Prevalence and predictors associated with severe pulmonary hypertension in COPD

Background

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is one of the most common complications of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), but its severe form is uncommon. Various factors play an important role in the occurrence and severity of pulmonary hypertension in patients.

新生儿真菌败血症10例临床分析

目的：分析新生儿真菌败血症的相关因素,进一步探讨其早期诊断、防治方法。方法对2007年3月1日—2012年3月1日期间住我院新生儿科确诊的新生儿真菌败血症10例进行回顾性分析。结果10例中白色假丝酵母菌5例,光滑假丝酵母菌2例,其他假丝酵母菌2例,克柔假丝酵母菌1例。使用有创呼吸机3例,无创呼吸机4例,中心静脉置管8例,持续使用广谱抗菌药物8例,进入新生儿重症监护室（NICU）治疗10例（100%）,粒细胞减少4例,可能为相关因素;死亡1例。结论新生儿真菌败血症以白色假丝酵母菌属为主,非白色假丝酵母菌属感染比例增多,早产儿是NICU中真菌感染高危儿,深部真菌感染病例中中心静脉置管率较高,与呼吸机应用相关。对于有高危因素疑诊深部真菌感染者应早期开始经验性治疗、预防。     

细菌性角膜溃疡误诊原因及预后分析

目的研究细菌性角膜溃疡的特点,分析引起误诊的原因,探讨影响患者预后的相关因素。方法回顾性分析。以2011年1月至2013年12月间山东省眼科医院收治的83例(83只眼)确诊为细菌性角膜溃疡的患者作为研究对象。通过统计患者误诊疾病、发病诱因、眼部临床表现、就诊医院、所行辅助检查等,分析误诊原因。通过统计不同确诊时间的患者药物、手术治疗的情况,分析误诊患者确诊前病程与其预后的关系。结果 83例患者的发病诱因中49例有各种角膜外伤史,包括植物性外伤22例(占26.5%)。42例患者眼部临床表现为病史迁延、病灶边界不清,伴类似伪足或类似卫星灶、类似内皮斑等。33例患者于首诊医院误诊,误诊疾病分别为真菌性角膜炎28例(占33.7%)、病毒性角膜炎5例(占6.0%)。首诊医院为省市级医院的误诊率为29.3%,县级及以下医院的误诊率为50.0%。省市级医院行角膜刮片及培养者占70.7%,刮片阳性率27.6%。县级及以下医院行实验室检查者仅占30.1%,刮片阳性率15.4%。预后:误诊患者中确诊前病程≤2周者药物治愈6例(占30.0%),行角膜病灶切除治愈4例(占20.0%),行角膜移植治愈10例(50.0%),总治愈率100%。病程大于2周者,药物治愈2例(占15.4%),行角膜病灶切除治愈3例(占23.1%),行角膜移植治愈6例(46.1%),行眼内容剜除2例(占15.4%),总治愈率84.6%。结论目前细菌性角膜溃疡的误诊率仍较高,普及严格、规范的实验室检测结合其他辅助检查能有效降低误诊率。早确诊、早治疗有助于改善误诊患者预后。     

iNOS和CD34与复发性翼状胬肉的关联

目的：研究分析诱导型一氧化碳合成酶(inducible nitric oxide synthase,iNOS)和血管内皮因子CD34与复发性翼状胬肉发病之间的联系。

方法：选取2012-03/2014-10本院收治的复发性翼状胬肉患者15例作为本次研究的实验组,另选取同期15例单纯性胬肉患者作为对照组。通过免疫组化Envision法对两组患者的手术标本中的iNOS与CD34检测,并计算微血管密度(microvessel density,MVD),比较两组患者的iNOS与CD34阳性表达率和MVD值,分析iNOS和CD34对复发性翼状胬肉的影响作用。

结果：对照组中15例单纯性胬肉患者iNOS阳性表达率为7%(1例),实验组中15例复发性翼状胬肉患者iNOS阳性表达率为87%(13例); 对照组CD34阳性表达率为13%(2例),实验组CD34阳性表达率为80%(12例)。iNos与CD34在复发性翼状胬肉患者中较结膜正常人群中的阳性表达率明显增高,且均存在显著性差异(P<0.01)。实验组MVD值为46.02±10.88,对照组MVD为23.48±5.68,实验组MVD值明显高于对照组且两组存在统计差异(P<0.01)。

结论：iNOS与CD34在复发性翼状胬肉患者中阳性显著表达率高,说明iNOS与CD34与复发性翼状胬肉疾病的发生、发展存在一定联系。     

Preliminary evidence of disparities in physical activity among adolescents with bipolar disorder

Physical activity can potentially mitigate the symptomatic burden and cardiovascular risk associated with bipolar disorder (BD). Studies have found that adults with BD are less physically active than controls. However, no previous study has examined this topic among adolescents with BD. This study compares physical activity among adolescents with BD vs. healthy controls without major psychiatric disorders, and examines characteristics associated with physical activity among adolescents with BD. Subjects were 86 adolescents with a diagnosis of BD via gold-standard psychiatric interviews, and 50 controls. The Quick Weight, Activity & Excess Screener (WAVE) was used to assess physical activity. Between-group analyses examined for differences in achieving recommended benchmarks for three types of physical activity: working out, “working in” (incidental physical activity), and screen time. Exploratory within-group analyses were based on a median split (high vs. low) of the total physical activity scores among BD adolescents. Adolescents with BD were significantly less likely to report working out regularly (6%) as compared to controls (22%; χ² = 7.98, p = 0.005). There were no significant between-group differences in working in or screen time. BD adolescents with low levels of physical activity were less likely to have a family history of substance use disorder (p = 0.03). Adolescents with BD are less likely than their peers to achieve the recommended benchmark for regular working out. Future studies are warranted to determine what factors explain this difference, and to identify strategies for optimizing physical activity among adolescents with BD.     

