Objective To understand the internal circuit contamination of ventilator in mechanical ventilation patients, to evaluate the effect of ventilator internal circuit disinfection and the impact on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Methods A total of 39 patients with mechanical ventilation admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Hangzhou Geriatric Hospital from January 2017 to June 2018 were enrolled. Routine mechanical ventilation treatments for patients included pipeline replacement, aseptic operation, prevention of infection, etc. After 2 weeks of mechanical ventilation, the internal circuit of the ventilator was disinfected using the internal circuit sterilizer of the ventilator. Microorganism sampling and detection at 3 cm to the exhalation port of the internal circuit of the ventilator was performed before and after disinfection. The number of colonies was < 5 cfu/cm2 and no pathogenic bacteria could be detected. During the observation period, if the patient was complicated by VAP for anti-infective treatment, the ventilator with internal loop disinfection was replaced after infection control, and was incorporated again into the group for observation. The number of microbial colonies in the internal circuit of the ventilator before and after disinfection, the microbiological test pass rate and the incidences of VAP during the 2 weeks were observed. Results All 39 patients were included in the analysis, with 23 male and 16 female; with age of 65-97 years old, average (78.7±7.6) years old. Before the disinfection, 9 604 strains were detected in the internal circuit of the ventilator, including 8 687 strains of Gram-negative bacilli (90.4%), 902 strains of Gram-positive cocci (9.4%), and 15 strains of fungi (0.2%), which were detected in the lower respiratory tract of the patients. The strain concordance rate was 41%. The qualified rate of microbial detection in the internal circuit of the ventilator was 5.1%; 13 cases (33.3%) of VAP occurred during 2 weeks of mechanical ventilation. After disinfection, 785 strains of pathogens were detected in the internal circuit of the ventilator, and the number of colonies was significantly reduced compared with that before disinfection [cfu/cm2: 0 (0, 20) vs. 150 (15, 500), P < 0.01], of which 688 strains of Gram-negative bacilli (87.7%), 92 strains of Gram-positive cocci (11.7%) and 5 strains of fungi (0.6%) were found; the qualified rate of microbial detection in the internal circuit of ventilator reached 71.8%, which was significantly higher than that before disinfection (P < 0.01); 2 weeks after mechanical ventilation the incidence of VAP decreased slightly during the period [20.5% (8/39) vs. 33.3% (13/39)], but there was no significant difference (P > 0.05). Conclusions The internal circuit of the ventilator can be used to detect the pathogen and the sputum culture of the patients on mechanical ventilation with a high consistency. The disinfection of the pathogen could significantly reduce the air pollution of the ventilator and reduce the occurrence of VAP in the patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy ofω-3 unsaturated fatty acid enteral nutrition (EN) for treatment of elderly patients with heart failure (HF). Methods One hundred and twenty six elderly patients with HF admitted to Hangzhou Geriatric Hospital from April 2013 to April 2018 were enrolled to be the study objects, and they were divided into a TPF group and a TPF-T group (63 cases in each group) according to the difference in nutrition preparation. The nasal feeding with EN solution rich in ω-3 unsaturated fatty acid was applied in the TPF-T group; while in the TPF group, nasal feeding with common EN solution was given. According to the body mass quantity to calculate the necessary heat standard, the target energy established for the two groups was 104.6-125.5 kJ·kg-1·d-1. The changes of levels of albumin (Alb), prealbumin (PA), transferrin (TRF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), T lymphocyte subsets such as CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+, plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were observed in the two groups before and after treatment, and the prognostic indexes and incidence of adverse reactions of the two groups were also observed. Results After treatment, the levels of Alb, PA, TRF, and the immune function indexes CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+ were significantly increased in both groups (all P < 0.05), while the serum levels of IL-6, hs-CRP, TNF-α and NT-proBNP were obviously decreased in both groups (all P < 0.05), moreover, the degrees of changes in the above parameters in the TPF-T group were more significant than those in the TPF group [Alb (g/L):36.91±4.49 vs. 36.31±3.95, PA (mg/L): 190.26±15.39 vs. 188.51±17.62, TRF (g/L): 2.31±0.44 vs. 2.25±0.71, IL-6 (ng/L): 312.53±42.69 vs. 372.45±51.25, hs-CRP (mg/L): 20.43±15.72 vs. 35.81±14.28, TNF-α (ng/L):81.36±17.32 vs. 152.67±21.71, CD3+: 0.59±0.06 vs. 0.55±0.05, CD4+: 0.33±0.05 vs. 0.28±0.04, CD8+:0.23±0.03 vs. 0.21±0.04, CD4+/CD8+: 1.55±0.34 vs. 1.36±0.41, NT-proBNP (ng/L): 149.00±0.38 vs. 242.00±0.56, all P < 0.05]; the intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, the total hospital length of stay in the TPF-T group were significantly shorter than those in the TPF group [ICU length of stay (days): 9.41±3.19 vs. 12.39±3.75, total hospital length of stay (days): 15.24±4.63 vs. 18.26±5.18, both P < 0.05], and the incidence of adverse reaction in TPF-T group was lower than that in the TPF group: [4.76%(3/63) vs. 17.46% (11/63), P < 0.05]. However, there was no statistical significant difference in left ventricular ejection fraction between the TPF-T group and TPF group (LVEF: 0.418±0.053 vs. 0.417±0.052, P > 0.05). Conclusion Early application of ω-3 unsaturated fatty acid EN may improve the immunologic function of T lymphocytes as well as prognosis, reduce the inflammatory response in elderly patients with HF, and reduce the incidence of adverse reactions.

