Lung and heart volumes by three-dimensional ultrasound in normal fetuses at 12-32 weeks' gestation.

OBJECTIVE: To establish reference intervals for the fetal right, left and total lung volumes and heart volume between 12 and 32 weeks of gestation. METHODS: Fetal lung and heart volumes were measured using three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound in 650 normal singleton pregnancies at 12-32 weeks. The VOCAL (Virtual Organ Computer-aided AnaLysis) technique was used to obtain a sequence of six sections of each lung and the heart around a fixed axis, each after a 30 degrees rotation from the previous one. The rotation axis for the lungs extended from the apex to the upper limit of the diaphragm dome, and the rotation axis for the heart extended from its apex to its connection to the great vessels. The contour of each of these organs was drawn manually in the six different rotation planes to obtain the 3D volume measurement. In 60 cases the fetal lungs and heart volumes were measured by the same sonographer twice and also by a second sonographer once in order to compare the measurements and calculate intra- and interobserver agreement. RESULTS: The total lung volume and heart volume increased with gestation, from respective mean values of 1.6 and 0.6 mL at 12 weeks to 10.9 and 4.3 mL at 20 weeks and 49.3 and 26.6 mL at 32 weeks. The right to left lung volume ratio did not change significantly with gestation (median, 0.7), whereas the heart to total lung volume ratio increased with gestation from about 0.3 at 12 weeks to 0.5 at 32 weeks. In the Bland-Altman plot, the difference between paired measurements by two sonographers was, in 95% of the cases, less than 0.05, 0.5 and 1.9 mL for each lung at 12-13, 19-22 and 29-32 weeks, respectively, and the corresponding values for the heart volumes were 0.04, 0.4 and 2.3 mL. CONCLUSIONS: In normal fetuses the lung and heart volumes increase between 12 and 32 weeks of gestation. The extent to which in pathological pregnancies possible deviations in these measurements from normal prove to be useful in the prediction of outcome remains to be determined.     

超高龄老年人脑损伤致伤因素分析及护理对策

目的 探讨老年人颅脑损伤的发病因素和护理措施.方法 对1999～2003年在解放军总医院定点就医的一组老年人群(年均18 492人)共210例颅脑损伤患者发病时的身体状况,发病率及受伤特点,病程及治疗和护理等临床资料进行回顾性总结.该组老年人在建档案时已被分为2个亚组:超高龄组年龄限(平均年龄79.75岁,1 978例)和老年组年龄限(平均年龄69.42岁,16514例).以同期其他人群的脑损伤187例作为对照组,并进行2组回顾资料的比较.结果 按意向处理分析397例均进入结果分析.发病率及受伤特点:超高龄组发病率明显高于老年组,多为摔伤;老年组和对照组均为交通伤占主要伤因.治疗及病程:对照组和老年组中均有超过80%患者接受手术治疗,而超高龄组仅有53.40%的患者接受手术治疗.预后:各组的死亡率和重残比率均无明显差别.结论 老年人群的脑损伤致伤原因主要是摔伤,同时多患有单器官或多器官的疾病;老年人脑损伤占用医疗资源多,但经积极治疗和采取有效的护理措施,仍可获得较好的疗效;回顾性资料记载超高龄组是能够检索到的国内外老年人脑损伤平均年龄最高的一组,对超高龄脑损伤的相关分析是有临床借鉴意义的.     

Prognostic factors for surgical resection in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

Although surgical lung resection could improve prognosis in some patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), there are no reports on the optimal candidates for this surgery. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the prognostic factors for surgery in patients with MDR-TB. Patients who underwent lung resection for the treatment of MDR-TB between March 1993 and December 2004 were included in the present study. Treatment failure was defined as greater than or equal to two of the five cultures recorded in the final 12 months of treatment being positive, any one of the final three cultures being positive, or the patient having died during treatment. The variables that affected treatment outcomes were identified through univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. In total, 79 patients with MDR-TB were included in the present study. The treatment outcomes of 22 (27.8%) patients were classified as failure. A body mass index <18.5 kg x m(-2), primary resistance, resistance to ofloxacin and the presence of a cavitary lesion beyond the range of the surgical resection were associated with treatment failure. Low body mass index, primary resistance, resistance to ofloxacin and cavitary lesions beyond the range of resection are possible poor prognostic factors for surgical lung resection in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients.     

肱骨骨不连的手术治疗

目的探讨肱骨骨不连的手术治疗方法及疗效。方法1998年12月～2005年5月共收治肱骨骨不连患者25例,均为肱骨骨折内固定术后发生骨不连,其中3例并发骨髓炎,6例合并不同程度肱骨骨缺损,骨缺损长度为3～6cm。骨不连病程8个月～5年。15例行吻合血管游离腓骨移植,10例采用加压交锁髓内针进行肱骨固定并辅以自体骨植骨。结果术后25例均得到随访,时间6个月～6年2个月。吻合血管游离腓骨移植组中移植的腓骨段均与肱骨干形成骨性愈合,平均骨性愈合时间为3．1个月；交锁髓内针组平均骨愈合时间为3．8个月。按Crates和Whittle肩肘关节功能评价标准,腓骨移植组：优9例,良4例,差2例；交锁髓内针组：优5例,良3例,差2例。结论应用加压交锁髓内针辅以自体骨移植对硬化性肱骨骨不连是一种有效的外科治疗方法；对合并骨髓炎、大段骨缺损及严重骨质疏松的肱骨骨不连,采用吻合血管游离腓骨移植可一期进行修复与重建。     

Renal Allograft Biopsies with Borderline Changes: Predictive Factors of Clinical Outcome

The clinical outcome and appropriate management for patients showing 'borderline changes' on allograft biopsy after renal transplantation is still controversial. In an attempt to identify predictive factors of clinical outcome of patients with such lesions, we reviewed the clinical course of 91 patients with borderline changes. Multivariate analysis revealed significant and independent effects of histological stage (i + t < or = or > 2) and time to borderline changes (< or = or > 3 months after transplant) on serum creatinine levels at 1 year from borderline changes episodes (respectively, p = 0.04 and p = 0.02) and only a significant effect of time to borderline changes on serum creatinine levels at 2 years (p = 0.005). Renal function at 1 year and 2 years as 5- and 8-year graft survival were not significantly different in the group of patients treated with antirejection therapy (T group, n = 49) compared with the untreated group (UT group, n = 42). This study strongly suggests that borderline changes with histological score (i + t) > 2 and late episodes of borderline changes should be considered to be of poor prognosis.     

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: A UNOS/OPTN Database Analysis

We previously reported poorer survival among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) compared to non-Hispanic whites at our center. In the current study, we hypothesized that these disparities would exist in a nationwide cohort of wait-listed patients with IPF. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 2635 patients with IPF listed for lung transplantation between 1995 and 2003 at 94 transplant centers in the United States. The age-adjusted mortality rate was higher among non-Hispanic blacks [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-1.45, p = 0.009] and Hispanics (HR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.06-1.56, p = 0.01) compared to non-Hispanic whites. These findings persisted after adjustment for transplantation, medical comorbidities and socioeconomic status. Worse lung function at the time of listing appeared to explain some of these differences (HR for non-Hispanic blacks after adjustment for forced vital capacity percent predicted = 1.16, 95% CI 0.98-1.36, p = 0.09; HR for Hispanics = 1.21, 95% CI 0.99-1.48, p = 0.056). In summary, black and Hispanic patients with IPF have worse survival than whites after listing for lung transplant.