Endovascular aortic repair is a cost-effective option for in-hospital patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the cost-effectiveness of endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) versus open aortic repair (OAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) using incremental costs per decreased in-hospital mortality rate gained through our patients' cohort. METHODS: Medical records and healthcare costs of patients with AAA hospitalized between 2010 and 2015 were extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. Multiple regression analysis was applied to adjust for confounding factors and to compare the differences in postoperative clinical outcomes between patients who received EVAR and OAR. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of EVAR was determined based on the healthcare cost obtained from the analyzed data. RESULTS: A total of 2803 AAA patients were identified (n = 559 with ruptured AAA and n = 2244 unruptured AAA). Patients with ruptured AAA who underwent EVAR compared with OAR patients had shorter hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays (all p < 0.05). For patients with unruptured AAA, those who received EVAR compared with OAR, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality were 0.371 and 0.447 (all p < 0.05). The total direct surgical costs and medical expenses during hospitalization in all AAA patients were higher for the EVAR group; however, ICER was <1 per capita gross domestic product. Stratification by age groups further suggested that ICER for patients with unruptured AAA who received EVAR, compared with OAR, decreased with age. CONCLUSION: Total direct medical costs were higher for AAA patients receiving EVAR regardless of rupture status; however, the cost is offset by lower odds of postoperative complications and in-hospital mortality. The observed decrease in ICER with age and EVAR use warrants further analysis. Our findings further validate the use of EVAR over OAR. These results provides supporting evidence for physicians and patients with AAA to inform shared decision making regarding endovascular or OAR options.

Clinical and contrast-enhanced image features in the prediction model for the detection of small hepatocellular carcinomas.

Purpose: To identify novel radiological features and clinical characteristics to improve diagnostic criteria for early detection of small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients and Methods: We retrospectively recruited asymptomatic patients with no history of HCC but a high risk of HCC in whom a new, solitary, well-defined, solid nodule between 10 and 20 mm was detected through a screening ultrasound. We retrospectively collected all clinical data, and patients were examined using dynamic contrast-enhanced computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging; subsequently, fine-needle biopsy was performed. A multivariate analysis of the predictors of small HCCs was performed by fitting a multiple logistic regression model with the stepwise variable selection method. Results: In total, 392 and 347 patients with a small liver nodule received a final pathologic confirmation of HCC and non-HCC, respectively. The estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of tumor size > 12.45 mm, age > 56.61 years, liver cirrhosis, hepatitis C virus (HCV) carrier status, ln alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) > 1.954, arterial phase enhancement, and portal or venous phase washout appearance without arterial phase enhancement were 2.0735 (1.4746-2.9155), 1.8878 (1.2949-2.7521), 1.6927 (1.1294-2.5369), 1.6186 (1.0347-2.5321), 2.0297 (1.3342-3.0876), 3.7451 (2.3845-5.8821), and 2.0327 (1.3500-3.0608), respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the diagnosis of small HCCs was 0.79 for arterial phase enhancement and 0.75 for portal or venous phase washout appearance without arterial phase enhancement. Conclusion: Clinical and contrast-enhanced image features are valuable in the prediction model for the detection and early diagnosis of small HCCs in patients with a high risk of HCC. In addition to negative portal or venous washout and negative arterial enhancement in images, age > 56.61 years, tumor size > 12.45 mm, HCV carrier status, and ln(AFP) > 1.954, are useful indicators for the early detection of small HCCs.

Health-related quality of life in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) has become a common surgical treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), and postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is drawing increasing attention. Most studies compare HRQoL in EVAR patients and open aneurysm repair patients, while few studies have investigated HRQoL in EVAR patients versus the general population. This study aimed to investigate whether HRQoL differs between patients with EVAR patients and the general population. METHODS: EVAR patients were recruited from a medical center in northern Taiwan. General population subjects and the EVAR patients were paired based on age and sex, and a simple random sampling method was used for sampling at 2:1. In this study, we used the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version, Taiwan Version to investigate HRQoL. A multivariate regression model was used to analyze intergroup differences related to facets and domains. RESULTS: A total of 58 patients with EVAR and 116 individuals from the general population were included in this study. The EVAR patients' mean scores for overall QoL and the physical domain, psychological domain, social relations domain, and environment domain were 3.79, 15.53, 15.00, 14.93, and 15.57, respectively, and all of these scores were significantly higher than those in the general population. In addition, the ß values (ß = 0.21, 0.73, 1.83, 0.81, and 2.62, respectively) of the EVAR patients were also significantly higher in the multivariate analysis. The findings showed that a high education level and nonsmoking status were associated with higher HRQoL, while unemployment was associated with lower HRQoL. CONCLUSION: EVAR patients had higher HRQoL than the general population, indicating that patients with AAA have a high likelihood of recovering and enjoying high HRQoL if they receive appropriate medical procedures and nursing education.

