Jou-Wei Lin

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation with assisted extracorporeal life-support versus conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults with in-hospital cardiac arrest: an observational study and propensity analysis

BACKGROUND Extracorporeal life-support as an adjunct to cardiac resuscitation has shown encouraging outcomes in patients with cardiac arrest. However, there is little evidence about the benefit of the procedure compared with conventional cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), especially when continued for more than 10 min. We aimed to assess whether extracorporeal CPR was better than conventional CPR for patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin. METHODS We did a 3-year prospective observational study on the use of extracorporeal life-support for patients aged 18-75 years with witnessed in-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin undergoing CPR of more than 10 min compared with patients receiving conventional CPR. A matching process based on propensity-score was done to equalise potential prognostic factors in both groups, and to formulate a balanced 1:1 matched cohort study. The primary endpoint was survival to hospital discharge, and analysis was by intention to treat. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00173615. FINDINGS Of the 975 patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest events who underwent CPR for longer than 10 min, 113 were enrolled in the conventional CPR group and 59 were enrolled in the extracorporeal CPR group. Unmatched patients who underwent extracorporeal CPR had a higher survival rate to discharge (log-rank p<0.0001) and a better 1-year survival than those who received conventional CPR (log rank p=0.007). Between the propensity-score matched groups, there was still a significant difference in survival to discharge (hazard ratio [HR] 0.51, 95% CI 0.35-0.74, p<0.0001), 30-day survival (HR 0.47, 95% CI 0.28-0.77, p=0.003), and 1-year survival (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.33-0.83, p=0.006) favouring extracorporeal CPR over conventional CPR. INTERPRETATION Extracorporeal CPR had a short-term and long-term survival benefit over conventional CPR in patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin.

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support can extend the duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Objectives:To evaluate the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in prolonged cardiopulmonary resuscitation and to estimate how long cardiopulmonary resuscitation can be extended with acceptable results. Design:Review of consecutive adult in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation patients without return of spontaneous circulation in 10 mins and with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation rescue, and analysis of the relationship between outcome and cardiopulmonary resuscitation duration and possible etiologies. The data were collected following the Utstein style guidelines on in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Two organ dysfunction scores were incorporated into the analysis for outcome prediction. Setting:A university-affiliated tertiary referral medical center and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation center. Patients:An observational cohort study in 135 consecutive adult in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation patients without return of spontaneous circulation who received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Main Results:The average cardiopulmonary resuscitation duration was 55.7 ± 27.0 mins and 56.3% of patients received subsequent interventions to treat underlying etiologies. The successful weaning rate was 58.5% and the survival-to-discharge rate was 34.1%. The majority of survivors (89%) had an acceptable neurologic status on discharge. Risk factors for hospital mortality included longer cardiopulmonary resuscitation duration, etiology of acute coronary syndrome, and a higher organ dysfunction score in the first 24 hrs. Logistic regression analysis revealed the probability of survival was approximately 0.5, 0.3, or 0.1 when the duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation was 30, 60, or 90 mins, respectively. Conclusion:Assisted circulation might extend the presently accepted duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adult in-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation patients.

Association of thiazolidinediones with liver cancer and colorectal cancer in type 2 diabetes mellitus

The objective of this nationwide case‐control study was to evaluate the risk of specific malignancy in diabetic patients who received thiazolidinediones (TZDs). A total of 606,583 type 2 diabetic patients, age 30 years and above, without a history of cancer were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database during the period between January 1 2000 and December 31 2000. As of December 31 2007, patients with incident cancer of liver, colorectal, lung, and urinary bladder were included as cases and up to four age‐ and sex‐matched controls were selected by risk‐set sampling. Logistic regression models were applied to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between TZDs and cancer incidence. A total of 10,741 liver cancer cases, 7,200 colorectal cancer cases, and 70,559 diabetic controls were included. A significantly lower risk of liver cancer incidence was found for any use of rosiglitazone (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.65‐0.81) or pioglitazone (OR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.72‐0.95), respectively. The protective effects were stronger for higher cumulative dosage and longer duration. For colorectal cancer, rosiglitazone, but not pioglitazone, was associated with a significantly reduced risk (OR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.76‐0.96). TZDs were not associated with lung and bladder cancer incidence, although a potential increased risk for bladder cancer with pioglitazone use ≥3 years could not be excluded (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 0.51‐4.74). Conclusion: The use of pioglitazone and rosiglitazone is associated with a decreased liver cancer incidence in diabetic patients. The effects on occurrence of specific cancer types may be different for pioglitazone and rosiglitazone. (HEPATOLOGY 2012;)

Helicobacter pylori infection in a randomly selected population, healthy volunteers, and patients with gastric ulcer and gastric adenocarcinoma. A seroprevalence study in Taiwan.

