PURPOSE: Septic shock is associated with high mortality and poor outcomes among sepsis patients with coagulopathy. Although traditional statistical methods or machine learning (ML) algorithms have been proposed to predict septic shock, these potential approaches have never been systematically compared. The present work aimed to develop and compare models to predict septic shock among patients with sepsis. METHODS: It is a retrospective cohort study based on 484 patients with sepsis who were admitted to our intensive care units between May 2018 and November 2022. Patients from the 908th Hospital of Chinese PLA Logistical Support Force and Nanchang Hongdu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine were respectively allocated to training (n=311) and validation (n=173) sets. All clinical and laboratory data of sepsis patients characterized by comprehensive coagulation indexes were collected. We developed 5 models based on ML algorithms and 1 model based on a traditional statistical method to predict septic shock in the training cohort. The performance of all models was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration plots. Decision curve analysis was used to evaluate the net benefit of the models. The validation set was applied to verify the predictive accuracy of the models. This study also used Shapley additive explanations method to assess variable importance and explain the prediction made by a ML algorithm. RESULTS: Among all patients, 37.2% experienced septic shock. The characteristic curves of the 6 models ranged from 0.833 to 0.962 and 0.630 to 0.744 in the training and validation sets, respectively. The model with the best prediction performance was based on the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm, which was constructed by age, tissue plasminogen activator-inhibitor complex, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, white blood cells, and platelet counts. The SVM model showed good calibration and discrimination and a greater net benefit in decision curve analysis. CONCLUSION The SVM algorithm may be superior to other ML and traditional statistical algorithms for predicting septic shock. Physicians can better understand the reliability of the predictive model by Shapley additive explanations value analysis.
Humans ; Shock, Septic/blood* ; Machine Learning ; Male ; Female ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Sepsis/complications* ; ROC Curve ; Cohort Studies ; Adult ; Intensive Care Units ; Algorithms ; Blood Coagulation ; Critical Illness

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of acute erythroleukemia (AEL) in children. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data, treatment, and prognosis of 8 children with AEL treated at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2013 to December 2023. RESULTS: Among the 7 patients with complete bone marrow morphological analysis, 4 exhibited trilineage dysplasia, with a 100% incidence of erythroid dysplasia (7/7), a 71% incidence of myeloid dysplasia (5/7), and a 57% incidence of megakaryocytic dysplasia (4/7). Immunophenotyping revealed that myeloid antigens were primarily expressed as CD13, CD33, CD117, CD38, and CD123, with 4 cases expressing erythroid antigens CD71 and 2 cases expressing CD235a. Chromosomal analysis indicated that 2 cases presented with abnormal karyotypes, including +8 in one case and +4 accompanied by +6 in another; no complex karyotypes were observed. Genetic abnormalities were detected in 4 cases, with fusion genes including one case each of dup MLL positive and EVI1 positive, as well as mutations involving KRAS, NRAS, WT1, and UBTF. Seven patients received chemotherapy, with 6 achieving remission after one course of treatment; 2 underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and all had disease-free survival. Follow-up (median follow-up time of 6 months) showed that only 3 patients survived (2 cases after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and 1 case during treatment). CONCLUSIONS Children with AEL have unique clinical and biological characteristics, exhibit poor treatment response, and have a poor prognosis; however, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation may improve overall survival rates.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Prognosis ; Child, Preschool ; Retrospective Studies ; Child ; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute/diagnosis* ; Infant ; Adolescent

Purpose::In patients with heatstroke, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is associated with greater risk of in-hospital mortality. However, time-consuming assays or a complex diagnostic system may delay immediate treatment. Therefore, the present study proposes a new heatstroke-induced coagulopathy (HIC) score in patients with heat illness as an early warning indicator for DIC.Methods::This retrospective study enrolled patients with heat illness in 24 Chinese hospitals from March 2021 to May 2022. Patients under 18 years old, with a congenital clotting disorder or liver disease, or using anticoagulants were excluded. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, routine blood tests, conventional coagulation assays and biochemical indexes. The risk factors related to coagulation function in heatstroke were identified by regression analysis, and used to construct a scoring system for HIC. The data of patients who met the diagnostic criteria for HIC and International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis defined-DIC were analyzed. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0.Results::The final analysis included 302 patients with heat illness, of whom 131 (43.4%) suffered from heatstroke, including 7 death (5.3%). Core temperature ( OR = 1.681, 95% CI 1.291 - 2.189, p < 0.001), prothrombin time ( OR = 1.427, 95% CI 1.175 - 1.733, p < 0.001) and D-dimer ( OR = 1.242, 95% CI 1.049 - 1.471, p = 0.012) were independent risk factors for heatstroke, and therefore used to construct an HIC scoring system because of their close relation with abnormal coagulation. A total score ≥ 3 indicated HIC, and HIC scores correlated with the score for International Society of Thrombosis and Hemostasis-DIC ( r = 0.8848, p < 0.001). The incidence of HIC (27.5%) was higher than that of DIC (11.2%) in all of 131 heatstroke patients. Meanwhile, the mortality rate of HIC (19.4%) was lower than that of DIC (46.7%). When HIC developed into DIC, parameters of coagulation dysfunction changed significantly: platelet count decreased, D-dimer level rose, and prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time prolonged ( p < 0.05). Conclusions::The newly proposed HIC score may provide a valuable tool for early detection of HIC and prompt initiation of treatment.