Do medicine residents triage patients with gastrointestinal bleeding appropriately?

Background: Gastrointestinal specialists depend on internal medicine (IM) teams to accurately identify acute gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB). We evaluated whether IM residents’ assessment of GIB correlated with the impressions of GI specialists during consultations at an inner-city university teaching hospital. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to house staff requesting GIB consultations and to the GI fellows performing the consults between August 2011 and April 2012. Residents and fellows were asked to assess GIB, specifically melena, using a stool color card and digital rectal examination (DRE) findings. Fellow DRE findings served as controls for stool color identification. Results: Eighty-seven GI consults were eligible for the study. Residents and fellows completed 81 and 86 questionnaires, respectively. A total of 76 questionnaires were included for analysis. A DRE was performed by medical staff before calling a consult in 65% of cases compared with fellows (97% of cases, P = 0.0001). Residents more frequently labeled stool as melena (42%) in patients as compared with fellows (12%, P = 0.0001). Residents inaccurately identified melenic stools in 22 patients (11 based on stool color and 11 based on DRE findings). Residents were more likely to label a consult as emergent than fellows (13.5% vs 4%, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Residents are less likely to perform DRE during an evaluation for GIB and to accurately identify melena based on stool color or DRE findings. There appears to be a need to educate residents on the appropriate terminology for stool color and the importance of DRE to accurately triage patients with acute GIBs.     

An occult finding in heparin drip order set

Background: In 1998, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) noted that the American healthcare system had many problems. A major concern was the pervasiveness of medical errors. Electronic medical records (EMR) were introduced for myriad of reasons, one being to reduce these errors. Within the EMR, order sets have been shown to reduce variation in clinical practice and improve the quality of care. However, the lack of standardization in these sets enables peculiar orders, such as fecal occult blood test (FOBT) in the heparin drip order set at our hospital, to be surprisingly included. Our study was conducted to evaluate the consequences associated with having FOBT in this order set. Methods: A retrospective study of 898 adult hospitalized patients over a 6-month period, who had a heparin drip ordered at a single academic center, was conducted. The main focus of our study was the 130 patients for whom the FOBT was sent. Results: Fifteen percent (n = 130) of patients started on IV heparin had FOBT sent, of which 33 (25%) came back positive. Approximately one-third (36%) of the positive results were documented by a provider, either in a progress note or discharge summary. In eight instances of a positive FOBT (24%), the heparin drip was stopped. For 10 patients with a positive test (30%), gastroenterology was consulted, and 4 (12%) patients had inpatient endoscopy. Five patients with positive FOBT died while in the hospital (15%) as compared to seven patients (7%) in the negative FOBT group, p < 0.05. Conclusions: Most patients started on heparin did not have FOBT tested, and the results changed management infrequently, even when positive. The regular review of all order sets is imperative to ensure that they remain evidenced-based and sensible.     

Racial/Ethnic-Specific Reference Intervals for Common Laboratory Tests: A Comparison among Asians,Blacks, Hispanics,and White

Reference intervals (RIs) for common clinical laboratory tests are usually not developed separately for different subpopulations. The aim of this study was to investigate racial/ethnic differences in RIs of common biochemical and hematological laboratory tests using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2012 data. This current study included 3,077 participants aged 18–65 years who reported their health status as “Excellent,” “Very good,” or “Good,” with known race/ethnicity as white, black, Hispanic, or Asian. Quantile regression analyses adjusted for sex were conducted to evaluate racial/ethnic differences in the normal ranges of 38 laboratory tests. Significant racial/ethnic differences were found in almost all laboratory tests. Compared to whites, the normal range for Asians significantly shifted to higher values in globulin and total protein and to lower values in creatinine, hematocrit, hemoglobin, mean cell hemoglobin, mean cell hemoglobin concentration, and mean platelet volume. These results indicate that racial/ethnic subpopulations have unique distributions in the labortoary tests and race/ethnicity may need to be incorporated in the development of their RIs. Establishment of racial/ethnic-specific RIs may have significant clinical and public health implication for more accurate disease diagnosis and appropriate treatment to improve quality of patient care, especially for a state with diverse racial/ethnic subpopuations such as Hawai‘i.     

Genotoxicity assessment of propyl thiosulfinate oxide,an organosulfur compound from Allium extract,intended to food active packaging

Essential oils from onion (Allium cepa L.), garlic (Allium sativum L.), and their main components, such as propyl thiosulfinate oxide (PTSO) are being intended for active packaging with the purpose of maintaining and extending food product quality and shelf life. The present work aims to assess for the first time the potential mutagenicity/genotoxicity of PTSO (0–50 µM) using the following battery of genotoxicity tests: (1) the bacterial reverse-mutation assay in Salmonella typhimurium (Ames test, OECD 471); (2) the micronucleus test (OECD 487) (MN) and (3) the mouse lymphoma thymidine-kinase assay (OECD 476) (MLA) on L5178YTk^+/−, cells; and (4) the comet assay (with and without Endo III and FPG enzymes) on Caco-2 cells. The results revealed that PTSO was not mutagenic in the Ames test, however it was mutagenic in the MLA assay after 24 h of treatment (2.5–20 µM). The parent compound did not induce MN on mammalian cells; however, its metabolites (in the presence S9) produced positive results (from 15 µM). Data from the comet assay indicated that PTSO did not induce DNA breaks or oxidative DNA damage. Further in vivo genotoxicity tests are needed to confirm its safety before it is used as active additive in food packaging.