Childhood Maltreatment and Gratitude: A Multilevel, Meta-Analytic Review

During the past decade, research on the association between childhood maltreatment (CM) and gratitude has been accumulating, but there is a lack of systematic, quantitative evaluation of existing literature. The present systematic review aims to fill this gap by conducting a three-level meta-analysis. After a comprehensive search in five English and three Chinese databases, we retrieved 33 effect sizes from 16 studies with a total sample of 13,818 participants. The results showed that CM (aggregated across forms) was negatively and moderately linked to gratitude (r = -.311, 95% CI [-0.382, -0.235], p < .001). Childhood neglect (i.e., physical and emotional neglect) exhibited more substantial effects on gratitude than emotional abuse, while the effects of childhood physical and sexual abuse were insignificant. In addition, the mean effect sizes were larger in studies with younger samples. However, the effect did not vary as functions of CM measurement, methodological rigor, whether the sample included college students only, publication type, or region of the sample. Last, we highlighted the limitations of existing research, proposed agendas for future studies, and discussed practical implications.

A systematic review and meta-analysis comparing tumor progression and complications between radiofrequency ablation and thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most frequent thyroid cancers worldwide. The efficacy and acceptability of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of PTC have been intensively studied. The aim of this study is to focus on extra detailed that may influent for PTC or papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We identified a total of 1,987 records of a primary literature searched in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar by key words, from 2000 to 2022. The outcome of studies included complication, costs, and local tumor progression. After scrutiny screening and full-text assessment, six studies were included in the systematic review. Heterogeneity was estimated using I2, and the quality of evidence was assessed for each outcome using the GRADE guidelines.

RESULTS

Our review enrolled 1,708 patients reported in six articles in the final analysis. There were 397 men and 1,311 women in the analysis. Two of these studies involved PTC and four focused on PTMC. There were 859 patients in the RFA group and 849 patients in the thyroidectomy group. By contrast, the tumor progression of RFA group was as same as that surgical groups [odds ratio, 1.31; 95% CI, 0.52-3.29; heterogeneity (I2 statistic), 0%, p = 0.85]. The risk of complication rates was significantly lower in the RFA group than that in the surgical group [odds ratio, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.09-0.35; heterogeneity (I2 statistic), 40%, p = 0.14].

CONCLUSIONS

RFA is a safe procedure with a certain outcome for PTC. RFA can achieve a good efficacy and has a lower risk of major complications.

CT imaging features of 4121 patients with COVID-19: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

We systematically reviewed the computed tomography (CT) imaging features of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to provide reference for clinical practice.

METHODS

Our article comprehensively searched PubMed, FMRS, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang databases, and VIP databases to collect literatures about the CT imaging features of COVID-19 from 1 January to 16 March 2020. Three reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and then, this meta-analysis was performed by using Stata12.0 software.

RESULTS

A total of 34 retrospective studies involving a total of 4121 patients with COVID-19 were included. The results of the meta-analysis showed that most patients presented bilateral lung involvement (73.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 65.9%-81.1%) or multilobar involvement (67.3%, 95% CI: 54.8%-78.7%) and just little patients showed normal CT findings (8.4%). We found that the most common changes in lesion density were ground-glass opacities (68.1%, 95% CI: 56.9%-78.2%). Other changes in density included air bronchogram sign (44.7%), crazy-paving pattern (35.6%), and consolidation (32.0%). Patchy (40.3%), spider web sign (39.5%), cord-like (36.8%), and nodular (20.5%) were common lesion shapes in patients with COVID-19. Pleural thickening (27.1%) was found in some patients. Lymphadenopathy (5.4%) and pleural effusion (5.3%) were rare.

CONCLUSION

The lung lesions of patients with COVID-19 were mostly bilateral lungs or multilobar involved. The most common chest CT findings were patchy and ground-glass opacities. Some patients had air bronchogram, spider web sign, and cord-like. Lymphadenopathy and pleural effusion were rare.

Clinical characteristics of 3062 COVID-19 patients: A meta-analysis

We aimed to systematically review the clinical characteristics of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Seven databases were searched to collect studies about the clinical characteristics of COVID‐19 from January 1, 2020 to February 28, 2020. Then, meta‐analysis was performed by using Stata12.0 software. A total of 38 studies involving 3062 COVID‐19 patients were included. Meta‐analysis showed that a higher proportion of infected patients was male (56.9%). The incidence rate of respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome was 19.5% and the fatality rate was 5.5%. Fever (80.4%), fatigue (46%), cough (63.1%), and expectoration (41.8%) were the most common clinical manifestations. Other common symptoms included muscle soreness (33%), anorexia (38.8%), chest tightness (35.7%), shortness of breath (35%), dyspnea (33.9%). Minor symptoms included nausea and vomiting (10.2%), diarrhea (12.9%), headache (15.4%), pharyngalgia (13.1%), shivering (10.9%), and abdominal pain (4.4%). The proportion of patients that was asymptomatic was 11.9%. Normal leukocyte counts (69.7%), lymphopenia (56.5%), elevated C‐reactive protein levels (73.6%), elevated ESR (65.6%), and oxygenation index decreased (63.6%) were observed in most patients. About 37.2% of patients were found with elevated D‐dimer, 25.9% of patients with leukopenia, along with abnormal levels of liver function (29%), and renal function (25.5%). Other findings included leukocytosis (12.6%) and elevated procalcitonin (17.5%). Only 25.8% of patients had lesions involving a single lung and 75.7% of patients had lesions involving bilateral lungs. The most commonly experienced symptoms of COVID‐19 patients were fever, fatigue, cough, and expectoration. A relatively small percentage of patients were asymptomatic. Most patients showed normal leucocytes counts, lymphopenia, elevated levels of C‐reactive protein and ESR. Bilateral lung involvement was common.

COVID‐19 is a new respiratory disease which needs quick identification of infected patients.

The most common symptoms of COVID‐19 patients were fever, fatigue, cough, and expectoration.

A relatively small percentage of patients were asymptomatic.

Most patients showed normal leucocytes counts, lymphopenia, elevated levels of C‐reactive protein and ESR.

Correlation between miR-21 expression and laryngeal carcinoma risks: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the expression and clinical significance of miR-21 in the tissues of laryngeal carcinoma using meta-analysis.

METHODS

Literature databases including PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the British Library. Two reviewers independently identified the literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 12.0 and RevMan 5.0 software.

RESULTS

A total of four studies involving 160 cases were included. No significant heterogeneity was found between studies. The results of meta-analysis showed high miR-21 expression was found in Laryngeal cancer than non-neoplasm tissue (odds ratio = 4.47, 95%CI 2.59 to 7.73, P = 0.02). Only one study reported the expression of miR-21 between TMN (tumor, metastasis, node) I to II and TMN III to IV.

CONCLUSION

miR-21expression is notably correlated to laryngeal carcinoma and its clinically pathologic features. It suggests that higher miR-21 expression may be a risk factor of laryngeal carcinoma and a potential molecular biomarker. For the quantity and quality limitation of the included studies, the conclusion still needs to be further proved by performing more high-quality studies.