Objective To assess systematically the safety and ef fects of stem cell transplantation in stroke patients.Methods CENTRAL (April 2007), MEDLINE (1966 to April 2007), EMBASE (1980 to April 2007), and other databases were searched for RCT of the use of stem cell transplantation for patients with stroke. We critically appraised the quality of included studies according to Juny 2001. We assessed the effects of stem cell therapy on mortal ity, functional outcomes, cognitive functions, image changes, quality of life, and adverse effects by doing meta-analysis with The Cochrane Collaboration’ s Review Manager. Dichotomous outcomes were reported as relative risk and continuous outcome measures as weighted mean differences, with 95% confidence intervals.Results Three RCTs and one historical controlled trial were included involving a total of 69 participants. Only one trial reported the effect on mortality, but because of the small number of death it was not possible to detect any significant differences between stem cell transplantation and routine treatment (RR 0.11, 95%CI 0.01 to 2.31, P = 0.16). Three studies indicated a statistically significant improvement of some functional outcomes in patients treated by stem cell transplantation. Improvements of cognitive function were reported in another trial. One trial showed that the stem cell transplantation significantly improved qual ity of life compared with the control group. Conclusion The current evidence is insufficient to determine whether or not stem cell transplantation is a safe and effective therapy for stroke patients. High-quality, large-scale randomized trials are needed to assess the role of stem cell transplantation for stroke.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has become a global public health problem because of its high prevalence, low awareness, poor prognosis, and high medical costs. Effective follow-up management can facilitate timely adjustment of the treatment of the CKD patients and delay the disease progression. The application of internet of things (IoT) technology in dynamic monitoring and telemedicine is helpful for the self-management of patients with chronic diseases, and can provide convenient, intelligent, and humanized medical and health services. In the future, with the rapid growth of demands of CKD management and innovations in information technology, new medical IoT industry will accelerate the intelligent development of CKD management. Multi-disciplinary and multi-industrial collaboration should be promoted to solve current challenges, such as evaluation of actual effectiveness, the system design and construction, and the accessibility of intelligent healthcare services, to ensure that IoT products can improve clinical outcomes, reduce medical expenditure, and lower disease burden.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in hospitalized individuals, associated with adverse outcomes and increased cost. Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is used to treat critically ill patients with AKI, of which the cost in acute phase is higher than that of intermittent renal replacement therapy (IRRT). However, if treatment for subsequent chronic kidney disease or dialysis dependency following AKI is also considered, CRRT might be more cost-effective than IRRT. In this editorial, the cost and health economic evaluation of CRRT for critically ill patients is discussed.
Medical aid to Xinjiang is an important task for large public hospitals in China. The innovative mode of team aiding in medical aid program for Xinjiang has played an important role in the national aid-Xinjiang program. West China Hospital of Sichuan University is actively exploring an aid-Xinjiang mode which combines medical aid of multi-disciplinary teams collaborated by doctors, nurses, medical technicians, and management teams with scientific and technological aid; based on the reality of Xinjiang medical healthcare, promoting the overall improvement of medical care through multi-disciplinary integration of resources; and relied on big data, promoting the innovative development of scientific and technological aid to Xinjiang. It is of great practical significance to summarize the work of medical aid to Xinjiang in West China Hospital of Sichuan University over the years and to put forward suggestions for the generalization and popularization of the medical aid to Xinjiang mode.