Sex‐related Disparity in Surgical Mortality among Pediatric Patients

Background. It has been reported that gender differences in cardiovascular outcomes found in adults also are present in children who undergo surgical repair for congenital heart disease. Methods. California statewide hospital discharge data 1989–99 were used to study outcomes in children <18 years undergoing cardiac surgery. Hospital discharge data were linked to death registry data to study postdischarge death within 30 days of discharge. We used logistic regression to evaluate the effect of gender on mortality controlling for age, race and ethnicity, type of insurance, household income, date and month of surgery, type of admission, hospital case volume, and various types of procedures. Results. There were 25 402 cardiac surgery cases with 1505 in‐hospital deaths (mortality rate of 5.92%). An additional 37 deaths occurred within 30 days after hospital discharge. Crude mortality rates for males (5.99%) and females (5.84%) were not significantly different. However, fewer neonates were female and females underwent a higher proportion of low‐risk procedures than males. Logistic regression revealed that females, compared with males, had a significantly higher odds ratio (OR) for in‐hospital mortality (OR = 1.18, P < .01) and overall (up to 30 days post discharge) mortality (OR = 1.18, P < .01). The risk‐adjusted length of hospital stay was similar between females and males while charges per hospital day were slightly higher in females than males. The prevalence of Down syndrome, pulmonary hypertension, and failure to thrive were higher in females. Conclusions. Female gender is associated with an 18% higher in‐hospital and 30‐day postdischarge mortality as compared with male gender. There was no difference in length of hospital stay between males and females. The mechanism by which female gender acts as a risk factor requires further investigation.     

大鼠脑血肿周围组织半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3表达变化与尼莫地平的影响

目的：观察脑出血后血肿周围半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3的表达。及尼莫地平对其的影响。方法：实验于2004—07在大连医科大学中心实验室进行。取120只SD雄性大鼠随机分为3组：①尼莫地平组（n=50）：尾壳核注射自体股动脉血50μL复制脑出血模型，造模即刻腹腔注射尼莫地平1．6mg／kg（即8μL／g），以后每天1次。②模型组（n=50）：同前造模，术后腹腔注射等量生理盐水。③假手术组（n=20）：手术，但进针人尾壳核后不注血。各组分为术后6，24，48，72h、5d 5个时间点。造模动物醒后进行Bederson评分，评估其行为和神经功能缺陷（0—3分。评分越高，神经功能缺陷越重，评分≥2分为造模成功）。人组动物在以上5个时间点进行Bederson评分后，麻醉状态下处死取脑，经尾壳核行冠状切片，行免疫组化测定半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3表达。结果：80只大鼠进入结果分析。①Bederson评分：模型组、尼莫地平组大鼠醒后迅速出现偏瘫，24h后评分趋于稳定，至72h之间评分最高，然后逐渐下降，5d时仍有体征。模型组、尼莫地平组各时间点评分均高于对照组（P〈0．01），尼莫地平组术后48，72h评分低于模型组（P〈0.05）。②血肿周围组织半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3表达：假手术组进针侧脑组织表达很少，模型组6h后即有表达，24h达高峰，持续72h后逐渐下降，5d后仅有少量表达；尼莫地平组动态变化趋势与模型组相同，但各时间点的数值均较低，尤其是术后24～72h（P〈0．01）。结论：①脑出血后血肿周围组织中半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3表达升高，提示其与脑出血血肿周围组织损伤有一定关系。②尼莫地平降低脑出血后血肿周围组织中半胱氨酸天冬氨酸蛋白酶3表达，从而减轻细胞凋亡程度，对神经细胞起到保护作用，降低神经功能缺陷。     

Dexamethasone treatment attenuates early seawater instillation-induced acute lung injury in rabbits.

