Determining the clinical and subclinical characteristics related to the recurrence status in patients with a thyroid carcinoma has great significance for prognosis, prediction of recurrence and ...monitoring of treatment outcomes. This study aimed to determine the association between recurrence rate and some characteristics in patients with thyroid carcinoma.
The study was conducted by descriptive method with longitudinal follow-up on 102 thyroid carcinoma patients at 103 Military Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam, from July 2013 to December 2016.
Univariate analysis showed that there was a relationship between the recurrence characteristics in the studied patients and the characteristics of lymph node metastasis (
= 0.026; OR = 15; 95% CI = 1.4-163.2) and BRAF V600E mutation status (
= 0.01; OR = 3.41; 95% CI = 1.31-8.88). When analysing the multivariable Logistic regression model, there was a positive correlation between the occurrence of BRAF V600E gene mutation (
= 0.032; OR = 17.649; 95% CI = 1.290-241.523) and male sex (
= 0.036; OR = 12.788; 95% CI = 1.185-137.961) and the occurrence of recurrence in study patients. The mean time to relapse was earlier in male patients than in female patients (
= 0.02). The mean time to relapse in patients with the BRAF V600E mutation (31.81 ± 1.14 months) was shorter than the mean time to relapse in the group without the mutation (57.82 ± 2.08 months) (
= 0.01). The group of patients with mutations in the BRAF V600E gene increased the risk of recurrence compared with the group without the mutation (HR = 9.14,
= 0.04).
There is a positive correlation between recurrence and masculinity, lymph node metastasis and the occurrence of BRAF V600E mutations in thyroid carcinoma patients.
We extend the classical Perron-Frobenius theorem for positive quasipolynomial matrices associated with homogeneous difference equations. Finally, the result obtained is applied to derive necessary ...and sufficient conditions for the stability of positive system.
Dendritic cells (DC) are professional antigen-presenting cells that activate T cells to kill cancer cells. The extracellular products of DCs have also been reported to perform the same function. In ...this study, we examined the in vitro differentiation of umbilical cord blood monocytes into DCs in the presence of GM-CSF, and interferon (IFN)-α. The resulting DC population (called IFN-DCs) were then matured in the presence of TNF-α, and pulsed with total protein extracted from A549 cancer cell line. The pulsed DCs and their conditioned medium were then used to stimulate allogeneic lymphocytes (alloLym). The proliferation and cytotoxicity of alloLym were then determined. The results showed that after 5 days of differentiation, the stimulated monocytes had the typical morphology and characteristic surface markers of DCs. Both unpulsed and pulsed IFN-DCs can induce the proliferation of alloLym, especially Vγ9γδ T cells. The conditioned medium from pulsed and unpulsed IFN-DCs culture also prompted the growth of Vγ9γδ T cells. Moreover, alloLym stimulated with pulsed DCs and their conditioned medium had a greater cytotoxic effect on A549 cells than the ones that were not stimulated. Our results indicated that IFN-DCs and their conditioned medium could induce the anti-tumor immunity in vitro, providing evidence for application of cord blood monocytes-derived, interferon-α- stimulated dendritic cells and their extracellular products in anti-cancer therapy.
The aim of this study was to describe outcomes of laparoscopic living donor right nephrectomy (LLDRN) and study factors affecting the length of right renal vein from the donors.
This study was ...conducted in 60 donors (48 males and 12 females) from January 2016 to December 2017. We performed a retrospective review of consecutive patients who underwent transperitoneal right laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy at our unit.
LLDRN was successfully performed in all subjects by the same surgeons. Among 60 cases, 47 donors had single renal artery and vein, 2 cases had one artery and 2 veins, and 5 donors had 2 arteries and one vein, and the rest had 2-3 arteries with 1-3 veins. Operative time was 142.60±33.73min. Warm ischemic time was 2.64±0.76min. The mean hospital stay was 6.69±0.63 days. The median length of right renal vein was 1.92±0.41cm. All transplanted kidneys showed immediate function. No graft losses were recorded. Almost no gender differences were found in study variables except BMI and warm ischemic time, that was higher BMI but shorter warm ischemic time in female versus male donors. Further analysis showed a negative correlation between BMI and right renal vein (r=-0.282, P<0.05), but a positive correlation between operative time and estimate blood loss (r=0.37, P<0.01).
LLDRN is a feasible safe procedure, less traumatic approach, and provides good outcomes kidney for recipients. Notably, in the study group the higher BMI was associated with resulting more difficult LLDRN and kidney transplantation.
Deep hypothermia with circulatory arrest (CA) is routinely used for aortic arch repair. Antegrade selective cerebral perfusion (ASCP) has been proposed to avoid neurologic complications. The optimal ...temperature during aortic arch repair with ASCP is not well established. We therefore compared early outcomes of patients undergoing aortic arch repair associated with intracardiac repair with ASCP either with hypothermia (<28°C, group I; n=70) or normothermia (>34°C, group II; n=40).
