Irish Journal of Medical Science

INTRODUCTION: Cancer and its associated side effects can cause changes in dietary intakes of people with cancer due to a variety of nutrition impact symptoms. These symptoms can lead to suboptimal dietary intakes which negatively affect muscle mass and therefore survivorship. The aim of this qualitative study was to assess the nutrition needs and dietary changes made by cancer patients in Ireland. METHODS: Online focus groups were completed with cancer patients and caregivers, and demographic information was collected via an online questionnaire...

BACKGROUND: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a category of cardiovascular disease with a high fatality rate. AIMS: We searched the differential expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) in ACS based on bioinformatic analysis and investigated the diagnostic value of plasma miR-140-3p in patients with ACS and its potential functional role in ACS. METHODS: The miRNAs (GSE94605, GSE49823, and GSE185729) microarray datasets of ACS were downloaded from the GEO datasets...

BACKGROUND: Outpatient waiting list figures have substantially increased over the last 3 years due to the effects of a global pandemic and cyber-hacking crisis. Multidisciplinary initiatives are essential to try to reduce the burden on overwhelmed medical and surgical specialties. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study is as follows: (1) to demonstrate the potential for a problem-specific clinic to help ease the burden on an overwhelmed specialty and identify high-risk patients who may benefit from earlier surgical intervention and (2) to provide supervised clinical training to our clinical nurse specialist...

BACKGROUND: One of the means of easing increased pressure on emergency care worldwide has been the development of advanced musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice in the emergency department setting. This model of care is in its infancy in Ireland. AIMS: To evaluate the effectiveness of an advanced practice physiotherapist working as a primary contact clinician in the emergency department at St. James's Hospital, Dublin. METHODS: A three-month retrospective chart review was undertaken for patients assigned the advanced practice physiotherapist as their primary clinician during their emergency department attendance...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Early vitrectomy for complete fundus-obscuring vitreous haemorrhage (VH) allows for prompt diagnosis and treatment of the cause. AIMS: To analyse the causes of VH of unknown aetiology, whether partially fundus-obscuring or dense, and to determine the outcomes of early vitrectomy. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients who underwent early vitrectomy within 10 days of symptom-onset for partially fundus-obscuring or dense VH of unknown origin...

Robot-assisted axillary lymph node dissection (RALND) has been proposed to improve surgical and oncological outcomes for patients with breast cancer. To perform a systematic review of current literature evaluating RALND in patients with invasive breast cancer. A systematic search was performed in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Studies outlining outcomes following RALND were included. Two studies involving 92 patients were included in this review. Of these, 41 underwent RALND using the da Vinci© robotic system (44...

BACKGROUND: Haemorrhoidectomy in Crohn's disease is controversial due to fears over poor wound healing leading to proctectomy. We aim to review the available literature and establish the role of excisional haemorrhoidectomy in Crohn's disease. METHODS: A review of the current scientific literature was conducted using Medline, PubMed and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials. Clinical trials from 2005 to present, reporting outcomes of excisional haemorrhoidectomy in Crohn's disease, were included...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technique to make intelligent machines, mainly by using smart computer programs. It is based on a statistical analysis of data or machine learning. Using machine learning, software algorithms are designed according to the desired application. These techniques are found to have the potential for advancement in the medical field by generating new and significant perceptions from the data generated using various types of healthcare tests. Artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine is of two types: virtual and physical...

BACKGROUND: The genomic knowledge on urothelial carcinoma is expanding. It is recognised that urothelial carcinoma is a disease with a high somatic mutation rate and a high prevalence of genetic alterations, as discussed by Thomas and Sonpavde (2022). In the context of a disease rich with somatic alterations, continuing efforts to better identify which patients may benefit most from targeted therapy, immunotherapy and combination therapy may ultimately lead to improved outcomes for patients with this disease...

BACKGROUND: Dinoprostone vaginal insert is the most common pharmacological method for induction of labor (IOL); however, studies on assessing the time to vaginal delivery (DT) following dinoprostone administration are limited. AIMS: We sought to identify the primary factors influencing DT in women from central China, at or beyond term, who underwent IOL with dinoprostone vaginal inserts. METHODS: In this retrospective observational study, we analyzed the data of 1562 women at 37 weeks 0 days to 41 weeks 6 days of gestation who underwent dinoprostone-induced labor between January 1st , 2019, and December 31st , 2021...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the most common lower limb acute muscle injuries on MRI imaging in a national specialist centre for orthopaedics and sports medicine and to explore potential gender differences. METHODS: Over a 3-year time period, all MRI lower limb studies with acute muscle injury (AMI) were reviewed. A British Athletics muscle injury classification (BAMIC) was given and a statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 195 AMIs were diagnosed: 177 (91%) male and 18 (9%) female injuries (M to F = 9...

OBJECTIVE: Spinal fusion, which is widely used in the surgical treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), limits the movements of the vertebral column. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the relationship between spinal mobility in the postoperative period with functional balance, quality of life, and perception of appearance in individuals with AIS. METHODS: Thirty patients with AIS who underwent posterior spinal fusion surgery 1 to 3 years ago were included in the study...

BACKGROUND: Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) has been shown to have some correlation to oncological outcomes in oesophageal cancer, with high pre-operative MCV associated with disease recurrence. A similar association has previously been reported in colorectal cancer. AIMS: This study is aimed at investigating whether high MCV bears similar relation to post-operative outcome and disease recurrence in colorectal cancer (CRC). METHODS: Patients undergoing elective CRC resection with curative intent between January 2008 and December 2019 were identified from our prospective database...

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is utilised in the management of a limited number of paediatric renal conditions. Despite its widespread acceptance and advancements in the practice of apheresis, there remains a paucity of data pertaining to paediatrics. We present a large retrospective review of our cohort of paediatric patients undergoing TPE for renal indications, outlining their outcomes and complications. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted for all patients (under 16 years) undergoing TPE for renal conditions between January 2002 and June 2019 in Ireland...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

INTRODUCTION: Tracheoesophageal fistulas (TEF) are a rare complication that can occur in patients with radioactive iodine refractory metastatic follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) following treatment with radiotherapy (RT) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI). METHODS: We describe the case of a TEF development in a 69-year-old male who underwent targeted therapy TKIs and adjuvant RT for radioactive iodine refractory FTC. RESULTS: In the case, staging investigations revealed a metastatic, poorly differentiated FTC refractory to radioactive iodine...

BACKGROUND: Bedside teaching (BST) is a method of structured clinical teaching where the patient is central in education. We had previously explored the patients' perceptions of BST using both a qualitative research study and validation of a questionnaire, both showing strong support by patients for BST once basic rules of respect and confidentiality are followed. With the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical education transitioned to online/virtual learning. AIM: The aim of this study was to explore patients' attitudes towards reintroduction of BST as the pandemic restrictions have lifted...

BACKGROUND: Infantile haemangiomas (IH) are common vascular tumours of infancy that can have significant complications. The IH European Task Force developed the IH Referral Score (IHReS) to help non-specialists quickly identify IH that need to be referred to optimise outcomes in high-risk lesions. AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the quality of IH referrals to a national care centre and compare the IH referred to the IHReS tool. METHODS: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study that collected data from a random sample of 56 IH patients over a 13-month period...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) in the geriatric patients with acute cholecystitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of geriatric patients with high surgical risk who underwent percutaneous cholecystostomy for acute cholecystitis were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: The median age of 134 patients who underwent percutaneous cholecystostomy was 77 (65-98) years and 63...