Family Caregivers' Subjective Caregiving Burden,Quality of Life,and Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With Terminally Ill Cancer Patients' Distinct Patterns of Conjoint Symptom Distress and Functional Impairment in Their Last Six Months of Life

Context

Family caregivers constitute a critical component of the end-of-life care system with considerable cost to themselves. However, the joint association of terminally ill cancer patients' symptom distress and functional impairment with caregivers' subjective caregiving burden, quality of life (QOL), and depressive symptoms remains unknown.

Sequential Therapy Based on Evolvement of Patterns: A New Model for Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

In order to solve the problem of long-term (>9 months) efficacy in the treatment of Alzheimer''s disease (AD) by conventional therapy (CT), a staged and multiply-targeted sequential therapy based on the evolvement of patterns (STEP) was developed. Its main innovations include: (1) the time order of evolution of patterns defined by Chinese medicine (CM) in AD was found, that is, "the orderly pattern evolution starting from Shen (Kidney) deficiency, progressing to phlegm, stasis and fire, and worsening to severe toxin as well as functional collapse"; (2) the cascade hypothesis of Shen deficiency in AD and its sequential therapy based on Shen-reinforcing was proposed, that is, "reinforcing Shen in the early stage and throughout the whole process, resolving phlegm, activating blood and purging fire in the middle stage, detoxifying and replenishing vitality to stop the collapse in the advanced stage", and through meta-analysis, clinical drug use was optimized, thus the leap from "inferential selection" to "evidence-based selection" was realized; (3) the STEP regimen combined with CT maintained cognitive and behavioral stability in AD patients for at least 12 months, with cognitive enhancement and behavioral synergy after 9 months, and cognitive benefit was superior to CT at 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, and 24 months, respectively. The 2-year cognitive improvement rate was increased by 25.64% (P=0.020) and the cognitive deterioration rate was decreased by 48.71% (P=0.000). Among them, the cognitive and functional benefits of Shen-reinforcing therapy for very early AD (350 cases) for 1 year were better than the placebo (P<0.001), and the dementia conversion rate was reduced by 8.85% (P=0.002). The behavioral symptomatic relief of patients with vascular dementia received fire-purging therapy (540 cases) was superior to those received CT (P=0.016). These data suggested that the STEP regimen has synergistic effects on CTs at least in terms of cognitive benefit, and the earlier the use, the greater the benefit will have. Therefore, the STEP regimen should be considered as one of the clinical options, particularly for the dearth of effective pharmaceutical or immunological interventions that are currently available for AD.     

Comparison of inhaled nitric oxide with aerosolized prostacyclin or analogues for the postoperative management of pulmonary hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: This study aims to compare the effectiveness of inhaled prostacyclin or its analoguesversus nitric oxide (NO) in treating pulmonary hypertension (PH) after cardiac or pulmonary surgery remains unclear.

Methods: PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases were searched for literature published prior to December 2019 using the following keywords: inhaled, nitric oxide, prostacyclin, iloprost, treprostinil, epoprostenol, Tyvaso, flolan, and pulmonary hypertension. Randomized controlled trials and multiple-armed prospective studies that evaluated inhaled NO versus prostacyclin (or analogues) in patients for perioperative and/or postoperative PH after either cardiac or pulmonary surgery were included. Retrospective studies, reviews, letters, comments, editorials, and case reports were excluded.

Results: Seven studies with a total of 195 patients were included. No difference in the improvement of mean pulmonary arterial pressure (pooled difference in mean change= ?0.10, 95% CI: ?3.98 to 3.78, p?=?.959) or pulmonary vascular resistance (pooled standardized difference in mean change= ?0.27, 95% CI: ?0.60 to 0.05, p?=?.099) were found between the two treatments. Similarly, no difference was found in other outcomes between the two treatments or subgroup analysis.

Conclusions: Inhaled prostacyclin (or analogues) was comparable to inhaled NO in treating PH after cardiac or pulmonary surgery.

• Key messages

• This study compared the efficacy of inhaled prostacyclin or its analogues versus inhaled NO to treat PH after surgery. The two types of agent exhibited similar efficacy in managing MPAP, PVR, heart rate, and cardiac output was observed.

• Inhaled prostacyclin may serve as an alternative treatment option for PH after cardiac or pulmonary surgery.

