Internal medic

BACKGROUND: Ovarian ectopic pregnancy (EP) is one of the rare forms of EP. The use of intrauterine devices and assisted reproduction techniques are among the most important risk factors for ovarian EP. Clinical signs are usually menopause, abdominal pain, and vaginal bleeding. Definitive diagnosis of ovarian EP before its rupture remains a serious challenge and, in most cases, it is diagnosed after rupture when medical treatment has no place and surgery becomes necessary. CASE PRESENTATION: Here, we report a 35-yr-old primigravida woman referred to Shahid Sadoughi hospital, Yazd, Iran with abdominal pain and sudden loss of consciousness...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the focus on mental health, particularly on the coping strategies of healthcare workers who have faced unparalleled stress due to their pivotal role in addressing health disparities and determinants of health. Constantly operating in high-risk environments and managing the surge of critically ill patients, these professionals' psychological resilience has been sternly tested, necessitating robust assessment tools. AIM: This study aims to refine the extensive 54-item Toulouse Coping Scale into a more pragmatic and less time-consuming instrument while preserving its statistical integrity, to support the mental well-being of healthcare workers...

Diabetic wounds are a difficult medical challenge. Excessive secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in diabetic wounds further degrades the extracellular matrix and growth factors and causes severe vascular damage, which seriously hinders diabetic wound healing. To solve these issues, a double-network porous hydrogel composed of poly (methyl methacrylate-co-acrylamide) (p(MMA-co-AM)) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was constructed by the high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) technique for the delivery of potassium sucrose octasulfate (PSO), a drug that can inhibit MMPs, increase angiogenesis and improve microcirculation...

BACKGROUND: Various clinical symptoms and variables have been suggested as potential indicators of outcomes in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) resulting from ruptured intracranial aneurysms. The detailed discussion of the consequences of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), frequently reported in cases of anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysms, is still pending. The study aimed to assess the results of aneurysm surgery performed early versus delayed in patients with SAH, specifically focusing on the occurrence of IVH...

BACKGROUND: Informed consent is a crucial aspect of modern medicine, but it can be challenging due to the complexity of the information involved. Mixed reality (MR) has emerged as a promising technology to improve communication. However, there is a lack of comprehensive research on the impact of MR on medical informed consent. The proposed research protocol provides a solid foundation for conducting future investigations and developing MR-based protocols that can enhance patients' understanding and engagement in the decision-making process...

BACKGROUND: The Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS) is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by the fusion of cervical vertebrae, which may be associated with other malformations, such as dermoid tumors and teratoma. Some theories explain the embryology of these associations. Another condition that may be present is the dermal sinus (DS), communication between intracranial tumors and the subcutaneous tissue, and predisposing infections. This case report aims to describe an association between these three pathologies as well as correlate them from the literature...

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has consistently demonstrated high efficacy and safety in patients with Parkinson's disease. Twiddler's syndrome is a rare occurrence of hardware failure in patients undergoing neuromodulation. We report here a case of subclinical cable twisting jeopardizing Twiddler's syndrome in a patient with Parkinson's disease who underwent DBS surgery targeting the globus pallidus internus (GPI). CASE DESCRIPTION: A 70-year-old woman with a 7-year history of Parkinson's disease refractory to medication was referred to our department for treatment of involuntary movements of the left hand and leg...

BACKGROUND: Glomus jugulare tumors (GJTs) are rare and mainly affect women between the 5th and 6th decades of life. Its localization and anatomic relationships make conventional surgical treatment difficult and with a considerable risk of complications. This manuscript aims to describe the results of Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKR) in patients with GJT treated in a single center in Latin America, as well as to systematically review the literature to determine the clinical and radiological effectiveness of this technique...

BACKGROUND: Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a complex condition with both mechanical and chemical effects, resulting in mortality rates of 50-80%. Recent reports advocate for neuroendoscopic treatment, particularly endoscopic brainwashing (EBW), but long-term functional outcomes remain insufficiently explored. This study aims to outline the step-by-step procedure of EBW as applied in our institution, providing results and comparing them with those of external ventricular drainage (EVD) alone...

BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis, a multisystem inflammatory non-caseating granulomatous disease, can present with neurologic lesions in up to 10% of patients. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 57-year-old male presented with three months of worsening upper extremity radicular pain associated with dysmetria, hyperreflexia, bilateral Hoffman's, and positive Babinski signs. The contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a diffuse T2 signal hyperintensity and T1-enhancing 2.5 cm lesion extending sagittally between C4 and C6...

