A management window model for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) was established in Tilanqiao Community Health Service Center cooperated with tertiary hospitals.Patients were screened and treated in the community health service center,and a comprehensive management plan was conducted and patients were followed-up.A total of 105 patients with atrial fibrillation (97.2％) were effectively managed with an average follow-up of 10.6 months.The CHADS2 score ≥ 2 in 78 cases,including 11 cases with administration of warfarin (14.1％) and 26 cases with paroxysmal AF without transition to persistent atrial fibrillation.Compared to the data before management,the rate of taking aspirin and warfarin in managed patients was increased (all P ＜ 0.05),the international normalized ratio (INR) of patients receiving warfarin was improved (P ＜ 0.05) ; the ratio of receiving comprehensive treatment program,standardized treatment and health education were significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05) ; the awareness of the disease,treatment compliance and satisfaction of patients were improved significantly (all P ＜ 0.05).The results suggest that the management widow model is feasible and effective for management of patients with atrial fibrillation in community health service centers.

Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnosis ; mortality ; physiopathology ; Logistic Models ; Prognosis

OBJECTIVETo retrospectively assess serious systemic adverse effects of standardized dust-mite vaccine in children with asthma.

METHODSMedical records of 704 children (5-17 years in age) with asthma between January, 2005 and December, 2011 were reviewed. Serious systemic adverse events following treatment with a standardized dust-mite vaccine in these children were analyzed.

RESULTSA total of 336 systemic adverse reactions were observed in 17.0% (120/704) of the patients analyzed of these adverse reactions, 18 (5.4%) were serious (level 3), 318 (94.6%) were not serious (below level 3), and no single case of anaphylactic shock (level 4) was recorded. Systemic adverse events occurred most frequently in the 5 to 11-year age group and in the summer season (from June to August). In the 18 severe cases, the peak expiratory flow (PEF) dropped by 20% immediately after the vaccine injection, and other major clinical symptoms included cough, wheezing and urticaria. All children with serious systemic adverse effects were given inhaled hormone and atomized short-acting beta agonists, oral antihistamines, intravenous dexamethasone and/or intramuscular adrenaline. After these treatments, the clinical symptoms were significantly relieved.

CONCLUSIONSThe rate of serious systemic adverse events following allergen-specific immunotherapy is relatively low in children with allergic asthma. Conventional medications are effective in managing these immunotherapy-associated adverse events.

Adolescent ; Animals ; Asthma ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Desensitization, Immunologic ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Peak Expiratory Flow Rate ; Pyroglyphidae ; immunology ; Retrospective Studies ; Vaccines ; adverse effects

BACKGROUNDSeverity scoring systems are useful tools for measuring the severity of the disease and its outcome. This pilot study was to verify and compare the prognostic performance of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in neuro-intensive care unit (N-ICU) patients.

METHODSA total of 1684 patients consecutively admitted to the N-ICU at Xuanwu Hospital between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011 were enrolled in this study. The data-base included admission data, at 24-, 48-, and 72-hour SAPS II and GCS. Repeated measure data analysis of variance, Logistic regression analysis, the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic were used to evaluate the performance.

RESULTSThere was a significant difference between the SAPS II or GCS score at four time points (F = 16.110, P = 0.000 or F = 8.108, P = 0.000). The SAPS II scores or GCS score at four time points interacted with the outcomes with significant difference (F = 116.771, P = 0.000 or F = 65.316, P = 0.000). Calibration of the SAPS II or GCS score at each time point on all patients was good. The percentage of a risk estimate prediction corresponding to observed mortality was also good. The 72-hour score have the greatest consistency. Discriminations of the SAPS II or GCS score at each time were all satisfactory. The 72-hour score had the greatest discriminative power. The cut-off value was 33 (sensitivity of 85.2% and specificity of 74.3%) and 6 (sensitivity of 70.6% and specificity of 65.0%). The SAPS II at each time point on all patients showed better calibration, consistency and discrimination than GCS. The binary Logistic regression analysis identified physiological variables, GCS, age, and disease category as significant independent risk factors of death. After the two variables including underlying disease and type of admission were excluded, we built the simplified SAPS II model. A correlation was suggested between the simplified SAPS II score at each time point and outcome, regardless of the diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONSThe GCS scoring system tends to be a little weaker in the predictive power than the SAPS II scoring system in this Chinese cohort of N-ICU patients. The advantage of SAPS II scoring system still exists that it dose not need to take into account the diagnosis or diseases categories, even in the special N-ICU. The simplified SAPS II scoring system is considered a new idea for the estimation of effectiveness.

