OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a nomogram model for predicting 30-day mortality among elderly patients with sepsis-associated liver dysfunction (SALD), to identify high-risk patients and improve prognosis. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using data extracted from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV (MIMIC-IV) database for elderly patients with SALD who were first admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center between 2008 and 2019, including basic characteristics, severity scores, underlying diseases, infection foci, 24-hour vital signs, initial laboratory indicators, 24-hour complications, and prognosis related indicators. Patients were randomly assigned to training group and validation group in a ratio of 7 : 3. The training group used the LASSO regression analysis, as well as multivariate Logistic regression analysis to screen for independent risk factors for 30-day mortality. A nomogram prediction model was constructed, and receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to evaluate the model, and validate the model using the validation cohort. RESULTS: A total of 630 elderly patients with SLAD were included in the study, including 441 in the training group and 189 in the validation group. Oxford acute severity of illness score (OASIS) for training group [odds ratio (OR) = 1.060, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.034-1.086], 24-hour pulse oxygen saturation (SpO₂; OR = 0.876, 95%CI was 0.797-0.962), initial mean corpuscular volume (MCV; OR = 1.043, 95%CI was 1.009-1.077), initial red blood cell distribution width (RDW; OR = 1.237, 95%CI was 1.123-1.362), initial blood glucose (OR = 1.008, 95%CI was 1.004-1.013), and initial aspartate aminotransferase (AST; OR = 1.000, 95%CI was 1.000-1.001) were independent risk factors for 30-day mortality in patients (all P < 0.05). Based on the above variables, a nomogram model was constructed, and the ROC curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the model in the training group was 0.757 (95%CI was 0.712-0.803), with a sensitivity of 65.05% and a specificity of 74.90%; the AUC of the model in the validation group was 0.712 (95%CI was 0.631-0.792), with a sensitivity of 58.67% and a specificity of 81.58%. The calibration curves of the training and validation groups show that both the fitted curves were close to the standard curves. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test: the training group (χ ² = 6.729, P = 0.566), the validation group (χ ² = 13.889, P = 0.085), indicating that the model can fit the observed data well. The DCA curve shows that when the threshold probability of the training group was 16% to 94% and the threshold probability of the validation group was 27% to 99%, the net benefit of the model was good. CONCLUSIONS OASIS, 24-hour SpO₂, initial MCV, initial RDW, initial blood glucose and initial AST are independent risk factors for 30-day mortality in elderly patients with SALD. The nomogram based on these six variables demonstrates good predictive performance.
Humans ; Sepsis/complications* ; Retrospective Studies ; Nomograms ; Aged ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors ; Liver Diseases/mortality* ; Intensive Care Units ; ROC Curve ; Male ; Female ; Logistic Models

Hypertriglyceridemia （HTG） is the second leading cause of acute pancreatitis in China and can be caused by primary factors， namely gene mutations， which may lead to recurrent hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis （HTG-AP） and difficulties in effective control of triglyceride. This article reports an adult Chinese male patient who experienced eight attacks of HTG-AP and was found to carry a de novo heterozygous mutation， p.K327N， of the GPD1 gene， which may cause the persistent high level of triglyceride and recurrent attacks of HTG-AP.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of transfrontal neuroendoscopic surgery in the treatment of chronic subdural hematoma.Methods Analysis of clinical data of 80 cases of chronic subdural hematoma.According to the surgical method,40 cases were divided into traditional external drainage of parietaltuber,40 cases were divided into transfrontal neuroendoscopic small bone window hematoma removal.The treatment efficiency,hematoma recurrence rate,operation time and intraoperative blood loss were compared between the two groups.Results Treatment efficiency of neuroendoscopic group was 95.0%,significantly higher than drainage group 75.0%,hematoma recurrence rate one month after surgery of neuroendoscopic group was 5.0%,significantly lower than that in drainage group 25.0%,operation time of neuroendoscopic group was(54.1±7.5)min,longer than that of drainage group(40.7±9.4)min,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05).The intraoperative blood loss of neuroendoscopic group was(30.1±4.5)mL,compared with(27.1±6.4)mL in the drainage group,the difference was not statistically significant(P>0.05).Conclusion Transfrontal neuroendoscopic surgery can significantly improve the efficacy of chronic subdural hematoma,and hematoma recurrence rate is extremely low.It is worthy of clinical application.

