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Biomedical subjects

M L Leu

Publications and source records attributed to M L Leu.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Incidence of hepatitis B virus infections in preschool children in Taiwan.

To determine the incidence of infections with hepatitis B virus (HBV) among Chinese preschool children, 1,510 children (mean age, 29 months) were tested for HBV markers; 15.9% were infected with HBV (7.8% positive for hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] and 8.1% positive for antibody to HBsAg) and 84.1% were susceptible when the children were enrolled in the study. The average length of follow-up was 2.1 years among 1,110 children. Among the 924 susceptible children who were followed up, 10.6% had seroconversions for HBV markers, none of which was associated with clinical illness; the annual incidence of HBV infections was 5.0%. Among the 98 children who experienced HBV infections during the study, 23% became HBsAg carriers, and HBsAg persistence was age-related, with most carriers being among the youngest children infected. In contrast, among the children with HBV markers at the time of enrollment, 118 (49.2%) were HBsAg-positive and 86% were still positive on follow-up. The incidence of HBV infections was significantly associated with the frequency of previous injections.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hepatitis B vaccine in hemodialysis patients with hepatitis C viral infection.

Patients on hemodialysis therapy are at a relatively high risk of exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is even higher and was reported as 33.2% in Taiwan. Although the efficacy of hepatitis B vaccine was well documented, the vaccination schedule in hemodialysis patients is not clearly defined. And under such a high prevalence of HCV infection, little is known about the influence of HCV imposing on HBV vaccination. We studied 50 chronic hemodialysis patients who were serologically negative for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), the antibody to the hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) and the antibody to the hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc); 26 of them were positive for the antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) test. Recombinant hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix-B) 40 micrograms per dose was administered by the intramuscular route at deltoid region at 0, 1, 2, 6 and 12 months respectively to all the patients. Forty-six patients had completed the study. The effective seroconversion rate (serum anti-HBs titer > 10 mIU ml-1) at 1 month after the final vaccine was 76.1% (35/46). The effective conversion rates of the anti-HCV(+) group to the anti-HCV(-) were 75% versus 77.3% (P = 0.857). Geometric mean anti-HBs titers were 177.67 mIU ml-1 versus 189.28 mIU ml-1 (P = 0.867). Our results showed that five-dose injections of HBV vaccine do not present a superior outcome to the four-dose regimen comparing to published data. The status of positivity of anti-HCV do not pose an suboptimal effect on HBV vaccination of hemodialysis patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Recovery of respiratory function in survivors with paraquat intoxication.

The purpose of this study was to investigate chest radiograms and respiratory function changes, including pulmonary function tests and alveolar-arterial oxygen difference, in survivors with paraquat intoxication. Chest radiograms and pulmonary function tests for 21 paraquat-poisoned patients were performed 10 d after paraquat intoxication; 3 mo later, the tests were repeated in 16 patients who survived. Forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, diffusing capacity of the lung, and alveolar-arterial oxygen difference were compromised after paraquat intoxication. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity correlated significantly with initial platelet counts (r = .453 and .443, respectively) 10 d after intoxication. The alveolar-arterial oxygen difference also correlated significantly with peak serum total bilirubin concentrations (r = .443) and initial platelet counts (r = .469). The follow-up data for respiratory functions forced expiratory volume in 1 s; 74.33 +/- 27.1% versus 97.89 +/- 16.39%; forced vital capacity: 71.44 +/- 26.03% versus 93.22 +/- 13.92%; diffusing capacity of lung: 60.11 +/- 27.61% versus 81.67 +/- 24.56%; alveolar-arterial oxygen difference: 37.95 +/- 24.32 mm Hg versus 7.75 +/- 9.94 mm Hg) and chest radiograms of survivors with moderate to severe paraquat poisoning showed significant improvements 3 mo after intoxication. The results demonstrated that paraquat-induced respiratory function impairments could recover significantly, at least partially, with time. In addition, pulmonary structure damage improved, as shown in the follow-up chest radiographs.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Short-term small-dose intravenous iron trial to detect functional iron deficiency in dialysis patients.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Management of renal anemia in end-stage renal disease requires careful evaluation of the iron status before and in particular during erythropoietin treatment. However, there is no simple and practical iron index accurately predictive of functional iron deficiency in these patients till now. The purpose of this prospective study, therefore, is to evaluate whether a short course of low-dose intravenous iron challenge can detect functional iron deficiency in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with baseline serum ferritin levels between 100 and 500 ng/ml were treated with intravenous saccharated ferric oxide, 960 mg over 24 hemodialysis treatments, and the hemoglobin level was checked every week. RESULTS: Patients whose hemoglobin value increased at least by 1 g/dl within the 8-week period were classified as having functional iron deficiency or as responders (n = 26; 81.2%). All other subjects were classified as having adequate iron levels or as nonresponders (n = 6; 18.8%). There were no significant differences in age, sex, dialysis years, Kt/V, dialyzers, hemoglobin, and basal and final transferrin saturation and ferritin between responders and nonresponders. In addition, there were no iron indices with acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity. On the contrary, the cutoff value of increments of hemoglobin of at least 0.2 g/dl after a 2-week intravenous iron trial had a sensitivity of 96.2% and a specificity of 100% in all patients (n = 32) and a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 100% after patients with transferrin saturation <20% were excluded (n = 24). These values had the greatest utility of the tests studied in this work. CONCLUSION: A 240-mg intravenous iron challenge during a 2-week period may be a simple, accurate, and straightforward method to detect a functional iron deficiency status in hemodialysis patients undergoing erythropoietin therapy.

Adult↗