A Pilot Clinical Study of Liquid Ubiquinol Supplementation on Cardiac Function in Pediatric Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy (PDCM) is a life-threatening type of cardiac muscle dysfunction in children. Ubiquinone is a lipid-soluble nutrient that participates in energy synthesis. Recently, a novel hydrophilic ubiquinol supplement was developed.

Association between vascular rings and learning performance: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Chronic tracheal obstruction has been associated with learning deficits; hence, early surgical intervention has been suggested.

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between learning performance and vascular ring caused by an isolated aberrant right subclavian artery.

Methods: Participants included 1,685 undergraduate students (ie, students of medical informatics and medical/public health students) in Central Taiwan.

Improving Image Quality of On-Board Cone-Beam CT in Radiation Therapy Using Image Information Provided by Planning Multi-Detector CT: A Phantom Study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to improve the image quality of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) mounted on the gantry of a linear accelerator used in radiation therapy based on the image information provided by planning multi-detector CT (MDCT).

Methods: MDCT-based shading correction for CBCT and virtual monochromatic CT (VMCT) synthesized using the dual-energy method were performed. In VMCT, the high-energy data were obtained from CBCT, while the low-energy data were obtained from MDCT.

A Matched Influenza Vaccine Strain Was Effective in Reducing the Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction in Elderly Persons: A Population-Based Study.

The aim of this study was to explore whether matched or mismatched strains of influenza vaccines (IVs) are beneficial at reducing the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in elderly persons.Data were obtained from the Longitudinal Health Database 2005 (LHID 2005) which is maintained by the National Health Insurance Research Institute in Taiwan. The analytical data included individuals who were vaccinated with mismatched vaccines during the October 2007 to December 2007 season and individuals vaccinated with matched strains during the October 2008 to December 2008 season.

Patterns of failure after use of (18)F-FDG PET/CT in integration of extended-field chemo-IMRT and 3D-brachytherapy plannings for advanced cervical cancers with extensive lymph node metastases.

Background: The study is to evaluate the patterns of failure, toxicities and long-term outcomes of aggressive treatment using (18)F-FDG PET/CT-guided chemoradiation plannings for advanced cervical cancer with extensive nodal extent that has been regarded as a systemic disease.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 72 consecutive patients with (18)F-FDG PET/CT-detected widespread pelvic, para-aortic and/or supraclavicular lymph nodes treated with curative-intent PET-guided cisplatin-based extended-field dose-escalating intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and adaptive high-dose-rate intracavitary 3D-brachytherapy between 2002 and 2010. The failure sites were specifically localized by comparing recurrences on fusion of post-therapy recurrent (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans to the initial PET-guided radiation plannings for IMRT and brachytherapy.

Diagnostic Performance of Combined Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography and Phase-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Suspected Subclavian Steal Syndrome.

Purpose: The study sought to evaluate the efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with suspected subclavian steal syndrome (SSS) using both contrast-enhanced (CE) MR angiography and phase-contrast (PC) MRI.

Methods: Fifteen suspected SSSs from 13 patients were evaluated using CE-MR angiography and PC-MRI. Ten patients also received dynamic CE-MR angiography.

Simulation analysis of airflow alteration in the trachea following the vascular ring surgery based on CT images using the computational fluid dynamics method.

This study presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model to simulate the three-dimensional airflow in the trachea before and after the vascular ring surgery (VRS). The simulation was based on CT-scan images of the patients with the vascular ring diseases. The surface geometry of the tracheal airway was reconstructed using triangular mesh by the Amira software package.

Tuberous sclerosis complex associated with heterotopic ossification in a young girl.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multisystem disorder resulting in hamartomatous lesions. Despite diverse manifestations, skeletal muscular comorbidity is rarely reported in TSC. We report a 2-year-old girl with TSC who suffered from multiple subcutaneous masses over the paraspinal and bilateral scapular areas, which caused disabling pain on any passive movement.

Effects of chronic resistive airway loading on behavioral changes in rats.

Complete vascular ring is a term describing a group of congenital aortic arch abnormalities that is often observed in infancy and leads to tracheoesophageal compression and airway obstruction. We investigated the effects of chronic resistive airway loading on anxiety and learning behavior in Wistar rats. The trachea were obstructed by a circumferential tracheal band to increase respiratory esophageal pressure.

[Improving comprehensiveness of information given to pediatric cardiac surgery patients prior to surgery].

