1 Introduction In the United States, the largest groups of acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） practitioners settled and still remain in California and New York, as these two states historically have...1 Introduction In the United States, the largest groups of acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） practitioners settled and still remain in California and New York, as these two states historically have the largest, most concentrated Asian populations. The TCM practitioners originally worked in a legal gray-zone, sometimes even being treated as illegal practitioners by the local governments, since TCM licensing laws did not exist until late 1973[1]. The first legal acupuncture clinic was established in Washington, D.C. in 1972[2], but Nevada was the first state that passed a full practicing law for acupuncture and TCM[3]. Under- standing the legal history of acupuncture in the U.S. will help us to see the road ahead more clearly.展开更多
AIM: To verify the usefulness of FibroQ for predicting fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, compared with other noninvasive tests. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 237 consecutive patients ...AIM: To verify the usefulness of FibroQ for predicting fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, compared with other noninvasive tests. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 237 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy before treatment. FibroQ, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), AST to platelet ratioindex, cirrhosis discriminant score, age-platelet index (API), Pohl score, FIB-4 index, and Lok's model were calculated and compared. RESULTS: FibroQ, FIB-4, AAR, API and Lok's model results increased significantly as fibrosis advanced (analysis of variance test: P < 0.001). FibroQ trended to be superior in predicting signifi cant fi brosis score in chronic hepatitis C compared with other noninvasive tests. CONCLUSION: FibroQ is a simple and useful test for predicting signifi cant fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.展开更多
文摘1 Introduction In the United States, the largest groups of acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） practitioners settled and still remain in California and New York, as these two states historically have the largest, most concentrated Asian populations. The TCM practitioners originally worked in a legal gray-zone, sometimes even being treated as illegal practitioners by the local governments, since TCM licensing laws did not exist until late 1973[1]. The first legal acupuncture clinic was established in Washington, D.C. in 1972[2], but Nevada was the first state that passed a full practicing law for acupuncture and TCM[3]. Under- standing the legal history of acupuncture in the U.S. will help us to see the road ahead more clearly.
基金Supported by Clinical Study Project XMRP, No. CMRPG 690081, from Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital
文摘AIM: To verify the usefulness of FibroQ for predicting fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C, compared with other noninvasive tests. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 237 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C who had undergone percutaneous liver biopsy before treatment. FibroQ, aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), AST to platelet ratioindex, cirrhosis discriminant score, age-platelet index (API), Pohl score, FIB-4 index, and Lok's model were calculated and compared. RESULTS: FibroQ, FIB-4, AAR, API and Lok's model results increased significantly as fibrosis advanced (analysis of variance test: P < 0.001). FibroQ trended to be superior in predicting signifi cant fi brosis score in chronic hepatitis C compared with other noninvasive tests. CONCLUSION: FibroQ is a simple and useful test for predicting signifi cant fi brosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
