The influence of calling emergency medical services (EMS) on severity of disease among patients admitted to emergency room: A propensity-matched study / 中华急诊医学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the association between the use of emergency medical services (EMS) and the severity of disease among patients admitted to the emergency room, to analyze the characteristics of the patients, and to build prediction model providing evidence-based use of EMS resources.Methods:The data of patients admitted to the Emergency Room of the First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from January 2020 to July 2021 were extracted from the Chinese Emergency Triage Assessment and Treatment (CETAT) database. Patients were divided into the EMS use group (AB+ group) and self-seeing group (AB-group) according to whether they used EMS. The patients’ general condition, vital signs and laboratory tests results were recorded. The severity of patients’ condition was judged based on whether the patient was admitted to the department of critical medicine, specialized care unit, emergency operation and/or emergency percutaneous intervention. A 9-variable model that did not require laboratory inspection and 22-variable model that required laboratory inspection were established to correct the propensity score to analyze the correlation between the severity of disease and the EMS use. In the subgroup analysis, the correlation between the EMS use and severity of the patients was analyzed according to the reason of the patient’s visit.Results:During the study period, 16 489 patients were admitted to the emergency room, and 6975 patients were finally enrolled in this study. There were 2768 patients (39.7%) in the AB+ group and 4207 patients (60.3%) in the AB-group. In the AB+ group 522 patients (18.9%) were in high risk, and in the AB-group 563 patients (13.4%) were in high risk. Compared with the AB-group, patients in the AB+ group were older and had a higher proportion of coma, a faster autonomic heart rate, and a lower diastolic blood pressure and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO 2). In the 9-variable model, sex, consciousness, temperature, heart rate and diastolic blood pressure were associated with the EMS use. In the 22-variable model, consciousness, SpO 2, neutrophils, and albumin were the relevant factors for patients using EMS. Before the correction of propensity score, the EMS use was an independent risk factor for critically ill patients ( OR=1.5, 95% CI 1.32-1.72, P<0.001). After adjusted using 9-variable propensity score, the EMS use ratio decreased significantly compared with that without correction ( OR=1.24,95% CI 1.08-1.42, P<0.001). Interestingly, after adjusted with propensity score match with 22-variable model, there was no association between the severity of disease and t the EMS use ( OR=1.10,95% CI 0.95-1.28, P=0.195). In subgroup analysis, patients’ chief complaint of central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and trauma were the top three reasons at admission. Before the propensity score correction, the EMS calling patients with chief complaint of central nervous system, digestive system, and trauma were related to the severity of the patients. After adjusted with 9-variable model the EMS use was associated with the severity of the disease only in trauma patients, and after adjusted with 22-variable model there was no statistical difference considering the severity of the disease in all subgroups. Conclusions:The EMS use is common. However, the association of the EMS use with the severity of disease is decreased with variable models using propensity score. These findings indicate that the EMS use should be based on multivariable models, which may be important in detecting critically ill patients, optimizing the EMS use, and avoiding unnecessary call in the future.

Detection of Chlamydia trachomatis DNA in urine and urethral/cervical swab samples: analysis of results from 1 475 outpatients attending sexually transmitted disease clinics / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective:To compare the detection rate of genital Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) DNA between urine and urethral/cervical swab samples. Methods:From December 2018 to December 2019, a total of 1 475 outpatients were collected from sexually transmitted disease clinics in 7 medical institutions, such as Department of Venereology, Guangzhou Institute of Dermatology, including 1 118 males and 357 females. One urethral/cervical swab sample and one urine sample were collected successively from each patient. Real-time fluorescence-based PCR was performed to detect CT DNA in urine and urethral/cervical swab samples, and paired chi-square test was used to compare the positive rate of CT DNA between the 2 kinds of samples. Random- or fixed-effect meta-analysis was conducted for the test of heterogeneity and merging of positive rates of CT DNA in the urine and urethral/cervical swabs among 7 medical institutions.Results:The positive rate of CT DNA in the urine samples was significantly higher than that in the swab samples from 4 medical institutions (all P < 0.05) , while there was no significant difference in the positive rate of CT DNA between the 2 kinds of samples from 3 medical institutions (all P > 0.05) . The heterogeneity ( I2) estimates of the CT-DNA positive rate in urine and swab samples among different medical institutions were 78.6% (95% CI: 55.9% - 89.6%) and 73.7% (95% CI: 43.7% - 87.7%) , respectively; meta-analysis showed that the total merged positive rate of CT DNA in the urine samples was 10.8% (95% CI: 7.2% - 15.9%) , which was significantly higher than that in the swab samples (7.8%, 95% CI: 4.9% - 12.1%; χ2 = 39.2, P < 0.05) . Compared with the swab sample-based CT-DNA detection method, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and consistency rate of the urine sample-based CT-DNA detection method were 97.0% (128/132) , 96.3% (1 293/1 343) , 71.9% (128/178) , 99.7% (1 293/1 297) , and 96.3% (1 421/1 475) , respectively. The positive rate of CT DNA in the urine samples from 1 118 male patients was 11.0% (95% CI: 7.2% - 16.5%) , which was significantly higher than that in the swab samples (7.6%, 95% CI: 4.9% - 11.8%; χ2 = 34.3, P < 0.05) . There was no significant difference in the positive rate of CT DNA between the urine (11.9%, 95% CI: 7.7% - 17.9%) and cervical swab samples from 357 female patients (10.4%, 95% CI: 7.6% - 14.0%; χ2 = 3.2, P > 0.05) . Conclusions:The positive rate of CT DNA in urine samples is higher than or similar to that in urethral/cervical swab samples. The urine sample-based CT-DNA detection method has characteristics of convenience, non-invasiveness, painlessness and low cost, and is worthy of clinical promotion.

