Influence of patients' walking ability at one-week post-proximal femur fracture surgery on the choice of discharge destination in Japan.

[Purpose] With the innovation of healthcare delivery systems, a need for early determination of patients' discharge outcomes arises after proximal femur fracture surgery, to reduce the burden on healthcare infrastructure. Several studies have examined the extent of walking ability early in the postoperative period to predict the outcome destination. In this study, as an additional validation of these studies, we examined the effect of walking ability on the hospital discharge prognosis of patients in the first week after proximal femur fracture surgery in Japan.

Association of ITPA gene variation and serum ribavirin concentration with a decline in blood cell concentrations during pegylated interferon-alpha plus ribavirin therapy for chronic hepatitis C.

Background: Genetic variation leading to inosine triphosphatase (ITPA) deficiency protects chronic hepatitis C patients receiving ribavirin against hemolytic anemia. The relationship between ITPA gene variation and serum ribavirin concentration was analyzed in association with a reduction in blood cells and dose reduction of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) or ribavirin.

Patients And Methods: A total of 300 hepatitis C patients treated with PEG-IFN plus ribavirin were analyzed.