Examining Cough's Role and Relief Strategies in Interstitial Lung Disease.

Chronic cough is a distressing and prevalent symptom in interstitial lung disease (ILD), significantly impairing quality of life (QoL) and contributing to disease progression, particularly in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). It is associated with physical discomfort, psychological distress, and social isolation and is often refractory to conventional therapies. The pathophysiology of cough in ILD is complex and multifactorial, involving neural hypersensitivity, structural lung changes, inflammatory processes, and comorbid conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Outcomes of Endoscopic versus Microscopic Ossicular Chain Reconstruction-A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Objective: The efficacy of the transcanal endoscopic approach in tympanoplasty, cholesteatoma removal, and stapedotomy is detailed. This study reviews evidence on the feasibility of endoscopic ossiculoplasty as a suitable alternative to traditional microscopic ossiculoplasty.

Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to 19 June 2024 for articles comparing endoscopic and microscopic ossicular chain reconstruction.

Performance of Risk-Stratification Scores for Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Population.

Guidelines recommend risk stratification of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients to guide management. There are currently several risk stratification scores available, which have largely been validated in various pulmonary hypertension registries in the West but not in Asia. We aim to study the performance of these different risk scores in PAH patients from a multi-ethnic Asian population.

Migration of a Surgical Clip Into the Common Bile Duct and Its Spontaneous Passage.

Cholecystectomy is one of the most commonly performed surgical operations worldwide. A rare complication following this procedure is the migration of surgical clips used to secure the cystic duct and artery. Herein, we report the migration of a metallic surgical clip into the common bile duct of a 75-year-old gentleman who underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy 24 years prior.

Temporal Trend in Hospitalization Among Patients With Congenital Heart Disease: A Danish Nationwide Study.

Background: The congenital heart disease (CHD) population is growing and aging. We aim to examine the impact by describing the temporal trend and causes of lifetime hospitalization burden among the CHD population.

Methods And Results: From the Danish National Patient Registry, 23 141 patients with CHD and their hospitalizations from 1977 to 2018 were identified, excluding patients with extracardiac malformation.

Case Series of Endoscopic Transoral Excision of Huge Parapharyngeal Tumors: Pushing the Boundaries.

Endoscopic transoral excision of parapharyngeal space (PPS) tumors is often condemned for its many limitations. We revisit this approach and aim to introduce some updated perspectives following the advancement of endoscopic instrumentation, robotic transoral surgery, and radical tonsillectomy. We illustrate the techniques that were deployed for six patients with huge benign PPS tumors originating from the pre-styloid compartment at our center.

Impact of high-risk EBV strains on nasopharyngeal carcinoma gene expression.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is closely associated with Epstein-Barr Virus infection (EBV). Despite ubiquitous EBV infection worldwide, NPC displays a unique geographical distribution in Southern China and Southeast Asia. This observed phenomenon can be attributed to the interplay of different strains of EBV infection with host genetics and environmental factors.

Finite-Time Stability Analysis and Stabilization of Switched Affine Systems via an Event-Triggered Strategy.

This article investigates the finite-time control problem of the switched affine systems via an event-triggered strategy. It is well known that the existence of affine terms brings great difficulties in analysis of the finite-time property of such systems. Furthermore, the design of the globally feasible event-triggered mechanism (ETM) under a finite-time control framework is challenging.

Safety and efficacy of Kaffes intraductal self-expanding metal stents in the management of post-liver transplant anastomotic strictures.

Background: Endoscopic management is the first-line therapy for post-liver-transplant anastomotic strictures. Although the optimal duration of treatment with plastic stents has been reported to be 8-12 months, data on safety and duration for metal stents in this setting is scarce. Due to limited access to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in our centre, there was a change in practice towards increased usage and length-of-stay of the Kaffes biliary intraductal self-expanding stent in patients with suitable anatomy.

Photoactivated riboflavin inhibits planktonic and biofilm growth of Candida albicans and non-albicans Candida species.

