Chia-Ming Liang

Patients who undergo splenectomy are at a high risk of infection. We aimed to investigate the rate of pneumonia in patients who underwent splenectomy, specifically comparing those who had splenectomy due to spleen injury and those who had it for other reasons. A population-based cohort study was conducted. Overall, 17,498 patients who underwent splenectomy between 2000 and 2015 were enrolled, including 11,817 patients with a history of spleen injury and 5681 controls without spleen injury. The incidence of pneumonia was calculated at the end of 2016. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to compare the hazard ratio with 95% CI for pneumonia associated with the spleen injury-caused splenectomy and splenectomy due to other causes. The crude HR for patients with splenectomy due to spleen injury to develop pneumonia was 1.649. After adjusting for covariates, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.567. There were statistically significant differences in all subgroups, except for the group with a tracking duration >10 years. We found an increase in pneumonia risk in the ‘spleen injury’ group when comparing it to that of the ‘other causes’ group, regardless of age, sex, and area of residence.

Background: The association between Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and the risk of developing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has yet to be investigated; thus, we conducted this nationwide cohort study to examine the association in patients from Taiwan. Methods: A total of approximately 2669 individuals with newly diagnosed H. pylori infection and 10,676 age- and sex-matched patients without a diagnosis of H. pylori infection from 2000 to 2013 were identified from Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to determine the cumulative incidence of H. pylori infection in each cohort. Whether the patient underwent H. pylori eradication therapy was also determined. Results: The cumulative incidence of IBS was higher in the H. pylori-infected cohort than in the comparison cohort (log-rank test, p < 0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders, H. pylori infection was associated with a significantly increased risk of IBS (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 3.108, p < 0.001). In addition, the H. pylori-infected cohort who did not receive eradication therapy had a higher risk of IBS than the non-H. pylori-infected cohort (adjusted HR 4.16, p < 0.001). The H. pylori-infected cohort who received eradication therapy had a lower risk of IBS than the comparison cohort (adjusted HR 0.464, p = 0.037). Conclusions: Based on a retrospective follow-up, nationwide study in Taiwan, H. pylori infection was associated with an increased risk of IBS; however, aggressive H. pylori infection eradication therapy can also reduce the risk of IBS. Further underlying biological mechanistic research is needed.