Relationship between betel quid chewing and risks of cardiovascular disease in older adults: a cross-sectional study in Taiwan.

Background: The association between betel quid (BQ) chewing and oral cancer is well established. However, evidence regarding the relationship between BQ chewing and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still insufficient.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 2002 men and 1175 women aged 50 and older in a city-level health examination survey of an agricultural and fishing population in 2013.

Risk factors for mortality in patients with persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia in a tertiary care hospital in Taiwan.

Objectives: To investigate the determinants of outcome in patients with persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia.

Methods: All patients >or=18 years old with MRSA bacteraemia for >or=7 days from 2000 to 2008 treated at National Taiwan University Hospital were investigated. The associations of mortality with clinical characteristics, management and vancomycin MICs for serial MRSA isolates were analysed.

Comparison of clinical features, antimicrobial susceptibility, serotype distribution and outcomes of patients with hospital- and community-associated invasive pneumococcal disease.

Hospital-associated invasive pneumococcal disease (HA-IPD) is infrequently reported. A retrospective surveillance of IPD in a medical centre in Taiwan was conducted from 2000 to 2008 to compare the clinical and microbiological characteristics of HA-IPD and community-associated IPD (CA-IPD). HA-IPD was identified in 37 patients, comprising 12.

Pneumatocele formation in adult pulmonary tuberculosis during antituberculous chemotherapy: a case report.

Introduction: Pulmonary pneumatoceles are thin-walled, air-filled cysts that develop within the lung. Most often, they occur as a sequela to acute pneumonia, commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus, and are found more frequently in infants and young children. Adult tuberculous pulmonary pneumatoceles are seldom reported.

High-resolution computed tomography illustrating pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis in a patient with advanced pancreatic cancer: a case report.

We present a case of advanced pancreatic cancer with diffuse pulmonary interstitial infiltrates and dyspnea in a 61-year-old Asian Taiwanese female. Although surgical lung biopsy is the diagnostic gold standard in most interstitial lung disease, it frequently leads to complications in sick patients. Based on the overall clinico-radiologic correlation, a diagnosis of pulmonary lymphangitic carcinomatosis was supported by the characteristic findings in high-resolution computed tomography.

A 70-year-old male having advanced prostate cancer presenting with hypercalcemia and diffuse osteoblastic bone metastases: a case report.

Background: Bony metastases were occasionally the initial presentations of malignancy. Overlooking of bony changes on radiographs in cancer patients with non-specific clinical symptoms may lead to delayed diagnosis.

Case Presentation: We presented a 70-year-old male having hypercalcemia and diffuse osteoblastic bone metastases on routine plain films.