慢性头痛是男性卒中的独立预兆因素

既往研究表明,偏头痛患者的卒中危险性增加。但慢性非特异性头痛与卒中危险的可能关系尚不清楚,为评价以上相关性,作者进行了前瞻性人群研究。 方法 随机选择参加1972年、1977年。

Therapeutic effects and prognostic factors in three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy combined with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of threedimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) combined with transcatheter arterial chernoembolization (TACE) on the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).METHODS: Between 1998 and 2001, 94 patients with HCC received 3D-CRT combined with TACE. A total 63 patients had a Okuda stage Ⅰ lesion and 31 patients had stage Ⅱ. The median tumor size was 10.7 cm (range 3.0-18 cm), and liver drrhosis was present in all the patients. There were 43 cases of class A and 51 dass B. TACE was performed using lipiodol,5-fluorouracil, cisplatin, doxorubicin hydrochloride and mitomycin, followed by gelatin sponge cubes. Fifty-nine patients received TACE only one time, while the others 2 to 3 times. 3D-CRT was started 3-4 wk after TACE. All patients were irradiated with a stereotactic body frame and received 4-8 Gy single high-dose radiation for 8-12 times at the isocenter during a period of 17-26 d (median 22 d).RESULTS: The median follow-up was 37 mo (range 10-48 mo) after diagnosis. The response rate was 90.5%. The overallsurvival rate at 1-, 2-, and 3- year was 93.6%, 53.8% and 26.0% respectively, with the median survival of 25 too. On univariate analysis, age (P=-0.026), Child-Pugh classification for cirrhosis of liver (P=0.010), Okuda stage (P=-0.026),tumor size (P=0.000), tumor type (P=0.029), albuminemia (P=0.035), and radiation dose (P=0.000) proved to be significant factors for survival. On multivariate analysis,age (P=-0.024), radiation dose(P=-0.001), and tumor size (P=0.000) were the significant factors.CONCLUSION: 3D-CRT combined with TACE is an effective and feasible approach for HCC. Age, radiation dose and tumor size were found to be significant prognostic factors for survival of patients with HCC treated by 3D-CRT combined with TACE. Further study for HCC is needed to improve the treatment efficacy.

Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of severe acute pancreatitis

AIM: To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of a consecutive series of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). METHODS: Clinical data of SAP patients admitted to our hospital from January 2003 to January 2004 were retrospectively reviewed. Collected data included the age, gender, etiology, length of hospitalization, APACHE Ⅱ score at admission, local and organ/systemic complications of the patients. RESULTS: Of the 268 acute pancreatitis patients, 94 developed SAP. The mean age of SAP patients was 52 years, the commonest etiology was cholelithiasis (45.7%), the mean length of hospitalization was 70 d, the mean score of APACHE Ⅱ was 7.7. Fifty-four percent of the patients developed necrosis, 25% abscess, 58% organ/systemic failure. A total of 23.4% (22/94) of the SAP patients died. Respiratory failure was the most common organ dysfunction (90.9%) in deceased SAP patients, followed by cardiovascular failure (86.4%), renal failure (50.0%). In the SAP patients, 90.9% (20/22) developed multiple organ/systemic failures. There were significant differences in age, length of hospitalization, APACHE Ⅱ score and incidences of respiratory failure, renal failure, cardiovascular failure and hematological failure between deceased SAP patients and survived SAP patients. By multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent prognostic factors for mortality were respiratory failure, cardiovascular failure and renal failure. CONCLUSION: SAP patients are characterized by advanced age, high APACHE Ⅱ score, organ failure and their death is mainly due to multiple organ/systemic failures. In patients with SAP, respiratory, cardiovascular and renal failures can predict the fatal outcome and more attention should be paid to their clinical evaluation.

Long-term outcome and prognostic factors of patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the long-term outcome and prognostic factors of patients with hilar cholangiocarinoma. METHODS: Ninety-six consecutive patients underwent treatment for malignant hilar bile duct tumors during 1995–2005. Of the 96 patients, 20 were initially treated with surgery (n = 2 R0 / n = 18 R1). In non-operated patients, data analysis was performed retrospectively. RESULTS: Among the 96 patients, 76 were treated with endoscopic transpapillary (ERC, n = 45) and/or percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD, n = 31). The mean survival time of these 76 patients undergoing palliative endoscopic and/or percutaneous drainage was 359 ± 296 d. The mean survival time of patients with initial bilirubin levels > 10 mg/dL was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than patients with bilirubin levels < 10 mg/dL. The mean survival time of patients with Bismuth stage Ⅱ (n = 8), Ⅲ (n = 28) and Ⅳ (n = 40) was 496 ± 300 d, 441 ± 385 d and 274 ± 218 d, respectively. Thus, patients with advanced Bismuth stage showed a reduced mean survival time, but the difference was not significant. The type of biliary drainage had no significant beneficial effect on the mean survival time (ERC vs PTBD, P = 0.806). CONCLUSION: Initial bilirubin level is a significant prognostic factor for survival of patients. In contrast, age, tumor stage according to the Bismuth-Corlette classification, and types of intervention are not significant prognostic parameters for survival. Palliative treatment with endoscopic or percutaneous biliary drainage is still suboptimal, new diagnostic and therapeutic tools need to be evaluated.

Surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: Evidence-based outcomes

Surgeons may be severely criticized from the perspective of evidence-based medicine because the majority of surgical publications appear not to be convincing. In the top nine surgical journals in 1996, half of the 175 publications refer to pilot studies lacking a control group, 18% to animal experiments, and only 5% to randomized controlled trials (RCT). There are five levels of clinical evidence:level 1 (randomized controlled trial), level 2 (prospective concurrent cohort study), level 3 (retrospective historical cohort study), level 4 (pre-post study), and level 5 (case report). Recently, a Japanese evidence-based guideline for the surgical treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was made by a committee (Chairman, Professor Makuuchi and five members). We searched the literature using the Medline Dialog System with four Keywords:HCC, surgery, English papers, in the last 20 years. A total of 915 publications were identified systematically reviewed. At the first selection (in which surgery-dominant papers were selected), 478 papers survived. In the second selection (clearly concluded papers), 181 papers survived. In the final selection (clinically significant papers), 100 papers survived. The evidence level of the 100 surviving papers is shown here:level-1 papers (13%), level-2 papers (11%), level-3 papers (52%), and level-4 papers (24%);therefore, there were 24% prospective papers and 76% retrospective papers. Here, we present a part of the guideline on the five main surgical issues:indication to operation, operative procedure, peri-operative care, prognostic factor, and post-operative adjuvant therapy.

Prognostic Factors for Patients with FIGO Stage-IB Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma:Does the Tumor Size(≤4 cm or>4 cm)Really Matter?

OBJECTIVE To investigate the factors that can accurately predict the prognosis for patients with FIGO stage-IB cervical squamous cell carcinoma treated with radical surgery. METHODS A retrospective analysis of clinical data from 174 cases of FIGO Stage-IB cervical squamous cell carcinoma treated in our institute was conducted. RESULTS The 5-year overal disease-free survival of the patients was 79.4%and the recurrence rate was 16.7%.Seventy-five percent of the 60 patients with a tumor>4 cm and 28.1%of the 114 patients with a tumor≤4 cm received preoperative radiotherapy,resuting in a significant difference be- tween the two groups(P<0.001).The 5-year disease-free survival rate for the groups with a tumor≤4 cm without and with preoperative radiotherapy, and with a tumor>4 cm without and with preoperative radiation therapy were 80.5%,85.2%,69.3%and 77.1%,respectively.There was no significant dif- ference between any of the groups(P>0.05).A univariate analysis showed that pelvic node metastasis,a positive parametrial surgical margin and post- operative adjuvant therapy were al significantly correlated with the 5-year disease-free survivals(P<0.05).Multivariate analysis revealed that pelvic node metastasis(P=0.004)and a positive parametrial surgical margin(P= 0.040)were independent factors that influenced the prognosis.The 5-year disease-free survivals for the cases with a tumor≤4 cm and>4 cm were 57.4%and 44.7%respectively in the high-risk group(patients with pelvic lymphatic metastasis and/or positive parametrial surgical margin)(P=0.575) and the recurrence ratio was 7/18 and 6/14 for the cases of the two tumor sizes in the same risk group.There was no significant difference between the two groups(P=0.821).The 5-year disease-free survivals for the cases with a tumor≤4 cm and>4 cm were 86.5%and 82.9%respectively in the low-risk group(patients without pelvic lymph-node metastasis and/or positive para- metrial surgical margin),respectively(P>0.05)and the recurrence ratio was 9/95 and 7/47 for the cases of the two tumor sizes in the same risk group. There was no significant difference between the two groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS For FIGO Stage-IB cervical squamous cel carcinoma patients with radical surgery as the major means of treatment,the features of pelvic lymph-node metastasis and a positive parametrial surgical margin are independent factors that influence the prognosis.The tumor size can not be used as a criterion for predicting the prognosis.

Predictive factors for the failure of endoscopic stent-instent self-expandable metallic stent placement to treat malignant hilar biliary obstruction

AIM To investigate the factors predictive of failure when placing a second biliary self-expandable metallic stents(SEMSs). METHODS This study evaluated 65 patients with an unresectable malignant hilar biliary obstruction who were examined in our hospital. Sixty-two of these patients were recruited to the study and divided into two groups: the success group, which consisted of patients in whom a stent-in-stent SEMS had been placed successfully, and the failure group, which consisted of patients in whom the stent-in-stent SEMS had not been placed successfully. We compared the characteristics of the patients, the stricture state of their biliary ducts, and the implemented endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP) procedures between the two groups.RESULTS The angle between the target biliary duct stricture and the first implanted SEMS was significantly larger in the failure group than in the success group. There were significantly fewer wire or dilation devices(ERCP catheter, dilator, or balloon catheter) passing the first SEMS cell in the failure group than in the success group. The cut-off value of the angle predicting stent-in-stent SEMS placement failure was 49.7 degrees according to the ROC curve(sensitivity 91.7%, specificity 61.2%). Furthermore, the angle was significantly smaller in patients with wire or dilation devices passing the first SEMS cell than in patients without wire or dilation devices passing the first SEMS cell. CONCLUSION A large angle was identified as a predictive factor for failure of stent-in-stent SEMS placement.