International Journal of Clinical Practice

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. Obesity indices, body composition, appetite status, and serum levels of leptin and adiponectin were assessed before and after the intervention. Results. Forty patients completed the trial. At the end of the trial, although significant reductions were found in most of the studied obesity indices in the intervention group, there was only a significant decrease in waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in the control group. Fat mass and muscle mass significantly decreased in the intervention group ( and , respectively), and the reduction in visceral fat in the intervention group was significantly greater than that in the control group (−0.49 kg vs −0.37 kg, ). Intra- and intergroup differences in serum leptin and adiponectin levels and their ratios before and after the trial were not significant. We found a negative and marginally significant correlation between percent of changes in serum adiponectin level and percent of changes in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (r = −0.429, ) and BMI (r = −0.440, ) as well as an inverse relationship between percent of changes in leptin/adiponectin with VAT (r = −0.724, ) in the intervention group. Conclusion. HCA plus weight loss diet could significantly reduce visceral adipose tissue without any significant changes in serum leptin and adiponectin levels.

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). The remaining 60 cases were randomly divided into the traditional group (n = 30) and the improved group (n = 30). We record two sets of ultrasound localization time, puncture time, one-time puncture power, total puncture success rate, and short-term (24-hour) complications. Results. Compared with the traditional group, the ultrasound positioning time and puncture time in the improved group were significantly reduced and the puncture success rate was higher. There were no complications, such as incorrect arterial puncture and the occurrence of pneumothorax, in either group. Conclusion. The improved ultrasound-guided subclavian vein catheterization technique can greatly reduce the catheterization time and improve the success rate of puncture and catheterization. It can also reduce the occurrence of complications and damage to adjacent tissues. The operation is simple, fast, and easy to master, and it has a high popularization clinical value.

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. All children underwent extensive laboratory, chest imaging, and allergen tests. Children with suspected PBB underwent FOB with bronchoalveolar lavage; lavage and sputum samples were cultured. Results. All 347 children had a chronic wet cough for approximately 2 months. Of 141 children with suspected PBB, 140 received FOB with bronchoalveolar lavage. Visible tracheal changes included pale mucosa, mucosal congestion, edema, swelling, and increased secretions attached to the wall. Sputum was visible primarily in the left main bronchus (78.7%), left lower lobe (59.6%), right upper lobe (62.4%), and right lower lobe (64.5%). Sputum properties and amounts significantly differed between children with vs. without PBB . Dermatophagoides (odds ratio (OR), 2.642; 95% CI, 1.283–5.369), milk protein (OR, 2.452; 95% CI, 1.243–4.836) allergies, and eczema (OR, 1.763; 95% CI, 1.011–3.075) were risk factors significantly associated with PBB. Conclusion. Dermatophagoides, milk protein, and eczema were associated with an increased risk of PBB. Sputum distribution and tracheal wall changes observed through FOB may distinguish PBB and assist in its diagnosis.

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. Facial care was administered before and after treatment; attention was paid to cleaning and moisturizing, avoiding light, and using sunscreens strictly. The therapeutic effects were observed and evaluated. Results. Freckles basically subsided (effective rate = 100%) and chloasma faded (effective rate = 39.4%). Furthermore, whitening and delicacy improvement were observed in the surrounding normal skin area. After laser treatment, confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed a large number of melanin particles in the upper part of the granular layer. Moreover, the amount of melanin in the middle and lower parts of the basal layer and spinous layer was significantly decreased. None of the patients developed postinflammatory pigmentation. Conclusion. In the treatment of freckles with chloasma, Q 1064-nm laser large-spot, low-energy technology not only removed freckles and faded chloasma but, most importantly, also reduced the incidence of postinflammatory pigmentation and improved patient satisfaction. This provided new methods and ideas for freckle laser treatment.

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. Baseline demographics, Emergency Severity Index (ESI), hospitalization, admission to Intensive Care Units (ICUs), and mortality were extracted from the electronic health record database. At presentation, patients underwent a structured interview about their symptoms, defining their primary and secondary complaints. Neuroimaging results were obtained from the picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Patients were categorized into three non-overlapping groups: dizziness as primary complaint, dizziness as secondary complaint, and absence of dizziness. Results. Of 10076 presentations, 232 (2.3%) indicated dizziness as their primary and 984 (9.8%) as their secondary complaint. In dizziness as primary complaint, the three (out of 73 main conditions defined) main diagnoses were nonspecific dizziness (47, 20.3%), dysfunction of the peripheral vestibular system (37, 15.9%), as well as somatization, depression, and anxiety (20, 8.6%). 104 of 232 patients (44.8%) underwent neuroimaging, with relevant findings in 5 (4.8%). In dizziness as primary complaint 30-day mortality was 0%. Conclusion. Work-up for dizziness in emergency presentations has to consider a broad differential diagnosis, but due to the low yield, it should include neuroimaging only in few and selected cases, particularly with additional neurological abnormalities. Presentation with primary dizziness carries a generally favorable prognosis lacking short-term mortality. .

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. External validation was performed using clinicopathologic information from 492 patients from the Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, China. Algorithm performance was estimated by analyzing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, recall, F1 score, clinical decision analysis (DCA), and clinical utility curve (CUC). A total of 52,714 eligible patients diagnosed with KC were enrolled, of whom 2,618 developed LM. Variables of age, sex, race, T stage, N stage, tumor size, histology, and grade were identified as important for the prediction of LM. The extreme gradient boosting (XGB) algorithm performed better than other models in both the internal validation (AUC: 0.913, sensitivity: 0.873, specificity: 0.809, and F1 score: 0.325) and the external validation (AUC: 0.904, sensitivity: 0.750, specificity: 0.878, and F1 score: 0.364). This study established a predictive model for LM in KC patients based on ML algorithms which showed high accuracy and applicative value. A web-based predictor was built using the XGB model to help clinicians make more rational and personalized decisions.