Comparison of the recurrence risk of parameniscal cysts between patients treated with arthroscopic excision and arthroscopic decompression techniques.

PURPOSE: To compare the recurrence risk of parameniscal cysts between arthroscopic meniscectomy with open cystectomy (arthroscopic excision) and entirely arthroscopic techniques with intra-articular cyst decompression (arthroscopic decompression). METHODS: A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted at a medical centre in Taiwan between 2002 and 2012. Patients with symptomatic parameniscal cysts undergoing either arthroscopic excision or arthroscopic decompression were included. Parameniscal cyst recurrence was evaluated every 3 months after surgery. The recurrence risk associated with treatment group, cyst volume, and meniscal tear circumference was investigated. RESULTS: This study included 241 young to middle-aged men and women. Of these, 112 underwent arthroscopic excision and 129 underwent arthroscopic decompression. During an average 26-month follow-up period, the arthroscopic decompression group had a sixfold higher recurrence risk [prevalence: 4 and 21 %, respectively; hazard ratio, HR 6.0 (95 % confidence interval, CI 2.3-15.6); p < 0.001] than the arthroscopic excision group. Furthermore, meniscal tears >12 mm in circumference and a cyst volume >2.4 cm(3) conferred a fivefold higher recurrence risk than both lesions of smaller dimensions, both in the overall population and in the arthroscopic decompression group [HRs 5.3 (95 % CI 2.3-12.2) and 5.35 (95 % CI 2.2-13.3), respectively; p values <0.001 for both]. CONCLUSIONS: The suggestion of our study is that the recurrence of parameniscal cysts may be strongly related to large cystic lesions and large meniscal tears. Arthroscopic excision is preferable for treating parameniscal cysts, which are large cystic lesions with large meniscal tears, to reduce the recurrence risk. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.

The obesity-mortality paradox in elderly patients with angiographic coronary artery disease: a report from the ET-CHD registry.

BACKGROUND: The body mass index (BMI)-mortality paradox has been well known in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). However, this phenomenon has rarely been described among elderly patients over a 5-year follow-up. METHODS: We studied a cohort of 722 elderly patients (age 65 years) with angiographic CAD from the ET-CH D registry during 1997-2003 in eastern Taiwan. To evaluate the BMI effect on mortality, the elderly subjects were categorized into 5 groups by BMI (kg/m2): underweight and normal-low weight (< 21), normal-high weight (21-23.9) overweight (24-26.9), mild obesity (27-29.9) and moderate/severe obesity (30). At a maximal 10-year follow-up, cardiac and all-cause deaths were the primary end points. RESULTS: After multivariate analysis, patients from the category of under weight and normal-low weight in reference to those from the normal-high weight category had a significantly higher risk of cardiac and all-cause mortality (hazard ratio (HR): 1.68 (95% CI: 1.04-2.70) and 2.02 (95% CI: 1.42-2.87), respectively) following a median of 5.4 years. Obese elderly patients tended to have the lowest risk of all-cause death across all the study BMI categories in the early stage. However, after 5 years, mortality increased in the obese patients surviving beyond 5 years, and was higher than that in overweight patients. CONCLUSIONS: The obesity-mortality paradox was present in elderly patients with angiographic CAD in Taiwan and the risk of death was significantly higher in those with a BMI < 21 kg/n2. However, a J-shaped relationship between mortality and BMI developed after 5 years of follow-up.

Relative validity and reproducibility of a quantitative FFQ for assessing nutrient intakes of vegetarians in Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relative validity and reproducibility of the quantitative FFQ used in the Tzu Chi Health Study (TCHS). DESIGN: The reproducibility was evaluated by comparing the baseline FFQ with the 2-year follow-up FFQ. The validity was evaluated by comparing the baseline FFQ with 3 d dietary records and biomarkers (serum folate and vitamin B12). Median comparison, cross-classification and Spearman correlation with and without energy adjustment and deattenuation for day-to-day variation were assessed. SETTING: TCHS is a prospective cohort containing a high proportion of true vegetarians and part-time vegetarians (regularly consuming a vegetarian diet without completely avoiding meat). SUBJECT: Subsets of 103, seventy-eight and 1528 TCHS participants were included in the reproducibility, dietary record-validity and biomarker-validity studies, respectively. RESULTS: Correlations assessing the reproducibility for repeat administrations of the FFQ were in the range of 0·46-0·65 for macronutrients and 0·35-0·67 for micronutrients; the average same quartile agreement was 40%. The correlation between FFQ and biomarkers was 0·41 for both vitamin B12 and folate. Moderate to good correlations between the baseline FFQ and dietary records were found for energy, protein, carbohydrate, saturated and monounsaturated fat, fibre, vitamin C, vitamin A, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe and Zn (average crude correlation: 0·47 (range: 0·37-0·66); average energy-adjusted correlation: 0·43 (range: 0·38-0·55); average energy-adjusted deattenuated correlation: 0·50 (range: 0·44-0·66)) with same quartile agreement rate of 39% (range: 35-45%), while misclassification to the extreme quartile was rare (average: 4% (range: 0-6%)). CONCLUSIONS: The FFQ is a reliable and valid tool to rank relative intake of major nutrients for TCHS participants.

