Clinical information system

OBJECTIVES: To investigate microvascular changes in juvenile localised scleroderma (JLS) lesions using superb microvascular imaging (SMI) and assess SMI's utility in evaluating disease activity. METHODS: This prospective study enroled 16 children (7 males) with pathologically diagnosed JLS between January 2021 and June 2023. Lesions were assessed using Localised Scleroderma Cutaneous Assessment Tools, including the localised scleroderma skin activity index (LoSAI) and localised scleroderma skin damage index (LoSDI)...

The lipid raft subdomains in cancer cell membranes play a key role in signal transduction, biomolecule recruitment, and drug transmembrane transport. Augmented membrane rigidity due to the formation of a lipid raft is unfavorable for the entry of drugs, a limiting factor in clinical oncology. The short-chain ceramide (CER) has been reported to promote drug entry into membranes and disrupt lipid raft formation, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. We recently explored the carrier-membrane fusion dynamics of PEG-DPPE micelles in delivering doxorubicin (DOX)...

Enumeration and phenotypic profiling of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) provide critical information for clinical diagnosis and treatment monitoring in cancer. To achieve this goal, an integrated system is needed to efficiently isolate CTCs from patient samples and sensitively evaluate their phenotypes. Such integration would comprise a high-throughput single-cell processing unit for the isolation and manipulation of CTCs and a sensitive and multiplexed quantitation unit to detect clinically relevant signals from these cells...

Escherichia coli is a diverse pathogen, causing a range of disease in humans, from self-limiting diarrhea to urinary tract infections (UTIs). Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) is the most frequently observed uropathogen in UTIs, a common disease in high-income countries, incurring billions of dollars yearly in treatment costs. Although E. coli is easily grown and identified in the clinical laboratory, genotyping the pathogen is more complicated, yet critical for reducing the incidence of disease. These goals can be achieved through whole-genome sequencing of E...

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by painful inflammatory lesions, predominantly affecting areas of the skin rich in apocrine glands, such as inguinal, axillary, submammary, and anogenital regions, with an estimated global prevalence between 1%-4%. The treatment of HS is challenging with various treatment modalities employed to control the disease. Since the condition is chronic and life-impairing, many patients have looked for ways to complement their conventional treatment procedures with non-medical interventions, among which dietary interventions have been of particular interest...

Research has largely focused on how attentional bias to smoking-related cues and impulsivity independently influence the development and maintenance of cigarette smoking, with limited exploration of the relationship between these mechanisms. The current experiments systematically assessed relationships between multiple dimensions of impulsivity and attentional bias, at different stages of attention, in smokers varying in nicotine dependency and deprivation. Nonsmokers (NS; n = 26), light-satiated smokers (LS; n = 25), heavy-satiated smokers (HS; n = 23) and heavy 12-hour nicotine-deprived smokers (HD; n = 30) completed the Barratt Impulsivity Scale, delayed discounting task, stop-signal task, information sampling task and a visual dot-probe assessing initial orientation (200 ms) and sustained attention (2000 ms) toward smoking-related cues...

BACKGROUND: Duchenne's muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe type of hereditary, neuromuscular disorder caused by a mutation in the dystrophin gene resulting in the absence or production of truncated dystrophin protein. Conventionally, clinical descriptions of the disorder focus principally on striated muscle defects; however, DMD manifestations involving gastrointestinal (GI) smooth muscle have been reported, even if not rigorously studied. PURPOSE: The objective of the present review is to offer a comprehensive perspective on the existing knowledge concerning GI manifestations in DMD, focusing the attention on evidence in DMD patients and mdx mice...

In the United States and around the world, newborns are screened on a population basis for conditions benefiting from pre-symptomatic diagnosis and treatment. The number of screened conditions continues to expand as novel technologies for screening, diagnosing, treating, and managing disease are discovered. While screening all newborns facilitates early diagnosis and treatment, most screened conditions are treatable but not curable. Patients identified by newborn screening often require lifelong medical management and community support to achieve the best possible outcome...

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is recognized as a significant global public health concern. Still, there remains a dearth of comprehensive evaluation regarding the specific indicators and their influencing factors of delay for adolescents and young adults. METHODS: All notified pulmonary TB (PTB) patients in Jiaxing City were collected between 2005 and 2022 from China's TB Information Management System. Logistic regression models were conducted to ascertain the factors that influenced patient and health system delays for PTB cases, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Advanced coronary plaque analysis by cardiac computed tomography (CT) has recently emerged as a promising technique for better prognostic stratification. However, this evaluation application in clinical practice is still uncertain. CASE SUMMARY: In the present case, we described the clinical picture of a 44-year-old tennis player with ectopic ventricular beats in which cardiac CT enabled the identification of a non-obstructive but high-risk plaque on proximal left anterior descendent artery...

