Publications by authors named "Andrew Cheung"

Background: Timely identification of the etiology of transaminitis is critical in informing subsequent management as strategies can vary from supportive care to urgent transplant assessment. This is especially important in returning travelers as there may be multiple causes of injury that need to be addressed.

Case Report: We present a case of severe transaminitis secondary to non-hepatitis viral co-infections.

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  • Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) has proven safe and effective for patients suffering from large core strokes, but the effects of reperfusion quality and procedure details on outcomes are still unclear.
  • In the SELECT2 trial, findings indicated that 80% of patients experienced successful reperfusion, which correlates with better clinical outcomes, particularly in those who achieved near-complete reperfusion.
  • Longer procedure times negatively impacted patient outcomes, while the method of thrombectomy (aspiration vs stent-retriever) showed no significant differences in reperfusion success or functional recovery.
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Atrial fibrillation, the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia, has witnessed significant advancements in treatment modalities, transitioning from invasive procedures like the maze procedure to minimally invasive catheter ablation techniques. This review focuses on recent improvements in anesthetic approaches that enhance outcomes in catheter atrial fibrillation ablation. We highlight the efficacy of contact force sensing catheters with steerable introducer sheaths, which outperform traditional catheters by ensuring more effective contact time and lesion formation.

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  • The study investigated whether intravenous tranexamic acid can reduce haematoma growth in patients experiencing an acute intracerebral hemorrhage when administered within 2 hours of onset, compared to a placebo.
  • Conducted as a double-blind, randomized phase 2 trial across multiple countries, the research included 201 eligible participants who were assigned to receive either tranexamic acid or saline as a placebo.
  • The primary outcome measured was haematoma growth assessed through CT scans at 24 hours, alongside safety endpoints including mortality and thromboembolic events at specified intervals.
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Pediatric large-vessel occlusion has a poor natural history. Recent retrospective studies have demonstrated the potential benefits, feasibility, and safety profile of mechanical thrombectomy in children. However, the role of thrombectomy in pediatric M2 occlusions remains uncertain.

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  • Patients with large ischemic core strokes often have poor outcomes and are rarely transferred for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT), leading to a need for better understanding of treatment effects in different patient groups.
  • The study analyzed data from the SELECT2 trial, focusing on adults with acute ischemic strokes due to specific artery occlusions, comparing those who were directly treated at EVT centers with those who were transferred.
  • Results indicated that EVT improved functional outcomes in both transfer and non-transfer patients, suggesting that EVT can benefit patients regardless of transfer delays, although the median ASPECTS score showed a decline during transfers.
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Importance: Whether endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) efficacy for patients with acute ischemic stroke and large cores varies depending on the extent of ischemic injury is uncertain.

Objective: To describe the relationship between imaging estimates of irreversibly injured brain (core) and at-risk regions (mismatch) and clinical outcomes and EVT treatment effect.

Design, Setting, And Participants: An exploratory analysis of the SELECT2 trial, which randomized 352 adults (18-85 years) with acute ischemic stroke due to occlusion of the internal carotid or middle cerebral artery (M1 segment) and large ischemic core to EVT vs medical management (MM), across 31 global centers between October 2019 and September 2022.

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Epiploic appendagitis is a rare cause of acute lower abdominal pain. Epiploic appendices are fat-filled serosal outpouchings of the cecum and sigmoid colon. Primary epiploic appendagitis (PEA) is characterized by epiploic inflammation caused by torsion of the appendage leading to ischemia or thrombosis of the appendage draining vein.

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  • - The study aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) for patients with M2 occlusions compared to those who did not receive EVT, using real-world data and clinical trial findings.
  • - Researchers matched 83 patients (42 EVT and 41 non-EVT) based on baseline characteristics and developed a Markov model to assess long-term outcomes, revealing greater quality-adjusted life years (QALY) but higher costs associated with EVT treatment.
  • - The results showed that EVT was more beneficial in terms of QALY (5.48 vs 5.24) but also more expensive (A$133,457 vs A$126,127), leading to an incremental cost-effect
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Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is the standard of care for large vessel occlusion stroke. Use of Computed Tomographic Perfusion (CTP) to select EVT candidates is variable. The frequency of treatment and outcome in patients with unfavourable CTP patterns is unknown.

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Background: Balloon-assisted deployment/remodelling is a proven adjunctive technique for coil embolization of intracranial aneurysms, and it may be a helpful adjunct in delivering the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) device.

Objective: To evaluate the safety, efficacy and feasibility of balloon-assisted WEB deployment in both ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms in both typical and atypical locations.

Methods: Patients who underwent treatment of ruptured and unruptured intracranial aneurysms with the BAWD technique were retrospectively identified from a prospectively maintained database at two neurointerventional centres.

