High dependency unit reduce ICU readmission rate in patients with severe liver disease: A clinical study / 中华肝脏病杂志

Objective: To explore the difference in intensive care unit (ICU) readmission rate between high dependency unit (HDU) and general ward for the patients with severe liver disease (SLD), and reflect the effect of HDU on SLD patientse. Methods: A clinical cohort of patients transferred out of ICU was established, and patients with severe liver disease who were transferred to HDU& general ward from July 2017 to December 2021 in the intensive care Unit of the Fifth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital were continuously enrolled. The main liver function indexes and MELD scores between the two groups were compared. Analyze the differences in severity and ICU readmission rate of SLD patients transferred to different wards, and clarify the role of HDU in the management of SLD patient. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) was used to investigate the value of MELD score in predicting the occurrence of return to ICU. Results: The level of INR, TB, ALT and MELD scores of SLD patients transferred to HDU were significantly higher than those of patients transferred to general ward (all P < 0.05). MELD > 17 was found in 70.7% of SLD patients transferred to HDU group, while MELD ≤ 17 was found in 61.9% of SLD patients in general ward group. The ICU readmission rate of all patients in this cohort was 11.4%. By MELD quartile stratification, patients with SLD whose MELD > 23 had a significantly higher ICU readmission rate (20.0%) than those with SLD whose MELD ≤ 23 (8.6%) (P = 0.020). The ICU readmission rate was 8.2% when MELD ≤ 23 in the HDU group and 9.1% when MELD > 23, showing no significant difference (P = 1.000). The ICU readmission rate was 8.8% when MELD ≤ 23 in the general ward group. ICU reentry rate increased significantly to 36.4% when MELD > 23 (P = 0.001). MELD Score predicts that the optimal cut-off value of SLD patients in general ward readmitted to ICU was 23.5. Conclusion: The high dependency unit could better admit patients with SLD who were transferred out of ICU and required step-down treatment, and significantly reduced the ICU readmission rate of patients with SLD who were transferred out of ICU with MELD > 23. The patients with SLD and MELD score > 23 are suitable to be transferred from ICU to HDU.

Consensus on diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal infection in patients with severe liver disease / 中华肝脏病杂志

The prognosis of severe liver disease combined with invasive fungal infection (IFI) is poor, and the clinical manifestations are often atypical. Moreover, most of the antifungal drugs are metabolized in the liver, with severe toxicities and side effects, making clinical diagnosis and treatment difficult. The Professional Committee for Hepatology, the Chinese Research Hospital Association and the Hepatology Branch of China Medical Association organized relevant experts to formulate an expert consensus based on the characteristics of patients with severe liver disease combined with IFI, in order to provide reference for medical personnel in making decisions on the diagnosis and treatment.

Progress of immunosuppressant management, infection prevention and treatment after liver transplantation in severe liver disease / 器官移植

Liver transplantation is an effective treatment of severe liver disease. However, the pathophysiological changes of patients with severe liver disease are complicated, which significantly increase the difficulty of perioperative management of liver transplantation. Therefore, it is of great significance to strengthen postoperative management of the recipients with severe liver disease after liver transplantation. In this article, the pathophysiological characteristics of severe liver disease, the selection of immunosuppressant after liver transplantation, and the prevention and treatment of infection after liver transplantation in patients with severe liver disease were summarized.

Clinical progress of diagnostic and evaluation criteria for liver transplantation in patients with severe liver disease / 器官移植

Liver transplantation, although recognized as the only effective radical treatment for severe liver disease, might be accompanied by high surgical risks, high perioperative mortality and high postoperative complications. Considering the shortage of donor liver and related surgical risks, it is necessary to strictly control the indication of operation and the opportunity of transplantation. Therefore, accurate diagnosis and comprehensive evaluation of the condition of patients with severe liver disease to be treated by liver transplantation is an important part in determining the treatment plan. At present, there are many evaluation criteria for severe liver disease. In addition to the classic ChildTurcotte-Pugh (CTP) score and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, many other evaluation criteria have also been developed. All transplant centers have their own choices and thus there is no uniform diagnostic criterion, with disputes among various criteria, which is exactly what this paper aims to summarize.

Application of testing serum RBP,coagulation four indexes and platelet parameters in auxiliary diagnosis of severe liver disease / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To explore the application value of serum retinol binding protein(RBP) ,coagulation four indexes and platelet indexes in the auxiliary diagnosis of severe liver disease diagnosis .Methods A total of 110 outpatients and inpatients with severe liver disease in our hospital from January 2014 to December 2015 ,including 43 cases of acute chronic severe hepatitis(group A) ,36 cases of liver cirrhosis(group B) ,and 31 cases of liver cancer patients(group C)] ,38 cases of patients with non severe liver disease and 40 individuals undergoing the healthy physical examination person healthy were selected as the research subjects .RBP , coagulation four indexes[plasma prothrombin time(PT) ,activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT) ,thrombin time(TT) and fi‐brin original quantitative(Fib)] and platelet indexes[platelet count(PLT) ,mean platelet volume(MPV) and platelet distribution width(PDW)] were detected in all the research subjects .Results The levels of RBP ,Fib and PLT in the group A ,B and C of se‐vere liver disease were lower than those in the control group and the non‐severe liver disease ,while the levels of PT ,APTT ,TT , MPV and PDW were significantly higher than those in the control group and the non‐severe liver disease group ,differences were statistically significant(P0 .05) .Conclusion RBP ,coagulation four indexes and platelet indexes are the important detection indicators in the auxiliary diagnosis of severe liver disease ,therefore clinic should strengthen the above indexes detections in the patients w ith severe liver disease .

Distribution and Susceptibility of Pathogens Isolated from Patients with Severe Liver Disease in Intensive Care Unit / 中华医院感染学杂志

OBJECTIVE To investigate the epidemiology of bacterial infections in patients with severe liver disease in intensive care unit(ICU) and analyze the antimicrobial susceptibility of major pathogens to provide reference for clinical therapy.METHODS A retrospective survey was conducted in 206 patients with severe liver disease in ICU of our hospital from Oct 2005 to Dec 2006.Identification and susceptibility of pathogens were assayed by MicroScan Auto-4 System.RESULTS Infection was identified in 70.87% of the 206 patients with severe liver disease.Most infections were caused by single pathogen.The infection was frequently identified in respiratory tract,blood stream or intra-abdominal cavity.The top 5 pathogens were Escherichia coli(12.8%),Klebsiella pneumoniae(9.9%),Staphylococcus haemolyticus(8.5%),Pseudomonas aeruginosa(7.8%) and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia(6.4%).Gram-negative bacilli were usually resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents,but less resistant to piperacillin-tazobactam or imipenem.Most of S.haemolyticus isolates were meticillin-resistant(MRSH)(25%),which were susceptible to penicillin,ampicillin and vancomycin.CONCLUSIONS Pathogens of patients with severe liver disease in ICU are mostly multi-drug resistant.The microbiological surveillance is important for guiding clinical therapy.