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Tumors of the supraclavicular fossa (SC) is clinically challenging because of anatomical complexity and tumor pathological diversity. Because of varied diseases entities and treatment choices of SC tumors, making the accurate decision among numerous differential diagnoses is imperative. Sampling by open biopsy (OB) remains the standard procedure for pathological confirmation. However, complicated anatomical structures of SC always render surgical intervention difficult to perform. Ultrasound-guided core biopsy (USCB) is a minimally invasive and office-based procedure for tissue sampling widely applied in many diseases of head and neck. This study aims to evaluate the clinical efficacy and utility of using USCB as the sampling method of SC tumors. From 2009 to 2014, consecutive patients who presented clinical symptoms and signs of supraclavicular tumors and were scheduled to receive sampling procedures for diagnostic confirmation were recruited. The patients received USCB or OB respectively in the initial tissue sampling. The accurate diagnostic rate based on pathological results was 90.2% for USCB, and 93.6% for OB. No significant difference was noted between USCB and OB groups in terms of diagnostic accuracy and the percentage of inadequate specimens. All cases in the USCB group had the sampling procedure completed within 10 minutes, but not in the OB group. No scars larger than 1 cm were found in USCB. Only patients in the OB groups had the need to receive general anesthesia and hospitalization and had scars postoperatively. Accordingly, USCB can serve as the first-line sampling tool for SC tumors with high diagnostic accuracy, minimal invasiveness, and low medical cost.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) can be an ideal treatment in cirrhotic patients with ascites and chronic kidney disease stage 5 (CKD 5D) who require dialysis. The survival of cirrhotic patients with CKD 5D on PD, however, is not clear. We compared the survival of cirrhotic patients with CKD 5D on PD and the survival of those on HD. Two datasets including a cohort study of China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) from 2004 to 2013 and the Longitudinal National Health Insurance Database for Catastrophic Illness Patients (LHID-CIP) of Taiwan from 1996 to 2011 were analyzed. The survival of cirrhotic patients on PD and the propensity score matched cirrhotic patients on HD were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression. In CMUH cohort of 85 PD and 340 HD patients, the all-cause mortality was lower in PD patients compared to it in HD patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.48, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31–0.74, P

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text, Cardiovascular complications remain the major problems contributing to morbidity and mortality in patients with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Therefore, the authors hypothesized that atrial fibrillation (AF) is closely associated with PKD. The authors conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study to investigate the risk of AF in patients with PKD. Using data from inpatient claims, the authors enrolled 7203 patients aged over 20 years who were diagnosed with PKD from 1998 to 2010 with no history of AF as the PKD cohort. They randomly selected 28,739 people without PKD as controls and frequency matched them with patients with PKD according to their age, sex, and baseline comorbidity. In total, 247 PKD patients were diagnosed with AF, representing an incidence of 7.08 per 1000 person-years, whereas 807 cases of AF occurred in the comparison cohort, yielding an incidence of 4.98 per 1000 person-y, with an adjusted HR (aHR) of 1.31 (95% CI = 1.14–1.51). The risk of AF increased from an aHR of 1.59 (95% CI = 1.15–2.21) to 3.64 (95% CI = 1.93–6.85) when the number of risk factors increased from 1 to more than 5 in comparison with patients without risk factors. A remarkably high incidence rate and risk was observed in patients with PKD when multiple risk factors were combined. A high index of suspicion should be maintained when examining PKD patients with irregular betas. Early prophylactic therapy is warranted in these patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS). Information about the study participants was extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan for the years 1999 through 2011. We conducted this retrospective cohort study of patients with ARAS to identify the potential risk factors associated with long-term renal outcomes. A total of 2184 patients with ARAS were enrolled, of whom 840 had ESRD and were classified as the study group, and 1344 patients who were without ESRD were included in the comparison cohort. After adjusting for related variables, univariable, and multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that ESRD was associated with higher Charlson-comorbidity index (CCI) score (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 6.78, 95% CI = 4.59–10.0 for CCI = 2; adjusted OR = 20.0, 95% CI = 13.7–29.2 for CCI ≥3), diabetes (adjusted OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.24–1.93), hypertension (adjusted OR = 3.66, 95% CI = 2.36–5.66), and age 20 to 49-years old (adjusted OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.51–3.03). Moreover, our data showed that renal artery revascularization (RAR) was significantly associated with a lower risk of ESRD in ARAS patients (crude OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.50–0.84). Our study is the first to disclose that CCI score was significantly associated with the risk of ESRD in ARAS patients, and comorbid diseases including diabetes mellitus and hypertension significantly affect renal outcomes in patients with ARAS. Of note, our data showed that renal artery revascularization was associated with a lower risk of ESRD in ARAS patients in long-term follow-up.