To investigate the association of Helicobacter pylori and gastric ulcer and adenocarcinoma, IgG antibodies against H. pylori were examined in 823 randomly selected subjects, 92 healthy volunteers, 117 patients with gastric ulcer, and 148 with gastric adenocarcinomas in Taiwan, where the prevalence of gastric adenocarcinoma is high. The seropositivity of this population in Taiwan was 54.4%. Gastric ulcer patients had a higher seropositivity (83.8%) than healthy volunteers (62.0%) and gastric adenocarcinoma patients (62.2%) (P < 0.001). Gender difference, blood type, and habit of smoking were not associated with the seroprevalence in any study groups. Gastric ulcer coexistent with duodenal ulcer had a higher seropositivity (94.7%) (P < 0.05). The seropositivity of H. pylori in gastric adenocarcinoma patients was higher than in healthy volunteers only in younger age and was not associated with histologic type, invasion, and location of major tumors. The results reemphasize the association of H. pylori infection with gastric ulcer but not with gastric adenocarcinoma in Taiwan.

Improved outcome of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest--a comparison with that for extracorporeal rescue for in-hospital cardiac arrest.

PURPOSE The aim was to investigate the effects of extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and compare the results with those of in-hospital cardiac arrest (IHCA). METHODS We analyzed our extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) results for patients who received ECPR for OHCA or IHCA in the last 5 years. Pre-arrest, resuscitation, and post-resuscitative data were evaluated. RESULTS In the last 5 years, ECPR was used 230 times for OHCA (n=31) and IHCA (n=199). The basic demographic data showed significant differences in age, cardiomyopathy, and location of the initial CPR. Duration of ischemia was shorter in the IHCA group (44.4±24.7 min vs. 67.5±30.6 min, p<0.05). About 50% of each group underwent a further intervention to treat the underlying etiology. ECMO was maintained for a shorter duration in the OHCA patients (61±48 h vs. 94±122 h, p<0.05). Survival to discharge was similar in the two groups (38.7% for OHCA vs. 31.2% for IHCA, p>0.05), as was the favorable outcome rate (25.5% for OHCA vs. 25.1% for IHCA, p>0.05). Survival was acceptable (about 33%) in both groups when the duration of ischemia was no longer than 75 min. CONCLUSIONS In addition to having a beneficial effect in IHCA, ECPR can lead to survival and a positive neurological outcome in selected OHCA patients after prolonged resuscitation. Our results suggest that further investigation of the use of ECMO in OHCA is warranted.

Comparing the survival between extracorporeal rescue and conventional resuscitation in adult in-hospital cardiac arrests: Propensity analysis of three-year data

AIM Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR) has been shown to have survival benefit over conventional CPR (CCPR) in patients with in-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin. We compared the survival of patients who had return of spontaneous beating (ROSB) after ECPR with the survival of those who had return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after conventional CPR. METHODS Propensity score-matched cohort of adults with in-hospital prolonged CPR (>10min) of cardiac origin in a university-affiliated tertiary extracorporeal resuscitation center were included in this study. Fifty-nine patients with ROSB after ECPR and 63 patients with sustained ROSC by CCPR were analyzed. Main outcome measures were survival at hospital discharge, 30 days, 6 months, and one year, and neurological outcome. RESULTS There was no statistical difference in survival to discharge (29.1% of ECPR responders vs. 22.2% of CCPR responders, p=0.394) and neurological outcome at discharge and one year later. In the propensity score-matched groups, 9 out of 27 ECPR patients survived to one month (33.3%) and 7 out of 27 CCPR patients survived (25.9%). Survival analysis showed no survival difference (HR: 0.856, p=0.634, 95% CI: 0.453-1.620) between the groups, either at 30 days or at the end of one year (HR: 0.602, p=0.093, 95% CI: 0.333-1.088). CONCLUSIONS This study failed to demonstrate a survival difference between patients who had ROSB after institution of ECMO and those who had ROSC after conventional CPR. Further studies evaluating the role of ECMO in conventional CPR rescued patients are warranted.

Discontinuation of statin therapy associates with Parkinson disease: A population-based study

Objective: To evaluate the effect of discontinuing statin therapy on incidence of Parkinson disease (PD) in statin users. Methods: Participants who were free of PD and initiated statin therapy were recruited between 2001 and 2008. We examined the association between discontinuing use of statins with different lipophilicity and the incidence of PD using the Cox regression model with time-varying statin use. Results: Among the 43,810 statin initiators, the incidence rate for PD was 1.68 and 3.52 per 1,000,000 person-days for lipophilic and hydrophilic statins, respectively. Continuation of lipophilic statins was associated with a decreased risk of PD (hazard ratio [HR] 0.42 [95% confidence interval 0.27–0.64]) as compared with statin discontinuation, which was not modified by comorbidities or medications. There was no association between hydrophilic statins and occurrence of PD. Among lipophilic statins, a significant association was observed for simvastatin (HR 0.23 [0.07–0.73]) and atorvastatin (HR 0.33 [0.17–0.65]), especially in female users (HR 0.11 [0.02–0.80] for simvastatin; HR 0.24 [0.09–0.64] for atorvastatin). As for atorvastatin users, the beneficial effect was seen in the elderly subgroup (HR 0.42 [0.21–0.87]). However, long-term use of statins, either lipophilic or hydrophilic, was not significantly associated with PD in a dose/duration-response relation. Conclusions: Continuation of lipophilic statin therapy was associated with a decreased incidence of PD as compared to discontinuation in statin users, especially in subgroups of women and elderly. Long-term follow-up study is needed to clarify the potential beneficial role of lipophilic statins in PD.

