Safety and Efficacy of the Moderate Sedation During Flexible Bronchoscopic Procedure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Moderate sedatives have been increasingly used to improve patient comfort during flexible bronchoscopy (FB). However, routine use of moderate sedation during FB is controversial because its efficacy and safety are not well established.This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of moderate sedation during FB.A search was made of Medline, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to May 2014.Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs were included.The main analysis was designed to examine the efficacy of moderate sedation during FB in sedation than no-sedation.The willingness to repeat FB was significantly more in sedation than no-sedation (odds ratio [OR] 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11–4.73; P = 0.02; I² = 22.5). The duration of FB was shorter in sedation group than no-sedation group (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.21; 95% CI −0.38 to −0.03; P = 0.02; I² = 78.3%). Event of hypoxia was not significantly different between sedation and no-sedation groups (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.42–1.73; P = 0.67; I² = 0%). The SpO₂ during procedure was not different between sedation and no-sedation groups (SMD −0.14; 95% CI −0.37 to 0.08; P = 0.21; I² = 49.9%). However, in subgroup analysis without supplemental oxygen, the SpO₂ was significantly lower in sedation than no-sedation group (SMD −0.45; 95% CI −0.78 to −0.11; P = 0.01; I² = 0.0%).According to this meta-analysis, moderate sedation in FB would be useful in patients who will require repeated bronchoscopies as well as safe in respiratory depression. To our knowledge, although the various sedative drugs are already used in the real field, this analysis was the first attempt to quantify objective results. We anticipate more definite and studies designed to elucidate standardized outcomes for moderate sedation in FB.     

Dorsal suspension for Morton’s neuroma: A comparison with neurectomy

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the clinical outcomes of dorsal suspension with those of neurectomy for the treatment of Morton’s neuroma.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study of dorsal suspension and neurectomy group. The dorsal suspension was performed by dorsal transposition of neuroma over the dorsal transverse ligament after neurolysis. The visual analog scale (VAS), the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM), postoperative satisfaction, and complications were evaluated.ResultsBoth groups reported significant pain relief, and there were no significant differences between the groups with respect to postoperative pain. The postoperative FAAM outcomes showed no significant between-group differences. Satisfaction analysis showed ‘excellent’ and ‘good’ results in the dorsal suspension and neurectomy groups (95% and 77.7%, respectively). Complications of numbness and paresthesia reported in the dorsal suspension group (5% and 5%, respectively) were significantly fewer than those of neurectomy group (61.1% and 33.3%, respectively) (both, p < .05).ConclusionsWith its favorable results, dorsal suspension can be another operative option for the treatment of Morton’s neuroma.Level of Evidence: Level III, retrospective comparative case series.     

Impact of sampling rate on statistical significance for single subject fMRI connectivity analysis

A typical time series in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) exhibits autocorrelation, that is, the samples of the time series are dependent. In addition, temporal filtering, one of the crucial steps in preprocessing of functional magnetic resonance images, induces its own autocorrelation. While performing connectivity analysis in fMRI, the impact of the autocorrelation is largely ignored. Recently, autocorrelation has been addressed by variance correction approaches, which are sensitive to the sampling rate. In this article, we aim to investigate the impact of the sampling rate on the variance correction approaches. Toward this end, we first derived a generalized expression for the variance of the sample Pearson correlation coefficient (SPCC) in terms of the sampling rate and the filter cutoff frequency, in addition to the autocorrelation and cross‐covariance functions of the time series. Through simulations, we illustrated the importance of the variance correction for a fixed sampling rate. Using the real resting state fMRI data sets, we demonstrated that the data sets with higher sampling rates were more prone to false positives, in agreement with the existing empirical reports. We further demonstrated with single subject results that for the data sets with higher sampling rates, the variance correction strategy restored the integrity of true connectivity.     

Clinical clues for differential diagnosis between verruca plana and verruca plana‐like seborrheic keratosis

Sometimes the clinical differentiation between verruca plana (VP) and VP‐like seborrheic keratosis (SK) could be challenged. However, there have been no studies on this issue to date. The aim of this study was to elucidate clinical and dermoscopic differences between these two diseases, and also to suggest a diagnostic algorithm of VP and VP‐like SK without skin biopsy. The patients who had lesions clinically considered as VP or VP‐like SK were the target of our study. We took clinical and dermoscopic photos with informed consent and conducted a questionnaire. All patients had their diagnoses confirmed by biopsy. Thirty‐three patients were enrolled in our study. Seventeen patients were finally diagnosed with VP (51.5%) and 16 patients with VP‐like SK (48.5%). In clinical findings, VP‐like SK showed significantly more scattered distribution than VP (P = 0.039), which exhibited more clustered or grouped distribution (P = 0.039). In dermoscopic findings, brain‐like appearance was more commonly observed in VP‐like SK (P = 0.003) whereas VP showed more red dots or globular vessels (P = 0.017) and even‐colored light brown to yellow patch (P < 0.001). Sex, onset age, the size of each lesion, location, color and shape showed no significant differences between them (P > 0.05). Based on our results, we suggest a diagnostic algorithm using Koebner's phenomenon, dermoscopic findings, distribution of each lesion and biopsy for multiple VP‐like lesions in adults, and we think it will be a very useful diagnostic tool in daily clinical dermatological practice.     

The Effects of Expressing Religious Support Online for Breast Cancer Patients

The growth of online support groups has led to an expression effects paradigm within the health communication literature. Although religious support expression is characterized as a typical subdimension of emotional support, we argue that in the context of a life-threatening illness, the inclusion of a religious component creates a unique communication process. Using data from an online group for women with breast cancer, we test a theoretical expression effects model. Results demonstrate that for breast cancer patients, religious support expression has distinct effects from general emotional support messages, which highlights the need to further theorize expression effects along these lines.