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Background. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causes psychological distress and can have a negative impact on the general mental health and rehabilitation in affected patients under currently implemented isolation guidelines. Auricular point pressure (APP) as well-established technique in traditional Chinese medicine may help to relieve sleep disturbance and anxiety in COVID-19 patients. Methods. During the early phase of the epidemic/pandemic, patients were enrolled in this study (02/2020 until 03/2020 n = 84). They were strictly isolated on specific wards at the Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine in Hubei. The retrospective cohort study design included two groups. Group A patients were treated with an auricular point pressure (APP) in addition to standard intensive care medicine while Group B participants (No-APP) received routine nursing measures alone. Treatment outcome was measured using the St. Mary's Hospital Sleep Questionnaire (SMH) Score and the 7-Item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Both scores were measured in each patient at baseline and on the discharge day. Results. The SMH score and sleep status changed in APP patients at the end of the treatment period when compared with No-APP patients (P < 0.01). APP-treated patients demonstrated lower GAD-7 scores than No-APP controls (P < 0.01). Further, no significant differences in safety or adverse events between the APP and No-APP groups were observed. Conclusion. The results from our snapshot study during the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic/pandemic suggest that auricular point pressure could be a simple and effective tool to relieve insomnia and situational anxiety in hospitalized patients suffering from COVID-19 and kept under disconcerting conditions of isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. To report the application of 14-MHz ultrasonography with tissue harmonic imaging (14 MHz + THI) to determine the integrity of the posterior capsule (PC) in traumatic cataract (TC). Methods. Patients with TC who were scheduled to undergo cataract extraction and whose PC could not be observed by slit lamp examination were included in the study. The status of the PC was determined by 14 MHz + THI before cataract extraction and confirmed during surgery. The results regarding PC integrity obtained from 14 MHz + THI and intraoperative direct observation were compared. Result. The study enrolled 52 eyes of 52 patients (49 men and 3 women), with a mean age of 42.15 years ± 11.23 (SD). The nature of the trauma was blunt (3 eyes) or sharp (49 eyes). The 14 MHz + THI method showed 21 PCs to be intact and 31 to have ruptured before cataract surgery. During surgery, 23 PCs were observed to be intact, while 29 PCs were ruptured. 27 PCs were ruptured and 19 were intact, as determined by the two methods. The 14 MHz + THI observations were consistent with the intraoperative observations of the PC (kappa = 0.764), with no significant difference between the two methods (P=0.687). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 14 MHz + THI for observation of the PC were 93.10%, 82.60%, and 88.46%, respectively. Conclusion. The 14 MHz + THI method can accurately reveal the integrity of the PC in TC. It has important clinical value in the selection of cataract surgery methods and the prediction of complications during TC surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]