Perivascular fat attenuation for predicting adverse cardiac events in stable patients undergoing invasive coronary angiography

BackgroundInflammation surrounding the coronary arteries can be non-invasively assessed using pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation (PCAT). While PCAT holds promise for further risk stratification of patients with low coronary artery disease (CAD) prevalence, its value in higher risk populations remains unknown.MethodsCORE320 enrolled patients referred for invasive coronary angiography with known or suspected CAD. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images were collected for 381 patients for whom clinical outcomes were assessed 5 years after enrollment. Using semi-automated image analysis software, PCAT was obtained and normalized for the right coronary (RCA), left anterior descending (LAD), and left circumflex arteries (LCx). The association between PCAT and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) during follow up was assessed using Cox regression models.ResultsThirty-seven patients were excluded due to technical failure. For the remaining 344 patients, median age was 62 (interquartile range, 55–68) with 59% having ≥1 coronary artery stenosis of ≥50% by quantitative coronary angiography. Mean attenuation values for PCAT in RCA, LAD, and LCx were ?74.9, ?74.2, and ?71.2, respectively. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for normalized PCAT in the RCA, LAD, and LCx for MACE were 0.96 (CI: 0.75–1.22, p ?= ?0.71), 1.31 (95% CI: 0.96–1.78, p ?= ?0.09), and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.78–1.22, p ?= ?0.84), respectively. For death, stroke, or myocardial infarction only, hazard ratios were 0.68 (0.44–1.07), 0.85 (0.56–1.29), and 0.57 (0.41–0.80), respectively.ConclusionsIn patients referred for invasive coronary angiography with suspected CAD, PCAT did not predict MACE during long term follow up. Further studies are needed to understand the relationship of PCAT with CAD risk.     

慢性泪囊炎患者应用鼻内镜下鼻腔泪囊造口术的临床效果及对安全性的影响

目的探讨慢性泪囊炎患者应用鼻内镜下鼻腔泪囊造口术的临床效果及安全性。方法选取2018年1月至2019年12月因慢性泪囊炎于本院接受治疗的46例患者为研究对象,随机分为研究组与对照组,各23例。对照组接受泪囊鼻腔造口治疗,研究组取鼻内镜下鼻腔泪囊造口术治疗,比较两组临床效果、手术指标以及并发症发生情况。结果研究组治疗总有效率高于对照组(P<0.05);研究组术中出血量少于对照组,手术及住院时间均短于对照组(P<0.05);研究组并发症总发生率低于对照组(P<0.05)。结论慢性泪囊炎患者采用鼻内镜下鼻腔泪囊造口术治疗效果显著,并发症较少,安全性较高,值得临床推广应用。     

直肠癌新辅助放疗研究进展

在过去的近40年里，直肠癌的治疗方案逐渐标准化。大多数早期直肠癌患者仅通过手术即可得到充分的治疗。然而，相当比例的直肠癌患者处于局部进展期，此类患者需要行新辅助治疗。直肠癌的新辅助放射治疗已被证明能有效地降低患者术前肿瘤分期、改善患者生存以及降低直肠癌局部复发率等，随之而来的是患者放疗后出现的不同程度的放疗不良反应，但随着放射治疗规范化、放射治疗技术及设备的改进，放疗不良反应严重程度在逐渐降低。本文就新辅助放疗中的放疗方案的选择、放射治疗技术、放疗不良反应、放疗后的手术时间以及放疗后的观察与等待等问题的最新研究进展进行了系统性的综述，从而为临床直肠癌新辅助治疗提供有力依据。     

Validation of donor fraction cell-free DNA with biopsy-proven cardiac allograft rejection in children and adults

ObjectivesDonor-specific cell-free DNA shows promise as a noninvasive marker for allograft rejection, but as yet has not been validated in both adult and pediatric recipients. The study objective was to validate donor fraction cell-free DNA as a noninvasive test to assess for risk of acute cellular rejection and antibody-mediated rejection after heart transplantation in pediatric and adult recipients.MethodsPediatric and adult heart transplant recipients were enrolled from 7 participating sites and followed for 12 months or more with plasma samples collected immediately before all endomyocardial biopsies. Donor fraction cell-free DNA was extracted, and quantitative genotyping was performed. Blinded donor fraction cell-free DNA and clinical data were analyzed and compared with a previously determined threshold of 0.14%. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, and receiver operating characteristic curves were calculated.ResultsA total of 987 samples from 144 subjects were collected. After applying predefined clinical and technical exclusions, 745 samples from 130 subjects produced 54 rejection samples associated with the composite outcome of acute cellular rejection grade 2R or greater and pathologic antibody-mediated rejection 2 or greater and 323 healthy samples. For all participants, donor fraction cell-free DNA at a threshold of 0.14% had a sensitivity of 67%, a specificity of 79%, a positive predictive value of 34%, and a negative predictive value of 94% with an area under the curve of 0.78 for detecting rejection. When analyzed independently, these results held true for both pediatric and adult cohorts at the same threshold of 0.14% (negative predictive value 92% and 95%, respectively).ConclusionsDonor fraction cell-free DNA at a threshold of 0.14% can be used to assess for risk of rejection after heart transplantation in both pediatric and adult patients with excellent negative predictive value.     

