Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease is a dominantly inherited disorder marked by multiorgan tumors, such as central nervous system benign hemangioblastomas (CHB). Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) has also been used to treat CHB for a long time. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to provide a long-term outcome of SRS for VHL-associated CHB by reviewing published studies. We completed a Pubmed/Embase/SCOPUS/Cochrane Library literature search to get eligible studies published from January 1990 to December 2019 about using SRS to treat VHL-associated CHB. 15 studies met eligibility for qualitative systematic review, of which nine studies were ultimately eligible for quantity meta-analysis of 5-year tumor control rates (TCR), representing 170 subjects with a total of 660 lesions. Gamma Knife was the most published SRS method for VHL-associated CHB. The pooled 5-year TCR across the nine studies was 0.919 (95 %CI: 0.881-0.957). The pooled 5-year TCR for only intracranial lesions across eight studies was 0.917 (95 %CI: 0.876-0.957). Individual patient data were extracted from 9 studies, representing 298 lesions of 70 subjects. Sex, tumor volume, radiosurgery methods, marginal doses, maximum doses, the number of tumors for radiosurgery, age at the time of radiosurgery, tumor locations were not proven to be associated with tumor progression. SRS offered a satisfactory 5-year tumor control of CHB for VHL patients. Despite the paucity of randomized control trials, SRS is recommended to patients with limited surgical alternatives. However, the long-term outcomes and underlying factors associated with tumor progression remain to be investigated.

Stereotactic radiosurgery for central nervous system hemangioblastoma in von Hippel-Lindau disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a molecule that is predominantly expressed by damaged alveolar type II cells, and has been proposed as a marker of COVID-19 and the severity of the disease. Here, we performed a meta-analysis to determine whether KL-6 could be used as a prognostic factor for severe COVID-19.
PubMed, Cochrane and Google Scholar were searched until April 20, 2021, and 7 studies were included. KL-6 was considered as the outcome and pooled in meta-analyses.
All included studies compared KL-6 in severe and non-severe patients. Serum KL-6 was higher in severe COVID-19 patients compared to non-severe (n = 6; SMD = 1.25; 95% CI: 0.99-1.5; P < 0.001) and healthy controls (n = 4; SMD = 3.07; 95% CI: 1.36-4.8; P < 0.001).
This data collection revealed the potential clinical significance of KL-6 as a non-expensive predictive biomarker in severe COVID-19 and for the categorization of COVID-19 clinical severity.

Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) as a clinical marker for severe COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analyses.

Travel-related control measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic: a rapid review.

