OBJECTIVETo investigate the pathogenesis of thromboembolism in patients with mitral stenosis in a pre-thrombotic state.

METHODSThe biochemical markers' levels in plasma for platelet activity [soluble P-selectin (GMP-140)], states of thrombin generation [antithrombin III (AT III) and protein C (PC)], fibrinolysis [D-dimer (DD), plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) and FDP] and von Willebrand factor (vWF) were determined from blood specimens obtained from the femoral veins and arteries and the right and left atria of 43 consecutive patients (20 with atrial fibrillation and 23 with sinus rhythm) with mitral stenosis (MS), undergoing percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty. The same parameters were compared with those of 15 control subjects, who had no detectable heart disease, but with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation of the left accessory pathway through a transseptal passage.

RESULTSBlood from the left atrium contained an excessive amount of platelet activity, thrombin generation and fibrinolysis compared with the blood from the right atrium, and the femoral veins and arteries. However blood from the right atrium was much lower in these activities when compared with those from the left atrium, and the femoral veins and arteries in both groups. Compared with those in the control subjects, GMP-140 in the left atrium was significantly higher (P < 0.05) and AT III was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in patients with MS. Compared with the patients with MS and spontaneous left atrial echocontrast (LASEC) /= 2 had significantly higher levels of GMP-140 in plasma (P < 0.05), and significantly lower levels of AT III (P < 0.05) and PC (P < 0.01) levels in the left atrium. However, there were no significant differences between patients with atrial fibrillation and those with sinus rhythm regarding amounts of plasma coagulation markers in the left atrium. Univariate regression analysis revealed that LASEC was negatively correlated with plasma levels of blood from the left atria in the patients with MS.

CONCLUSIONCoagulability is increased in the left atria of patients with MS and is positively correlated with LASEC.

Adult ; Antithrombin III ; analysis ; Female ; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products ; analysis ; Heart Atria ; chemistry ; Humans ; Male ; Mitral Valve Stenosis ; complications ; P-Selectin ; blood ; Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 ; blood ; Protein C ; analysis ; Regression Analysis ; Thromboembolism ; etiology ; Thrombophilia ; blood ; complications ; von Willebrand Factor ; analysis

In recent years, with the wide application of immune checkpoint inhibitors, the landscape of non small cell lung cancer has changed dramatically. Immune checkpoints like programmed death protein/ligand 1(PD-1/PD-L1), cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4(CTLA-4) are negative regulators of T-cell immune response. Inhibition of these immune checkpoints can further activate the immune system and promote anti-tumor response. Compared to the limited efficacy of monotherapy, reasonable dual immunotherapy shows great benefit at different stages of anti-tumour immunity. This article aims to comprehensively review the mechanism, treatment regimen and the latest clinical progress of dual immunotherapy so as to provide more precise and individualised immunotherapy for NSCLC patients.

Objective:To evaluate the value of lung ultrasound score (LUS) on predicting weaning outcome in patients with intro-abdominal infection (IAI) undergoing mechanical ventilation.Methods:Patients with IAI undergoing mechanical ventilation admitted to Research Institute of General Surgery of East War Zone Hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) of the First People's Hospital of Lianyungang from January to December in 2018 were included. The patients who satisfied weaning criteria were enrolled in the weaning process, which included spontaneous breathing trial (SBT) and extubation. They were divided into SBT success group and SBT failure group according to whether passed 120-minute SBT or not. LUS scores before and after SBT were compared between the two groups. The patients in the SBT success group were extubated, and they were divided into successful extubation group and failed extubation group for sub-group analysis according to whether re-intubation was needed in 48 hours after extubation. LUS score before extubation (at the end of SBT) and 48 hours after extubation (48 hours after extubation in the successful extubation group or before re-intubation in the failed extubation group) were compared. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of LUS score before SBT for SBT failure and LUS score before extubation for the failure.Results:A total of 76 patients with IAI undergoing mechanical ventilation were included. Twenty-three patients had duration of mechanical ventilation less than 48 hours, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), tracheotomy or automatic discharge were excluded, and 53 patients were enrolled. SBT was failed in 9 patients, and successfully performed in 44 patients, of whom 23 patients with successful extubation, and 21 with failed extubation. The LUS scores before and after SBT in the SBT failure group were significantly higher than those in the SBT success group (before SBT: 13.22±1.99 vs. 10.79±1.64, t = -3.911, P = 0.000; after SBT: 19.00±1.12 vs. 13.41±1.86, t = -8.665, P = 0.000). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under ROC curve (AUC) of LUS score before SBT for predicting SBT failure was 0.82 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.67-0.98, P = 0.002]. When the optimum cut-off value was 12.5, the sensitivity was 66.7%, and the specificity was 84.1%. Sub-group analysis showed that the LUS scores before and after extubation in the failed extubation group were significantly higher than those in the successful extubation group (before extubation: 14.19±1.60 vs. 12.69±1.81, t = -2.881, P = 0.006; after extubation: 16.42±1.59 vs. 12.78±1.54, t = -7.710, P = 0.000). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of LUS score before extubation for predicting the failure was 0.81 (95% CI was 0.69-0.92, P = 0.000). When the optimum cut-off value was 13.5, the sensitivity was 80.0%, and the specificity was 65.2%. Conclusion:LUS score can effectively predict SBT outcome, risk of re-intubation after extubation in patients with IAI undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Objective:To investigate the current status of knowledge, attitude and practice of palliative care among nurses in 10 general hospitals in Beijing and explore its influencing factors, so as to provide a reference for further training and management of palliative care.Methods:From March to April 2020, convenience sampling was used to select nurses from 10 general hospitals in Beijing for investigation with three questionnaires on knowledge, attitude and behavior of palliative care in Chinese. A total of 850 questionnaires were returned and 833 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid rate of 98.00%. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the influencing factors of knowledge, attitude and behavior of palliative care among nurses.Results:The overall score for palliative care of nursing staff in 10 general hospitals in Beijing was (82.16±8.73) , with a score rate of 68.47%. The knowledge score was (12.36±4.14) with a score rate of 61.80%, and the attitude score was (36.85±3.97) with a score rate of 61.42%, and the behavior score was (32.95±5.84) with a score rate of 82.37%. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that participation in palliative care training, gender, job title, knowledge and attitude, and monthly income were the main influencing factors of nurses' knowledge, attitude and behavior on palliative care ( P<0.05) . Conclusions:The current status of palliative care awareness among nurses in Beijing general hospitals is at an intermediate level and needs to be further improved. Nursing managers should strengthen the training and education of nursing staff, improve relevant knowledge, palliative care attitudes and professional enthusiasm, so as to promote behavioral changes and improve the quality of clinical nursing.