Ninety-one (11.4%) subjects with hypercholesterolaemia (serum cholesterol level more than 250 mg/dL) of 792 Chinese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were studied in Taiwan. All 91 patients had large tumours greater than 7 cm in diameter and a tumour volume greater than 50%; 56 (61%) of these patients manifested tumour involvement in both lobes of the liver. The HCC patients with hypercholesterolaemia had significantly higher mean serum levels of albumin, triglyceride and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) compared with age-sex-tumour volume matched HCC patients without hypercholesterolaemia. The associated incidence of hypoglycaemia in hypercholesterolaemic HCC patients was significantly higher than in HCC patients without hypercholesterolaemia (15/90 vs 4/90; P = 0.01). There was no significant difference in the survival analysis between HCC patients with and without hypercholesterolaemia. Eight and 11 of hypercholesterolaemic HCC patients had their tumours surgically resected and received transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization (TAE), respectively. Serum cholesterol levels fell to the normal range after treatment and rose to abnormal levels again when tumours recurred after surgery or progressively enlarged after TAE. The change in pattern of serum cholesterol was parallel to the change in serum AFP. Serum cholesterol levels may serve as another marker in identifying tumour recurrence and the presence of a viable tumour mass in hypercholesterolaemic HCC patients who have received surgical resection or TAE.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗

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Towards a better understanding of healthcare economics.

Is the healthcare market governed by the classical laws of supply and demand? Healthcare experts, in general, say no. This author, however, argues that traditional economic principles are relevant and capable of explaining the current nature of the healthcare market.

Community Participation↗

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How nurses can cope with the changing labor market.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Career Choice↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The evolving changes in healthcare reform. Keynote speech given at the 1994 National Academy of the Intravenous Nurses Society in Atlanta, Georgia.

This article explores three major health reform questions: (1) Why do we need to reform a system that provides cutting-edge healthcare? (2) What are the consequences of inaction? (3) Why is it so difficult to carry out a reform that has the support of most Americans? Based on the answers to these three questions, the article offers a two-prong reform alternative. First, seek a national consensus on why we disagree on healthcare. Second, let the states experiment with several promising and competing reform plans before committing to a national level reform.

Health Care Reform↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A comparison of the incidence of transient bacteremia and infectious sequelae after sclerotherapy and rubber band ligation of bleeding esophageal varices.

A comparison of the incidence of transient bacteremia and infectious sequelae in patients undergoing sclerotherapy and those undergoing variceal ligation has not yet been reported. Fifty patients admitted with acute esophageal variceal bleeding were treated with sclerotherapy between July 1990 and July 1991. Fifty-five patients were treated with banding ligation between July 1991 and July 1992. Blood cultures were taken before and 5 minutes, 30 minutes, and 24 hours after treatment to compare the incidence of transient bacteremia in each group. The incidence of infectious sequelae during hospitalization was also compared. Transient bacteremia occurred in 17.2% of the sclerotherapy group and in 3.3% of the ligation group (p < 0.03). Infectious sequelae occurred in 18% of the sclerotherapy group and 1.8% of the ligation group (p < 0.01). Apart from bacteremia, the most frequently encountered infectious sequela was spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Both transient bacteremia and infectious sequelae are more likely to develop when liver disease is severe. Two patients in the sclerotherapy group but none in the ligation group died of infectious sequelae. The incidence of transient bacteremia and infectious complications after sclerotherapy for acute variceal bleeding is about 5 to 10 times greater than that after variceal ligation. Inasmuch as it is equally effective and entails fewer infectious complications, variceal ligation is preferable to sclerotherapy for patients with acute variceal bleeding. Further randomized trials are needed.

Acute Disease↗