The 28th International Conference on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Motor Neuron Disease was held in Boston from December 8 to 10, 2017. The conference covered 23 topics, 102 special topics and 446 papers. This article briefly introduces some topics of the conference, involving basic research, clinical research and clinical trials. Among these, basic studies include genetics, cell biology and pathology, and superoxide dismutase1 gene ALS related pathology; clinical studies include the progression of ALS disease, cognitive behavioral disorders, and biological markers.

The 29th International Symposium on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)?Motor Neuron Disease was held in Glasgow from December 7 to 9, 2018. The symposium was divided into 23 topics, with 109 special reports and paper′s exchange and 515 posters exchange. This article briefly introduces some topics of the symposium, involving basic researches, clinical researches and clinical trials. Among these, basic researches include genetics and genomics, axonal degeneration, disease models, and preclinical therapeutic strategies; Clinical researches include epidemiology, clinical progression, cognitive and psychological change, neuropathology, neurophysiology, neuroimaging and biomarkers.

Objective:To investigate the value of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) and extravascular lung water index (EVLWI) in severity grading and prognosis prediction of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Methods:Patients with ARDS aged 18-75 years admitted to the department of respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) of Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University from January 2019 to February 2020 were enrolled. All patients were treated with conventional therapies such as mechanical ventilation, anti-infection, stabilization of water, electrolytes and acid-base environment, blood purification and nutritional support according to their conditions. Besides, the pulse-indicated continuous cardiac output (PiCCO) was performed after admission to the department, and EVLWI before treatment and at 24, 48 and 72 hours of treatment were recorded. Serum GDF-15 level was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) during the same period. Patients were classified as mild, moderate, and severe degree according to the 2012 Berlin Definition of ARDS, and EVLWI and GDF-15 levels in patients with different disease levels before and after treatment were compared. In addition, the length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, ICU mortality, and 28-day mortality of patients with different GDF-15 or EVLWI levels were analyzed comparatively, with the GDF-15 3 458 ng/L and EVLWI 15 mL/kg as the cut point.Results:A total of 82 patients with ARDS were enrolled, including 22 patients with mild ARDS, 28 patients with moderate ARDS, and 32 patients with severe ARDS. The GDF-15 and EVLWI levels in patients with moderate and severe ARDS at each time point before and after treatment were higher than those in patients with mild ARDS. Both GDF-15 and EVLWI levels in patients with severe ARDS were higher than those in the patients with moderate ARDS. The differences were statistically significant at all the time points except for the difference of GDF-15 levels at 24 hours after treatment (ng/L: 3 900.41±546.43 vs. 3 695.66±604.73, P > 0.05). [GDF-15 (ng/L): 3 786.11±441.45 vs. 3 106.83±605.09 before treatment, 3 895.48±558.96 vs. 3 333.29±559.66 at 48 hours, 3 397.33±539.56 vs. 3 047.53±499.57 at 72 hours; EVLWI (mL/kg): 19.06±1.91 vs. 14.31±1.50 before treatment, 18.56±2.23 vs. 13.26±1.69 at 24 hours, 17.23±1.76 vs. 12.45±1.36 at 48 hours, 15.47±1.81 vs. 11.13±2.19 at 72 hours, all P < 0.05]. According to the cut-off value, there were 23 patients with GDF-15 ≥ 3 458 ng/L and GDF-15 < 3 458 ng/L respectively and there were 23 patients with EVLWI ≥ 15 mL/kg and EVLWI < 15 mL/kg respectively. The length of ICU stay and 28-day mortality in patients with high GDF-15 were significantly higher than those in patients with low GDF-15 [length of ICU stay (days): 21.22±2.69 vs. 15.37±3.14, 28-day mortality: 56.5% vs. 21.7%, both P < 0.05]. The length of ICU stay and 28-day mortality in patients with high EVLWI were also significantly higher than those in patients with low EVLWI [length of ICU stay (days): 18.45±2.61 vs. 14.98±2.75, 28-day mortality: 47.8% vs. 17.4%, both P < 0.05]. Conclusion:To some extent, GDF-15 and EVLWI levels reflect the severity of patients with ARDS, and high GDF-15 and EVLWI levels are significantly associated with poor prognosis in patients with ARDS.

Objective:To evaluate the prognostic value of extravascular lung water index (EVLWI) , soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1(sICAM-1) and Krebs yon den lungen-6 (KL-6) in severe pneumonia patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (ARDS).Methods:A prospective study was conducted in Respiratory Intensive Care Unit of the Affiliated Zhengzhou Central Hospital of Zhengzhou University from October 2017 to February 2020. The study included 65 severe pneumonia patients with ARDS, who was performed by measurement of pulse index continuous cardiac output and survived more than 3days after admission. The Extravascular Lung Water Index (EVLWI) , sICAM-1, KL-6 and Oxygenation Index(OI) on 1st, 3rd and 5th day were detected. APACHEⅡ score, patient survival events (days) and survival outcome were recorded. Correlation analysis between EVLWI, sICAM-1, KL-6 and OI was performed on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day after admission. Independent risk factors of mortality in severe pneumonia patients with ARDS were analyzed by multiple logistic regression. Receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn, and the prognostic value of each parameter was assessed finally.Results:The PCT, EVLWI, sICAM-1, KL-6 and APACHEⅡ score in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group ( P<0.05) at RICU admission, and the length of RICU stay was significantly shorter than that in the survival group ( P<0.05), while differences in other clinical characteristics between two groups were not statistically significant ( P>0.05) . These parameters including levels of EVLWI, sICAM-1, KL-6, Procalcitonin and APACHE Ⅱscore in the death group were significantly higher than those in the survival group on the 1st, 3rd and 5th day ( P<0.05), whereas the OI was significantly lower than that of the survival group on the 3rd and 5th day ( P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that EVLWI, sICAM-1, KL-6 level were significantly related with the mortality of these patients. The levels of sICAM-1, kl-6 and EVLWI on 1st, 3rd and 5th day after RICU admission showed a significant negative correlation with OI ( P<0.001). Whereas, The levels of sICAM-1, kL-6 on 1st, 3rd and 5th day showed a significant positive correlation with EVLWI ( P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of sICAM-1, KL-6 combined with EVLWI in prognosis evaluation on 1st, 3rd and 5th day were 75.0%, 84.4%, 85.0%, 66.7%, 80.0%, 86.7%, respectively. The AUC was 0.864, 0.881, 0.892 on 1st, 3rd and 5th day, respectively ( P<0.001), which had a better prognostic value than each of them. Conclusions:EVLWI, sICAM-1 and KL-6 were independent risk factors for the prognosis of severe pneumonia patients with ARDS. The combination of EVLWI, sICAM-1 and KL-6 might be important in early predicting the prognosis of the 28d mortality.

Humans ; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/drug therapy* ; Benzofurans/therapeutic use* ; Double-Blind Method ; Treatment Outcome

The 29th International Symposium on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)-Motor Neuron Disease was held in Glasgow from December 7 to 9, 2018. The symposium was divided into 23 topics, with 109 special reports and paper′s exchange and 515 posters exchange. This article briefly introduces some topics of the symposium, involving basic researches, clinical researches and clinical trials. Among these, basic researches include genetics and genomics, axonal degeneration, disease models, and preclinical therapeutic strategies; Clinical researches include epidemiology, clinical progression, cognitive and psychological change, neuropathology, neurophysiology, neuroimaging and biomarkers.