin users (3.1%; aSHR=1.59; P=0.022). Statin use in HLP patients correlated with a lower HCC risk (3.8%) compared to non-HLP patients (12.5%; aSHR=0.50; P<0.001). Notably, the increased HCC risk associated with non-use of metformin was primarily seen in non-cirrhotic patients, whereas statins decreased HCC risk in both cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic patients. Conclusions Metformin and statins may have a chemopreventive effect against HCC in CHC patients who failed antiviral therapy. These results support the need for personalized preventive strategies in managing HCC risk.

We aim to evaluate prostate health index as an additional risk-stratification tool in patients with Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System score 3 lesions on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging. Men with biochemical or clinical suspicion of having prostate cancer who underwent multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging in two tertiary centers (Queen Mary Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong, China) between January 2017 and June 2022 were included. Ultrasound-magnetic resonance imaging fusion biopsies were performed after prostate health index testing. Those who only had Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System score 3 lesions were further stratified into four prostate health index risk groups and the cancer detection rates were analyzed. Out of the 747 patients, 47.3% had Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System score 3 lesions only. The detection rate of clinically significant prostate cancer in this group was 15.0%. The cancer detection rates of clinically significant prostate cancer had statistically significant differences: 5.3% in prostate health index <25.0, 7.4% in prostate health index 25.0-34.9, 17.9% in prostate health index 35.0-54.9, and 52.6% in prostate health index ≥55.0 (P < 0.01). Among the patients, 26.9% could have avoided a biopsy with a prostate health index <25.0, at the expense of a 5.3% risk of missing clinically significant prostate cancer. Prostate health index could be used as an additional risk stratification tool for patients with Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System score 3 lesions. Biopsies could be avoided in patients with low prostate health index, with a small risk of missing clinically significant prostate cancer.