Priorities for content for a short-course on postoperative care relevant for low- and middle-income countries: an e-Delphi process with training facilitators

Most surgical and anaesthetic mortality and morbidity occurs postoperatively, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries. Various short courses have been developed to improve patient outcomes in low- and middle-income countries, but none specifically to address postoperative care and complications. We aimed to identify key features of a proposed short-course addressing this topic using a Delphi process with low- and middle-income country anaesthesia providers trained as short-course facilitators. An initial questionnaire was co-developed from literature review and exploratory workshops to include 108 potential course features. Features included content; teaching method; appropriate participants; and appropriate faculty. Over three Delphi rounds (panellists numbered 86, 64 and 35 in successive cycles), panellists indicated which features they considered most important. Responses were analysed by geographical regions: Africa, the Americas, south-east Asia and Western Pacific. Ultimately, panellists identified 60, 40 and 54 core features for the proposed course in each region, respectively. There were high levels of consensus within regions on what constituted core course content, but not between regions. All panellists preferred the small group workshop teaching method irrespective of region. All regions considered anaesthetists to be key facilitators, while all agreed that both anaesthetists and operating theatre nurses were key participants. The African and Americas regional panels recommended more multidisciplinary healthcare professionals for participant roles. Faculty from high-income countries were not considered high priority. Our study highlights variability between geographical regions as to which course features were perceived as most locally relevant, supporting regional adaptation of short-course design rather than a one-size-fits-all model.     

慢性肺心病左心功能探讨

通过42例重型肺心病、7例轻型肺心病、16例肺心病伴发冠心病患者和30例正常人在静息状态下的左右心脏射血分数及其临床资料的分析表明,重型肺心病患者在病情的急性发作期,存在有不同程度的左心功能不全,而轻型肺心病患者则无左心功能不全的表现。表明慢性肺心病仅在病程晚期,才由以右心为主的疾病发展成为全心病。本文还对重型肺心病与肺心病伴发冠心病患者的左心功能进行比较,结果表明,肺心病伴发冠心病患者左室功能受损程度更为明显,双重病因导致的左室功能减退,常造成心肌更严重的损害而且不容易恢复。     

Cabergoline compared to levodopa in the treatment of patients with severe restless legs syndrome: results from a multi-center, randomized, active controlled trial.

We report the first large-scale double-blind, randomly assigned study to compare two active dopaminergic therapies for Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), the dopamine agonist cabergoline (CAB) and levodopa/benserazide (levodopa). Patients with idiopathic RLS were treated with fixed daily doses of 2 or 3 mg CAB or 200 or 300 mg levodopa for 30 weeks. Efficacy was assessed by changes in the IRLS (International RLS Severity Scale) and by time to discontinuation of treatment due to loss of efficacy or augmentation. 361 of 418 screened patients (age 58 +/- 12 years, 71% females) were randomly assigned and treated (CAB: n = 178; levodopa: n = 183) in 51 centers of four European countries. Baseline IRLS total score was 25.7 +/- 6.8. The baseline-adjusted mean change from baseline to week 6 in IRLS sum score was d = -16.1 in the CAB group and d = -9.5 in the levodopa group (d = -6.6, P < 0.0001). More patients in the levodopa group (24.0%) than in the CAB group (11.9%, P = 0.0029, log-rank test) discontinued because of loss of efficacy (14.2% vs. 7.9%, P = 0.0290) or augmentation (9.8% vs. 4.0%, P = 0.0412). Adverse events (AEs) occurred in 83.1% of the CAB group and in 77.6% of the levodopa group. In both groups, most frequent AEs were gastrointestinal symptoms (CAB: 55.6%, levodopa: 30.6%, P < 0.0001). This first large-scale active controlled study in RLS showed superior efficacy of cabergoline versus levodopa after a 30-week long-term therapy. Tolerability was found more favorable with levodopa than with cabergoline.     

中国防治认知功能障碍专家共识

认知功能障碍与痴呆的基本概念 认知功能与认知功能障碍认知是人类心理活动的一种,是指个体认识和理解事物的心理过程.包括从简单的对自己与环境的确定、感知、注意、学习和记忆、思维和语言等.执行功能指的是有效地启动并完成自己决定的、有目的的活动的能力.执行功能是种复杂的过程,含有计划、启动、有效地进行有目的的活动以及自我调整等内容,涉及到计划、启动、顺序、运行、反馈、决策和判断等.     

Effect of mite-impermeable mattress encasings and an educational package on the development of allergies in a multinational randomized, controlled birth-cohort study – 24 months results of the Study of Prevention of Allergy in Children in Europe

BACKGROUND: Sensitization to house dust mite (HDM) is an important risk factor for the development of asthma and allergic disease in childhood. Higher levels of HDM allergen are linked to increased sensitization to HDM. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of mite-impermeable mattress encasings and an educational package on the development of allergies in a newborn cohort. METHODS: Six hundred and ninety-six newborns at high risk of developing allergies were enrolled in three European countries (Germany, Austria, UK) in a prospective, randomized, controlled birth-cohort study. Children were randomly assigned to an intervention and control group. Intervention measures included the use of mite-impermeable mattress encasings for the child's bed and a simple educational package on allergen avoidance. The control group received basic information about allergies. Children were followed up at age 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. RESULTS: 80.9% of the children were followed up to the age of 24 months. No difference in the prevalence of sensitization to HDM (control vs. intervention group: 8.4% vs. 6.1%, P=0.33) or the development of symptoms (recurrent wheezing 10.3% vs. 10.7%, nocturnal cough 12.5% vs. 12.5%) or allergic diseases (asthma 3.5% vs. 5.1%, eczema 20.0% vs. 19.6%, rhinitis 28.9% vs. 25.8%) could be found between the control and intervention group. CONCLUSION: In this study, HDM avoidance did not show a protective effect on the development of sensitization to HDM or symptomatic allergy in children at age 24 months.     

SD大鼠肺中降钙素基因相关肽的分布及缺氧对其含量的影响

本研究用免疫细胞化学方法(ABC法)观察了降钙素基因相关肽(CGRP)在SD大鼠肺中的分布,缺氧对肺中神经内分泌细胞内CGRP含餐的影响。结果表明:含CGRP的神经纤维分布在肺血管平滑肌层中及其周围、气管-支气管树的粘膜下层;含CGRP的神经内分泌细胞位于气管一支气管树的上皮层、粘液腺中和肺实质内。缺氧不引起火鼠肺的神经内分泌细胞数目改变,但可使这些细胞内的CGRP含量增加。