International Journal of Clinical Practice

Background. In order to prevent the recurrence and progression of intermediate- and high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), various bladder instillation therapies have been developed in recent years. Among these, device-assisted Hyperthermic Intravesical Chemotherapy (HIVEC) has received a great deal of attention. Objective. To identify the efficacy and safety of HIVEC, we conducted this meta-analysis. Methods. We identified relevant articles from PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases. All published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) describing the role of bladder instillation for the treatment of intermediate- and high-risk NMIBC were involved. Outcomes included 1–3 years Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS), 1–3 years Progression-Free Survival (PFS), 5 years Overall Survival (OS), Adverse Events (AEs), and relevant subgroup analyses. Result. Our study involved a total of 10 RCTs and 1360 patients. In subgroup analysis, we found that compared to MMC instillation, HIVEC decreased the 1–3 years RFS (OR = 0.51; ) while not increasing the incidence of AEs (OR = 0.86; ). Compared with BCG instillation, HIVEC reduced the incidence of serious AEs (OR = 0.21; ) while bringing the same efficacy (OR = 0.78; ). Conclusion. HIVEC combined the advantages of efficacy and safety compared with the two recommended instillation modalities. As a potential alternative therapy, its widespread clinical effect remains to be further evaluated.

Objective. Our study aimed to develop a predictive model for evaluating the clinical response of omalizumab treatment in moderate-to-severe asthma patients. Methods. This single-center, prospective study collected patients who meet the diagnostic criteria for moderate-to-severe bronchial asthma set by the National Asthma Prevention and Treatment Group in 2016 in the first hospital affiliated with Soochow University. Patients recruited were treated with omalizumab once per four weeks; at the beginning of each injection, blood eosinophils and the level of total serum IgE (IU/mL) were tested. After four injections of omalizumab, asthma control test (ACT), the 15-item Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (MiniAQLQ), global treatment effectiveness (GETE), and lung function of all patients were evaluated in the 16th week. We used the selection operator method to build a logistic model and evaluated the clinical response of omalizumab in these patients. Results. This study included 108 moderate-to-severe patients (aged 39.86 ± 14.59 years). Eighty-nine patients finished treatment for 16 weeks, and 74 patients (83.1%) had an excellent or good response. The serum level of total IgE increased significantly after injection of omalizumab, while blood eosinophils count decreased significantly from baseline. Using the GETE as a clinical outcome, several clinical variables were significant predictors of clinical response. The corrected AUC and Brier scores were 0.872 and 0.111, which showed good discrimination. Significant variables included age, weight, family allergic history, acute exacerbations, the ratio of total serum IgE level at the 4th week to the baseline level, forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC), and commodities of rhinitis. Using the improvement in maximal expiratory flow 25% of the measured value to the predicted value (MEF25%pre) as clinical outcome, the significant variables included weight, duration of asthma, use of oral corticosteroids (OCS), total serum IgE level at the 4th week, and history of rhinitis. Its corrected AUC and Brier scores were 0.674 and 0.225 after internal validation. Conclusion. Omalizumab treatment remarkably improved asthma control and pulmonary function in Chinese patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. The response prediction model we developed provides convenient approaches to help identify better clinical response patients to omalizumab treatment.

Objective. This prospective study aimed to explore the potential diagnostic value of endocan levels in bladder cancer by investigating a possible association of serum and urine endocan levels with the stage and grade of bladder tumors in patients with nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) in terms of risk stratification. Materials and Methods. Participants included 66 male patients with NMIBC. Patients with full pathology results, NMIBC stage T1, and healthy controls were categorized as groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Patients were further classified into high- and low-grade groups following their pathology results. Risk classification according to the European Association of Urology (EAU) was assigned to patients with NMIBC, and associations of risk groups with serum and urine endocan levels were analyzed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to identify serum and urine endocan concentrations. Results. Serum endocan levels according to pathological staging were significantly higher in groups 1 and 2 than in group 3. The urine endocan level was statistically significantly higher in group 2 than in group 3 . The predictive power of the urine endocan level was evaluated for its ability to predict T1 disease, revealing an area under the curve of 0.735 and a threshold of 903. The EAU classification was evaluated according to risk groups, and the urine endpoint was statistically significantly higher in the univariate analysis for the high and very high-risk groups . Conclusion. Our results indicate that endocan levels hold significant promise in prognostic feature evaluation in NMIBC, particularly in the context of screening patients with hematuria.

