International Journal of Clinical Practice

BACKGROUND: Epistaxis is frequently observed in children with allergic rhinitis. However, few studies have addressed the clinical characteristics and risk factors for allergic rhinitis in children with epistaxis. This study aimed to describe the factors associated with allergic rhinitis in children with epistaxis. METHODS: In total, we recruited 80 children (aged 3-14 years) who presented with epistaxis at a tertiary hospital between January 2014 and January 2022...

BACKGROUND: Leptin (LEP) is believed to play a crucial role in male reproduction, while the molecular mechanisms through which LEP affects the male reproductive system are unclear. LEP acts by binding to a leptin receptor (LEPR) which mediates its physiological action, but there are only limited studies on the function of LEPR in human sperm. PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the Gln223Arg polymorphisms of the LEPR gene in human spermatozoa and evaluate their possible relationship with semen variables...

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with increased inflammation. Diet plays an important role in the prevention and management of MetS, while some dietary factors can also increase or decrease markers of systemic inflammation. In this study, we aimed to determine the mediated association of inflammatory markers induced by dietary insulin index (DII) and dietary insulin load (DIL) with MetS and its components. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 219 women aged 18-28 years...

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore prognostic factors, develop and internally validate a prognostic nomogram model, and predict the cancer-specific survival (CCS) of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients with pelvic exenteration (PE) treatment. METHODS: A total of 454 EOC patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database were collected according to the inclusion criteria and randomly divided into the training ( n  = 317) and validation ( n  = 137) cohorts...

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB), a multisystemic disease with protean presentation, remains a major global health problem. Although concurrent pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) cases are commonly observed clinically, knowledge regarding concurrent PTB-EPTB is limited. Here, a large-scale multicenter observational study conducted in China aimed to study the epidemiology of concurrent PTB-EPTB cases by diagnostically defining TB types and then implementing association rules analysis...

In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy and safety of teprotumumab in treating thyroid eye disease. We searched the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases from inception to May 25, 2022, and included all randomized controlled trials. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using fixed- or random-effect models. A total of three studies involving 341 patients were identified. Overall, the analysis revealed that teprotumumab demonstrated superior integrated proptosis response compared to placebo in both the intention-to-treat (ITT) population (OR = 17...

BACKGROUND: Variceal rebleeding is a significant and potentially life-threatening complication of cirrhosis. Unfortunately, currently, there is no reliable method for stratifying high-risk patients. Liver stiffness measurements (LSM) have been shown to have a predictive value in identifying complications associated with portal hypertension, including first-time bleeding. However, there is a lack of evidence to confirm that LSM is reliable in predicting variceal rebleeding. The objective of our study was to evaluate the ability of generating a extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm model to improve the prediction of variceal rebleeding...

BACKGROUND: Curcumin is a polyphenol derivative of the Curcuma longa rhizome, with potential antioxidant, anticancer, antidepressant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory effects. This compound can be prepared as biodegradable polymer nanoparticles, called nanocurcumin, to improve its solubility, stability, half-life, and bioavailability. AIM: We explored nanocurcumin's effect on the clinical manifestations of patients hospitalized with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. METHODS: This double-blind, randomized clinical trial involved 76 COVID-19 patients admitted to Ali-Asghar Hospital from December 2021 to March 2022...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the bone metabolic marker changes from childhood to adolescence and to provide reference values for monitoring bone development in children in Southwest China. METHODS: We surveyed 703 participants attending physical examinations from April 2019 and August 2021. Twenty-eight participants were excluded for lack of laboratory tests, and 14 people were excluded for diseases that might affect bone metabolism. A total of 661 children were selected for the study...

BACKGROUND: Serum uric acid (SUA) was closely related to body metabolism. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the adult weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and SUA. METHODS: In the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2011 to 2020, 6494 eligible participants aged ≥20  were included. The multivariate logistic regression model was used to test the correlation between WWI and SUA. At the same time, subgroup analysis was carried out by using multivariate logistic regression according to age, sex, and race...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the epidemiological, clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics, medical treatment, and outcomes of a case series of severe spontaneous hematoma in COVID-19. Material and Methods . This retrospective study included patients hospitalized for COVID-19 who were diagnosed with severe spontaneous bleeding complications by following a standardized treatment protocol that included computed tomography angiography (CTA) from 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2022. The main outcomes were embolization and all-cause mortality...

