BACKGROUNDDelirium is a common and deleterious complication in critically ill patients after surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and risk factors of delirium in critically ill patients after non-cardiac surgery, and to investigate the relationship between the serum cortisol level and the occurrence of postoperative delirium.

METHODSIn a prospective cohort study, 164 consecutive patients who were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit after non-cardiac surgery were enrolled. Baseline characteristics and perioperative variables were collected. Blood samples were obtained on the first postoperative day and serum cortisol concentrations were measured. Delirium was assessed using the Nursing Delirium Screening Scale until the seventh postoperative day or the disappearance of delirious symptoms.

RESULTSPostoperative delirium occurred in 44.5% of patients (73 of 164). The median time to first onset of delirium is 0 (range 0 to 5 days) and the median duration of delirium is 3 (1 to 13) days. Independent risk factors of postoperative delirium included increasing age (odds ratio (OR) 2.646, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.431 to 4.890, P = 0.002), a history of previous stroke (OR 4.499, 95%CI 1.228 to 16.481, P = 0.023), high Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score on surgical intensive care unite admission (OR 1.391, 95%CI 1.201 to 1.612, P < 0.001), and high serum cortisol level on the 1st postoperative day (OR 3.381, 95%CI 1.690 to 6.765, P = 0.001). The development of delirium was linked to higher incidence of postoperative complications (28.8% vs. 7.7%, P < 0.001), and longer duration of hospitalization (18 (7 to 74) days vs. 13 (3 to 48) days, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSDelirium was a frequent complication in critically ill patients after non-cardiac surgery. High serum cortisol level was associated with increased incidence of postoperative delirium.

Aged ; Critical Illness ; Delirium ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUNDThe prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection varies by geographic locations. Studies indicate that the infection rate of H. pylori was previously high in China but that rates had been declining worldwide over recent decades.

THE AIMS OF OUR STUDY WERE(1) to determine the current prevalence of H. pylori infection among children and adults residing in areas with high (Muping County, Shandong) and low (Yanqing County, Beijing) incidences of gastric cancer in China, and (2) to compare the prevalence for 2006 with the prevalence for the early 1990s.

METHODSUsing Warthin-Starry silver staining of gastric mucosal biopsy specimens and H. pylori stool antigen tests (HpSA), we tested a total of 2065 asymptomatic children aged 8 - 15 years and adults aged 40 - 79 years in the above two regions from May to July 2006. We evaluated 520 children and 526 adults from Muping, and 516 children and 503 adults from Yanqing. Subjects were selected randomly and H. pylori status was determined by HpSA in children and either HpSA or histology of gastric biopsies in adults. Data obtained in the early 1990s in the same two areas of China were also collected and studied.

RESULTSFor children, the prevalence of H. pylori infection was significantly higher in Muping (37.69%) than it was in Yanqing (25.58%, P < 0.001). In both regions, the prevalence of H. pylori increased with age but was not related to gender. A significant difference was observed between 8 - 9-years old and 10 - 11-years old (P < 0.05), but not between other adjoining age groups (P > 0.05). From 1991 to 2006 H. pylori prevalence among 8 - 10-year-old children decreased in Muping (60.00% vs 32.07%, P < 0.001), but not Yanqing (24.06% vs 19.10%, P > 0.05). In the adult group, H. pylori prevalence was 50.95% in Muping, which was significantly higher than the 41.35% positive rate in Yanqing (P < 0.01). But there were no statistically significant differences between different age groups of 40 - 49, 50 - 59, and 60 - 79 years, or between males and females. A significant decrease in H. pylori prevalence in both regions was observed when the results of 2006 were compared with the data obtained in 1990 in Muping (50.95% vs 73.78%, P < 0.001) and in 1992 in Yanqing (41.35% vs 55.35%, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSAfter fifteen years, the prevalence of H. pylori infection among both children and adults remained significantly higher in areas with a high incidence of gastric cancer in China compared with that in areas with a low incidence of gastric cancer. H. pylori infection rates have decreased in the general Chinese population during recent years.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Antigens, Bacterial ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Helicobacter Infections ; epidemiology ; immunology ; Helicobacter pylori ; immunology ; physiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Stomach Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; immunology ; microbiology

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Esophagitis, Peptic ; diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: To explain the clinicobiological heterogeneity of NPM1 mutated (NPM1^mut) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) by analyzing the association between next-generation sequencing (NGS) profiles and MICM characteristics in patients with this AML subtype. METHODS: Data of 238 NPM1^mut patients with available NGS information on 112 genes related to blood disease was collected, and χ² test and nonparametric test were used to analyze the distribution association between NGS-detecting mutations and conventional MICM parameters. RESULTS: In entire NPM1^mut cohort, totaling 240 NPM1 mutation events were identified, of whom 10 (10/240, 4.2%) were missense mutations, which did not involve any W288 or W290 locus and were found exclusively in NPM1^mut/FLT3-ITD^- group. All but one of these missense mutations (9/10, 90%) were accompanied by AML subtype-defining recurrent cytogenetic or molecular abnormalities, of which 7 cases were in the low risk and 2 in the high risk. NPM1^mut occurred solely as an insertion/deletion (indel) type in the NPM1^mut/FLT3-ITD⁺ group. The incidence of favorable plus unfavorable karyotypes in NPM1^mut/FLT3-ITD^- group was higher than in NPM1^mut/FLT3-ITD⁺ group (6.4% vs. 0, P=0.031). The positive rates of CD34 and CD7 in NPM1^mut/FLT3-ITD⁺ group were significantly higher than in NPM1^mut/FLT3-ITD^- group (CD34: 47.9% vs. 20.6%, P<0.001; CD7: 61.5% vs. 29.9%, P<0.001). Logistic analysis showed that FLT3-ITD independently predicted for CD34⁺ and CD7⁺ [odds ratio (OR)=5.29, 95%CI: 2.64-10.60, P<0.001; OR=3.47, 95%CI: 1.79-6.73, P<0.001; respectively]. Ras-pathway mutations independently predicted for HLA-DR⁺ (OR=4.05, 95%CI: 1.70-9.63, P=0.002), and KRAS mutation for MPO^- (OR=0.18, 95%CI: 0.05-0.62, P=0.007). TET2/IDH1 mutations independently predicted for CD34^- and CD7^- (OR=0.26, 95%CI: 0.11-0.62, P=0.002; OR=0.30, 95%CI: 0.14-0.62, P=0.001; respectively), and MPO⁺ (OR=3.52, 95%CI: 1.48-8.38, P=0.004). DNMT3A-R882 independently predicted for CD7⁺ and HLA-DR⁺ (OR=3.59, 95%CI: 1.80-7.16, P<0.001; OR=13.41, 95%CI: 4.56-39.45, P<0.001; respectively), and DNMT3A mutation for MPO^-(OR=0.35, 95%CI: 1.48-8.38, P=0.004). CONCLUSION Co-existing FLT3-ITD in NPM1^mut AML independently predicts for CD34⁺ and CD7⁺, co-existing Ras-pathway mutation for HLA-DR⁺ and MPO^-, co-existing TET2/IDH1 mutation for CD34^-, CD7^-, and MPO⁺, and co-existing DNMT3A mutation for HLA-DR⁺, CD7⁺, and MPO^-, thereby providing a new mechanism explanation for the immunophenotypic heterogeneity of these AML patients.
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/genetics* ; Mutation ; Nuclear Proteins/genetics* ; Nucleophosmin ; Prognosis ; fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3/genetics*