Comparison of the APACHE III, APACHE II and Glasgow Coma Scale in acute head injury for prediction of mortality and functional outcome

Objectives: This study examines the efficacy of the predicting power for hospital mortality and functional outcome of three different scoring systems for head injury in a neurosurgical intensive care unit (NICU). Design: On the day of admission, data were collected from each patient to compute the Acute Physiology, Age, and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and III, and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores. Hospital mortality was defined as the deaths of patients before discharge from hospital. Early mortality was defined as death before the 14th day after admission. Late mortality was defined as death after the 15th day from admission. Functional outcome was evaluated by Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (Index of ADL). Setting: An 8-bed NICU in a 1270-bed medical center in Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Patients and participants: Two hundred non-selected patients with acute head injury were included in our study in a consecutive period of 2 years. Patients less than 14 years old were not included. Interventions: None. Measurements and results: Sensitivity, specificity and correct prediction outcome were measured by the chi-square method in three scoring systems. The Youden index was also obtained. The best cut-off point in each scoring system was determined by the Youden index. The difference in Youden index was calculated by Z score. A difference was also considered if the probability value was less than 0.05. The area under Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was computed. Then the area under ROC of each scoring system was compared by Z score. There was statistical significance if p was less than 0.05. For prediction of hospital mortality, the best cut-off points are 55 for APACHE III, 17 for APACHE II and 5 for GCS. The correct prediction outcome is 82.4% in APACHE III, 78.4% in APACHE II and 81.9% in the GCS. The Youden index has best cut-off points at 0.68 for APACHE III, 0.59 for APACHE II, and 0.56 for GCS. The area under Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve is 0.90 in the APACHE III, 0.84 in the APACHE II and 0.86 in the GCS. There are no statistical differences among APACHE III and II, and GCS in terms of correct prediction outcome, Youden Index and the area under the ROC curve. Other physiological variables excluding GCS in APACHE III and II (AP III-GCS, AP II-GCS) have less statistical value in the determination of mortality for acute head injury. For the prediction of late mortality, APACHE III and II yield significantly better results in the area under the ROC curve, correct prediction and Youden index than those of GCS. Other physiological variables (AP III-GCS and AP II-GCS) play an important role in the prediction of late mortality in APACHE scores. For prediction of the functional outcome of surviving patients with acute head injury, the APACHE III yields the best results of correct prediction outcome, Youden index and the area under the ROC curve. Conclusion: The APACHE III and II may not replace the role of GCS in cases of acute head injury for hospital or early mortality assessment. But for prediction of the late mortality, the APACHE III and II have better accuracy than GCS. Other physiological variables excluding GCS in the APACHE system play a crucial contribution for late mortality. GCS is simple, less time-consuming and economical for patients with acute head injury for the prediction of hospital and early mortality. The APACHE III provides better prediction for severe morbidity than GCS and APACHE II. Therefore, the APACHE III provides a good assessment not only for hospital and late mortality, but also for functional outcome. Received: 22 May 1995 Accepted: 2 September 1996     

Human chronic kidney allograft rejection is accompanied by increased intraglomerular cathepsin B and L activity

Abstract The major reason for late graft losses is chronic rejection. Recently, a large number of studies have indicated that proteolytic enzymes play an important role as mediators of glomerular injury. The cysteine proteinases cathepsins B and L degrade structural matrix proteins such as type I collagen and laminin. We investigated intraglomerular protease activities in 12 patients after kidney graftectomy because of end-tage renal disease following chronic rejection. A group of 12 patients undergoing nephrectomy because of cancer served as controls using only non-involved parts of the kidney. The activities of cathepsins B and L in homogenates of isolated glomeruli were measured fluorometrically methylcoumarylamidc substrates and related to DNA content. In rejected kidney allografts we observed significantly enhanced intraglomerular cathepsin B activity and cathepsin B + L activity.     

Reduction in acute rejections decreases chronic rejection graft failure in children: a report of the North American Pediatric Renal Transplant Cooperative Study (NAPRTCS).

Chronic rejection accounted for 32% of all graft losses in 7123 pediatric transplants. In a previous study acute, multiple acute and late acute rejections were risk factors for the development of chronic rejection. We postulated that the recent decrease in acute rejections would translate into a lower risk for chronic rejection among patients with recent transplants. We reviewed our data on patients transplanted from 1995 to 2000, and using multivariate analysis and a proportional hazards model developed risk factors for patients whose grafts had failed due to chronic rejection. A late initial rejection increased the risk of chronic rejection graft failure 3.6-fold (p < 0.001), while a second rejection resulted in further increase of 4.2-fold (p < 0.001). Recipients who received less than 5 mg/kg of cyclosporine at 30 days post-transplant had a relative risk (RR) of 1.9 (p = 0.02). Patients transplanted from 1995 to 2000 had a significantly lower risk (RR = 0.54, p < 0.001) of graft failure from chronic rejection than those who received their transplants earlier (1987-94). Since we were able to demonstrate that there is a decreased risk of chronic rejection graft failure in our study cohort, we would conclude that the goal of future transplants should be to minimize acute rejections.     