Objective To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with CREBBP gene mutation. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 14 ALL children with CREBBP gene mutation who were admitted to Children's Hospital of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2016 to December 2023. Results The ALL patients with CREBBP gene mutation accounted for 1.5％ (14/963) among all children diagnosed with ALL during the same period of time,among whom there were 4 boys (29％) and 10 girls (71％),with a median age of 4 years and 3.5 months. All children had an immunological type of B-cell ALL and concurrent mutations in other genes including NRAS,KRAS,ETV6,FLT3,PAX5,SH2B3,CDKN2A,and CDKN2B,and 4 children had karyotype abnormality. All 14 children received induction therapy with the VDLP regimen,with a complete remission (CR) rate of 79％ (11/14) after the first course of treatment. Three children experienced bone marrow recurrence alone,with a recurrence rate of 21％ (3/14),among whom 1 child achieved CR after blinatumomab therapy and 2 received bridging hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after chemotherapy for recurrence. Among the 14 children,1 died due to treatment discontinuation and 13 achieved disease-free survival. The 5-year overall survival rate was 92％±7％,and the event-free survival rate was 73％±13％. Conclusions ALL with CREBBP gene mutation is more common in girls and has a low induction remission rate and a high recurrence rate,and it is often accompanied by other types of gene mutations and abnormal karyotypes. Most children with recurrence can achieve long-term survival after immunotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Objective: To analyze the prevalence and the risk factors of fungal sepsis in 25 neonatal intensive care units (NICU) among preterm infants in China, and to provide a basis for preventive strategies of fungal sepsis. Methods: This was a second-analysis of the data from the "reduction of infection in neonatal intensive care units using the evidence-based practice for improving quality" study. The current status of fungal sepsis of the 24 731 preterm infants with the gestational age of <34⁺⁰ weeks, who were admitted to 25 participating NICU within 7 days of birth between May 2015 and April 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. These preterm infants were divided into the fungal sepsis group and the without fungal sepsis group according to whether they developed fungal sepsis to analyze the incidences and the microbiology of fungal sepsis. Chi-square test was used to compare the incidences of fungal sepsis in preterm infants with different gestational ages and birth weights and in different NICU. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to study the outcomes of preterm infants with fungal sepsis, which were further compared with those of preterm infants without fungal sepsis. The 144 preterm infants in the fungal sepsis group were matched with 288 preterm infants in the non-fungal sepsis group by propensity score-matched method. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the risk factors of fungal sepsis. Results: In all, 166 (0.7%) of the 24 731 preterm infants developed fungal sepsis, with the gestational age of (29.7±2.0) weeks and the birth weight of (1 300±293) g. The incidence of fungal sepsis increased with decreasing gestational age and birth weight (both P<0.001). The preterm infants with gestational age of <32 weeks accounted for 87.3% (145/166). The incidence of fungal sepsis was 1.0% (117/11 438) in very preterm infants and 2.0% (28/1 401) in extremely preterm infants, and was 1.3% (103/8 060) in very low birth weight infants and 1.7% (21/1 211) in extremely low birth weight infants, respectively. There was no fungal sepsis in 3 NICU, and the incidences in the other 22 NICU ranged from 0.7% (10/1 397) to 2.9% (21/724), with significant statistical difference (P<0.001). The pathogens were mainly Candida (150/166, 90.4%), including 59 cases of Candida albicans and 91 cases of non-Candida albicans, of which Candida parapsilosis was the most common (41 cases). Fungal sepsis was independently associated with increased risk of moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (adjusted OR 1.52, 95%CI 1.04-2.22, P=0.030) and severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (adjusted OR 2.55, 95%CI 1.12-5.80, P=0.025). Previous broad spectrum antibiotics exposure (adjusted OR=2.50, 95%CI 1.50-4.17, P<0.001), prolonged use of central line (adjusted OR=1.05, 95%CI 1.03-1.08, P<0.001) and previous total parenteral nutrition (TPN) duration (adjusted OR=1.04, 95%CI 1.02-1.06, P<0.001) were all independently associated with increasing risk of fungal sepsis. Conclusions: Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis are the main pathogens of fungal sepsis among preterm infants in Chinese NICU. Preterm infants with fungal sepsis are at increased risk of moderate to severe BPD and severe ROP. Previous broad spectrum antibiotics exposure, prolonged use of central line and prolonged duration of TPN will increase the risk of fungal sepsis. Ongoing initiatives are needed to reduce fungal sepsis based on these risk factors.
Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Humans ; Birth Weight ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Gestational Age ; Infant, Extremely Premature ; Sepsis/epidemiology* ; Retinopathy of Prematurity/epidemiology* ; Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia/epidemiology*

Objective: This cross-sectional investigation aimed to determine the incidence, clinical characteristics, prognosis, and related risk factors of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain in mainland China. Methods: Data of patients with SARS-CoV-2 from December 28, 2022, to February 21, 2023, were collected through online and offline questionnaires from 45 tertiary hospitals and one center for disease control and prevention in mainland China. The questionnaire included demographic information, previous health history, smoking and alcohol drinking, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, olfactory and gustatory function before and after infection, other symptoms after infection, as well as the duration and improvement of olfactory and gustatory dysfunction. The self-reported olfactory and gustatory functions of patients were evaluated using the Olfactory VAS scale and Gustatory VAS scale. Results: A total of 35 566 valid questionnaires were obtained, revealing a high incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain (67.75%). Females(χ2=367.013, P<0.001) and young people(χ2=120.210, P<0.001) were more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Gender(OR=1.564, 95%CI: 1.487-1.645), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), oral health status (OR=0.881, 95%CI: 0.839-0.926), smoking history (OR=1.152, 95%CI=1.080-1.229), and drinking history (OR=0.854, 95%CI: 0.785-0.928) were correlated with the occurrence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2(above P<0.001). 44.62% (4 391/9 840) of the patients who had not recovered their sense of smell and taste also suffered from nasal congestion, runny nose, and 32.62% (3 210/9 840) suffered from dry mouth and sore throat. The improvement of olfactory and taste functions was correlated with the persistence of accompanying symptoms(χ2=10.873, P=0.001). The average score of olfactory and taste VAS scale was 8.41 and 8.51 respectively before SARS-CoV-2 infection, but decreased to3.69 and 4.29 respectively after SARS-CoV-2 infection, and recovered to 5.83and 6.55 respectively at the time of the survey. The median duration of olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions was 15 days and 12 days, respectively, with 0.5% (121/24 096) of patients experiencing these dysfunctions for more than 28 days. The overall self-reported improvement rate of smell and taste dysfunctions was 59.16% (14 256/24 096). Gender(OR=0.893, 95%CI: 0.839-0.951), SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status (OR=1.334, 95%CI: 1.164-1.530), history of head and facial trauma(OR=1.180, 95%CI: 1.036-1.344, P=0.013), nose (OR=1.104, 95%CI: 1.042-1.171, P=0.001) and oral (OR=1.162, 95%CI: 1.096-1.233) health status, smoking history(OR=0.765, 95%CI: 0.709-0.825), and the persistence of accompanying symptoms (OR=0.359, 95%CI: 0.332-0.388) were correlated with the recovery of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to SARS-CoV-2 (above P<0.001 except for the indicated values). Conclusion: The incidence of olfactory and taste dysfunctions related to infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain is high in mainland China, with females and young people more likely to develop these dysfunctions. Active and effective intervention measures may be required for cases that persist for a long time. The recovery of olfactory and taste functions is influenced by several factors, including gender, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status, history of head and facial trauma, nasal and oral health status, smoking history, and persistence of accompanying symptoms.
