No abstract

Transcervical mediastinal drainage is first justified in patients with limited disease in the upper mediastinum. For those with involvement of the lower anterior mediastinum, an additional subxiphoid approach is suggested. Cervicotomy with video-assisted mediastinal drainage is an excellent combination for involvement of the posterior mediastinum and pleural space. Klebsiella pneumoniae uniquely represents the most important and threatening causative pathogen for diabetic patients with descending necrotizing mediastinitis.

Purpose: Activity of glutathione S-transferase (GST) is associated with detoxification of xenobiotics and the maintenance of cell viability. Genetically variant GSTs produce different enzymatic activities.The clinical significance of this variation is still puzzling.We investigated whether genetic polymorphisms of GST including GSTP1, GSTM1, and GSTT1 affect survival among esophageal cancer patients. Experimental Design: From1996 to 2002, 233 patients with pathologically proven esophageal cancer were recruited from the Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital. GST genotypes, including GSTT1, GSTM1, and GSTP1, were determined by PCR or PCR-RFLP. The influence of the genetic polymorphisms on patient survival was estimated using the method of Kaplan-Meier survival function and Cox proportional hazards models. Results: The mean survival times (months) of the GSTP1 Ile/Ile, Ile/Val, and Val/Val were 11, 10, and 7, respectively (P < 0.05). The more the patients carried GSTP1 variant Val alleles, the poorer the survival rate (adjusted hazard ratio,1.36; 95% confidence interval,1.01-1.84; P trend = 0.045). In contrast, no association of GSTT1 or GSTM1 genotypes with survival rate was noted. Conclusion:The presence of the GSTP1 variant allele (Val) is associated with a poorer prognosis of esophageal cancer.

Prior use of antiplatelet agents was associated with a survival benefit in sepsis patients.

Repeated isolation of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) from respiratory secretions poses a great challenge for infection control. We conducted a retrospective case-control study to evaluate the efficacy and adverse effect of inhaled colistin methanesulfonate (CMS) in the eradication of MDRAB from the respiratory tract. Patients who were admitted to Taipei Veterans General Hospital between February 2009 and June 2010, had at least two sets of monomicrobial culture of MDRAB from respiratory secretions, and remained in hospital for at least 14 days after the first isolation of MDRAB (index day) were included. Patients who received intravenous CMS were excluded. Patients who received CMS inhalation for ≥ 3 days were selected as cases whereas the controls were matched for age and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score. Thirty-nine cases and controls were identified. The duration of CMS inhalation was 10.9 ± 3.6 days. The use of inhaled CMS was the only independent factor associated with the eradication of MDRAB within 14 days after the index day (OR 266.33; 95% CI 11.26-6302.18, p <0.001), and shortened the duration of MDRAB recovery from the respiratory tract by 13.3 ± 1.45 days. The adverse effects were similar for both groups. The increase of colistin minimal inhibitory concentrations in the last isolate compared with the index isolate from the same patient did not differ between the two groups. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that inhaled CMS enhanced the eradication of MDRAB from the respiratory tract without significant clinical adverse effect or impact on colistin resistance.

Our study demonstrated improved progression-free and overall survival after main tumor and visible pleural nodule resection in patients with lung adenocarcinoma with intraoperatively diagnosed pleural seeding. Further randomized trials are needed to define the role of main tumor resection in these patients.

Although associated with intense immediate chest pain, additional minocycline pleurodesis is a safe and convenient procedure that can reduce the rate of ipsilateral recurrence after thoracoscopic treatment for primary spontaneous pneumothorax.

Although oral antidiabetic drugs (OADs) have been associated with immunomodulation in preclinical studies, little is still known about the association between the use of OADs and the risk of sepsis. Using a cohort of patients, extracted from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database, with type 2 diabetes who were newly diagnosed between 2010 and 2012 and treated with OADs, we conducted a nested case-control study involving 43,015 cases (patients who were first hospitalized for sepsis) and 43,015 matched controls. Compared with non-use, metformin use was associated with a decreased risk of developing sepsis (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.77–0.83, P < 0.001), but meglitinide (adjusted OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.25–1.40, P < 0.001) use was associated with the increased risk of developing sepsis. The risk for development of sepsis was also lower among current (adjusted OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.78–0.96) and recent (adjusted OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.73–0.94) thiazolidinedione users. Current or recent sulfonylurea use and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor use were not significantly associated with the development of sepsis. Our results highlight the need to consider the potential pleiotropic effect of OADs against sepsis in addition to the lowering of blood glucose.