Effect of Focal Zone Size on Treatment Outcomes and Renal Injury Following Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy of Renal Calculi: A Prospective Randomized Study.

The narrower focal zone (FZ) size of modern lithotripter was considered as one of the factors that resulted in suboptimal treatment result of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL). Therefore, we investigate the efficacy and safety of standard narrow or extended (FZ) sizes in SWL for patients with renal stones. In this prospective study conducted between April 2018 and October 2022, patients with renal stones were randomized to receive SWL with either standard or extended FZ.

Comparison of the 12-month impact of COVID-19 and SARS on physiological capacity and health-related quality of life.

Background: Little is known about the differences in medium to long-term recovery on spirometry, 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between COVID-19 and SARS.

Methods: We performed a 12-month prospective study on COVID-19 survivors. The changes in dynamic lung volumes at spirometry (%predicted FEV, %predicted FVC), 6MWD and HRQoL at 1-3, 6 to 12 months were compared against a historical cohort of SARS survivors using the same study protocol.

Effect of Weight Loss and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure on Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Metabolic Profile Stratified by Craniofacial Phenotype: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Craniofacial structure is believed to modulate the effect of weight loss on obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but whether this affects metabolic profile after weight loss compared with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is unknown among obese Chinese patients with OSA. To compare the change in metabolic profile between a lifestyle modification program (LMP), stratified by craniofacial phenotype, and CPAP therapy for 6 months. We randomly assigned 194 patients with body mass index ⩾ 25 kg/m and moderate to severe OSA to participate in the LMP or receive CPAP therapy for 6 months in a 2:1 ratio.

Machine learning application for the prediction of SARS-CoV-2 infection using blood tests and chest radiograph.

Triaging and prioritising patients for RT-PCR test had been essential in the management of COVID-19 in resource-scarce countries. In this study, we applied machine learning (ML) to the task of detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection using basic laboratory markers. We performed the statistical analysis and trained an ML model on a retrospective cohort of 5148 patients from 24 hospitals in Hong Kong to classify COVID-19 and other aetiology of pneumonia.

Endosonography-guided gallbladder drainage versus percutaneous cholecystostomy in very high-risk surgical patients with acute cholecystitis: an international randomised multicentre controlled superiority trial (DRAC 1).

Objective: The optimal management of acute cholecystitis in patients at very high risk for cholecystectomy is uncertain. The aim of the current study was to compare endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided gallbladder drainage (EUS-GBD) to percutaneous cholecystostomy (PT-GBD) as a definitive treatment in these patients under a randomised controlled trial.

Design: Consecutive patients suffering from acute calculous cholecystitis but were at very high-risk for cholecystectomy were recruited.

Effect of Stepwise Voltage Escalation on Treatment Outcomes following Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy of Renal Calculi: A Prospective Randomized Study.

Purpose: In this study we assessed the effects of a ramping protocol in patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy of renal stones.

Materials And Methods: In this prospective study patients with renal stones were randomized to receive shock wave lithotripsy delivered using a ramping protocol in group 1 (first 1,000 shocks at energy level 5 followed by 1,000 shocks at energy level 6 and 1,000 final shocks at energy level 7) and a fixed voltage protocol in group 2 (all 3,000 shocks at energy level 7). Treatment was administered using a Modulith® SLX-F2.

Prophylactic angiographic embolisation after endoscopic control of bleeding to high-risk peptic ulcers: a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: In the management of patients with bleeding peptic ulcers, recurrent bleeding is associated with high mortality. We investigated if added angiographic embolisation after endoscopic haemostasis to high-risk ulcers could reduce recurrent bleeding.

Design: After endoscopic haemostasis to their bleeding gastroduodenal ulcers, we randomised patients with at least one of these criteria (ulcers≥20 mm in size, spurting bleeding, hypotensive shock or haemoglobin<9 g/dL) to receive added angiographic embolisation or standard treatment.

Increased prevalence of coronary plaque in patients with psoriatic arthritis without prior diagnosis of coronary artery disease.

Objectives: To evaluate coronary atherosclerosis in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and control subjects using coronary CT angiography (CCTA).

Methods: Ninety consecutive patients with PsA (male: 56(62.2%); 50.

A Prospective Randomized Study Comparing the Effect of Different Kidney Protection Treatment Protocols on Acute Renal Injury After Extracorporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy.

Objectives: To perform a prospective study to evaluate the renal protective effects of ramping protocol and pause protocol for extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) in human subjects.

Patients And Methods: Three hundred twenty patients with solitary renal stone <15 mm were randomized to receive one of four protocols: (1) 80% power from beginning until the end of treatment; (2) the first 100 shockwaves (SWs) at 40% power, and then 80% power until the end of treatment; (3) the first 100 shocks at 40% power, followed by a 3-minute pause, and then further SWs at 80% power until the end of treatment; and (4) the first 100 shocks at 80% power, followed by a 3-minute pause, and then further SWs at 80% power until the end of treatment. The primary endpoint was the incidence of renal hematoma assessed by imaging on day 2.

