Factors affecting tumor response to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) therapy in patient with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major problem of global health.Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the treatment of choice for unresectable HCC. The TACE is routinely conducted in major hospitals in Indonesia, however it rarely published.The use of modified response in evaluation criteria in solid tumors (mRECIST) was introduced as an accurate method of measuring tumor response in HCC. This study aimedto investigate the factorsaffecting tumor response to TACE therapy in HCC patients by using mRECIST. It was a retrospective cohort study conducted on 30 patients who successfully underwent the first TACE procedure in the Department of Radiology, Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo General Hospital, Makassar, Indonesia from January 2016 to August 2019. The multiphase abdominal computed tomography before and after as well as laboratory examination results before TACE were collected and analyzed. Chi-Square and Spearman-tests were used for the statistical analysis. A significant relationship between tumor location (p=0.016), number of tumor (p=0.001) and Child-Pugh score with tumor response to TACE therapy (p = 0.016) was observed. Solitary tumors tend to have a better therapeutic response, meanwhile, tumors located in the left lobe of patients with Child-Pugh B scores showed a decreased tumor response. Furthermore, no a significant relationship between age (p=0.920), sex (p=0.303), tumor size> 5 cm (p=0.082) and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels (p=0.414) with tumor response was observed. In conclusion, TACE is preferably therapy for multinodular and unresectable HCC. Tumor response after TACE can be well assessed using mRECIST. The factorsaffecting tumor response to TACE therapy arenumber of tumor, location, and Child-Pugh scor

Potensi dan Tingkat Pemanfaatan Sumberdaya Ikan Pelagis Provinsi Kalimantan Utara

Potensi ikan pelagis di perairan Indonesia adalah 3,2 juta ton/tahun dengan tingkat pemanfaatan46,59% sehingga peluang untuk pengembangannya masih 43,41% namun pemanfaatannya harusmemperhatikan lokasi penangkapannya karena penangkapan ikan pelagis di Indonesia sebagianbesar telah memperlihatkan tingkat penguasaan yang berlebih seperti di Laut Jawa dan SelatMalaka kecuali untuk Laut Arafura dan Laut Sulawesi serta Samudera Pasifik. Tujuan penelitianxini adalah menganalisis potensi dan tingkat pemanfaatan sumberdaya ikan pelagis di perairanProvinsi Kalimantan Utara. Pendekatan metode yang digunakan adalah metode “SurplusProduksi”. Metode ini berfungsi sebagai estimator kelimpahan relatif suatu sumberdaya ikan padaperairan provinsi Kalimantan Utara yang didasarkan pada hasil tangkapan per unit upayapenangkapan. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahwa kemampuan armada perikanan pelagis besar diProvinsi Kalimantan Utara belum dapat menjangkau daerah penangkapan ikan pelagis besar yangpotensial. Sumberdaya ikan pelagis besar yang memiliki habitat di perairan laut lepasmembutuhkan kemampuan armada yang lebih besar untuk menjangkau lokasi penangkapan ikanyang potensial. Tren hasil tangkapan per unit upaya penangkapan (CPUE) kelompok ikan pelagisbesar di perairan Kalimantan Utara menunjukkan tren menurun dengan laju penurunan sebesar0,02 ton/unit dalam kurun waktu tahun 2010-2014 adalah 3,8 ton/unit, sedangkan CPUE yangtertinggi sebesar 10,1 ton unit dengan jumlah upaya standar sebesar 256 unit.Kata kunci : ikan pelagis, CPUE, armada, Kalimantan Utar

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain findings in severe pre–eclampsia/eclampsia

MRI is mainly used in obstetrics in the evaluation of maternal bony pelvis, the cervix for cervical incompetence, localisation of placental site, diagnosis of gestational trophoblastic disease and its severity, and in diagnosing fetal malformations such as renal agenesis. This study aimed to correlate the MRI brain findings in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic severe pre – eclampsia / eclampsia, and to determine the value of MRI as a predictive diagnostic tool in the management of such cases. This is a prospective descriptive study of 30 pregnant mothers with clinical signs and symptoms of pre-eclampsia / severe pre-eclampsia / eclampsia admitted to the pre-eclampsia room (High Dependency Unit) of the labour room of the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan Kuantan Pahang, Malaysia from 1st January 2004 to 30th June 2004. General findings indicate that there were no conclusive results with regard to the correlation between the MRI brain changes seen in both groups of patients

Worldwide trends in body-mass index, underweight, overweight, and obesity from 1975 to 2016: a pooled analysis of 2416 population-based measurement studies in 128·9 million children, adolescents, and adults.

