Background: The American Heart Association recently issued guidelines introducing the concept of cardiovascular–kidney–metabolic (CKM) syndrome to emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary approaches to prevention, risk stratification, and treatment for these diseases. This study assessed the prevalence of CKM syndrome stages and the mortality risk associated with its components in a large Asian cohort. Methods and findings: We analyzed a retrospective cohort of 515,602 participants aged ≥20 years from a health screening program conducted between 1996 and 2017 in Taiwan. We assessed the associations of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, and cause-specific mortality with CKM stages and its components—hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease (CKD), metabolic syndrome, and hyperlipidemia. All participants were followed for a median of 16.5 years (interquartile range: 11.5, 21.2 years). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for age, sex, educational level, smoking status, alcohol drinking status, and physical activity groups, were used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs). We used Chiang’s life table method to estimate years of life lost due to each CKM component. Among all participants, 257,535 (49.9%) were female. The majority of participants (n = 368,578 participants, (71.5%)) met criteria for CKM syndrome, with prevalence rates of 19.5%, 46.3%, 1.9%, and 3.8% for stages 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. CKM syndrome was associated with higher risks of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.33; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.28, 1.39), CVD mortality (HR: 2.81; 95% CI: 2.45, 3.22), and incident end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) (HR: 10.15; 95% CI: 7.54, 13.67). Each additional CKM component was associated with a 22% increase in the risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 1.22; 95% CI: 1.21, 1.23), a 37% increase in the risk of CVD mortality (HR: 1.37; 95% CI: 1.35, 1.40) compared with those without any CKM components. In addition, each additional component reduced average life expectancy by 3 years. The population-attributable fractions of CKM syndrome were 18.7% (95% CI: 15.8, 21.7) for all-cause mortality and 55.0% (95% CI: 49.0, 60.4) for CVD mortality. We estimated that failing to include CKD in CKM syndrome could result in the missed attribution of 11% of CVD deaths. The primary limitation is that our analysis relied on baseline measurements only, without accounting for longitudinal changes. Conclusions: In the large cohort study, the prevalence of CKM syndrome and its components were associated with risks of all-cause mortality, CVD mortality, and ESKD. These findings highlight the clinical need for integrated care within CKM health.

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning may result in acute neurological sequelae, cognitive sequelae, and delay neurological sequelae. The administration of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) to prevent the development of delayed neurological sequelae in CO poisoning have extensively investigated but conflicting results have been reported. We performed a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating HBO treatment and its effect on neuropsychometric dysfunction after CO poisoning. We searched Medline, Embase, Pubmed, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials from inception to December 2017. Eligible studies compared HBO therapy with normobaric oxygen (NBO) in patients with CO poisoning. Six studies compared HBO with NBO in CO poisoning patients. Compared with patients treated with NBO, a lower percentage of patients treated with HBO reported headache (16.2% vs 16.5%, relative risk [RR] = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.38–1.80), memory impairment (18.2% vs 23.8%, RR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.43–1.49), difficulty concentrating (15.0% vs 18.4%, RR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.55–1.34), and disturbed sleep (14.7% vs 16.2%, RR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.59–1.39). Two sessions of HBO treatment exhibited no advantage over one session. The meta-analysis indicated that compared with CO poisoning patients treated with NBO, HBO treated patients have a lower incidence of neuropsychological sequelae, including headache, memory impairment, difficulty concentrating, disturbed sleep, and delayed neurological sequelae. Taking into consideration the cost-effectiveness of one session of HBO, one session of HBO treatment could be an economical option for patients with CO poisoning with high severity.

Background: Given the uncertainties regarding thyroid nodule assessment and management, physicians require systematically and transparently developed recommendations. This systematic review assesses the quality and consistency of the recommendations of international clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules and cancer to assist physicians in making appropriate recommendations. Methods: The CPGs on the management of thyroid nodules and cancer published before June 2013 were retrieved. All the reviewed guidelines were in English. Four reviewers independently assessed the rigor of guideline development by using the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation II (AGREE-II) instrument, and their reported evidence was evaluated. Results: Ten eligible guidelines were included: nine had been developed by professional organizations, and the remaining guideline was endorsed by an independent regional body. Three guidelines achieved a score of greater than 50% in all six AGREE-II domains. Guidelines scored highest on the measurement of ‘scope and purpose’ (≥61.1% for eight CPGs) and lowest on the measurement of ‘applicability’ (≤38.5% for five CPGs). The overall quality ranged from 3.0 to 6.25 on a seven-point scale on the AGREE-II tool. Most CPG recommendations on the management of thyroid cancer were relatively consistent. Guidelines varied regarding the indication of fine-needle aspiration for thyroid nodules, as well as in their suggestions for postoperative radioiodine ablation. Conclusions: Our analysis showed that the current CPGs varied in methodological quality. More effort is needed to improve the quality of recommendations on the diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules and cancer.

Taiwan renal care system is an evolving learning health‐care system. There are four facets of this system. From the early history of dialysis and Taiwan Renal Registry Data System, it facilitates the generation of data to knowledge. National multidisciplinary pre‐end‐stage renal disease care project and outcome enhances knowledge to practice. Early chronic kidney disease (CKD) programs and 2015 Taiwan CKD clinical guidelines implicate the practice to customer, and then explore the causes of CKD help to resume customer to data. A learning health‐care system allows better and safer care at lower cost, enhancement of public health and patient empowerment. The successful development of a learning health‐care system was to collect, accumulate and analyze data, interpret results, deliver tailored message and take action to change practice. Through the established database and data analysis, an integrated care system would be able to improve clinical outcomes and achieve the most cost‐effectiveness care. Acute kidney injury, CKD with unknown origin, palliative care and kidney transplant are our new focuses to struggle.