Objective To explore the effective measures to reduce the incidence of nosocomial infection through the implementation of continuous quality improvement measures in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods One hundred and twenty-two premature infants hospitalized in NICU of the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University after continuous quality improvement from January 2018 to November 2018 were selected prospectively as the experimental group, and 125 premature infants using routine nursing management mode from March 2017 to December 2017 were selected as the control group. The occurrence of bloodstream infection in two groups was observed. Results The incidence of bloodstream infection in the experimental group [7.4%(9/122)] was significantly lower than that in the control group [17.6%(22/125)], and the difference was statistically significant (P＝0.015). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had statistically significant differences in implementation rate of hand hygiene, average days of peripherally insterted central catheter indwelling, and antibiotic use rate and average days (P < 0.01). Conclusions The incidence of bloodstream infections in NICU can be effectively controlled through strict continuous quality improvement measures.

Objective:To investigate the predictive value of albumin-to-fibrinogen ratio (AFR) for postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in infants with ventricular septal defect repair under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on infants diagnosed with ventricular septal defect in Anhui Children's Hospital from January 2019 to July 2023. The infants were divided into AKI group and non-AKI group according to whether AKI occurred in hospital after operation. Demographic data, preoperative data, intraoperative data, postoperative data and laboratory results during CPB were collected. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to find the factors of AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to analyze the predictive value of AFR for postoperative AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB.Results:A total of 215 children were collected, including 28 in AKI group and 187 in non-AKI group. There were no significant differences in age, gender, body weight, height, history of pneumonia and history of chronic heart failure between the two groups, but the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the AKI group was significantly lower than that in the non-AKI group (0.526±0.028 vs. 0.538±0.030, P = 0.048). The duration of CPB (minutes: 74.1±12.1 vs. 65.8±11.3, P < 0.001), aortic cross-clamping (minutes: 41.7±9.7 vs. 37.2±9.4, P = 0.021) and hypothermic circulation arrest (21.4% vs. 8.6%, P = 0.047) in AKI group were significantly higher than those in non-AKI group, but there were no significant differences in the proportion of ultrafiltration and urine volume between the two groups. The length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay in AKI group was significantly longer than that in non-AKI group (days: 5.3±2.0 vs. 4.0±1.7, P < 0.001), but there were no significant differences in duration of mechanical ventilation and the proportion of postoperative hypotension between the two groups. During CPB, the levels of blood glucose (mmol/L: 9.4±1.3 vs. 8.8±0.8, P < 0.001), blood lactic acid (mmol/L: 2.2±0.3 vs. 2.0±0.3, P = 0.015) and serum creatinine (μmol/L: 79.7±11.5 vs. 74.4±10.9, P = 0.018) in AKI group were significantly higher than those in non-AKI group, while the AFR was significantly lower than that in non-AKI group (8.5±1.3 vs. 10.2±1.6, P < 0.001), but there were no significant differences in the levels of hemoglobin, blood urea nitrogen, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase between the two groups during CPB. Multivariate Logistic regression showed that AFR was a protective factor for AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB [odds ratio ( OR) = 0.439, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.288-0.669, P < 0.001]. Blood glucose ( OR = 2.133, 95% CI was 1.239-3.672, P = 0.006) and blood lactic acid ( OR = 5.568, 95% CI was 1.102-28.149, P = 0.038) were risk factors for AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of AFR in predicting AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB was 0.804 (95% CI was 0.712-0.897, P < 0.001). When the optimal cut-off value was less than 9.05, the corresponding sensitivity was 75.0% and the specificity was 72.7%. Conclusions:Low AFR (≤9.05) during CPB is an independent risk factor for AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB. AFR during CPB has a high predictive value for postoperative AKI after ventricular septal defect repair with CPB.

