Humans ; Occupational Diseases ; prevention & control ; Occupational Exposure ; prevention & control ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; poisoning

Objective To analyze the associations of age and gender with post-operative outcomes after pilon fracture and the effect of interaction between age and gender on the outcomes.Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed of the 101 successive patients with pilon fracture who had been treated by open reduction and internal fixation from March 2009 to November 2013 and completely followed up.The distributions of potential prognostic factors (diabetes,injury mechanism,open fracture,Rüedi-Allg(o)wer classification and AO classification) were analyzed in different age and gender groups.The outcomes were evaluated in terms of reduction quality by the Burwell-Charnley criteria,time for return to work,traumatic osteoarthritis by Kellgren-Lawrence grading scale and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score.The odds ratio and regression coefficients were estimated by Logistic regression and linear regression model;P values for interaction between age and gender were estimated by likelihood ratio tests.Results Of all the 101 pilon patients,84 were male and 12 were the aged.The distributions of gender (P =0.028) and mechanism (P =0.032) were significantly different between the aged and the younger patients,showing there were more females in the aged patients and low-energy injury was more likely to cause a pilon fracture in the aged patients.As multivariate analyses suggested,with the above influencing factors controlled,a median follow-up of 41.2 months revealed age was an independent favorable prognostic factor for reduction quality (OR =3.919,P =0.041).The association between gender and time for return to work was significantly different between the aged and the younger patients,as indicated by interaction analyses (P =0.030).Conclusions There may be more females in the aged patients with pilon fracture than in the younger ones.It is likely that the aged patients sustain a pilon fracture because of low-energy injury and achieve a fracture reduction of poorer quality.Although the quality of reduction may be poorer for the aged,there may be no significant difference between the aged and the younger patients in the mid-long-term AOFAS score.It is advisable for surgeons to provide personalized treatment to better help the patients.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between 24 h blood pressure variability and early neurological improvement (ENI) in patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) after endovascular thrombectomy (ET).Methods:Patients with LVO received ET in the Emergency Department, the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from January 2012 to February 2018 were enrolled retrospectively. During the first 24 h after ET, the blood pressure was recorded every 2 h, and blood pressure variability was evaluated by standard deviation (SD) and successive variation (SV). At 24 h after ET, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was evaluated again. The re-evaluation of 0 point or a decrease of ≥4 from the baseline score was defined as ENI. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between blood pressure variability and ENI. Results:A total of 74 patients with LVO received ET were enrolled, of which 39 (52.7%) had ENI. Univariate analysis showed that the proportion of patients with good recanalization in the ENI group after procedure were significantly higher than that in the non-ENI group ( P<0.05), while the average systolic blood pressure, average diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure variability (SBPV) -SD and SBPV-SV within 24 h after ET and baseline total cholesterol level were significantly lower than those in the non-ENI group (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher SBPV-SV was an independent risk factor for non-ENI (odds ratio 1.223, 95% confidence interval 1.038-1.440; P=0.016). Conclusion:Higher SBPV-SV after ET is associated with poor early neurological improvement in patients with LVO, and it is expected to be a potential target for blood pressure management in patients after ET.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and serum uric acid levels in coke oven workers and to provide new clues to the pathogenic mechanism of PAHs.

METHODSA total of 1302 coke oven workers were divided into four groups, namely control group and low-, intermediate-, and high-dose exposure groups. The concentrations of ambient PAHs at each workplace were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The detailed information on the occupational history and health of workers was collected by questionnaire survey and physical examination, and so were their blood and urine samples. Serum uric acid and creatinine levels were measured using a Hitachi 7020 automatic biochemical analyzer. Ten urinary PAH metabolites were detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

RESULTSSerum uric acid levels were the highest in the high-dose exposure group, followed by the intermediate- and low-dose exposure groups, and were the lowest in the control group. There were significant correlations between serum uric acid levels and the quartiles of 1-hydroxynaphthalene and 1-hydroxyphenanthrene (P < 0.05). After adjustment for PAH metabolite-related relationship, only urinary 1-hydroxyphenanthrene was significantly correlated with serum uric acid levels (P = 0.001). After adjustment for confounding factors and using the 1st quartile of 1-hydroxyphenanthrene as a reference, the odds ratio for hyperuricemia in subjects with the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quartiles of 1-hydroxyphenanthrene were 1.55, 1.57, and 2.35, respectively.

CONCLUSIONUrinary 1-hydroxyphenanthrene is associated with a dose-response increase in serum uric acid levels in coke oven workers, and exposure to phenanthrene in PAHs may be a risk factor for hyperuricemia.

Adult ; Coke ; Humans ; Male ; Occupational Exposure ; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ; urine ; Uric Acid ; blood

A type of designated hospitals in Medicare is referred to as Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH). LTCH is one of Post-Acute Care settings(I. e. Intermediate care)and the only facilities certified by length of stays. This article reviewed the milestones and payment methods of Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital payment system, for perfection of the medical insurance and construction of China′s intermediate care system.

