SRTR Center-Specific Reporting Tools: Posttransplant Outcomes

Measuring and monitoring performance—be it waiting list and posttransplant outcomes by a transplant center, or organ donation success by an organ procurement organization and its partnering hospitals—is an important component of ensuring good care for people with end-stage organ failure. Many parties have an interest in examining these outcomes, from patients and their families to payers such as insurance companies or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; from primary caregivers providing patient counseling to government agencies charged with protecting patients.
The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients produces regular, public reports on the performance of transplant centers and organ procurement organizations. This article explains the statistical tools used to prepare these reports, with a focus on graft survival and patient survival rates of transplant centers—especially the methods used to fairly and usefully compare outcomes of centers that serve different populations. The article concludes with a practical application of these statistics—their use in screening transplant center performance to identify centers that may need remedial action by the OPTN/UNOS Membership and Professional Standards Committee.     

Challenging the world: patient safety and health care-associated infection.

Improving the safety of patient care is an issue which affects health systems in both developed and developing countries. To co-ordinate and accelerate improvements in patient safety, the World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the creation of the World Alliance for Patient Safety which was launched in October 2004. The six action areas of the Alliance are Patients for Patient Safety, Taxonomy, Research, Solutions for Patient Safety, Reporting and Learning, and a biennial Global Patient Safety Challenge. The first Challenge covering 2005-2006 was launched in October 2005 under the banner 'Clean Care is Safer Care'. The Challenge addresses health care-associated infection, a major, patient safety problem affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.     

Diabetic and nondiabetic hyperglycemia in the ICU

Hyperglycemia is a common feature in critically ill patients, whether they are diabetic or not, and it is associated with unfavorable outcome. The more severe the underlying disease, the more important the hyperglycemia appears to be although, we still cannot define whether hyperglycemia is just a marker of the severity of the acute illness or rather an active contributor to poor outcome. The review of the literature on this subject published from 2001 up today conveys a massive amount of information the interpretation of which is equivocal, due to the heterogeneity of patients (nondiabetic vs. diabetic, medical intensive care unit (ICU) pts vs. surgical ICU pts) and of interventions (dose and modality of insulin infusion).The association between high glucose level and mortality is strong in critically ill patients without a previous history of diabetes. Admission hyperglycemia seems to be an independent risk factor of in-hospital mortality in patients both with and without diabetes in cardiac, cardiothoracic and neurosurgical ICUs. No data are still available on general surgical ICU patients.Tight control of blood glucose levels has been demonstrated to improve outcome in both diabetic and nondiabetic critically ill patients. In surgical ICUs, tight glucose control improves mortality and reduces morbidity only among patients admitted in ICU for more than 5 days, while outcome is not improved in patients who stay in ICU for less than 3 days.However, it is not yet understood if such favorable effect is secondary to glucose control itself or if insulin plays a part, by means of its nonglucose, anabolic effects. More randomized controlled trials are needed, addressing specific issues—such as the optimal target glucose concentration and the most effective insulin regimen—especially in the general surgical patient.     

老年牙周组织疾病216例证候分析

目的 探讨老年牙周组织疾病的证候特点。方法 对 1998 年 1 月-2003 年 12 月门诊接诊的 216 例老年牙周组织疾病进行回顾性分析。结果 阴虚火旺型 124 例(57.4%),气血不足型 51 例(23.6%),胃火炽盛型 16 例(7.5%),气滞血瘀型 14 例(6.4%),痰湿阻络型 11 例(5.1%)。结论 老年牙周组织疾病证候表现以虚为主、虚中夹实,阴虚火旺型和气血不足型是其主要证候类型。     

Risk groups for clinical complications of norovirus infections: an outbreak investigation