Decreased expression of stomatin predicts poor prognosis in HER2-positive breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that is overexpressed in 25 to 30 % of human breast cancers and is preferentially localized in lipid rafts. Stomatin is a membrane protein that is absent from the erythrocyte plasma membrane in patients with congenital stomatocytosis and is the major component of the lipid raft. RESULTS: In a total of 68 clinical cases of HER2-positive breast cancer, the absence of stomatin expression was associated with a decreased 5-year survival (65 % vs. 93 %, p = 0.005) by survival analysis. For stage I-III HER2-positive breast cancer, the absence of stomatin expression was associated with a decreased 5-year disease-free survival (57 % vs. 81 %, p = 0.016) and was an independent prognostic factor by multivariate analysis. Negative stomatin expression predicts distant metastases in a hazard ratio of 4.0 (95 % confidence interval from 1.3 to 12.5). CONCLUSIONS: These results may suggest that stomatin is a new prognostic indicator for HER2-positive breast cancer.

Discovery of a novel anticancer agent with both anti-topoisomerase I and II activities in hepatocellular carcinoma SK-Hep-1 cells in vitro and in vivo: Cinnamomum verum component 2-methoxycinnamaldehyde.

Cinnamomum verum is used to make the spice cinnamon and has been used as a traditional Chinese herbal medicine for various applications. We evaluated the anticancer effect of 2-methoxycinnamaldehyde (2-MCA), a constituent of the bark of the plant, and its underlying molecular biomarkers associated with carcinogenesis in human hepatocellular carcinoma SK-Hep-1 cell line. The results show that 2-MCA suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis as indicated by mitochondrial membrane potential loss, activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9, increase in the DNA content in sub-G1, and morphological characteristics of apoptosis, including blebbing of plasma membrane, nuclear condensation, fragmentation, apoptotic body formation, and long comet tail. In addition, 2-MCA also induced lysosomal vacuolation with increased volume of acidic compartments, suppressions of nuclear transcription factors NF-κB, cyclooxygenase-2, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), and both topoisomerase I and II activities in a dose-dependent manner. Further study reveals the growth-inhibitory effect of 2-MCA was also evident in a nude mice model. Taken together, the data suggest that the growth-inhibitory effect of 2-MCA against SK-Hep-1 cells is accompanied by downregulations of NF-κB-binding activity, inflammatory responses involving cyclooxygenase-2 and PGE2, and proliferative control involving apoptosis, both topoisomerase I and II activities, together with an upregulation of lysosomal vacuolation and volume of acidic compartments. Similar effects (including all of the above-mentioned effects) were found in other tested cell lines, including human hepatocellular carcinoma Hep 3B, lung adenocarcinoma A549, squamous cell carcinoma NCI-H520, colorectal adenocarcinoma COLO 205, and T-lymphoblastic MOLT-3 (results not shown). Our data suggest that 2-MCA could be a potential agent for anticancer therapy.

Unusual hematogenous brain metastasis in malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the maxillary sinus.

Malignant fibrous histocytoma (MFH) of the maxillary sinus is believed to be a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma with a low frequency of distant metastasis. In this study, we provide a histological documentation of the hematogenous spread of MFH to the brain and report a case of maxillary sinus MFH with unusual metastasis to the brain. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a direct histological diagnosis of maxillary sinus MFH with brain metastasis via a hematogenous route.

Idiopathic mediastinal fibrosis with involvement of the pulmonary vessels and left main coronary artery.

Idiopathic mediastinal fibrosis (IMF) is an uncommon clinical condition and the manifestations of this disease vary from a relatively benign disorder with minor symptoms to severe pulmonary vascular occlusion leading to mortality, commonly presenting a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Here, we present the case of a Taiwanese woman with obstruction of the left pulmonary veins and artery and stenosis of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) resulting from IMF. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of IMF successfully treated with percutaneous balloon angioplasty with stent placement for the LMCA stenosis.

[Nursing care for intraoperative positioning injuries].

Few discussions have been published on appropriate surgery positioning. Ensuring the patient is in an appropriate pendulum position allows for optimal surgery scope exposition, puts the anesthetist in the closest proximity to the patient to monitor respiratory ventilation, helps maintain patient physiology security, and prevents surgical injury. A poor surgery pendulum position can result in patient injury. In the short-term, such injuries may cause neurotrosis, while over the long-term they may induce deep tissue pressure sores. This article discusses pendulum position injuries during surgery and provides suggestions for proper nursing care of patients undergoing surgical procedures. Clinical nursing staffs may reference this article to enhance patient care during and after surgery.

Synchronous triple cancers at middle and lower esophagus and stomach with different histological features and genetic alterations.

Synchronous multiple primary malignancies are relatively unusual. We describe a case of synchronous triple cancers located at the middle and lower esophagus and the stomach in a 59-year-old Taiwanese man who presented with progressive dysphagia, epigastralgia, and bodyweight loss in 1 month. Endoscopic and histological features, microsatellite instability status of genomic DNA, and immunohistochemical staining of p53, MUC2, Fhit, c-erbB-2 and E-cadherin of all three cancers were demonstrated. We noted that these three cancers arose from different clones and that p53 mutation, instead of microsatellite instability, may play a major role in the development of multiple primary malignancies in this patient.