Impact of Telemedicine on Blood Glucose Control and Ophthalmic Screenings for Patients with Diabetes in Remote Areas During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Real-World Study in Northern Taiwan.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of telemedicine on ophthalmic screening and blood glucose control for patients with diabetes in remote areas of Northern Taiwan during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Telemedicine was implemented in Shiding and Wanli Districts using a 5G platform from April 2021 to December 2022. Patients with poorly controlled diabetes received real-time consultations from endocrinologists at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, 50 km away, for medication adjustment, diet control, and lifestyle recommendations.

Effects of incorporating multidomain interventions into integrated primary care on quality of life: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Integrating primary prevention into care pathways for older adults is a core strategy of healthy ageing, but evidence remains limited. We aimed to determine whether incorporating a multidomain intervention into primary health care could improve standard value-based health outcomes and quality of life.

Methods: For this Taiwan Integrated Geriatric Care (TIGER) study, a pragmatic randomised controlled trial, we recruited community-dwelling outpatients aged 65 years or older with at least three chronic medical conditions.

Effectiveness of controlling COVID-19 epidemic by implementing soft lockdown policy and extensive community screening in Taiwan.

Strict and repeated lockdowns have caused public fatigue regarding policy compliance and had a large impact on several countries' economies. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a soft lockdown policy and the strategy of active community screening for controlling COVID-19 in Taiwan. We used village-based daily confirmed COVID-19 statistics in Taipei City and New Taipei City, between May 2, 2021, and July 17, 2021.

Subtypes of Premorbid Metabolic Syndrome and Associated Clinical Outcomes in Older Adults.

Background: Metabolic syndrome has been shown to be a risk for new onset of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes. The subclasses of metabolic syndrome and any associated adverse health outcomes remain obscure. This study aimed to explore potential subtypes of metabolic syndrome, their associations with incidental diabetes, and any Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events (MACE).

The impact of prenatal screening tests on prenatal diagnosis in Taiwan from 2006 to 2019: a regional cohort study.

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of prenatal screening tests on prenatal diagnosis in Taiwan's 14 years from 2006 to 2019.

Methods: The prenatal screening methods evolved from the second-trimester serum screening to combined first-trimester screening (cFTS) and then followed by the non-invasive cell-free DNA prenatal test (NIPT). The data used by the Department of Statistics, the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Department of Household Registration, Ministry of the Interior public website.

Predictors for psychological distress of young burn survivors across three years: A cohort study of a burn disaster in Taiwan.

Purpose: The study aims to investigate long-term psychological distress and its risk factors in the burn survivors.

Design: A longitudinal study with follow-up interviews was conducted from November 2015-June 2018. A post-burn baseline interview was conducted 6 months after the event, followed by annual surveys for three years.

Rapidly Containing the First Indigenous Outbreak of Chikungunya in Taiwan-Lessons Learned.

The first indigenous outbreak of chikungunya in Taiwan occurred in New Taipei City, northern Taiwan, from August to October 2019. This study identified important containment strategies for controlling the outbreak. The outbreak investigation and ovitrap data were collected from the Department of Health, New Taipei City Government.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) and Wisteria floribunda Agglutinin-Positive Mac-2-Binding Protein (WFA⁺-M2BP) in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease.

BACKGROUND The present study assessed and compared the diagnostic accuracy of elastography (acoustic radiation force impulse, ARFI) with that of Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2-binding protein (WFA⁺-M2BP) for estimating the stage of hepatic fibrosis in chronic liver disease patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS This retrospective cross-sectional study enrolled 70 chronic liver disease patients who underwent hepatectomy for hepatic tumors. ARFI and WFA⁺-M2BP serum level, underlying liver disease, and laboratory data for all patients were recorded.

Feasibility of measuring spleen stiffness with MR elastography and splenic volume to predict hepatic fibrosis stage.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between spleen stiffness value, splenic volume and the liver fibrosis stages.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board of our institute. We enrolled 109 patients that had undergone abdominal MR imaging and histopathological examination.

[Chronic Disease Prevention: Present and Future].

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have risen to become a major threat to health worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, NCDs accounted for 68% of all global mortality in 2014, with over 40% of NCD-related mortality incidents defined as premature deaths under the age of 70 years. Among the top-10 causes of death named by the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2017, 28% were cancers, 22.

Trisomy 21 screening based on first and second trimester in a Taiwanese population.

Objective: This study investigates the performance of first- and second-trimester screening tests for detecting fetal trisomy 21 in a Taiwanese population.

Materials And Methods: This multicenter study 29,137 cases enrolled the chromosomal abnormality screening between 2013 and 2014 two years period from Taipei city. There were 23,990 was done the first trimester screening using a combination of fetal nuchal translucency, maternal serum β-human chorionic gonadotropin, and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A between 11 and 13 weeks of gestation age.

Comparison of the efficacy of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance elastography in the detection and staging of hepatic fibrosis.

The present study compared the efficacy of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) in the estimation of hepatic fibrosis stages with histopathologic correlation.This retrospective study included 104 patients (87 men and 17 women; mean age, 60.6 ± 10.

