Assessment of exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) provides seemingly conflicting results and the relationships between eNO and other sputum inflammatory mediators are relatively weakly recognized. In the present study we measured eNO in 63 subjects (14 non-smoking healthy controls and 49 COPD stable patients--15 patients at stage 0, 9 patients at stage 1, 16 patients at stage 2, and 9 patients at stage 3). Additionally, concentrations of cytokines (IL-8, TNF-alpha, TGF-beta1, GM-CSF, Eotaxin) and nitrogen oxides (as nitrite or nitrate) (NOs) were measured in induced sputum in these patients. We found that there were no significant differences between the means of either eNO or NOs levels in COPD patients (stage 0-2) and controls. The only significant difference was noted for NOs between the COPD stage 3 patients and controls (9.0+/-1.7 microM vs. 21.1+/-4.8 microM). There was no significant correlation between eNO and sputum NOs. No relationships existed between eNO and the examined cytokine levels, except for a single negative correlation with GM-CSF (r=-0.38, P=0.02). In contrast, NOs correlated positively with IL-8 levels (r=0.51, P<0.01) and IL-8 levels correlated negatively (r=-0.47, P<0.01) with FEV1. We conclude that exhaled NO, sputum NOs, and other sputum cytokines offer separate and additive information about the pathophysiological condition in COPD.
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Lung Cancer
January 2025
Dept. of Medical Oncology, Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Background: Manual extraction of real-world clinical data for research can be time-consuming and prone to error. We assessed the feasibility of using natural language processing (NLP), an AI technique, to automate data extraction for patients with advanced lung cancer (aLC). We assessed the external validity of our NLP-extracted data by comparing our findings to those reported in the literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung Cancer
January 2025
Internal Medicine III, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
Objectives: The lack of definitive biomarkers presents a significant challenge for chemo-immunotherapy in extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). We aimed to identify key genes associated with chemo-immunotherapy efficacy in ES-SCLC through comprehensive gene expression analysis using machine learning (ML).
Methods: A prospective multicenter cohort of patients with ES-SCLC who received first-line chemo-immunotherapy was analyzed.
Plast Reconstr Surg
December 2024
Department of Plastic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 81 Irwon-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Background: Despite the recent steep rise in the use of prepectoral direct-to-implant (DTI) breast reconstruction, concerns remain regarding the potentially risk of complications, resulting in the selective application of the technique; however, the selection process was empirically based on the operator's decision. Using patient and operation-related factors, this study aimed to develop a nomogram for predicting postoperative complications following prepectoral DTI reconstruction.
Methods: Between August 2019 and March 2023, immediate prepectoral DTI was performed for all patients deemed suitable for one-stage implant-based reconstruction.
Urogynecology (Phila)
December 2024
From the Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the Women and Infants Hospital, Providence, RI.
Importance: There are limited data to guide practices to reduce surgical site infections following sacral neuromodulation; however, many surgeons prescribe prophylactic postoperative antibiotics after device implantation.
Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the proportion of patients with sacral neuromodulation device-associated surgical site infections after use of prophylactic postoperative antibiotics versus none.
Study Design: This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing sacral neuromodulation device implantation at 11 institutions from January 2014 to December 2023, comparing outcomes in patients who did versus did not receive prophylactic postoperative antibiotic treatment.
J Comput Assist Tomogr
December 2024
From the Functional Department, Leshan Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Leshan, China.
Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic value of standardized semiquantitative scoring of color Doppler ultrasound combined with liver stiffness measurement (LSM) of sound touch elastography (STE) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients, providing a reference for the liver fibrosis diagnosis.
Methods: We performed ultrasound and STE on CHB patients, with liver biopsies as the benchmark. We compared the differences in ultrasound standardized semiquantitative scoring and LSM among patients with different stages of liver fibrosis, and evaluated the diagnostic efficacy of significant liver fibrosis using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the ROC curve alone or in combination.
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