BACKGROUND: Aspiration pneumonia (AP) is difficult to diagnose and has poor outcomes. This case-control study aimed to explore the risk factors and delineate the antibiotic usage for AP. METHODS: Inpatients diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) from 2013 to 2017, enrolled in the urban employee basic medical insurance program in Beijing, were included and classified into the AP ( N  = 2,885) and non-AP ( N  = 53,825) groups...

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to explore the efficacy of the autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) interventional circulatory perfusion combined with radiofrequency ablation and thermocoagulation (RFAT) in the treatment of discogenic low back pain (DLBP). METHODS: From January 2020 to November 2022, 158 patients of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University were selected as the study subjects, and 24 patients met the exclusion criteria. The 134 patients who met the inclusion criteria were divided into 65 patients in the control group (3 patients lost to follow-up) and 69 patients in the observation group (5 patients lost to follow-up), so 126 patients were actually completed the study, including 62 patients in the control group and 64 patients in the observation group...

BACKGROUND: This trial assessed the effects of a calorie-restricted diet (CRD) with hydroxycitric acid (HCA) supplementation on appetite-regulating hormones, obesity indices, body composition, and appetite in women with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). METHODS: This study was carried out on 44 overweight/obese women with NAFLD. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups, namely, " Intervention group " (receiving individual CRD plus HCA tablets per day) and " Control group " (receiving only CRD) for eight weeks...

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effect of ultrasound-guided subclavian vein puncture with traditional blind puncture and the double-screen control method by evaluating the one-time puncture success and total success rates, the completion time for puncture and catheterization, and short-term complications. METHODS: From January 2020 to January 2021, 72 patients with right subclavian venipuncture catheterization were collected, 12 of whom were excluded (including 3 cases of pneumothorax, 2 cases of hemothorax, 1 case of difficult positioning of thoracic deformity, 1 case of severe drug eruption, 3 cases of clavicle fracture, and 1 case of severe coagulation dysfunction)...

OBJECTIVE: Untreated protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB), a chronic wet cough prevalent in children, may lead to chronic suppurative lung disease. However, clinical diagnostic criteria are currently nonspecific; thus, PBB may be misdiagnosed. Thus, we assessed the diagnostic value of fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB) and the risk factors associated with PBB. METHODS: Children with chronic cough at The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2015 to May 2020 were enrolled and allocated to a suspected PBB ( n  = 141) or a non-PBB ( n  = 206) group...

OBJECTIVE: The present study observed the therapeutic effect and possible side effects of Q-switch 1064-nm laser with large-spot and low-energy technology in the treatment of patients with combined freckles and chloasma. METHODS: A Q1064-nm laser with a large-spot diameter of 6-8 mm, energy level of 2.0-3.3 J/cm2 , frequency of 10 Hz, and pulse width of 10 ns was employed for the treatment. Each patient underwent treatment 10-15 times, with an interval of 10-15 days each time...

BACKGROUND: Dizziness is a frequent presentation in patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs), often triggering extensive work-up, including neuroimaging. Therefore, gathering knowledge on final diagnoses and outcomes is important. We aimed to describe the incidence of dizziness as primary or secondary complaint, to list final diagnoses, and to determine the use and yield of neuroimaging and outcomes in these patients. METHODS: Secondary analysis of two observational cohort studies, including all patients presenting to the ED of the University Hospital of Basel from 30th January 2017-19th February 2017 and from 18th March 2019-20th May 2019...

The accuracy of indices widely used to evaluate lung metastasis (LM) in patients with kidney cancer (KC) is insufficient. Therefore, we aimed at developing a model to estimate the risk of developing LM in KC based on a large population size and machine learning algorithms. Demographic and clinicopathologic variables of patients with KC diagnosed between 2004 and 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. We performed a univariate logistic regression analysis to identify risk factors for LM in patients with KC. Six machine learning (ML) classifiers were established and tuned using the ten-fold cross-validation method...

PURPOSE: This study was carried out to evaluate the visual acuity (VA), complications, and prognosis of patients diagnosed with submacular hemorrhage (SMH) from polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and retinal arterial macroaneurysm (RAM) treated by pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), subretinal tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and air tamponade in vitreous cavity. It facilitates the development of generic treatment methods that can be widely used to improve vision and treat potential complications in patients with SMH, regardless of the underlying pathophysiological condition, such as PCV or RAM...