Objective To study the impact of therapy strategy on outcomes of patients suffering from severe sepsis and/or septic shock. Method A total of 195 patients diagnosed as severe sepsis or septic shock were enrolled for prospective study from June 2008 to December 2009. Patient's clinical manifestation,treatments and outcomes were studied by using SSC database. Patients were divided into control group and treatment group. In control group, patients enrolled from June 2008 to December 2008, were treated with conventional medical care In treatment group, patients enrolled from January 2009 to December 2009 were treated with a novel algorithm of mandatory treatment for sepsis In-hospital mortality of two groups was compared. SPSS15.0 software was used for analysis of data. Chi-square test and unpaired t-test were used for comparisons between groups. Results Compared to the control group The need for blood lactate test was significantly grown in treatment group [98.2% (115/117) versus 2.56% (2/78), P ＜ 0.001]. Antibiotics was administered to 69.2% (81/117) patients of treatment group within 3 hours after their arrival at the emergency department compared to 35.8% (28/78) in the control group (P ＜ 0. 001). Blood cultures made before antibiotics given were 47.9% (56/117) in the treatment group compared to the control group 25.6%(20/78), P = 0. 003. The rate of fluid resuscitation was 80.3% (53/66) in the treatment group and 27%(10/37) in the control group, P ＜0.001. The rate of CVP (8 mmHg was 27.3% (18/66) in the treatment group and 8.1% (3/37) in the control group, P = 0. 023. In-hospital mortality was 29.1% (34/117) in the treatment group and 44.8% (35/78) in the control group, P =0. 032. Conclusions The algorithm of mandatory treatment for sepsis improved the therapeutic efficacy of the treatment for severe sepsis and septic shock, decreasing in-hospital mortality.

Objective To study the causes of emergency department (ED) overcrowding and access block in Beijing.Methods This was a multi-center cross sectional study.The studied cohort of patients included all ED visiting patients from 18 municipal teaching hospital EDs in Beijing from 2012 to 2013.Patient' s characteristics and medical care settings were analyzed.Results The urgent care cases accounted for only 4.6 ％ (71 224/1 554 387) of the emergency annual visits in 2012 and 5.5 ％ (88 190/1 615 571) in 2013.The total number of observation patients in EDs was 185 277 and 211 900 in 2012 and 2013 respectively,with an increase of 14.4 ％ (P ＜ 0.01).The total ED-admission inpatients only accounted for 2.97％ and 2.89 ％ of total annual visits in 2012 and 2013 respectively.The average time of ED-admission took 37.1 hours and 36.2 hours in 2012 and 2013 respectively.The average time of ED stay for observation was 4.9 days and 5.4 days in 2012 and 2013 respectively.Upper respiratory tract infection was the leading illness in annual visits.The leading cause of ED stay for observation was bedridden with pneumonia.Conclusions The ED settings in Beijing are different from other countries.The EDs actually assume the task of the clinic and ED service for 24 hours thereby made EDs terribly overcrowded.The main causes are large number of non-emergency patients visiting the ED and patients in the ED are difficulty to be hospitalized.Patients with end-stage disease and multiple organ failure stayed in the ED due to nursing home shortage.

BACKGROUNDAlthough chest radiography is a useful examination tool, it has limitations. Because not all chest conditions can be detected on a radiograph, radiography cannot necessarily rule out all irregularities in the chest. Therefore, further imaging studies may be required to clarify the results of a chest radiograph, or to identify abnormalities that are not readily visible. The aim of this study was to compare traditional chest radiography with acoustic-based imaging (vibration response imaging) for the detection of lung abnormalities in patients with acute dyspnea.

METHODSThe current investigation was a pilot study. Respiratory sounds throughout the respiratory cycle were captured using an acoustic-based imaging technique. Consecutive patients who presented to the emergency department with acute dyspnea and a normal chest radiograph on admission were enrolled and underwent imaging at the time of presentation. Dynamic and static images of vibration (breath sounds) and a dynamic image score were generated, and assessments were made using an evaluation form.

RESULTSIn healthy volunteer controls (n = 61), the mean dynamic image score was 6.3 ± 1.9. In dyspneic patients with normal chest radiographs (n = 51) and abnormal chest radiographs (n = 48), the dynamic image scores were 4.7 ± 2.7 and 5.1 ± 2.5, respectively (P < 0.05). The final assessment of the vibration images indicated abnormal findings in 15%, 86% and 90% of the participants in the above groups, respectively (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSIn patients with acute dyspnea who present with normal chest radiographs, respiratory sound analyses often showed abnormal values. Hence, the ability of acoustic-based recordings to offer objective and noninvasive measurements of abnormal sound transmission may be useful in the clinical setting for patients presenting with acute dyspnea.

Adult ; Dyspnea ; physiopathology ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Respiratory Sounds ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVE To study the safety of Shuangshu decoction in rats and its efficacy in improving functional dyspepsia （FD） in rats. METHODS In safety test， 40 rats were divided into blank control group， Shuangshu decoction low-dose， medium- dose and high-dose groups [108， 216， 324 g/（kg·d）， calculated by raw medicine， the same applies below]； they were given relevant medicine intragastrically， for continuous 14 days. The mortality and toxic reactions of rats were recorded， and the organ indexes of the liver， kidney， spleen， lung and heart of rats were calculated； the pathological morphological changes in the liver， kidney， spleen， lung， heart， stomach， duodenum， and colon were observed to evaluate the acute toxicity of Shuangshu decoction. Another 40 rats were grouped and administered in the same way for 30 consecutive days. The mortality and toxic reactions of the rats were recorded， and the corresponding organ indexes were calculated. The pathological morphological changes in the corresponding organs were observed， and blood routine and serum biochemical indicators were measured， in order to assess the subacute toxicity of Shuangshu decoction. In pharmacodynamic experiments: 50 rats were divided into blank control group， model group， and Shuangshu decoction low-， medium-， and high-dose groups （9.45， 18.9， 37.8 g/kg）， with 10 rats in each group. Except for blank control group， rats in all other groups were used to establish the FD rat model by subcutaneous injection of loperamide （3.5 mg/kg）. Rats in each group were administered the corresponding drug solution/normal saline intragastrically， once a day， for 14 consecutive days. After the last medication， fecal moisture content， intestinal propulsion rate， gastric emptying rate and serum level of motilin were all detected， and interstitial cell of Cajal （ICC） ultrastructure of rats was observed in colon tissue. RESULTS The safety experiments showed that no death occurred in each dose group， and no significant difference was found in organ coefficient， routine blood and serum biological index， compared to blank control group （P＞0.05）； no abnormality was found in organ appearance and pathological sections. The results of the pharmacodynamic experiments showed that， compared with the blank control group， the fecal moisture content， gastric emptying rate， intestinal propulsion rate， and serum motilin levels in the model group were significantly decreased （P＜0.05）； in the colonic tissue， the mitochondria in the ICC exhibited severe swelling with the disappearance of cristae， and the endoplasmic reticulum was dilated. Compared with model group， the rats in Shuangshu decoction high-dose group showed significant increases in the above quantitative indicators （P＜ 0.05）； additionally， there was a large number of mitochondria in the ICC of the colonic tissue， with clear cristae and regular arrangement. CONCLUSIONS Shuangshu decoction is safe and has a beneficial improving effect on FD rats； its mechanism of action may be related to the regulation of gastrointestinal hormone expression to promote gastric emptying and intestinal propulsion， as well as the repair of mitochondrial structure in ICCs to restore gastrointestinal function.