ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Even in the immuno-oncology era, transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is the most effective way to treat intermediate stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Postembolisation syndrome (PES) is the most common side effect from TACE and there is still no standard prevention guideline. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of single dose intravenous dexamethasone regimen to prevent PES after TACE among patients with HCC. METHODS: This study enrolled patients with HCC who had eligible indication for TACE without macrovascular invasion/extrahepatic metastasis. Patients were randomly assigned to either an intravenous single dose of dexamethasone 8 mg or placebo one hour before TACE. The primary outcome was a negative result of PES at 48 h after TACE, which was defined as score < 2 of Southwest Oncology Group toxicity coding criteria using fever, nausea, vomiting and pain to calculated. And the secondary end point was duration of admission between two groups. RESULTS: One hundred patients were randomly assigned 1:1. Under intention-to-treat analysis, 49 patients were randomly assigned to the dexamethasone and 51 to the placebo groups. Both groups were similar for baseline characteristics. The negative PES rate was significantly higher in the dexamethasone group than in the placebo group (63.3% vs 29.4%; P = 0.005). Mean Southwest Oncology Group toxicity coding PES was 2.14 (95%CI: 1.41-2.8) vs 3.71 (95%CI: 2.97-4.45) between the dexamethasone and placebo groups, respectively. Cumulative incidence of fever was significantly lower in dexamethasone group with P < 0.001, pain, nausea and vomiting were also lower in the dexamethasone group compared with the placebo group (P = 0.16, P = 0.11, and P = 0.49). The dexamethasone regimen was generally well tolerated by patients with HCC patients including those with hepatitis B virus infection and well-controlled diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSION: Single dose dexamethasone was effective at preventing PES among patients with HCC treated with TACE. The study showed no adverse events of special interest related to dexamethasone.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Following the radial head replacement, the surface mismatches between the implants and the morphological characteristics of the original proximal radius decreased contact areas and increased contact forces which is potential for the long-term articulating cartilage wear. Several studies demonstrated that the individualized prosthesis, created from computed tomographic (CT) images of the contralateral side with the reverse engineering technology, may reduce the mismatch. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the matching precision of the reverse contralateral head between the surface registration in tuberosity-neck (TN) area and in tuberosity-diaphysis (TD) area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: High-resolution CT scan of 11 pairs of the cadaveric arms was performed. Utilizing advanced image processing techniques, three-dimensional (3-D) models of each specimen was generated. The model of the left side was reversed and matched with the model of the right side in the same cadaver by registering in the area of radial neck along with tuberosity (TN) and in the area of radial tuberosity combined with 2 cm of proximal diaphysis (TD). The alteration of the head diameter, dish diameter, articular depth, head thickness, end-plane angle, offset, and head volume were evaluated and analyzed by paired t-test. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference was found in all parameters from both TN and TD registrations ( p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The surface registration in either TN or TD area can generate the statistically symmetrical 3-D model with the original head. The registration in these areas may possibly be used in creating the individualized radial head prosthesis.
