A preliminary study on the validity of EGRIS model predicting the risk of respiratory failure in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome / 临床神经病学杂志

Objective To explore the predictive performance of EGRIS on the risk of respiratory failure in patients with Guillain-Barrésyndrome (GBS).Methods The medical records of 263 consecutive patients with GBS were retrospectively divided into two groups according to whether respiratory failure occurred during hospitalization . Model performance was quantified by using the receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis.The following parameters, such as the area under the curve (AUC), and cut-off value of the EGRIS, sensitivity and specificity corresponding to the maximum Youden Index , were then obtained.Results There were 28 ( 10.6%) patients in this group developed into respiratory failure during hospitalization.Validation of EGRIS model suggested excellent discriminative ability (AUC＝0.892, 95%CI: 0.835-0.949, P＜0.05), with a cut-off score of 3.5 found to be highly sensitive (75%) and specific (85.1%) for predicting respiratory failure.Conclusion The EGRIS is a simple but accurate model to predict the risk of respiratory failure in the early stage of GBS.

Membranous subaortic stenosis coexisting with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A case report.

Subaortic stenosis (SAS) is a congenital heart disease, and its association with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is very rare and clinically underappreciated. We report here a case of a 45-year-old female who was admitted to our hospital with chest tightness and shortness of breath. Both transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography revealed asymmetric left ventricular hypertrophy and a membrane-like echo below the level of the aortic valve. This patient was diagnosed with membranous SAS with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Screening of her immediate family members revealed that her son also had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The patient chose conservative treatments and has been closely followed-up after discharge.

Differences of Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Expression between Left and Right Ventricles in Response to Nandrolone Decanoate and/or Swimming Training in Mice / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 plays an important role in the remodeling of left ventricles (LVs) and right ventricles (RVs). We investigated the differences of MMP-2 expression between LV and RV in response to nandrolone decanoate (ND), swimming training (ST), and combined ND and ST (NS) in mice, based on their structural, functional, and biochemical characteristics.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 28 male C57B1 mice (6 weeks old; 20-23 g) were divided into four groups, including the control (n = 7), ND (n = 6), ST (n = 8), and NS (n = 7) groups. After respective treatments for 8 weeks, echocardiographic examination was used to assess the cardiac structure and function. Van Gieson stain was used to examine the fibrosis of LV and RV in response to different treatments, and Western blotting analysis was performed to explore different MMP-2 expressions between LV and RV in response to ND and/or ST. Analysis of variance was used for comparing the four groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At 8 weeks, right ventricular dimension/body weight in the ND group was larger than the other three groups (F = 7.12, P < 0.05) according to the echocardiographic examination. Fibrosis induced by ND administration was increased more in RV (2.59%) than that in LV (2.21%). MMP-2 expression of the ND group in RV was significantly greater than the control and NS groups in RV and the corresponding ND group in LV.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The experimental data support the hypothesis that ND administration induces greater MMP-2 expression increase in RV compared to LV, leading to consequent RV dilation.</p>