From 2002 to 2008, 110 consecutive patients with interrupted aortic arch (n=40) or coarctation of the aorta (n=70) and cardiac anomalies underwent intracardiac and aortic arch repair without CA. Median age at repair was 12 days. Full cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), high hematocrit, and high rates of flow were used. ASCP flow was adjusted to maintain arterial pressure at greater than or equal to 50 mm Hg. ASCP was achieved either through a Gore-Tex (W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., Elkton, MD) graft to the innominate artery (n=36) or by direct cannulation (n=74). An electroencephalogram (EEG) was continuously monitored and 30 patients were monitored by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).
Preoperative data were similar in both groups. Group II demonstrated higher ASCP flows (p<0.001). Time to extubation, stay in the intensive care unit (ICU), and postoperative urine output and lactate levels were similar between groups. Mortality was 8.5% in group I versus 10% in group II. During the postoperative course, there were no clinical or electrical neurologic events in either group.
Antegrade selective cerebral perfusion can safely avoid CA. No worse, early, or long-term effects of ASCP with normothermia were found.
Stromal sarcoma of the prostate is extremely rare. In this article, we report the case of a 43-year-old male admitted to the local hospital due to dysuria. Although the pathological findings from ...transurethral prostatic resection showed low-grade stromal sarcoma, the surgical specimen after radical prostatectomy revealed high-grade sarcoma with hypercellularity, marked atypical spindle cells, and high mitotic activity. This case study and literature analysis aim to emphasize its rarity and raise awareness about clinical and pathological diagnosis.
Quantification of plasma cell-free Epstein Barr virus DNA (cf EBV DNA) has been suggested as a promising liquid biopsy assay for screening and early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). ...However, the diagnostic value of this assay is currently not known in the population of Vietnam, one of the countries which contributed the most to the NPC cases. Herein, we have reported a highly sensitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based assay targeting cf EBV DNA for the detection of NPC. A standard curve with linear regression, R
2 = 0.9961 (range: 25-150 000 copies/mL) and a detection limit of 25 copies/mL were obtained using an EBV standard panel provided by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The clinical performance of this assay was assessed using plasma samples obtained from 261 Vietnamese individuals. The optimized qPCR assay detected cf EBV DNA in plasma with a sensitivity of 97.4% and a specificity of 98.2%. The absolute quantitative results of pretreatment cf EBV DNA and patient overall clinical stages were statistically correlated (P < .05). In summary, the remarkably high sensitivity and specificity of our optimized qPCR assay strongly supports the wide use of cf EBV DNA quantification as a routine noninvasive method in early diagnosis and management of patients with NPC.
Several studies have reported women's worry that sexual intercourse may harm the course of pregnancy. This worry might lead to avoidance of sexual intercourse during pregnancy.
To assess if fears ...about harming the pregnancy are associated with avoidance of sexual intercourse during pregnancy.
A cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 Vietnamese pregnant women in the first or second trimester who visited our hospital for antenatal care. We explored 5 types of fears including miscarriage/preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, bleeding, infection, and injury to the fetus. Fears were measured by modified questions from the Reasons For Not Engaging in Sexual Activity During Pregnancy questionnaire. Using the total fear score, pregnant women were categorized into having low, moderate, and high fear.
Not having sexual intercourse during the past 4 weeks.
72 (28.8%) pregnant women had no sexual intercourse for the past 4 weeks. All types of fear were considered important among pregnant women; the more important fears were infection and injury to the fetus. In multivariable regression analysis, the prevalence of not having sexual intercourse was higher in both women who had moderate (adjusted prevalence ratio = 2.84, 95% CI 1.42–5.67) and high fear (adjusted prevalence ratio = 4.39, 95% CI 2.28–8.44).
Avoidance of sexual intercourse was common among Vietnamese pregnant women and was associated with the fears about harming the pregnancy. This can be a target in the health education programs for pregnancy couples.
Thanh C. Phan, Long B. Hoang, Thanh K. Tran, et al. Fear-Related Reasons for Avoiding Sexual Intercourse in Early Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sex Med 2021;9:100430.
Acute promyelocytic leukemia is a special type of acute myeloid leukemia. Patients with this disease are at high risk of complications. Right atrial thrombosis is a rare but potentially serious ...complication. A 55-month-old girl with acute promyelocytic leukemia M3 was in her last phase of treatment. Radiologic examination revealed an echo structure in the right atrium that was still present after six weeks of anticoagulation treatment with enoxaparin. Cardiac surgery was performed to remove the mass, which was found to be a calcified thrombus. Although this is a rare occurrence, recognition of the possibility of a calcified thrombus may minimize misdiagnosis and allow surgical retrieval if the thrombus is sufficiently large.