Female ; Humans ; Adolescent ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Smell ; COVID-19/complications* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Incidence ; Olfaction Disorders/etiology* ; Taste Disorders/etiology* ; Prognosis

To explore the quality consistency evaluation method for multi-component traditional Chinese medicine and establish a dissolution evaluation method suitable for the characteristics of multi-component Chinese patent medicine, this study discussed the characteristics and advantages of the flow-through cell method in the dissolution evaluation of Chinese patent medicine by comparing the impact of the small cup method and the flow-through cell method on the dissolution behavior of water-soluble and lipid-soluble major active components of Danshen Tablets. Dissolution tests were performed using the small cup method as described in the 2020 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and the newly introduced flow-through cell method(closed-loop method) with water solution containing 0.5% SDS as dissolution medium. Cumulative dissolution curves of the water-soluble component salvianolic acid B and the lipid-soluble component tanshinone Ⅱ_A in Danshen Tablets were plotted, and fitting and similarity analysis of the dissolution models was conducted to identify the characteristics and advantages of the flow-through cell method. For the small cup method, 150 mL of water containing 0.5% SDS was used as the dissolution medium, with a rotation speed of 75 r·min~(-1) and a temperature of(37±0.5) ℃, and 3 mL of samples were taken at 15, 30 min, 1, 2, and 4 h, with fresh dissolution medium added at the same temperature and volume. For the flow-through cell method, a closed-loop system was used. Danshen Tablets were placed in the flow-through cell with approximately 6.7 g of glass beads, and 150 mL of water containing 0.5% SDS was used as the dissolution medium. The flow rate was set at 20 mL·min~(-1), and the temperature and sampling were the same as the small cup method. The results showed that compared with the small cup method, the flow-through cell method had stronger discriminative power and higher sensitivity in distinguishing the dissolution behavior of the two components, and could better reflect the differences in formulation quality, especially for water-insoluble lipid-soluble components. Given that there were no essential differences in the in vitro release kinetics between the two methods, the flow-through cell method could not only replace the traditional small cup method but also better guide the formulation development and identify quality issues of formulations.
Salvia miltiorrhiza ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Tablets ; Water ; Lipids ; Solubility

Aim To explore the main active ingredients of Tripterygium wilfordii and the mechanism in treat-ment of breast cancer based on network pharmacology.Methods The active components and targets of Tripterygii Wilfordii were searched by TCMSP.GeneCard database was used to screen the potential targets of Tripterygii Wilfordii in treatment of breast cancer.The two were matched to obtain the core components and targets of Tripterygii Wilfordii.Cytoscape3.6.0 and AutoDock Vina were used to draw the drug-target network diagram, and GO enrichment analysis, KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, and molecular docking between the core target and the components were carried out.CCK8 and qPCR were used to verify the effect of optimal core component tripterine on breast cancer cells.Results Seven kinds of active anti-breast cancer components and twenty-five core therapeutic targets of Tripterygii Wilfordii were obtained.Tripterine, which significantly inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells, was the most valuable component of Tripterygii Wilfordii for breast cancer.QPCR results showed that tripterine decreased the expression of core therapeutic targets.Conclusions The effectiveness of Tripterygii Wilfordii has multiple pathways, and tripterine may play an important role in treatment of breast cancer.

