Functional and psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatic patients’ quality of life in Saudi Arabia

Quality of Life Research - The COVID-19 pandemic might add to the stressors experienced by people living with rheumatic diseases. This study aimed to examine rheumatic patients’ functional...     

白花蛇舌草干预湿热瘀滞型肠内多发息肉术后复发的临床研究

目的 临床观察白花蛇舌草干预湿热瘀滞型肠内多发息肉患者内镜治疗术后复发情况。方法 采用前瞻性的随机空白对照试验设计，选取2019年9月1日—2020年12月31日上海中医药大学附属普陀医院消化科收治的门诊及住院结直肠多发息肉患者132例作为研究对象。采用随机方法分为对照组和试验组，每组66例。对照组行内镜治疗术给予常规治疗后无药物干预，试验组在对照基础上给予白花蛇舌草汤剂（每日取白花蛇舌草15 g、大枣3枚，煎取400 mL汤剂，分2次饭后温服）治疗，连续干预1年。观察并比较两组术前与术后1年肠道内息肉的复发率、息肉数目、息肉最大直径、中医证候评分及肝肾功能及血常规的差异。结果 干预1年后，试验组复发9例（14.75%），对照组复发21例（33.33%），两组息肉复发率比较，差异有统计学意义（P＜0.05）。试验组腺瘤、伴重度异型增生、体质量指数（BMI）≥24 kg·m^-2患者治疗后息肉复发率均较对照组同类型降低，差异显著（P＜0.05）；术后1年试验组息肉最大直径及息肉数目均较对照组显著减小，差异显著（P＜0.05）；术后1年试验组中医证候各项评分均显著低于对照组（P＜0.05）；术后1年，两组中医证候疗效比较，差异具有统计学意义（P＜0.05），且术前、术后1年两组患者肝肾功能、凝血功能等安全性指标无显著差异。结论 应用白花蛇舌草干预结直肠息肉术后患者，1年后明显降低肠内息肉的复发率，尤以腺瘤性息肉、重度异型增生、BMI超重患者更显著，不仅改善临床症状，还能有效预防结直肠息肉的复发，改善患者的预后。     

Percutaneous renal mass biopsy: historical perspective,current status,and future considerations

Introduction: Percutaneous renal mass biopsy has evolved over the last decade with improvements on previous pitfalls including low tissue yield, high non-diagnostic rates, and complications. As understanding of tumor biology and natural history of renal cortical neoplasms has improved, percutaneous renal mass biopsy is poised to have an expanding role in an area characterized by individualized management and refined risk stratification.

Areas covered: This review summarizes the evolution of renal mass biopsy to its current state with respect to outcomes, indications, and clinical guidelines.

Expert opinion: With improved understanding of differential biological potential of renal cortical neoplasms combined with technical improvements in diagnostic yield and accuracy, utilization of renal mass biopsy is becoming an important adjunct to patient care in a broad range of clinical scenarios, including active surveillance, thermal ablation, and use of primary systemic therapy in localized and advanced settings.     

HPLC-MS Method for Simultaneous Quantitative Determination of an Innovative Russian Gestagen and its Metabolites in Rat and Rabbit Blood Sera

Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal - An HPLC-MS method for simultaneous quantitative determination of a novel gestagenic pharmaceutical and two of its metabolites in rat and rabbit blood sera was...     

Differentiating poor validity from probable impairment on the medical symptom validity test: a cross-validation study

Aims: In neuropsychological evaluations, it is often difficult to ascertain whether poor performance on measures of validity is due to poor effort or malingering, or whether there is genuine cognitive impairment. Dunham and Denney created an algorithm to assess this question using the Medical Symptom Validity Test (MSVT). We assessed the ability of their algorithm to detect poor validity versus probable impairment, and concordance of failure on the MSVT with other freestanding tests of performance validity.

Methods: Two previously published datasets (n?=?153 and n?=?641, respectively) from outpatient neuropsychological evaluations were used to test Dunham and Denney’s algorithm, and to assess concordance of failure rates with the Test of Memory Malingering and the forced choice measure of the California Verbal Learning Test, two commonly used performance validity tests.

Results: In both datasets, none of the four cutoff scores for failure on the MSVT (70%, 75%, 80%, or 85%) identified a poor validity group with proportionally aligned failure rates on other freestanding measures of performance validity. Additionally, the protocols with probable impairment did not differ from those with poor validity on cognitive measures.

Conclusions: Despite what appeared to be a promising approach to evaluating failure on the easy MSVT subtests when clinical data are unavailable (as recommended in the advanced interpretation program, or advanced interpretation [AI], of the MSVT), the current findings indicate the AI remains the gold standard for doing so. Future research should build on this effort to address shortcomings in measures of effort in neuropsychological evaluations.     

Is routine extubation overnight safe in cardiac surgery patients?

Objectives

Expedient extubation after cardiac surgery has been associated with improved outcomes, leading to postoperative extubation frequently during overnight hours. However, recent evidence in a mixed medical-surgical intensive care unit population demonstrated worse outcomes with overnight extubation. This study investigated the impact of overnight extubation in a statewide, multicenter Society of Thoracic Surgeons database.