Cancer risk among patients with hereditary muscular dystrophies: a population-based study in Taiwan, 1997-2009.

Muscular dystrophies (MD) comprise a heterogeneous group of hereditary myopathic diseases. In this group, myotonic MD is associated with an increased cancer risk. However, the cancer risk in other types of MD is unclear. To address this gap in knowledge, we assessed data obtained from the Taiwan Health Insurance Program database. A total of 1,272 patients with MD diagnosed between 1997 and 2009 were enrolled. They were followed up for cancer during the same period by record linkage with the cancer certification in Taiwan. Age- and sex-standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of overall and site-specific cancers were calculated. For congenital and progressive hereditary MD, there were 685 and 505 cases (males: 69.5% and 80.6%), the median ages at diagnosis were 16 and 13 years, and the mean follow-up durations were 7.12 and 5.06 years, respectively. In addition, cancers were developed in 10 patients with congenital MD and 3 patients with progressive hereditary MD. Female MD patients exhibited an increased cancer risk, yielding an SIR of 3.37 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.38-8.25] in congenital MD and 2.95 (95% CI = 0.95-9.19) in hereditary progressive MD. Site-specific cancer SIRs were not powered to be significantly different. In conclusion, genetic defects in hereditary MD may increase cancer risks in females and a sex difference should be further investigated.

Abnormal Changes of a 12-Lead Electrocardiogram in Male Patients with Left Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax.

BACKGROUND: Typical electrocardiographic (ECG) changes associated with left primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) have previously been well-described. However, there were no reports in the literature about the characteristic of ECG in estimating the severity of pneumothorax. METHODS: From 2003 through 2008, 63 male patients who had left PSP were divided into two groups: 1) large PSP, Light index ≥ 20% (n = 43), and 2) small PSP, Light index < 20% (n = 20). The ECGs of 64 age-matched disease-free men were used as the normal control. Those medical records reviewed that provided data for this study included patient backgrounds, severity of PSP, and 12-lead ECG characteristics. RESULTS: As compared to the normal controls, left PSP patients had lower body mass index, more rapid heart beat rate and lower voltages in V3R-V6R. In analyzing QRS voltages, the amplitudes of V2S and V3S were significantly different. As with both V2S < 12 mm and V3S < 9 mm, the sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value to predict patients who had large left PSP area were estimated at 42% (18/43), 100% (20/20) and 100% (18/18), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Using the criteria of V2S < 12 mm, V3S < 9 mm and electrical alternans could predict pneumothorax size exceeding 20% in patients who already had left PSP. KEY WORDS: 12-lead electrocardiogram; Male; Primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low/normal body mass index are associated with increased mortality in coronary artery disease patients in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is a cardiac protective factor. In contrast, body mass index (BMI) is inversely related to mortality, and this is known as the obesity-mortality paradox. The relationship of HDL-C and BMI to mortality, however, has not been clarified well. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of HDL-C and BMI on mortality among CAD patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: A cohort of 1,114 angiographic CAD patients from the ET-CHD registry during 1997-2003 in Taiwan was studied. The subjects were categorized into 4 groups according to BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) (overweight/obese) or BMI <25 kg/m(2) (normal/underweight), and HDL-C higher or lower than the median of 40 mg/dl in men and 45 mg/dl in women. At a mean follow-up of 5.3 years, cardiac and all-cause death were the primary endpoints. On multivariate analysis, low HDL-C predicted higher cardiac and all-cause mortality in normal/underweight patients (hazard ratio [HR], 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-2.33; and 1.65, 95% CI: 1.25-2.19, respectively). In contrast, high BMI predicted lower cardiac and all-cause mortality in patients with low HDL-C (HR, 0.78; 95% CI: 0.54-1.14; and 0.66, 95% CI: 0.49-0.88, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Among CAD patients in Taiwan, those with low HDL-C and normal/underweight had higher risk of mortality.