APACHE ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDLittle quantitative evidence was available regarding the development of NICUs in China. The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the current situation of neurointensive care units (NICUs) across China.

METHODSThe directors of NICUs from 100 tertiary care hospitals across China were contacted and asked to complete a closed response questionnaire regarding their NICUs. Basic information, equipment, and technology information available in the units, as well as staffing information were investigated.

RESULTSSeventy-six questionnaires were returned (a 68% response rate). Of 76 NICUs, 43 units constituted the majority. The number of each NICU bed varied from 4 to 45, occupying 2%-30% of the total department beds. Over 70% of NICUs were equipped with many emergency treatment equipments as well as physiological and biochemical monitoring equipments, while 34%-70% of NICUs still lacked some kinds of equipments such as defibrillators. Some specialist equipments were still partially lacking in 62%-95% of NICUs. A vast majority of the NICUs were equipped with neurocritical care directors, full-time attending physicians, and head nurses, but full-time NICU residents and neurocritical care nurses were still lacking in nearly half (53%) and one-third (33%-37%) of NICUs, respectively. In 76 NICUs, full-time neurointensivists and nurses added up to 359 and 852, respectively. In addition, 78%-97% of all the surveyed NICUs were severely short of non-neurological professional staffs.

CONCLUSIONIn China, neurocritical care has developed rapidly, but there is still a shortage of well-equipped and well-staffed NICUs across the nation currently.

China ; Data Collection ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; manpower ; organization & administration ; statistics & numerical data ; Neurology ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo study the protective effect of Sanhuangyinchi Fang drug serum (SF) against hydrogen peroxide-mediated DNA oxidative damage in LO2 cells.

METHODSThe LO2 cells were randomly divided into the control group, H(2)O(2) group, SF groups (5%, 10%, and 15%) and vitE group. The morphological features of the treated LO2 cells were observed under inverted microscope. The viability of the treated cells was assessed with CCK-8 method, and the activity of SOD, CAT and GSH-PX were detected biochemically. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, the content of 8-OHdG, and DNA damage of the cells were evaluated by flow cytometry, ELISA, and Comet assay, respectively.

RESULTSCompared with H(2)O(2) group, the cells in SF groups (10% and 15%) and vitE group showed higher cell survival rate (P<0.05) and higher SOD, CAT, GSH-PX (P<0.05) and ROS scavenging activities (P<0.01) with markedly decreases the content of 8-OHdG (P<0.01) and reduced tailing ratio, tail length, tail moment and Olive tail moment (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSF drug serum, especially at the concentration of 15%, can protect LO2 cells from H(2)O(2)-mediated DNA oxidative damage.

Cell Line ; Comet Assay ; DNA Damage ; Deoxyguanosine ; analogs & derivatives ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; toxicity ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Oxidative Stress ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Reactive Oxygen Species

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanism of acupuncture for treatment of perimenopausal syndrome.

METHODSThe rats of perimenopausal syndrome were randomly divided into 3 groups, including an acupuncture group treated with acupuncture, a medication group with Gengnian'an, and a perimenopausal control group, with young rats used for a control group. Granulocyte apoptosis and expressions of Bcl-2 and Fas proteins in the ovary of the rat were detected.