Objective To build a prostate cancer (PCa) risk prediction model based on common clinical indicators to provide a theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of PCa and to evaluate the value of artificial intelligence (AI) technology under healthcare data platforms. Methods After preprocessing of the data from Population Health Data Archive, smuothly clipped absolute deviation (SCAD) was used to select features. Random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), back propagation neural network (BP), and convolutional neural network (CNN) were used to predict the risk of PCa, among which BP and CNN were used on the enhanced data by SMOTE. The performances of models were compared using area under the curve (AUC) of the receiving operating characteristic curve. After the optimal model was selected, we used the Shiny to develop an online calculator for PCa risk prediction based on predictive indicators. Results Inorganic phosphorus, triglycerides, and calcium were closely related to PCa in addition to the volume of fragmented tissue and free prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Among the four models, RF had the best performance in predicting PCa (accuracy: 96.80%; AUC: 0.975, 95% CI: 0.964-0.986). Followed by BP (accuracy: 85.36%; AUC: 0.892, 95% CI: 0.849-0.934) and SVM (accuracy: 82.67%; AUC: 0.824, 95% CI: 0.805-0.844). CNN performed worse (accuracy: 72.37%; AUC: 0.724, 95% CI: 0.670-0.779). An online platform for PCa risk prediction was developed based on the RF model and the predictive indicators. Conclusions This study revealed the application value of traditional machine learning and deep learning models in disease risk prediction under healthcare data platform, proposed new ideas for PCa risk prediction in patients suspected for PCa and had undergone core needle biopsy. Besides, the online calculation may enhance the practicability of AI prediction technology and facilitate medical diagnosis.
Male ; Humans ; Artificial Intelligence ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Machine Learning ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Algorithms

OBJECTIVE: To develop a new classification of acromion based on the subacromial impingement theory and the Rockwood tilt view. And explore the application value of the new classification in the diagnosis and treatment of rotator cuff tear. METHODS: The clinical data of 101 patients underwent shoulder arthroscopic surgery for impingement syndrome or rotator cuff tear from January to December 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 34 males and 67 females, aged from 34 to 76 years with an average of (56.31±9.63) years old, course of disease from 2 to 12 months with average of 6 months. Preoperative radiographs of the routine anteroposterior view, Rockwood tilt view and the supraspinatus outlet view were obtained. Based on the subacromial impingement theory and Rockwood radiographs, the morphology of the acromion can be divided into three types:typeⅠ(flat type), typeⅡ(bump type), and type Ⅲ (impingement type). Two observers classified 101 shoulder Rockwood radiographs according to the new classification method and the supraspinatus Outlet radiographs according to the traditional acromial morphological classification method. Supraspinatus tendon injuries were classified into no tear, partial-thickness tear, and full-thickness tear according to the arthroscopic findings. Concordance test (Kappa value) between the inter-observer and intra-observer was carried out for the new classification method and the traditional classification method respectively. The rank sum test was used to compare the mean acromiohumeral distance(AHD) of the three acromion forms in the new acromion classification method. Spearman rank correlation test and Gamma method were used to analyze the correlation between the new acromion classification method and the degree of supraspinatus tendon tear. RESULTS: The inter-observer consistency analysis of the new classification system was significantly better than that of the traditional classification (0.827 vs 0.278), the intra-observer consistency analysis of the new classification system were also significantly better than that of the traditional classification (0.921 vs 0.448, 0.890 vs 0.539). There was no statistical significance in the AHD among three types of the new classification(H=2.186, P>0.05). In all 101 patients, the highest proportion of impingement type acromion was 45.5% (46 cases), followed by bump type acromion was 36.6% (37 cases), and flat type acromion was 17.8% (18 cases). The incidence of supraspinatus tendon tear in the patients with impingement type acromion was significantly higher than that of the other two types of acromion, there was a spearman rank correlation between the new acromion type and the degree of the supraspinatus tendon tear(rs=0.719, P<0.001). CONCLUSION Rockwood radiographs of the shoulder can well display the anterolateral osteophytes of the acromion. The new acromion classification method based on Rockwood radiographs has high reliability and good reproducibility, in which impingement type of acromion is closely related to supraspinatus tendon tear. Compared with the traditional classification and AHD, the new classification method has more diagnostic value than for rotator cuff injury.
Acromion/surgery* ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reproducibility of Results ; Retrospective Studies ; Rotator Cuff/surgery* ; Rotator Cuff Injuries/surgery* ; Rupture ; Shoulder Impingement Syndrome/surgery*