Association between chronic osteomyelitis and deep-vein thrombosis. Analysis of a nationwide population-based registry.
Association between chronic osteomyelitis and deep-vein thrombosis. Analysis of a nationwide population-based registry.

Studies on the association between chronic osteomyelitis and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) are scarce. The aim of this study was to analyse a nationwide population-based database for association between DVT or PE after a diagnosis of chronic osteomyelitis. This nationwide population-based cohort study was based on data obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database from 1998 to 2008, with a follow-up period extending to the end of 2010. We identified patients with chronic osteomyelitis using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes. The patients with chronic osteomyelitis and comparison controls were selected by 1:1 matching on a propensity score. The propensity score was calculated by a logistic regression to estimate the probability of the treatment assignment given the baseline variables including age, sex, and Charlson comorbidity index score. We analysed the risks of DVT and PE by using Cox proportional hazards regression models, including sex, age, and comorbidities. In total, 24,335 chronic osteomyelitis patients and 24,335 controls were enrolled in the study. The risk of developing DVT was 2.49-fold in patients with chronic osteomyelitis compared with the comparison cohort, after adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidities. The multiplicative increased risks of DVT were also significant in patients with chronic osteomyelitis with any comorbidity. In conclusion, physicians should consider chronic osteomyelitis in their evaluation of risk factors for DVT.

 Cancer risk in patients with cholelithiasis and after cholecystectomy: a nationwide cohort study.
Cancer risk in patients with cholelithiasis and after cholecystectomy: a nationwide cohort study.

BACKGROUND:

This study examined the association of cholelithiasis post-cholecystectomy with subsequent cancers and evaluated the risk of cancer in patients with both cholelithiasis and cholecystectomy.

METHODS:

The Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database was used to identify 15545 newly diagnosed cholelithiasis patients from 2000 to 2010, and 62180 frequency-matched non-cholelithiasis patients. A total of 5850 (37.6 %) with cholelithiasis patients received a cholecystectomy. The risk of developing cancer after cholecystectomy was measured using the Cox proportional-hazards model.

RESULTS:

The incidence of developing cancer in the cholelithiasis cohort was 1.52-fold higher than that in the comparison cohort (p < 0.001). Compared with patients aged 20-34 years, patients in older age groups had a higher risk of developing cancer. The hazard ratio (HR) for developing gallbladder, extrahepatic bile duct, pancreatic, liver, stomach, and colorectal cancer was 59.3, 10.7, 3.12, 1.90, 1.71, and 1.36-fold higher for patients with cholelithiasis, respectively. After a cholecystectomy, the HR for developing stomach and colorectal cancer was 1.81-fold and 1.56-fold, respectively. The incidence rate ratio was higher for the first 5 years and over 5 years (5.05 and 4.46, respectively) (95 % confidence interval 4.73-5.39 and 4.11-4.84, respectively) in proximal colon and stomach cancer patients with cholecystectomies.

CONCLUSIONS:

Cholelithiasis patients have a higher risk of gastrointestinal cancer, particularly of gallbladder and extrahepatic bile duct cancer. Post-cholecystectomy patients have a risk of colorectal and stomach cancer within the first 5 years and persisting after 5 years, respectively. This paper proposes strategies for preventing gastrointestinal cancer.

 

 Cancer risks among patients with type 2 diabetes: a 10-year follow-up study of a nationwide population-based cohort in Taiwan.
Cancer risks among patients with type 2 diabetes: a 10-year follow-up study of a nationwide population-based cohort in Taiwan.

Background

This study aims to determine cancer risks among patients with type 2 diabetes through a follow-up study on a nationwide population-based cohort that included Taiwanese diabetic patients and general population in Taiwan as well as to estimate the population attributable fraction (PAF) of site-specific cancer risks that can be attributed to type 2 diabetes in Taiwanese population by using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs, 95% CI).

Methods

Subjects with type 2 diabetes consisted of 472,979 patients aged ≥20 years, whereas general population consisted of 9,411,249 individuals of the same age limit but are not diabetic. Subjects were identified from 1997 to 1998 and followed up until December 31, 2007 or until the first manifestation of any cancer.

