Evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines for Interventional Pain Management in Cancer Pain

Intractable cancer pain not amenable to standard oral or parenteral analgesics is a horrifying truth in 10–15% of patients. Interventional pain management techniques are an indispensable arsenal in pain physician''s armamentarium for severe, intractable pain and can be broadly classified into neuroablative and neuromodulation techniques. An array of neurolytic techniques (chemical, thermal, or surgical) can be employed for ablation of individual nerve fibers, plexuses, or intrathecalneurolysis in patients with resistant pain and short life-expectancy. Neuraxial administration of drugs and spinal cord stimulation to modulate or alter the pain perception constitutes the most frequently employed neuromodulation techniques. Lately, there is a rising call for early introduction of interventional techniques in carefully selected patients simultaneously or even before starting strong opioids. After decades of empirical use, it is the need of the hour to head towards professionalism and standardization in order to secure credibility of specialization and those practicing it. Even though the interventional management has found a definite place in cancer pain, there is a dearth of evidence-based practice guidelines for interventional therapies in cancer pain. This may be because of paucity of good quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating their safety and efficacy in cancer pain. Laying standardized guidelines based on existing and emerging evidence will act as a foundation step towards strengthening, credentialing, and dissemination of the specialty of interventional cancer pain management. This will also ensure an improved decision-making and quality of life (QoL) of the suffering patients.     

Autochthonous Dengue Fever,Tokyo, Japan, 2014

After 70 years with no confirmed autochthonous cases of dengue fever in Japan, 19 cases were reported during August–September 2014. Dengue virus serotype 1 was detected in 18 patients. Phylogenetic analysis of the envelope protein genome sequence from 3 patients revealed 100% identity with the strain from the first patient (2014) in Japan.     

《2021年亚太肝病学会慢性乙型肝炎患者停用核苷（酸）类似物指导意见》摘译

<正>HBV感染目前无法完全根治,强效、安全的核苷(酸)类似物[nucleos(t)ide analog, NUC]长期治疗可通过显著抑制病毒复制,减少肝硬化及相关并发症和肝细胞癌(HCC)的发生,但长期治疗有利有弊。由于NUC抑制病毒作用强、口服方便、耐受性好、不良反应少且轻微等优点,临床应用普遍。但NUC不能完全清除肝细胞内共价闭合环状DNA(cccDNA),难以获得HBsAg清除,HBsAg年转阴率仅为0.15%～0.33%。停用NUC     

2019年南非《利福平耐药结核病管理临床指南》解读及与我国《耐药结核病化学治疗指南(2019年)》对比

介绍2019年南非《利福平耐药结核病管理临床指南》的要点,包括耐药结核病治疗方案的制订、药品选择、特殊人群的治疗、密切接触者的管理等,并与我国《耐药结核病化学治疗指南(2019年)》对比,对于不同之处进行分析。     

2021 AHA/ACC/ASE/CHEST/SAEM/SCCT/SCMR Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines

AimThis clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and diagnosis of chest pain provides recommendations and algorithms for clinicians to assess and diagnose chest pain in adult patients.MethodsA comprehensive literature search was conducted from November 11, 2017, to May 1, 2020, encompassing randomized and nonrandomized trials, observational studies, registries, reviews, and other evidence conducted on human subjects that were published in English from PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Collaboration, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports, and other relevant databases. Additional relevant studies, published through April 2021, were also considered.StructureChest pain is a frequent cause for emergency department visits in the United States. The “2021 AHA/ACC/ASE/CHEST/SAEM/SCCT/SCMR Guideline for the Evaluation and Diagnosis of Chest Pain” provides recommendations based on contemporary evidence on the assessment and evaluation of chest pain. This guideline presents an evidence-based approach to risk stratification and the diagnostic workup for the evaluation of chest pain. Cost-value considerations in diagnostic testing have been incorporated, and shared decision-making with patients is recommended.     

P wave changes on exercise in patients with isolated mitral stenosis

Patients with mitral stenosis usually showed a marked increase in the P negativity following exercise. The P terminal force in Lead V₁ in 20 cases with isolated mitral stenosis was ?0.090 mm. sec. before exercise, which changed to ?0.177 mm. sec. following the single Master two-step test.Normal adults never showed such changes on exercise. The phenomenon was considered to be due to the posterior rotation of the P wave vector in the horizontal plane, which was induced by the enlargement of the left atrial wall on exercise.     

Long-term effects of captopril on passive sodium permeability and contractility in vascular smooth muscles of spontaneously hypertensive rats

Long-term effects of captopril on passive sodium permeability and cellular sodium concentration in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats were examined in terms of contractile properties of the muscle. In cold lithium solution, cellular sodium in the aorta isolated from spontaneously hypertensive rats leaked more rapidly than did that isolated from Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY), suggesting an increased sodium permeability in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Six weeks of treatment with captopril reduced the increased sodium permeability after hydralazine had failed. Inhibition of the sodium pump by incubating the aorta in potassium-free solution produced a slowly developing contraction which was associated with accumulation of cellular sodium. Both the magnitude of contraction and the accumulation of sodium during exposure to potassium-free solution for 1 hour were significantly less in the aorta isolated from spontaneously hypertensive rats treated with captopril compared with those from control spontaneously hypertensive rats. These data suggest that after prolonged administration, captopril alters the abnormal sodium permeability of vascular smooth muscle in spontaneously hypertensive rats and that the restoration of normal permeability reduces vascular tone.     

Association of diet quality,physical activity,and abdominal obesity with metabolic syndrome z-score in black and white adolescents in the US

Background and aimsMetabolic syndrome (MetS) affects ～10% of adolescents and is associated with cardiometabolic disease risk. The most prevalent MetS component is abdominal obesity. Healthy diet and physical activity (PA) are inversely associated with abdominal obesity and may reduce MetS risk in youth. Our aim was to examine associations of diet, activity, and abdominal obesity with MetS z-score (MetS-z).Methods and resultsAn analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2016 data in adolescents was performed. Healthy Eating Index (HEI)- 2015 scores were calculated for diet quality, PA habits were used to determine alignment with national guidelines, and abdominal obesity was assessed by sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD). MetS-z represented severity or potential risk for MetS. Multivariable regression evaluated the relationships of HEI, SAD and PA with MetS-z. Among 1214 black and white adolescents, SAD was significantly associated with MetS-z [β (95% CI) = 0.17 (0.16, 0.19); P <0.0001] while HEI-2015 components showed associations with MetS-z overall (HEI total, dairy, and sodium scores), and by sex (total, refined grains, dairy for males; added sugar, protein, whole grains for females). Mean HEI-2015 score was 47.4/100 (51.6 using the population-ratio method), and the proportion of adolescents meeting national PA guidelines was 37.6%, yet PA was not a significant predictor of MetS-z.ConclusionsUS adolescents have poor diet quality and fewer than half meet PA guidelines. Strategies for preventing MetS and related conditions in adolescence should focus on weight management – specifically, abdominal fat reduction – with individualized diet counseling.