Analysis of the Research Hotspot of Drug Treatment of Tuberculosis: A Bibliometric Based on the Top 50 Cited Literatures

Objective. The objective of the current study was to analyze the research hotspot of drug treatment for tuberculosis via top literatures. Materials and Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed on June 7th, 2021. Literatures were searched on the Web of Science Core Collection to identify the top 50 cited literatures related to drug treatment of tuberculosis. The characteristics of the literatures were identified. The outcomes included authorship, journal, study type, year of publication, and institution. Cooccurrence network analysis and visualization were conducted using the VOS viewer (Version 1.6.16; Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands). Results. The top 50 cited literatures were cited 308 to 2689 times and were published between 1982 and 2014. The most studied drugs were the first-line drugs such as isoniazid and rifampicin ( n = 22 ), and drug-resistant tuberculosis was most frequently reported ( n = 16 ). They were published in 18 journals, and the New England Journal of Medicine published the most literatures ( n = 18 ), followed by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine ( n = 7 ), and the Lancet ( n = 6 ). The authors were from 13 countries, and the authors from the USA published most of the literatures ( n = 30 ), while authors from other countries published less than five literatures. The CDC in the USA ( n = 4 ), the World Health Organization (WHO) ( n = 3 ), and the American Philosophical Society ( n = 3 ) were the leading institutions, and only two authors published at least two top-cited literatures as first authors. Conclusions. This study provides insights into the development and most important literatures on drug therapy for tuberculosis and evidence for future research on tuberculosis treatment.

Reporting of abstracts in studies that used routinely collected data for exploring drug treatment effects: a cross-sectional survey

Background In recent years, studies that used routinely collected data (RCD), such as electronic medical records and administrative claims, for exploring drug treatment effects, including effectiveness and safety, have been increasingly published. Abstracts of such studies represent a highly attended source for busy clinicians or policy-makers, and are important for indexing by literature database. If less clearly presented, they may mislead decisions or indexing. We thus conducted a cross-sectional survey to systematically examine how the abstracts of such studies were reported. Methods We searched PubMed to identify all observational studies published in 2018 that used RCD for assessing drug treatment effects. Teams of methods-trained collected data from eligible studies using pilot-tested, standardized forms that were developed and expanded from “The reporting of studies conducted using observational routinely collected health data statement for pharmacoepidemiology” (RECORD-PE) statement. We used descriptive analyses to examine how authors reported data source, study design, data analysis, and interpretation of findings. Results A total of 222 studies were included, of which 118 (53.2%) reported type of database used, 17 (7.7%) clearly reported database linkage, and 140 (63.1%) reported coverage of data source. Only 44 (19.8%) studies stated a predefined hypothesis, 127 (57.2%) reported study design, 140 (63.1%) reported statistical models used, 142 (77.6%) reported adjusted estimates, 33 (14.9%) mentioned sensitivity analyses, and 39 (17.6%) made a strong claim about treatment effect. Studies published in top 5 general medicine journals were more likely to report the name of data source (94.7% vs. 67.0%) and study design (100% vs. 53.2%) than those in other journals. Conclusions The under-reporting of key methodological features in abstracts of RCD studies was common, which would substantially compromise the indexing of this type of literature and prevent the effective use of study findings. Substantial efforts to improve the reporting of abstracts in these studies are highly warranted.

Management of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone inhibitors and other antihypertensives and their clinical effects on pre-anesthesia blood pressure

Background: Blood pressure fluctuations appear more significant in patients with poorly controlled hypertension and are known to be associated with adverse perioperative morbidity. In the present study, we aimed to determine the effects of antihypertensive drug treatment strategies on preanesthetic operating room blood pressure measurements.Methods: A total of 717 patients participated in our study; 383 patients who were normotensive based on baseline measurements and not under antihypertensive therapy were excluded from the analysis. The remaining 334 patients were divided into six groups according to the antihypertensive drug treatment. These six groups were examined in terms of preoperative baseline and pre-anesthesia blood pressure measurements. Results: As a result of the study, it was observed that 24% of patients had high blood pressure precluding surgery, and patients using renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASI) had higher pre-anesthesia systolic blood pressure than patients using other antihypertensive drugs. Patients who received beta-blockers were also observed to have the lowest pre-anesthesia systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean blood pressure, compared to others. Conclusions: Recently, whether RAASI should be continued preoperatively remains controversial. Our study shows that RAASI cannot provide optimal pre-anesthesia blood pressure and lead to an increase in the number of postponed surgeries, probably due to withdrawal of medication before the operation. Therefore, the preoperative discontinuation of RAASI should be reevaluated in future studies.

Analysis of Related Factors of Mother-to-Child Transmission of AIDS and Evaluation of Measures to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission

AIDS is still a major public health facing the world. With the implementation of AIDS prevention projects and the continuous maturity of technology, more and more HIV-positive women choose to have children. However, the children born to these women are a special group. Exposure to HIV and antiviral drugs during the fetal period can increase the success rate of children’s elimination of the mother, which is worthy of attention and research. This article focuses on the analysis of the related factors of mother-to-child transmission of AIDS and the evaluation of mother-to-child blocking measures, using the method of field research to conduct experiments on AIDS patients in this city who are pregnant and provide them with antidrug treatment and some barrier measures. Then, the mother-to-child transmission rate was recorded, and the experimental results showed that the antidrug treatment plan is related to mother-to-child transmission. After antidrug treatment, the transmission rate of single-drug treatment is reduced by 5%, and the transmission rate of combined drug treatment is reduced by 10%. It can be seen from this that antidrug treatment is an effective measure to block mothers and babies.

The Interaction Between Pulmonary Fibrosis and COVID-19 and the Application of Related Anti-Fibrotic Drugs

COVID-19 is a highly contagious respiratory disease, which mainly affects the lungs. Critically ill patients are easily complicated by cytokine storms, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and respiratory failure, which seriously threaten their lives. Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a common interstitial lung disease, and its pathogenesis may involve the participation of a variety of immune cells and inflammatory factors. Current studies have shown that patients with COVID-19 may be complicated by pulmonary fibrosis, and patients with pulmonary fibrosis may also be at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than healthy people. Pulmonary fibrosis is an important risk factor leading to the aggravation of COVID-19 disease. COVID-19 complicated by cytokine storm and ARDS mechanism pathways are similar to the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. The potential interaction between pulmonary fibrosis and COVID-19 can cause acute exacerbation of the patient’s condition, but the potential mechanism between the two has not been fully elucidated. Most of the drug treatment programs for COVID-19-related pulmonary fibrosis are currently formulated about the relevant guidelines for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and there is no clear drug treatment program recommendation. This article aims to summarize the relevant mechanism pathways of COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis, explore the interrelationships and possible mechanisms, and discuss the value and risks of existing and potential COVID-19-related pulmonary fibrosis treatment drugs, to provide reference for anti-fibrosis treatment for patients.

Surgical treatment as option in treatment of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer after prior drug treatment

Currently, there is no consensus on the place of prostatectomy in the complex treatment of patients with metastatic prostate cancer. A description of a clinical case of complex treatment and observation of a patient with prostate cancer with an unfavorable baseline prognosis and the presence of bone metastases with a good clinical result is presented.

Setting up a drug treatment service in a COVID-protect hotel in inner London

At the start of the UK's COVID-19 lockdown, the government announced an ‘Everyone In’ strategy to get homeless people off the streets and into accommodation. An Inner London borough opened a hotel to house up to 100 homeless people to address their health needs. Local healthcare providers were asked to provide in-reach services. This article describes the setting up and delivery of a drug treatment service to provide substitute opioid therapy. Thirty-five people were taken into drug treatment in the hotel between April and December 2020. During this time various challenges had to be addressed including same-day prescribing, delivering and supervising controlled drugs and responding to drug dealing in the hotel. Partnership work between the different healthcare providers was essential for the success of this project and offers a model that could be used going forward to deliver comprehensive wrap-around services to hard-to-engage individuals with multiple health needs.