Successful Use of Surgically Placed Impella 5.0 and Central Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Circuit in a Patient with Postcardiotomy Shock

The Impella 5.0, a percutaneously inserted left ventricular assist device, has been used to support patients who have severe heart failure or who are undergoing high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention. We report our surgical placement of the Impella 5.0, through a graft sewn to the aorta, to unload the left ventricle of a 59-year-old man who was undergoing venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for postcardiotomy shock. The patient underwent successful placement of a long-term left ventricular assist device before his discharge from the hospital. The versatility of the Impella 5.0 is exemplified in this patient who was successfully bridged to long-term support.     

HER2-positive advanced breast cancer treatment in 2020

HER2-positive breast cancer is an aggressive subtype identified in the 1980s. The development of therapies targeting the HER2 has improved outcomes. The current standard of care, established in 2012 is dual blockade with trastuzumab + pertuzumab as first-line followed by TDM-1 as second-line. Several suboptimal choices are available in third-line or more. In 2019 the presentation of several trials evaluating new drugs and regimens in third-line has re-opened questions about sequencing, treatment of triple positive disease and treatment choice after exposure to TDM-1. These include tucatinib, neratinib and trastuzumab-deruxtecan. Other agents – including other antibody drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies as well as combinations - will lead to further changes in coming years. Additionally, should the numerous putative biomarkers thus identified ever come into use at the clinic, choice of treatment and response evaluation may be substantially changed.     

Tratamiento empírico de la oligoastenoteratozoospermia idiopática

Male infertility accounts for 50% of the causes of infertile couples, being more than 30% of unknown etiology. In these cases, empiric treatment can be an option prior to the application of assisted reproduction techniques. Empiric treatment can be categorized as hormonal, such as gonadotropins, antiestrogens and aromatase inhibitors, and antioxidant, with vitamins, trace elements and carnitine, among others. Although scientifically acceptable evidence is limited due to the absence of large randomized and controlled clinical trials, recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that treatment with gonadotropins, antiestrogens and antioxidants increases pregnancy and live birth rates and improves seminal parameters. Empiric medical treatment for idiopathic infertility can be considered in specific cases in order to improve semen quality and spontaneous fertility.     

Prevalence of Apical Periodontitis and Conventional Nonsurgical Root Canal Treatment in General Adult Population: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cross-sectional Studies Published between 2012 and 2020

IntroductionThis study aimed to summarize data on apical periodontitis (AP) and nonsurgical root canal treatment (NSRCT) prevalence and risk factors related to age, gender, and quality of restorative and endodontic treatment in the general population from cross-sectional studies published between 2012 and 2020.MethodsAn electronic search was performed in the following databases: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. The conducted literature search covered studies published between 2012 and 2020, without restrictions on language. The STROBE and NOS tools were used for quality assessment of the included studies.ResultsSixteen articles were included in the review. In total, 200,041 teeth were examined. On average, 6.3% of teeth had AP, and 7.4% had NSRCT. Forty-one percent of RCT teeth had AP, and 3.5% of untreated teeth had AP. Female patients were less prone to AP in endodontically treated teeth only, compared with male patients (P < .001). Variable stratification of age subgroups among included studies prevented us from conducting a meta-analysis. An increase in AP frequency was found in teeth with inadequate restorative and endodontic treatment (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively). Because of high heterogeneity, these results should be taken with caution.ConclusionsThere is an increased AP prevalence in the adult general population compared with data from 2012 (6.3% versus 5.4%) in both endodontically treated (41.3% versus 35.9%) and untreated teeth (3.5% versus 2.1%). In addition, AP developed less frequently in female patients with endodontically treated teeth and in teeth with inadequate compared with adequate restorative and endodontic treatment.     

激光联合复方血栓通胶囊治疗糖尿病视网膜病变合并黄斑水肿的疗效观察

目的:分析糖尿病视网膜病变合并黄斑水肿联合采用激光与复方血栓通胶囊治疗的临床疗效。方法:选取我院2017年1月—2019年1月收治的200例糖尿病视网膜病变合并黄斑水肿患者为研究对象,随机分为两组。对照组单独行激光治疗,观察组于对照组基础上联合复方血栓通胶囊治疗,对比两组临床疗效、治疗前后IL-6(白介素-6)、VEGF(血管内皮生长因子)、NOS(血清一氧化氮合成酶)水平变化情况。结果:对照组总有效率(68.00%,68/100)较观察组总有效率(98.00%,98/100)更高(P<0.05);与对照组对比,观察组治疗后NOS水平更高,IL-6、VEGF水平更低(P<0.05)。结论:糖尿病视网膜病变合并黄斑水肿联合采用激光与复方血栓通胶囊治疗的临床疗效显著,值得推广。