Development of the Interstitial Cystitis Self-Help and Medical Resources Scale (ICSR) for Women with Interstitial Cystitis.

: Women with interstitial cystitis (IC) suffer from spontaneous serious bladder pain symptoms without immediate resolution. Women with IC may lack knowledge of how to help themselves. Therefore, a measurement of IC self-help and medical-resource-seeking for women with IC is needed.

Improving Voice Outcomes After Thyroid Surgery - Review of Safety Parameters for Using Energy-Based Devices Near the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve.

Technological advances in thyroid surgery have rapidly increased in recent decades. Specifically, recently developed energy-based devices (EBDs) enable simultaneous dissection and sealing tissue. EBDs have many advantages in thyroid surgery, such as reduced blood loss, lower rate of post-operative hypocalcemia, and shorter operation time.

Psychological distress assessment among patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19: A cohort study.

Background: Global pandemic resulted from the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) demands mental health concerns on the affected population. We examine the time-course shift of psychological burden among suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

Methods: Participants with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 were included in the cohort.

Self-perception of symptoms, medical help seeking, and self-help strategies of women with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.

Background: This study aims to investigate the self-perception of symptoms, medical help seeking, and self-help strategies of women with interstitial cystitis (IC).

Methods: A mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approaches was employed. The qualitative approach used in-depth interviews about the subjective experience of symptoms, medical help seeking, and self-help strategies for their IC.

Analysis of prognostic factors and clinical outcomes in uterine cervical carcinoma with isolated para-aortic lymph node recurrence.

To evaluate clinical outcomes and to identify prognostic factors in isolated para-aortic lymph node (PALN) recurrence, we retrospectively reviewed 65 patients who developed PALN recurrence as the first site of tumor progression from a total of 1521 patients who were treated with curative pelvic radiation therapy (RT) for uterine cervical carcinoma between May 1993 and January 2017. Forty-five of the 65 patients received salvage therapy. The median salvage PALN radiation dose was 54 Gy (range: 18 to 62 Gy).

Intra-Operative Neural Monitoring of Thyroid Surgery in a Porcine Model.

Intraoperative injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) can cause vocal cord paralysis, which interferes with speech and can potentially interfere with breathing. In recent years, intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) has been widely adapted as an adjunct technique to localize the RLN, detect RLN injury, and predict vocal cord function during the operations. Many studies have also used animal models to investigate new applications of IONM technology and to develop reliable strategies for preventing intraoperative RLN injury.

Feasibility of Intraoperative Neuromonitoring During Thyroid Surgery Using Transcartilage Surface Recording Electrodes.

Background: Intraoperative neural monitoring (IONM) has gained widespread acceptance as an adjunct to the gold standard of visual identification of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) during thyroid surgery. Currently, laryngeal electromyography (EMG) recording during IONM is almost always performed using endotracheal tube (ETT) surface electrodes placed adjacent to vocal folds originating from the inner surface of the thyroid cartilage (TC). Therefore, it was hypothesized that surface recording electrodes placed on the outer surface of the TC should enable access to the EMG response of the vocal folds during IONM.

Monotherapy of acetylsalicylic acid or warfarin for prevention of ischemic stroke in low-risk atrial fibrillation: A Easter Asian population-based study.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of monotherapy acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and warfarin for stroke prevention in low-risk atrial fibrillation (AF) by using a population- -based cohort study in Taiwan.

Methods: A newly diagnosed low-risk AF patient cohort were identified by using National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan in 2008. The study cohort was observed with a follow-up of 2 years to examine the onset of ischemic stroke (IS) (to 2010).

Pretreatment prognostic factors of survival and late toxicities for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated by simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiotherapy.

Background: To scrutinize the pretreatment prognosticators on survival and late toxicities in a homogenous cohort of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated by simultaneous integrated boost intensity-modulated radiation therapy (SIB-IMRT).

Methods: A total of 219 non-distant metastatic NPC patients consecutively treated by SIB-IMRT at a single institute were collected. The pretreatment factors including the socio-demographic variables, TNM stages, gross tumor volume (GTV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-DNA, and hematologic inflammatory markers were analyzed.

