The effectiveness of intervention in hepatitis C patients and improvement in their referral rate.

BACKGROUND: To investigate the effectiveness of the intervention with critical value management and push short messaging service (SMS), and to determine improvement in the referral rate of patients with positive hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV). METHODS: No intervention was done for patients with positive anti-HCV screening results from 1 January 2015 to 31 October 2021. Patients with positive anti-HCV results at our hospital from 1 November 2021 to 31 July 2022 were informed vide critical value management and push SMS. For inpatients, a competent physician was requested to liaise with the infectious disease physician for consultation, and patients seen in the OPD (outpatient department) were asked to visit the liver disease clinic. The Chi-square correlation test, one-sided two-ratio test and linear regression were used to test the relationship between intervention and referral rate. RESULTS: A total of 638,308 cases were tested for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) in our hospital and 5983 of them were positive. 51.8% of the referred patients were aged 18-59 years and 10.8% were aged ≥75 years. The result of Chi-square correlation test between intervention and referral was p = .0000, p < .05. One-sided two-ratio test was performed for statistics of pre-intervention referral rate (p1) and post-intervention referral rate (p2). Normal approximation and Fisher's exact test for the results obtained were 0.000, p < .05, and the alternative hypothesis p1 - p2 < 0 was accepted. The linear regression equation was referral = 0.1396 × intervention + 0.3743, and the result model p = 8.79e - 09, p < .05. The model was significant, and the coefficient of intervention was 0.1396. CONCLUSIONS: The interventions of critical value management and push SMS were correlated with the referral rate of patients with positive anti-HCV.

Correlation Between the Number of Fiberoptic Bronchoscopies and Nosocomial Infection/Colonization of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

Objective: The present study aims to explore the effects of different numbers of fiberoptic bronchoscopic examinations on the nosocomial infection/colonization of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). Methods: The data of 129 patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a grade 3A hospital were retrospectively analyzed, and CRE nosocomial infection/colonization situations in patients with fiberoptic bronchoscope application times of 1, 2, 3, and ≥4 were statistically analyzed. Results: The incidence of nosocomial infection/colonization of CRE increased significantly when the number of fiberoptic bronchoscopic examinations was ≥3. Conclusion: Nosocomial infection/colonization of CRE is highly correlated with an increased number of fiberoptic bronchoscopic examinations.

Characteristics and treatment strategy of hepatic angiomyolipoma: a series of 94 patients collected from four institutions.

AIM: To report on a Chinese multicenter series of hepatic angiomyolipoma (HAML) patients and to study the characteristics and the treatment strategy of the disease. METHOD: Data of 94 patients diagnosed with HAML from four institutions of China between December 1997 and January 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Immunohistochemical assays were performed on the surgical specimens and follow up studies were done in all the patients. RESULTS: 52 of 94 patients (55.3%) showed no significant clinical symptoms. There were no specific findings on laboratory examinations. The correct preoperative diagnostic rate of ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was 0% (0/94), 15.7% (11/70) and 22.7% (10/44), respectively. Regarding the treatment, 93 patients had a hepatectomy and 1 patient was treated by radiofrequency ablation. The postoperative pathology showed HAML in all the patients: 69 patients were studied with HMB-45 staining by immunohistochemistry and the positive rate was 100% . The postoperative follow-up rate was 91.5% (86/94), no sign of recurrence or metastasis was observed during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: This is the largest HAML series reported in the literature. There are no specific signs and symptoms in HAML patients; the preoperative imaging diagnosis (including CT, MRI) is insensitive. The common pathological features include the basic histological components and expression of HMB-45. Conservative treatment is not suggested; surgical resection should be considered as a treatment choice for HAML.