Sex-Specific Association Between Serum Uric Acid and Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase in a Military Cohort: The CHIEF Study.

Aim: The study was conducted in order to examine the sex-specific association of serum uric acid (SUA) levels with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in a Taiwanese military cohort.

Methods: We made a cross-sectional examination of the sex-specific relationship using 6728 men and 766 women, aged 18-50 years from a large military cohort in Taiwan. SUA levels within the reference range (<7.

Association of preexisting hypertension with the morality in patients with systolic heart failure in Taiwan: The TSOC-HFrEF registry.

Purpose: To investigate the association of preexisting hypertension at admission with the mortality in patients with systolic heart failure (HF).

Method: We prospectively investigated the association of preexisting hypertension with the mortality among 1351 patients with HF in Taiwan during an average 12 months (range: 8 months-18 months) follow-up period. A multivariate cox regression analysis for the overall cohort and a subgroup analysis by age were performed.

Sex-Specific Association between Metabolic Abnormalities and Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase Levels in a Military Cohort: The CHIEF Study.

The association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, a marker of hepatic injury, may differ between men and women. However, the sex-specific association in a military young population which has a low prevalence of MetS was unclear. We conducted a cross-sectional examination in 6738 men and 766 women, aged 18-50 years, from the cardiorespiratory fitness study in armed forces (CHIEF) in eastern Taiwan.

Electrocardiographic characteristics in young male patients with left primary spontaneous pneumothorax estimated by the collins equation.

Objective: To investigate the 12-lead surface electrocardiographic (ECG) findings in young male patients with left primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) estimated by the Collins equation.

Methods: From 2003 through 2008, 60 young male patients who had left PSP and 61 age-matched unaffected males were included for 12-lead ECG analyses. The PSP size was estimated by the Collins equation.

Chronic hepatitis B, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and physical fitness of military males: CHIEF study.

Aim: To investigate the association of chronic hepatitis B and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis with physical fitness in a Taiwanese military male cohort.

Methods: We made a cross-sectional examination of this association using 3669 young adult military males according to cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events recorded in the Taiwan Armed Forces study. Cases of chronic hepatitis B ( = 121) were defined by personal history and positive detection of hepatitis B surface antigen.

A comparison of Cornell and Sokolow-Lyon electrocardiographic criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy in a military male population in Taiwan: the Cardiorespiratory fitness and HospItalization Events in armed Forces study.

Background: The Cornell and Sokolow-Lyon electrocardiography (ECG) criteria have been widely used for diagnosing left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in patients with hypertension. However, the correlations of these ECG criteria with LVH were rarely compared in military members who received rigorous training, particularly of the Asian male population.

Methods: We compared the Cornell voltage and product criteria with the Sokolow-Lyon criteria for the echocardiographic LVH in 539 military male members, ages 18-50 years and free of hypertension in the Cardiorespiratory fitness and HospItalization Events in armed Forces (CHIEF) study in Taiwan.

The Risk Factors, Costs, and Survival Analysis of Invasive VRE Infections at a Medical Center in Eastern Taiwan.

Objective: To analyze 48 cases the risk factors of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections, the antibiotic costs after infection, and the survival conditions.

Design: 1:3 matched case-control study a medical center in the eastern Taiwan area. The case group, patients with VRE bacterial strains detected at the sterile sites, and the control group were randomly selected from invasive vancomycin-sensitive Enterococcus (VSE) infected patients at the nearest time point by taking the occurrence time of each VRE infection case as the reference time.

Rationale and design of the cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in armed forces study in Eastern Taiwan.

Aim: To investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in a cohort of large voluntary arm forces in Taiwan.

Methods: The cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in armed forces (CHIEF) is a retrospective cohort consisting of more than 4000 professional military members aged 18-50 years in Eastern Taiwan. All participants received history taking, physical examination, chest radiography, 12-lead electrocardiography, blood tests for cell counts and fasting glucose, lipid profiles, uric acid, renal function and liver function in the Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital during 2014.

The Obesity-Mortality Paradox in Patients With Heart Failure in Taiwan and a Collaborative Meta-Analysis for East Asian Patients.

A global heart failure (HF) registry suggested that the inverse association between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality differed by race, particularly stronger in Japanese patients at 1-year follow-up. Whether this finding was consistent across all East Asian populations was unknown. In a multicenter prospective study in Taiwan, we enrolled 1,301 patients hospitalized for systolic HF from 2013 to 2014 and followed up the mortality after their discharge for a median of 1-year period.

Association of body mass index with all-cause mortality in patients with diabetes: a systemic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The obesity paradox phenomenon has been found in different populations, such as heart failure and coronary heart disease, which suggest that patients with established cardiovascular disease (CVD) and with normal weight had higher risk of mortality than those with overweight or obesity. However, the obesity paradox is controversial among patients with diabetes which has been considered as the coronary heart disease equivalent. The aim of our study was to summarize current findings on the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and all-cause mortality in patients with diabetes and make a meta-analysis.

Comparison of the recurrence risk of parameniscal cysts between patients treated with arthroscopic excision and arthroscopic decompression techniques.

Purpose: To compare the recurrence risk of parameniscal cysts between arthroscopic meniscectomy with open cystectomy (arthroscopic excision) and entirely arthroscopic techniques with intra-articular cyst decompression (arthroscopic decompression).

Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted at a medical centre in Taiwan between 2002 and 2012. Patients with symptomatic parameniscal cysts undergoing either arthroscopic excision or arthroscopic decompression were included.

The obesity-mortality paradox in elderly patients with angiographic coronary artery disease: a report from the ET-CHD registry.

Background: The body mass index (BMI)-mortality paradox has been well known in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). However, this phenomenon has rarely been described among elderly patients over a 5-year follow-up.

Methods: We studied a cohort of 722 elderly patients (age 65 years) with angiographic CAD from the ET-CH D registry during 1997-2003 in eastern Taiwan.

Abnormal Changes of a 12-Lead Electrocardiogram in Male Patients with Left Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax.

Background: Typical electrocardiographic (ECG) changes associated with left primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) have previously been well-described. However, there were no reports in the literature about the characteristic of ECG in estimating the severity of pneumothorax.

Methods: From 2003 through 2008, 63 male patients who had left PSP were divided into two groups: 1) large PSP, Light index ≥ 20% (n = 43), and 2) small PSP, Light index < 20% (n = 20).

Cancer risk among patients with hereditary muscular dystrophies: a population-based study in Taiwan, 1997-2009.

Muscular dystrophies (MD) comprise a heterogeneous group of hereditary myopathic diseases. In this group, myotonic MD is associated with an increased cancer risk. However, the cancer risk in other types of MD is unclear.