Liver Cirrhosis as a Predictor of Infection Risk in Patients Undergoing Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).

BACKGROUND Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt surgery is a widely used procedure for managing hydrocephalus; however, postoperative infections remain a serious complication, increasing morbidity and mortality. Known risk factors include prior surgeries, steroid use, and concurrent procedures. However, the role of liver cirrhosis, a condition that compromises immune function and predisposes patients to infections, has not been fully investigated in the context of neurosurgery.

A pilot study of novel ultrahigh-frequency dorsal root ganglia stimulation for chronic lower limb pain: Focusing on safety and feasibility.

Objectives: This single-arm, open-label, single-center observational pilot study assessed the safety and efficacy of ultrahigh-frequency dorsal root ganglia (UHF-DRG) stimulation in patients with chronic leg pain with or without low back pain. Such high-frequency electrostimulation had not been conducted in the human central nervous system previously.

Materials And Methods: The primary objective was to evaluate the safety of UHF-DRG stimulation (2 Hz pulses with 50 msec pulse-width and 500 kHz intrapulse sine waves, 5-min duration per stimulation) by identifying incident adverse events (AE) and severe adverse events (SAE) during the trial.

Ozone Exposure During Pregnancy and Risk of Gestational Hypertension or Preeclampsia in China.

Importance: Although certain air pollutants have been associated with adverse obstetric outcomes, evidence regarding the association of ozone (O3) exposure with the risk of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP) is limited and inconsistent.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between gestational O3 exposure and HDP (ie, gestational hypertension and preeclampsia) risk, and to explore the window of susceptibility for O3 exposure during pregnancy.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study recruited pregnant patients from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, from March 2017 to December 2018.

Associations of prenatal PFAS exposure and early childhood neurodevelopment: Evidence from the Shanghai Maternal-Child Pairs Cohort.

Epidemiological data on the effects of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on infant neurodevelopment trajectories are far from being sufficiently addressed. In this study, 1285 mother-child pairs were recruited during 2016-2017. A high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used to measure 16 PFAS levels in cord serum.

[Spatial and Temporal Distribution Characteristics of Ozone Concentration and Population Health Benefit Assessment in the Yangtze River Delta Region from 2017 to 2020].

In recent years, the ozone (O) concentration has showed a rising trend in China, becoming second only to PM as an important factor affecting air quality. To grasp the spatial-temporal variations characteristics of O and the associated health impacts during the implementation of the three-year plan on defending the blue sky in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, data collected from 210 monitoring stations in the YRD from 2017 to 2020 were analyzed using the global Moran's index and Getis-Ord index methods, and the associated health benefits of reduced O exposure were evaluated using the health risk and environmental value assessment methods. The results showed that during the study period, the interquartile range (IQR) of the annual average O concentration and that of the warm season both presented a declining trend.

Associations of ozone exposure with gestational diabetes mellitus and glucose homeostasis: Evidence from a birth cohort in Shanghai, China.

Background: Associations between individual exposure to ozone (O) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have rarely been investigated, and critical windows of O exposure for GDM have not been identified.

Objectives: We aimed to explore the associations of gestational O exposure with GDM and glucose homeostasis as well as to identify the potential critical windows.

Methods: A total of 7834 pregnant women were included.

Antibiotic-impregnated external ventricular drainage for the management of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus in low birth weight premature infants following intraventricular hemorrhage.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the infection rates and catheterization duration of applying antibiotic-impregnated external ventricular drain (EVD) for the treatment of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH) in low birth weight infants (LBWI).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 13 preterm LBWI with PHH. Data were collected from the patient's medical charts and included gender, gestational age, birth weight, intraventricular hemorrhage grade, ventriculostomy-associated infection (VAI), and the duration of catheterization.

Cardamonin attenuates phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-induced pulmonary inflammation in alveolar macrophages.

Pulmonary inflammation involves complex immune responses in which alveolar macrophages release pro-inflammatory proteins and cytokines. Cardamonin is a spice component that exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties against pulmonary inflammation. Herein, the aim of this research is to investigate the effects of cardamonin on pulmonary inflammation and its mechanism.

Regulation of Blood Glucose Using Islets Encapsulated in a Melanin-Modified Immune-Shielding Hydrogel.

Islet transplantation is currently a promising treatment for type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, the foreign body reaction and retrieval difficulty often lead to transplantation failure and hinder the clinical application. To address these two challenges, we propose a balanced charged sodium alginate-polyethyleneimine-melanin (SA-PEI-Melanin) threadlike hydrogel with immune shielding and retrievable properties.

Inhibition of estrogen receptor reduces connexin 43 expression in breast cancers.

Connexins are widely supported as tumor suppressors due to their downregulation in cancers, nevertheless, more recent evidence suggests roles for connexins in facilitating tumor progression in later stages, including metastasis. One of the key factors regulating the expression, modification, stability, and localization of connexins is hormone receptors in hormone-dependent cancers. It is reasonable to consider that hormones/hormone receptors may modulate connexins expression and play critical roles in the cellular control of connexins during breast cancer progression.