Objective:To explore the predictive value of lipoproteins on the progression of critically ill patients to chronic critical illness (CCI).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze clinical data of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022. The levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and apolipoproteins (ApoA-Ⅰ, ApoB) at 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after admission to ICU were collected. The progression to CCI was recorded. CCI was defined as the length of ICU stay ≥14 days with sustained organ dysfunction [sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score ≥2]. Differences in lipoprotein levels between the patients with and without CCI were compared. Multivariate Logistic regression was used to analyze risk factors for critically ill patients progressing to CCI. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of lipoproteins on critically ill patients progressing to CCI.Results:A total of 200 patients were enrolled in the final analysis. 137 patients (68.5%) progressed to CCI, and 63 patients (31.5%) did not. The lipoprotein indicators in the CCI group showed a decrease after the acute phase, while the lipoprotein indicators in the non-CCI group showed an increase. The levels of HDL, LDL, ApoA-Ⅰ, and ApoB at various time points in the CCI group were significantly lower than those in the non-CCI group. HDL at 7 days in the CCI group was significantly lower than that in the non-CCI group [mmol/L: 0.44 (0.31, 0.61) vs. 0.67 (0.49, 0.75), P < 0.01]. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that 7-day HDL was an independent risk factor for critically ill patients progressing to CCI [odds ratio ( OR) = 0.033, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 0.004-0.282, P = 0.002]. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 7-day HDL for predicting critically ill patients progressing to CCI was 0.702, with a 95% CI of 0.625-0.779, P < 0.001. When the optimal cut-off value was 0.59 mmol/L, the sensitivity was 69.8%, and the specificity was 72.4%. Conclusions:The low level of lipoproteins is closely related to the progression of critically ill patients, and 7-day HDL has a certain predictive value for critically ill patients progressing to CCI. Continuously observation of the change trend of lipoprotein level is helpful to judge the progression of CCI in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of a novel artificial perfusate based on oxygen-carrying perfluoronaphthalene-albumin nanoparticles in normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) for preservation of porcine liver donation after cardiac death. METHODS: Artificial perfusate with perfluoronaphthalene-albumin nanoparticles was prepared at 5% albumin (w/v) and its oxygen carrying capacity was calculated. The livers of 16 Landrace pigs were isolated after 1 h of warm ischemia, and then they were divided into 4 groups and preserved continuously for 24 h with different preservation methods: cold preservation with UW solution (SCS group), NMP preservation by whole blood (blood NMP group), NMP preservation by artificial perfusate without nanoparticles (non-nanoparticles NMP group) and NMP preservation by artificial perfusate containing nanoparticles (nanoparticles NMP group). Hemodynamics, tissue metabolism, biochemical indices of perfusate and bile were monitored every 4 h after the beginning of NMP. Liver tissue samples were collected for histological examination (HE and TUNEL staining) before preservation, 12 h and 24 h after preservation. RESULTS: The oxygen carrying capacity of nanoparticles in 100 mL artificial perfusate was 6.94 μL/mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa). The hepatic artery and portal vein resistance of nanoparticles NMP group and blood NMP group remained stable during perfusion, and the vascular resistance of nanoparticles NMP group was lower than that of blood NMP group. The concentration of lactic acid in the perfusate decreased to the normal range within 8 h in both nanoparticles NMP group and blood NMP group. There were no significant differences in accumulated bile production, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase in perfusate between nanoparticles NMP group and blood NMP group (all P>0.05). After 24 h perfusion, the histological Suzuki score in blood NMP group and nanoparticles NMP group was lower than that in SCS group and non-nanoparticles NMP group (all P<0.05), and the quantities of TUNEL staining positive cells in blood NMP group and non-nanoparticles NMP group was higher than those in nanoparticles NMP group and SCS group 12 h and 24 h after preservation (all P<0.05). CONCLUSION Artificial perfusate based on oxygen-carrying nanoparticles can meet the oxygen supply requirements of porcine livers donation after cardiac death during NMP preservation, and it may has superiorities in improving tissue microcirculation and alleviating ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Swine ; Animals ; Liver Transplantation ; Organ Preservation ; Liver ; Perfusion ; Death ; Oxygen/metabolism*

