Left ventricular endocardial ecchinococcosis associated with multiple intracranial hydatid cysts

Cardiac ecchinococcosis is a rare disease. Its incidence varies from 0.02-2%. Commonly seen in the left ventricle arising from the myocardium in the subepicardial region. We report a 15-year-old boy presented with a rare combination of a left ventricular subendocardial hydatid cyst associated with multiple cysts in the left cerebral hemisphere and right posterior occipital lobe. The patient underwent successful surgical excision of the left ventricular hydatid cyst using cardiopulmonary bypass

A systematic review on intervention programs to improve activity of daily living status and health related quality of life

Background: Health related quality of life is gaining importance in examining people’s health outcomes. It is related to how good or bad people’s lives are, and to the degree of their overall wellbeing and life satisfaction level. Independency in self-care and basic activity of daily living is among the most crucial elements that could potentially affect people’s health related quality of life. The objectives of this review are to determine related studies that examined various interventions to improve the functional ability of patients with chronic diseases or injuries on health related quality of life and to identify the most common types of interventions, instruments, as well as studies designs. Materials and Methods: Literature review was performed through an electronic search of the related studies using the words “Activity of Daily Living”, and “Intervention”. Different electronic search engines were utilized, including PubMed, Science Direct, CINHAL and Medline. A specific search criterion were applied to include scientific journal articles with experimental design, written in English language and published from 2010 to 2016. Those articles that did not measure activity of daily living and health related quality of life together using standardized measures, pilot study or still in proposal stage, were excluded. Result: Thirty six experimental studies were eligible for inclusion. Twelve studies conducted on elderly, 7 for stroke, 6 for dementia whereas 9 studies for different kind of health conditions. Among those 36 studies, 26 studies were Randomized Control Trial design while 10 studies were quasi or other type of experimental design. Conclusion: Randomized Control Trials was used more frequently as an experimental design. Most of the interventions were rehabilitation and physiotherapy in nature. Barthel index was identified to be the most common instrument used to measure activity of daily living, whereas SF36 and EQ5D instruments were most commonly used for health related quality of life

Impact of 'ADL self-management module' on health related quality of life among road traffic accidents’ patients: a quasi-experimental research approach

Background: Road traffic accidents represent a community and governmental concern in Saudi Arabia and worldwide. In addition, road traffic accidents injuries are among the main causes of physical impairment and functional dependency. Therefore, performance of activity of daily living of those injured patients are severely affected due to loss of independence. Subsequently, quality of life is affected as well. Objective: To develop, implement and evaluate the impact of “ADL self-management module” on health related quality of life among road traffic accidents’ patients. Methods/design: A quasi experimental study design will be conducted in Saudi Arabia in which 152 orthopedic patients with lower extremities fractures due to road traffic accidents who have difficulty in carrying out daily activity will be recruited from the study hospitals based on Barthel Index. The patients in the intervention group will provided with the ADL Self-Management Module in a form of an educational material. They will be supplemented in that module with knowledge, skills and confidence to engage in self-management of activity of daily living tasks independently, whereas the control group will receive the usual care. Descriptive analysis, chi square and Generalized Estimation Equation, Independent t test will be used to test the differences of activity of daily living and health related quality of life between and within the groups. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first experimental study that will conducted in Saudi Arabia on ADL self-management to improve the quality of life of Road Traffic Accident survivors who have difficulty in performing daily activities

HSP70 Expression Signature in Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Clinical and Bioinformatic Analysis Approach

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are cytoprotective against stressful conditions, as in the case of cancer cell metabolism. Scientists proposed that HSP70 might be implicated in increased cancer cell survival. This study aimed to investigate the HSP70 (HSPA4) gene expression signature in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in correlation to cancer subtype, stage, grade, and recurrence, combining both clinicopathological and in silico analysis approaches. One hundred and thirty archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples, including 65 RCC tissue specimens and their paired non-cancerous tissues, were included in the study. Total RNA was extracted from each sample and analyzed using TaqMan quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction. Correlation and validation to the available clinicopathological data and results were executed. Upregulated HSP70 (HSPA4) gene expression was evident in RCC compared to non-cancer tissues in the studied cohort and was validated by in silico analysis. Furthermore, HSP70 expression levels showed significant positive correlations with cancer size, grade, and capsule infiltration, as well as recurrence in RCC patients. The expression levels negatively correlated with the overall survival (r = −0.87, p < 0.001). Kaplan–Meier curves showed lower survival rates in high HSP70 expressor group compared to the low expressors. In conclusion, the HSP70 expression levels are associated with poor RCC prognosis in terms of advanced grade, capsule infiltration, recurrence, and short survival