BACKGROUND: Underweight, overweight, and obesity in childhood and adolescence are associated with adverse health consequences throughout the life-course. Our aim was to estimate worldwide trends in mean body-mass index (BMI) and a comprehensive set of BMI categories that cover underweight to obesity in children and adolescents, and to compare trends with those of adults. METHODS: We pooled 2416 population-based studies with measurements of height and weight on 128·9 million participants aged 5 years and older, including 31·5 million aged 5-19 years. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1975 to 2016 in 200 countries for mean BMI and for prevalence of BMI in the following categories for children and adolescents aged 5-19 years: more than 2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference for children and adolescents (referred to as moderate and severe underweight hereafter), 2 SD to more than 1 SD below the median (mild underweight), 1 SD below the median to 1 SD above the median (healthy weight), more than 1 SD to 2 SD above the median (overweight but not obese), and more than 2 SD above the median (obesity). FINDINGS: Regional change in age-standardised mean BMI in girls from 1975 to 2016 ranged from virtually no change (-0·01 kg/m2 per decade; 95% credible interval -0·42 to 0·39, posterior probability [PP] of the observed decrease being a true decrease=0·5098) in eastern Europe to an increase of 1·00 kg/m2 per decade (0·69-1·35, PP>0·9999) in central Latin America and an increase of 0·95 kg/m2 per decade (0·64-1·25, PP>0·9999) in Polynesia and Micronesia. The range for boys was from a non-significant increase of 0·09 kg/m2 per decade (-0·33 to 0·49, PP=0·6926) in eastern Europe to an increase of 0·77 kg/m2 per decade (0·50-1·06, PP>0·9999) in Polynesia and Micronesia. Trends in mean BMI have recently flattened in northwestern Europe and the high-income English-speaking and Asia-Pacific regions for both sexes, southwestern Europe for boys, and central and Andean Latin America for girls. By contrast, the rise in BMI has accelerated in east and south Asia for both sexes, and southeast Asia for boys. Global age-standardised prevalence of obesity increased from 0·7% (0·4-1·2) in 1975 to 5·6% (4·8-6·5) in 2016 in girls, and from 0·9% (0·5-1·3) in 1975 to 7·8% (6·7-9·1) in 2016 in boys; the prevalence of moderate and severe underweight decreased from 9·2% (6·0-12·9) in 1975 to 8·4% (6·8-10·1) in 2016 in girls and from 14·8% (10·4-19·5) in 1975 to 12·4% (10·3-14·5) in 2016 in boys. Prevalence of moderate and severe underweight was highest in India, at 22·7% (16·7-29·6) among girls and 30·7% (23·5-38·0) among boys. Prevalence of obesity was more than 30% in girls in Nauru, the Cook Islands, and Palau; and boys in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Palau, Niue, and American Samoa in 2016. Prevalence of obesity was about 20% or more in several countries in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Middle East and north Africa, the Caribbean, and the USA. In 2016, 75 (44-117) million girls and 117 (70-178) million boys worldwide were moderately or severely underweight. In the same year, 50 (24-89) million girls and 74 (39-125) million boys worldwide were obese. INTERPRETATION: The rising trends in children's and adolescents' BMI have plateaued in many high-income countries, albeit at high levels, but have accelerated in parts of Asia, with trends no longer correlated with those of adults. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust, AstraZeneca Young Health Programme

Contributions of mean and shape of blood pressure distribution to worldwide trends and variations in raised blood pressure: A pooled analysis of 1018 population-based measurement studies with 88.6 million participants

© The Author(s) 2018. Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and prevalence of raised blood pressure by sex and 10-year age group from 20-29 years to 70-79 years in each study, taking into account complex survey design and survey sample weights, where relevant. We used a linear mixed effect model to quantify the association between (probittransformed) prevalence of raised blood pressure and age-group- and sex-specific mean blood pressure. We calculated the contributions of change in mean SBP and DBP, and of change in the prevalence-mean association, to the change in prevalence of raised blood pressure. Results: In 2005-16, at the same level of population mean SBP and DBP, men and women in South Asia and in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa would have the highest prevalence of raised blood pressure, and men and women in the highincome Asia Pacific and high-income Western regions would have the lowest. In most region-sex-age groups where the prevalence of raised blood pressure declined, one half or more of the decline was due to the decline in mean blood pressure. Where prevalence of raised blood pressure has increased, the change was entirely driven by increasing mean blood pressure, offset partly by the change in the prevalence-mean association. Conclusions: Change in mean blood pressure is the main driver of the worldwide change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure, but change in the high-blood-pressure tail of the distribution has also contributed to the change in prevalence, especially in older age groups

The IDENTIFY study: the investigation and detection of urological neoplasia in patients referred with suspected urinary tract cancer - a multicentre observational study

Objective To evaluate the contemporary prevalence of urinary tract cancer (bladder cancer, upper tract urothelial cancer [UTUC] and renal cancer) in patients referred to secondary care with haematuria, adjusted for established patient risk markers and geographical variation. Patients and Methods This was an international multicentre prospective observational study. We included patients aged ≥16 years, referred to secondary care with suspected urinary tract cancer. Patients with a known or previous urological malignancy were excluded. We estimated the prevalence of bladder cancer, UTUC, renal cancer and prostate cancer; stratified by age, type of haematuria, sex, and smoking. We used a multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression to adjust cancer prevalence for age, type of haematuria, sex, smoking, hospitals, and countries. Results Of the 11 059 patients assessed for eligibility, 10 896 were included from 110 hospitals across 26 countries. The overall adjusted cancer prevalence (n = 2257) was 28.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 22.3–34.1), bladder cancer (n = 1951) 24.7% (95% CI 19.1–30.2), UTUC (n = 128) 1.14% (95% CI 0.77–1.52), renal cancer (n = 107) 1.05% (95% CI 0.80–1.29), and prostate cancer (n = 124) 1.75% (95% CI 1.32–2.18). The odds ratios for patient risk markers in the model for all cancers were: age 1.04 (95% CI 1.03–1.05; P < 0.001), visible haematuria 3.47 (95% CI 2.90–4.15; P < 0.001), male sex 1.30 (95% CI 1.14–1.50; P < 0.001), and smoking 2.70 (95% CI 2.30–3.18; P < 0.001). Conclusions A better understanding of cancer prevalence across an international population is required to inform clinical guidelines. We are the first to report urinary tract cancer prevalence across an international population in patients referred to secondary care, adjusted for patient risk markers and geographical variation. Bladder cancer was the most prevalent disease. Visible haematuria was the strongest predictor for urinary tract cancer

Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening, had elevated FPG, HbA1c or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardized proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed and detected in survey screening ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the age-standardized proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29–39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c was more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global shortfall in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017—and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions—was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing—and in some countries reversal—of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories