INTRODUCTION: Rehabilitation medicine in a tertiary care hospital involves attending to many patients affected by intensive care unit (ICU)-associated weakness (ICU-AW) and hospital-associated deconditioning (HAD). These conditions contribute to poor long-term functional outcomes and increased mortality. We explored the role of short-term adjunctive androgen therapy in this group of patients in improving the rehabilitative outcomes. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of five patients with either ICU-AW or HAD who were given testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) or oxandrolone for a total of 2 weeks during the period from April to November 2020 was undertaken. During the 2-week trial period, the subjects underwent standard rehabilitation therapy. RESULTS: Grip strength was used as the primary outcome measure, and the mean improvement was 4.2 kg (+24.9%), which is encouraging in a 2-week timeframe. This was matched with good functional recovery in terms of distance ambulated and less assistance needed for ambulation. Sex hormone analysis was also done before initiation of TRT, and it showed that four out of five of the subjects were biochemically hypogonadal. None of the subjects dropped out or experienced any significant adverse events over the 2-week trial period. All the subjects except one improved to full independence at 3 months post-discharge. CONCLUSION TRT has the potential to be used as a useful adjunct to standard rehabilitation in enhancing functional recovery in critically ill patients. A multidisciplinary approach would ensure that suitable patients benefit from optimal nutrition, optimal rehabilitation and synergistic testosterone therapy in a clinically sound and resource-efficient fashion.
Humans ; Testosterone/therapeutic use* ; Retrospective Studies ; Male ; Hormone Replacement Therapy/methods* ; Intensive Care Units ; Singapore ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Weakness/drug therapy* ; Aged ; Hospitals, General ; Hand Strength ; Androgens/therapeutic use* ; Treatment Outcome ; Critical Illness/rehabilitation* ; Female ; Recovery of Function

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of vitamin B1 in patients with ICU-acquired weakness (ICU-AW). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted to select ICU-AW patients treated with vitamin B1 in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University from July 2022 to December 2023. Propensity score matching was used to match the control group and observation group at a 1 : 1 ratio, considering differences in patient age, gender, and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II). The control group received conventional treatment, while the observation group received vitamin B1 in addition to conventional treatment. Comparisons were made between the two groups in terms of basic information, APACHE II scores, Medical Research Council muscle strength score (MRC), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and serum creatinine (SCr) levels before and after treatment, mechanical ventilation time, and length of ICU stay were collected and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 30 patients with ICU-AW were included, both 15 in each group. There were no significant differences in gender, age and APACHE II score between the two groups. There were no significant differences in APACHE II score, MRC score, IL-6, CRP, SCr levels, and the duration of ventilator-assisted ventilation and ICU stay between the two groups of patients before treatment. Both groups showed improvements in APACHE II scores and MRC scores after treatment, with the observation group showing significantly greater improvement compared to the control group (APACHE II score: 10.80±1.47 vs. 12.20±1.52, MRC score: 50.40±7.10 vs. 42.00±8.78, both P < 0.05). After treatment, both groups showed significant reductions in IL-6, CRP, and SCr levels, but there were no significant differences between the observation group and control group. The observation group had significantly shorter durations of mechanical ventilation (days: 7.67±1.54 vs. 9.67±2.44, P < 0.05) and ICU stay (days: 13.33±1.72 vs. 15.13±2.56, P < 0.05) compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS The use of vitamin B1 during the treatment of ICU-AW significantly improves muscle strength and reduces the duration of mechanical ventilation and ICU stay.
Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Retrospective Studies ; APACHE ; Muscle Weakness/drug therapy* ; Respiration, Artificial ; Thiamine/therapeutic use* ; C-Reactive Protein ; Interleukin-6/blood* ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Female ; Treatment Outcome ; Propensity Score ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: Dose-dense chemotherapy (DD-CT) is a preferred (neo)adjuvant regimen in early breast cancer (BC). Although the results of reported randomized trials are conflicting, a recent meta-analysis showed improved overall and disease-free survival with DD-CT compared to conventional schedules. However, no DD-CT safety data for Korean BC patients are available. This phase II study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of pegteograstim in Korean BC patients receiving DD-CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with operable (stage I-III), histologically confirmed BC received four cycles of intravenous doxorubicin (60 mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2) on day 1 every 2 weeks as neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy. Pegteograstim (6.0 mg) was administered subcutaneously on day 2 of each cycle. The primary endpoint was the incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN). The secondary endpoints were safety and tolerability. RESULTS: Of 63 patients, one (1.6%) developed FN during all cycles of DD-CT. Dose delay was observed in four patients (6.3%) and dose reduction in two (3.2%) during DD-CT. Frequent adverse events (AEs) were nausea, alopecia, generalized muscle weakness, myalgia, mucositis, anorexia, dyspepsia, and diarrhea; most AEs were related to chemotherapy. Grade 3-4 AEs were reported in five of 63 patients (7.9%), and all grade 3 and 4 AEs were related to chemotherapy. Adverse drug reactions possibly linked to pegteograstim were abdominal pain, bone pain, myalgia, generalized muscle weakness, and headache in five of 63 patients (7.9%). CONCLUSION: Dose-dense AC (doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide) chemotherapywith pegteograstim support is a tolerable and safe regimen in Korean early BC patients.
Abdominal Pain ; Alopecia ; Anorexia ; Appointments and Schedules ; Breast Neoplasms ; Breast ; Cyclophosphamide ; Diarrhea ; Disease-Free Survival ; Doxorubicin ; Drug Therapy ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Dyspepsia ; Febrile Neutropenia ; Headache ; Humans ; Incidence ; Mucositis ; Muscle Weakness ; Myalgia ; Nausea

