Objective To observe the effectiveness and safety of oral anticoagulants and antithrombotic therapy in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation. Methods Patients were divided into anticoagulant group (warfarin) and antithrombotie group (aspirin or clopidogrel) based on the initial treatment. The prothrombin time (PT), activated clotting time (ACT), international normalized ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fihrinogen (FIB), thrombin time (TT), coagulation factor Ⅱ,Ⅴ,Ⅶ,Ⅷ,Ⅸ, and Ⅹ,fibrin degradation product (FDP) and D-dimer were tested at baseline and after therapy in both groups. Results The average treatment period was 44.2±37.5 months in antithrombotic group and 39.0±61.5 months in anticoagulant group. There were six cases of isehemic stroke, one acute artery embolism in right lower limb and three gastrointestinal bleeding in antithrombotic group, while two gastrointestinal bleeding and two fatal hemorrhagic stroke in anticoagulant group. The results of PT, ACT, INR, APTT, FIB, TT, coagulation factor Ⅱ,Ⅴ ,Ⅶ, Ⅷ,Ⅸ,Ⅹ,FDP and D-dimer had no significant differences compared with the baseline in antithrombotic group. However, there were significant increase in PT and INR [(8.4±7.5)s and (0. 93±0. 83)s, both P<0. 05)], and significant decrease in ACT, coagulation factor Ⅱ,Ⅶ, Ⅸ and Ⅹ (all P<0. 05) in anticoagulant group. Conclusions Anticoagulant therapy may he effective in prevention of ischemic stroke in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation. However, it may slightly increase the hemorrhage incidence. The overall adverse events were not significantly reduced.

Objectives To evaluate the effect of thyroid hormone therapy with low dose of thyroxin on cardiac function in elderly patients with heart failure and sick euthyroid syndrome. Methods Forty-seven patients (33 males and 14 females, mean age 85.9+4.6 years,ranging from 80 to 99 years) with chronic heart failure (NYHA Ⅱ-Ⅳ) and low triiodothyronine (T3) state were randomly allocated to the treatment group or control group. The treatment group patients received oral administration of levothyroxine sodium (Euthyrox) 25-50mg/d in addition to conventional therapy of heart failure, whereas patients in control group were given conventional therapy only. Serum level of total T3 (TT3), free T3 (FT3), total thyroxine (TT4), free thyroxine (FT4), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were determined. For both groups, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and stroke volume (SV) were assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography before and at 8 weeks after treatment. The changes of these parameters after the treatment were evaluated by adjusting heart rate in the two groups. Results The reduced serum T3 level in the treatment group was corrected after thyroid hormone therapy,and these patients had a significant improvement in cardiac function after treatment. By contrast, in the control group only changes of serum TT3 and TT4 levels and SV and LVEF after treatment were statistically significant. The heart rate-adjusted mean SV and LVEF in both groups were also increased, which was significantly greater in the treatment group than in the control group. Conclusion In the elderly patients with heart failure and sick euthyroid syndrome, addition of thyroxine at a low dosage to the conventional treatment could effectively improve the low T3 state and cardiac function independent of changes of heart rate.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association between peripheral blood dendritic cells subtype distribution and plasma monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) concentration in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

METHODSSixty consecutive CHD patients admitted in our department during the period from November, 2010 to December, 2011 were enrolled, including 10 with stable angina pectoris (SAP), 25 with unstable angina pectoris (UAP), and 25 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), with 28 healthy volunteers as normal controls. All the subjects underwent routine tests and coronary angiography. The percentages of peripheral blood myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and plasma cell-like dendritic cells (pDCs) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were detected by flow cytometry, and plasma MCP-1 levels were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTSThe percentage and absolute quantity of mDCs and pDCs were significantly lower in AMI and UAP groups than in the normal control and SAP groups (P<0.001). In the CHD patients, the plasma MCP-1 level was significantly higher than that in the normal control group (P<0.001) with an inverse correlation with the percentage of peripheral mDCs.

CONCLUSIONMCP-1 may promote the migration of mDCs into atherosclerotic plaques and mediate the local immune and inflammatory responses to aggravate plaque instability in CHD patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Chemokine CCL2 ; blood ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; Female ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective:To analyze curative efficacy and pronosis of three-dimensional reconstruction combined with 3D printing assisted minimally invasive surgery in the treatment of hepatolithiasis.Methods:92 patients with complex hepatolithiasis treated by minimally invasive surgery in Qingdao Hospital affiliated to Shandong First Medical University from November 2018 to January 2020 were retrospectively selected. According to different surgical positioning methods, they were divided into the control group [50 cases , conventional computer tomography (CT) positioning] and the observation group (42 cases, 3D reconstruction combined with 3D printing technology). The curative effect, stone residue rate, operation related indexes, complications and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups.Results:The excellent and good rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (95.2% vs 80.0%), and the rate of residual stones after surgery was lower than that of the control group (4.0% vs 22.0%), with statistically significant difference (both P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the observation group had shorter operation time, less intraoperative blood loss and postoperative abdominal drainage volume, shorter postoperative abdominal drainage time and hospital stay, with statistically significant difference (all P<0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications and recurrence rate in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (11.9% vs 30.0%, 2.4% vs 18.0%), with statistically significant difference (both P<0.05). Conclusions:Three-dimensional reconstruction combined with 3D printing assisted minimally invasive surgery is effective in the treatment of complex hepatolithiasis and can reduce the recurrence rate.

Objective To investigate potentially inappropriate medication(PIM)and influencing factors of elderly hospitalized patients,and to provide a reference for clinically rational drug use.Methods A total of 116 medical records of elderly hospitalized patients from October to December 2021 were collected.The Beers criteria(2019),Chinese PIM criteria(2017),and self-developed traditional Chinese medicine PIM criteria were applied respectively to analyze the potentially inappropriate medication situation.Analysis of influencing factors of PIM was also conducted.Results According to the Beers criteria(2019),42 items of PIM were discovered,and the drugs with high frequency were benzodiazepines.According to Chinese PIM criteria(2017),there were 49 items of PIM,mainly involving clopidogrel and nervous system drugs.According to self-developed traditional Chinese medicine PIM criteria,42 cases of PIM were screened,of which toxic conventional Chinese medicine and preparations containing harmful traditional Chinese medicine accounted for 40.5%.Influencing factors analysis showed the common influencing factors of PIM are department and the number of treatments used(P＜0.05).Conclusions Elderly inpatients have a high incidence of PIM.Due to the extensive use of traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese patent medicines by elderly patients,the exploratory construction of PIM standards for traditional Chinese medicine and screening for elderly inpatients'medical orders are necessary to ensure drug safety in elderly patients.