There is very little evidence on the value of giving corticoids in cases of seawater drowning induced acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether dexamethasone treatment can attenuate seawater instillation-induced acute lung injury in rabbits. Seawater (4 ml/kg body weight) was instilled into the lower trachea of ventilated, anesthetized rabbits. Then these rabbits were assigned randomly 20 min later to receive intravenous injection of 1mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone (dissolving in 2 ml of normal saline) or 2 ml of normal saline. All animals demonstrated immediate drops in arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) and the total thoracic compliance, which were significantly improved after 2 h of dexamethasone treatment. Histopathological study also indicated that dexamethasone treatment markedly attenuated lung histopathological changes, alveolar hemorrhage and inflammatory cells infiltration with evidence of decreasing of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) concentration in lung tissue. In addition, dexamethasone treatment reduced extravascular lung water and lung epithelial-endothelial barrier permeability, up-regulated the expression of surfactant protein-A (SP-A) and alpha-epithelial Na+ channel, and increased Na+/K+-adenosine triphosphatase (Na+/K+-ATPase) activity and Na+/K+-ATPase-alpha1 protein abundance. Thus, these data indicate that dexamethasone treatment might be of benefit in patients with seawater aspiration-induced ALI.     

拜唐苹治疗Ⅱ型糖尿病的临床观察及研究进展

目的观察拜唐苹治疗Ⅱ糖尿病的临床效果。方法30例病人，通过口服拜唐苹治疗一个月和一年后，记录血浆葡萄糖和血红蛋白，根据比较了解拜唐苹降糖效果。结果拜唐苹使患者的空腹血糖下降10．19％，非空腹血糖下降17．44％，血红蛋白治疗前有16人控制差，治疗后无一人控制差。结论拜唐苹治疗Ⅱ型糖尿病中空腹血糖轻中度增高，餐后血糖增高显著的病例，效果满意，副作用少。     

抑郁症患者血浆孤啡肽含量研究

目的为探讨抑郁症的可能病因,对抑郁症患者血浆孤啡肽(OFQ)含量进行了对照研究。方法抽取29例抑郁症患者和24例正常人的静脉血,用放射免疫(RIA)的方法分别测其血浆中OFQ含量,比较抑郁症患者和正常人血浆OFQ含量有无差异,抑郁症患者OFQ含量与汉密顿抑郁量表(HAMD)评分的相关性,及抑郁症患者血浆OFQ含量的影响因素。结果与正常人比较,抑郁症组OFQ含量明显升高(t=8．70,P＜0．0001)；OFQ含量与HAMD评分呈正相关(r=0．63,P＜0．01)；OFQ含量主要与抑郁情绪、夸大、失眠、自卑感、自杀、强迫症状、教育水平、关注身体健康等因素相关,而年龄、性别、职业、病程、曾用药等其他因素与OFQ含量无明显相关。结论通过测量血浆OFQ含量可作为抑郁症诊断的参考指标。     

正常人及脑肿瘤患者听觉性中英文语言刺激的fMRI研究

目的应用BOLD-MfRI研究正常人及脑肿瘤患者听觉性中英文语言皮层定位并探讨其对脑肿瘤的临床应用价值。方法应用MarconiEclipse1.5T超导型磁共振机,30例受试者,行听觉性中、英文语言刺激的BOLD-MfRI,以定位正常人和脑肿瘤患者的语言皮层。结果正常人听觉性中英文语言任务激活区域均以左侧大脑半球为主,主要有双侧颞横回、Wernicke区、Broca区和SMA区。中文语言任务刺激时脑区激活面积和程度比英文语言任务大,但英文语言任务时可见更明显的Broca区和角回激活。累及功能皮层的脑肿瘤患者患侧半球可见残留部分功能激活区,但激活区移位,分布弥散,激活程度及范围较正常人略增高。未累及功能皮层者功能区定位与正常人大致相同。结论BOLD-MfRI是一种有效而无创的功能皮层定位方法,有利于脑肿瘤的精确定位诊断并指导临床治疗。     

Interdisciplinary approach to abdominal Burkitt’s lymphoma

Burkitt’s lymphoma is a high-grade, rapidly growing B-cell neoplasm. It is recognized by its aggressive course, brief median survival, and low rates of long-term survival. The authors discuss the case of a patient who acutely presented with intraabdominal complications from a new onset of Burkitt’s lymphoma. The clinical and pathological features, staging, treatment options, and survival data are reviewed. In addition, the role of surgical intervention is carefully analyzed.