Are risk factors necessary for pretest probability assessment of coronary artery disease? A patient similarity network analysis of the PROMISE trial

BackgroundPretest probability (PTP) calculators utilize epidemiological-level findings to provide patient-level risk assessment of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). However, their limited accuracies question whether dissimilarities in risk factors necessarily result in differences in CAD. Using patient similarity network (PSN) analyses, we wished to assess the accuracy of risk factors and imaging markers to identify ≥50% luminal narrowing on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in stable chest-pain patients.MethodsWe created four PSNs representing: patient characteristics, risk factors, non-coronary imaging markers and calcium score. We used spectral clustering to group individuals with similar risk profiles. We compared PSNs to a contemporary PTP score incorporating calcium score and risk factors to identify ≥50% luminal narrowing on CCTA in the CT-arm of the PROMISE trial. We also conducted subanalyses in different age and sex groups.ResultsIn 3556 individuals, the calcium score PSN significantly outperformed patient characteristic, risk factor, and non-coronary imaging marker PSNs (AUC: 0.81 vs. 0.57, 0.55, 0.54; respectively, p ?< ?0.001 for all). The calcium score PSN significantly outperformed the contemporary PTP score (AUC: 0.81 vs. 0.78, p ?< ?0.001), and using 0, 1–100 and ?> ?100 cut-offs provided comparable results (AUC: 0.81 vs. 0.81, p ?= ?0.06). Similar results were found in all subanalyses.ConclusionCalcium score on its own provides better individualized obstructive CAD prediction than contemporary PTP scores incorporating calcium score and risk factors. Risk factors may not be able to improve the diagnostic accuracy of calcium score to predict ≥50% luminal narrowing on CCTA.     

新型冠状病毒肺炎流行期间基于列线图预测隔离留观患者的焦虑抑郁情绪

<正>新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)因其传播速度快、传染性强及人群易感等特点,已被我国列入乙类传染病并按甲类传染病管理[1]。发热门诊隔离留观的患者具有发热等类新冠症状且面对环境的改变对心理可能带来负面影响。故本研究探讨COVID-19流行期间发热门诊隔离留观患者焦虑抑郁情绪及相关因素,以期尽早识别高危患者并进行心理干预治疗。     

Oxygen delivery-guided perfusion for the prevention of acute kidney injury: A randomized controlled trial

ObjectivesThe reduction of postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery using an oxygen delivery-guided perfusion strategy (oxygen delivery strategy) for cardiopulmonary bypass management compared with a fixed flow perfusion (conventional strategy) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a oxygen delivery strategy would reduce the incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.MethodsWe randomly enrolled 300 patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to a oxygen delivery strategy (maintaining a oxygen delivery index value >300 mL/min/m² through pump flow adjustments during cardiopulmonary bypass) or a conventional strategy (a target pump flow was determined on the basis of the body surface area). The primary end point was the development of acute kidney injury. Secondary end points were the red blood cell transfusion rate and number of red blood cell units, intubation time, postoperative length of stay in the intensive care unit and the hospital, predischarge estimated glomerular filtration rate, and hospital mortality.ResultsAcute kidney injury occurred in 20 patients (14.6%) receiving the oxygen delivery strategy and in 42 patients (30.4%) receiving the conventional strategy (relative risk, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.30-0.77; P = .002). The secondary end points were not significantly different between strategies. In a prespecified subgroup analysis of patients who had nadir hematocrit less than 23% or body surface area less than 1.40 m², the oxygen delivery strategy seemed to be superior to the conventional strategy and the existence of quantitative interactions was suggested.ConclusionsAn oxygen delivery strategy for cardiopulmonary bypass management was superior to a conventional strategy with respect to preventing the development of acute kidney injury.     

三黄消疕膏治疗寻常型银屑病血热证的临床疗效观察

目的:探讨三黄消疕膏用于治疗寻常型银屑病血热证的临床效果和安全性。方法:选取2017年12月-2018年11月就诊于我院的寻常型银屑病患者80例,根据随机数字表法,分为治疗组和对照组,对照组口服决银颗粒治疗,治疗组除口服决银颗粒外,外用三黄消疕膏于局部皮损处,治疗2周后,分别对两组患者进行皮损面积及严重程度(Psoriasis Area and Severity Index,PASI)评分、皮肤病生活质量指数(Dermatology Life Quality Index,DLQI)评分、有效率、不良反应发生率评分。结果:治疗后,两组患者PASI评分下降,差异有统计学意义(t=3.34,P<0.05);DLQI评分下降,差异有统计学意义(t=5.59,P<0.05);治疗组有效率为91%,对照组有效率为62%,差异有统计学意义(χ^2=30.09,P<0.01);两组患者治疗后不良反应发生率较低,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:三黄消疕膏联合决银颗粒治疗寻常型银屑病血热证可取得较好的临床效果,且安全性较高,值得推广。