Compellingness: assessing the practical relevance of clinical research results

While the critical appraisal of clinical research has generally focused on aspects of study design and statistical analysis, other features of clinical studies appear to be more important to clinicians for assessing the value of a particular study in the care of particular patients. These features relate to the quality of the knowledge derived from the research, the value of the results to the care of individual patients, and the responsibility of clinicians to be stewards of limited resources. Twelve features of clinical research studies that affect how compelling individual clinicians find the results are proposed and examined here. By better understanding what makes clinical research compelling enough to alter or reinforce clinical practice, clinical researchers can design future studies to better serve the needs of clinicians and patients.     

学生标准化病人在内科护理学客观结构化临床考试中的应用

目的了解内科护理学客观结构化临床考试（OSCE）中学生标准化病人（SSP）的模拟水平，分析SSP在模拟病人方面存在的问题，从而为进一步改进SSP提供依据。方法自行设计问卷，以我院参加内科护理学出科考试的74名学生作为调查对象，评价SSP的模拟水平。结果学生对SSP模拟病人逼真程度评价总分为（15．69±1．951）分，其中SPP能自然地回答学生提出的问题评价评价得分为（3．24±0．463）分。所有学生均认为运用SSP考核学生的临床能力是有效的，97％学生认为与传统考试模式相比标准化病人考核模式更能真实地反映学生的临床实际水平。结论培训护理专业学生为sP用于内科护理学OSCE考试可行性好，但需要进一步采取措施提高SSP模拟体征的逼真程度及各站SSP表演的协调一致性程度。     

Behavioral Treatment of Hypertensive Heart Disease in African Americans: Rationale and Design of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

African Americans experience higher morbidity and mortality than Whites do as a result of hypertension and associated cardiovascular disease. Chronic psychosocial stress has been considered an important contributing factor to these high rates. The authors describe the rationale and design for a planned randomized controlled trial comparing Transcendental Meditation, a stress-reduction technique, with lifestyle education in the treatment of hypertension and hypertensive heart disease in urban African Americans. They pretested 170 men and women aged 20 to 70 years over a 3-session baseline period, with posttests at 6 months. Outcomes included clinic and ambulatory blood pressure, quality of life, left ventricular mass measured by M-mode echocardiography, left ventricular diastolic function measured by Doppler, and carotid atherosclerosis measured by β-mode ultrasound. This trial was designed to evaluate the hypothesis that a selected stress reduction technique is effective in reducing hypertension and hypertensive heart disease in African Americans.     

HPLC测定人血浆中吡仑帕奈的浓度及其儿科临床应用

目的 建立HPLC测定人血浆中吡仑帕奈浓度的方法并考察其临床应用。方法 采用Agilent ZORBAX SB-C₁₈(4.6 mm×150 mm，5 μm)色谱柱，流动相为0.05%磷酸(pH 3.5)-乙腈(56∶44)，流速为1 mL·min^–1，柱温为30℃，检测波长为290 nm。测定癫痫患儿的吡仑帕奈浓度并考察影响血药浓度的风险因素。结果 吡仑帕奈在75~2 500 μg·L^–1内线性良好，定量限为75 μg·L^–1，准确度不超过标示值的±10%，精密度的变异系数均≤5%，回收率为97.6%~101.0%，在实验涉及的各种条件下稳定性良好。利用该方法测定了51例癫痫患儿的吡仑帕奈血浆谷浓度，所得浓度结果为91.6~1 681.9 μg·L^–1；年龄影响吡仑帕奈浓度，<5岁患者的吡仑帕奈谷浓度显著低于5~12岁患者，但与≥12岁患者无显著差异。结论 该方法操作简便，具有较高的准确性和灵敏度，能满足吡仑帕奈治疗药物监测的分析要求，年龄对吡仑帕奈的谷浓度存在显著影响。     

中药防治糖尿病并发抑郁症药理作用和临床应用的研究进展

抑郁症具有发病率高、致残率高和致死率高的巨大社会危害性，且在糖尿病人群中发病率是在正常人群的2～3倍，两者合并引发且加重了患者多种机体功能和心理障碍，使其自杀率增高。中药防治糖尿病并发抑郁症具有整体论治、不良反应小、疗效显著的优势，然而其科学内涵不十分清晰，现代研究与推广应用仍十分薄弱。综述了糖尿病并发抑郁症的发病机制和中药复方、单味中药、中药有效成分防治糖尿病并发抑郁症的现代动物研究和临床研究。结合中药在防治糖尿病并发抑郁症方面的现代研究概况，提出今后应以复方的临床效用为指导，加强有效复方中“君”“臣”“佐”“使”药及其有效成分防治糖尿病并发抑郁症的基础实验研究，为中药复方的物质基础和作用靶点的阐明提供依据，为糖尿病并发抑郁症的实验研究和临床应用推广提供一定的参考价值。     

