Assessment of health-related quality of life among Afghan refugees in Quetta, Pakistan.

The study aims to assess the health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and its association with socio-demographic factors among the Afghan refugees residing in Quetta, Pakistan. For this purpose, a cross-sectional, descriptive study design by adopting Euro QOL five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D) for the assessment of HRQOL was conducted by approaching Afghan refugees from the camp and other areas of Quetta, Pakistan. Furthermore, this study also involved descriptive analysis to expound participant's demographic characteristics while inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney test, P < 0.05) were used to compare EQ-5D scale scores. All analyses were performed using SPSS v 20. Herein, a total of 729 participants were enrolled and were subsequently (n = 246, 33.7%) categorized based on their age of 22-31 years (31.30 ± 15.40). The results of mean EQ-5D descriptive score (0.85 ± 0.20) and EQ-VAS score (78.60 ± 11.10) indicated better HRQOL in the current study respondents as compared to studies conducted in other refugee camps around the globe. In addition, demographic characteristics including age, marital status, locality, years of living as refugees, life as a refugee residing out of Pakistan, place of residence in Afghanistan, educational qualification, occupation, and arrested for crime were the statistically significant predictors (P < 0.05) of EQ-5D index scores. However, gender, living status, monthly income, preferred place of treatment were non-significant predictors (P > 0.05). The results of current study provided evidence for a model that correlated with participant's socio-demographic information and HRQOL. Moreover, this study also revealed a baseline assessment for the health status of Afghan refugees, interestingly, these results could be applied for improving HRQOL of the given participants. In conclusion, the HRQOL of Afghan refugees residing in Quetta, Pakistan can largely be improved by providing adequate healthcare facilities, education and employment opportunities, mental and social support, and providing adequate housing and basic necessities of life.

A New Way Out of the Predicament of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma From Existing Data Analysis.

Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is an endocrine tumor with a low incidence but a very poor prognosis. The vast majority of patients have a survival time of only three to six months, but a few survive for two years or more. In recent years, there have been major breakthroughs in targeted and immunotherapy in the field of oncology therapy. Although the preliminary study for ATC showed a promising prospect, more clinical trials are needed. It is the best approach to explore the measures that can improve survival time of ATC from the available clinical data, especially those with long survival. Methods: We report on an 82-year-old ATC patient who survived for 3 years and systematically review the clinical characteristics of 45 ATC patients with complete data from the two largest centers in northwest China. In particular, factors related to long-term survival were analyzed and summarized. Results: Three years prior, an 82-year-old woman was diagnosed with ATC by core needle biopsy following a physical examination. The thyroid tumor was resected within one month, and then the patient was treated with radiotherapy. The patient was still healthy after three years of follow-up. Analysis of prognostic factors for the 45 reviewed patients showed that those undergoing radical surgery (median overall survival (OS) = 472 days, p = 0.0261) and radiotherapy (median OS = 220 days, p = 0.0136) had better outcomes. In addition, patients younger than 65 years (median OS = 164.5 days, p = 0.0176) and with a lower tumor stage (IV A, median OS = 633.5 days, p = 0.0191) also had a better outcome. Conclusion: ATC is a highly malignant tumor, but timely early diagnosis and standardized treatment with radical surgery and radiotherapy as the core can achieve good results. Some patients can achieve long-term survival.

Predictors and 3-year outcomes of compromised left circumflex coronary artery after left main crossover stenting.

BACKGROUND: There are few predictors of decreased fractional flow reserve (FFR) in the left circumflex coronary artery (LCx) after left main (LM) crossover stenting. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine the predictors for low FFR at LCx and possible treatment strategies for compromised LCx, together with their long-term outcomes. METHODS: Altogether, 563 patients who met the inclusion criteria were admitted to our hospital from February 2015 to November 2020 with significant distal LM bifurcation lesions. They underwent single-stent crossover percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) under intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance with further LCx intervention based on the measured FFR. RESULTS: The patients showed significant angiographic LCx ostial affection post-LM stenting, but only 116 (20.6%) patients had FFR < 0.8. The three-year composite major adverse cardiac events (MACE) rates were comparable between the high and low FFR groups (16.8% vs. 15.5; p = 0.744). In a multivariate analysis, low FFR at the LCx was associated with post-stenting minimal luminal area (MLA) of LCx (odds ratio [OR]: 0.032, p < .001), post-stenting LCx plaque burden (OR: 1.166, p < .001), poststenting LM MLA (OR: 0.821, p = .038), and prestenting LCx MLA (OR: 0.371, p = .044). In the low FFR group, those with compromised LCx managed with drug-eluting balloon had the lowest three-year MACE rate (8.1%), as compared to either those undergoing kissing balloon inflation (KBI) (17.5%) or stenting (20.5%) (p = 0.299). CONCLUSION: Unnecessary LCx interventions can be avoided with FFR-guided LCx intervention. Poststenting MLA and plaque burden of the LCx, and main vessel stent length are poststenting predictors of low FFR.