Pegylated Interferon-α2a With or Without Low-Dose Ribavirin for Treatment-Naive Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 Receiving Hemodialysis: A Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND Data are limited on the efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin for patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV-1) receiving hemodialysis. OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with pegylated interferon plus low-dose ribavirin and pegylated interferon monotherapy for treatment-naive patients with HCV-1 receiving hemodialysis. DESIGN Open-label, randomized, controlled trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00491244). SETTING 8 centers in Taiwan. PATIENTS 205 treatment-naive patients with HCV-1 receiving hemodialysis. INTERVENTION 48 weeks of pegylated interferon-α2a, 135 µg weekly, plus ribavirin, 200 mg daily (n = 103), or pegylated interferon-α2a, 135 µg weekly (n = 102). MEASUREMENTS Sustained virologic response rate and adverse event-related withdrawal rate. RESULTS Compared with monotherapy, combination therapy had a greater sustained virologic response rate (64% vs. 33%; relative risk, 1.92 [95% CI, 1.41 to 2.62]; P < 0.001). More patients receiving combination therapy had hemoglobin levels less than 8.5 g/dL than those receiving monotherapy (72% vs. 6%; risk difference, 66% [CI, 56% to 76%]; P < 0.001). Patients receiving combination therapy required a higher dosage (mean, 13 946 IU per week [SD, 6449] vs. 5833 IU per week [SD, 1169]; P = 0.006) and longer duration (mean, 29 weeks [SD, 9] vs. 18 weeks [SD, 7]; P = 0.004) of epoetin-β than patients receiving monotherapy. The adverse event-related withdrawal rates were 7% in the combination therapy group and 4% in the monotherapy group (risk difference, 3% [CI, -3% to 9%]). LIMITATION Open-label trial; results may not be generalizable to patients on peritoneal dialysis. CONCLUSION In treatment-naive patients with HCV-1 receiving hemodialysis, combination therapy with pegylated interferon plus low-dose ribavirin achieved a greater sustained virologic response rate than pegylated interferon monotherapy. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE National Center of Excellence for Clinical Trial and Research.

Sex, menopause, metabolic syndrome, and all-cause and cause-specific mortality - cohort analysis from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the mortality risk associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) for participants from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS The study analyzed mortality data from 1364 men and 1321 women aged 40 yr and older based on their MetS status defined by National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Subjects initially using insulin, oral hypoglycemic, antihypertensive, or lipid-lowering medications were excluded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES All-cause, cardiovascular, cardiac, and noncardiovascular mortality were obtained from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-linked mortality follow-up file through December 31, 2000. RESULTS The prevalence of MetS was 33 and 29% for men and women, respectively. In the male subjects, there was no significant association between MetS and mortality. In the women, MetS was an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 1.84, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29-2.64, P = 0.001], cardiovascular mortality (HR 1.96, 95% CI 1.21-3.17, P = 0.007), cardiac mortality (HR 1.88, 95% CI 1.15-3.09, P = 0.01), and noncardiovascular mortality (HR 1.80, 95% CI 1.13-2.87, P = 0.01). The HR was stronger when postmenopausal women were analyzed separately and became nonsignificant in the premenopausal cohort. The sex-specific HR remained unchanged, regardless of the MetS criteria used or the inclusion of actively treated subjects. CONCLUSIONS MetS poses a significant increase in mortality risk through an observation period as long as 12 yr, primarily in postmenopausal women, that is not apparent in men and premenopausal women. Sex is an important effect modifier of all-cause and cause-specific death.

Oral Insulin Secretagogues, Insulin, and Cancer Risk in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND Hyperinsulinemia might be the mechanism leading to an increased cancer risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. The objective was to evaluate the association between oral insulin secretagogues, insulins, and cancer incidence. METHODS A total of 108,920 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes were identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database during the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2000. As of 31 December 2007, patients with incident cancer were included as cases, and up to four age- and sex-matched controls were selected by risk-set sampling. Logistic regression models were applied to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) between antidiabetic medication and cancer incidence. RESULTS A total of 8,194 incident cancer cases and 32,776 diabetic controls were included. A significantly increased risk for overall cancer incidence was found for any use of insulin (OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.85-2.09) and glinides (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06-1.28). Significantly increased risks were found for first- and second-generation sulfonylureas (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.01-1.15), but not for third-generation drug, glimepiride (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.93-1.08). Use of insulin and glinides was associated with higher risks for liver, colorectal, lung, stomach, and pancreas cancer, whereas sulfonylurea was mainly associated with an increased risk of liver cancer. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that sulfonylureas and glinides increased the risk for overall cancer, but to a lesser extent than insulin. Therapies that are associated with cancer risks certainly require further investigation.