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Introduction: We investigated health service utilization, including hospitalizations and emergency department visits, for women with hyperglycemia in pregnancy between 2008 and 2017 in Taiwan. Methods: Data from the Health and Welfare Data Science Center were used to conduct this nationwide population-based study. We identified pregnant women and the date of childbirth according to Birth Certificate Applications from 2007 to 2018. The study population was divided into four groups: known DM, newly diagnosed DM, GDM, and no DM/GDM. To assess quality of healthcare during the gestation period, trends in 30-day readmission rate, number of emergency department visits/hospitalizations per 100 childbirths, and length of hospital stay from 2008 to 2017 were examined. Results: A total of 1830511 childbirths and 990569 hospitalizations were identified for analyses. Between 2008 and 2017, women with hyperglycemia in pregnancy (known DM, newly diagnosed DM, and GDM) had a higher rate of hospitalization, a longer length of hospital stay, and higher rates of various maternal and fetal outcomes, compared with women with no DM/GDM. Nevertheless, the differences between women with GDM and those with no DM/GDM in the aforementioned outcome measures were modest. Women with GDM had a modest decrease in the 30-day readmission rate (p for trend 0.046) with no significant difference in the number of emergency department visits during the study period. Discussion: Our findings provide evidence of the quality of healthcare for women with GDM between 2008 and 2017 in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From January 1987 to December 2011, over a total of 25 years, 84 patients with Cushing's syndrome (CS) were identified at a medical center in southern Taiwan. We observed a higher incidence of ACTH-independent CS (75%) than ACTH-dependent CS (25%). A higher incidence of adrenocortical adenoma (58.3%) than Cushing's disease (CD, 21.4%) was also found. The sensitivity of the definitive diagnostic tests for CS, including loss of plasma cortisol circadian rhythm, a baseline 24 h urinary free cortisol (UFC) value >80 ..g, and overnight and 2-day low-dose dexamethasone suppression test, was between 94.4% and 100%. For the 2-day high-dose dexamethasone suppression test for the differential diagnosis of CD, the sensitivity of 0800 h plasma cortisol and 24 h UFC was 44.4% and 85.7%, respectively. For the differential diagnosis of adrenal CS, the sensitivities of the 0800 h plasma cortisol and 24 h UFC were 95.5% and 88.9%, respectively. In patients with ACTH-independent CS and ACTH-dependent CS, the baseline plasma ACTH levels were all below 29 pg/mL and above 37 pg/mL, respectively. The postsurgical hospitalization stay following retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy was shorter than that observed for transabdominal adrenalectomy (4.3 ± 1.6 versus 8.8 ± 3.7 days, P < 0.001). It was easy to develop retroperitoneal and peritoneal seeding of adrenocortical carcinoma via laparoscopic adrenalectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of a once-yearly zoledronic acid treatment for Chinese women with postmenopausal osteoporosis in Taiwan and Hong Kong. This post hoc subpopulation analysis, from the Health Outcome and Reduced Incidence with Zoledronic Acid One Yearly Pivotal Fracture Trial, enrolled 323 Chinese women with osteoporosis who were randomly given either annual infusions of zoledronic acid or placebo for 3 consecutive years. The incidence of fractures and changes in bone mineral density (BMD) were measured; adverse events (AEs) and tolerability were recorded and assessed. The results of this study at 36 months demonstrate that there was a significantly reduced risk of morphometric vertebral fracture and clinical vertebral fracture in subjects treated with zoledronic acid (P < 0.05). In addition, there were significant increases of BMD by 4.9%, 4.3%, and 7.0% in the total hip, femoral neck, and trochanter, respectively, in the zoledronic acid group compared with the placebo group (P < 0.001 for all comparisons). The incidences of AEs were comparable between the two groups. Thus, once-yearly zoledronic acid treatment showed bone protection effects by reducing the risk of vertebral fracture and increasing BMD in Chinese women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of weekly alendronate administration on male osteoporosis in Taiwan. This 6-month, randomized, open-label controlled trial enrolled 46 men with osteoporosis who were randomized to either 70 mg alendronate once weekly (n = 23) or control (n = 23). Bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine and hip and biochemical bone turnover markers were measured; adverse events and tolerability were assessed. Subjects treated with alendronate showed a significant increase in BMD of 5.5% (vs. 2% in control group) at the lumbar spine and 2.7% (vs. 0.7%) at the femoral neck (P < 0.05) at 6 months, respectively. There were also significant decreases in serum level of bone formation marker (bone-specific alkaline phosphatase) and urinary excretion of bone resorption marker (deoxypyridinoline) at 3 and 6 months. Thus, alendronate showed anti-osteoporotic effects by increasing BMD and decreasing the concentrations of bone markers. The adverse events were mild and showed no significant difference between the two groups on safety assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]