Unexpected Return for Follow-up During the First Year of Multidisciplinary Care May Be Predictive of Rapid Deterioration of Renal Function

Multidisciplinary predialysis education and team care (MDC) may slow the decline in renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, associations between unexpected return during MDC and progression of renal dysfunction have not been characterized in patients with CKD. Our study aimed to determine the association between exacerbation of renal dysfunction and the frequency of unexpected return during follow-up.A total of 437 patients with CKD receiving multidisciplinary care between January 2009 and June 2013 at the Shin-Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital were included in this retrospective observational cohort study, and multiple imputations were performed for missing data. The predictor was the frequency of unexpected return for follow-up during the first year after entering MDC. Main outcome was monthly declines in estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR). Moreover, the demographic data, comorbidities, history of medication, and routine laboratory data for patients with CKD were collected.Among all patients, 59.7% were male, the mean age at initiation of MDC was 69.4 ± 13.2 years, and the duration of follow-up was 21.4 ± 3.3 months. The subjects were divided into 2 groups according to frequencies of follow-up (≤4 and > 4 visits) during the 1st year of MDC. The patients with CKD were regularly followed up every 3 months as a part of MDC in our hospital, and patients who returned for more than 4 follow-up visits were included in the unexpected return group. In crude regression analyses, unexpected return was significantly associated with higher monthly declines of eGFR (β = 0.092, 95% confidence interval, 0.014–0.170). This association remained after adjustments for multiple variables, and subgroup analyses of unexpected return showed that male gender, older age, CKD stage 1 to 3, hypertension, history of coronary artery disease, and use of renin–angiotensin system blockade were significantly associated with declines in renal function.In conclusion, unexpected return for follow-up during the 1st year of MDC was significantly associated with the deterioration of renal function.     

Congenital Heart Disease in Adolescents With Gluteal Muscle Contracture

Gluteal muscle contracture (GMC), presented with hip abduction and external rotation when crouching, is common in several ethnicities, particularly in Chinese. It remains unclear that the reasons why these children are weak and have no choice to accept repeated intramuscular injection. Here, we found some unique cases which may be useful to explain this question.We describe a series of special GMC patients, who are accompanied with congenital heart disease (CHD). These cases were first observed in preoperative examinations of a patient with atrial septal defect (ASD), which was proved by chest X-ray and cardiac ultrasound. From then on, we gradually identified additional 3 GMC patients with CHD. The original patient with ASD was sent to cardiosurgery department to repair atrial septal first and received arthroscopic surgery later. While the other 3 were cured postoperative of ventricular septal defect (VSD), tetralogy of fallot (TOF), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), respectively, and had surgery directly.The study gives us 3 proposals: (1) as to CHD children, it is essential to decrease the use of intramuscular injection, (2) paying more attention to cardiac examination especially cardiac ultrasound in perioperative period, and (3) taking 3D-CT to reconstruct gluteal muscles for observing contracture bands clearly in preoperation. However, more larger series of patients are called for to confirm these findings.     

No impact of repeated endoscopic screens on gastric cancer mortality in a prospectively followed Chinese population at high risk.

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer (GC) is the leading cause of cancer deaths in China. Our study prospectively evaluated the impact of repeated endoscopic screens on GC mortality in a high-risk population in China. METHODS: Between 1989 and 1999, a population-based gastroscopic screening was conducted in 4,394 residents of Linqu County, China, a region with the highest rates of GC worldwide. Residents ages 35 to 64 years received initial gastroscopies with biopsies in 1989. Repeated endoscopies were performed in 1994 and 1999. Cancer occurrences and deaths were actively monitored throughout the entire period until July 2000. Mortality from GC was compared with expected values based on mortality rates obtained for Linqu in the 1990-1992 Chinese Cancer Mortality Survey. RESULTS: Between March 1989 and July 2000, 39,303 person-years were accumulated; 85 new GCs occurred, 29 (34.5%) were in early stage. Fifty-eight cases (68%) were identified at one of the screens. The number of observed deaths from GC (37) was close to the expected (36.8). The standardized mortality ratio was 1.01 (95% CI 0.72-1.37) for the entire cohort, 1.13 (95% CI 0.77-1.57) for males, and 0.65 (95% CI 0.26-1.32) for females. CONCLUSIONS: Despite high population coverage with repeated screens, no reduction in GC mortality was observed in this high-risk population in China.     

