不同时期COPD患者血清DcR3、Survivin表达水平及临床意义

目的 探讨不同时期慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)患者血清诱饵受体3(DcR3)、凋亡抑制蛋白(Survivin)表达水平及临床意义。方法 选取2018年9月—2019年12月本院收治的92名COPD患者为研究对象,其中稳定型COPD 50例,急性加重期COPD 42例;同期本院健康体检者88例为对照组。测定各组研究对象血清DcR3、Survivin水平及肺功能指标。 与对照组[DcR3(106.54±48.35)pg/mL,Survivin(98.85±26.59)pg/mL]比较,稳定期组和急性加重期组血清DcR3[(395.23±123.85)pg/mL,(1 248.81±213.59)pg/mL]、Survivin [(267.54±84.69)pg/mL,(1 233.95±307.26)pg/mL]水平升高;与稳定期组比较,急性加重期组血清DcR3、Survivin水平升高。与对照组比较,稳定期组和急性加重期组FEV1%、FEV1 /FVC、DLCO%水平降低(P<0.001);与稳定期组比较,急性加重期组FEV1%、FEV1 /FVC、DLCO%水平降低(P<0.001)。随着低氧血症严重程度的增加,COPD患者血清DcR3、Survivin水平逐渐增加(P<0.001)。多因素logistics回归分析显示,高水平DcR3、Survivin、IL-12、hs-CRP为COPD病情的危险因素(P<0.001)。DcR3、Survivin与FEV、FEV1 /FVC呈负相关,与IL-12、TNF-α、hs-CRP呈正相关(P<0.001)。 COPD稳定期、急性加重期患者血清DcR3、Survivin表达水平升高,且DcR3、Survivin与COPD病情严重程度呈正相关。     

Justifying Clinical Deception: Some Amendments to Brummett and Salter

In Abram Brummett and Erica K. Salter's excellent paper, “Mapping the Moral Terrain of Clinical Deception,” they rightly note that it is sometimes ethically appropriate for health care professionals to deceive patients and families. However, they also note that because doing so violates a prima facie duty of honesty, the ethical burden of proof falls upon the deceiver. Hence, they also provide a sophisticated framework for determining whether any given case is warranted. I applaud their overall approach but also critique some of their claims, in particular, their conclusion that lies of commission require greater justification than those of omission and their conflation of the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence. I also urge them to give greater attention to how power asymmetries should be accounted for and to the impact such deceptive choices might have on the clinician's character.     

Rural Midwestern Primary Care Nurse Practitioners’ Transition to Practice

Transition to practice experiences for new primary care nurse practitioners (NPs) is of interest, particularly considering the lack of requirements and options for formal training programs. The purpose of this article is to describe new primary care NPs’ experience and perceived needs of transitioning to practice. New Nebraska NPs were surveyed. The main findings include increased confidence and perceived preparedness after 3 months of practice, as well as challenges and helpful supportive services for transitioning to practice. Additional information on the transition to practice experience was provided and supports developing a formal program.     

Endodontics Specialists’ Practice during the Initial Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019

IntroductionThe first outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States resulted in a nationwide closure of dental offices that created an oral health crisis. The aim of this observational study was to analyze and compare the characteristics of patients who visited 2 private endodontics offices from March 16 to May 31, 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.MethodsDemographic, diagnostic, and procedural data of 1520 (693 in 2020 and 827 in 2019) patient visits were collected. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on patient-related variables.ResultsBivariate analyses showed that the number of patient visits decreased in April and May 2020 (P < .0001). In 2020, patients’ self-reported pain level was higher, they were more frequently diagnosed with pulp necrosis and acute apical abscess, and they received more incisions for drainage (P < .05). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with less visits for older patients (>49.5 years) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.720; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.573–0.906), more patients with kidney diseases (OR = 2.690; 95% CI, 1.143–6.331), higher levels of pain on percussion (OR = 2.277; 95% CI, 1.718–3.016), less cases with previously initiated treatment (OR = 0.242; 95% CI, 0.080–0.731), less periapical diagnoses of asymptomatic apical periodontitis (OR = 0.510; 95% CI, 0.306–0.849), and a higher number of nonsurgical root canal treatments (OR = 2.073; 95% CI, 1.397–3.074) and apicoectomies (OR = 2.799; 95% CI, 1.367-5.729).ConclusionsThese findings show that the public health burden of endodontic infections was more intense during the initial outbreak of COVID-19.     

Pure laparoscopic living donor liver transplantation: Dreams come true

Minimally invasive approaches are increasingly being applied in surgeries and have recently been used in living donor hepatectomy. We have developed a safe and reproducible method for minimally invasive living donor liver transplantation, which consists of pure laparoscopic explant hepatectomy and pure laparoscopic implantation of the graft, which was inserted through a suprapubic incision. Pure laparoscopic explant hepatectomy without liver fragmentation was performed in a 60-year-old man with alcoholic liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The explanted liver was retrieved through a suprapubic incision. A modified right liver graft, procured from his 24-year-old son using the pure laparoscopic method, was inserted through a suprapubic incision, and implantation was performed intracorporeally throughout the procedure. The time required to remove the liver was 369 min, and the total operative time was 960 min. No complications occurred during or after the surgery. The patient recovered well, and his hospital stay was of 11 days. Pure laparoscopic living donor liver transplantation from explant hepatectomy to implantation was performed successfully. It is a feasible procedure when performed by a highly experienced surgeon and transplantation team. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm its safety and feasibility.

