The gut microbiome associates with phenotypic manifestations of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.

The mechanisms underlying the many phenotypic manifestations of post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) are poorly understood. Herein, we characterized the gut microbiome in heterogeneous cohorts of subjects with PACS and developed a multi-label machine learning model for using the microbiome to predict specific symptoms. Our processed data covered 585 bacterial species and 500 microbial pathways, explaining 12.

A synbiotic preparation (SIM01) for post-acute COVID-19 syndrome in Hong Kong (RECOVERY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) affects over 65 million individuals worldwide but treatment options are scarce. We aimed to assess a synbiotic preparation (SIM01) for the alleviation of PACS symptoms.

Methods: In this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at a tertiary referral centre in Hong Kong, patients with PACS according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria were randomly assigned (1:1) by random permuted blocks to receive SIM01 (10 billion colony-forming units in sachets twice daily) or placebo orally for 6 months.

Rise in intraocular pressure with elevator travel in post-vitrectomy patients.

To evaluate the impact of elevator travel on intraocular pressure after vitreoretinal surgery with gas tamponade. Patients undergoing pars plana vitreoretinal surgery with and without gas insertion were recruited on post-operative day 1. All intraocular pressures were measured three times by Tono-Pen AVIA (Reichert, USA) on the fourth floor and, after rapid ascent in an elevator, on the 12th floor of the hospital.

Clinical Applications of Mixed Reality and 3D Printing in Congenital Heart Disease.

Understanding the anatomical features and generation of realistic three-dimensional (3D) visualization of congenital heart disease (CHD) is always challenging due to the complexity and wide spectrum of CHD. Emerging technologies, including 3D printing and mixed reality (MR), have the potential to overcome these limitations based on 2D and 3D reconstructions of the standard DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) images. However, very little research has been conducted with regard to the clinical value of these two novel technologies in CHD.

The role of 3D printed heart models in immediate and long-term knowledge acquisition in medical education.

Background: The long-term effect of three-dimensional printed heart model (3DPHM) on knowledge acquisition of congenital heart disease (CHD) remains unknown. This prospective cohort study aims to investigate the role of 3DPHM in improving immediate knowledge gain and long-term knowledge retention on CHD among the medical students.

Methods: Fifty-three second and third year medical students were assigned into two groups to compare their immediate knowledge acquisition and knowledge retention after an education session on anatomy and pathophysiology of CHD.

Clinical Value of Virtual Reality versus 3D Printing in Congenital Heart Disease.

Both three-dimensional (3D) printing and virtual reality (VR) are reported as being superior to the current visualization techniques in conveying more comprehensive visualization of congenital heart disease (CHD). However, little is known in terms of their clinical value in diagnostic assessment, medical education, and preoperative planning of CHD. This cross-sectional study aims to address these by involving 35 medical practitioners to subjectively evaluate VR visualization of four selected CHD cases in comparison with the corresponding 3D printed heart models (3DPHM).

Dimensional Accuracy and Clinical Value of 3D Printed Models in Congenital Heart Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aim of this paper is to summarize and evaluate results from existing studies on accuracy and clinical value of three-dimensional printed heart models (3DPHM) for determining whether 3D printing can significantly improve on how the congenital heart disease (CHD) is managed in current clinical practice. Proquest, Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and Medline were searched for relevant studies until April 2019. Two independent reviewers performed manual data extraction and assessed the risk of bias of the studies using the tools published on National Institutes of Health (NIH) website.

Personalized Three-Dimensional Printed Models in Congenital Heart Disease.

Patient-specific three-dimensional (3D) printed models have been increasingly used in cardiology and cardiac surgery, in particular, showing great value in the domain of congenital heart disease (CHD). CHD is characterized by complex cardiac anomalies with disease variations between individuals; thus, it is difficult to obtain comprehensive spatial conceptualization of the cardiac structures based on the current imaging visualizations. 3D printed models derived from patient's cardiac imaging data overcome this limitation by creating personalized 3D heart models, which not only improve spatial visualization, but also assist preoperative planning and simulation of cardiac procedures, serve as a useful tool in medical education and training, and improve doctor-patient communication.

Quantitative and qualitative comparison of low- and high-cost 3D-printed heart models.

Current visualization techniques of complex congenital heart disease (CHD) are unable to provide comprehensive visualization of the anomalous cardiac anatomy as the medical datasets can essentially only be viewed from a flat, two-dimensional (2D) screen. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has therefore been used to replicate patient-specific hearts in 3D views based on medical imaging datasets. This technique has been shown to have a positive impact on the preoperative planning of corrective surgery, patient-doctor communication, and the learning experience of medical students.

Clinical value of patient-specific three-dimensional printing of congenital heart disease: Quantitative and qualitative assessments.

Objective: Current diagnostic assessment tools remain suboptimal in demonstrating complex morphology of congenital heart disease (CHD). This limitation has posed several challenges in preoperative planning, communication in medical practice, and medical education. This study aims to investigate the dimensional accuracy and the clinical value of 3D printed model of CHD in the above three areas.

Three-dimensional printing in congenital heart disease: A systematic review.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has shown great promise in medicine with increasing reports in congenital heart disease (CHD). This systematic review aims to analyse the main clinical applications and accuracy of 3D printing in CHD, as well as to provide an overview of the software tools, time and costs associated with the generation of 3D printed heart models. A search of different databases was conducted to identify studies investigating the application of 3D printing in CHD.

Microcalcifications in stone-obstructed human submandibular gland are associated with apoptosis and cell proliferation.

Objective: Human submandibular gland (SMG) stones are associated with inflammation, fibrosis and microcalcifications in the surrounding tissues. However, there is little information about the accompanying cell injury-repair process, apoptosis, and cell proliferation. The purpose of this study was to investigate such an association and its clinical significance.

Avoiding the Hughes flap in lower eyelid reconstruction.

Purpose Of Review: To review current surgical practices of lower eyelid reconstruction with a focus on recent studies.

Recent Findings: Combination techniques and new flap techniques offer efficacy comparable with existing reconstructive approaches, with the advantage of less local trauma. Inappropriate handling of posterior lamellar grafts, such as kerfing, may predispose to graft failures.

Photo-assisted fenton oxidation of refractory organics in UASB-pretreated leachate.

Nearly 91% of organic pollutants in Hong Kong leachate could be effectively removed by the UASB (upflow anaerobic sludge blanket) process followed by the fenton coagulation. The COD (chemical oxygen demand) of leachate was lowered from an average of 5620 mg/L to 1910 mg/L after the UASB treatment at 37 degrees C, and was further lowered to 513 mg/L after fenton coagulation. The remaining refractory residues could be further removed by photochemical oxidation with the addition of H2O2.