[Proinflammatory laboratory predictors of pneumonia in ischemic stroke patients: prospective study].

BACKGROUND: Bacterial pneumonia is a frequent complication of ischemic stroke at the hospital stage. The search for prognostic laboratory markers of pneumonia remains an urgent task, as it will allow to individualize the approach to the treatment and rehabilitation of such patients. AIM: To investigate the prognostic significance of proteins of the acute phase of inflammation, as well as to evaluate them as early predictors of the development of pneumonia in patients with ischemic stroke. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 302 patients in the acute period of ischemic stroke. C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor , interleukin-6 (IL-6), neutrophil elastase, neopterin, serum amyloid A (SAA), secreted phospholipase type 2 (sPLA2) were determined in all patients on the first day by enzyme immunoassay. Statistical data processing was carried out using SPSS and Microsoft Excel software (USA). RESULTS: At the hospital stage, pneumonia developed in 82/302 patients (27.2%; 95% confidence interval 22.332.3%). The levels of CRP, IL-6, sPLA2, SAA and neopterin significantly differed in the presence and absence of pneumonia. Step-by-step logistic regression analysis revealed the significance of IL-6 and CRP concentrations in the prognosis of pneumonia. The threshold value of IL-6 concentration was 3.45 pg/ml (sensitivity 82.4%, specificity 66.7%). The prognostic value of a positive result (PPR) in the prognosis of pneumonia was 40%, a negative result (PNR) 92%. The threshold value of CRP was 1640 mg/l with a sensitivity of 65.8% and a specificity of 74.8%. The PPR of the threshold value of the concentration of CRP was 45%, PNR 80%. CONCLUSION: The measurement of the concentration of IL-6 and CRP on the first day of ischemic stroke makes it possible to identify patients with the greatest risk of pneumonia at the hospital stage. The results of the work indicate the necessity to include CRP and IL-6 in the list of mandatory laboratory tests that should be carried out for each patient with ischemic stroke on the first day from the onset of the disease.

[Biochemical markers of thrombotic complications in the acute period of ischemic stroke].

AIM: To study the profile of biochemical markers of the hemostasis system, to clarify their role and relationships in the pathogenesis of the development of thrombotic complications (TC) of ischemic stroke (IS) and the associated assessment of the possibilities of their diagnostic application. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group included 302 patients (164 men, 138 women) who were admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of IS within 24 hours of the onset of the disease. The diagnosis was confirmed by computed tomography. The average age of patients was 69 (5088) years. Blood was taken from all patients on the 1st day of the disease to determine the profile of analytes presumably associated with the pathogenesis of TC. Levels of homocysteine, protein C inhibitor, thrombomodulin, plasminogen, tissue plasminogen activator, urokinase, plasminogen activator type 1 inhibitor, t-PA/PAI-1 complex, vitronectin, plasmin-2-antiplasmin complex, D-dimer, fibronectin were determined in blood serum by ELISA. RESULTS: TC in the acute period of IS (up to 21 days) were recorded in 32 (10.6%, 95% CI 7.3714.3) patients, of which pulmonary embolism was observed in 27 (8.94%, 95% CI 5.9812.4) patients, deep vein thrombosis in 5 (1.66%, 95% CI 0.473.47) patients. The results of the study of a panel of specific proteins involved in pathogenetic processes accompanying necrosis of brain tissue in IS demonstrated that of the entire list of markers of the hemostasis system activation selected for the study, the most significant are: the concentration of fibronectin in the prognosis of the absence of TC with a threshold value of more than 61 mkg/ml and OR 4.4 (95% CI 1.512.9, p=0.011), and the concentration of the t-PA/PAI-1 complex in the prognosis of the development of TC with a threshold value of more than 14 ng/ml and OR 11.3 (95% CI 1.18109.3, p=0.03). CONCLUSION: The significance of the t-PA/PAI-1 complex and fibronectin as markers of TC in IS may be due to a violation of the activation processes of the fibrinolytic link of hemostasis and the accumulation of non-deposited compounds that damage the vascular wall.

A method for analyzing the typical structure of direct costs in the cost of a laboratory test.

The basis for calculating the cost price of any product, including laboratory tests, is based on an estimate of direct costs of the production. At present, there are no systematic ideas about the structure of such costs, and approaches to their analysis have not been defined, in the management practice of medical laboratories. The purpose of this work was developing and testing a method for analyzing the structure of direct costs and their allocation bases when calculating the cost of a laboratory test. We analyzed data on the volume of laboratory tests performed in the clinical diagnostic laboratory of the National Medical Research Center of Cardiology, prices for purchased reagents and consumables, depreciation and maintenance costs of equipment, staff salaries. As a result, we proposed a typical component structure of direct costs, established the allocation bases of fixed costs, and determined the ratio of some variable cost components to onе product unit cost. On the basis of these concepts, an algorithm for calculating the total direct laboratory (technological) cost per test has been developed, which makes it possible to simulate the cost structure under conditions of arbitrarily specified variables. During the testing of the algorithm, the values of direct costs and the technological cost per test were calculated for billable (ordered) laboratory tests. Comparison of the economic efficiency of various methods, as well as modeling of changes in the cost depending on the volume of testing and the turn-around time (TAT) has been performed. It can be concluded that the approach to creating the tables of the technological cost per test based on dividing direct costs into variable and fixed costs and structuring them by components and allocation bases is an effective tool for medical laboratory management.

[Heart - type fatty acid binding protein in prognosis of ischemic stroke at the hospital stage].

Heart - type fatty acid binding protein (h-FABP), in addition to myocardium, is also contained in the brain cells. The blood concentration of h-FABP in cerebral ischemia can be a marker of ischemic stroke course. AIM: To investigate the importance of h-FABP in the prognosis of ischemic stroke (IS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 302 patients in the acute period of ischemic stroke. All patients were determined the concentration of h-FABP in the serum 1 day by enzyme immunoassay. SPSS and Microsoft Excel software were used for statistical data processing. RESULTS: The most frequent adverse events at the hospital stage were lethal outcome (LO), thrombotic complications and pneumonia. Statistically significant differences in the level of h-FABP between the groups of presence and absence of LO were revealed both by confidence intervals of Central values and by statistical criteria. The ROC analysis values of h-FABP in the presence of the LO confirmed its predictive value, area under the curve amounted to 0.776±0.061 (0.655-0.896), p.