Investigating the association between eye colour and the Neurological Pupil index

IntroductionBrown or dark brown eyes make it difficult to distinguish the contrast between a black pupil and the surrounding iris, which may result in clinical assessment errors. The pupillometer can be used to derive an indexed value, the Neurological Pupil index™ (NPi) for pupillary light reflex. However, there are limited data associating the NPi and iris colour. We examine the NPi and eye colour association.MethodsData were pooled from the Establishing Normative Data for Pupillometer Assessments in Neuroscience Intensive Care (END-PANIC) Registry. The analysis includes 14,168 observations collected from 865 patients with neurological conditions who were admitted to the intensive care unit. Summary statistics and statistical models were developed to examine the association using Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) summary procedure.ResultsThe mean age of the cohort was 56 years (standard deviation = 17). Eye colour included dark brown (n = 339), blue (n = 234), brown (n = 173), green (n = 82), and other (n = 37). There was significant differences (p < 0.0001) between mean NPi values by eye colour [blue = 4.08 (0.92), brown = 3.34 (1.45), dark = 3.71 (1.33), green = 4.08 (0.67), other = 3.76 (1.25)]. However, a further random-effects mixed model after controlling for confounding variables revealed no significant difference in NPi values among different eye colour groups.ConclusionsThe pupillary light reflex, when assessed using the pupillometer, is not dependent on the eye colour. Practitioners are not required to consider eye colour as a confounder when they perform pupillary assessment for examining patients with neurological conditions.     

老年轻度认知障碍患者血清瘦素、甲状腺激素水平与局部脑血流量关系的研究

目的 通过检测老年轻度认知障碍（MCI）患者血清瘦素（LEP）、甲状腺激素水平，分析其与局部脑血流量（rCBF）的关系。方法 选择本院收治的128 例老年MCI 患者，另选健康者128 例作为对照组。检测血清LEP、甲状腺激素、大脑各区域rCBF 水平并分析其相关性。结果 老年MCI 组患者左右侧额叶、右侧颞叶、左侧顶叶、左右侧基底节区域脑血流量[（43.81±8.62）mL/（100 g·min）、（43.24±7.93）mL/（100 g·min）、（45.14±6.98）mL/（100 g·min）、（45.86±6.77）mL/（100 g·min）、（67.95±8.52）mL/（100 g·min）、（68.36±8.34）mL/（100 g·min）]低于对照组[（46.39±8.31）mL/（100 g·min）、（46.52±8.56）mL/（100 g·min）、（47.37±7.04）mL/（100 g·min）、（48.25±6.98）mL/（100 g·min）、（70.34±8.96）mL/（100 g·min）、（70.58±8.57）mL/（100 g·min）]（P＜0.05）。老年MCI 组患者血清LEP、T3、FT3 水平[（4.87±1.56）μg/L、（1.21±0.16）nmol/L、（3.04±0.36）pmol/L]低于对照组[（11.45±3.92）μg/L、（1.68±0.21）nmol/L、（4.82±1.21）pmol/L]（P＜0.05），TSH 水平为（2.78±0.75）IU/mL，高于对照组的（1.13±0.38）IU/mL（P＜0.05）。老年MCI 患者血清LEP 水平与左侧额叶、右侧颞叶、左侧顶叶rCBF 呈正相关（r=0.452、0.537、0.544，P 均＜0.05），T3 水平与左侧额叶、右侧颞叶rCBF 呈正相关（r=0.427、0.521，P 均＜0.05），FT3 水平与右侧颞叶rCBF 呈正相关（r=0.492，P＜0.05），TSH 水平与左侧额叶、右侧颞叶rCBF 呈负相关（r=-0.463、-0.489，P 均＜0.05）。结论 老年MCI 患者血清中LEP、T3、FT3 水平降低，TSH 水平升高，且与不同区域rCBF 有相关性，可通过调控脑血管功能影响rCBF 变化水平。     

