COVID-19, Suffering and Palliative Care: A Review

According to the WHO guideline, palliative care is an integral component of COVID-19 management. The relief of physical symptoms and the provision of psychosocial support should be practiced by all healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients. In this review, we aim to provide a simple outline on COVID-19, suffering in COVID-19, and the role of palliative care in COVID-19. We also introduce 3 principles of palliative care that can serve as a guide for all healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients, which are (1) good symptom control, (2) open and sensitive communication, and (3) caring for the whole team. The pandemic has brought immense suffering, fear and death to people everywhere. The knowledge, skills and experiences from palliative care could be used to relieve the suffering of COVID-19 patients

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery as a Salvage Treatment for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma with Skull Base and Intracranial Invasion (T4b)

It is usually difficult to achieve good outcomes with salvage treatment for recurrent nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) because of its deep-seated location, surrounding critical structures, and patient history of high-dose irradiation. Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS) is a treatment option for malignancies with skull base and intracranial invasion. We conducted a retrospective, observational, single-center study including 15 patients with recurrent NPC (stage T4b) involving the skull base and intracranial invasion, who underwent GKS as a salvage treatment. Patients were enrolled over 12 years. Per a previous study, the TNM classification T4b was subclassified into T4b1 and T4b2, defined as the involvement of the skull base or cavernous sinus with an intracranial extension of 5 mm, respectively. The effect of prognostic factors, including age, sex, survival period, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) presentation, presence of other distant metastases, tumor volume, marginal dose, maximal dose, and Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), on outcomes was analyzed. The patients with T4b1 NPC (p = 0.041), small tumor volume (p = 0.012), higher KPS (p p = 0.007) had better outcomes after GKS treatment, suggesting that it is a viable treatment modality for NPC. We also suggest that detailed brain imaging studies may enable the early detection of intracranial invasion

Visualizing the perturbation of cellular cyclic di-GMP levels in bacterial cells

Cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) has emerged as a prominent intracellular messenger that coordinates biofilm formation and pathogenicity in many bacterial species. Developing genetically encoded biosensors for c-di-GMP will help us understand how bacterial cells respond to environmental changes via the modulation of cellular c-di-GMP levels. Here we report the design of two genetically encoded c-di-GMP fluorescent biosensors with complementary dynamic ranges. By using the biosensors, we found that several compounds known to promote biofilm dispersal trigger a decline in c-di-GMP levels in Escherichia coli cells. In contrast, cellular c-di-GMP levels were elevated when the bacterial cells were treated with subinhibitory concentrations of biofilm-promoting antibiotics. The biosensors also revealed that E. coli cells engulfed by macrophages exhibit lower c-di-GMP levels, most likely as a response to the enormous pressures of survival during phagocytosis.Accepted versio

The risk of cataractogenesis after gamma knife radiosurgery: a nationwide population based case-control study

Abstract Background Medical radiation is considered a factor responsible for cataractogenesis. However, the incidence of this ophthalmologic complication resulting from gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) has not yet been reported. The present study aimed to determine the risk of cataractogenesis associated with radiation exposure from GKRS. Methods This study used information from a random sample of one million persons enrolled in the nationally representative Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The GK group consisted of patients who underwent GKRS between 2000 and 2009. The non-GK group was composed of subjects who had never undergone GKRS, but who were matched with the case group for time of enrollment, age, sex, history of coronary artery disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Results There were 277 patients in the GK group and 2770 matched subjects in the non-GK group. The GK group had a higher overall incidence of cataracts (10.11% vs. 7.26%; crude hazard ratio [cHR], 1.59; 95% CI, 1.07–2.36; adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.25; 95% CI, 0.82–1.90) than the non-GK group. Patients who had undergone computed tomography and/or cerebral angiography (CT/angio) studies had a higher risk of developing cataracts than those who did not (10.82% vs. 6.64%; cHR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.31–2.30; aHR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.22–2.23). The age group between 30 and 50 years had the highest risk of cataractogenesis in both the GK and CT/angio groups (cHR, 3.50; 95% CI, 1.58–7.72; aHR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.02–5.81; cHR, 2.96; 95% CI, 1.47–5.99; aHR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.05–4.93, respectively). Conclusions Radiation exposure due to GKRS and CT/angio study may be independently associated with increased risk of cataractogenesis. We suggest routine dosimetry measurement of eye lens and proper protection for patients with benign lesions during GKRS. Regular follow-up imaging studies should avoid the use of CT/angio, and particular care should be taken in the 30–50-year-old age group, due to their significantly increased risk of cataract formation

Simvastatin Combined with Antioxidant Attenuates the Cerebral Vascular Endothelial Inflammatory Response in a Rat Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) leads to important and deleterious neuroinflammation, as evidenced by indicators such as edema, cytokine production, induction of nitric oxide synthase, and leukocyte infiltration. After TBI, cerebral vascular endothelial cells play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of inflammation. In our previous study, we proved that simvastatin could attenuate cerebral vascular endothelial inflammatory response in a rat traumatic brain injury. This purpose of this study was to determine whether simvastatin combined with an antioxidant could produce the same effect or greater and to examine affected surrogate biomarkers for the neuroinflammation after traumatic brain injury in rat. In our study, cortical contusions were induced, and the effect of acute and continuous treatment of simvastatin and vitamin C on behavior and inflammation in adult rats following experimental TBI was evaluated. The results demonstrated that simvastatin combined with an antioxidant could provide neuroprotection and it may be attributed to a dampening of cerebral vascular endothelial inflammatory response