Results

Cancer sites with increased risks in men, which were consistent with the main and sensitivity analyses, included pancreas (SIR = 1.62; 95% CI = 1.53 to 1.72), liver (1.61; 1.57 to 1.64), kidney (1.32; 1.25 to 1.40), oral (1.16, 1.12 to 1.21), and colorectal (1.19, 1.15 to 1.22). Cancer sites with increased risks in women included liver (1.55; 1.51 to 1.60), pancreas (1.44; 1.34 to 1.55), kidney (1.38; 1.30 to 1.46), endometrium (1.36; 1.26 to 1.47), bladder (1.19; 1.11 to 1.27), colorectal (1.16; 1.13 to 1.20), and breast (1.14; 1.09 to 1.18). Overall, PAFs were highest for liver cancer in men (4.0%) and women (3.7%), followed by pancreas (3.4%) and kidney (1.6%) cancers in men, and then for endometrium (1.8%) and kidney (1.8%) cancers in women.

Conclusion

Our data suggested that increased cancer risks are associated with type 2 diabetes.

 

 Chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with the risk of fracture: a nationwide cohort study.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is associated with the risk of fracture: a nationwide cohort study.

PURPOSE:

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex disorder that is associated with unreasonable persistent fatigue. CFS has also been reported to be a possible risk factor for osteopathy. We propose that CFS might be associated with an increased risk of fracture.

METHODS:

We used the National Health Insurance Research Database to conduct a prospective cohort study, identifying 3744 patients with a CFS diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 780.71) and 14 976 patients without CFS until 2006, with follow-up observed until the end of 2010.

RESULTS:

The incidence rate of fracture was higher in the CFS cohort than in the non-CFS cohort (17.44 vs. 14.53 per 1000 person-year, respectively), with an adjusted hazard ratio of 1.14 (95% confidence interval = 1.00-1.30). The risks of fracture between CFS and non-CFS were shown without comorbidity for each would be elevated than with other comorbidities, particularly in osteoporosis. The patients without osteoporosis in the CFS cohort exhibited a 1.16-fold higher risk of fracture than did those in the non-CFS cohort.

CONCLUSIONS:

We propose that CFS-related fracture might not be associated with osteoporosis. The mechanism for developing CFS-related fracture remains unclear; however, we recommend noticing the prevention of fracture for CFS patients before clarifying the aetiology of CFS-related fracture.

 Does chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus influence the risk of lung cancer? Result from a population-based cohort study.
Does chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus influence the risk of lung cancer? Result from a population-based cohort study.

Background

Previous studies have suggested that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an independent risk factor for lung cancer. There are some evidence that people with diabetes are at a risk of developing many forms of cancer, but inconclusive with regard to lung cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether COPD with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) influences the risk of developing lung cancer.

Methods

This is a retrospective cohort study consisting of 20,730 subjects newly diagnosed with COPD (“cases”). Their data was collected from the National Health Insurance system of Taiwan from 1998 to 2010. Among these patients, 5,820 patients had T2DM and 14,910 patients did not have T2DM. The retrospective matched control group consisted of 20,729 subjects without either COPD or T2DM. The control group was matched with the cases for sex, age, and index year (the year that the patient was diagnosed with COPD). The subjects were followed until the end of 2011.

Results

The findings of our study showed that the risk of lung cancer was higher in the COPD group than in the non-COPD group, with adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 5.02 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.23–5.94] among total case group, adjusted HR was 5.38 (95% CI = 4.52–6.40) in the cohort without T2DM and adjusted HR was 4.05 (95% CI = 3.26–5.03) in the cohort with T2DM. We observed a significantly protective effect from lung cancer (adjusted HR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.63–0.90) of diabetic cohort than non-diabetic cohort among patients with COPD.

Conclusion

Patients with COPD had a significantly higher risk of developing lung cancer than healthy people. However, there was a protective effect of T2DM for lung cancer among patients with COPD. Further investigation may be needed to corroborate the mechanism or bring up reliable reasons.