New-Onset Massive Ascites With Acute Kidney Injury Due to Spontaneous Rupture of the Urinary Bladder.

Spontaneous rupture of the urinary bladder (SRUB) is a rare urological emergency associated with urinary ascites and apparent acute kidney injury. The clinical course can be severe or lethal if no early diagnosis is achieved. We present a 44-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus had progressive abdominal fullness, poor appetite, dyspnea, and lower legs edema for two days.

Effects of epinephrine on heart rate variability and cytokines in a rat sepsis model.

Catecholamines have both anti-inflammatory and vasoactive properties. A decreased cardiac response to catecholamines has been associated with a high risk of death in sepsis and septic shock. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of epinephrine (EPI) on heart rate variability (HRV) and autonomic balance, as well as cytokine levels, in a rat sepsis model.

Associations between arsenic in drinking water and the progression of chronic kidney disease: A nationwide study in Taiwan.

To evaluate the associations between exposure to arsenic in drinking water and the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD), we conducted a study in Taiwan. We recruited 8854 participants from a nationwide health screening program from 2000 to 2009 who were at least 20 years old and had two checkups in a 24-month period with at least 12 months apart. We defined CKD as having an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)<90ml/min/1.

Hepatic angiosarcoma may have fair survival nowadays.

Hepatic angiosarcoma (HAS) is rare but often fatal. A review of literature in 1979 found that only 3% of the 70 patients lived for more than 2 years, but the survival might have been improved over the years. We conducted a retrospective study and reviewed the medical records of patients who visited a teaching hospital in Taiwan from January 2000 to August 2010 and had pathological proof of HAS.

Recurrent Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis Unmasks Sjogren Syndrome without Sicca Symptoms.

Hypokalemic Periodic Paralysis (HPP) may occur as a rare complication of Sjogren Syndrome (SS) and Renal Tubular Acidosis (RTA). A 64-year male patient came with HPP, and was later diagnosed with distal RTA. The patient, who had no xerostomia and xerophthalmia, was diagnosed with primary SS from serologic and histologic findings of minor salivary gland biopsy.

Isolated hepatic tuberculosis mimicking liver tumors in a dialysis patient.

Cases of isolated hepatic tuberculosis (TB) are rare. The diagnosis is often delayed or missed because of nonspecific symptoms and laboratory findings. Besides, the disease is extremely rare even in a country where TB is an alarming public health problem.

The role of autonomic nervous system function in hypothermia-mediated sepsis protection.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine whether hypothermia will lessen decreases in heart rate variability and improve outcome in a rat model of sepsis.

Methods: Thirty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into 3 groups: control, low sepsis, and high sepsis groups. These groups were each subdivided into a normothermia (37°C) (n = 6) and a hypothermia group (34°C) (n = 6).

Arsenic, vinyl chloride, viral hepatitis, and hepatic angiosarcoma: a hospital-based study and review of literature in Taiwan.

Background: Hepatic angiosarcoma (HAS) is a rare type of liver cancer that is often fatal, and arsenic and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) are two major causal agents. Whereas Taiwan is an endemic area of liver cancer, epidemiologic data on HAS are limited. We reviewed the cases observed at a teaching hospital to evaluate the roles of VCM, arsenic, and viral hepatitis in the occurrence of HAS.

Further evidence of the usefulness of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II scoring system in acute paraquat poisoning.

Objective And Method: We have previously successfully applied the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II system to assess the severity of patients with acute paraquat poisoning, and this article investigates further evidence of the usefulness of APACHE II system in predicting the in-hospital mortality of 64 patients with acute paraquat poisoning over a period of 12 years. The predictive factors including APACHE II score, plasma paraquat concentration, severity index of paraquat poisoning (SIPP), and estimated ingestion dosage of paraquat for evaluating the outcome in paraquat-poisoned patients were assessed.

Results: Overall mortality was 71.

Short report: persistent bradycardia caused by ciguatoxin poisoning after barracuda fish eggs ingestion in southern Taiwan.

We report an outbreak of ciguatoxin poisoning after barracuda fish ingestion in southern Taiwan. Three members of a family developed nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, and myalgias about 1 hour after eating three to ten eggs of a barracuda fish. Numbness of the lips and extremities followed the gastrointestinal symptoms about 2 hours after ingestion.

Severity assessment in acute paraquat poisoning by analysis of APACHE II score.

Background And Purpose: Several methods have been proposed to predict prognosis in patients with paraquat poisoning, but all have their limitations. This retrospective study evaluated the usefulness of Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores in risk stratification for patients with paraquat poisoning.

Methods: Data from 58 adults with a diagnosis of paraquat poisoning presenting to a general hospital over a 10-year period were analyzed.