Survey of patient perceptions towards short-term mobile medical aid for those living in a medically underserved area of Swaziland.

Background: An increasing number of short-term medical missions (STMMs) are being dispatched to provide humanitarian healthcare; however, extensive investigations on how recipient patients perceive STMMs are lacking. The current study evaluated the perceptions of patients toward medical services provided by a Taiwanese STMM in a resource-poor area of Swaziland.

Methods: A structured questionnaire survey was completed by patients who had received medical services from the medical mission of Taipei Medical University in Swaziland in July 2014.

Strategy to better select HIV-infected individuals for latent TB treatment in BCG-vaccinated population.

Objective: To evaluate the T-SPOT.TB interferon-γ releasing assay and the tuberculin skin test (TST), for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection(LTBI) and the development of subsequent active tuberculosis, in BCG-vaccinated HIV-infected individuals.

Methods: HIV-infected individuals without clinical suspicion of active TB or a past history of TB were enrolled from 1 January 2008 to 30 November 2010.

Hyaluronan regulates PPARγ and inflammatory responses in IL-1β-stimulated human chondrosarcoma cells, a model for osteoarthritis.

The carbohydrate polymer, hyaluronan, is a major component of the extracellular matrix in animal tissues. Exogenous hyaluronan has been used to treat osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease involving inflammatory changes. The underlying mechanisms of hyaluronan in OA are not fully understood.

Pathology associated to the Baker's cysts: a musculoskeletal ultrasound study.

The purpose of this study was to know the pathology associated with Baker's cyst (BC) in a rheumatology clinic and to evaluate the incidence, characteristics, and complications of BC. We reviewed the rheumatology ultrasound laboratory charts of patients with BC from Oct 2006 through Dec 2008. Demographic and disease data were also collected.

Characteristics of amebic liver abscess in patients with or without human immunodeficiency virus.

Background And Purpose: Amebic liver abscess (ALA) is the most common extra-intestinal amebiasis. This study was performed to review the clinical features of patients with amebic liver abscesses and compare them in Taiwanese patients with or without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Methods: The medical charts of 27 inpatients with ALA treated at the Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, were retrospectively analyzed.