Pericardial effusion (PE) presentation varies from an incidental finding to a life-threatening situation; thus, its etiology and clinical course remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to ...retrospectively investigate these factors.We analyzed 171 patients (0.4%) who presented with PE among 34,873 patients who underwent echocardiography between 2011 and 2021 at our hospital. Clinical and prognostic information was retrieved from electronic medical records. The primary endpoints were all-cause death, hospitalization due to heart failure (HF), and other cardiovascular events such as cardiovascular death, acute coronary syndrome, elective percutaneous coronary intervention, and stroke.The etiologies of PE were as follows: idiopathic (32%), HF-related (18%), iatrogenic (11%), cardiac surgery-related (10%), radiation therapy-related (9%), malignancy (8%), pericarditis/myocarditis (8%), myocardial infarction-related (2%), and acute aortic dissection (2%). Patients with idiopathic/HF etiology were more likely to be older than the others.During a mean follow-up period of 2.5 years, all-cause death occurred in 21 patients (12.3%), cardiovascular events in 10 patients (5.8%), and hospitalization for HF in 24 patients (14.0%). All-cause death was frequently observed in patients with malignancy (44% per person-year). Cardiovascular events were mostly observed in patients with radiation therapy-related and malignancy (8.6% and 7.3% per person-year, respectively).The annual incidence of hospitalization for HF was the highest in patients with HF-related (25.1% per person-year), followed by radiation therapy-related (10.4% per person-year).This retrospective study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to reveal the contemporary prevalence of PE, its cause, and outcome in patients who visited a cardiovascular hospital in an urban area of Japan.
Of the neurodegenerative diseases, Parkinson's disease is recognised to have the fastest growing prevalence. It is unclear whether this is due to the ageing global population alone, with several ...environmental factors increasingly implicated in changing prevalence rates. Large data sets have been used nationally and globally to help predict future disease burden. However, the reliability of such sources is yet unknown for Parkinson's disease.
This review discusses the methods used in all published UK prevalence studies conducted to date. Direct comparison between prevalence figures obtained from the 10 to discussed prevalence studies is precluded due to differences in methodology for case ascertainment and diagnosis. Age adjusted estimates vary from 105/100,000 to 168/100,000.
These studies demonstrate no overall trend in changing prevalence figures between 1961 and 2007. No difference in prevalence trends were seen for those living in rural or urban areas. Differences between ethnic groups, for example, remains an under explored area.
•Parkinson's prevalence is projected to rise globally.•Of the 10 case finding studies published, this trend is not demonstrated in the UK.•No difference was identified between demographic groups, but this is underexplored.•More research is needed to understand accuracy of large healthcare datasets.
Background: Amblyopia is one of the most important causes of vision impairment in the world, especially in children. Although its prevalence varies in different parts of the world, no study has ...evaluated its prevalence in different geographical regions comprehensively. The aim of the present study was to provide global and regional estimates of the prevalence of amblyopia in different age groups via a systematic search.
Methods: In this study, international databases, including Embase, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and other relevant databases, were searched systematically to find articles on the prevalence of amblyopia in different age groups published in English. The prevalence and 95% CI were calculated using binomial distribution. The Cochran's Q-test and I
2
statistic were applied to assess heterogeneity, a random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence, and a meta-regression method was utilized to investigate the factors affecting heterogeneity between studies.
Results: Of 1252 studies, 73 studies were included in the analysis (sample volume: 530,252). Most of these studies (n = 25) were conducted in the WHO-Western Pacific Regional Office. The pooled prevalence estimate of amblyopia was 1.75% (95% CI: 1.62-1.88), with the highest estimate in European Regional Office (3.67%, 95% CI: 2.89-4.45) and the lowest in African Regional Office (0.51%, 95% CI: 0.24-0.78). The most common cause of amblyopia was anisometropia (61.64%). The I
2
heterogeneity was 98% (p < 0.001). According to the results of univariate meta-regression, the variables of WHO region (b: 0.566, p < 0.001), sample size (b: −0.284 × 10
−4
, p: 0.025), and criteria for definition of amblyopia (b: −0.292, p: 0.010) had a significant effect on heterogeneity between studies, while age group, publication date, and cause of amblyopia had no significant effect on heterogeneity.
