Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the 0-2 h high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) cutoff recommended by the guidelines for the rule-out and rule-in diagnosis of suspected non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients of different age groups.Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study. Clinical data of 4 050 suspected NSTEMI patients who visited the Chest Pain Center of Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University from January 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients who visited from January 2020 to April 2021 (2 650 patients) were included as derivation cohort, and those who visited from May to December 2021 (1 400 patients) were included as validation cohort. The diagnostic performance of the guideline-recommended hs-cTnT 0-2 h cutoff for the rule-out and rule-in of NSTEMI diagnosis was compared among subgroups of patients aged ≤60, >60-70, and >70 years in the derivation group. Rule-out sensitivity, negative predictive value, and rule-out proportion, rule-in specificity, positive predictive value, and rule-in proportion were assessed. Cutoffs were established for subgroups with relatively lower diagnostic performance and validated in the validation group. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within 30 days after patient visit were used as the outcome, and survival curves were plotted using Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank tests were used to analyze the incidence of MACE.Results:The sensitivity for ruled-out NSTEMI using the guideline-recommended 0-2 h cutoff in the subgroups of patients aged ≤60, >60-70, and >70 years in the derivation group was 100%; the negative predictive value was 100%; the ruled-out rates were 47.6% (331/696), 45.9% (491/1 070), and 28.5% (252/884), respectively. The specificity for ruled-in NSTEMI was 88.3%, 90.9%, and 86.4%, respectively; the positive predictive values were 55.3%, 59.3%, and 58.2%, respectively; the ruled-in rates were 22.6% (157/696), 19.5% (209/1 070), and 27.0% (239/884), respectively. With a requirement of sensitivity and negative predictive value >99%, the ruled-out cutoff for the subgroup of patients aged >70 years in the derivation group was established as 0 h hs-cTnT <6 ng/L or 0 h hs-cTnT<22 ng/L and 0-2 h Δhs-cTnT <5 ng/L, which increased the ruled-out rate of the subgroup aged >70 years to 45.6% (403/884). In the validation group, 42.2% (196/465) patients could be ruled-out. The incidence of MACE within 30 days for ruled-out patients aged >70 years using the established cutoff was 0.Conclusion:The diagnostic performance for the ruled-out and ruled-in diagnosis using the guideline-recommended 0-2 h hs-cTnT cutoff are relatively consistent across different age groups, but the ruled-out rate for patients aged >70 years is lower than for those aged ≤60 and >60-70 years. The ruled-out cutoff established in this study can be used to improve diagnostic performance of thus indicator on suspected NSTEMI patients.

Objective:To investigate the alterations in brain functional activity before and after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients with chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and their relations with cognitive impairment.Methods:A prospective observational study was performed; female breast cancer patients with CRCI admitted to Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University were recruited, and age- and education level-matched female healthy controls were chosen. Before and one month after chemotherapy, statuses of cognitive function, depression and anxiety in breast cancer patients with CRCI were evaluated by Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), functional assessment of cancer therapy-cognitive function (FACT-cog), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and self-rating anxiety scale (SAS); subsequently, conventional MRI and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) were conducted. The healthy controls accepted MoCA, SDS, and SAS, followed by conventional MRI and rs-fMRI. Differences in clinical data and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF, rs-fMRI brain spontaneous neural activity index) were compared between breast cancer patients with CRCI before chemotherapy and healthy controls, and in the breast cancer patients with CRCI between before and after chemotherapy. Taking the brain regions with significant differences in ALFF before and after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients with CRCI as seed points, the difference in whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) before and after chemotherapy was compared in breast cancer patients with CRCI. Pearson or Spearman correlation tests were used to analyze the correlations of ALFF and FC in brain regions with significant differences in ALFF with cognitive function scores in breast cancer patients with CRCI.Results:(1) A total of 22 breast cancer patients with CRCI and 22 healthy controls were enrolled. Compared with the healthy controls, the breast cancer patients with CRCI before chemotherapy had significantly higher SDS and SAS scores ( P<0.05). Compared with breast cancer patients with CRCI before chemotherapy, the breast cancer patients with CRCI after chemotherapy had significantly lower MoCA, FACT-cog-perceived cognitive impairment, FACT-cog-comment from others on cognitive function, and FACT-cog-perceived cognitive ability ( P<0.05). (2) Compared with those before chemotherapy, breast cancer patients with CRCI after chemotherapy exhibited significantly increased ALFF in the right precuneus, right middle occipital gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus, while statistically decreased FC in the right middle occipital gyrus-left middle temporal gyrus, right precentral gyrus-right middle temporal gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus-left fusiform gyrus ( P<0.05). (3) ALFF in the right precentral gyrus in breast cancer patients with CRCI after chemotherapy was negatively correlated with difference value of FACT-cog before and after chemotherapy ( r=-0.497, P=0.018) and difference value of PCA before and after chemotherapy ( r s=-0.436, P=0.042); FC in the left superior frontal gyrus-left fusiform gyrus was positively correlated with score of FACT-cog-perceived cognitive impairment ( r=0.621, P=0.002). Conclusion:Chemotherapy induces compensatory enhancement of spontaneous neural activity in multiple brain regions in breast cancer patients with CRCI, accompanied by FC disruption at specific brain areas, which are associated with cognitive impairment.