Background: Cardiac surgery for critical pediatric patients places significant demands on hospital equipment and facilities. Parents of these patients are often under enormous stress due to insufficient knowledge regarding cardiac surgery and postoperative care procedures. This project used appropriate preoperative consultation given by nursing staffs to decrease stress and anxiety in parents of pediatric cardiac surgery patients.

Luteolin attenuates the pulmonary inflammatory response involves abilities of antioxidation and inhibition of MAPK and NFκB pathways in mice with endotoxin-induced acute lung injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) in critically ill patients remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a key mediator of lung injury. This study investigates the protective effects and mechanisms of luteolin in intratracheal instillation of LPS (100μg)-induced ALI in mice.

Assessing the impact of polysomy-17 on HER2 status and the correlations of HER2 status with prognostic variables (ER, PR, p53, Ki-67) in epithelial ovarian cancer: a tissue microarray study using immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization.

Although HER2 overexpression and Her2 amplification have been noted in breast and a variety of human cancers, we report here for the first time the impact of polysomy-17 on HER2 status and the correlations between HER2 status and other prognostic factors in patients with epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC).We analyzed HER2, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), p53, and Ki-67 protein overexpressions by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and determined Her2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in 27 tissue microarray samples from EOC patients.We achieved 100% positive concordance (3/3) and 100% negative concordance (19/19) between HER2 testing by IHC and FISH.

Identification of the coexisting HER2 gene amplification and novel mutations in the HER2 protein-overexpressed mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer.

Background: Although overexpression, amplification, and somatic mutation of the HER2 gene have been noted in various types of human cancers, we report here for the first time that novel mutations and amplification of the HER2 gene occurred concomitantly in mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods: Twenty-seven tissue microarray samples from EOC patients were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) with Dako c-erb-B2 antibody and subsequently were examined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with the Abbott PathVysion HER2 DNA Probe Kit. HER2 gene, exon 18-24, encoding a tyrosine kinase domain, was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing.

The HER2 gene copies per tumor cell either before or after correction for chromosome-17 correlated significantly with HER2 IHC results in epithelial ovarian cancer in a tissue microarray study.

Background: HER2 gene amplification and HER2 protein overexpression are important factors in predicting clinical sensitivity to anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody therapy in breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the correlation between HER2 protein expressions and the HER2 gene copies per tumor cell either before or after chromosome-17 correction in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods: Adopting 2007 ASCO/CAP guideline recommendations for HER2 testing, 27 tissue microarray (TMA) samples from EOC patients were analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using Dako, c-erb-B2 antibody and subsequently examined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using Abbott/Vysis, PathVysion HER2 DNA Probe Kit.

Balloon dilatation in management of postoperative airway obstruction due to tracheal bronchus associated with right main bronchial stenosis: emphasizing the role of three-dimensional computed tomography on preoperative evaluation.

Three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) not only allows accurate preoperative delineation of the lesions but also provides precise pathomechanic diagnosis for planning the most effective treatment to avoid respiratory compromise. In a 10-month-old baby girl, who was ventilator-dependent after successful correction of double outlet right ventricle (DORV), flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FFB) revealed the new formation of postoperative airway obstruction over the right main bronchus (RMB) and obstructed right tracheal bronchus (RTB). 3D-CT demonstrated tracheobronchial obstruction (TBO) was caused by the dilated ascending aorta (AAo) and right pulmonary artery (RPA).

The economic evaluation of a health screening program on congenital heart disease for school children in Taichung, Taiwan.

Objective: The objective of this study was the economic evaluation of screening school children for congenital heart disease (CHD).

Methods: The sample consisted of all the 45,725 students in grades 1 and 7 from Taichung County, Taiwan. STATISTICA, version 7.

Trisomy 18 syndrome with incomplete Cantrell syndrome.

The pentalogy of Cantrell was first described in 1958 by Cantrell and coworkers, who reported five cases in which they described a pentad of findings including a midline supraumbilical thoracoabdominal wall defect, a defect of the Lower sternum, abnormalities of the diaphragmatic pericardium and the anterior diaphragm, and congenital cardiac anomalies. Trisomy 18 has an incidence of about 0.3 per 1000 newborns.

The prevalence and clinical impact of pulmonary artery sling on school-aged children: a large-scale screening study.

Background: Airway obstruction is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with pulmonary artery sling (PAS). Early identification of PAS is imperative for prompt initiation of appropriate treatments.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence and clinical impact of PAS on school-aged children through a large-scale pre-sports participation cardiovascular screening (PPCVS) study.