BACKGROUND Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) originating from the basal portion of the left ventricular (LV) summit, which is divided from the apical LV (A-LV) summit by the great cardiac vein (GCV), is challenging. This study investigated the efficacy of RFCA and electrocardiographic and electrophysiological characteristics of these VAs. METH...

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of IA corticosteroid (CS) injection in pain reduction for hip OA under ultrasound (US) guidance. METHODS Forty patients [mean age 62.78 (8.16) years] fulfilling ACR criteria for hip OA, with synovitis detected at US, gave their consent for IA US-guided CS injection because of pain refractory to conventional therapy. At baseline, at 1 and 3 months, patients ...

Previous studies have shown that undenatured type II collagen (UC-II) is effective in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and preliminary human and animal trials have shown it to be effective in treating osteoarthritis (OA). The present clinical trial evaluated the safety and efficacy of UC-II as compared to a combination of glucosamine and chondroitin (G+C) in the treatment of OA of the kne...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE Intra-articular injection of hyaluronan (hyaluronic acid; HA) products is available to treat early osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee in Taiwan. We tested whether HA products with different molecular weights have significantly different effects on clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness. METHODS Thirty-seven patients with mild to moderate OA of both knees underwent five weekl...

BACKGROUND There is an increasing focus on measuring patient-reported outcomes (PROs) as part of routine medical practice, particularly in fields such as joint replacement surgery where pain relief and improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are primary outcomes. Between-country comparisons of PROs may present difficulties due to cultural differences and differences in the provisi...

OBJECTIVE To assess the influence of the body weight in functional capacity and pain of adult and elderly individuals with knee osteoarthritis. METHODS The sample consisted of 107 adult and elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis divided into two groups (adequate weight/adiposity and excessive weight/adiposity) according to body mass index and percent of body fat mass, assessed by electric ...

OBJECTIVE To compare the pain-reducing effect of forest bathing alone versus forest bathing in combination with stretching and strengthening exercises in patients with chronic posterior neck pain. METHODS Sixty-four subjects with posterior neck pain that had lasted more than 3 months were enrolled. They were randomly divided into a forest bathing alone (FBA) group and a forest bathing with ex...

BACKGROUND Understanding what constitutes an important difference on a HRQL measure is critical to its interpretation. The aim of this study was to provide a range of estimates of minimally important differences (MIDs) in EQ-5D scores in cancer and to determine if estimates are comparable in lung cancer. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted on cross-sectional data collected from 534...

BACKGROUND Several previous reports have revealed that idiopathic ventricular arrhythmias (VAs), including premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and ventricular tachycardias (IVTs), can originate from endocardial mitral annulus (ENDO MA). However, these data are limited to ENDO MA VAs, and little is known about the electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics and the efficacy of radiofrequenc...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of sonographic visualization of the normal extrapelvic vas deferens and to analyze its appearance and dimensions. METHODS Scans of the scrotum and spermatic cords were obtained in 25 fertile volunteers. Identification of the vas deferens was attempted bilaterally in the scrotal, suprascrotal, and prepubic segments in all vol...