Objective To study the enteral nutritional (EN) approach to decrease the risk of developing hypo-albuminemia in elderly patients with severe pneumonia. Methods Sixty elderly patients with severe pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Hangzhou Geriatric Hospital from January 2016 to January 2017 were enrolled, and they were given EN support with different protein contents but the same non-protein calories (125.52 kJ·kg-1·d-1). Thirty patients given standard EN formula [supplied as nutrition fibre, thermal nitrogen ratio (HRN) = 130:1] were assigned as the standard EN group, another 30 patients fed with high-protein EN formula (supplied as fresubin 750 MCT, HRN = 100:1) were arranged as the high-protein EN group, and the clinical efficacy in the two groups was evaluated after treatment for 14 days. The serum levels of total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), pre albumin (PA), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL) of both groups were compared at admission and after treatment. Results The levels of TP, Alb, PA, TC, HDL, LDL in two groups on 7 and 14 days after treatment were lower than those on admission, but the degrees of reduction in high-protein EN group were not as significant as those in standard EN group; the levels of blood glucose (Glu) in the standared EN group after treatment were lower than those on admission, Glu in high-protein EN group were higher than those on admission;after treatment for 14 days, the levels of TP (g/L: 62.1±7.6 vs. 60.1±5.2), Alb (g/L: 33.0±4.8 vs. 32.0±4.2), PA (mg/L: 226.79±79.22 vs. 202.79±71.78), TC (mmol/L: 4.88±1.09 vs. 4.09±0.80), HDL (mmol/L: 1.07±0.2 vs. 0.92±0.20), LDL (mmol/L: 3.16±0.76 vs. 2.50±0.56), Glu (mmol/L: 7.68±2.44 vs. 6.72±1.75) in high-protein EN group were significantly higher than those in standard EN group; after treatment, TG showed a trend of firstly decreasing and then increasing, while TG in high-protein EN group manifested continuously increasing, after 7 days of treatment, TG in the high-protein EN group was significantly higher than that in the standard EN group (mmol/L: 3.56±1.43 vs. 2.78±0.81, P < 0.05). Within 14 days after disease onset, the incidence of hypoalbuminemia in high-protein EN group was significantly lower than that in standard EN group in patients with acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHE Ⅱ) score > 19 score [66.67% (10/15) vs. 100.00% (13/13), P < 0.05]; there was no statistical significant difference in the incidence of hypoalbuminemia between the two groups in patients with APACHE Ⅱ score < 19 score [54.54% (6/11) vs. 44.44% (4/9), P > 0.05]. Compared with standard EN group, the 3-month mortality in high-protein EN group showed a trend of decreasing [14 days: 13.3% (4/30) vs. 26.7% (8/30), 28 days: 20.0% (6/30) vs. 30.0% (9/30), 60 days: 30.0% (9/30) vs. 33.3% (10/30), 90 days: 36.7% (11/30) vs. 40.0% (12/30)], but there was no statistical significant difference between the two groups (all P > 0.05). Conclusion Application of high-protein EN in elderly patients with severe pneumonia can improve protein metabolism, and reduce the incidence of hypoalbuminemia.