The Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Dysmenorrhea in the General Female Population.

Background: There may be an etiological association between obesity and dysmenorrheal traits. This study aimed to observe the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and dysmenorrhea in a general female population. Methods: Premenopausal adult females (n = 2,805) undergoing health checkups were assessed for data such as the BMI and self-reported severity of dysmenorrhea. The BMI levels were compared according to the severity of dysmenorrhea with adjustment for age, smoking habit, exercise habit, serum lipids, and plasma glucose. Results: The mean BMI level in females with severe dysmenorrhea (n = 278; 23.3 ± 4.5 (standard deviation) kg/m2) was high relative to those with mild (n = 1,451; 22.3 ± 3.9 kg/m2) and moderate (n = 1,076; 22.6 ± 4.4 kg/m2) dysmenorrhea. Even after adjustment for covariables, the difference in BMI remained significant. Conclusions: The high-normal BMI level may be seen in severe dysmenorrhea in the general female population. Further research is needed to confirm the findings.

A novel scoring system for predicting the neurologic prognosis prior to the initiation of induced hypothermia in cases of post-cardiac arrest syndrome: the CAST score.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to develop a scoring system for identifying the post-cardiac arrest syndrome (PCAS) patients with a good potential for recovery prior to the initiation of induced therapeutic hypothermia. METHODS: A multi-center, retrospective, observational study was performed. Data of a total of 151 consecutive adults who underwent induced hypothermia after cardiac arrest (77 learning cases from two hospitals and 74 validation cases from two other hospitals) were analyzed. RESULTS: In the learning set, 8 factors (initial rhythm, witnessed status and time until return of spontaneous circulation, pH, serum lactate, motor score according to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), gray matter attenuation to white matter attenuation ratio (GWR), serum albumin, and hemoglobin) were found to be strongly correlated with the neurological outcomes. A tentative scoring system was created from the learning data using these factors, and the predictive accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) was evaluated in terms of both internal validation (0.85 and 0.84) and external validation (cutoff 50%: 0.95 and 0.90, 30%: 0.87 and 0.98, 15%: 0.67 and 1.00). Finally, using all the data, we established a post-Cardiac Arrest Syndrome for induced Therapeutic hypothermia (CAST) score to predict the neurologic prognosis prior to initiation of induced hypothermia. CONCLUSIONS: The CAST score was developed to predict the neurological outcomes of PCAS patients treated by induced hypothermia. The likelihood of good recovery at 30 days was extremely low in PCAS patients with a CAST score of ≤15%. Prospective validation of the score is needed in the future.