Objectives. To determine the pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block’s postoperative analgesic efficacy and safety compared to the suprainguinal fascia iliaca (SFI) block in patients undergoing primary hip arthroplasty using the same injectate volume. Material and Methods. Between January 2021 and March 2022, American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification I–III patients scheduled for hip arthroplasty were included in this study. After standard monitoring and subarachnoid anesthesia, an ultrasound-guided PENG or SFI block with 20 ml of 0.25% levobupivacaine was performed for postoperative analgesia. All patients were assessed with a numerical rating scale (NRS) at presurgery, upon arrival at the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), and in the postoperative period at 2, 4, 12, and 24 hours. The need for analgesic rescue and adverse effects was also assessed. Results. A total of 130 patients were included in the study (62 PENG block and 68 SFI block). Both blocks were equally effective in managing postoperative pain without any statistically significant differences except at 12 h (), where the deviation found was not clinically relevant. The median total morphine consumption was 0 mg [0–2] in the PENG block group and 0 mg [0–2] in the SFI block group. A more significant motor block was found in the first 6 hours in the SFI block group (). There was no significant difference in the ease of performing PENG (79%) or SFI (85%) blocks. No major complications were recorded in both groups, and patient satisfaction was high (83.9% for the PENG block group vs. 91.2% for the SFI block group). Discussion. Both blocks have been demonstrated to be effective for postoperative analgesia in hip arthroplasty and should be integrated as a multimodal analgesic strategy. The lesser degree of motor block recorded in the first hours with the PENG block makes it the most suitable option for early recovery. Both techniques were easy and safe to perform.

Background. Severe and rigid scoliosis poses significant challenges in surgical correction, and innovative approaches are continually sought to enhance effectiveness and ensure patient safety. Halo-gravity traction (HGT) continues to be a vital tool in managing severe spinal conditions, offering a nonsurgical or preoperative approach to address spinal deformities. However, the correction effect that HGT can achieve for severe and rigid spinal deformity is currently unclear and the impact of HGT on the selection of spinal osteotomy grade was still unknown. Methods. A retrospective matched-cohort study was conducted and a total of 74 patients from January 2018 to December 2021 in our institution were finally enrolled in this study, including 27 patients in the HGT group and 47 patients in the non-HGT group based on whether patients receive HGT or not. Comprehensive assessments including radiographic outcomes, surgical parameters, and clinical complications were collect and analyzed before and after correction surgery. Results. Of the patients included in the HGT group, 21 had thoracic curvature and 6 had thoracolumbar/lumbar curvature, compared with 38 and 9 in the non-HGT group, respectively (). There was no significant difference in the etiologies of scoliosis between two groups (15/7/3/2 vs. 25/16/4/2, ). The main curve in HGT and non-HGT groups were corrected from an average of 113.69°–51.25° and 111.94°–63.79° (). For the HGT group, the mean correction rate of focal kyphosis (FK) was 45.43%, which was significantly higher than those in the non-HGT group (33.98%, ). There were no statistically significant differences in preoperative parameters of sagittal vertical axis (SVA) () or thoracic kyphosis (TK) () between the two groups. Postoperatively, the HGT group showed significantly lower values in SVA () and TK () compared to the non-HGT group. However, there was no significant difference in the imaging parameters coronal vertical axis (CVA) and apical vertebral translation (AVT) between the two groups (). In the preoperative surgical planning phase before HGT treatment, 26 patients were initially considered candidates for 3-column osteotomy (3CO), while one patient was evaluated as suitable for posterior column osteotomy (PCO). Following HGT treatment, the assessment changed with 11 patients identified as candidates for 3CO and 16 patients deemed suitable for PCO. The application proportion of 3CO was significantly higher in the non-HGT group than in the HGT group (). The mean blood loss of the non-HGT group was significantly greater than that of the HGT group (666.67 ± 486.55 ml vs. 1024.47 ± 718.46 ml, ), but the surgical time showed no difference between the two groups (297.33 ± 66.89 mins vs. 299.15 ± 56.73 mins, ). The incidence of complications in the HGT group was 7.4%, which was significantly lower than that of the non-HGT group (). Conclusion. This study showed that the use of HGT, as a feasible and safe strategy, has superior efficacy and safety for treating severe and rigid scoliosis and can reduce the level of osteotomy used during surgery to some extent.

Objective. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming more prevalent in the nonobese population. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of metabolism-related mixtures on NAFLD subjects in nonobese populations using four statistical models. Study Design. This was a retrospective observational study. Methods. Our study included 904 nonobese patients who had taken part in the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We used logistic regression models, Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR), and the weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression model to estimate the association between metabolism-related indicators and NAFLD in the nonobese population. Finally, we included several indicators to create nomograms to predict the risk of NAFLD occurrence in the nonobese population. Results. Among the 904 participants, 116 (12.83%) had NAFLD. The logistic regression model found that the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), HDL-c, triglyceride (TG), and HbA1c were positively associated with the outcomes. The WQS regression model showed that the WQS index was significantly associated with the occurrence of NAFLD in the nonobese population (OR: 5.789, 95% CI: 3.933–8.520), and WHR, TC, and TG had the largest weight. The BKMR model’s WHR and TG increased from the 25th percentile to the 75th percentile (other metabolite exposure remained fixed at the 75th percentile) and the risk of developing NAFLD increased in the nonobese people. The significant predictors mentioned above were introduced to construct the nomogram. The calibration curve, DCA, and AUROC (0.796) (95% CI: 0.743–0.843) all indicated that the model had a good potential clinical performance. Conclusions. By comparing the results of the four models together, WHR and TG were identified as important factors associated with NAFLD in the nonobese population. Further research is warranted to investigate the risk factors and pathogeny of NAFLD in nonobese populations.