     

Clinical Simulation Augments Traditional Interviewing of Advanced Practice Provider Candidates

An essential role of critical care advanced practice providers—advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants—is to have knowledge and competency to make accurate and efficient decisions. The ability to manage clinical scenarios involving medically deteriorating patients requires higher-order cognitive thinking and leadership skills that are challenging to extrapolate in traditional interviews. In critical care, advanced practice providers must make rapid clinical assessments and implement appropriate medical interventions to deter progression of life-threatening illnesses. Adding clinical simulation to the traditional interview allows interviewers to evaluate applicants’ crisis resource management skills, leadership, and clinical competency.     

Risk as a pattern over time: Delineation of time-dependent risk factors in biological,psychological, and social variables in cancer patients

Background

Survival in cancer patients is associated with a multitude of biological, social, and psychological factors. Although it is well established that all these factors add to overall mortality, it is not well understood how the predictive power of these parameters changes in a comprehensive model and over time.

Methods

Patients who attended the authors’ outpatient clinic were invited to participate. The authors followed 5180 mixed cancer patients (51.1% female; mean age, 59.1 years [SD = 13.8]) for up to 16 years and analyzed biological (age, sex, cancer site, anemia), psychological (anxiety, depression), and social variables (marital status, education, employment status) potentially predicting overall survival in a Cox proportional hazards model.

Results

The median survival time for the entire sample was 4.3 years (95% confidence interval, 4.0–4.7). The overall survival probabilities for 1 and 10 years were 76.8% and 38.0%, respectively. Following an empirical approach, the authors split the time interval into five periods: acute, subacute, short-term, medium-term, and long-term. A complex pattern of variables predicted overall survival differently in the five periods. Biological parameters were important throughout most of the time, social parameters were either time-independent predictors or tended to be more important in the longer term. Of the psychological parameters, only depression was a significant predictor and lost its predictive power in the long-term.

Conclusions

The findings of this study allow the development of comprehensive patient-specific models of risk and resilience factors addressing biopsychosocial needs of cancer patients, paving the way for a personalized treatment plan that goes beyond biomedical cancer care.     

注意缺陷多动障碍患儿血清25（OH）D及微量元素表达水平及临床意义

目的 探究注意缺陷多动障碍(ADHD)患儿血清25羟基维生素D[25(OH)D]、微量元素表达水平及临床意义。方法 选取2019年4月至2020年11月本院诊治的84例ADHD患儿进行研究(ADHD组),依据ADHD分型标准将患儿分为注意缺陷为主型组(28例)、多动为主型组(33例)、混合型组(23例),并选取同期84例体检健康儿童进行对照研究(对照组)。采用高效液相色谱-串联质谱法检测所有受试儿童血清25(OH)D水平；检测血清铁(Fe)、磷(P)、镁(Mg)、钙(Ca)、铜(Cu)、锌(Zn)、铅(Pb)水平；Pearson法分析ADHD患儿血清25(OH)D水平与Cu、Zn、Pb水平的相关性；Logistic回归分析ADHD发生的影响因素；受试者工作特征(ROC)曲线分析血清25(OH)D、Zn、Pb水平对ADHD的诊断价值。结果 ADHD组血清25(OH)D、Cu、Zn水平均显著低于对照组(P<0.05),Pb水平显著高于对照组(P<0.05)；注意缺陷为主型组、多动为主型组、混合型组患儿血清25(OH)D、Fe、P、Mg、Ca、Cu、Zn、Pb水平比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)；ADHD患儿血清25(OH)D水平与Cu、Zn水平均呈正相关(P<0.05),与Pb水平呈负相关(P<0.05)；25(OH)D、Zn是影响ADHD发生的保护因素(P＜0.05),Pb是影响ADHD发生的危险因素(P＜0.05)；血清25(OH)D、Zn、Pb水平诊断ADHD的曲线下面积(AUC)分别为0.773、0.770、0.772,截断值分别为21.01 ng/mL、16.05 μmol/L、50.69 μg/L,相应灵敏度分别为82.1%、77.4%、63.1%,特异度分别为67.9%、71.4%、88.1%；三者联合诊断ADHD的AUC为0.883,其灵敏度、特异度分别为81.0%、81.0%。结论 ADHD患儿血清25(OH)D、Cu、Zn水平降低,Pb水平升高,25(OH)D、微量元素水平与ADHD患儿类型无关,25(OH)D、Zn、Pb联合有助于临床筛查ADHD患儿。     

Delivering end-of-life care for patients with cancer at home: Interviews exploring the views and experiences of general practitioners

Many patients with terminal cancer wish to die at home and general practitioners in the United Kingdom have a critical role in providing this care. However, it has been suggested general practitioners lack confidence in end-of-life care. It is important to explore with general practitioners their experience and perspectives including feelings of confidence delivering end-of-life care to people with cancer. The aim of this study was to explore general practitioners experiences of providing end-of-life care for people with cancer in the home setting and their perceptions of confidence in this role as well as understanding implications this has on policy design. A qualitative study design was employed using semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. Nineteen general practitioners from London were purposively sampled from eight general practices and a primary care university department in 2018–2019, supplemented with snowballing methods. Five main themes were constructed: (a) the subjective nature of defining palliative and end-of-life care; (b) importance of communication and managing expectations; (c) complexity in prescribing; (d) challenging nature of delivering end-of-life care; (e) the unclear role of primary care in palliative care. General practitioners viewed end-of-life care as challenging; specific difficulties surrounded communication and prescribing. These challenges coupled with a poorly defined role created a spread in perceived confidence. Experience and exposure were seen as enabling confidence. Specialist palliative care service expansion had important implications on deskilling of essential competencies and reducing confidence levels in general practitioners. This feeds into a complex cycle of causation, leading to further delegation of care.