黄芪活血功效及现代药理学研究进展

黄芪始载于《神农本草经》,有补气升阳、益卫固表,利水消肿,托毒生肌之效。被誉为补气健脾之要药,临床上常用于气虚乏力、脾虚泄泻等疾病,已为医者所熟知。近年来,研究学者围绕其补气、健脾、利水功效机制已有较全面的认识。然陶弘景在《本草经集注》首载黄芪"逐五脏间恶血",表明本品兼有活血作用。目前,对于本品活血作用机制阐释,中医常基于"补气活血""气行血行"理论进行论证,但并不等同于本品无活血作用。通过梳理历代本草文献中对黄芪的记载,发现其活血作用应用广泛。综合传统方剂与现代方剂中有关其活血作用的应用,本品在方中行活血通络、活血利水、活血扶正作用,尤能体现其活血作用。且现代药理学研究在有关瘀血病理指标的分子机制中,黄芪有很好的调控作用,表明黄芪有活血作用,但未深入探究,存在研究价值。该文从历代文献对黄芪活血功效的论述、黄芪活血作用的临床应用及现代药理学研究深入探讨其活血作用机制,以期扩展黄芪的临床应用范围,为临床治疗提供理论指导。     

Endogenous motion of liver correlates to the severity of portal hypertension

BACKGROUND Degree of portal hypertension(PH) is the most important prognostic factor for the decompensation of liver cirrhosis and death, therefore adequate care for patients with liver cirrhosis requires timely detection and evaluation of the presence of clinically significant PH(CSPH) and severe PH(SPH). As the most accurate method for the assessment of PH is an invasive direct measurement of hepatic venous pressure gradient(HVPG), the search for non-invasive methods to diagnose these conditions is actively ongoing.AIM To evaluate the feasibility of parameters of endogenously induced displacements and strain of liver to assess degree of PH.METHODS Of 36 patients with liver cirrhosis and measured HVPG were included in the casecontrol study. Endogenous motion of the liver was characterized by derived parameters of region average tissue displacement signal(dantero, dretro, d RMS) and results of endogenous tissue strain imaging using specific radiofrequency signal processing algorithm. Average endogenous strain μ and standard deviation σ of strain were assessed in the regions of interest(ROI)(1 cm × 1 cm and 2 cm × 2 cm in size) and different frequency subbands of endogenous motion(0-10 Hz and 10-20 Hz).RESULTS Four parameters showed statistically significant(P 0.05) correlation with HVPG measurement. The strongest correlation was obtained for the standard deviation of strain(estimated at 0-10 Hz and 2 cm × 2 cm ROI size). Three parameters showed statistically significant differences between patient groups with CSPH, but only dretro showed significant results in SPH analysis. According to ROC analysis area under the curve(AUC) of the σROI[0…10 Hz, 2 cm × 2 cm] parameter reached 0.71(P = 0.036) for the diagnosis of CSPH; with a cut-off value of 1.28 μm/cm providing 73% sensitivity and 70% specificity. AUC for the diagnosis of CSPH for μROI[0…10 Hz, 1 cm × 1 cm] was 0.78(P = 0.0024); with a cut-off value of 3.92 μm/cm providing 73% sensitivity and 80% specificity. Dretro parameter had an AUC of 0.86(P = 0.0001) for the diagnosis of CSPH and 0.84(P = 0.0001) for the diagnosis of SPH. A cut-off value of-132.34 μm yielded 100% sensitivity for both conditions, whereas specificity was 80% and 72% for CSPH and SPH respectively.CONCLUSION The parameters of endogenously induced displacements and strain of the liver correlated with HVPG and might be used for non-invasive diagnosis of PH.     

SI和DBP对女性产后出血的风险预测效果

目的考察休克指数(shock index,SI)和舒张压(diastolic blood pressure,DBP)对女性产后出血的风险预测效果。方法选取2016年1月～2018年12月在我院行产检并分娩的320例产后出血孕妇作为研究组,另外选取同期进行正常分娩的健康孕妇240例作为对照组,比较两组患者的一般临床资料、血红蛋白(hemoglobin,Hb)、舒张压(diastolic blood pressure,DBP)、收缩压(systolic blood pressure,SBP)、心率(heart rate,HR)及休克指数(shock index,SI),并采用Ordinal逻辑回归分析各参数对产后出血的风险预警。结果两组患者在年龄、孕周、BMI及新生儿体重相比,差异无统计学意义(P0.05),而孕次相比,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);与对照组产后24 h相比,研究组产后24 h患者的DBP、SBP及Hb均显著降低,而HR和SI显著升高(P0.05);与对照组产前相比,产后24 h患者的SBP、HR及SI显著降低(P0.05);与研究组产前相比,产后24 h患者的DBP、SBP、HR及Hb均显著降低,而SI显著升高,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05);Ordinal逻辑回归分析结果显示,休克指数和舒张压对产后出血具有预警作用(P0.05)。结论休克指数和舒张压可作为评估女性产后出血的风险预测指标,临床应密切监护。