自制32P敷贴器治疗瘢痕疙瘩

目的：观察自制32P敷贴器局部敷贴治疗不同类型瘢痕疙瘩的临床疗效。 方法：105例瘢痕疙瘩患者中，39例病变厚度≤ 0.3 cm的行单纯敷贴治疗，病变厚度> 0.3 cm的66例随机分为2组，单纯敷贴组36例，手术+敷贴组30例。单纯敷贴根据病变表面积大小及形状剪取敷贴片，根据剂量率和衰变校正计算每天敷贴时间，直接贴于病变表面，每天4.0~5.0 Gy/(部位•次)，连续4 d为一疗程，每疗程间隔4周，总治疗4~6个疗程。幼儿单次剂量控制在每天4 Gy/(部位•次)以下。手术+敷贴组患者手术切除瘢痕疙瘩，待手术伤口无渗出后根据伤口形状剪取敷贴片对准伤口敷贴，剂量及疗程同单纯敷贴组。 结果：单纯敷贴治疗对病变厚度≤0.3 cm的39例瘢痕疙瘩治愈32例(82%)，总有效率98%；对病变厚度> 0.3 cm的瘢痕疙瘩单纯敷贴和手术+敷贴两组治疗总有效率分别为56%和93% ，两组差异有显著性意义(P < 0.01)，其中病程< 9个月的患者治疗有效率分别为25%和75%，病程较长患者治疗有效率分别为13%和77%。治疗过程中有26例在敷帖过程中出现局部皮肤烧灼和刺痛感，均以炉甘石洗剂局部外用处理后缓解；5例出现Ⅰ度放射性皮炎，2例出现Ⅱ度放射性皮炎，以百多邦软膏局部外用后缓解，无出现Ⅲ度以上放射性皮炎病例。治愈患者局部皮肤均有不同程度的色素沉着或皮肤颜色改变。 结论：32P敷贴治疗瘢痕疙瘩治疗安全有效，对病程较短或病变厚度小于0.3 cm的患者可单纯敷贴治疗，病程较长或病变厚度大于0.3 cm患者建议先手术后再敷贴治疗。     

Working‐correlation‐structure identification in generalized estimating equations

Selecting an appropriate working correlation structure is pertinent to clustered data analysis using generalized estimating equations (GEE) because an inappropriate choice will lead to inefficient parameter estimation. We investigate the well‐known criterion of QIC for selecting a working correlation structure, and have found that performance of the QIC is deteriorated by a term that is theoretically independent of the correlation structures but has to be estimated with an error. This leads us to propose a correlation information criterion (CIC) that substantially improves the QIC performance. Extensive simulation studies indicate that the CIC has remarkable improvement in selecting the correct correlation structures. We also illustrate our findings using a data set from the Madras Longitudinal Schizophrenia Study. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中药肾区渗透并常规治疗高血压性肾损害40例疗效观察

目的：观察中药肾区皮肤外敷渗透加西药常规治疗高血压肾损害结果。方法：将部分中药粉碎微细化处理，将另部分中药液化处理．粉液混合装袋醋浸后外敷在肾区皮肤上，用药物导入仪肾区靶点式导人人体。并用一般西医常规治疗。结果：平均治疗3周血肌酐下降23％，BUN下降26％，24h蛋白尿下降23％，尿量增加16％，收缩压下降9％，舒张压下降7％。结论：中药的肾区皮肤外敷渗透加西医常规治疗效果明显高于一般常规治疗。     

荧光示踪法研究逆行岛状皮瓣静脉回流

目的探讨采用荧光示踪法研究逆行岛状皮瓣静脉回流的可行性，并初步观察静脉回流规律。方法20只新西兰大白兔，每只取耳静脉血0．ImL，分离RBC并用FITC标记。流式细胞仪检测已标记的RBC阳性率及荧光强度，倒置荧光显微镜观察其形态。取20只新西兰大白兔，在动物双侧后肢内侧分别建立4cm&#215;3cm隐动、静脉逆行岛状皮瓣模型（n=10）和顺行岛状皮瓣模型（n=10），血管蒂长3cm。将一侧后肢随机设定为实验组，皮瓣制备后注射已标记的RBC悬液5pL；对侧为对照组，不注射示踪剂。实验组按顺行和逆行皮瓣分成两组，即顺行皮瓣组和逆行皮瓣组，每组10个；再根据注入示踪剂途径不同，分为动脉和静脉2个亚组，每亚组5个皮瓣。注射示踪剂5S后取下皮瓣立即冷冻，取连续的3张冰冻切片（5～7pm），其中2张行HE染色和GENMED染色，另]张不染色直接压片，荧光显微镜观察荧光分布。结果流式细胞仪分析FITC标记的RBC阳性率在99％以上，荧光强度均≥10。；倒置荧光显微镜下标记的RBC呈均匀分布的绿色荧光，荧光强度均匀、稳定。冰冻切片显示实验组皮瓣蒂部均出现荧光，对照组未见荧光。顺行岛状皮瓣组荧光主要分布在静脉腔、静脉壁、动脉内膜和外膜；逆行岛状皮瓣组荧光分布在动脉内膜、外膜和静脉壁。结论荧光示踪剂可用于静脉回流研究，顺行岛状皮瓣静脉主要通过静脉腔、静脉壁、动脉内膜和外膜回流；逆行岛状皮瓣静脉主要通过动脉内膜、外膜和静脉壁的“迷宫式途径”回流。     

大鼠脑缺血时脑细胞膜磷脂含量变化

采用SD大鼠一侧大脑中动脉阻断致局限性脑缺血模型。脑缺血后迅速断头置于液氮中,HPLC外标定量法测定各磷脂组分。观察脑缺血1、5、15、60、360min时脑细胞膜磷脂含量变化。结果显示,PI在缺血早期显著低于对照组(P<0.01～0.05);PE、PC早期仅呈下降趋势,PE在缺血60min组、PC缺血360min组显著低于对照组(P<0.01～0.05)。PS在缺血全过程中变化轻微(P>0.05)。提示磷脂降解与脑缺血存在一定关系,缺血早期首先出现脑细胞膜功能磷脂降解,膜结构磷脂则在缺血后期出现显著变化,且PE较PC优先降解。