There is no published meta-analysis comparing the effects of dialysis modality choice on cognitive functions in patients with end-stage renal disease . Therefore, we perform a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate cognitive function in peritoneal dialysis versus hemodialysis patients.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become a huge economic burden. Increasing randomized clinical trials have favored the efficacy of a specified kind of acupuncture-related therapies (ATs) for treating stable COPD. Nonetheless, comparative efficacy of different ATs for stable COPD remains unknown. Thus, the purpose of this network meta-analysis protocol aims to determine the optimal modality of ATs for treating stable COPD.

The compound Biejia-Ruangan tablet (CBRT), as an adjunctive therapy to entecavir, is a potential treatment for hepatic fibrosis (HF) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (HBV). However, the present study yielded inconsistent results. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we comprehensively investigated the efficacy and safety of CBRT as an adjunctive modality to entecavir for the treatment of HBV infection complicated with HF.

The incidence of knee osteoarthritis is increasing year by year, which seriously affects people's quality of life, especially the elderly, and has become a major public health problem. A lot of evidence shows that physical therapy has advantages in the treatment of knee joints, but there are a number of physical therapy schemes, and the efficacy of each scheme is different. This study will evaluate the clinical efficacy of different physical therapy regimens in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by means of network meta-analysis.

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a cornerstone therapy for advanced prostate cancer (PCa). We hypothesized that cardiovascular (CV) risk is different across the various ADT modalities to compare their effects on CV morbidity and mortality, and all-cause mortality in patients with PCa. To investigate more in depth potential CV risk heterogeneity focusing on coronary (main outcome) and cerebrovascular risk, CV, and overall mortality. We performed a Medline and Embase query, without language restriction, since 1950 up to July 2014. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies providing that they compared at least 1 ADT modality to another one or to placebo and they gave data on CV event or all-cause mortality. Sixty-eight studies out of 3419 met our eligibility criteria. Eleven observational studies were analyzed. Direct meta-analyses showed that antiandrogen was associated with a 30% decrease risk for myocardial infarction (MI) compared to GnRH agonists (RR, 0.70 [0.54-0.91]); combined androgen blockade (CAB) was associated with a 10% increase risk for stroke when compared to antiandrogen (RR, 1.10 [1.02-1.19]). With regard to RCTs, 57 were included: direct meta-analyses suggested that CAB was associated with a 10% decrease of all-cause mortality when compared to GnRH agonist (RR, 0.90 [0.82-1.00]). Network analysis could only be performed for all-cause mortality and it remains difficult to disentangle benefit (positive impact on cancer survival) and risk (including CV risk). The impact of the ADT modalities on CV morbidity remains difficult to quantify and more detailed prospective collection is required.

Chemotherapy in combination with thoracic radiotherapy yields significant results in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) compared with thoracic radiotherapy alone. However, whether concurrent or sequential delivery of chemotherapy combined with thoracic radiotherapy is optimal remains unclear. Herein, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of concurrent vs sequential chemoradiotherapy in patients with NSCLC.

Currently, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is presently a recognized treatment modality for patients with severe aortic stenosis who are often old, disabled, frail, and have low exercise capacity (ExCap). It is further expected from this therapy to improve quality of life by improving of the cardio function performance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on patients after TAVI.

Meniscus tears are usually classified as degenerative or traumatic tears according to their pathogenesis. At present, traumatic meniscal tears are generally believed to have high healing potential. In recent years, multiple treatments have been described for traumatic meniscal tears, such as the inside-out technique, outside-in technique, all-inside technique, biological augmentation of meniscal repair, meniscectomy, and non-surgical treatment. However, the functional recovery of the knee joint and healing of the meniscus after treatment are quite different from the results reported in the literature, which requires more reliable evidence-based medical findings. This study will evaluate evidence from multiple types of research comparing different therapies for traumatic meniscal tears in adults.

Previous clinical trials have reported that acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) is a useful modality for weight loss. However, no study has specifically investigated the effectiveness and safety of comparing verum and sham ACE in adults with obesity. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of comparing verum and sham ACE in obese adults.

