Objective To investigate the correlation between femoral popliteal artery stent fracture and in-stent restenosis (ISR) in patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans of superficial femoral artery and proximal popliteal artery after receiving stent implantation.Methods The clinical data of a total of 97 consecutive patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans of superficial femoral artery and proximal popliteal artery (107 diseased limbs in total),who were treated with primary stent implantation during the period from March 2012 to March 2016,were retrospectively analyzed.The imaging materials,including Doppler ultrasonography,plain radiography,contrast-enhanced CT scan,DSA,etc.were collected,and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and other statistical analysis methods were used to analyze the related data.Results During the follow-up period,71 patients (72 limbs in total) developed ISR and the incidence of ISR was 67.3％ (72/107).The incidences of ISR in the stent-fracture group and non-fracture group were 84.2％ (32/38) and 58.0％ (40/69) respectively,the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P=0.01).Conclusion After stent implantation of femoral popliteal artery,fracture of stent is one of the important risk factors for the occurrence of ISR.

Objective To investigate the related factors of serum carnitine deficiency in critical ill patients, and the influence of its deficiency on the length of hospital stay. Methods A prospective study was conducted. Critical ill patients with acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ(APACHEⅡ)score>12 admitted to Department of Critical Care Medicine of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from March 2013 to September 2013 were enrolled. Serum carnitine concentration and indexes of organ function were determined,and the tolerance of enteral nutrition within 5 days,the length of hospital stay,the length of intensive care unit(ICU)stay,and the hospital mortality were recorded. The relationship between serum carnitine and indexes mentioned above was analyzed. Results Thirty critically ill patients were enrolled. Serum carnitine concentration was very low in all critically ill patients,i.e. (8.92±5.05)μmol/L(normal reference value at 43.5 μmol/L)at hospital admission. Serum carnitine concentration in patients with APACHEⅡscore>23(7 cases)was significantly lower than that in those with APACHEⅡscore 12-23(23 cases,μmol/L:5.33±1.72 vs. 10.02±5.24,t=2.300,P=0.001). Serum carnitine concentration in patients with serum total bilirubin(TBil)>19μmol/L(9 cases)was significantly lower than that in those with TBil≤19μmol/L(21 cases,μmol/L:5.54±2.70 vs. 9.84±5.08,t=2.750,P=0.014). Serum carnitine concentration was negatively correlated with the APACHEⅡscore and the TBil(r=-0.387,P=0.035;r=-0.346,P=0.048). During the 5-day observation period,enteral feeding amount〔(5 134±1 173)mL〕was positively correlated with serum carnitine concentration(r=0.430,P=0.022). In 30 critical patients,the incidence of abdominal distension was 40.0%(12/30),and the serum carnitine concentration of patients with abdominal distension was lower compared with that of patients without abdominal distension(μmol/L:7.83±4.98 vs. 9.12±5.35,t=0.707,P=0.383). The incidence of diarrhea was 26.7%(8/30),and the serum carnitine concentration of diarrhea patients was lower compared with that of patients without diarrhea(μmol/L:8.27±5.78 vs. 9.73±4.78,t=0.607,P=0.576). The mean length of hospital stay was(34.72±16.66)days. The serum carnitine concentrations in patients with hospital stay≥45 days (8 cases)were lower compared with those in those<45 days(22 cases,μmol/L:5.71±3.23 vs. 9.95±5.26,t=1.627,P=0.020). No correlation was found between serum carnitine concentrations and the hospital stay(r=-0.165, P=0.385). The length of ICU stay was(18.60±10.72)days. Serum carnitine concentration in patients with the length of ICU stay>7 days(27 cases)was slightly lower than that in those with the length of ICU stay≤7 days (3 cases,μmol/L:8.44±5.00 vs. 13.24±3.65,t=1.610,P=0.119). No correlation was found between serum carnitine concentrations and the length of ICU stay(r=-0.019,P= 0.293). In-hospital mortality was 26.67%(8/30). No significant difference in serum carnitine concentrations was found between the death group and the survival group(μmol/L:12.24±6.52 vs. 7.72±3.91,t=-1.846,P=0.098). No correlation was found between serum carnitine concentrations and in-hospital mortality(r=0.340,P=0.066). Conclusions Carnitine deficiency is significant in critically ill patients,and it is correlated with disease severity and serum TBil. The total amount of lenteral feeding was lower,and hospital stay was prolonged in critically ill patients with low serum carnitine level.