To systematically search the scientific literature concerning the influence of playing a wind instrument on tooth position and/or facial morphology.
The PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane databases were searched up to September 2019. Orthodontic journals were hand searched and grey literature was sought via Google Scholar. Observational studies and (randomized) controlled clinical trials that assessed tooth position and/or facial morphology by profile cephalograms, dental casts or clinical examination were included. The potential risk of bias was assessed. Data from wind instrument players and controls were extracted. Descriptive analysis and meta-analysis were performed.
In total, 10 eligible studies with a cross-sectional (n = 7) or longitudinal design (n = 3) and an estimated low to serious risk of bias were included. Sample sizes ranged from 36 to 170 participants, varying from children to professional musicians. Descriptive analysis indicated that adults playing a single-reed instrument may have a larger overjet than controls. Playing a brass instrument might be associated with an increase in maxillary and mandibular intermolar width among children. Longitudinal data showed less increase in anterior facial height among brass and single-reed players between the age of 6 and 15. Children playing a wind instrument showed thicker lips than controls. Meta-analysis revealed that after a follow-up of 6 months to 3 years, children playing brass instruments had a significant reduction in overjet as compared to controls. The magnitude of the effect was of questionable clinical relevance and the generalizability was limited.
Playing a wind instrument can influence tooth position and facial morphology in both children and adults. Aspects that stand out are overjet, arch width, facial divergence/convergence and lip thickness. However, evidence was sparse and the strength of the premise emerging from this review was graded to be "very low".
Systematische Suche nach wissenschaftlicher Literatur zum Einfluss des Spielens eines Blasinstruments auf die Zahnstellung und/oder die Gesichtsmorphologie.
Die Datenbanken PubMed, Embase und Cochrane wurden bis September 2019 durchsucht. Darüber hinaus wurden die wichtigsten kieferorthopädischen Zeitschriften per Hand und Google Scholar nach grauer Literatur durchsucht. Thematisch passende Studien wurden kritisch beurteilt und analysiert. Beobachtungsstudien und (randomisierte) kontrollierte klinische Studien, in denen die Zahnstellung und/oder die Gesichtsmorphologie anhand von Fernröntgenseitbild, Kiefermodellen bzw. klinischer Untersuchung beurteilt wurden, wurden einbezogen. Das potenzielle Bias-Risiko wurde bewertet. Daten von Blasinstrumentenspielern und Kontrollen wurden extrahiert, sowohl eine deskriptive Analyse als auch eine Metaanalyse wurden durchgeführt.
Die Suche führte zu 10 geeigneten Studien, 7 Querschnitts- und 3 Längsschnittstudien mit einem geschätzten geringem bis erheblichem Bias-Risiko. Die Fallzahl reichte von 36 bis 170 Teilnehmern und die Merkmale der Studiengruppe variierten von Kindern bis hin zu professionellen Musikern. Die deskriptive Analyse zeigte, dass Erwachsene, die Einzelrohrblattinstrumente spielen, einen größeren Overjet haben können als Kontrollen. Das Spielen eines Blechblasinstruments steht bei Kindern möglicherweise in Zusammenhang mit einer Zunahme der intermolaren Breite im Ober- und Unterkiefer. Langzeitdaten zeigten eine geringere Zunahme der anterioren Gesichtshöhe bei Blechbläsern und Einzelrohrblattspielern im Alter zwischen 6 und 15 Jahren. Kinder, die ein Blasinstrument spielen, hatten im Vergleich zu den Kontrollen vollere Lippen. Die Metaanalyse zeigte, dass Kinder, die ein Blasinstrument spielen, bei einer Nachuntersuchungsdauer von 6 Monaten bis 3 Jahren eine signifikante Verkleinerung des Overjet im Vergleich zu den Kontrollen hatten. Das Ausmaß des Effekts war von fraglicher klinischer Relevanz, und die Generalisierbarkeit war begrenzt.
Das Spielen eines Blasinstruments kann Zahnstellung und Gesichtsmorphologie bei Kindern und bei Erwachsenen beeinflussen. Hervorzuheben sind hierbei Overjet, Kieferbogenbreite, faziale Divergenz/Konvergenz und Lippendicke. Allerdings war die Evidenz spärlich und die Stärke der aus dieser Untersuchung hervorgehenden Prämisse wurde als „sehr gering“ eingestuft.

Does playing a wind instrument influence tooth position and facial morphology? : Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD) encompasses a wide spectrum of developmental abnormalities of the anterior ocular segment, including congenital cataract, iris hypoplasia, aniridia, iridocorneal synechiae, as well as Peters, Axenfeld, and Rieger anomalies. Here, we report a large five-generation Caucasian family exhibiting atypical syndromic ASD segregating with a novel truncating variant of 

Variable Anterior Segment Dysgenesis and Cardiac Anomalies Caused by a Novel Truncating Variant of FOXC1.