老年脓毒症患者临床特征及预后影响因素

 目的 探讨老年脓毒症患者临床特征及影响预后的危险因素。方法 选取2020年7月-2021年9月某三级甲等医院收治的老年脓毒症患者为研究对象，记录患者的临床及实验室资料，根据患者28天预后情况分为存活组和死亡组，比较各临床指标在两组间的差异，应用二元logistic回归分析法分析影响老年脓毒症患者预后的独立危险因素，进一步绘制受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线，评估不同指标预测患者预后的价值。结果 共纳入121例患者，其中74例为脓毒症，47例为脓毒性休克。存活组92例，死亡组29例。与存活组相比，死亡组患者发生脓毒性休克、合并症个数 ≥ 2的比例均较高（P<0.05）；序贯器官衰竭评估（SOFA）评分和急性生理与慢性健康状况评估（APACHEⅡ）评分也较高，白细胞介素6（IL-6）、胱抑素C（Cys-C）、降钙素原（PCT）、凝血酶原时间（PT）和D -二聚体（D -D）表达水平均增高（均P<0.05），而淋巴细胞绝对计数（ALC）和清蛋白（ALB）表达水平降低（均P<0.01）。二元logistic回归分析显示脓毒性休克、SOFA评分、D -D及Cys-C表达水平是影响老年脓毒症患者28天预后的独立危险因素。ROC曲线分析显示SOFA评分（AUC=0.758）、D -D（AUC=0.774）、Cys-C（AUC=0.650）预测患者的预后均有一定的价值（均P<0.01），与单个指标相比，三个指标的联合检测显示出更高的预测价值（AUC=0.882）。结论 发生脓毒性休克、SOFA评分增高、D -D及Cys-C表达水平增加是导致老年脓毒症患者病死率上升的独立危险因素，SOFA评分、D -D和Cys-C的联合检测可进一步提高脓毒症患者预后的预测价值，为临床治疗和预后评估提供参考依据。     

A semi‐quantitative approach to variation of the azygos vein course

The azygos vein (AV) is typically described (illustrated) as ascending vertically on the right of thoracic vertebrae. Most thoracic vein studies have focused on tributary patterns, but some have noted more leftward AV courses. This study statistically documents variation in AV course independent of tributary patterns. A more statistical approach to the probable position of AV at different vertical levels may aid clinicians in locating and assessing it in clinical contexts. The AV course was exposed in 84 cadavers by removing overlying viscera between the aortic hiatus and tracheal bifurcation. Subjectively, non‐pathological specimens were digitally photographed in anterior view. For each photo, a scaled grid was used to mark the horizontal position of the AV center at each of five vertical levels. The summated numerical distributions showed the following: ～5% of the AVs ascended on the right side (classical) position, ～30% did not cross the midline, ～70% included part or all of their course left of the midline, and ～14% reached the extreme left side. Based on this data, the modal AV course (1) begins at, or to the right of, the midline, (2) deviates leftward, (3) crosses the midline below mid‐level, (4) reaches a leftward maximum at about 3/5 of its course, (5) then deviates rightward (often only reaching the midline at the uppermost level). In several noticeable cases, the leftward maximum was associated with large connections to left‐side veins, suggesting a possible tension mechanism exerting traction on the AV over time. Clin. Anat. 27:1030–1037, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Setting Standards to Determine Core Clerkship Grades in Pediatrics

ObjectiveOne of the greatest challenges for clerkship directors is assigning a final grade and determining the precise point at which a student either passes or fails a clinical clerkship. The process of incorporating both subjective and objective assessment data to provide a final summative grade can be challenging. We describe our experience conducting a standard-setting exercise to set defensible cut points in a 4-tiered grading system in our pediatric clerkship.MethodsUsing the Hofstee standard-setting approach, 8 faculty members participated in an exercise to establish grade cut points. These faculty members were subsequently surveyed to assess their attitudes toward the standard-setting process as well as their reactions to these newly proposed standards. We applied the new cut points to a historic cohort of 116 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine students from the academic year 2012–2013 to assess the potential impact on grade distributions.ResultsThe resultant grading schema would lead to a significant increase in the number of students receiving a failing grade and a decrease in the number of students receiving a grade of honors in a historical cohort. Faculty reported that the Hofstee method was easy to understand and fair. All faculty members thought that grade inflation presently exists within the pediatric clerkship.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that practical standards using the Hofstee method can be set for medical students in a pediatric clerkship in which multiple performance measures are used.     

Brain temperature regulation in poor-grade subarachnoid hemorrhage patients – A multimodal neuromonitoring study

Elevated body temperature (T_core) is associated with poor outcome after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Brain temperature (T_brain) is usually higher than T_core. However, the implication of this difference (T_delta) remains unclear. We aimed to study factors associated with higher T_delta and its association with outcome. We included 46 SAH patients undergoing multimodal neuromonitoring, for a total of 7879 h of averaged data of T_core, T_brain, cerebral blood flow, cerebral perfusion pressure, intracranial pressure and cerebral metabolism (CMD). Three-months good functional outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale ≤2. T_brain was tightly correlated with T_core (r = 0.948, p < 0.01), and was higher in 73.7% of neuromonitoring time (T_delta +0.18°C, IQR −0.01 – 0.37°C). A higher T_delta was associated with better metabolic state, indicated by lower CMD-glutamate (p = 0.003) and CMD-lactate (p < 0.001), and lower risk of mitochondrial dysfunction (MD) (OR = 0.2, p < 0.001). During MD, T_delta was significantly lower (0°C, IQR −0.2 – 0.1; p < 0.001). A higher T_delta was associated with improved outcome (OR = 7.7, p = 0.002). Our study suggests that T_brain is associated with brain metabolic activity and exceeds T_core when mitochondrial function is preserved. Further studies are needed to understand how T_delta may serve as a surrogate marker for brain function and predict clinical course and outcome after SAH.