Objective:To investigate the incidence and risk factors of polymyxin B-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with severe infections caused by extensive drug resistance Gram negative bacteria (XDR-GNB)in intensive care unit (ICU).Methods:A retrospective study of adult patients with severe infection who received polymyxin B for more than 3 days in the department of critical care medicine of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University Medical School from April 1st 2018 to January 31st 2020 were performed. AKI was diagnosed by Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. The baseline data, indicators during treatment period and prognostic factors were compared between AKI group and non-AKI group. Factors with statistically significant difference in univariate analysis and important clinical factors were included in the Logistic regression model to analyze the risk factors of AKI.Results:Seventy-two patients were treated with polymyxin B for more than 3 days. Forty-nine patients were finally enrolled, with 32 patients developing polymyxin B-associated AKI, and the incidence was 44.4%. The baseline data was balanced in AKI group and non-AKI group, and there was no significant difference in the prognosis [death or discharge without medial order (cases): 14 vs. 6, discharged for improvement (cases): 18 vs. 11, χ 2 = 0.329, P = 0.566]. Polymyxin B-associated AKI occurred from 1 day to 14 days after treatment, with an average of (6.8±3.8) days. Among the 32 AKI patients, 2 cases were lost to follow up after discharge, while renal function recovered in 18 cases and unrecovered in 12 cases. The prognosis of patients without recovery of renal function was significantly worse than that of patients with renal function recovery [death or discharge without medial order (cases): 12 vs. 2, discharged for improvement (cases): 0 vs. 16, P = 0.000]. Single factor analysis showed that daily dosage of polymyxin B in AKI group was higher than that in non-AKI group (mg: 151.6±23.7 vs. 132.4±30.3), numbers of patients with daily polymyxin B dose ≥ 150 mg, using vasoactive drugs, or severe hypoalbuminemia (albumin≤25 g/L) were higher than those in non-AKI group (cases: 29 vs. 10, 18 vs. 4, 9 vs. 0), with statistically significant differences (all P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that daily dosage of polymyxin B ≥ 150 mg and use of vasoactive drugs were independent risk factors for polymyxin B-associated AKI [odds ratio ( OR) = 37.466, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 2.676-524.586, P = 0.007; OR = 22.960, 95% CI was 1.710-308.235, P = 0.018]. Conclusions:Comparing with non-AKI patients, more patients with polymyxin B-associated AKI had severe hypoalbuminemia, and the probability of using vasoactive drugs and the daily dose of polymyxin B were higher than non-AKI patients. Daily dose of polymyxin B ≥ 150 mg and using vasoactive drugs were independent risk factors for polymyxin B-associated AKI.

Objective To investigate the effects of protein intake in the early phase and later phase on the outcomes of critically ill patients.Methods A total of 326 critically ill patients admitted in intensive care unit of our hospital from September 2016 to March 2018 were enrolled in this prospective observational study.According to the 28-day prognosis of patients,they were divided into death group and survival group.Early protein target (EPT) was defined as the daily protein intake≥0.8 g/ (kg · d) on days 1-3,and late protein target (LPT) was defined as the daily protein intake≥0.8 g/ (k · d) on days 4-7.Results Daily protein intakes on day 1 and day 3 and cumulative protein intakes on days 1-3 were significantly higher in non-survivors than in the survivors (P＜0.05),but daily protein intakes on day 2,4,5,6 and 7 and cumulative protein intakes on days 4-7 and 1-7 showed no significant difference between two groups (P＞0.05).Hospital mortality was the lowest in the LPT group,the highest in the EPT,and in the middle in the EPT+LPT group and non-EPT+non-LPT group (P＜0.05).The survival curve analysis showed that the survival time of the EPT-only group was significantly lower than that of the LPT-only group (P＜0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that age,sex,cumulative protein and caloric intakes on days 1-7 were the independent risk factors for mortality.Conclusion Early low protein intake is benefit for the outcomes of critically ill patients,and combined with adequate intake of protein in the later stage may further improve the outcomes.

