Background: Arterial embolism is a major cause of ischemic stroke. Currently, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is the gold standard in clinical arterial embolization examinations. However, it is invasive and risky.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDengue fever, caused by infections with the dengue virus (DENV), affects nearly 400 million people globally every year. Early diagnosis and management can reduce the morbidity and mortality rates of severe forms of dengue disease as well as decrease the risk of wider outbreaks. Although the early diagnosis of dengue can be achieved using a number of commercial NS1 detection kits, none of these can differentiate among the four dengue virus serotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Prostate abscess is usually a complication of acute urinary tract infection. Invasive liver abscess syndrome is characterized with Klebsiella pneumoniae related multiple organ metastasis. Concomitant pyogenic liver abscess and prostate abscess have rarely been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous studies have investigated the relationship between depression and temporomandibular disorders (TMD), but the conclusions remain vague. The aim of this study was to examine the causal effect between depression and TMD.The reporting of this study conforms to the STROBE statement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFViridians streptococcal shock syndrome is a subtype of toxic shock syndrome. Frequently, the diagnosis is missed initially because the clinical features are nonspecific. However, it is a rapidly progressive disease, manifested by hypotension, rash, palmar desquamation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome within a short period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Emphysematous cholecystitis is a rare variant of acute cholecystitis with a high mortality rate. The combination of emphysematous cholecystitis, liver abscess and pneumoperitoneum are even rarer. Herein we present a case of emphysematous cholecystitis in a senile diabetic lady who had worsening hemodynamics while undergoing hemodialysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe would like to highlight the application of natural products to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We will focus on the natural products known as flavonoids, which target this disease at different stages of hepatocarcinogenesis. In spite of the use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in treating HCC, patients with HCC still face poor prognosis because of the nature of multidrug resistance and toxicity derived from chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLeptospirosis is recognized as a zoonotic disease that is emerging worldwide. Severe manifestations are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates and may therefore pose an important risk to public health, especially in certain high prevalence areas like Taiwan. The severe pulmonary form of leptospirosis is a lesser known entity and is characterized by intra-alveolar hemorrhage and can lead to acute respiratory failure with resistant hypoxemia, which leads to high mortality rates despite maximally invasive mechanical ventilation and adequate treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Symmetrical peripheral gangrene is an uncommon but devastating complication in critically ill patients, and it has a high mortality. It is seen in a wide variety of medical conditions, presenting as symmetrical gangrene of two or more extremities without large blood vessel obstruction.
Case Presentation: We report a case of a 44-year-old Chinese man who was diagnosed with alcohol-related severe acute pancreatitis and presented with systemic inflammatory response syndrome and intractable vomiting.
Extrinsic esophageal compression leading to dysphagia is an uncommon and late presentation of large thoracic aortic aneurysm named dysphagia aortica. Herein, we report an 86-year-old man who presented with 1-week duration of chest pain, backache, and dysphagia and was eventually diagnosed as dysphagia aortica. Our patient developed progressive dyspnea due to tracheal compression and failed surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to develop a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mt-PCR) assay for synchronous detection of carbapenem resistance genes and/or pandrug resistance genes in clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) and to investigate the association between the genetic make-up and a drug-resistant pattern. In total, 213 MDR-AB isolates were collected. All clinical isolates underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing and were analysed for the presence of oxacillinase genes (bla(OXA-23), bla(OXA-24), bla(OXA-51)-like and bla(OXA-58)), class A and C β-lactamase genes (bla(TEM-1) and bla(AmpC), respectively), and an integron-associated antibiotic resistance gene (int1) by an in-house-designed mt-PCR assay.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/purpose: Microarrays, or biochips, are a new technology that can allow rapid detection of bacterial genetic materials. To explore their practical applications, we compared use of a microarray for the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis with the traditional blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture methods.
Methods: Samples from 50 patients with suspected bacterial meningitis were analyzed by microarray and by traditional blood and CSF cultures.
Background: The major sources of Legionnaires' disease (LD) are the potable water systems of large buildings including hospitals, nursing homes, and hotels. Culturing the hospital water system for Legionella allows a preventive approach for hospital-acquired LD. However, hospital-acquired LD is rarely reported in Taiwan, and environmental cultures of Legionella in hospital water systems in Taiwan have never been systematically performed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There has not been a comprehensive multi-center study investigating the microbial profile of community acquired pneumonia (CAP) in Taiwan.
Methods: A prospective study of adult CAP patients requiring hospitalization between December 2001 and April 2002 was carried out in 13 hospitals in Taiwan. Etiology was determined based on laboratory data from blood and sputum cultures plus serology from paired serum and urine antigen detection tests.
J Microbiol Immunol Infect
August 2004
Melioidosis, caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, has been increasingly recognized in Taiwan recently. Its isolation in liver abscess is rare compared to pulmonary melioidosis. We report a case of liver abscess due to B.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBacterial endocarditis due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa arising from arteriovenous (AV) fistula and graft infection is unusual. We report an uncommon case of a 55-year-old woman housewife with chronic glomerulonephritis who had received hemodialysis (HD) for 5 years. She was admitted due to frequent episodes of AV fistula and graft infections in the past 5 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Formos Med Assoc
January 2002
Background And Purpose: Using an epidemiologically meaningful in-hospital population with community-acquired infections, we evaluated antibiotic therapy in terms of indication and choice of antibiotic and microbiologic work-up.
Methods: Infectious disease specialists evaluated charts of 436 patients from 9 hospitals and selected those who received antibiotics within 3 days of admission. Each antibiotic prescribed was marked for appropriateness of indication and choice.