HMGB1/RAGE Signaling and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Responses in Non-HIV Adults with Active Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Background: We aimed to study the pathogenic roles of High-Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) / Receptor-for-Advanced-Glycation-End-products (RAGE) signaling and pro-inflammatory cytokines in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

Methods: A prospective study was conducted among non-HIV adults newly-diagnosed with active PTB at two acute-care hospitals (n = 80); age-and-sex matched asymptomatic individuals (tested for latent TB) were used for comparison (n = 45). Plasma concentrations of 8 cytokines/chemokines, HMGB1, soluble-RAGE, and transmembrane-RAGE expressed on monocytes/dendritic cells, were measured.

Sonography of diffuse thyroid disease.

Introduction/purpose: This article aims to review of the common diffuse thyroid disease.

Methods: Thorough literature search and review was performed for each diffuse thyroid disease. The most recent and updated ultrasound images were obtained.

Does Low Dose Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor Prevent Pneumonia in Older People With Neurologic Dysphagia--A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Objective: To examine if angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor reduces the risk of pneumonia in older patients on tube-feeding because of dysphagia from cerebrovascular diseases.

Design: Randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Setting: Acute and subacute geriatrics units, speech therapists' clinic, and nursing home.

The effect of renal cortical thickness on the treatment outcomes of kidney stones treated with shockwave lithotripsy.

Purpose: Because the shock wave passes through various body tissues before reaching the stone, stone composition may affect the treatment efficacy of shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). We investigated the effect of various tissue components along the shock wave path on the success of SWL.

Materials And Methods: From October 2008 to August 2010, a total of 206 patients with kidney stones sized 5 to 20 mm were prospectively recruited for a study of the factors that affect the outcome of treatment with a Sonolith Vision lithotripter.

Initial radiographic features as outcome predictor of adult respiratory syncytial virus respiratory tract infection.

Objective: The purposes of this study were to evaluate the chest radiographic features of adult patients hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus respiratory tract infections and to assess whether initial chest radiographic findings help predict clinical outcome.

Materials And Methods: All adult patients hospitalized from January 2009 to December 2011 with laboratory-confirmed respiratory syncytial virus infection were included in the study. Patient clinical data and admission chest radiographs were retrospectively reviewed.

Viral clearance and inflammatory response patterns in adults hospitalized for pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus pneumonia.

Background: Little is known about the virological and inflammatory responses of severe pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus pneumonia during antiviral treatment.

Methods: In a prospective observational study, we recruited consecutive adults hospitalized with confirmed pandemic 2009 H1N1 infection during a 16-week period. Nasopharyngeal aspirate and non-respiratory samples (blood, stool and urine) were collected at presentation, and serial nasopharyngeal flocked swabs (NPFS) and tracheal aspirates (TA) were collected after initiating oseltamivir treatment for quantitative viral RNA assay, using real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR.

A comparison of angiographic embolization with surgery after failed endoscopic hemostasis to bleeding peptic ulcers.

Background: In patients with bleeding peptic ulcers in whom endoscopic hemostasis fails, surgery usually follows. Transarterial embolization (TAE) has been proposed as an alternative.

Objective: To compare the outcomes of TAE and salvage surgery for patients with peptic ulcers in whom endoscopic hemostasis failed.

Real-time qualitative ultrasound elastography of miscellaneous non-nodal neck masses: applications and limitations.

To evaluate real-time qualitative ultrasound elastography as an adjunct to conventional sonography for evaluation of non-nodal neck masses identified in routine clinical practice, 52 consecutive masses in 49 patients underwent both techniques. Lesion stiffness was graded visually on chromatic-scale elastograms from ES0-3 (low to high). Diagnosis was based on (cyto)pathology (11), corroborative cross-sectional imaging (18) or characteristic conventional sonography (23).

Evaluation of real-time qualitative sonoelastography of focal lesions in the parotid and submandibular glands: applications and limitations.

Objective: To evaluate qualitative ultrasound elastography for focal salivary gland masses identified during routine clinical practice.

Methods: Sixty-five parotid or submandibular masses in 61 patients underwent real-time qualitative ultrasound elastography and were scored on colour-scaled elastograms in terms of their stiffness relative to adjacent normal salivary parenchyma from ES 1 (soft) to ES 4 (stiff). This was correlated with diagnosis from aspiration cytology or histology.

HER2 expression predicts improved survival in patients with cervical node-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of HER2 and p63 expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Study Design: A case review of 186 HNSCCs from the oral tongue, palate, maxillary sinus, floor of mouth, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and larynx.

Subjects And Methods: All primary tumor specimens were evaluated by immunohistochemistry for HER2 and p63 expressions, which were correlated with clinical parameters including age, sex, grade, lymph node metastases, stage, and survival.