METHODS: A total of 108 pleural, peritoneal, and pericardial effusions/washings diagnosed as unequivocally reactive (n = 41) and metastatic carcinoma (n = 67) by cytomorphology over 18 months were reviewed. Among the metastatic carcinoma cases, 54 were adenocarcinoma and others were squamous cell carcinoma (n = 1), carcinosarcoma (n = 1), and carcinoma of undefined histological subtypes (n = 11). Cell block sections were immunostained by EZH2 (Cell Marque, USA). The percentages of EZH2-immunolabeled cells over the total cells of interest were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine the optimal cut-off score to define EZH2 immunopositivity.
RESULTS: A threshold of 8% EZH2-immunolabeled cells allows distinction between malignant and reactive mesothelial cells, with 95.5% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predictive value, and 93.2% negative predictive value (p < 0.0001). The area under the curve was 0.988.
CONCLUSION: EZH2 is a promising diagnostic biomarker for malignancy in effusion cytology which is inexpensive yet trustworthy and could potentially be used routinely in countries under considerable economic constraints.
Methods: A total of 568 adolescents were participated in quantitative surveys, and of these participating adolescents, 6 were further invited to join focus group interviews.
Findings: Quantitative findings supported the mediating role of communication disturbance in the relationships between phone obsession and familial connectedness, school connectedness, and self-connectedness, but not for friendship connectedness. Qualitative findings further elucidated the detrimental effect of phone obsession on their sense of belonging from the perspectives of adolescents.
Conclusion: This study reaffirms that phubbing behaviour is predictive of social disconnectedness. Therefore, preventive and treatment interventions should be developed to avoid and control a potential risk of social disconnectedness epidemics attribute to phubbing.
METHODS: The medical records of all patients who underwent breast lump excision under AAA in combination with electrical stimulation at traditional acupuncture points in 2016 were examined. All of them (n = 17) received electrostimulation (2-4 Hz) using single needles inserted at bilateral LI4 and PC6. They also underwent insertion of four acupuncture needles at the lump site, which were electrically stimulated at 30 Hz frequency.
RESULTS: All surgical procedures were successful with minimal use of analgesics and local anesthetic. The median pain score reported was 1/10 (interquartile range (IQR) = 2/10) at the first hour, and slightly increased to 2/10 (IQR = 2/10) between 24 and 48 h of the surgery. No major postoperative adverse events were documented, except for drowsiness in one case.
CONCLUSION: AAA was found to be generally safe and effective for anaesthesia and analgesia in breast lump excision. However, a large-scale randomized controlled study is required to verify the findings.
Methodology: Initially, we interviewed 85 patients with established glaucoma who underwent Humphrey visual field (HVF) testing and also reviewed their medical notes. We looked for documentation of their driving status, specifically whether those with bilateral visual field (VF) defects recalled being given advice about the dangers of driving and whether this was documented in the notes. After this initial audit, doctors were educated on the availability of guidelines on visual requirements for driving, and reminder adhesive labels were put on the front of medical notes of driving glaucoma patients. A follow-up audit was then performed on 95 different patients.
Results: In the initial audit, none of the patients had their driving status recorded. Only 36% of drivers with bilateral VF defects recalled being advised of the dangers of driving, with no documentation of whether the advice was given to them. Following the interventions, documentation of driving status became 86%. All drivers with bilateral VF defects recalled being advised regarding the dangers of driving, with documentation of the advice being given recorded in 73% of the medical notes.
Conclusion: Eye doctors are inadequately identifying, advising, and documenting the dangers of driving in the medical notes of glaucoma patients with bilateral VF defects. This can be improved with simple interventions, such as the education of doctors and creating reminder labels, for the benefit of our glaucoma patients.