Acute Mountain Sickness and the Risk of Subsequent Psychiatric Disorders-A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan.

We aim to explore if there is a relationship between acute mountain sickness (AMS) and the risk of psychiatric disorders in Taiwan by using the National Health Insurance Research Database for to the rare studies on this topic. We enrolled 127 patients with AMS, and 1270 controls matched for sex, age, monthly insured premiums, comorbidities, seasons for medical help, residences, urbanization level, levels of care, and index dates were chosen from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2015. There were 49 patients with AMS and 140 controls developed psychiatric disorders within the 16-year follow-up. The Fine-Gray model analyzed that the patients with AMS were prone to have a greater risk for the development of psychiatric disorders with an adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio (sHRs) of 10.384 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.267-14.838, p < 0.001) for psychiatric disorders. The AMS group was associated with anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, sleep disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder/acute stress disorder, psychotic disorder, and substance-related disorder (SRD). The relationship between anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, SRD, and AMS still persisted even after we excluded the psychiatric disorders within the first five years after AMS. There was an association between AMS and the rising risk of psychiatric disorders in the 16 years of long-term follow-up research.

Investigation of Prognostic Features in Primary Cutaneous and Soft Tissue Angiosarcoma After Surgical Resection: A Retrospective Study.

Primary cutaneous and soft tissue angiosarcoma is a rare but highly aggressive malignancy. To date, surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment, but poor prognosis is expected. To investigate whether there are factors associated with poor prognosis after surgical resection and to develop a treatment guideline for current therapy, we retrospectively collected data on 28 patients who underwent surgery as initial treatment and reviewed patient demographics, tumor characteristics, disease courses, and prognoses from September 1996 to May 2013. Of these 28 patients, 17 (60.7%) were men and the mean age at first diagnosis was 66.57 ± 18.57 years. Anatomically, 17 (60.7%) tumors were in the scalp and 11 (39.3%) were in other sites of the body. Of the 28 patients, 23 (82.1%) had achieved negative surgical margins, 24 (85.7%) received adjuvant radiation therapy, and 17 (60.7%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. Twenty-one patients (75%) died during a mean follow-up time of 35.86 ± 28.91 months, and all deaths were caused by angiosarcoma. The 5-year overall survival rate was 17.86%. Sixteen (57.1%) patients had locoregional tumor recurrence, and 20 (71.4%) had distant metastases, with a median of 9.17 (range, 1.9-98.07) months to recurrence or metastasis. Possible predictors of poor prognosis (P < 0.05) in terms of disease-free survival after surgical resection were male sex, cardiovascular disease, smoking, and scalp angiosarcomas, those in terms of overall survival were older than 70 years, male sex, cardiovascular disease, smoking, scalp angiosarcomas, distant metastases, and not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. In conclusion, although multimodal treatments are used, the overall prognosis after surgical resection is still poor, especially for patients with the above predictive factors. An early diagnosis and complete resection of the primary tumor with or without adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy are suggested for a potential better outcome. For those who have a diffuse lesion pattern with the involvement of vital structures, recurrence, or metastasis, palliative resection could be an alternative treatment choice.

Clinical Manifestation, Diagnosis, and Surgical Treatment of Chronic Radiation Ulcers Related to Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Chronic radiation ulcers that develop after cardiac catheterization have become common recently because of the rapid increase in the use of diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization procedures. However, their diagnosis and treatment remain difficult. We encountered 10 patients with National Cancer Institute grade 4 radiation ulcers related to prolonged percutaneous coronary intervention. Data of these 10 patients, including clinical presentations and treatments, were collected and analyzed. A quality-of-life questionnaire was administered to the patients preoperatively and postoperatively. Most of the lesions (8/10 patients) were located on the back. All of the patients received prolonged cardiac catheterization lasting for more than 3 hours, at least once, and all of the coronary artery lesions showed chronic total or near-total occlusion. The surgical procedures included complete resection of the lesion followed by fasciocutaneous flap coverage (9/10) or skin grafting (1/10). The mean ± SD follow-up time was 23.3 ± 19.79 months, and the wounds in all the patients healed well without complications. After the surgery, the symptoms reduced and the quality of life improved significantly according to the scores in the quality-of-life questionnaire. In conclusion, the early diagnosis of chronic ulcers related to prolonged percutaneous coronary intervention depends on careful history taking and a highly suspicious clinical presentation. For National Cancer Institute grade 4 radiation ulcers, complete resection and immediate reconstruction with flaps or grafts may improve the symptoms and achieve reliable wound coverage without complications.