Cholangiocarcinoma with paraneoplastic dermatomyositis (DM) is extremely rare, and the whole body positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) finding of paraneoplastic DM is rarely reported. We report a 66-year-old woman with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, initially presented with bilateral proximal muscle uptake on PET-CT without clinical muscle symptoms. The initial interpretation of the high muscle uptake was metastasis to the muscles. However, while awaiting for chemotherapy, muscle weakness evolved and rapidly progressed. The level of creatine phosphokinase was significantly elevated. Electromyography revealed moderate myopathy, and a muscle biopsy showed degenerating myofibers with variable sizes. The diagnosis of paraneoplastic dermatomyositis was made. This case highlights that, although rare, paraneoplastic dermatomyositis can be present with cholangiocarcinoma. Also, muscle inflammation can precede the clinical muscle symptoms, and paraneoplastic DM should be considered as a possible differential diagnosis in the assessment of cancer patients who present with abnormal muscle tracer uptake in PET-CT scans.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Cholangiocarcinoma* ; Creatine Kinase ; Dermatomyositis* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Therapy ; Electromyography ; Electrons* ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscles ; Muscular Diseases ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Positron-Emission Tomography

Cholangiocarcinoma with paraneoplastic dermatomyositis (DM) is extremely rare, and the whole body positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) finding of paraneoplastic DM is rarely reported. We report a 66-year-old woman with metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, initially presented with bilateral proximal muscle uptake on PET-CT without clinical muscle symptoms. The initial interpretation of the high muscle uptake was metastasis to the muscles. However, while awaiting for chemotherapy, muscle weakness evolved and rapidly progressed. The level of creatine phosphokinase was significantly elevated. Electromyography revealed moderate myopathy, and a muscle biopsy showed degenerating myofibers with variable sizes. The diagnosis of paraneoplastic dermatomyositis was made. This case highlights that, although rare, paraneoplastic dermatomyositis can be present with cholangiocarcinoma. Also, muscle inflammation can precede the clinical muscle symptoms, and paraneoplastic DM should be considered as a possible differential diagnosis in the assessment of cancer patients who present with abnormal muscle tracer uptake in PET-CT scans.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Cholangiocarcinoma* ; Creatine Kinase ; Dermatomyositis* ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drug Therapy ; Electromyography ; Electrons* ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Muscle Weakness ; Muscles ; Muscular Diseases ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Positron-Emission Tomography

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical and laboratory features and the prognosis of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) complicated with interstitial lung disease (ILD).

METHODData of 39 cases of JDM complicated with ILD hospitalized in Beijing Children's Hospital from January 2005 to December 2011 were collected. The clinical features, laboratory data and prognosis of these children were analyzed.

RESULTOf the 39 cases studied, 16 were boys, and 23 girls. The average age of onset was 5.6 years, and 61.5% of the patients' age of onset (24 cases) was under 6 years. Rashes (17 cases, 43.6%), simultaneous eruption of rashes and muscle weakness (14 cases, 35.9%), fever (4 cases, 10.1%), or muscle weakness (3 cases, 7.7%) were common initial symptoms of the disease. Only 51.3% of the patients (20 cases) had the symptoms of respiratory system, but (24 cases) 61.5% were complicated with that of the gastrointestinal system; (27 cases) 69.2% had at the same time electrocardiographic and echocardiographic abnormalities. The chest high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) showed cord or band-like shadows in their lungs of more than half of the cases (25 cases, 64.1%), and other changes included ground glass-like shadow (10 cases, 25.6%), net and lineation-like shadow (9 cases, 23.1%), nodular change (5 cases, 12.8%). The patients complicated with lung essential infiltration accounted for as high as 71.8% (28 cases). These imaging changes were largely seen on both dorsal sides of their lungs. Severe patients also had mediastinal emphysema, pneumothorax, pneumorrhagia or aerodermectasia. Twenty-four patients underwent pulmonary function examination, and 62.5% of the patients' pulmonary function (15 cases) was abnormal. The fatality rate of the cases studied was 10.1%.