BACKGROUND: Corynebacterium diphtheriae infection, causing diphtheria, is a public health concern, particularly in developing nations like Pakistan. Despite immunization efforts, recent outbreaks since 2022 have emphasized the continuing threat. This study focuses on describing the clinical characteristics of children with diphtheria-induced myocarditis and exploring the association between early cardiac abnormalities, future fatality rates, and contributing factors. METHODS: A one-year cross-sectional study was undertaken at Lady Reading Hospital MTI Peshawar, encompassing 73 pediatric patients diagnosed with diphtheria-associated myocarditis...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) treatments for pulmonary embolism (PE) have yet to be compared directly. We aimed to determine if patient outcomes varied following treatment of PE with different MT devices. METHODS: All PE encounters with an index treatment of MT between January 2018 and March 2022 were analyzed for in-hospital mortality, discharge to home, and 30-day readmission outcomes in the PINC AI™ Healthcare Database. MT devices used in each encounter were extracted from hospital charge description free-text fields using keyword text and fuzzy matching...

BACKGROUND: With the widespread adoption of Blood Establishment Computer Systems and other Blood Collection and Transfusion Service (BCTS) clinical information systems (CIS), electronic blood donor, product, and patient data are now routinely required for clinical, regulatory, operational, and quality needs. That data are often not readily accessible for such secondary use within CIS databases, particularly for applications with significant data availability requirements such as machine learning and artificial intelligence...

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating and prevalent mental disorder with a high disease burden. Despite a wide array of different treatment options, many patients do not respond to initial treatment attempts. Selection of the most appropriate treatment remains a significant clinical challenge in psychiatry, highlighting the need for the development of biomarkers with predictive utility. Recently, the epigenetic modification DNA methylation (DNAm) has emerged to be of great interest as a potential predictor of MDD treatment outcomes...

STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective study. PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the value of the Spinal Infection Treatment Evaluation (SITE) score, Brighton Spondylodiscitis Score (BSDS), and Pola classification to predict the need for surgical intervention in patients with spondylodiscitis. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Spondylodiscitis is a rare disease, and the prediction of its outcome is crucial in the decision-making process. METHODS: All case records were assessed to extract information on the American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Japanese Orthopedic Association Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ) scores before and after surgery...

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a cutting-edge life-support measure for patients with severe cardiac and pulmonary illnesses. Although there are several systematic reviews (SRs) about ECMO, it remains to be seen how quality they are and how efficacy and safe the information about ECMO they describe is in these SRs. Therefore, performing an overview of available SRs concerning ECMO is crucial. METHODS: We searched four electronic databases from inception to January 2023 to identify SRs with or without meta-analyses...

BACKGROUND: Primary healthcare in South Africa aims to transform the national health system by emphasising community-based care and preventive strategies. However, rehabilitation services, particularly for individuals with disabilities and chronic non-communicable diseases, are often overlooked in primary healthcare. This study aimed to investigate the provision of primary healthcare rehabilitation services in the Johannesburg Metropolitan District by exploring client sociodemographics and variations in services provided by rehabilitation professionals...

BACKGROUND: Thyroid dysfunction's effects on those who have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation have not been well investigated. We looked at how thyroid function among patients with pre-existing atrial fibrillation related to thromboembolic risk and clinical outcomes. METHODS: We gathered the medical information of patients diagnosed with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) between 2016 and 2020 at Dongguan People's Hospital. We then assessed the correlation between thyroid dysfunction and thrombotic risk (CHA2 DS2 -VASc) as well as the occurrence of clinical composite endpoint (all-cause death, heart failure, systemic embolism and hemorrhage events)...

Patient reported outcomes (PROs) are measures of patients' health that are conveyed directly by individual patients. These measures serve as instruments to evaluate the impact of interventions on any aspect of patients' health, from specific symptoms to broader quality-of-life indicators. However, their effectiveness relies on capturing relevant factors accurately. While commonly utilized in clinical trials, PROs extend their influence across healthcare settings, informing clinicians, healthcare payers, regulators, and administrators to guide quality improvement and reimbursement decisions...

Psychedelics like LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide) and psilocybin are known to modulate perceptual modalities due to the activation of mostly serotonin receptors in specific cortical (e.g., visual cortex) and subcortical (e.g., thalamus) regions of the brain. In the visual domain, these psychedelic modulations often result in peculiar disturbances of viewed objects and light and sometimes even in hallucinations of non-existent environments, objects, and creatures. Although the underlying processes are poorly understood, research conducted over the past twenty years on the subjective experience of psychedelics details theories that attempt to explain these perceptual alterations due to a disruption of communication between cortical and subcortical regions...