Increased risk of cancer in chronic dialysis patients: a population-based cohort study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: An increased incidence of cancer in chronic dialysis patients has not been confirmed in the Chinese population. The aim of this population-based study was to examine the risk of various types of cancers in chronic dialysis patients in Taiwan. METHODS: Data of 92 348 chronic dialysis patients extracted from the National Health Institutes Research Database during 1997-2008 were analyzed. Patients newly diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, free of cancer and receiving dialysis for >3 months were eligible for inclusion in the study. RESULTS: After a mean follow-up of 4.4 years, a new cancer was diagnosed in 4328 chronic dialysis patients. The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of chronic dialysis patients was 1.4 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-1.4] and annual incidence of cancer was 1.1%. A trend of an increased SIR of cancer was observed in young patients and within the first year of dialysis. Bladder cancer carried the highest SIR (SIR: 8.2, 95% CI: 6.7-9.9) and had the highest frequency (21.2%). Importantly, the frequency (15.3%) of liver cancer was the second highest and the SIR (SIR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2-1.5) of liver cancer in chronic dialysis patients was higher than that of their healthy counterparts. Unexpectedly, chronic dialysis patients had a significantly reduced risk of developing lung cancer. CONCLUSION: Increased risk of cancer in chronic dialysis patients is confirmed in the Taiwanese population and it is necessary to develop different strategies for cancer screening in chronic dialysis patients among different ethnicities.

Sex-Specific Association Between Serum Uric Acid and Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase in a Military Cohort: The CHIEF Study.

AIM: The study was conducted in order to examine the sex-specific association of serum uric acid (SUA) levels with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in a Taiwanese military cohort. METHODS: We made a cross-sectional examination of the sex-specific relationship using 6728 men and 766 women, aged 18-50 years from a large military cohort in Taiwan. SUA levels within the reference range (<7.0 mg/dL for men and <5.7 mg/dL for women respectively) were divided into quartiles and SUA levels greater than the upper reference limits were defined as hyperuricemia. Elevated ALT levels were defined as ≥40 U/L. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the association between each SUA category and elevated ALT levels in men and women, respectively. RESULTS: The prevalence of hyperuricemia and elevated ALT in men were 18.7% and 12.7%, respectively, and in women were 3.3% and 2.1%, respectively. As compared with the lowest SUA quartile, hyperuricemia was associated with elevated ALT in men (odds ratios (OR): 1.62, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.19-2.20) after controlling for age, service specialty, body mass index, metabolic syndrome components, current cigarette smoking, alcohol intake status, and weekly exercise times, but the associations for the other SUA quartiles were null. By contrast, the associations of hyperuricemia (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.10-6.64) and the other SUA quartiles with elevated ALT were null in women. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the relationship between each SUA level and elevated ALT may differ by sex among military young adults. The mechanism for the sex difference requires further investigations.

Association of preexisting hypertension with the morality in patients with systolic heart failure in Taiwan: The TSOC-HFrEF registry.

PURPOSE: To investigate the association of preexisting hypertension at admission with the mortality in patients with systolic heart failure (HF). METHOD: We prospectively investigated the association of preexisting hypertension with the mortality among 1351 patients with HF in Taiwan during an average 12 months (range: 8 months-18 months) follow-up period. A multivariate cox regression analysis for the overall cohort and a subgroup analysis by age were performed. RESULTS: After adjustment for all potential risk factors, the associations of preexisting hypertension with cardiovascular mortality were significantly reduced in the overall cohort and those aged less than 65 years (hazard ratios (HR): 0.53, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.33-0.84, and 0.28, 95% CI: 0.11-0.67, respectively). However, the associations with all-cause mortality were not significantly different in these two groups (HR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.54-1.09, and 0.59, 95% CI: 0.32-1.07, respectively). Furthermore, the associations were all nonsignificant in the patients aged older than 65 years. CONCLUSION: Preexisting hypertension have an inverse association with cardiovascular mortality in the Asian patients with systolic HF, particularly for those with younger ages.

Sex-Specific Association between Metabolic Abnormalities and Elevated Alanine Aminotransferase Levels in a Military Cohort: The CHIEF Study.

