The Clinical Impact of Different Types of Preoperative Biliary Intervention on Postoperative Biliary Tract Infection of Patients Undergoing Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

: For patients with obstructive jaundice and who are indicated for pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) or biliary intervention, either endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) or percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and drainage (PTCD) may be indicated preoperatively. However, the possibility of procedure-related postoperative biliary tract infection (BTI) should be a concern. We tried to evaluate the impact of ERCP and PTCD on postoperative BTI.

The association between hormone therapy and the risk of lung cancer in postmenopausal women: a 16-year nationwide population-based study.

Objective: Although an association between hormone therapy (HT) and the risk of developing lung cancer has been reported, the results on the topic are inconsistent. Our study objective was to investigate whether postmenopausal women who undergo HT exhibit a risk of developing lung cancer.

Methods: In this matched cohort study, we obtained the data of 38,104 postmenopausal women older than 45 years who were treated using HT between 2000 and 2015 from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, and 152,416 matched participants who were not treated using HT were enrolled as controls at a 1:4 ratio.

Optimal Timing of Cholecystectomy for Patients with Concurrent Acute Cholecystitis and Acute Cholangitis after Successful Biliary Drainage by Interventional Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography.

Background: Concurrent acute cholecystitis and acute cholangitis is a unique clinical situation. We tried to investigate the optimal timing of cholecystectomy after adequate biliary drainage under this condition. Methods: From January 2012 to November 2017, we retrospectively screened all in-hospitalized patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and then identified patients with concurrent acute cholecystitis and acute cholangitis from the cohort.

Relationship between quality of life and aerobic capacity of patients entering phase II cardiac rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Background: This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between patients' aerobic fitness and general health perceptions and how they correspond with functional aerobic impairment (%FAI) and quality of life (QOL).

Methods: One hundred and two patients were administered a version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life brief form questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). Then, each patient underwent cardiopulmonary exercise tests to determine their aerobic fitness and %FAI.

Anti-agalactosyl IgG antibody in ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis.

Anti-agalactosyl IgG antibody (anti-Gal(0) IgG) has been regarded as a useful serological marker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is unknown whether it is also elevated in serum and implicated in the pathogenesis of joint inflammation in seronegative spondyloarthropathy (SpA) such as ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Sera were collected from 43 patients with AS or PsA with axial joint involvement, 22 patients with RA, and 25 healthy normal individuals for the detection of anti-Gal(0) IgG with a cup-type lectin enzyme immunoassay (Eitest CA(.