CONCLUSIONThe imaging changes of patients suffering from JDM with ILD were often more severe as compared to the clinical symptoms, and were often complicated with damages to other systems and organs. The prognosis of those patients was poorer than others. Patients with JDM especially at a younger age of onset and with various organ damages should be examined with chest HRCT examinations as early as possible.

Child ; Child, Preschool ; Dermatomyositis ; complications ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Lung Diseases, Interstitial ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; etiology ; Male ; Methotrexate ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Muscle Weakness ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Prognosis ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

We investigated the persistence of viable Orientia tsutsugamushi in patients who had recovered from scrub typhus. Blood specimens were available from six patients with scrub typhus who were at 1 to 18 months after the onset of the illness. The EDTA-treated blood specimens were inoculated into ECV304 cells, and cultures were maintained for 7 months. Sequencing of the 56-kDa type-specific antigen gene of O. tsutsugamushi was performed to ascertain the homology of isolates. O. tsutsugamushi was isolated from all six patients, and nucleotide sequences of isolates serially collected from each patient were identical in all five patients in whom nucleotide sequences were compared. One patient relapsed 2 days after completion of antibiotic therapy; two patients complained of weakness for 1 to 2.5 months after the illness; one patient underwent coronary angioplasty 6 months later; and one patient suffered from a transient ischemic attack 8 months later. This finding suggests that O. tsutsugamushi causes chronic latent infection, which may be associated with certain clinical illnesses, preceded by scrub typhus. Antibiotic therapy abates the symptoms of scrub typhus, but does not eradicate O. tsutsugamushi from the human body.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antigens, Bacterial/genetics ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Base Sequence ; Case-Control Studies ; Chronic Disease ; Coronary Artery Disease/etiology ; DNA, Bacterial/genetics/isolation & purification ; Female ; Genes, Bacterial ; Humans ; Ischemic Attack, Transient/etiology ; Male ; Membrane Proteins/genetics ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Weakness/etiology ; Orientia tsutsugamushi/genetics/immunology/*isolation & purification ; Recurrence ; Scrub Typhus/complications/drug therapy/*microbiology ; Time Factors

Adefovir dipivoxil is commonly used for treatment of chronic hepatitis B. The renal toxicity of adefovir dipivoxil is dose- and time-related, occurring often in patients with a daily dose over 30 mg and those with impaired renal function. We report a case of chronic hepatitis B with a history of taking adefovir dipivoxil at 10 mg/day for 4 years. The patient complained of lumbosacral and joint pain and had the diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or spondyloarthropathy in several hospitals before admission in our hospital. A diagnosis of acquired Fanconi syndrome and hypophosphatemia osteomalacia associated with progressive muscular weakness was made eventually. We reviewed the literature and found reports of only fewer than 10 similar cases. Clinical attention should be given to kidney damage induced by adefovir dipivoxil.
Adenine ; adverse effects ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; chemically induced ; complications ; congenital ; Fanconi Syndrome ; chemically induced ; complications ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Hypophosphatemia ; chemically induced ; complications ; Male ; Muscle Weakness ; chemically induced ; complications ; Organophosphonates ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Osteomalacia ; chemically induced ; complications ; Young Adult

Scurvy is very rare disease in industrialized societies. Nevertheless, it still exists in higher risk groups including economically disadvantaged populations with poor nutrition, such as the elderly and chronic alcoholics. The incidence of scurvy in the pediatric population is very low. This study reports a case of scurvy in a 5-year-old girl with cerebral palsy and developmental delay based on MRI findings.
Ascorbic Acid/blood/therapeutic use ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic/etiology ; Cerebral Palsy/complications ; Child, Preschool ; Cholecalciferol/blood ; Developmental Disabilities/complications ; Drainage ; Female ; Femur/pathology/radionuclide imaging/surgery ; Fever/etiology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hematoma/diagnosis/etiology/surgery ; Humans ; Knee/radiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods ; Muscle Weakness/etiology ; Rare Diseases ; Scurvy/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Thigh/pathology ; Vitamins/therapeutic use

Dermatomyositis is a rare and idiopathic inflammatory myopathy with characteristic cutaneous manifestations. A 61-year-old female presented with the chief complaints of proximal muscle weakness, facial edema and erythema on the face, chest and back. The patient was diagnosed with dermatomyositis by the clinical manifestation, laboratory findings and an electromyogram. After a year following appropriate treatment, a tonsil cancer was found. The patient was treated with three rounds of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and wide excision of the left tonsil. In Korea, a few cases of dermatomyositis have been reported associated with stomach cancer, breast cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lung cancer, but no associated cases with tonsil cancer have yet been reported. We report a case of tonsil cancer that developed in a patient with dermatomyosits during therapy.
Breast Neoplasms ; Dermatomyositis* ; Drug Therapy ; Edema ; Erythema ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Lung Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Weakness ; Myositis ; Palatine Tonsil* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Thorax ; Tonsillar Neoplasms*