RESULTSGranulocyte apoptosis increased significantly (P < 0.01), expression of Bl-2 proteins decreased significantly (P < 0.01) and expression of Fas proteins increased significantly (P < 0.01) in the ovary of perimenopausal rats as compared with the young rats; after acupuncture treatment, granulocyte apoptosis decreased significantly (P < 0.05), expression of Bel-2 proteins increased significantly (P < 0.05) and expression of Fas proteins decreased significantly (P < 0.01); after treatment of Gengnian'an, granulocyte apoptosis did not significantly change (P > 0.05), expression of Bcl-2 prteins increased significantly (P < 0.05) and expression of Fas proteins decreased significantly (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture can inhibit granulocyte apoptosis, up-regulate expression of Bcl-2 proteins and down-regulate expression of Fas proteins in the ovary of the perimenopausal rat.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Female ; Granulocytes ; pathology ; Ovary ; metabolism ; pathology ; Perimenopause ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; fas Receptor ; analysis

[Objective] To observe the dynamic changes of intestinal IL-17,occludin,and ZO-1 in mice with postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS).[Methods] Forty C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 5 groups:control group and infection groups (2 weeks,4 weeks,6 weeks,and 8 weeks after trichinella infection).Infection groups were given by gavaging of 400～500 Trichinella spiralis in 0.2 mL of normal saline.The body weight of mice were recorded at week 2,4,6,and 8 after infection.The visceral sensitivity of mice was measured by the abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR).The stool was collected continuously for 8 hours to calculate the percentage of fecal water content.Pathological changes of gut were observed by HE staining.The expressions of IL-17,occludin,and ZO-1 in ileocecus and colon were detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting.[Results] At week 2 after infection,the acute inflammation of the intestinal tract was observed and the body weight of mice were significantly decreased (P=0.000).Until week 8 after infection,the intestinal inflammation and body weight of mice recovered to normal.When the colorectal dilatation capacity was 0.35 and 0.5 mL,the AWR scores in the infection groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜0.01).The percentages of fecal water content in the infection groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the expressions of IL-17 were significantly decreased in week 2 group (P＜0.05) and increased in week 8 group (P＜0.05).The expressions of occludin and ZO-1 in the infection groups were significantly lower than those in the control group (P＜0.05).[Conclusion] The dynamic changes of IL-17 and the decrease of Tight junction proteins may be one of the mechanisms of visceral hypersensitivity and increased percentages of fecal water content.They may be involved in the development of PI-IBS.

Objective To analyze and estimate the possibility of early control in Shanghai if COVID-19 had begun in Shanghai. Methods Comparison was made in the processes of early control between H7N9 avian influenza in Shanghai in 2013 and COVID-19 in Wuhan in 2019.The early incidence data of Korean COVID-19 was simulated and analyzed to predict whether the medical resources needed in Shanghai were available. Results If it had occurred in Shanghai, it would have taken 22 days from the first case to the government′s emergency response.It was estimated that there would have been 602-763 patients with cumulative onset and onset after incubation period.At least 500 beds of infectious diseases could have been allocated in Shanghai in case of emergency.Through adding beds and resources reallocation in the whole city, patients could have been fully admitted and treated. Conclusion If COVID-19 epidemic had occurred in Shanghai, it′s early control would have been possible though there might have difficulties.

BACKGROUNDInterleukin-13 (IL-13) has been implicated to be responsible for recruitment of inflammatory cells from the blood to the lung, regulation of matrix metalloproteinase and induction of mucin production and secretion in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We determined plasma IL-13 levels in patients with COPD and investigated its association with common polymorphisms of IL-13 gene in a case-control study.

METHODSWe genotyped 160 cases and 175 control subjects in a local hospital using Mass-Array(TM) Technology Platform then tested the association of four SNPs in IL-13 (rs1295685, rs1800925, rs1881457, rs20541) with COPD, and then determined plasma IL-13 levels in patients with COPD and controls.

RESULTSAssociation was found between IL-13 gene SNPs (rs20541 and rs1800925) and an increased risk of COPD. By linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis, two blocks (rs1881457 and rs1800925; rs20541 and rs1295685) were found. The risk of COPD was found associated with the IL-13 gene polymorphism among southern Chinese Han population. Plasma IL-13 level was increased in COPD patients compared with controls.

CONCLUSIONSThe polymorphism of the IL-13 gene is associated with an increased risk of COPD in southern Chinese Han population. Plasma IL-13 levels were found elevated in patients with COPD.

Adult ; Aged ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Gene Frequency ; genetics ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Genotype ; Haplotypes ; genetics ; Humans ; Interleukin-13 ; genetics ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; genetics