     

QZD-B型全自动洗胃机维修

本文叙述了QZD-B型全自动洗胃机的三例故障维修及改进探讨。     

平肝定眩汤治疗肝阳上亢型后循环缺血性眩晕60例临床观察

目的:观察平肝定眩汤对肝阳上亢型后循环缺血性眩晕的疗效。方法:选取2017年6月-2018年10月烟台业达医院收治的后循环缺血性眩晕的患者120例,按随机数字表法分为治疗组和对照组。治疗组和对照组各60例,两组一般的资料经统计学方法,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),具有可比性。两组均给予改善循环,控制血压、血糖,调节血脂,抗血小板聚集等基础治疗。治疗组给予平肝定眩汤,对照组给予平眩胶囊。两组疗程均为4周,观察两组患者治疗前后总体症状,脑血流速度、血脂、血糖等指标改善情况。采用SPSS 11.0统计学软件进行计算。结果:治疗组总有效率91.7%(55/60),对照组总有效率61.6%(37/60),两组疗效比较有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组三酰甘油(Triglyceride,TG)、血清总胆固醇(Serum Total Cholesterol,TC)、HDL-C、LDL-C治疗后显著改善,与治疗前比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);对照组TG及TC治疗前后差异有统计学意义(P<0.05),高密度脂蛋白胆固醇(High Density Liptein Cholesterol,HDL-C)及低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(Low Density Liptein Cholesterol,LDL-C)治疗前后比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。两组治疗后TC比较,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。两组治疗后空腹血糖(Fasting Plasma Glucose,GLU)明显降低(P<0.05),两组间的治疗后比较,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。治疗组治疗后椎动脉(Vertebral Artery,VA)、基底动脉(Basilarartery,BA)平均血流速度(Mean Blood Flow Velocity,VM)明显提高,与对照组治疗后相比较,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:平肝定眩汤治疗后循环缺血性眩晕在改善患者症状、降低血液黏稠度,改善脑血流状况方面疗效显著。     

The quality of spontaneous adverse drug reaction reports from the pharmacovigilance centre in western China

Background: High-quality adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports are essential for conducting drug safety monitoring in pharmacovigilance. The study aim was to assess the current quality of ADR reports in western China, and to identify problems with ADR report quality.

Research design and methods: A sample of 1139 reports received by the Shaanxi ADR Monitoring Center from January 2015 to December 2017 was selected. ADR report quality was evaluated using an ADR report quality evaluation system.

Results: None of the reports were rated as excellent and 1.40% (n = 16) as good. Report quality was better for new and serious reports than for general reports. Medical institutions generated higher quality reports than pharmaceutical manufacturers. Nurses generated higher quality reports than doctors, pharmacists, and other professionals. Reporters of different occupations showed significant differences in the quality of the indicators Reporting time limit, Intervention ADR time, ADR termination time, ADR intervention measures, Original disease, and Cause of medication (P = 0.000).

Conclusions: The ADR data quality was poor in western China, and of lower quality than reported data from previous research in other regions. Improvements in the quality and availability of ADR reports are urgently needed.     

Outcomes of Early Decompressive Craniectomy Versus Conventional Medical Management After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis examined whether early decompressive craniectomy (DC) can improve control of intracranial pressure (ICP) and mortality in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI).Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases were searched until May 14, 2015, using the following terms: traumatic brain injury, refractory intracranial hypertension, high intracranial pressure, craniectomy, standard care, and medical management. Randomized controlled trials in which patients with TBI received DC and non-DC medical treatments were included.Of the 84 articles identified, 8 studies were selected for review, with 3 randomized controlled trials s having a total of 256 patients (123 DCs, 133 non-DCs) included in the meta-analysis. Patients receiving DC had a significantly greater reduction of ICP and shorter hospital stay. They also seemed to have lower odds of death than patients receiving only medical management, but the P value did not reach significance (pooled odds ratio 0.531, 95% confidence interval 0.209–1.350, Z = 1.95, P = 0.183) with respect to the effect on overall mortality; a separate analysis of 3 retrospective studies yielded a similar result.Whereas DC might effectively reduce ICP and shorten hospital stay in patients with TBI, its effect in decreasing mortality has not reached statistical significance.