Background and study aims Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) poses the risk of radiation exposure (RE) to patients and staff and increases the risk of adverse biological effects such as cataracts, sterility, and cancer. Newer fluoroscopy equipment (C-Arm) provides options to limit radiation in the form of lower radiation dose and frame rate or time-limited "pulsed" settings. However, the impact of lower settings on image quality has not been assessed, and no standard protocol exists for fluoroscopy settings used during ERCP...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether perineal wound complications in the first birth, alone or in conjunction with obstetric anal sphincter injury (OASI), is associated with an increased risk of OASI in the second birth. DESIGN: Nationwide population-based cohort study. SETTING: Sweden. POPULATION: Women (n = 411 317) with first and second singleton vaginal births in Sweden, 2001-2019. METHODS: Data on diagnostic codes and surgical procedures were retrieved from the Swedish Medical Birth Register and the Swedish Patient Register...

BACKGROUND Diaphragmatic thickness fraction (DTF), measured by ultrasound, can predict the occurrence of postoperative residual neuromuscular blockade (RNMB). We hypothesized that the utilization of diaphragmatic ultrasound during the postoperative awakening phase of anesthesia in patients offers a successful means of avoiding RNMB in a notably comfortable manner, as compared to the use of acceleromyograph. MATERIAL AND METHODS Patients who underwent elective thyroid cancer radical surgery were enrolled in this prospective clinical study...

BACKGROUND: Several clinical and individual factors may play a role in the survival rate of dental restorations, such as characteristics related to the child's age and oral hygiene, and factors associated with the tooth, such as the type of material and number of surfaces to be restored. AIM: To analyse the survival rate of adhesive restorations on primary teeth and factors associated with restoration survival. DESIGN: The study included dental records of children aged 3-12 years having received adhesive restorations on primary teeth at a Brazilian dental school between 2009 and 2019...

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Effective clinical event classification is essential for clinical research and quality improvement. The validation of artificial intelligence (AI) models like Generative Pre-trained Transformer 4 (GPT-4) for this task and comparison with conventional methods remains unexplored. METHODS: We evaluated the performance of the GPT-4 model for classifying gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding episodes from 200 medical discharge summaries and compared the results with human review and an International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code-based system...

OBJECTIVE: Ocular metastases are the most common intraocular tumours in adults. Data regarding the occurrence of these tumours in the Brazilian population is scarce. We aimed to investigate the profile of ocular metastases of patients referred to tertiary hospital service in São Paulo, Brazil. DESIGN: Retrospective study. PARTICIPANTS: Patients referred to the Ocular Oncology service of the Federal University of São Paulo with initial diagnostic hypothesis of ocular metastasis...

BACKGROUND: The interplay between exosomes and the tumor microenvironment (TME) remains unclear. We investigated the influence of exosomes on the TME in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), focusing on their mRNA expression profile. METHODS: mRNA expression profiles of exosomes were obtained from exoRBase. RNA sequencing data from HCC patients' tumors were acquired from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC). An exosome mRNA-related risk score model of prognostic value was established...

BACKGROUND: The use of virtual learning platforms is on the rise internationally, however, successful integration into existing curricula is a complex undertaking fraught with unintended consequences. Looking beyond medical and pedagogic literature can provide insight into factors affecting the user experience. The technology acceptance model, widely used in software evaluation, can be used to identify barriers and enablers of engagement with virtual learning platforms. Here, the technology acceptance model was used to scaffold the exploration of the factors that influenced students' perceptions of the virtual anatomy platform, Anatomage and how these shaped their intention to use it...

BACKGROUND: Wilson's disease (WD) often leads to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and early diagnosis of WD cirrhosis is essential. Currently, there are few non-invasive prediction models for WD cirrhosis. The purpose of this study is to non-invasively predict the occurrence risk of compensated WD cirrhosis based on ultrasound imaging features and clinical characteristics. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics and ultrasound examination data of 102 WD patients from November 2018 to November 2020 was conducted...

Different diagnoses of thyroid disease are available in the 10th International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), but the validity of diagnoses related to obstetric and postpartum thyroid disease is unknown. This was a retrospective cohort study of all patients in the North Denmark Region with a diagnosis of postpartum thyroiditis (PPT) (ICD-10: O905) from 2016 to 2019 or obstetric thyroid disease in 2019 (ICD-10: O992B (hypothyroidism) or O992C (hyperthyroidism)) registered in the Danish National Hospital Register...