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Background: Sorafenib has been shown to prolong the progression free survival (PFS) of advanced radioiodine (RAI) refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) and has been approved by the FDA as the result of the phase III DECISION trial. Sorafenib has been reimbursed for the treatment of RAI refractory DTC in Taiwan since Jan 2017. High percentage of adverse events (AE) was noted in DECISION trial. We conducted a study to show the real-world experience of sorafenib in Taiwan., Methods: We retrospectively collected the clinical data, including dose, AE, and PFS of sorafenib, of the DTC patients who received sorafenib treatment in National Cheng Kung University Hospital and China Medical University Hospital by chart review from 2012 to 2018., Results: Thirty-six advanced DTC patients with progression were included in this study. The starting dose of sorafenib in most patients was 200 mg twice daily and the mean daily maintenance dose was 433 mg. Five patients had partial response (13.9%) and 28 patients had stable disease (77.8%). The median PFS was 17.3 months (95% confidence interval: 11.9-33.6 months). Daily maintenance dose ≥ 600 mg was associated with better PFS (median PFS, not reached). The most common toxicity of sorafenib was hand foot skin reaction (69%), followed by diarrhea (42%), and skin rash (33%). Most of the toxicities were grade I/II., Conclusion: Higher maintenance dose of sorafenib is associated with longer PFS while starting from half dose is feasible to minimize the incidence of high grade toxicities in the real-world use of sorafenib., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background/purpose: Spaced primary dentition plays a critical role in the eruption of permanent teeth and the establishment of ideal occlusion. A lack of these spaces in deciduous dentition may result in disproportionate jaw and tooth sizes. Additionally, spaced primary dentition is significantly affected by ethnic factors. However, few of these studies have been conducted in Asia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of spaced primary dentition in Taiwan., Methods: One hundred and forty-seven 3- to 6-year-old Taiwanese children (58 girls and 89 boys) were recruited for a cross-sectional study. Primate and interdental spaces were recorded by intraoral photos. The prevalence of spaced dentition was evaluated. The interpersonal agreement of spaced dentition between the upper and lower arches was also assessed., Results: Most of the subjects had spaced primary dentition. The prevalence of primate space was 83.7% in the upper arch and 61.2% in the lower arch, whereas the prevalence of interdental space was 44.2% in the upper arch and 53.1% in the lower arch. The prevalence rates of interdental space and upper primate space were significantly higher in boys than in girls. Interdental spaces of the lower arch increased with age., Conclusion: Ethnic factors can affect the ratio of spaced dentition. Most of the 3- to 6-year-old Taiwanese children have spaced dentition. The boys have higher incidence of spaced dentition than the girls. Furthermore, primate space is more frequently found in the upper arch than in the lower arch, whereas interdental space is reversed., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background/purpose: Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) has emerged as the preferred technique worldwide, and has contributed to a dramatic increase in living kidney donation during the past decade. We adopted LDN in 2002 with the intention of increasing living kidney donation incentive and maintaining equivalent donor/recipient outcome., Methods: Forty-five LDNs were performed between September 2002 and November 2007. Donor demographics, operative characteristics, perioperative complications and donor/recipient outcome were reviewed retrospectively. The LDN series was divided into earlier and later groups for comparison. To confirm the safety and efficacy of LDN, we compared the results with those of previous series and our open donor nephrectomy (ODN) series., Results: All 45 LDN kidneys were procured and transplanted successfully. Mean donor operation time was 327.7+/-10.2 minutes, blood loss was 286.0+/-48.3 mL, and warm ischemia time was 233.9+/-19.6 seconds. Two (4.4%) open conversions happened in the earlier group. There was a significant decrease in warm ischemia time and donor intraoperative complications in the later group. There was no donor mortality and there were no repeat surgical procedures. Delayed graft function occurred in 8.9% of cases and three (6.7%) recipients developed ureteral complications. All but one recipient was discharged with adequate renal function. Graft function continued in 41 of the 43 harvested kidneys (95.3%). Compared with ODN, there was a significant decrease in donor postoperative stay in the LDN series (p=0.00). There was no difference between the series with regard to donor safety, donor outcome, and immediate and long-term recipient outcome., Conclusion: The number of living kidney donations increased significantly after adopting LDN in our series. The equivalent donor/recipient outcome of the LDN series compared with that of previous and ODN series was achieved with increasing experience.

Parathyroid carcinoma accounts for 0.5 to 4.0% of cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. The prognosis depends largely on the extent of successful resection at the time of initial operation. Therefore, early diagnosis before surgery is important. We report 3 cases of primary hyperparathyroidism. The first patient, a 20-year-old uremic female, had refractory hypercalcemia after 5 years of hemodialysis treatment. Hypercalcemia persisted despite repeated parathyroidectomy. Pathology revealed diffuse hyperplasia of the parathyroid glands with focal adenomatous changes. Multiple pulmonary metastases were found later. The second patient, a 45-year-old female with history of nephrolithiasis, presented with severe osteoporosis. She underwent repeated parathyroidectomy for local recurrence. Pathology disclosed typical features of parathyroid carcinoma with adjacent lymph node metastasis. The third patient, a 34-year-old male, had recurrent episodes of extremity fracture and hypercalcemia with palpable neck mass. He underwent resection of the parathyroid tumor. Vascular and capsular invasions were noted microscopically. All three patients were relatively young and had extremely high intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) level (15 to 31 times the upper limit of normal). The first patient died of hypercalcemia and respiratory failure and the other 2 were treated successfully with surgical excision and, in case 2, combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The latter 2 patients had no recurrence during 18 months and 14 months of follow-up, respectively. Our experience with these cases suggests that the combination of the following characteristics are highly suggestive of parathyroid carcinoma: young age, palpable neck mass, concomitant renal and skeletal disease, and extremely high iPTH level in patients with PTH-dependent hypercalcemia.