Objective To summarize the experience of perioperative treatment of lung transplantation for end-stage lung disease. Methods Perioperative clinical data of 7 recipients undergoing lung transplantation were retrospectively analyzed, including 3 cases with bilateral lung transplantation and 4 cases with unilateral lung transplantation. The perioperative status and clinical prognosis of lung transplantation recipients were observed. Results The operation time of 7 lung transplantation recipients was (344±133) min. Cold ischemia time was (236±74) min in 4 cases of single-lung transplantation and (480±120) min in 3 cases of bilateral-lung transplantation. The length of Intensive care unit(ICU) stay was 21 (13-25) d and the length of hospital stay was 101 (64-117) d. In the first 3 d after surgery, the daily fluid output was significantly larger than the fluid input (all P < 0.05). The arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO₂) of lung transplantation recipients in the first 3 d after surgery was significantly elevated than preoperative level (all P < 0.05), whereas the arterial carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO₂) did not significantly change (all P > 0.05). All recipients had pulmonary bacterial infection after lung transplantation, including 3 cases complicated with fungal infection. One recipient underwent exploratory thoracotomy for hemostasis due to active thoracic bleeding after operation, 1 recipient suffered from primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and 4 recipients received secondary endotracheal intubation. Two cases died after operation, 1 case died of septicemia caused by multidrug-resistant acinetobacter baumannii, the other case died of rejection reaction after self-terminating use of immunosuppressive agents. The remaining 5 cases were successfully discharged and recovered well. The longest survival period was 3.1 years. Conclusions In the perioperative management of lung transplantation, it has great significance to hold the surgical indications, monitor and manage postoperative refined fluid and hemodynamics, implement the strategy of protective pulmonary ventilation, and early diagnose and treat severe postoperative complications for the recipients of lung transplantation to safety through the perioperative period.

Objective:The extensive development of anatomical pulnonary segmentectomy requires thoracic surgeons to be familiar with the anatomical variations of the lung segment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the anatomical patterns of the right upper lobe lung segment using three-dimensional reconstruction, and to count rare variant types.Methods:From October 2017 to March 2020, 101 patients with small pulmonary nodules who were undergo segmental resection in our center were subjected to preoperative three-dimensional reconstruction of the lung structure, and the reconstruction data was retained for the statistics and analysis of the anatomical structure in the right upper lung lobe.Results:The right upper lobe bronchus is the most common with three branches(77/101), followed by two branches(16/101) and four branches(7/101). The two branches(70/101) of the right upper lobe pulmonary artery are the most common, followed by single branch(19/101) and three branches(11/101). In rare cases, four branches(1/101 cases) can be seen. The two branches(63/101) of the right upper pulmonary vein were the most common, followed by three branches(32/101) and single branch(6/101). In addition, a total of 12 rare mutations were counted. There were 2 variants in the bronchus, totaling 2 cases; 4 rare variants in the pulmonary artery, 13 cases total; 6 rare variants in the pulmonary vein, 10 cases total.Conclusion:The lung anatomy is complex and has many variations. The surgeon should fully grasp the anatomical structure of the lung segment of the patient's operating area before surgery, the data in this article will be a valuable reference for thoracic surgeons to carry out the upper right lobe segmentectomy.

Objective:To explore whether the deep deltoid ligament (DL) rupture affects the mid-term clinical efficacy of pronation-external rotation (PER) ankle fracture or not.Methods:A ret-rospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 50 patients with ankle fracture of PER type Ⅲ or Ⅳ who had been treated at Department of Orthopedic Trauma, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital from January 2013 to December 2014.They were 37 males and 13 females with an average age of 30.2 years(from 16 to 68 years). According to their type of medial ankle injury, the patients were divided into 2 groups.The experimental group, consisting of 28 patients with deep DL rupture but no medial ankle fracture, did not undergo DL repair operation; the control group, consisting of 22 patients with supracollicular medial malleolar (SMM) fracture but no deep DL rupture, underwent open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) for SMM.Both groups were treated with ORIF of fibular fracture in addition to syndesmosis screw fixation.The 2 groups were compared in terms of the medial malleolus space and distal tibiofibular space on the imaging exams at more than 6 months, and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot scores and visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores at the mid-term follow-ups.Results:The differences between the 2 groups in gender, age and mode of concomitant subluxation or dislocation were statistically significant ( P<0.05), but there were no sig-nificant differences between the 2 groups in injury violence, height of fibular fracture line, presence of total dis-location, rate of posterior malleolus fracture, rate of posterior malleolus fixation, implant removal, or operation time ( P>0.05).Imaging exams were conducted for 38 patients at 6 or more months after surgery.The medial malleolus space was 3.7 mm and the distal tibiofibular space 4.5 mm for the 21 cases in the experimental group; the medial malleolus space was 3.4 mm and the distal tibiofibular space 4.4 mm for the 17 cases in the control group.The 3-year follow-up AOFAS scores of the experimental group and the control group were 98.3 and 94.6 respectively; VAS scores were 0.4 and 1.5; the 5-year follow-up AOFAS scores of the experimental group and the control group were 97.1 and 93.6 respectively,and VAS scores were 0.5 and 1.2 respectively.Logistic regression analysis of ordered multi-classification showed that the AOFAS and VAS scores at 3-year and 5-year follow-ups had no significant correlation with the deep DL rupture for the patients<45 years old( P>0.05).Patient age was correlated with the 5-year follow-up AOFAS scores ( P=0.021). Conclusion:In ankle fracture of PER type Ⅲ or Ⅳ treated with lateral malleolar and syndesmosis screw fixation, nonoperative treatment of the deep DL rupture may not influence the mid-term clinical efficacy for the patients less than 45 years old.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of rs10916581, a common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the promoter region of pre-miR-320b-2, on coronary heart disease (CHD) risk and circulating microRNA-320b (miR-320b) level. To explore potential factors influencing circulating miR-320b level.