Norovirus infections have been described as self-limiting diseases of short duration. An investigation of a norovirus outbreak in a university hospital provided evidence for severe clinical features in patients with several underlying diseases. Clinical outcomes of norovirus infection were defined. Risk-factor analysis targeting underlying diseases and medication was performed using multivariate analyses. In five outbreak wards, 84 patients and 60 nurses were infected (an overall attack rate of 32% in patients, and 76% in nurses). The causative agent was the new variant Grimsby virus. Severe clinical features, including acute renal failure, arrhythmia and signs of acute graft organ rejection in renal transplant patients, were observed in seven (8.3%) patients. In multivariate analyses, cardiovascular disease (OR 17.1, 95% CI 2.17-403) and renal transplant (OR 13.0, 95% CI 1.63-281) were risk-factors for a potassium decrease of >20%. Age >65 years (OR 11.6, 95% CI 1.89-224) was a risk-factor for diarrhoea lasting >2 days. Immunosuppression (OR 5.7, 95% CI 1.78-20.1) was a risk-factor for a creatinine increase of >10%. Norovirus infections in patients with underlying conditions such as cardiovascular disease, renal transplant and immunosuppressive therapy may lead to severe consequences typified by decreased potassium levels, increased levels of C-reactive protein and creatine phosphokinase. In the elderly, norovirus infection may lead to an increased duration of diarrhoea. Therefore patients at risk should be hospitalised early and monitored frequently. Strict preventional measures should be implemented as early as possible to minimise the risk of nosocomial outbreaks.     

奥沙利铂为主的化疗方案治疗老年非小细胞肺癌疗效观察

目的 观察以奥沙利铂(O-LHP)为主的联合化疗方案对老年非小细胞肺癌的疗效和安全性。方法23例老年非小细胞肺癌患者接受治疗，化疗方案采用O-LHP VP-16(或口服威克)，每个病例至少化疗2周期。结果完全缓解1例，部分缓解7例，有效率为34．8％；主要毒副反应为白细胞下降和神经毒性，患者可以耐受。结论以奥沙利铂为主的联合化疗方案对老年非小细胞肺癌的治疗安全有效。     

老年期抑郁症病人听觉事件相关电位P300的比较研究

目的 探讨老年期抑郁症病人的认知功能状况。方法 按CCMD-3中心境障碍抑郁发作诊断标准，收集33例60岁以上首次抑郁发作的病人(抑郁组)，32名健康老年人(对照组)。使用HAMD、HAMA和MMSE量表对所有入组者进行评定，并作P300测定。结果 抑郁组MMSE总分低于对照组。抑郁组N2和P3潜伏期比对照组延长；抑郁组的P300潜伏期N2和P3与HAMD的迟缓因子分呈正相关，与MMSE总分呈负相关。结论 老年期抑郁症病人存在认知功能障碍。     

高龄患者后腹腔镜手术的麻醉管理

目的总结伴发全身性疾病的高龄患者后腹腔镜手术麻醉管理的经验。方法回顾性分析2002年10月-2007年1月81例高龄患者（年龄70-86岁,平均74.2岁）后腹腔镜的临床资料,其中有全身性伴发疾病77例,81例手术均在全麻下完成。结果气腹后35例（43.2%）发生高碳酸血症,35例（43.2%）发生酸中毒;41例（50.6%）出现不同程度的高血压。66例（81.5%）在手术室内拔除气管导管,手术结束至手术室内拔除气管插管时间5-50 min,平均15.1 min;1例（1.2%）带气管插管回本病房;14例（17.3%）术后转入ICU。1例（1.2%）术后第3天并发急性心肌梗死死亡。1例术后发生严重谵妄状态。结论高龄患者可耐受后腹腔镜手术高碳酸血症、酸中毒以及气腹后血压升高的风险,但围麻醉期的处理须谨慎。     

An investigation into the information obtained by patients undergoing gastroscopy investigations

? The benefits of informing patients before undergoing surgery or other investigative procedures are clearly demonstrated in the literature. ? This study aimed to determine the amount and type of information given to patients before, during and after undergoing gastroscopy investigations. ? A survey approach incorporating structured interviews and structured observation was utilized. ? There were statistically significant differences between the information acquired by younger and older patients prior to, but not during or after, the procedure. ? Nurses appear to be the most important source of information for older patients while the information leaflet was perceived as the most important source of information for younger patients.