Prospective Comparison of the Diagnostic Performance of Magnetic Resonance Elastography with Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography for Pre-operative Staging of Hepatic Fibrosis in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance (MR) elastography with that of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography for pre-operative staging of hepatic fibrosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. We prospectively enrolled 77 patients who were scheduled to undergo hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma. Pre-operative MRE and ARFI elastography examinations were performed on the same day, and liver stiffness/velocity values were determined.

The value of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging in characterizing cirrhotic nodules with atypical enhancement on Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR images.

Purpose: To evaluate the utility of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in characterizing atypically enhanced cirrhotic nodules detected on conventional Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR images.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 61 consecutive patients with 88 atypical nodules seen on conventional Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR images who underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI within a 3-month period. Using a reference standard, we determined that 58 of the nodules were hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 30 were dysplastic nodules (DNs).

Association of pre-hospital theophylline use and mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with sepsis.

Background: Although theophylline has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, the therapeutic use of theophylline before sepsis is unknown. The aim of our study was to determine the effect of theophylline on COPD patients presenting with sepsis.

Methods: This nationwide, population-based, propensity score-matched analysis used data from the linked administrative databases of Taiwan's National Health Insurance program.

Association of weekend effect with early mortality in severe sepsis patients over time.

Background: The aim of this study is to investigate the "weekend effect" and early mortality of patients with severe sepsis.

Methods: Using the Taiwanese National Healthcare Insurance Research Database, all patients who were hospitalized for the first time with an episode of severe sepsis between January 2000 and December 2011 were identified and the short-term mortality of patients admitted on weekdays was compared to those admitted on weekends. The primary endpoint was 7-day mortality.

Length to width ratio of the ductus venosus in simple screening for fetal congenital heart diseases in the second trimester.

Antenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease (CHD) is still low even though screening was first introduced over 25 years ago. The purpose of our study was to determine the efficacy of a second-trimester prenatal ultrasonographic method of screening for CHD.From September 2012 to September 2013, the length and width of the fetal ductus venosus were measured sonographically in 1006 singleton fetuses, and the ratio of length to width was calculated.

Comparison of Ischemic and Nonischemic Bowel Segments in Patients With Mesenteric Ischemia: Multidetector Row Computed Tomography Findings and Measurement of Bowel Wall Attenuation Changes.

Objective: To describe multidetector row computed tomography (MDCT) findings and to compare the enhancing ratio of ischemic and nonischemic bowel wall segments in patients with mesenteric ischemia.

Patients And Methods: We performed a retrospective review of 69 patients with pathologically proven mesenteric ischemia who underwent a preoperative MDCT evaluation from January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2014. Two reviewers performed quantitative MDCT measurements of the bowel wall attenuation of the ischemic and nonischemic bowel segments on the unenhanced phase, arterial phase, and portal venous phase.

Novel Imaging Diagnosis for Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Consensus from the 5th Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert Meeting (APPLE 2014).

Current novel imaging techniques in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with the latest evidence in this field, was discussed at the Asia-Pacific Primary Liver Cancer Expert (APPLE) meeting held in Taipei, Taiwan, in July 2014. Based on their expertise in a specific area of research, the novel imaging group comprised 12 participants from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China and it included 10 abdominal radiologists, one hepatologist, and one pathologist. The expert participants discussed topics related to HCC imaging that were divided into four categories: (i) detection method, (ii) diagnostic method, (iii) evaluation method, and (iv) functional method.

Non-Invasive Evaluation of Hepatic Fibrosis: The Diagnostic Performance of Magnetic Resonance Elastography in Patients with Viral Hepatitis B or C.

Purpose: To compare the accuracy of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) with that of aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) for estimating the stage of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 160 patients with chronic hepatitis and 25 healthy living liver donors. Fibrosis stage (METAVIR, F0 to F4) was determined histopathologically for all patients.

Efficacy of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography compared with T2-weighted magnetic resonance cholangiography in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Background: Gadoxetic acid is one of the hepatobiliary-specific agents and so can be used for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography (CE-MRC). The aim of our study was to compare the performance of CE-MRC with that of T2-weighted magnetic resonance cholangiography (T2W-MRC), and also to ascertain the effectiveness of both modalities combined for visualizing anatomic structures of the biliary tree in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Methods: Fifty-six patients underwent CE-MRC and T2W-MRC imaging.

Dynamic-contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of cirrhotic liver parenchyma: A comparison between gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid and gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid.

Background: The newly developed magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) hepatocyte-specific contrast agent, gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), has different excretion pathways from the conventional MRI contrast agent, gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA). In this study, we compare the enhancement effect of the liver and renal parenchyma between these two contrast agents for patients with liver cirrhosis.

Methods: We retrospectively included 49 consecutive patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent Gd-DTPA- and Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRIs within 3 months.

Targeted tumor theranostics using folate-conjugated and camptothecin-loaded acoustic nanodroplets in a mouse xenograft model.

In this study, we aimed to validate the feasibility of receptor-targeted tumor theranostics with folate-conjugated (FA) and camptothecin-loaded (CPT) acoustic nanodroplets (NDs) (collectively termed FA-CPT-NDs). The ND formulation was based on lipid-stabilized low-boiling perfluorocarbon that can undergo acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV) under ultrasound (US) exposure. Conjugation of folate enhanced the selective delivery to tumors expressing high levels of folate receptor (FR) under mediation by the enhanced permeability and retention effect.