Biomedical subjects

W J Chou

Publications and source records attributed to W J Chou.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Prevalence and clinical implications of hepatitis B virus genotypes in southern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem. HBV genotypes may be associated with progression of liver disease. The distribution and clinical implications of HBV genotypes in southern Taiwan are evaluated. METHODS: We used a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism genotyping method to determine HBV genotypes. RESULTS: The genotype distribution for 265 patients with chronic HBV infection was as follows: A, 3 (1%); B, 158 (60%); C, 90 (34%); D, 7 (2.5%); E, 0: F, 0; and unclassified, 7 (2.5%). Compared with genotype B patients, genotype C patients had a higher hepatitis B e antigen positive rate and higher fibrosis score. There was no significant difference in the mean age between genotype B and genotype C patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, when patients were stratified by age, the prevalence of genotype C was significantly higher in young HCC patients (<50 years of age) than in age-matched asymptomatic carriers (40% versus 10%, P < 0.001). Using multivariate analysis, the significant risk factors for advanced liver disease (cirrhosis or HCC) for patients with chronic HBV infection were old age, male gender and genotype C. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that genotype C is associated with more severe liver diseases than the B variant.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in primary school children in Taiwan.

Chinese versions of Conners' Teacher's Rating Scale (CTRS) and the Werry-Weiss-Peters Activity Scale (WWPAS) were applied to 4,290 randomly selected primary school children in Kaohsiung. Using relative operational characteristic analysis to determine the best cut-off points, the validity of the WWPAS and CTRS for estimating the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was established. It was found that CTRS had satisfactory results, but the WWPAS did not have an optimal cut-off score. Using CTRS as a screening tool, the estimated overall prevalence rate of ADHD among Kaohsiung primary school children was found to be 9.9%, while the rate in boys (14.9%) was 3.3 times higher than in girls (4.5%). The assumption that hyperactivity is uncommon among Chinese children was proven to be unreliable.

Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity↗

PubMed1991

Neurological problems in chronic alcoholics.

In recent years there are a considerable increase in alcohol consumption in Taiwan, which may have been accompanied by increased incidence of alcohol-related physical disease. This study was designed for an understanding of neurological problems in chronic alcoholic patients. One hundred and five cases of chronic alcoholics with neurological problems were collected. All had taken more than 100 g alcohol daily for more than 8 years. They were all males, with a mean age of 47.0 +/- 1.3 years, mean daily alcohol consumption of 185.1 +/- 9.0 g (mean +/- S.E.). These chronic alcoholic patients showed various neurological problems. Patients showing typical clinical features of alcoholic neurological disease are now rather rare. Most of the patients had manifestations of more than one problems: polyneuropathy (74.3%), alcoholic tremor (37.1%), hallucinosis (30.5%), myopathy (26.7%), head injury (24.8%), withdrawal seizures (18.1%), Wernicke encephalopathy (15.2%), paranoia (13.3%), and stroke (15.2%). Furthermore, we divided all the patients into 5 categories, they were: encephalopathy, 59 cases (56.2%); stroke, 16 cases (15.2%); cerebellar degeneration, 12 cases (11.4%); neuropathy, 78 case (74.3%); and myopathy, 28 cases (16.7%). The daily alcohol consumption and duration of daily drinking were different significantly (p less than 0.05) among five different syndrome categories.

Adult↗