Objective:To investigate the effect and tolerance of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) with helmet in patients with respiratory failure caused by acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) and the effect on improving blood gas, alleviating dyspnea and the occurrence of complications.Methods:Patients with AECOPD and respiratory failure admitted to emergency intensive care unit (EICU) and respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 1st, 2018 to May 31st, 2019 were enrolled. After obtaining the informed consent of the patients or their authorized family members, the patients were divided into two groups: the helmet group and the facial mask group by random number table. NIV was carried out by using helmet or facial mask, respectively. During the course of NIV (immediately, 1 hour, 4 hours and at the end of NIV), the tolerance score, blood gas analysis, heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) of patients were monitored, and the incidence of tracheal intubation, in-hospital mortality and complications were observed. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was plotted to analyze the 30-day cumulative survival of the two groups.Results:A total of 82 patients with AECOPD and respiratory failure were included during the study period. After excluding patients with the oxygenation index (PaO 2/FiO 2) > 200 mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa), with tracheal intubation or invasive ventilation, suffering from acute myocardial infarction, severe trauma within 2 weeks, excessive secretion, sputum discharge disorder or refusal to participate in the study, 26 patients were finally enrolled in the analysis, randomly assigned to the helmet group and the facial mask group, with 13 patients in each group. The PaO 2/FiO 2 after NIV of patients in both groups was increased significantly as compared with that immediately after NIV, without significant difference between the two groups, but the increase in PaO 2/FiO 2 at the end of NIV compared with immediately after NIV in the helmet group was significantly higher than that in the facial mask group (mmHg: 75.1±73.2 vs. 7.7±86.0, P < 0.05). RR at each time point after NIV in the two groups was lower than that immediately after NIV, especially in the helmet group. There were significant differences between the helmet group and facial mask group at 1 hour, 4 hours, and the end of NIV (times/min: 17.5±4.1 vs. 23.1±6.3 at 1 hour, 16.2±2.5 vs. 20.0±5.5 at 4 hours, 15.5±2.5 vs. 21.2±5.9 at the end of NIV, all P < 0.05). The NIV tolerance score of the helmet group at 4 hours and the end was significantly higher than that of the facial mask group (4 hours: 3.9±0.3 vs. 3.3±0.9, at the end of NIV: 3.8±0.6 vs. 2.9±0.9, both P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the improvement of pH value, arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO 2), or HR between helmet group and facial mask group. The total number of complications (cases: 3 vs. 8) and the nasal skin lesions (cases: 0 vs. 4) in the helmet group were significantly less than those in the facial mask group (both P < 0.05). Only 2 patients in the helmet group received endotracheal intubation, and 1 of them died; 5 patients in the facial mask group received endotracheal intubation, and 3 of them died; there was no significant difference between the two groups (both P > 0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that the cumulative survival rate of 30 days in the helmet group was lower than that in the facial mask group, but the difference was not statistically significant (Log-Rank test: χ 2 = 1.278, P = 0.258). Conclusion:NIV with helmet has better comfort for patients with AECOPD combined with respiratory failure, and better effect on improving oxygenation and relieving dyspnea, and its effect on carbon dioxide emissions is not inferior to that of traditional mask NIV.

Background The prevalence of hyperuricemia (HUA) among Chinese residents has been increasing annually, with occupational populations facing a higher risk of HUA due to shift work or obesity. Objective To investigate the impact of shift work and obesity on HUA among coal miners, and to provide scientific data for the prevention of HUA in this occupational group. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 25619 workers from a coal mining group in 2023 as the study population, using a questionnaire survey and occupational health check-ups. Workers who were retired or on medical leave, as well as those who provided incomplete responses to the questionnaire or did not complete anthropometric measurements or blood tests, were excluded. A total of 23173 participants were included in the study. An unconditional logistic regression model was used to analyze the association between HUA and selected factors such as shift work status, years of shift work, daily shift work hours, body mass index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and visceral adiposity index (VAI), as well as the interaction between obesity and shift work on HUA. Restricted cubic spline functions were used to analyze the dose-response relationship between years of shift work, daily shift work hours, and HUA. Results The average age of the included workers was (42.38 ± 9.82) years. A total of 6735 workers reported positive HUA, with a positive rate of 29.1%, and the prevalence was higher in men compared to women (31.8% vs. 13.9%). After adjusting for confounding factors, the restricted cubic spline model revealed a nonlinear dose-response relationship between years of shift work, daily shift work duration, and HUA: ① When the years of shift work exceeded 3.25 years, the risk of HUA in workers gradually increased with longer work duration. At 20 years of shift work, the risk increase showed a "saturation effect," meaning that the risk of HUA no longer increased with additional years of shift work. ② When daily shift work duration was below 10 h, the risk of HUA increased with the length of shift work, but after exceeding 10 h, the risk stabilized. After adjusting for confounding factors, the logistic regression model showed that, compared to non-shift workers, shift workers, those with 10-20 years and over 20 years of shift work experience, as well as those working less than 8 h and more than 8 h per day, had a higher risk of HUA, with odds ratios (OR) of 1.14 (95%CI: 1.06, 1.22), 2.42 (95%CI: 2.20, 2.67), 2.23 (95%CI: 2.00, 2.48), 1.41 (95%CI: 1.29, 1.54), and 1.90 (95%CI: 1.75, 2.06), respectively. Additionally, compared to individuals with normal obesity indices, those with overweight and obesity based on BMI, high and very high VAI and excessive WHtR had a higher risk of HUA, with ORs of 2.01 (95%CI: 1.85, 2.17), 3.51 (95%CI: 3.20, 3.84), 1.42 (95%CI: 1.32, 1.54), 2.10 (95%CI: 1.91, 2.30), and 1.82 (95%CI: 1.69, 1.97), respectively. The interaction analysis showed no interaction between shift work and obesity index (both P_s < 0.001). Conclusion Shift work, longer shift work years, and longer daily shift work hours increase the risk of HUA among coal miners. Additionally, the role of obesity in the development of HUA cannot be ignored.