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are more at risk for pneumonia than the general population. Patients with pneumonia are usually treated as outpatients. However, previous studies were conducted on the basis of inpatient pneumonia. This method may underestimate the risk of pneumonia in patients with CKD. Therefore, we investigated the risk of pneumonia among CKD patients in both outpatient and inpatient settings. A total of 15,562 patients with CKD and 62,109 individuals without CKD (matched for age and gender) were taken as subjects in the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database of Taiwan National Insurance from 1996 to 2010. The incidence density rates of inpatient and outpatient pneumonia were calculated. The risk factors associated with pneumonia were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard models with adjustments for confounders. The incidence density rate of pneumonia was 65.6 per 1000 person-years in patients with CKD and 28.4 per 1000 person-years in individuals without CKD. The incidence density rate of inpatient pneumonia was 43.3 per 1000 person-years in patients with CKD and 16.6 per 1000 person-years in individuals without CKD. CKD was associated with increased risk of pneumonia (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.89–2.05; P

Hypertension, blood pressure variation, and resistant hypertension have close relations to sleep apnea, which lead to target organ damage, including the kidney. The complex relationships between sleep apnea and blood pressure cause their interactions with chronic kidney disease ambiguous. The aim of the study was to elucidate the separate and joint effects of sleep apnea, hypertension, and resistant hypertension on chronic kidney disease. A cross-sectional study was done to see the associations of sleep apnea, hypertension, and resistant hypertension with chronic kidney disease in 998 subjects underwent overnight polysomnography without device-therapy or surgery for their sleep-disordered breathing. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the severity of SA, hypertension stage, resistant hypertension, and their joint effects on CKD. The multivariable relative odds (95% CI) of chronic kidney disease for the aged (age ≥65 years), severe sleep apnea, stage III hypertension, and resistant hypertension were 3.96 (2.57–6.09) (P

The pathogenesis of gallstone disease is multifactorial. Few studies have focused on gallbladder stones in the chronic kidney disease population in Taiwan. We conducted the current study to determine the prevalence of gallbladder stones in populations with and without chronic kidney disease.This was a hospital-based, cross-sectional study. We retrospectively analyzed the patients receiving periodic health examinations at 1 medical center in Taiwan from 2001 to 2004. In all, 4773 patients were enrolled in the study. Chronic kidney disease was defined as a glomerular filtration rate less than 60 mL/min per 1.73 m by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were expressed using a multivariate logistic regression analysis.We studied 2686 men (56.3%) and 2087 women (43.7%). The mean age was 49.1 +/- 12.2 years (range, 20-87 yr). The prevalence of gallbladder stones was 13.1% in the group of patients with chronic kidney disease and 4.9% in the group of patients without chronic kidney disease (p0.001). After controlling for the other covariates, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that increasing age (aged 40-64 yr vs. 20-39 yr, OR = 3.06, 95% CI = 1.81-5.15; andor =65 yr vs. 20-39 yr, OR = 6.13, 95% CI = 3.42-10.98), chronic kidney disease (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.01-2.47), body mass indexor =27 kg/m (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.02-1.91), metabolic syndrome (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = 1.08-1.94), and cirrhosis (OR = 4.23, 95% CI = 1.25-14.29) were significantly related to gallbladder stone disease.The prevalence of gallbladder stones in patients with chronic kidney disease is significantly higher than in those without chronic kidney disease. Our findings suggest that increasing age, chronic kidney disease, body mass indexor =27 kg/m, metabolic syndrome, and cirrhosis are the related factors for gallbladder stone formation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in patients with atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS). Information about the study participants was extracted from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan for the years 1999 through 2011. We conducted this retrospective cohort study of patients with ARAS to identify the potential risk factors associated with long-term renal outcomes. A total of 2184 patients with ARAS were enrolled, of whom 840 had ESRD and were classified as the study group, and 1344 patients who were without ESRD were included in the comparison cohort. After adjusting for related variables, univariable, and multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that ESRD was associated with higher Charlson-comorbidity index (CCI) score (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 6.78, 95% CI = 4.59–10.0 for CCI = 2; adjusted OR = 20.0, 95% CI = 13.7–29.2 for CCI ≥3), diabetes (adjusted OR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.24–1.93), hypertension (adjusted OR = 3.66, 95% CI = 2.36–5.66), and age 20 to 49-years old (adjusted OR = 2.14, 95% CI = 1.51–3.03). Moreover, our data showed that renal artery revascularization (RAR) was significantly associated with a lower risk of ESRD in ARAS patients (crude OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.50–0.84). Our study is the first to disclose that CCI score was significantly associated with the risk of ESRD in ARAS patients, and comorbid diseases including diabetes mellitus and hypertension significantly affect renal outcomes in patients with ARAS. Of note, our data showed that renal artery revascularization was associated with a lower risk of ESRD in ARAS patients in long-term follow-up.