Photodynamic Therapy in Macular Diseases of Asian Populations: When East Meets West

Purpose

We reviewed the indications, safety, and efficacy of photodynamic therapy with verteporfin in various macular diseases and vasculopathies, which are common in Asian populations, and compared the outcomes of photodynamic therapy in Asian patients with the outcomes in Caucasian patients.

Methods

Relevant clinical and laboratory original articles, case reports, and review articles that have been published in the literature between January 1999 and October 2004 were searched in Medline. The potential differences in the response to photodynamic therapy between Asian and Caucasian patients were evaluated. Articles in foreign languages with English abstracts were included.

Results

Macular diseases commonly seen in Asian populations, including choroidal neovascularization (CNV) of age-related macular degeneration, secondary to pathologic myopia or from an idiopathic cause, and choroidal vasculopathies such as central serous chorioretinopathy and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy were included in the review. The results were tabulated and the differences with Caucasian populations were compared and highlighted.

Conclusion

Photodynamic therapy has been found to be an effective and noninvasive treatment for various subfoveal CNV and choroidal vasculopathies of the macula. Diverse behavior in different ethnic groups is observed. Jpn J Ophthalmol 2006;50:161–169 © Japanese Ophthalmological Society 2006     

生脉注射液在气管插管后血压降低中的运用

生脉注射液具有益气养阴、复脉固脱之功效,广泛用于严重感染、血容量不足引起的血压降低.在气管插管后血压降低时,应用生脉注射液也取得了较好的临床疗效.本文对气管插管后血压降低应用生脉注射液的用法用量、注意事项等进行了归纳.     

普济宣肺消毒饮治疗急性支气管炎化痰作用临床观察

目的 观察普济宣肺消毒饮对急性支气管炎化痰作用.方法 用随机、对照、前瞻性研究方法,将87例急性支气管炎（表寒里热证）患者随机分为治疗组44例和对照组43例,治疗组服用普济宣肺消毒饮,对照组用急支糖浆治疗,观察对咯痰的影响,疗程为7d.结果 治疗组对咯痰、发热、头痛、恶风等症状有明显治疗作用,治疗后咯痰疗效和评分低于对照组,化痰疗效优于对照组（P＜0.05）.结论 普济宣肺消毒饮有一定的化痰作用.     

Prevalence and risk factors for postinfectious cough in discharged patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

BackgroundCough is one of the most common symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the prevalence of persistent cough in recovered patients with COVID-19 during a longer follow-up remained unknown. This study aims to investigate the prevalence, and risk factors for postinfectious cough in COVID-19 patients after discharge.MethodsWe conducted a follow-up study for 129 discharged patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in two large hospitals located in Hubei Province, China from January 2020 to December 2020. Baseline demographics, comorbidities and smoking history were extracted from the medical record. Current symptoms and severity were recorded by a uniform questionnaire. Spirometry, diffuse function and chest computed tomography (CT) were performed on part of patients who were able to return to the outpatient department at follow-up.ResultsThe median (interquartile range) follow-up time was 8.1 (7.9–8.5) months after discharge. The mean (standard deviation) age was 51.5 (14.9) years and 57 (44.2%) were male. A total of 27 (20.9%) patients had postinfectious cough (>3 weeks), 6 patients (4.7%) had persistent cough by the end of follow-up, including 3 patients with previous chronic respiratory diseases or current smoking. Other symptoms included dyspnea (6, 4.7%), sputum (4, 3.1%), fatigue (4, 3.1%), and anorexia (4, 3.1%) by the end of follow-up. Thirty-six of 41 (87.8%) patients showed impaired lung function or diffuse function, and 39 of 50 (78.0%) patients showed abnormal CT imaging. Patients with postinfectious cough demonstrated more severe and more frequent cough during hospitalization (P<0.001), and more chronic respiratory diseases (P=0.01). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, digestive symptoms during hospitalization [odds ratio (OR) 2.95, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.10–7.92] and current smoking (OR 6.95, 95% CI: 1.46–33.14) were significantly associated with postinfectious cough of COVID-19.ConclusionsA small part of patients developed postinfectious cough after recovery from COVID-19, few patients developed chronic cough in spite of a higher proportion of impaired lung function and abnormal lung CT image. Current smoking and digestive symptoms during hospitalization were risk factors for postinfectious cough in COVID-19.     

Accelerated-strategy renal replacement therapy for critically ill patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical effect and safety of accelerated-strategy initiation of renal replacement therapy (RRT) in critically ill patients.Methods:PubMed, Embase, OVID, EBSCO, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched for relevant articles from inception to December 30, 2020. Only RCTs that compared the clinical efficacy and safety between accelerated-strategy RRT and standard-strategy RRT among critically ill adult patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) were included. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality.Results:A total of 5279 patients in 12 RCTs were included in this meta-analysis. The 28-day mortality rates of patients treated with accelerated and standard RRT were 37.3% (969/2596) and 37.9% (976/2573), respectively. No significant difference was observed between the groups (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.70–1.12; I² = 60%). The recovery rates of renal function were 54.5% and 52.5% in the accelerated- and standard-RRT groups, respectively, with no significant difference (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.89–1.19; I² = 56%). The rate of RRT dependency was similar in the accelerated- and standard-RRT strategies (6.7% vs 5.0%; OR, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.71–1.72; I² = 20%). The accelerated-RRT group displayed higher risks of hypotension, catheter-related infection, and hypophosphatemia than the standard-RRT group (hypotension: OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.10–1.45; I² = 36%; catheter-related infection: OR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.17–3.09; I² = 0%; hypophosphatemia: OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.43–3.15; I² = 67%).Conclusions:Accelerated RRT does not reduce the risk of death and does not improve the recovery of kidney function among critically ill patients with AKI. In contrast, an increased risk of adverse events was observed in patients receiving accelerated RRT. However, these findings were based on low quality of evidence. Further large-scale RCTs is warranted.     