The association of metabolic syndrome (MetS) components with elevated serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, a marker of hepatic injury, may differ between men and women. However, the sex-specific association in a military young population which has a low prevalence of MetS was unclear. We conducted a cross-sectional examination in 6738 men and 766 women, aged 18-50 years, from the cardiorespiratory fitness study in armed forces (CHIEF) in eastern Taiwan. The components of MetS were defined according to the updated International Diabetes Federation (IDF) ethnic criteria for Asians. Elevated ALT levels were defined as ≥40 U/L for both sexes and ≥30 U/L for women alternatively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the sex-specific association between MetS components and elevated ALT. The prevalence of MetS and elevated ALT in men were 11.9% and 12.7% respectively, and in women were 3.5%, and 3.8% respectively. In men, high-density lipoprotein < 40 mg/dL, blood pressures ≥ 130/85 mmHg, serum triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL, and waist size ≥ 90 cm were associated with elevated ALT (odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals: 1.59 (1.34-1.90), 1.40 (1.19-1.65), 2.00 (1.68-2.39), and 1.68 (1.38-2.04); all p < 0.001); whereas in women, only fasting plasma glucose ≥ 100 mg/dL was associated with elevated ALT ≥ 40 U/L (OR: 7.59 (2.35-24.51), p = 0.001) and ALT ≥ 30 U/L (2.67 (0.89-7.95), p = 0.08). Our findings suggest that the relationship between metabolic abnormalities and elevated ALT may differ by sex, possibly due to the MetS more prevalent in young adult men than in women.

The Risk Factors, Costs, and Survival Analysis of Invasive VRE Infections at a Medical Center in Eastern Taiwan.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze 48 cases the risk factors of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) infections, the antibiotic costs after infection, and the survival conditions. DESIGN: 1:3 matched case-control study a medical center in the eastern Taiwan area. The case group, patients with VRE bacterial strains detected at the sterile sites, and the control group were randomly selected from invasive vancomycin-sensitive Enterococcus (VSE) infected patients at the nearest time point by taking the occurrence time of each VRE infection case as the reference time. Fisher exact tests were conducted in order to verify the existence of differences between the case and control groups; survival analysis was applied to explore the prognoses of the VRE infection cases. RESULTS: The mortality rate of the invasive VRE infection cases was 64.6%, which is obviously higher than that of the invasive VSE infection cases (39.4%); the fact of taking chemotherapy during a hospital stay as well as the use of third-generation cephalosporin, glycopeptides, and medicines of the metronidazole category before the infections, are the risk factors of future invasive VRE infections. Moreover, the antibiotic costs after the infections of invasive VRE infection cases are much higher than those of the VSE infection cases (the average daily cost is 3,433 new Taiwan dollars (NTD) vs. 1,742 NTD). CONCLUSIONS: The history of receiving chemotherapy, the use of third-generation cephalosporin, glycopeptides, and medicines of the metronidazole category before the infections are the risk factors of VRE infections. The antibiotic costs after the infections of invasive VRE infection cases are much higher than those of the VSE infection cases.

Electrocardiographic characteristics in young male patients with left primary spontaneous pneumothorax estimated by the collins equation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the 12-lead surface electrocardiographic (ECG) findings in young male patients with left primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) estimated by the Collins equation. METHODS: From 2003 through 2008, 60 young male patients who had left PSP and 61 age-matched unaffected males were included for 12-lead ECG analyses. The PSP size was estimated by the Collins equation. Those with left PSP were divided into two groups: 1) large PSP ≥30% (n=37), and 2) small PSP <30% (n=23). The ECG in the unaffected was used as the normal control. Baseline demographic, anthropometric, and electrocardiographic findings including heart rate, P-QRS-T axes, wave intervals, and RS voltages were compared among three groups. RESULTS: As compared to the unaffected, patients with left PSP had faster heart rate, longer QTc interval, greater QRS and T axes. With regard to RS amplitudes, greater R in lead aVR and V1, and deeper S in lead II indicating predominant rightward forces, and smaller R in lead I and V3-V6 indicating inferior leftward forces were present in patients with left PSP. Of these ECG findings, heart rate, S voltage in lead II and R voltage in V1 in the large PSP but not in the small PSP had greater values than that in the unaffected group. CONCLUSION: Among young male patients with left PSP estimated by the Collins method, the ECG showed faster heart beat and predominant rightward forces especially for those with large PSP.