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  • Powassan virus (POWV) is a dangerous tick-borne virus that leads to severe brain infections in people, with no current vaccines or treatments available.
  • Researchers have explored two main vaccine development strategies: modifying the POWV genome to enhance its vulnerability to immune responses and using a live-attenuated yellow fever virus (YFV-17D) to deliver POWV proteins.
  • The promising results showed that the chimeric vaccine candidate protected mice significantly, achieving a 70% survival rate after direct exposure and even 100% survival with a two-step vaccination process, indicating potential for a viable POWV vaccine.
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Background: Where stroke occurs with pre-existing atrial fibrillation (AF)studies validating the safety and efficacy of bridging thrombolysis, and the use of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in the setting of prior anticoagulation, are limited to single-center reports.

Methods: In a retrospective analysis, AF patients undergoing EVT for anterior circulation large vessel occlusion stroke enrolled in a prospectively-maintained, international multicenter database (International Stroke Perfusion Imaging Registry (INSPIRE)) between 2016 and 2019 were studied. Patients were categorized by anticoagulation status: anticoagulated (warfarin/non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants) versus not anticoagulated.

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Background: Initially developed in the intensive care unit (ICU) at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) the 3 Wishes Project (3WP) provides personalized, compassionate care to dying patients and their families. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate 3WP expansion strategies for patients cared for on General Internal Medicine (GIM) wards in our hospital.

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  • Inborn errors affecting the immune response to IFN-γ lead to mycobacterial diseases, while errors in IFN-α/β impact defense against viral infections.
  • A study of children with complete IRF1 deficiency showed they suffered from severe mycobacterial infections but displayed normal responses to various viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.
  • IRF1 plays a crucial role in the immune response to mycobacteria, enhancing IFN-γ responses, while its absence does not significantly hinder antiviral defenses associated with IFN-α/β.
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This study investigates the use of modal verbs in Chinese-English government press conference (GPC) interpretation. Modal verbs mark the speaker's opinion of or attitude toward the event described in a sentence. Interpreters also use modal verbs to indicate the stances of the source language speakers.

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Introduction: This descriptive study explores typical patterns of vascular territory mapping (VTM) in ischaemic stroke patients with proximal vessel occlusion. VTM is a novel process using CT perfusion that can identify the source and extent of collateral blood flow in patients with vessel occlusion. It functions by determining which vessel provides dominant blood flow to a brain voxel.

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Background: The benefit of combined treatment with intravenous thrombolysis before endovascular thrombectomy in patients with acute ischaemic stroke caused by large vessel occlusion remains unclear. We hypothesised that the clinical outcomes of patients with stroke with large vessel occlusion treated with direct endovascular thrombectomy within 4·5 h would be non-inferior compared with the outcomes of those treated with standard bridging therapy (intravenous thrombolysis before endovascular thrombectomy).

Methods: DIRECT-SAFE was an international, multicentre, prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial.

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Findings from conference interpreting research in the Chinese context have suggested that interpreters barely produce extra-textual additions in rigidly structured press conferences, and that adding connectives and intensifiers is only required to help the English-speaking audience capture the logic embedded in implicit Chinese interclausal relations. Previous research in the Chinese context has tended to draw data almost exclusively from the Chinese Premier's Press Conference interpreting, which features interpreting from Chinese into English. In order to enrich conference interpreting corpora in Asia and to examine additions in the opposite interpreting direction for the same language pair, this study drew on authentic materials of six interpreted press conferences held at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

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Aim: To improve delivery of acute therapies for acute ischaemic stroke (AIS).

Method: We identified factors influencing the speed of diagnosis and delivery of acute therapies in a prospective cohort of 21 children with suspected AIS (eight with AIS, 13 stroke mimics) and explored them in a retrospective cohort with confirmed AIS.

Results: Approximately half of the prospective and total AIS cohorts presented with acute, sustained hemiparesis, and were diagnosed relatively quickly.

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Background: Pandemic-related restrictions are expected to continue to shape end-of-life care and impact the experiences of dying hospitalised patients and their families.

Objective: To understand families' experiences of loss and bereavement during and after the death of their loved one amidst the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Design: Qualitative descriptive study.

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Rationale: Haematoma growth is common early after intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), and is a key determinant of outcome. Tranexamic acid, a widely available antifibrinolytic agent with an excellent safety profile, may reduce haematoma growth.

Methods And Design: Stopping intracerebral haemorrhage with tranexamic acid for hyperacute onset presentation including mobile stroke units (STOP-MSU) is a phase II double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, multicentre, international investigator-led clinical trial, conducted within the estimand statistical framework.

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