Conclusion: The prevalence of amblyopia varies in different parts of the world, with the highest prevalence in European countries. Geographical location and criteria for definition of amblyopia are among factors contributing to the difference across the world. The results of this study can help stakeholders to design health programs, especially health interventions and amblyopia screening programs.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a rare disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of global DMD epidemiology is not available. This study ...aimed to estimate the global overall and birth prevalence of DMD through an updated systematic review of the literature. MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched for original research articles on the epidemiology of DMD from inception until 1st October 2019. Studies were included if they were original observational research articles written in English, reporting DMD prevalence and/or incidence along with the number of individuals of the underlying population. The quality of the studies was assessed using a STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist adapted for observational studies on rare diseases. To derive the pooled epidemiological prevalence estimates, a meta-analysis was performed using random-effects logistic models for overall and birth prevalence and within two different underlying populations (i.e. all individuals and in males only), separately. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Q-test along with its derived measure of inconsistency I.sup.2. A total of 44 studies reporting the global epidemiology of DMD were included in the systematic review and only 40 were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled global DMD prevalence was 7.1 cases (95% CI: 5.0-10.1) per 100,000 males and 2.8 cases (95% CI: 1.6-4.6) per 100,000 in the general population, while the pooled global DMD birth prevalence was 19.8 (95% CI:16.6-23.6) per 100,000 live male births. A very high between-study heterogeneity was found for each epidemiological outcome and for all underlying populations (I.sup.2 > 90%). The test for funnel plot asymmetry suggested the absence of publication bias. Of the 44 studies included in this systematic review, 36 (81.8%) were assessed as being of medium and 8 (18.2%) of low quality, while no study was assessed as being of high quality. Generating epidemiological evidence on DMD is fundamental to support public health decision-making. The high heterogeneity and the lack of high quality studies highlights the need to conduct better quality studies on rare diseases.
This response to a reader's comment on our paper “The Global Assessment of OCD” addresses the critique regarding the stated prevalence of OCD as the fourth most common mental disorder. We acknowledge ...an oversight in our initial reference, discuss the variable prevalence rates from various studies, and highlight the significant disability caused by OCD. We have requested a correction to the original citation to reflect more recent findings, aiming to ensure accuracy in the discourse on OCD's public health impact.
Microbiome community typing analyses have recently identified the Bacteroides2 (Bact2) enterotype, an intestinal microbiota configuration that is associated with systemic inflammation and has a high ...prevalence in loose stools in humans
. Bact2 is characterized by a high proportion of Bacteroides, a low proportion of Faecalibacterium and low microbial cell densities
, and its prevalence varies from 13% in a general population cohort to as high as 78% in patients with inflammatory bowel disease
. Reported changes in stool consistency
and inflammation status
during the progression towards obesity and metabolic comorbidities led us to propose that these developments might similarly correlate with an increased prevalence of the potentially dysbiotic Bact2 enterotype. Here, by exploring obesity-associated microbiota alterations in the quantitative faecal metagenomes of the cross-sectional MetaCardis Body Mass Index Spectrum cohort (n = 888), we identify statin therapy as a key covariate of microbiome diversification. By focusing on a subcohort of participants that are not medicated with statins, we find that the prevalence of Bact2 correlates with body mass index, increasing from 3.90% in lean or overweight participants to 17.73% in obese participants. Systemic inflammation levels in Bact2-enterotyped individuals are higher than predicted on the basis of their obesity status, indicative of Bact2 as a dysbiotic microbiome constellation. We also observe that obesity-associated microbiota dysbiosis is negatively associated with statin treatment, resulting in a lower Bact2 prevalence of 5.88% in statin-medicated obese participants. This finding is validated in both the accompanying MetaCardis cardiovascular disease dataset (n = 282) and the independent Flemish Gut Flora Project population cohort (n = 2,345). The potential benefits of statins in this context will require further evaluation in a prospective clinical trial to ascertain whether the effect is reproducible in a randomized population and before considering their application as microbiota-modulating therapeutics.
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