Performing an up-to-date meta-analysis of oral antioxidant therapies and determining whether they are effective in preventing and/or treating preeclampsia (PE).
Search was performed in PubMed, CENTRAL, LILACS, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases. The risk of bias was assessed based on using Cochrane Collaboration's tool. A funnel plot was created, and Egger's and Peter's test was carried out to assess publication bias in the primary outcome of prevention studies. The overall quality of the evidence was assessed based on using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Developing and Evaluation (GRADE) tool; a formal protocol was published in the PROSPERO database (registration number CRD42022348992). In total, 32 studies were taken into consideration for analysis purposes; 22 studies focused on investigating preeclampsia prevention methods, whereas 10 focused on its treatment. Significant results associated with the incidence of preeclampsia were observed in prevention studies comprising 11,198 subjects and 1106 events in the control groups, as well as 11,156 subjects and 1048 events in the intervention groups (relative risk [RR]: 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.75, 0.99], P = 0.03; I
Antioxidant therapy has shown beneficial effects on preeclampsia prevention; moreover, the positive impact of this therapy on intrauterine growth restriction was observed during the disease treatment.

The role played by oral antioxidant therapies in preventing and treating preeclampsia: An updated meta-analysis.

Previous studies have found several biomarkers for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but the accuracy of most biomarkers is still in doubt due to the occurrence of other comorbidities. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to explore ideal ARDS biomarkers which can reflect pathophysiology features precisely and better identify at-risk patients and predict mortality. Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, OVID, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for studies assessing the reliability of pulmonary-originated epithelial proteins in ARDS. A total of 32 studies appeared eligible for meta-analysis, including 2654 ARDS/ALI patients in this study. In the at-risk patients' identification group, the highest pooled effect size was observed in Krebs von den Lungren-6 (KL-6) (SMD: 1.17 [95% CI: 0.55, 1.79]), followed by club cell proteins 16 (CC16) (SMD: 0.74 [95% CI: 0.01, 1.46]), and surfactant proteins-D (SP-D) (SMD: 0.71 [95% CI: 0.57, 0.84]). For the mortality prediction group, CC16 exhibited the largest effect size with SMD of 0.92 (95% CI: 0.42, 1.43). Meanwhile, the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) of CC16 for ARDS diagnosis reached an AUC of 0.80 (95% CI: 0.76, 0.83). In conclusion, this study provides a ranking system for pulmonary-originated epithelial biomarkers according to their association with distinguishing at-risk patients and predicting mortality. In addition, the study provides evidence for the advantage of biomarkers over traditional diagnostic criteria. The performance of biomarkers may help to clinically improve the ARDS diagnosis and mortality prediction.

Circulating Pulmonary-Originated Epithelial Biomarkers for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a specific form of chronic fibrosing interstitial pneumonia with various etiology. The severity and progression of ILD usually predict the poor outcomes of ILD. Otherwise, Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a potential immunological biomarker reflecting the severity and progression of ILD. This meta-analysis is to clarify the predictive value of elevated KL-6 levels in ILD.
EBSCO, PubMed, and Cochrane were systematically searched for articles exploring the prognosis of ILD published between January 1980 and April 2021. The Weighted Mean Difference (WMD) and 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were computed as the effect sizes for comparisons between groups. For the relationship between adverse outcome and elevated KL-6 concentration, Hazard Ratio (HR), and its 95%CI were used to estimate the risk factor of ILD.
Our result showed that ILD patients in severe and progressive groups had higher KL-6 levels, and the KL-6 level of patients in the severe ILD was 703.41 (U/ml) than in mild ILD. The KL-6 level in progressive ILD group was 325.98 (U/ml) higher than that in the non-progressive ILD group. Secondly, the KL-6 level of patients in acute exacerbation (AE) of ILD was 545.44 (U/ml) higher than stable ILD. Lastly, the higher KL-6 level in ILD patients predicted poor outcomes. The KL-6 level in death of ILD was 383.53 (U/ml) higher than in survivors of ILD. The pooled HR (95%CI) about elevated KL-6 level predicting the mortality of ILD was 2.05 (1.50-2.78), and the HR (95%CI) for progression of ILD was 1.98 (1.07-3.67).
The elevated KL-6 level indicated more severe, more progressive, and predicted the higher mortality and poor outcomes of ILD.

KL-6 as an Immunological Biomarker Predicts the Severity, Progression, Acute Exacerbation, and Poor Outcomes of Interstitial Lung Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

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