中药物质基础研究的思路与方法

本文以中药现代化和国际化为导向,论述了中药研究中的重点与难点问题。阐述了中药研究的主要发展方向是突破中药化学物质基础研究,并提出了以活性导向的标准组分模式的中药物质基础研究新思路、新观点。强调中药物质基础研究的关键技术发展的重要性,并介绍了现代中药分离分析与表征的方法与技术。     

抑郁症患者脑结构网络效率属性及与疾病严重程度的相关分析

目的 探讨抑郁症患者与健康对照者脑结构的网络效率及节点效率属性的异同,分析抑郁症患者大脑全局信息处理模式和脑区间信息整合效率的改变,及其与疾病严重程度的关系.方法 对27例抑郁症患者(抑郁症组)和36名健康对照者(对照组)进行弥散张量成像扫描,利用解剖学自动标记模板将整个大脑划分为90个区域,同时对全脑进行确定性纤维追踪,构建脑结构二值化网络.并对所得抑郁症组与对照组脑结构网络的效率属性值进行双样本t检验.结果 (1)2组脑网络分别与相匹配的随机网络比较:网络全局效率均与随机网络相似;网络局部效率均大于随机网络.(2)抑郁症组网络全局效率(0.86±0.01)较对照组(0.87±0.01)下降(t=-2.31;P =0.02).(3)抑郁症组节点全局效率属性值较对照组(右侧额上回眶部:0.41±0.04与0.44±0.02;左侧颞中回颞极:0.31 ±0.02与0.33±0.03)下降(t=-3.52、-3.84;P=0.0008、0.0003;通过多重校正).(4)抑郁症组右侧额上回眶部全局效率属性值与HAMD17总分呈负相关(r=-0.46,P=0.02).结论 抑郁症患者与健康人大脑都具有高效经济的“小世界”式的信息处理模式.抑郁症患者脑区间信息整合的能力已受损,且与疾病严重程度呈负相关.     

显微血管减压术治疗286例面肌痉挛的临床疗效

目的探讨显微血管减压术治疗面肌痉挛的疗效及预后。方法回顾采用显微血管减压术治疗的286例面肌痉挛患者,分析其临床表现、手术效果和并发症之间的关系,并于术后半年进行电话随访和来院复查,分析其长期的疗效。结果 286例患者起病时均表现为单侧面部肌肉阵发性、不自主、无痛性抽搐,随病程延长呈逐渐加重的趋势。本组术中均能见到有动脉或静脉血管异常而压迫面神经根出脑干处。术后随访6月至1年,230例症状完全缓解,52例明显减轻,4例手术无效。结论显微血管减压术是治疗面肌痉挛的一种安全而有效的手术方法。     

The unexpected outcomes of the closure of 67 inpatient care facilities in 2011 in Romania

One of the main objectives of the National Strategy for Hospitals Rationalization approved by the Romanian Government in 2011 was to resize the hospital sector in order to improve efficiency. To this end, the government decided the closure of 67 inpatient care facilities with low efficiency scores, giving them the opportunity to become nursing homes for elderly under a national programme financed by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection. The measure faced a tremendous public opposition that put pressure on politicians to re-open some hospitals, while other hospitals were re-opened by the governments that followed in order to consolidate their power. Since only 20 closed institutions have been reorganized as nursing homes for elderly and almost 40 are currently performing medical activities, this decision was generally perceived as a policy failure. Nevertheless, a thorough analysis, shows that the medical facilities that are still functioning - either merged with other hospitals, or re-organized as state or private medical institutions have improved efficiency by reshaping services provided to the population needs, mobilizing communities and local authorities investments and initiating public-private partnerships. Besides revealing the unexpected benefits resulted from the implementation of this policy, the Romanian experience provides some useful insights for other countries that are also facing the challenge of reducing the oversized hospital sector.     

Cost and Mortality Analysis of an Intermediate Respiratory Care Unit. Is It Really Efficient and Safe?

IntroductionHistorically, it has been assumed that Intermediate Respiratory Care Units (IRCU) were efficient, because they saved costs by reducing the number of admissions to intensive care units (ICU), and effective, because they specialized in respiratory diseases.MethodsThe number of IRCU admissions and mortality rate, historically and in 2016, were evaluated. For 2016, the grouped Related Diagnostic Groups (DRGs) were also described, and the savings achieved under all budgetary headings by avoiding UCI stays were calculated. A multivariate analysis was performed to associate costs with mean weights and complexity, and multiple logistic regression was performed on all patients admitted from 2004 to 2017 to describe the variables associated with mortality in our unit.ResultsAn IRCU generates savings of €500,000/year by reducing length of ICU stay. Analysis of the 2016 cohort shows that costs correlate with mean weight and mortality, and consequently complexity. The multivariate logistic regression analysis of the 2004–2017 cohort found respiratory frequency, leukopenia, anemia, hyperkalemia, and acidosis to be the variables best associated with mortality. The area under the curve for the logistic model was 0.75.ConclusionThe IRCU analyzed in our study was efficient in terms of ‘avoided costs’ and savings associated with complexity. Our results suggest that IRCUs have a lower mortality rate than other similar units, and are therefore a safe environment for patients.     

Determinants of lost theatre capacity

Secondary care Trusts nationwide are continuing to fail the 18-week referral to treatment (RTT) target despite several initiatives to improve theatre efficiency (2018 NHS England review). A limitation of wasted theatre productivity is required to alleviate pressures on waiting lists. Productivity, which is a measure of treatment time as a proportion of available/allocated time, takes into consideration variations in operator performance, early (non-funded) theatre starts, and over-run, and its analysis enables the determination of theatre downtime and lost theatre capacity. We monitored productivity over a 12-week period and performed downtime analysis as reported in the NHS Improvement national audit (NHSI). Results showed a marked but predictable variation in productivity connected to turnaround and session list scheduling. Productivity and booking efficiency correlated uniformly (Pearson’s r = 0.82). Theatre downtime was analysed with respect to three components defined in the NHSI national audit: late starts, early finish, and turnaround. We found that lost theatre time was predominantly due to early finishes; late starts were infrequent. Transport time correlated unfavourably with productivity (Pearson’s r = -0.29, p = 0.037) and over-run (r = 0.44), and prolonged transport times were shorter when surgery was performed in a dedicated day surgery unit. Calculating the mean transport times for lists with high compared with low productivity helped us set a benchmark for patient transport times for future audit.