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Background: Left ventricular thrombus (LVT) may develop in systolic heart failure or after acute myocardial infarction. The current recommendations support the use of vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) for the treatment of LVT. Limited data exist regarding the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with LVT. This meta-analysis aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of DOACs versus VKAs for LVT. Methods: We performed a comprehensive literature search using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases through November 2020 for all studies that evaluated the efficacy and safety of DOACs versus VKAs in patients with LVT. The primary outcomes were LVT resolution, overall thromboembolic events, and thromboembolic stroke. The secondary outcomes were major bleeding and all-cause mortality. Pooled risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were obtained by the Mantel–Haenszel method within a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed by I 2 statistic. Results: A total of 11 studies including 2153 patients with LVT on anticoagulation (570 on DOACs vs. 1583 on VKAs) were included. LVT resolution was significantly higher in DOACs compared with VKAs [RR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.04–1.35); P = 0.01, I 2 = 25%]. However, no significant difference existed between DOACs and VKAs regarding overall thromboembolic events [RR: 1.10 (95% CI: 0.75–1.62); P = 0.61, I 2 = 0%] and thromboembolic stroke [RR: 0.63 (95% CI: 0.39–1.02); P = 0.06, I 2 = 0%]. Major bleeding [RR: 1.00 (95% CI: 0.66–1.51); P = 0.99, I 2 = 4%] and all-cause mortality [RR: 0.84 (95% CI: 0.50–1.43); P = 0.53, I 2 = 0%] were similar between the 2 groups. Conclusions: DOACs seem to be more efficacious in achieving LVT resolution compared with VKAs. However, there was no significant difference between the 2 groups in thromboembolic events, major bleeding, and all-cause mortality. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm our findings.

Background Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is increasingly used to treat esophageal achalasia, but is associated with a high rate of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The aim of our meta-analysis was to compare short and standard POEM in terms of clinical success and postoperative GERD. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that compared POEM using short myotomy with standard myotomy. The primary outcome was clinical success. Secondary outcomes were postoperative GERD, perioperative complications, operation time, and length of hospital stay. A random-effects model was used to calculate the risk ratios (RR), mean differences (MD), and confidence intervals (CI). A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results We included 5 studies involving 474 esophageal achalasia patients. Short and standard myotomies were similar in terms of clinical success (RR 1.02, 95%CI 0.97-1.09), perioperative complications (RR 0.68, 95%CI 0.26-1.75), and length of hospital stay (MD 0.25 days, 95%CI -0.14-0.63). Operation time was shorter for short myotomy (MD -15.01 mins, 95%CI -20.34 - -9.67). Although reflux symptoms were similar (RR 0.94, 95%CI 0.51-1.74), short myotomy had a lower risk of reflux esophagitis on endoscopy (RR 0.61, 95%CI 0.39-0.98), and pathologic acid exposure on pH monitoring (RR 0.58, 95%CI 0.36-0.94). Conclusions POEM using a shorter myotomy is comparable with standard myotomy in terms of efficacy and safety in the short-term setting. A short myotomy requires a shorter operation time and might reduce the occurrence of postoperative GERD.

AIMTo investigate the differences in family history of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and clinical outcomes among individuals with Crohn’s disease (CD) residing in China and the United States.METHODSWe performed a survey-based cross-sectional study of participants with CD recruited from China and the United States. We compared the prevalence of IBD family history and history of ileal involvement, CD-related surgeries and IBD medications in China and the United States, adjusting for potential confounders.RESULTSWe recruited 49 participants from China and 145 from the United States. The prevalence of family history of IBD was significantly lower in China compared with the United States (China: 4.1%, United States: 39.3%). The three most commonly affected types of relatives were cousin, sibling, and parent in the United States compared with child and sibling in China. Ileal involvement (China: 63.3%, United States: 63.5%) and surgery for CD (China: 51.0%, United States: 49.7%) were nearly equivalent in the two countries.CONCLUSIONThe lower prevalence of familial clustering of IBD in China may suggest that the etiology of CD is less attributed to genetic background or a family-shared environment compared with the United States. Despite the potential difference in etiology, surgery and ileal involvement were similar in the two countries. Examining the changes in family history during the continuing rise in IBD may provide further insight into the etiology of CD.

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Biologics have emerged as an effective treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, there is a significant proportion of patients who fail to respond to biologics. Identifying the predictors that affect the response to biologics remains challenging. A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases was conducted through May 1, 2022. We included all studies that used a multivariate model to assess for the predictors of remission in RA patients treated with biologics. We calculated pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for risk factors reported in ≥ 3 studies using a random-effects model. A total of 16,934 patients with RA who were treated with biologics were included in twenty-one studies. Our study showed that old age (OR 0.98 (0.97, 0.99), P < 0.00001), female gender (OR 0.66 (0.56, 0.77), P < 0.00001), smoking history (OR 0.86 (0.75, 0.99), P 0.04), obesity (OR 0.95 (0.91, 0.99), P 0.02), poor functional status (OR 0.62 (0.48, 1.27), P < 0.00001), high disease activity (OR 0.90 (0.85, 0.96), P 0.0005), and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (OR 0.99 (0.98, 1.00), P 0.009) were poor predictors of remission. On the other hand, positive anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (OR 2.52 (1.53, 4.12), P 0.0003) was associated with high remission rate. Old age, female gender, obesity, smoking history, poor functional status, high disease activity, and elevated ESR at the time of diagnosis have been associated with poor response to biologics. Our findings could help establish a risk stratification model for predicting the remission rate in RA patients receiving biologics.

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