听神经瘤误诊分析

对经耳鼻咽喉科首诊，最终由神经外科手术全切或部分切除的经病理证实的７２例听神经瘤进行早期误诊分析，误诊时间平均５．５年，误诊病种为神经性耳聋、突发性耳聋、神经性耳鸣、颈椎病、鼻咽癌等。文中重点讨论了误诊原因。     

腔内微波和射频消融闭合大隐静脉主干的疗效及安全性对比分析

目的 探讨血管腔内微波消融（EMA）与射频消融（RFA）闭合大隐静脉主干的疗效和安全性差异。方法 收集2019年1—6月浙江省人民医院收治的316例大隐静脉功能不全患者的临床资料,并按照性别、年龄、病程、体重指数、身高、基础临床表现-病因-解剖-病理生理（CEAP）分级、大隐静脉主干直径的不同将患者筛选并分层配对为EMA组（n=157）和RFA组（n=159）。采用视觉模拟评分法（VAS）评价两组患者术后14 d的大隐静脉主干闭合段疼痛情况和皮肤瘀伤情况;术后第14天、6个月,所有患者均通过超声复查治疗段大隐静脉主干闭合情况。比较两组患者的术后并发症发生情况。结果 RFA组患者的术后VAS最高评分出现在术后第1天,EMA组患者的术后VAS最高评分出现在术后第3天。术后第1～10天,两组患者的VAS评分存在差异;与EMA组患者相比,RFA组患者的术后VAS评分更低。两组患者的皮肤瘀伤最高评分均出现在术后第4天;与EMA组患者相比,RFA组患者的皮肤瘀伤评分较低;术后第5～9天,两组患者的皮肤瘀伤评分差异较大。两组患者术后第14天、6个月的治疗段大隐静脉主干闭合率、术后并发症发生情况比较,...     

Emerging trends in sacubitril/valsartan research: A bibliometric analysis of the years 1995–2021

Background:Sacubitril/valsartan has been approved for the treatment of heart failure (HF) patients with reduced ejection fraction; since then, it gradually became a new star drug in the therapy of HF. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of sacubitril/valsartan remains under investigation. Thus far, only a few bibliometric studies have systematically analyzed the application of sacubitril/valsartan.Methods:Publications on sacubitril/valsartan were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection on April 29, 2021. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2019 (Redmond, WA), VOS viewer (Redmond, WA), and Cite Space V (Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA).Results:A total of 1309 publications on sacubitril/valsartan published from 1995 to 2021 were retrieved. The number of publications regarding sacubitril/valsartan increased sharply in the last 6 years (2015–2021), and American scholars authored >40% of those publications. Most were published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, the United States was the bellwether with a solid academic reputation in this area. Solomon published the highest number of related articles and was the most frequently cited author. “Heart failure” was the leading research hotspot. The keywords, “inflammation,” “fibrosis,” and “oxidative stress” appeared most recently as research fronts.Conclusions:Research attention should be focused on clinical trial outcomes. Considering its effectiveness in HF, the mechanisms and further applications of sacubitril/valsartan may become research hotspots in the future and should be closely examined.     

Hippo pathway monomerizes STAT3 to regulate prostate cancer growth

Prostate cancer ranks among the most commonly diagnosed malignancies for men and has become a non‐negligible threat for public health. Interplay between inflammatory factors and cancer cells renders inflammatory tissue environment as a predisposing condition for cancer development. The Hippo pathway is a conserved signaling pathway across multiple species during evolution that regulates tissue homeostasis and organ development. Nevertheless, whether Hippo pathway regulates cancer‐related inflammatory factors remains elusive. Here, we show that high cell density–mediated activation of the Hippo pathway blunts STAT3 activity in prostate cancer cells. Hippo pathway component MST2 kinase phosphorylates STAT3 at T622, which is located in the SH2 domain of STAT3. This phosphorylation blocks the SH2 domain in one STAT3 molecule to bind with the phosphorylated Y705 site in another STAT3 molecule, which further counteracts IL6‐induced STAT3 dimerization and activation. Expression of a nonphosphorylatable STAT3 T622A mutant enhances STAT3 activity and IL6 expression at high cell density and promotes tumor growth in a mice xenograft model. Our findings demonstrate that STAT3 is a novel phosphorylation substrate for MST2 and thereby highlight a regulatory cascade underlying the crosstalk between inflammation and the Hippo pathway in prostate cancer cells.