Tentative New Terminology: Initial Comedonal Phase Preceding Acute Inflammatory Phase of Acne Vulgaris—Importance of Early Treatment

We report a case of a 12-year-old female with closed and open comedo without inflammatory lesions at the first visit. She had been treated with topical adapalene once daily, and closed and open comedo subsided without inflammatory lesions one month after the treatment without any side effects induced by adapalen. The recurrence of comedo had not been observed afterwards. In the Japanese Dermatological Association (JDA) guidelines for the treatment of acne vulgaris, comedonal phase has not been stated. Then we propose the tentative new terminology of a comedonal phase and emphasize its importance in the early initial treatment for comedo to prevent the development of the acute inflammatory phase such as red papules and pustules and formation of acne scars.

Successful initial ablation therapy contributes to survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM： To evaluate the outcome predictors of percutaneous ablation therapy in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma （HCC）, especially to identify whether the initial treatment response contributes to the survival of the patients. METHODS： The study cohort included 153 patients with single （102） and two or three （51） HCC nodules 5 cm or less in maximum diameter. As an initial treatment, 110 patients received radiofrequency ablation and 43 patients received percutaneous ethanol injection. RESULTS： The Kaplan-Meier estimates of overall 3- and S-year survival rates were 75% and 59%, respectively. The log-rank test revealed statistically significant differences in the overall survivals according to ChildPugh class （P = 0.0275）, tumor size （P = 0.0130）, serum albumin level （P = 0.0060）, serum protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist Ⅱ level （P = 0.0486）, and initial treatment response （P = 0.0130）. The independent predictors of survival were serum albumin level （dsk ratio, 3.216; 950 CI, 1.407-7.353; P = 0.0056） and initial treatment response （risk ratio, 2.474; 95% CI, 1.076-5.692; P = 0.0330） based on the Cox proportional hazards regression models. The patients had a serum albumin level 3.5 g/dL and the 3- and 5-year survival rates of 86% and 82%. CONCLUSION： In HCC patients treated with percutaneous ablation therapy, serum albumin level and initial treatment response are the independent outcome predictors.

Early aggressive versus initially conservative treatment in elderly patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromeaTitle and subTitle Breakaaaaaaaa randomized controlled trial

Abstract Objectives The authors sought to describe the association between post-procedural bleeding and long-term recurrent bleeding, major adverse cardiac events （MACE）, and mortality among older patients undergoing per-cutaneous coronary intervention （PCI）.

Examination of care processes and treatment optimization for head and neck cancer patients in a community setting"hub and hub"model

Objective:To examine referral pattern,the timing of diagnostic/staging processes,and treatment initiation for new head and neck cancer patients in a community setting.Methods:Patients with a newly diagnosed previously untreated diagnosis of head neck cancer managed at Asplundh Cancer Pavilion/Abington Memorial Hospital from October 2018 to March 2020.Source of referral and preceding workup were examined as well as intervals between initial head and neck consult and various timepoints of treatment initiation.Results:One hundred and five patients were included in the study.The primary referral sources were external general otolaryngology(56.3%).Oral surgery and dermatology obtained tissue biopsy approximately 80%of the time before referral.The average time from the ordering of initial staging positron emission tomography/computed tomography to finalized results was 14 days(range:10-25 days).Patients referred from dermatology and oral surgery were more likely to require single modality care,namely definitive surgical management.Time to treatment initiation average was 37 days(range:29-41 days).Patients with longer treatment times noted significantly higher times to both radiation and medical oncology consults(48.42 vs.18.13 days;P<0.001).Conclusions:No notable differences in treatment initiation times were identified based on referral source or extent of workup performed before head/neck surgery consult.It appears the largest opportunities for improvement in terms of reducing overall treatment length exist in the optimization of radiation initiation time.

Curative effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on insomnia: a randomized clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on insomnia and explore its mechanism. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients were randomly divided into an experiment group and a control group. Sixty patients in the experiment group were treated once a day with acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Shenmai (BL 62), and Zhaohai (KI 6) and with moxibustion at Baihui (GV 20) and Sishencong (EX-HN 1). Sixty patients in the control group were acupunctured once a day at Shenmen (HT 7), Neiguan (PC 6), and Sanyinjiao (SP 6).The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to compare sleep improvement between the two groups. RESULTS: The total effective rate was 87.7% in the experiment group and 76.3% in the control group. The PSQI scores and the total score were lower after treatment than before treatment in bothgroups. However, the reduction in the experiment group was greater than that in the control group in sleeping quality, time to fall asleep, sleeping disorder, and daytime function (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture and moxibustion at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Shenmai (BL 62), and Zhaohai (KI 6) significantly improved insomnia symptoms in the experiment group compared with the control group.