PG2 for patients with acute spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study.

PG2 is an infusible polysaccharide extracted from Astragalus membranaceus, which is a Chinese herb traditionally used for stroke treatment. We investigated the effect of PG2 on patients with spontaneous acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). A total of 61 patients with acute spontaneous ICH were randomized to either the treatment group (TG, 30 patients), which received 3 doses of PG2 (500 mg, IV) per week for 2 weeks, or the control group (CG, 31 patients), which received PG2 placebo.

A 'silent' skull metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma mimicking as a benign scalp tumor in a pregnant woman.

Unlabelled: Thyroid cancer with cranial metastasis in a pregnant woman is very rare. In the literature, most cases are diagnosed early from neurogenic signs or symptomatic thyroid gland. Pregnancy also contributes to a hesitation toward early surgical and medical treatments.

Increased risk of hydrocephalus in long-term dialysis patients.

Background: The risk of hydrocephalus in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on dialysis has not been studied in depth.

Methods: Using Taiwan National Health Insurance claims data, we identified 29 684 incident ESRD patients from 2000 to 2010, including 10 030 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients and 19 654 hemodialysis (HD) patients. The control cohort consisted of 118 736 people randomly selected from those without kidney disease, frequency matched with ESRD patients by age, sex and index year.

Comparison of Subdural Hematoma Risk between Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis Patients with ESRD.

Background And Objectives: This study compared the risk of subdural hematoma (SDH) and subsequent mortality in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients with ESRD.

Design, Setting, Participants, & Measurements: Claims data were obtained from the National Health Insurance Administration Research Database in Taiwan. This retrospective cohort study comprised 10,136 PD patients and 10,136 HD patients with newly diagnosed ESRD from 1998 to 2010.

Current-modulated electrical stimulation as a treatment for peripheral nerve regeneration in diabetic rats.

Purpose: To study if electrical stimulation (ES) can be a useful tool to improve functional recovery after neuronal injury in the peripheral nervous system.

Methods: We studied the effects of 2 Hz of percutaneous ES at different intensities of 1, 10 and 20 mA on peripheral nerve regeneration in rats with diabetes induced by streptozotocin. Non-stimulated diabetic rats were used as the sham-controls.

Genetic polymorphism of XRCC1 Arg399Gln is associated with survival in non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with gemcitabine/platinum.

Introduction: Elevated DNA-repair capacity has been related to chemoresistance of platinum doublet chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We evaluated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms of DN- repair genes excision repair cross-complementing group 1 (ERCC1), ERCC2, x-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1), XRCC3, and RRM1 associate with treatment outcome in NSCLC patients receiving gemcitabine plus platinum as their first-line chemotherapy.

Methods: Genotyping for eight polymorphisms in five DNA-repair genes was performed with the GenomeLab nucleotide polymorphismstream Genotyping System in 62 advanced NSCLC patients in a training set and 45 patients in a validation set treated with gemcitabine/platinum.

Hydrocephalus following decompressive craniectomy for malignant middle cerebral artery infarction.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of hydrocephalus and understand the influence of hydrocephalus on the functional outcome of patients undergoing decompressive craniectomy for malignant middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of consecutive patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy for malignant MCA infarction. Clinical and imaging data were reviewed to confirm the incidence of hydrocephalus and evaluate the impact of hydrocephalus on functional outcome.

Foramen ovale cannulation guided by intra-operative computed tomography with integrated neuronavigation for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.

Background: Radiofrequency rhizotomy of the Gasserian ganglion for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia via percutaneous cannulation of the foramen ovale is facilitated by various localization modalities. In our preliminary study, we described the feasibility of computed tomography (CT) using an integrated neuronavigation system to cannulate the foramen ovale.

Methods: Analysis was performed on 42 consecutive patients who underwent cannulation of the foramen ovale for radiofrequency trigeminal rhizotomy guided by CT using an integrated neuronavigation system.

Pial arteriovenous fistula: a review of literature.

Pial arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is a rare vascular lesion, with less than 120 reported cases in the English literatures (Hoh et al., Neurosurgery 2001;49(6):1351). The angio-architecture, clinical course and therapeutic options are all different from arteriovenous malformation (AVM), dural AVM or other intracranial vascular lesions.

Noninvasive monitoring of tumor growth in a rat glioma model: comparison between neurological assessment and animal imaging.

Malignant gliomas are the most common primary tumors that arise from glial cells and are characterized by extensive invasiveness and rapid progression. Limitation of the current therapeutic regimen for malignant glioma warrants the development of new therapies strategies. In order to investigate new methods of therapy, establishment of a reliable animal model is essential both in studying the tumor biology and trialing a new therapeutic strategy.