METHODSRs10916581 was genotyped in a case-control study with 1 507 CHD cases and 1 379 age- and sex-frequency-matched controls. The cases were consecutively recruited from 3 hospitals (Tongji Hospital, Union Hospital, and Wugang Hospital) in Wuhan city (Hubei, China) between May 2004 and October 2009 and all the controls resided in Wuhan communities. A subgroup of 174 CHD cases and 181 non-diabetes controls without acute infection were randomly selected and their circulating miR-320b levels were detected using quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays. The association of rs10916581 with CHD susceptibility was analyzed with multivariable logistic regression model. Generalized linear regression model was used to explore the associations of rs10916581 and some other factors with circulating miR-320b level.

RESULTSIn single-factor logistic regression analysis, no association was found between rs10916581 and CHD risk. After adjustment for age, sex, BMI, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, total triglyceride, total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein (TC/HDL-C), the result did not materially alter(compared with CC genotype, the OR (95%CI) of CHR in the subjects carried CT, TT, CT+TT genotypes were 0.94 (0.76-1.15), 0.99 (0.74-1.33) and 0.95 (0.78-1.16) ). No significant interactions were observed between the conventional risk factors of CHD (age, gender, smoking status, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, CHD family history) and rs10916581 on CHD risk (P > 0.05). Rs10916581 showed no significant association with circulating miR-320b level in cases, controls or total population (β(95%CI) was -0.028 (-0.495-0.440), 0.250 (-0.226-0.727) and 0.134 (-0.218-0.486) respectively, P > 0.05). However, circulating miR-320b level was negatively associated with BMI (β (95%CI) was -0.140 (-0.261--0.020), P = 0.022) while positively associated with TC/HDL(β (95%CI) was 0.620 (0.261-0.979), P = 0.001) in cases, and in total population, its circulating level tended to be lower in diabetes or hypertension patients (β(95%CI) was -1.025 (-1.696--0.354) and -0.594 (-1.138--0.049) respectively, P = 0.003, 0.033 respectively) and was positively associated with TC/HDL-C (β(95%CI) was 0.108 (0.027-0.190), P = 0.009).

CONCLUSIONThe common SNP (rs10916581) in the promoter region of pre-miR-320b-2 might have little contribution to the CHD predisposition in Chinese Han population, and it might not affect circulating miR-320b level. Conventional CHD risk factors (BMI, TC/HDL-C, hypertension and diabetes) might have effects on its circulating level.

Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; ethnology ; Coronary Disease ; genetics ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Logistic Models ; MicroRNAs ; adverse effects ; blood ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Risk Factors ; Triglycerides

Objective    To analyze the effect of different drainage modes on the postoperative thoracic drainage after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for radical resection of lower lung carcinoma. Methods    A total of 183 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who received biportal thoracoscopic anatomical lower lobectomy combined with mediastinal lymph node dissection in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from August 2017 to August 2019 were enrolled, including 113 males and 70 females, aged 31-77 (56.5±6.4) years. The patients were randomly divided into three groups, including an anterior axillary line group, a mid-axillary line group and a modified anterior axillary line group. Clinical efficacy of the three groups was compared. Results    No significant difference among these three groups in terms of gender, age, surgical site, pathological type, pathological staging, postoperative chest wall subcutaneous emphysema, postoperative pain score, and postoperative hospital stay was found (P>0.05). There were significant differences among the patients in terms of postoperative pleural effusion, re-insertion of chest tube or aspiration, total liquid quantity of thoracic drainage, drainage time and chest wall incision stitches time (P<0.05). The anterior axillary line group had higher risk of postoperative pleural effusion than the other groups (P<0.05). The occurrence of postoperative pleural effusion and rate of reposition of chest tube or aspiration were significantly reduced in the modified anterior axillary line group (P<0.05). Conclusion    Chest drainage tube with large diameter (24F) in the 5th intercostal space of the anterior axillary line combined with another micro-tube (8.5F) in the 7th or 8th intercostal space of the inferior scapular angle line can shorten drainage time to reduce postoperative pain, reduce the occurrence of postoperative pleural effusion, and shorten the time of surgical incision stitches.