Optimal timing for hospice-shared care initiation in terminal cancer patients.

Purpose: The existing concept suggests early palliative and hospice therapy for a better quality of care (QOC) and less medical expense in terminal cancer patients, but the time points of "early" initiation were defined by pre-set study protocol rather than the real-world data. The study aimed to determine the optimal timing of initiating palliative care for patients with terminal cancer.

Methods: This retrospective population-based study was conducted using a nationwide database.

Independent Predictive Ability of Procalcitonin of Acute Kidney Injury among Critically Ill Patients.

It is unclear whether serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels rise in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI), and it is also unclear whether the elevation of PCT levels in this setting is independent of the existence of infection and impaired renal clearance. We conducted a retrospective study in a regional teaching hospital in Taiwan to evaluate the AKI-predictive ability of serum PCT among critically ill patients. We enrolled 330 patients (mean age, 70.

The Predictivity of N-Terminal Pro b-Type Natriuretic Peptide for All-Cause Mortality in Various Follow-Up Periods among Heart Failure Patients.

Plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is an excellent prognostic⁻predictive tool in heart failure (HF) patients, but its plasma level changes following therapy. The comparison of prognosis⁻predictivity of a single measurement of plasma NT-pro BNP in different follow-up periods in acute HF patients has been less studied. This study aimed to evaluate whether the association between initial plasma NT-proBNP levels and all-cause mortality would decrease along with an increased follow-up period in patients with acute HF.

Predicting cardiogenic pulmonary edema in heart failure patients by using an N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) -based score.

Background: Cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE) is a life-threatening emergency necessitating aggressive management. We conducted this study to test the hypothesis that a combination of N-terminal pro-b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) and some relevant clinical factors may provide better predictability for CPE in heart failure (HF) patients.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled adult HF patients hospitalized during January 2011 to December 2013.

Corrigendum: N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) -based score can predict in-hospital mortality in patients with heart failure.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/srep29590.

N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) -based score can predict in-hospital mortality in patients with heart failure.

Serum N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) testing is recommended in the patients with heart failure (HF). We hypothesized that NT-pro-BNP, in combination with other clinical factors in terms of a novel NT-pro BNP-based score, may provide even better predictive power for in-hospital mortality among patients with HF. A retrospective study enrolled adult patients with hospitalization-requiring HF who fulfilled the predefined criteria during the period from January 2011 to December 2013.