The orbicularis muscle partial resection combined with orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap graft for treatment of crow′s feet in women / 中华整形外科杂志

Objective@#To observe the effect of the outer orbicularis muscle partial resection combined with orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap transfer to block orbicularis muscle for improvement of crow′s feet.@*Methods@#From October 2010 to May 2015, 82 cases of females (aged from 27 to 54 years old) with crow′s feet were treated with new method(n=41) and traditional method(control, n=41). The new method included partial resection and orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap transfer to block orbicularis muscle. The traditional method was performed to lift the skin and orbicularis oculi muscle to improve the crow′s feet. The operation time, the postoperative recovery time, eyes closing function and hematoma, nerve injury and other complications were recorded. 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after operation, the effect was assessed by one cosmetic surgeon who is unkown the groups. Completely correction was assed as 5 points and no improvement or even worse as 0 point. 12 months after operation, the patients satisfactory rate was recorded.@*Results@#75 cases were followed up, including 39 in new method group and 36 in control group. The operative time and postoperative recovery time were (50±5) min, (58±4) min and (5±1) d, (6.0±1.5) d in the new method group and control group respectively (P<0.05). The two groups both had good eyes closing function, no eyes closing fatigue or difficult or other serious complications such as hematoma, nerve injury. Visual analog scale were 3.2±0.6, 3.5±0.5, 4.2±0.8, 4.3±0.8 and 3.1±0.6, 3.4±0.9, 3.0±0.6, 2.8±0.5 in the new method group and control group at 1, 3, 6, 12 months after surgery respectively . Obviously, the effect in new method group was much better than that in control group after 6 and 12 months with statistical significance (P<0.05). 12 months after surgery, the satisfaction surveys showed satisfactory in 33 cases; fairly satisfactory in 4 cases; dissatisfactory in 2 cases in new method group, and satisfactory in 10 cases; fairly satisfactory in 15 cases; dissatisfactory in 11 cases in the control group, showing significant difference between the 2 groups (P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#The outer orbital orbicularis muscle partial resection combined with orbital fat flap or orbicularis muscle flap is reasonable and reliable to correct crow′s feet with short recovery and less complication. It is a worthy new method for recommendation.

Effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on lipopolysacharide-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines in rat macrophages in vitro / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on secretion of inflammatory cytokines in macrophages stimulated by lipopolysacharide (LPS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Rat BMSCs and macrophages were isolated, cultured, and identified. The BMSCs and macrophages, cultured alone or in co-culture, were treated with LPS or PBS or without treatment and tested for interleukin-10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) concentrations in the supernatants at 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, and 24 h after the treatment using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Exposure to LPS caused significantly increased IL-10 and TNF-α concentrations in the supernatant of cultured macrophages but not in BMSC culture. Macrophages co-cultured with BMSCs showed significantly lowered IL-10 and TNF-α secretions in response to LPS exposure as compared with the macrophages cultured alone.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BMSCs can reduce LPS-induced secretion of inflammatory cytokines by the macrophages to ameliorate inflammatory reactions.</p>

Comparisons of several laboratory tests in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis / 中华皮肤科杂志

Objective To compare the sensitivity and specificity of venereal disease research laboratory (VDRL) test versus several other laboratory tests in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. Methods Lumber puncture was conducted to obtain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from untreated outpatients with latent syphilis (LS) or serofast outpatients with LS. Then, VDRL test, rapid plasma regain (RPR) test, Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) assay, fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorption (FTA-ABS) test and protein quantification were performed on these CSF samples. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were compared between VDRL test and four other laboratory tests in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. Results Totally, 61 cases of latent syphilis were included in this study. The sensitivity, specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 93.44% (57/61), 99.32%(293/295), 96.61%(57/59), 98.65% (293/297)for CSF-RPR, respectively, 91.80% (56/61), 82.71% (244/295), 52.34% (56/107),97.99 (244/249) for CSF-TPPA, respectively, 93.44% (57/61), 82.71% (244/295), 52.78%(57/108), 98.39%(244/248) for CSF-FTA-ABS, respectively, and 49.18%(30/61), 97.29% (287/295), 78.95% (30/38),90.25% (287/318) for CSF protein quantification, respectively. Conclusions CSF-VDRL cannot be replaced by CSF-RPR, -TPPA, -FTA-ABS, or CSF protein quantification in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. CSF-RPR shows a high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis, with an increased diagnostic capability (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve) compared with CSF-TPPA, CSF-FTA-ABS or CSF protein quantification.