Objective To explore the characteristics of respiratory tract microbiota and its clinical significance in children with protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB).Methods Twelve children aged from 5 months to 2 years old with PBB (PBB group) and 12 age-matched tracheomalacia(TM) children (TM group) were included in this study,who were admitted into the Respiratory Department of Shenzhen Children's Hospital.Their bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) samples were collected.Bacterial DNA was extracted from their BALF samples and the 16S rRNA V3-V4 region was sequenced by using Illumina MiSeq TMII system,and the findings were analyzed by bioinformatics methods.Results Principal component analysis revealed the difference in microbiota composition between 2 groups.Compared with TM group,PBB group exhibited lower microbial diversity:the Shannon indices were also 1.683 ± 0.703 and 2.324 ± 0.142 for PBB group and TM group respectively,and the differences were also significant(all P ＜ 0.05),and the Simpson indices were 0.416 ± 0.216 and 0.191 ± 0.025 for PBB group and TM group,respectively,and the differences were also significant (all P ＜ 0.05).The relative abundance of Actinobacteria was significantly lower in PBB group [(0.215 ± 0.228) ％] than that in TM group [(3.028 ± 0.592) ％] (P ＜ 0.01).The proportions of beneficial genera obviously decreased in PBB group,including Lactococcus [(13.464±7.319)％ in PBB group,and (44.784 ± 5.020)％ in TM group,P ＜0.01],Lactobacillus [(0.153 ±0.076)％ in PBB group,and (0.313 ±0.060)％ in TM group,P＜0.01],andArthrobacter [(0.024 ±0.018)％ in PBB group,and (2.970 ±0.584)％ in TM group,P＜0.01].On the other hand,the relative abundances of opportunistic pathogenic genera increased in PBB group significantly,including Haemophilus [(14.319 ± 29.532) ％ in PBB group,and (0.047 ± 0.127) ％ in TM group,P ＜ 0.Ol],Pseudomonas [(10.406 ± 25.439) ％ in PBB group,and (7.228 ± 0.948) ％ in TM group,P ＜ 0.01],and Escherichia [(0.432 ±0.441)％ in PBB group,and (0.055 ±0.035)％ in TM group,P ＜0.01].Conclusion These findings confirmed the existence of respiratory tract microbiotia dysbiosis in PBB,which probably was one of the pathogenetic mechanisms for PBB.

Objective To investigate the level of serum homocysteine(Hcy)in common chronic diseases(diabetes,hypertension, hyperlipidemia,coronary heart disease)and its clinical application value in the community elderly residents.Methods A retrospec-tive study was conducted on the common chronic disease of 1 605 patients who detected Hcy in our center from January 2015 to Oc-tober 2015.Another 117 healthy subjects served as normal control group.Hcy was detected by cyclic enzymatic method.Results The average level of Hcy in serum of patients with diabetes,hypertension,coronary heart disease and hyperlipidemia was higher than that in the health examination group,and the level of Hcy was positively correlated with age(P <0.05).Conclusion The high level of serum Hcy is an important risk factor in common chronic diseases in the community elderly residents,and it should strengthen the examination of Hcy and active intervention to slow down the development of the disease.

Objective To evaluate analgesic effect of dexmedetomidine (DEX) combined with ropivacaine in single sciatic nerve block after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with continuous femoral never block.Meth ods One hundred and twenty patients,ASA physical status Ⅰ ～ Ⅱ,who underwent unilateral TKA were randomly allocated into two groups:group D (DEX with ropivacaine);group R (ropivacaine only).Both groups experienced spinal-epidural anesthesia.Continuous femoral nerve block was performed after operation.Rest and movement visual analogue score (VAS),Ramsay sedation scores were recorded.In addition to the date of the analgesia drug dose,the pressed times of PCA,the mobility of knee joint and the force of quadriceps femoris were obtained at different points of time.Results Rest Pain scores (RVAS) of the group D were lower at time point 8,12,24,36,48 h and Ramsay sedation scores were higher at time point 4,8,12 h than that in the group R (P ＜ 0.05).The analgesia drug dose and the pressed times of PCA reduced in the group D.The range of motion (ROM) was better in the group D at 1 d,2 d after operation (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the force of quadriceps femoris in both groups.Conclusion Dexmedetomidine combined with ropivacaine in single sciatic nerve block after TKA provided better analgesia when continuous femoral nerve block was performed.Meanwhile,analgesia lasted longer and did not increase the motor nerve blockade.