Fungal infections caused by Candida species pose a serious threat to humankind. Antibiotics abuse and the ability of Candida species to form biofilm have escalated the emergence of drug resistance in clinical settings and hence, rendered it more difficult to treat Candida-related diseases. Lethal effects of Candida infection are often due to inefficacy of antimicrobial treatments and failure of host immune response to clear infections.

Validation of a Risk Prediction Equation for Incident Chronic Kidney Disease in a Hypertensive Non-Diabetes Cohort in Singapore Primary Care Patients.

Background: Accurate identification of individuals at risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) may improve clinical care. Nelson et al. developed prediction equations to estimate the risk of incident eGFR of less than 60 mL/min/1.

Subtypes of Venous Thromboembolism in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Nationwide Assessment.

Background: Data detailing the risk of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) subtypes among individuals with Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain limited. We looked to assess the odds of VTE subtypes among hospitalized individuals with IBD as compared to those without IBD.

Materials & Methods: Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, we applied a multivariable regression analysis to compare the odds of primary VTE-related hospitalizations among individuals with and without IBD from 2016 to 2020, including deep venous thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), portal vein thrombosis (PVT), Budd Chiari syndrome (BCS), renal vein thrombosis (RVT), and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).

Open-Access Oesophagogastroduodenoscopy as an Effective and Safe Strategy for Patients With Non-alarming Symptoms.

Background: Open-access oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OAO) is defined as the performance of oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) requested by referring physicians without a prior specialist consultation. With the increasing demand for specialist appointments, the use of OAO has helped to reduce healthcare utilization by decreasing prior clinic visits. This also allows endoscopies to be scheduled and performed earlier.

An observational study of olfactory functions in total laryngectomees.

Objective: To evaluate the olfactory acuity and quality of life in patients who have undergone total laryngectomy. The study also aims to identify any specific patient-related risk factors linked to worse olfactory outcomes.

Methods: This is a prospective cross-sectional study conducted at the University Malaya Medical Centre.

A Comparison between Structural Allografts and Polyetheretherketone Interbody Spacers Used in Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Among interbody implants used during anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), structural allografts and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) are the most used spacers. Currently, no consensus has been established regarding the superiority of either implant, with US surgeons preferring structural allografts, whereas UK surgeons preferring PEEK. The purpose of this systematic review (level of evidence, 4) was to compare postoperative and patient-reported outcomes between the use of structural allografts PEEK interbody spacers during ACDF.

Security and Safety-Critical Learning-Based Collaborative Control for Multiagent Systems.

This article presents a novel learning-based collaborative control framework to ensure communication security and formation safety of nonlinear multiagent systems (MASs) subject to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, model uncertainties, and barriers in environments. The framework has a distributed and decoupled design at the cyber-layer and the physical layer. A resilient control Lyapunov function-quadratic programming (RCLF-QP)-based observer is first proposed to achieve secure reference state estimation under DoS attacks at the cyber-layer.

Development and deployment of a nationwide predictive model for chronic kidney disease progression in diabetic patients.

Aim: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major complication of diabetes and a significant disease burden on the healthcare system. The aim of this work was to apply a predictive model to identify high-risk patients in the early stages of CKD as a means to provide early intervention to avert or delay kidney function deterioration.

Materials And Methods: Using the data from the National Diabetes Database in Singapore, we applied a machine-learning algorithm to develop a predictive model for CKD progression in diabetic patients and to deploy the model nationwide.

Cost-effectiveness of screening for chronic kidney disease in the general adult population: a systematic review.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a significant public health problem, with rising incidence and prevalence worldwide, and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Early identification and treatment of CKD can slow its progression and prevent complications, but it is not clear whether CKD screening is cost-effective. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the cost-effectiveness of CKD screening strategies in general adult populations worldwide, and to identify factors, settings and drivers of cost-effectiveness in CKD screening.