Comparison of Sputum and Serum Eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP) Levels in Nonatopic Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether sputum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) concentrations could be a useful marker in the differential diagnosis between intrinsic asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For this purpose total blood eosinophil counts were obtained and concentrations of serum and sputum ECP from 10 nonatopic asthmatics with a mild attack and 9 COPD patients with acute exacerbation were measured by radioimmunoassay. Mean serum ECP concentration was 54.3 ± 23.0 g/L in the asthmatic group and 83.3 ± 79.2 g/L in the COPD group (p: n.s.). In the group of asthmatics mean sputum ECP level was 984.5 ± 1245.5 mg/L/g sputum and in the COPD group it was 417.5 ± 363.5 mg/L/g sputum. There was no significant difference in sputum ECP levels between patients with asthma and COPD. We conclude that neither sputum nor serum ECP levels are useful markers in differential diagnosis of asthma attack and acute exacerbation of COPD.     

Correlation between the intensity of cytomegalovirus infection and the amount of perivasculitis in aortic allografts

Abstract  We previously demonstrated that cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection enhanced perivascular inflammation in rat aortic allografts. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the CMV infection load and the magnitude of perivasculitis (chronic rejection) in aortic transplants. Rats received or-thotopic abdominal aortic grafts, different degrees of total body irradiation (TBI) for immunosuppres-sion and CMV inoculation. The spleens of the rats receiving 5 Gy of TBI contained more infectious virus and viral antigens than those of rats receiving 3 Gy of TBI or no TBI. Although the number of inflammatory cells infiltrating the perivascular area was decreased after TBI, CMV infection resulted in increased perivasculitis in rats that received 5 Gy of TBI as compared to non-infected animals. This virus-induced effect was characterized predominantly by an increased T-cell infiltration, including CD4 and CD8 T-cells. It is concluded that an enhanced systemic CMV infection during severe immunosuppressive therapy can accelerate the development of chronic rejection, which seems to be mediated mainly by T-cells.     

神经根慢性嵌压损伤的动物模型建立

目的：建立一种由自身骨性增生造成神经根慢性嵌压损伤的动物模型，为相关实验提供造模方法一方法：30只健康家猫，手术显露右侧C7、C8和L5、L6冲经根及其椎问孔内口，用牙髓钻破坏椎间孔周围骨皮质后，将“V”形松质骨块沿骨壁嵌于神经根通道的骨性管道内及侧隐窝后方，左侧做正常对照。在造模术前和术后第2、4、8、12、24周行磁刺激运动诱发电位(MEP)检测，每次随机选6只，4～5只行影像学检查，以确定神经根通道的狭窄程度和神经根受压状态，6只均做病理组织学检查和椎间孔截面积测量。结果：术后早期实验侧肢体出现行为异常：而后有不同程度肌萎缩；后期部分肢体远端出现溃疡。影像学检查随着嵌压时间延长．实验侧椎间孔骨痂增多，狭窄加重。神经根受压变形，椎间孔骨性截面积8周后明显减小，与对照侧比较有显著性差异。术后2周，神经根组织学检查主要表现为神经束膜、内膜的水肿。髓鞘肿胀；4周后发生节段性脱髓鞘：8周时神经轴突增粗、断裂，远端瓦勒氏变性；12周后变性冲经结构崩解、吸收，形成空洞：24周时整个神经干纤维化。术后4周时实验侧MEP开始出现潜伏期延长；8周时伴有波形分化不清；12周波幅明显下降：24周MEP的引出困难，部分电位消失。结论：采用椎问孔内自体松质骨植入，造成神经根慢性嵌压性损伤模型成功率高，操作简单，适用于脊柱各个节段，其损伤部位和形式与临床更为接近。     

