Patients’ Concerns at Their Admission in Hospital and Its Related Factors in Kermanshah, Iran

Background: One of the critical factors affecting patients’ outcomes is their concerns about different issues during their admission to the hospital. Clarifying these concerns and providing appropriate approaches could improve the quality of care, result in better outcomes, and reduce treatment costs. The present study aimed to investigate patients’ concerns during hospitalization, and the likely related factors of the educational hospitals in Kermanshah, western Iran. Materials and Methods: This analytical-descriptive study included 600 adult patients selected via a multi-stage sampling method and admitted to all four educational hospitals affiliated to Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences )KUMS) in 2016. Required data were collected using a survey with 15 questions on demographic information, current disease, medical records, and a researcher-developed questionnaire on factors causing concern in the Likert scale. Results: Of 600 patients who participated in the survey, 336 (56%) were female and 486 )81%) were married. The most frequent concerns were the length of admission, failure in treatment or recovery, and hospital costs, respectively. The length of hospital stay, income, and level of education were significantly associated with the concern scores. Also, there was a significant difference between concern score distributions in groups with a definite diagnosis of illnesses (P&lt;0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study suggested a correlation between variables such as education, income, the final diagnosis of a sickness, and the concern level of admitted patients. Our findings could help managers and hospital administrators better understand the concerns of admitted patients and find solutions to remove them.</jats:p

The relationship between applied energy and ablation zone volume in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal liver metastasis

To study the ratio of ablation zone volume to applied energy in computed tomography (CT)-guided radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and microwave ablation (MWA) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a cirrhotic liver and in patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM). In total, 90 liver tumors, 45 HCCs in a cirrhotic liver and 45 CRLMs were treated with RFA or with one of two MWA devices (MWA_A and MWA_B), resulting in 15 procedures for each tumor type, per device. Device settings were recorded and the applied energy was calculated. Ablation volumes were segmented on the contrast-enhanced CT scans obtained 1 week after the procedure. The ratio of ablation zone volume in milliliters to applied energy in kilojoules was determined for each procedure and compared between HCC (R (HCC)) and CRLM (R (CRLM)), stratified according to ablation device. With RFA, R (HCC) and R (CRLM) were 0.22 mL/kJ (0.14-0.45 mL/kJ) and 0.15 mL/kJ (0.14-0.22 mL/kJ; p = 0.110), respectively. With MWA_A, R (HCC) was 0.81 (0.61-1.07 mL/kJ) and R (CRLM) was 0.43 (0.35-0.61 mL/kJ; p = 0.001). With MWA_B, R (HCC) was 0.67 (0.41-0.85 mL/kJ) and R (CRLM) was 0.43 (0.35-0.61 mL/kJ; p = 0.040). With RFA, there was no significant difference in energy deposition ratio between tumor types. With both MWA devices, the ratios were higher for HCCs. Tailoring microwave ablation device protocols to tumor type might prevent incomplete ablations. aEuro cent HCCs and CRLMs respond differently to microwave ablation aEuro cent For MWA, CRLMs required more energy to achieve a similar ablation volume aEuro cent Tailoring ablation protocols to tumor type might prevent incomplete ablations

Automatic Diagnosis of Pathological Myopia from Heterogeneous Biomedical Data

10.1371/journal.pone.0065736PLoS ONE86

Serial FLT PET imaging to discriminate between true progression and pseudoprogression in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma:a long-term follow-up study

Purpose: Response evaluation in patients with glioblastoma after chemoradiotherapy is challenging due to progressive, contrast-enhancing lesions on MRI that do not reflect true tumour progression. In this study, we prospectively evaluated the ability of the PET tracer 18F-fluorothymidine (FLT), a tracer reflecting proliferative activity, to discriminate between true progression and pseudoprogression in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Methods: FLT PET and MRI scans were performed before and 4 weeks after chemoradiotherapy. MRI scans were also performed after three cycles of adjuvant temozolomide. Pseudoprogression was defined as progressive disease on MRI after chemoradiotherapy with stabilisation or reduction of contrast-enhanced lesions after three cycles of temozolomide, and was compared with the disease course during long-term follow-up. Changes in maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and tumour-to-normal uptake ratios were calculated for FLT and are presented as the mean SUVmax for multiple lesions. Results: Between 2009 and 2012, 30 patients were included. Of 24 evaluable patients, 7 showed pseudoprogression and 7 had true progression as defined by MRI response. FLT PET parameters did not significantly differ between patients with true progression and pseudoprogression defined by MRI. The correlation between change in SUVmax and survival (p = 0.059) almost reached the standard level of statistical significance. Lower baseline FLT PET uptake was significantly correlated with improved survival (p = 0.022). Conclusion: Baseline FLT uptake appears to be predictive of overall survival. Furthermore, changes in SUVmax over time showed a tendency to be associated with improved survival. However, further studies are necessary to investigate the ability of FLT PET imaging to discriminate between true progression and pseudoprogression in patients with glioblastoma

Mutations in Zebrafish lrp2 Result in Adult-Onset Ocular Pathogenesis That Models Myopia and Other Risk Factors for Glaucoma

