PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Shiuan-Chih Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Shiuan-Chih Chen.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Risk factors for developing metastatic infection from pyogenic liver abscesses.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to identify the risk factors for developing extra-hepatic metastases from pyogenic liver abscesses. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study and reviewed 225 patients (age, 19-93 years) with a discharge diagnosis of pyogenic liver abscess from a large medical centre in Taiwan, between January 1995 and June 2000. Clinical data were collected from medical records. Of the 225 patients with a pyogenic liver abscess, 24 had extrahepatic metastases and were classified into the metastatic infection group; the remaining 201 were classified into the non-metastatic infection group and served as the control group. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by exact logistic regression. RESULTS: After adjustment for age, sex, and the duration of symptoms before admission, diabetes mellitus (adjusted OR, 12; 95% CI, 3.3-67), alcoholism (adjusted OR, 5.2; 95% CI, 1.4-20), the time interval >7 days from the onset of symptoms to the time appropriate antibiotics were administered (adjusted OR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.2-13), bacteraemia (adjusted OR, 5.4; 95% CI, 1.4-30), and infection (adjusted OR, 5.0; 95% CI, 1.1-47) were associated with the development of extra-hepatic metastases from pyogenic liver abscesses. On the other hand, fever (adjusted OR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.089-0.92) and right upper quadrant pain/tenderness (adjusted OR, 0.091; 95% CI, 0.0020-0.50) were associated with the non-metastatic abscesses. We performed a multivariate analysis and found that diabetes mellitus (multivariate OR, 7.7; 95% CI, 2.1-29) and alcoholism (multivariate OR, 8.9; 95% CI, 2.6-30) were the independent risk factors for developing metastatic infections; yet right upper quadrant pain/tenderness (multivariate OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.014-0.87) was the predictor of no metastatic abscesses. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that diabetes mellitus and alcoholism are significant risk factors for developing metastatic infections from pyogenic liver abscesses. These findings seem to imply that underlying conditions of the host influence the development of extra-hepatic metastases from pyogenic liver abscesses.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis A, B, C, and E viruses infection among preschool children in Taiwan.

Taiwan was a hyperendemic area for hepatitis A and B viruses (HAV and HBV) infection before late 1980s. To study the seroprevalence of hepatitis A, B, C, and E viruses (HCV and HEV) infection among preschool children in Taiwan, a community-based survey was carried out in 54 kindergartens in 10 urban areas, 10 rural areas, and 2 aboriginal areas randomly selected through stratified sampling. Serum specimens of 2,538 preschool children were screened for the hepatitis A, C, and E antibodies by a commercially available enzyme immunoassay and for HBV markers by radioimmunoassay methods. The multivariate-adjusted odd ratios (OR) with their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated through the multiple logistic regression analysis. Females had a statistically significantly higher HAV seroprevalence than males. The seroprevalence of HCV infection increased significantly with age. The larger the sibship size, the higher the seroprevalence of HBV infection. Aboriginal children had a significantly higher seroprevalence of HBV and HEV infection and lower seroprevalence of HCV infection than non-aboriginal children. A significantly higher seroprevalence of HBV infection was found in rural children than urban children. There was no significant association between serostatus of HAV and HEV infection and between serostatus of HBV and HCV infection among preschool children in Taiwan. The poor environmental and hygienic conditions in the aboriginal areas might play a role in infection with HBV and HEV.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

Comparison of pyogenic liver abscesses of biliary and cryptogenic origin. An eight-year analysis in a University Hospital.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to delineate the clinical features of pyogenic liver abscesses of biliary and cryptogenic origin, and to compare the differences in outcome of patients between the two groups. METHODS: We studied 86 patients, aged 19 years or older, with pyogenic liver abscess admitted to Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, between January 1996 and December 2003. The demographic data and medical information of the patients were reviewed and recorded. Of the 86 patients, 34 were classified into the biliary group and 52 were classified into the cryptogenic group. RESULTS: Patients with pyogenic liver abscesses of biliary origin had a higher frequency of underlying malignancy and Murphy's sign compared to those with pyogenic liver abscesses of cryptogenic origin. With respect to specific pathogens, Escherichia coli were more prevalent in the biliary group while Klebsiella pneumoniae were more prevalent in the cryptogenic group. Anaerobic isolates were less frequently cultured in the cryptogenic group than in the biliary group. After adjustment for age, sex, and the duration of symptoms before admission, there was no difference in mortality between both groups (biliary vs cryptogenic: 15% vs 8%; adjusted OR, 1.43; 95% CI, 0.24-8.25; p = 0.899). After adjustment for confounders, patients in the biliary group had higher frequencies of time to defervesce >1 week after admission (68% vs 40%; adjusted OR, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.09-9.04, p = 0.030) and hospital stay >3 weeks (47% vs 15%; adjusted OR, 4.34; 95% CI, 1.45-13.91; p = 0.007) than those in the cryptogenic group. CONCLUSIONS: This report highlights that pyogenic liver abscesses of cryptogenic origin had a benign clinical response, which was associated with shorter duration of hospitalisation and time to defervesce after admission, compared to those of biliary origin.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Pyogenic liver abscesses with Escherichia coli: etiology, clinical course, outcome, and prognostic factors.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the clinical characteristics, outcome, and prognostic factors related to mortality in patients with Escherichia coli liver abscess. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 72 patients aged 18 years and older who were diagnosed as having E. coli liver abscesses from July 1996 to June 2002 at two medical centers in Taiwan. RESULTS: The overall mortality rate was 26.4%. The majority of E. coli liver abscesses was solitary, involved the right lobe of the liver, and comprised polymicrobial infections. The cause of the liver abscess involved the biliary system in 48 patients (66.7%). The most common concomitant diseases were diabetes mellitus (30.6%) and underlying malignancy (30.6%). Metastatic infection was found in 4 patients (5.6%). Multivariate analysis revealed that underlying malignancy (p = 0.034), profound hypoalbuminemia (<2.5 g/dl) (p = 0.008), and multiple abscesses (p = 0.004) were the most significantly prognostic factors for mortality. CONCLUSION: The predominant causes of E. coli liver abscess were biliary diseases. This report also highlights that E. coli liver abscess has a relatively high mortality rate, which is associated with underlying malignancy, multiple abscesses and profound hypoalbuminemia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis E virus infection among preschool children in Taiwan.

In order to study the seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among preschool children in Taiwan, a community-based survey was carried out in 54 kindergartens in 10 urban areas, 10 rural areas, and 2 aboriginal areas randomly selected through stratified sampling. Serum specimens of 2,538 preschool children were screened for HEV antibodies (anti-HEV) by a commercially available enzyme immunoassay. The odd ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated through multiple logistic regression analysis. A total of 86 children were anti-HEV seropositive, giving a prevalence of 3.4%. The prevalence of anti-HEV was 3.9% (19 of 484) among aboriginal children, a significantly increased seroprevalence compared with that among children who lived in urban areas (OR = 1.68; 95% CI = 1.56-2.95; P < 0.05). Females had a higher anti-HEV seroprevalence than the males (OR = 1.55; 95% CI = 1.14-2.54; P < 0.05). Rates of anti-HEV antibody increased with age in aboriginal areas (chi(2) for trend = 5.59, P = 0.02), but decreased with age in non-aboriginal areas. The poor water supply system, poor sewage disposal, exposure to wild animals, and other environmental conditions in the aboriginal areas might have played a role in their infection with HEV in Taiwan.

Child↗