Search

BACKGROUND: Cherry angiomas (CAs) are very common asymptomatic vascular skin lesions. There are only a few studies on CAs in the literature and those assessing risk factors of CAs are scarce. The aim of our study was to determine risk factors for the development of CAs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A case–control study was conducted at a tertiary care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Patients underwent a full-body examination for CAs. Demographics and other data including medical history and medications were extracted from electronic medical records. RESULTS: A total of three hundred patients were enrolled: one hundred cases with at least five CAs and two hundred controls without CAs. Bivariate analysis identified benign prostatic hyperplasia (odds ratio [OR]: = 2.591), malignancy (OR = 2.567), tamsulosin (OR = 3.171), and clopidogrel (OR = 0.321) as statistically significant associations. After multivariate logistic regression analysis, only tamsulosin (OR = 3.475, P = 0.009) and clopidogrel (OR = 0.281, P = 0.028) were found to be independent risk factors for CAs. Malignancies tended to be more associated with CAs, but this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.07). CONCLUSION: Tamsulosin is a possible risk factor for the development of CAs. Clopidogrel seems to have a protective role preventing the development of CAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization Versus Drug-Eluting Beads for Treatment of Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis" by Mohammad Arabi and others, is presented.

Aim: To assess the efficacy and safety of Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitors in patients with Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) using level 1 evidence., Methods: The Cochrane and PubMed databases were searched from inception until January 1, 2022. RCTs that studied the efficacy and safety of DPP-4 inhibitors in diabetic patients with CKD were included. The primary efficacy outcome was assessed as the mean difference between HbA1c at the beginning and the end of each study for each arm, and the primary safety outcome was assessed as the incidence of adverse events and severe adverse events in each study., Results: Twenty-one studies satisfied the pre-defined eligibility criteria. In assessing the efficacy of DPP-4 inhibitors in the treatment of T2DM and CKD, a total of 2917 patients under the DPP-4 inhibitors group and 2377 patients under the control group were included; The mean difference between the HbA1c of DPP-4 Inhibitor and the control group was -0.5295 with a 95% CI of -0.5337 to -0.5252. The included studies had high heterogeneity p < 0.00001 and I 2 = 99%. In assessing the safety outcome and tolerability of DPP-4 inhibitors, a total of 8138 patients under the DPP-4 inhibitors group and 7517 patients under the control group were included; the odds ratio of adverse events between both groups was 0.9967 with a 95% CI of 0.9967 to 1.1047. The included studies had low heterogeneity p = 0.25 and I 2 = 15%. The overall effect, Z = 0.06 (p = 0.95), was insignificant., Conclusion: Patients suffering from both T2DM and CKD exhibited a significantly enhanced glycemic control when treated with DPP-4 inhibitors in comparison to the control group. Furthermore, no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events was observed between the DPP-4 inhibitors and the control group., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Mahzari et al.)