The glaucomas comprise a genetically complex group of retinal neuropathies that typically occur late in life and are characterized by progressive pathology of the optic nerve head and degeneration of retinal ganglion cells. In addition to age and family history, other significant risk factors for glaucoma include elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) and myopia. The complexity of glaucoma has made it difficult to model in animals, but also challenging to identify responsible genes. We have used zebrafish to identify a genetically complex, recessive mutant that shows risk factors for glaucoma including adult onset severe myopia, elevated IOP, and progressive retinal ganglion cell pathology. Positional cloning and analysis of a non-complementing allele indicated that non-sense mutations in low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 2 (lrp2) underlie the mutant phenotype. Lrp2, previously named Megalin, functions as an endocytic receptor for a wide-variety of bioactive molecules including Sonic hedgehog, Bone morphogenic protein 4, retinol-binding protein, vitamin D-binding protein, and apolipoprotein E, among others. Detailed phenotype analyses indicated that as lrp2 mutant fish age, many individuals—but not all—develop high IOP and severe myopia with obviously enlarged eye globes. This results in retinal stretch and prolonged stress to retinal ganglion cells, which ultimately show signs of pathogenesis. Our studies implicate altered Lrp2-mediated homeostasis as important for myopia and other risk factors for glaucoma in humans and establish a new genetic model for further study of phenotypes associated with this disease

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis of Five Asian Cohorts Identifies PDGFRA as a Susceptibility Locus for Corneal Astigmatism

Corneal astigmatism refers to refractive abnormalities and irregularities in the curvature of the cornea, and this interferes with light being accurately focused at a single point in the eye. This ametropic condition is highly prevalent, influences visual acuity, and is a highly heritable trait. There is currently a paucity of research in the genetic etiology of corneal astigmatism. Here we report the results from five genome-wide association studies of corneal astigmatism across three Asian populations, with an initial discovery set of 4,254 Chinese and Malay individuals consisting of 2,249 cases and 2,005 controls. Replication was obtained from three surveys comprising of 2,139 Indians, an additional 929 Chinese children, and an independent 397 Chinese family trios. Variants in PDGFRA on chromosome 4q12 (lead SNP: rs7677751, allelic odds ratio = 1.26 (95% CI: 1.16–1.36), Pmeta = 7.87×10−9) were identified to be significantly associated with corneal astigmatism, exhibiting consistent effect sizes across all five cohorts. This highlights the potential role of variants in PDGFRA in the genetic etiology of corneal astigmatism across diverse Asian populations

The Rotterdam Study: 2012 objectives and design update

The Rotterdam Study is a prospective cohort study ongoing since 1990 in the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The study targets cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, neurological, ophthalmic, psychiatric, dermatological, oncological, and respiratory diseases. As of 2008, 14,926 subjects aged 45 years or over comprise the Rotterdam Study cohort. The findings of the Rotterdam Study have been presented in over a 1,000 research articles and reports (see www.erasmus-epidemiology.nl/rotterdamstudy). This article gives the rationale of the study and its design. It also presents a summary of the major findings and an update of the objectives and methods

Large scale international replication and meta-analysis study confirms association of the 15q14 locus with myopia. The CREAM consortium

Myopia is a complex genetic disorder and a common cause of visual impairment among working age adults. Genome-wide association studies have identified susceptibility loci on chromosomes 15q14 and 15q25 in Caucasian populations of European ancestry. Here, we present a confirmation and meta-analysis study in which we assessed whether these two loci are also associated with myopia in other populations. The study population comprised 31 cohorts from the Consortium of Refractive Error and Myopia (CREAM) representing 4 different continents with 55,177 individuals; 42,845 Caucasians and 12,332 Asians. We performed a meta-analysis of 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on 15q14 and 5 SNPs on 15q25 using linear regression analysis with spherical equivalent as a quantitative outcome, adjusted for age and sex. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) of myopia versus hyperopia for carriers of the top-SNP alleles using a fixed effects meta-analysis. At locus 15q14, all SNPs were significantly replicated, with the lowest P value 3.87 × 10 -12 for SNP rs634990 in Caucasians, and 9.65 × 10 -4 for rs8032019 in Asians. The overall meta-analysis provided P value 9.20 × 10 -23 for the top SNP rs634990. The risk of myopia versus hyperopia was OR 1.88 (95 % CI 1.64, 2.16, P < 0.001) for homozygous carriers of the risk allele at the top SNP rs634990, and OR 1.33 (95 % CI 1.19, 1.49, P < 0.001) for heterozygous carriers. SNPs at locus 15q25 did not replicate significantly (P value 5.81 × 10 -2 for top SNP rs939661). We conclude that common variants at chromosome 15q14 influence susceptibility for myopia in Caucasian and Asian populations world-wide. © The Author(s) 2012

Genetic Variants on Chromosome 1q41 Influence Ocular Axial Length and High Myopia

As one of the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness, myopia poses a significant public health burden in Asia. The primary determinant of myopia is an elongated ocular axial length (AL). Here we report a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies on AL conducted in 1,860 Chinese adults, 929 Chinese children, and 2,155 Malay adults. We identified a genetic locus on chromosome 1q41 harboring the zinc-finger 11B pseudogene ZC3H11B showing genome-wide significant association with AL variation (rs4373767, β = −0.16 mm per minor allele, Pmeta = 2.69×10−10). The minor C allele of rs4373767 was also observed to significantly associate with decreased susceptibility to high myopia (per-allele odds ratio (OR) = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.68–0.84, Pmeta = 4.38×10−7) in 1,118 highly myopic cases and 5,433 controls. ZC3H11B and two neighboring genes SLC30A10 and LYPLAL1 were expressed in the human neural retina, retinal pigment epithelium, and sclera. In an experimental myopia mouse model, we observed significant alterations to gene and protein expression in the retina and sclera of the unilateral induced myopic eyes for the murine genes ZC3H11A, SLC30A10, and LYPLAL1. This supports the likely role of genetic variants at chromosome 1q41 in influencing AL variation and high myopia