No abstract available.
Ascorbic Acid* ; Vitamins*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify clinical, lesional, and procedural predictors for adverse outcomes of coronary angioplasty and stenting in coronary bypass candidates. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This cohort study included 107 consecutive candidates for coronary artery bypass surgery who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with multiple coronary stents between Jan 2004 and Dec 2011. The study endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) including all-cause mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, and stent thrombosis. Follow up was from the date of index percutaneous coronary intervention to the date of the first MACE, date of death, or December 31, 2015, whichever came first. RESULTS: In this study (age 62.3±11.2 years, 86% male), 38 patients (36%) had MACE. Among baseline, angiographic, and procedural parameters, there were significant differences in lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and worse renal function. In a Cox regression model, LVEF and chronic kidney disease (CKD) were significant predictors for MACE. After a multivariate adjustment, CKD remained a significant predictor of MACEs (hazard ratio: 2.97, 95% confidence interval: 1.50-5.90). CONCLUSIONS: For coronary bypass candidates who were treated with coronary angioplasty and stenting, CKD seems to be the strongest predictor for adverse outcomes compared with other traditional factors.
Angioplasty ; Cohort Studies ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mortality ; Myocardial Infarction ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention* ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic* ; Stents ; Stroke Volume ; Thrombosis

OBJECTIVETo probe into a better acupoint association for treatment of hyperplasia of mammary glands and the mechanism.

METHODSTwo hundred cases were randomly divided into a regulating kidney and smoothing liver needling group, a routine acupuncture group and a Chinese medicine group. The regulating kidney and smoot hing liver needling group were treated with acupuncture at Shenshu (BL 23), Mingmen (GV 4), Fengfu (GV 16), Lingxu (KI 24), Shenfeng (KI 23), Bulang (KI 22), Qimen (LR 14), etc. and the routine acupuncture group with acupuncture at Zusanli (ST 36), Tanzhong (CV 17), Ganshu (BL 18), Rugen (ST 18), Neiguan (PC 6), Qimen (LR 14), once daily; and the Chinese medicine group with oral administration of Rupixiao tablet, 6 tablets each time, thrice each day. After they were treated for 2 menstrual cycles, the therapeutic effects and changes of E2, PRL, P, CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ were observed.

RESULTSThe clinical therapeutic effect and the total effective rate for TCM syndromes were 92.0% and 94.0% in the regulating kidney and smoothing liver needling group, 86.0% and 88.0% in the routine acupuncture group and 78.0% and 84.0% in the Chinese medicine group, with a significant difference among the 3 groups, the former being better than the other two groups; after treatment, serum PRL, P, P/E2 significantly improved in all the 3 groups (P < 0.05) and the regulating kidney and smoothing liver needling group was better than other two groups in decreasing PRL and increasing P, P/E2 (P < 0.05); and E2, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+ significantly improved in the regulating kidney and smoothing liver needling group and the routine acupuncture group, the former being better than the later in decreasing E2 (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe regulating kidney and smoothing liver needling method is an effective method for treatment of hyperplasia of mammary glands and it has regulative action on endocrine and immune functions in the patient with hyperplasia of mammary glands.

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Adult ; Endocrine Glands ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Kidney ; physiopathology ; Liver ; physiopathology ; Mammary Glands, Human ; pathology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

Radiologists and trauma surgeons should monitor for early killers among patients with thoracic trauma, such as tension pneumothorax, tracheobronchial injuries, flail chest, aortic injury, mediastinal hematomas, and severe pulmonary parenchymal injury. With the advent of cutting-edge technology, rapid volumetric computed tomography of the chest has become the most definitive diagnostic tool for establishing or excluding thoracic trauma. With the notion of “time is life” at emergency settings, radiologists must find ways to shorten the turnaround time of reports. One way to interpret chest findings is to use a systemic approach, as advocated in this study. Our interpretation of chest findings for thoracic trauma follows the acronym “ABC-Please” in which “A” stands for abnormal air, “B” stands for abnormal bones, “C” stands for abnormal cardiovascular system, and “P” in “Please” stands for abnormal pulmonary parenchyma and vessels. In the future, utilizing an artificial intelligence software can be an alternative, which can highlight significant findings as “warm zones” on the heatmap and can re-prioritize important examinations at the top of the reading list for radiologists to expedite the final reports.

It is recognized that prenatal care plays an important role in reducing adverse birth.Chinese pregnant women with medical condition were required to seek additional health care based on the recommended at least 5 times health care visits.This study was to estimate the association between prenatal care utilization (PCU) and preterm birth (PTB),and to investigate if medical conditions during pregnancy modified the association.This population-based case control study sampled women with PTB as cases;one control for each case was randomly selected from women with term births.The Electronic Perinatal Health Care Information System (EPHCIS) and a questionnaire were used for data collection.The PCU was measured by a renewed Prenatal Care Utilization (APNCU) index.Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and the 95％ confidence interval (95％ CI).Totally,2393 women with PTBs and 4263 women with term births were collected.In this study,695 (10.5％) women experienced inadequate prenatal care,and 5131 (77.1％) received adequate plus prenatal care.Inadequate PCU was associated with PTB (adjusted OR:1.41,95％ CI:1.32-1.84);the similar positive association was found between adequate plus PCU and PTB.Among women with medical conditions,these associations still existed;but among women without medical conditions,the association between inadequate PCU and PTB disappeared.Our data suggests that women receiving inappropriate PCU are at an increased risk of having PTB,but it does depend on whether the woman has a medical condition during pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: The study investigated to compare health care utilization and expenditures between diabetic patients with and without depression in Taiwan. METHODS: Health care utilization and expenditure among diabetic patients with and without depression disorder during 2000 and 2004 were examined using Taiwan's population-based National Health Insurance claims database. Health care utilization included outpatient visits and the use of inpatient services, and health expenditures were outpatient, inpatient, and total medical expenditures. Moreover, general estimation equation models were used for analyzing the factors associated with outpatient visits and expenditures. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied for identifying the factors associated with hospitalization. RESULTS: The average annual outpatient visits and annual total medical expenditures in the study period were 44.23–52.20; NT$87,496–133,077 and 30.75–32.92; NT$64,411–80,955 for diabetic patients with and without depression. After adjustment for covariates, our results revealed that gender and complication were associated with out-patient visits. Moreover, the time factor was associated with the total medical expenditure, and residential urbanization and complication factors were associated with hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Health care utilization and expenditures for diabetic patients with depression were significantly higher than those without depression. Sex, complications, time, and urbanization are the factors associated with health care utilization and expenditures.
Cohort Studies* ; Delivery of Health Care* ; Depression* ; Health Expenditures* ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Logistic Models ; National Health Programs ; Outpatients ; Patient Acceptance of Health Care* ; Taiwan ; Time Factors ; Urbanization