Radiation-induced secondary malignancies for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: a pilot study of patients treated via IMRT or VMAT.

Background: Patients treated with radiotherapy are at risk of developing a second cancer during their lifetime, which can directly impact treatment decision-making and patient management. The aim of this study was to qualify and compare the secondary cancer risk (SCR) after intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients.

Patients And Methods: We analyzed the treatment plans of a cohort of 10 NPC patients originally treated with IMRT or VMAT.

Andrographolide Inhibits Oxidized LDL-Induced Cholesterol Accumulation and Foam Cell Formation in Macrophages.

oxLDL is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic lesions through cholesterol accumulation in macrophage foam cells. Andrographolide, the bioactive component of Andrographis paniculata, possesses several biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and anticancer functions. Scavenger receptors (SRs), including class A SR (SR-A) and CD36, are responsible for the internalization of oxLDL.

Propensity-score-matched evaluation of the incidence of radiation pneumonitis and secondary cancer risk for breast cancer patients treated with IMRT/VMAT.

Propensity score matching evaluates the treatment incidence of radiation-induced pneumonitis (RP) and secondary cancer risk (SCR) after intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for breast cancer patients. Of 32 patients treated with IMRT and 58 who received VMAT were propensity matched in a 1:1 ratio. RP and SCR were evaluated as the endpoints of acute and chronic toxicity, respectively.

Effects of Messages Delivered by Mobile Phone on Increasing Compliance With Shoulder Exercises Among Patients With a Frozen Shoulder.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of reminders, encouragement, and educational messages delivered by mobile phone on shoulder exercise compliance and improvements in shoulder function among patients with a frozen shoulder.

Design And Methods: A randomized controlled trial design was used. A convenience sample of patients with a frozen shoulder in an orthopedic outpatient clinic was recruited.

Therapeutic outcome of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with cranial nerve palsy: a single institution experience of 104 patients.

Purpose: Cranial nerve (CN) palsy is the main symptom in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic outcome of NPC with CN palsy and to analyze the prognostic factors.

Patients And Methods: A total of 104 NPC patients with CN palsy curatively treated by conventional (n=44) or conformal (n=60) radiotherapy (RT) were enrolled.

Differences in the outcomes and complications between elderly and younger uterine cervical cancer patients treated by definitive radiotherapy - A propensity score-matched study.

Purpose: To evaluate the differences in the treatment outcomes and complications between elderly patients and younger patients with uterine cervical cancer (CxCa).

Methods And Materials: From April 1993 to December 2007, 138 CxCa patients aged ≥75years (Elderly group) and 334 CxCa patients aged <60years (Young group) who underwent definitive radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy at our institution were reviewed. Two propensity score-matched cohorts of patients were selected from both age groups to evaluate the differences in the outcomes and complications.

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Apixaban, Dabigatran, Rivaroxaban, and Warfarin for Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation in Taiwan.

Background And Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) for stroke prevention among atrial fibrillation (AF) patients by incorporating Taiwanese demographic information derived from a population-based database, the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD), into cost-effectiveness analysis.

Methods: From 1 January to 31 December 2012, 98,213 AF patients were selected from the NHIRD database. A Markov model was constructed that combined published secondary data with the Taiwan NHIRD to compare the cost and incremental cost effectiveness of apixaban 5 mg twice daily, dabigatran 110 or 150 mg twice daily, rivaroxaban 20 mg once daily, and warfarin.

Safety of LigaSure in recurrent laryngeal nerve dissection-porcine model using continuous monitoring.

Objectives/hypothesis: This study investigated recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) real-time electromyography (EMG) data to define optimal safety parameters of the LigaSure Small Jaw (LSJ) instrument during thyroidectomy.

Study Design: Prospective animal model.

Methods: Dynamic EMG tracings were recorded from 32 RLNs (16 piglets) during various applications of LSJ around using continuous electrophysiologic monitoring.