Layer-specific and whole wall global longitudinal strain predict major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with stable angina pectoris

The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - Global longitudinal strain (GLS) has proven to be a powerful prognostic marker in various patient populations, but the prognostic value of...     

The effect of experimental diabetes and membrane occlusiveness on guided bone regeneration: A proof of principle study

Clinical Oral Investigations - To evaluate the effect of membrane occlusiveness and experimental diabetes on early and late healing following guided bone regeneration. A total of 30 Wistar rats...     

芦山地震5年后雅安市高血压患者心理卫生问题检出率及其影响因素

目的 了解芦山地震5年后雅安市高血压患者心理卫生问题检出率及其影响因素，为促进地震灾区高血压患者心理健康提供参考。方法 采用分层整群随机抽样方法，于2018年12月选取雅安市高血压患者800例作为研究对象。采用自编居民基本信息调查表收集患者的基本资料，采用12项一般健康问卷（GHQ-12）评定患者近期是否存在心理卫生问题，采用Logistic回归分析其影响因素。结果 回收有效问卷744份（93.00%），检出存在心理卫生问题者79例（10.62%）。单因素分析结果显示，不同婚姻状况（P?0.01）、家庭人均月收入（P=0.012）、是否接受社会救助（χ²=25.194，P?0.01）的高血压患者心理卫生问题检出率差异均有统计学意义。Logistic回归分析显示，未婚/分居/离异/丧偶（OR=3.879，P=0.015）以及接受社会救助（OR=4.705，P?0.01）是高血压患者存在心理卫生问题的危险因素。结论 雅安市高血压患者心理卫生问题检出率较低，未婚/分居/离异/丧偶者以及接受社会救助的高血压患者心理卫生问题可能更突出。     

Principles of environmentally-sustainable anaesthesia: a global consensus statement from the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists

The Earth’s mean surface temperature is already approximately 1.1°C higher than pre-industrial levels. Exceeding a mean 1.5°C rise by 2050 will make global adaptation to the consequences of climate change less possible. To protect public health, anaesthesia providers need to reduce the contribution their practice makes to global warming. We convened a Working Group of 45 anaesthesia providers with a recognised interest in sustainability, and used a three-stage modified Delphi consensus process to agree on principles of environmentally sustainable anaesthesia that are achievable worldwide. The Working Group agreed on the following three important underlying statements: patient safety should not be compromised by sustainable anaesthetic practices; high-, middle- and low-income countries should support each other appropriately in delivering sustainable healthcare (including anaesthesia); and healthcare systems should be mandated to reduce their contribution to global warming. We set out seven fundamental principles to guide anaesthesia providers in the move to environmentally sustainable practice, including: choice of medications and equipment; minimising waste and overuse of resources; and addressing environmental sustainability in anaesthetists’ education, research, quality improvement and local healthcare leadership activities. These changes are achievable with minimal material resource and financial investment, and should undergo re-evaluation and updates as better evidence is published. This paper discusses each principle individually, and directs readers towards further important references.     

How can hospitals change practice to better implement smoking cessation interventions? A systematic review

Smoking cessation reduces the risk of death, improves recovery, and reduces the risk of hospital readmission. Evidence and policy support hospital admission as an ideal time to deliver smoking-cessation interventions. However, this is not well implemented in practice. In this systematic review, the authors summarize the literature on smoking-cessation implementation strategies and evaluate their success to guide the implementation of best-practice smoking interventions into hospital settings. The CINAHL Complete, Embase, MEDLINE Complete, and PsycInfo databases were searched using terms associated with the following topics: smoking cessation, hospitals, and implementation. In total, 14,287 original records were identified and screened, resulting in 63 eligible articles from 56 studies. Data were extracted on the study characteristics, implementation strategies, and implementation outcomes. Implementation outcomes were guided by Proctor and colleagues' framework and included acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, cost, feasibility, fidelity, penetration, and sustainability. The findings demonstrate that studies predominantly focused on the training of staff to achieve implementation. Brief implementation approaches using a small number of implementation strategies were less successful and poorly sustained compared with well resourced and multicomponent approaches. Although brief implementation approaches may be viewed as advantageous because they are less resource-intensive, their capacity to change practice in a sustained way lacks evidence. Attempts to change clinician behavior or introduce new models of care are challenging in a short time frame, and implementation efforts should be designed for long-term success. There is a need to embrace strategic, well planned implementation approaches to embed smoking-cessation interventions into hospitals and to reap and sustain the benefits for people who smoke.     

Sickle cell nephropathy: A review of novel biomarkers and their potential roles in early detection of renal involvement

Whether the underlying mutations are homozygous, heterozygous, or co-inherited with other hemoglobinopathies, sickle cell disease is known to afflict the kidneys, leading to the clinical entity known as sickle cell nephropathy (SCN). Although common, SCN remains diagnostically elusive. Conventional studies performed in the context of renal disorders often fail to detect early stage SCN. This makes the quest for early diagnosis and treatment more challenging, and it increases the burden of chronic kidney disease-related morbidity among patients. Novel diagnostic tools have been employed to overcome this limitation. In this study, we discuss various biomarkers of SCN, including those employed in clinical practice and others recently identified in experimental settings, such as markers of vascular injury, endothelial dysfunction, tubulo-glomerular damage, and oxidative stress. These include kidney injury molecule-1, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, N-acetyl-B-D-glucosaminidase, ceruloplasmin, orosomucoid, nephrin, and cation channels, among others. Furthermore, we explore the potential of novel biomarkers for refining diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and describe some obstacles that still need to be overcome. We highlight the importance of a collaborative approach to standardize the use of promising new biomarkers. Finally, we outline the limitations of conventional markers of renal damage as extensions of the pathogenic process occurring at the level of the organ and its functional subunits, with a discussion of the expected pattern of clinical and biochemical progression among patients with SCN.