慢性乙肝患者血清细胞因子、乙肝病毒与肝纤维化的关系

目的：探讨慢性乙肝患血清细胞因子（TGF－β，TNF-α，IL-6，IL-8），乙肝病毒（HBV）对肝纤维化（HA，PCⅢ，C-Ⅳ，LN）的影响作用。方法：采用ELISA和RIA方法检测171例慢性乙肝患血清TGF－β，TNF-α，IL-6，IL-8，HLA，PCǚ，C-Ⅳ，LN的水平，HBV－DNA定量检测采用PCR方法。结果：慢性乙肝患血清TGF－β，TNF-α，IL-6，IL-8，HA，PCⅢ，C-Ⅳ，LN的含量均不同程度高于对照组，且随肝损害程度的加重而升高，与肝损害程度呈正相关关系（P＜0．05或P＜0．01）；须血清TGF－β1水平与血清HA，PCⅢ，C-Ⅳ，LN水平具有直线相关关系。HBV－DNA阳性组（Ⅱ组）均高于HBV－DNA阴性组（I组），且在慢性中，重度肝炎间差异显（P＜0．05）。结论：血清TGF－β，TNF-α，IL-6，IL-8参与慢性乙肝的发病机制及肝纤维化的形成，且与病毒复制的活跃程度相关。     

慢性酒精中毒酒戒断的震颤谵妄发作危险因素探析

目的探讨慢性酒精中毒患者发生震颤谵妄(DT)的高危因素。方法把148例慢性酒精中毒患者按入院后是否出现震颤谵妄分为震颤谵妄组(DT)和非震颤谵妄组(NDT),观察他们的人口学资料(如性别、年龄、民族、婚姻状态等)、饮酒依赖史(饮酒的年限、饮酒品种、饮酒量、戒酒史等)、既往史、个人史、家族史、入院时的体征和症状(包括生命体征、戒断症状等)和身体状况等项目,描绘其临床特征,并对23项变量进行Logistic回归分析,筛选出慢性酒精中毒患者发生震颤谵妄的高危险因素。结果148例慢性酒精中毒患者在住院期间发生震颤谵妄者共28例(占18.92%)。Logistic regression model结果显示慢性酒中毒者入院后发生震颤谵妄的具有显著相关意义的5个解释变量,即入院时观察指标中的急性感染疾病、心动过速、紧张焦虑状态、精神运动性兴奋和肝功能异常。结论出现震颤谵妄的慢性酒精中毒患者与未发生震颤谵妄的慢性酒精中毒患者在入院时的临床特征存在差异,对慢性酒精中毒患者入院时及之后监测急性感染疾病、心动过速、精神运动性兴奋、紧张焦虑状态和肝功能异常等5个高危因素,有利于及时有效的干预。     

慢性肝病、原发性肝癌病人血清、肝组织纳米细菌的检测

目的 研究慢性肝病和原发性肝癌病人血清、组织中纳米细菌（NB）感染，为其发生机制提供新的认识。方法 55例慢性肝病（25例慢性乙肝和30例肝炎后肝硬化）、43例肝癌病人和336例健康人血清采用ELISA、免疫组化和钙染色；53例慢性肝病（28例慢性乙肝和25例肝硬化）、43例肝癌和15例对照肝组织行免疫组化染色，部分阳性组织透射电镜观察。结果 （1）慢性肝病、肝癌病人和健康人血清ELISA检测阳性率分别为20．0％、9．3％和8．0％，慢性肝病NB感染率高于健康人（P〈0．05）。免疫组化染色感染率分别为14．5％、4．7％和5．7％（P〈0．05）。钙染色分别为7．3％、4．7％和6．5％（P〉0．05）。（2）慢性肝病、癌及癌旁、对照组免疫组化阳性率分别为：20．8％、16．3％、14．0％和0％（P〉0．05）。部分肝癌和癌旁组织透射电镜观察发现纳米细菌样微生物结构（3／5）。结论 部分慢性肝病、肝癌病人血清、组织中存在纳米细菌感染，慢性肝病血清中纳米细菌感染率高于健康人。     

1091例慢性疼痛治疗体会

我院自1993年8月设立镇痛门诊以来,共收治各种疼痛病人1091例,通过跟踪随访,治疗效果较为满意,现总结报告如下。1一般资料本组男689例,女402例,年龄12岁～80岁。12岁～20岁101例,21岁～35岁135例,36岁～50岁151例,51岁～65岁509例,66岁以上195例,ASAⅠ级～Ⅲ级,病程3h～12a不等。多数病例均以疼痛难忍和运动障碍为主诉,并经过他院或多种方法治疗无效,来我院门诊求治的。2配方及治疗方法根据不同病种选用不同配方。2.11号1%利多卡因及0.25%布比卡因加醋酸强地松龙50mg,地塞米松5mg,维生素B12500μg,维生素B650mg,必要时可加山莨菪碱2.5mg～…