The Pilates exercise has recently become an increasingly popular way of exercise in female patients since it is an attractive and low-cost physical exercise modality. Pilates may be a beneficial method of exercise for female patients with depression and anxiety symptoms. However, to date, there has been no attempt to collate this literature. This review aims to systematically assess and meta-analyze the efficacy of Pilates exercise for female patients with depression and anxiety symptoms and inform evidence-based guidelines for exercise prescription.

Cervical cancer is among the most frequent cancer types in women worldwide. Radiotherapy, including external beam radiation and brachytherapy, is one of the commonly used treatment options for cervical cancer. However, the adverse effects of radiation therapy on cervical cancer survival have been poorly investigated with inconclusive results. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the suitable radiotherapy modality according to patients' characteristics. A retrospective survival analysis of 44,602 patients was performed using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Multivariate proportional hazard Cox model was used to evaluate the prognostic impact of different radiotherapy modalities, primary surgery, age, TNM stage, and tumor size. Our results indicated that patients without primary surgery, diagnosed at older age (≥45 years' old), at advanced TNM stages (III/IV) or with larger tumor size (≥3 cm) could benefit from radiotherapy. However, radiotherapy was detrimental in patients with primary surgery, diagnosed at younger age (<45 years' old), at earlier TNM stages (I/II) or with smaller tumor size (<3 cm). In addition, external beam radiation was in most cases less effective compared with combined external beam and brachytherapy. These results highlighted the necessity of realizing personalized radiotherapy treatments for patients with cervical cancer.

Rectal cancer is one of the most common tumors and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in developed countries. Lymph node involvement remains the strongest prognostic factor associated with a worse prognosis in patients with rectal cancer. Several systematic reviews have investigated the accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and endorectal ultrasonography for lymph node involvement of rectal cancer and compared the diagnostic accuracy of different imaging techniques, but there are considerable differences in conclusions. This study aims to assess the methodological quality and reporting quality of systematic reviews and to determine which diagnostic imaging techniques is the optimal modality for the diagnosis of lymph node involvement in patients with rectal cancer.

Leptomeningeal collateral flow (LMF) is associated with infarct area and clinical outcome for ischemic stroke patients. Although LMF can be detected by multiple imaging methods, but their diagnostic performance is uncertain.The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic validity or reliability of noninvasive image methods in assessing LMF.Databases included PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library.Original observational cohort studies.Ischemic stroke patients.Different noninvasive image methods to assess LMF.Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to evaluate the quality of the studies; forest plot to show pooled results; I2 and Egger test to evaluate the heterogeneity and publication bias.Thirty of the 126 selected studies were eligible. For CT angiography, the interobserver agreement ranged from 0.494 to 0.93 and weighted kappa was 0.888; for patients receiving thrombolysis or endovascular treatment, 0.68 to 0.91; 0.494 to 0.89 for the 2-point system, 0.60 to 0.93 for the 3-point system, 0.68 to 0.87 for the system of >4 points; area under the curve (AUC) was 0.78. For perfusion computed tomography (CTP), the interobserver agreement ranged from 0.724 to 0.872; for patients receiving thrombolysis or endovascular treatment, 0.74 to 0.872; 0.724 for the 2-point system, 0.783 to 0.953 for the 3-point system; the intraobserver agreement was 0.884; AUC was 0.826. For MRI-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), the interobserver agreement ranged from 0.58 to 0.86; for patients receiving thrombolysis or endovascular treatment, 0.75 to 0.86; 0.86 for the two-point system, 0.77 to 0.87 for the system of more than 5 points; AUC was 0.82.No pooled data of CTP and FLAIR. The difference cohort study had difference bias. The unpublished data were not included.CT angiography is a good tool for assessing LMF. CTP shows a good validity and reliability, but its diagnostic value needs more evidence. FLAIR is a good modality to assess LMF. These image methods had better validity and reliability to evaluate LMF of patients receiving thrombolysis or endovascular treatment than all ischemic stroke patients.