Taipei Veterans General Hospital

About: Taipei Veterans General Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Cancer. The organization has 11878 authors who have published 16478 publications receiving 363424 citations. The organization is also known as: Táiběi Róngmín Zǒngyī Yuàn.

Prognostic Value and Clinical Relevance of the 6th Edition 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging System in Patients with Resectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract: Background A simplified American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) TNM staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (the 6th edition) was proposed in 2002. In this study, we validated the prognostic value of the staging system in a patient cohort undergoing hepatic resection with longterm followup. Study design From a prospective database, the study cohort consisted of 440 patients who underwent curative hepatic resection for HCC between July 1991 and January 1999. Median followup time was 66 months. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify the independent prognostic factors related to postoperative survival. Patients were staged according to both the 5th edition (TNM-5) and 6th edition (TNM-6) AJCC TNM staging criteria. Results The independent prognostic factors included major vascular invasion, microvascular invasion, surgical margin 10%, multiple tumors, tumor rupture, male, and serum aspartate aminotransferase > 90 U/L. The breakdown by TNM-5 staging: I, 27 (6.1%); II, 108 (24.5%); III, 218 (49.5%); and IVA, 87 (19.8%) and by TNM-6 staging: I, 120 (27.3%); II, 170 (38.6%); and III, 150 (34.1%). When stratified according to the TNM-5 system, difference in survival was notable between stages II and IIIA (p 0.05). When stratified according to the TNM-6 system, difference in survival was considerable between stages I and II (p Conclusions Overall, the TNM-6 staging system appears to provide a reliable prognostic classification of HCC patients and is simpler to use than the TNM-5 staging system.

The ‘hot cross bun’ sign in the patients with spinocerebellar ataxia

Abstract: Background and purpose: The ‘hot cross bun’ sign (HCBS), typically seen in the patients with multiple system atrophy, refers to a cruciform hyperintensity in the pons on T2-weighted MRI. Little is known about its pathological basis and prevalence in other degenerative cerebellar diseases and healthy population. We investigate the frequency of HCBS in the patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) and healthy controls. Methods: The presence of HCBS on T2-weighted axial MRIs from 138 SCA patients (three SCA1, 35 SCA2, 76 SCA3, 18 SCA6, one SCA7, three SCA8, and two SCA17) and 102 healthy controls was evaluated retrospectively. Results: The overall prevalence of HCBS in the SCA patients is 8.7%, but the frequency varies in different subtypes: 25.7% in SCA2, 1.3% in SCA3, and none in SCA6 or healthy controls. Notably, one patient with SCA7 and one with SCA8 were also found to have HCBS. Conclusions: The differential list of HCBS should be expanded to include SCA7 and SCA8. The elucidation of frequency of HCBS in various SCA subtypes may help prioritize the genetic testing in late-onset dominant ataxia.

Deficiency of the MicroRNA-31–MicroRNA-720 Pathway in the Plasma and Endothelial Progenitor Cells From Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract: Objective—Defects in angiogenesis/vasculogenesis or vessel repair are major complications of coronary artery disease (CAD). Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a fundamental role in postnatal vascular repair and CAD. The role of microRNAs in CAD pathogenesis and their potential as biomarkers remain to be elucidated. Approach and Results—MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) level in both the plasma and EPCs of patients with CAD is found lower. miR-31 regulates EPC activities by targeting FAT atypical cadherin 4 and thromboxane A2 receptor, which show increased expression in CAD EPCs. Overexpressing miR-31 in CAD EPCs rescued their angiogenic and vasculogenic abilities both in vitro and in vivo. When exploring approaches to restore endogenous miR-31, we found that far-infrared treatment enhanced the expression of not only miR-31, but also miR-720 in CAD EPCs. miR-720, which was also decreased in EPCs and the plasma of patients with CAD, stimulated EPC activity by targeting vasohibin 1. The miR720–vasohibin 1 pair was ...