Objective:To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the 0-2 h high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) cutoff recommended by the guidelines for the rule-out and rule-in diagnosis of suspected non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients of different age groups.Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study. Clinical data of 4 050 suspected NSTEMI patients who visited the Chest Pain Center of Zhongshan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University from January 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients who visited from January 2020 to April 2021 (2 650 patients) were included as derivation cohort, and those who visited from May to December 2021 (1 400 patients) were included as validation cohort. The diagnostic performance of the guideline-recommended hs-cTnT 0-2 h cutoff for the rule-out and rule-in of NSTEMI diagnosis was compared among subgroups of patients aged ≤60, >60-70, and >70 years in the derivation group. Rule-out sensitivity, negative predictive value, and rule-out proportion, rule-in specificity, positive predictive value, and rule-in proportion were assessed. Cutoffs were established for subgroups with relatively lower diagnostic performance and validated in the validation group. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within 30 days after patient visit were used as the outcome, and survival curves were plotted using Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank tests were used to analyze the incidence of MACE.Results:The sensitivity for ruled-out NSTEMI using the guideline-recommended 0-2 h cutoff in the subgroups of patients aged ≤60, >60-70, and >70 years in the derivation group was 100%; the negative predictive value was 100%; the ruled-out rates were 47.6% (331/696), 45.9% (491/1 070), and 28.5% (252/884), respectively. The specificity for ruled-in NSTEMI was 88.3%, 90.9%, and 86.4%, respectively; the positive predictive values were 55.3%, 59.3%, and 58.2%, respectively; the ruled-in rates were 22.6% (157/696), 19.5% (209/1 070), and 27.0% (239/884), respectively. With a requirement of sensitivity and negative predictive value >99%, the ruled-out cutoff for the subgroup of patients aged >70 years in the derivation group was established as 0 h hs-cTnT <6 ng/L or 0 h hs-cTnT<22 ng/L and 0-2 h Δhs-cTnT <5 ng/L, which increased the ruled-out rate of the subgroup aged >70 years to 45.6% (403/884). In the validation group, 42.2% (196/465) patients could be ruled-out. The incidence of MACE within 30 days for ruled-out patients aged >70 years using the established cutoff was 0.Conclusion:The diagnostic performance for the ruled-out and ruled-in diagnosis using the guideline-recommended 0-2 h hs-cTnT cutoff are relatively consistent across different age groups, but the ruled-out rate for patients aged >70 years is lower than for those aged ≤60 and >60-70 years. The ruled-out cutoff established in this study can be used to improve diagnostic performance of thus indicator on suspected NSTEMI patients.

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP), whose etiology is influenced by genetic and clinical risk factors, considerably impacts women's quality of life. However, the genetic underpinnings in non-European populations and comprehensive risk models integrating genetic and clinical factors remain underexplored. This study constructed the first polygenic risk score (PRS) for POP in the Chinese population by utilizing 20 disease-associated variants from the largest existing genome-wide association study. We analyzed a discovery cohort of 576 cases and 623 controls and a validation cohort of 264 cases and 200 controls. Results showed that the case group exhibited a significantly higher PRS than the control group. Moreover, the odds ratio of the top 10% risk group was 2.6 times higher than that of the bottom 10%. A high PRS was significantly correlated with POP occurrence in women older than 50 years old and in those with one or no childbirths. As far as we know, the integrated prediction model, which combined PRS and clinical risk factors, demonstrated better predictive accuracy than other existing PRS models. This combined risk assessment model serves as a robust tool for POP risk prediction and stratification, thereby offering insights into individualized preventive measures and treatment strategies in future clinical practice.
Humans ; Female ; Pelvic Organ Prolapse/epidemiology* ; Middle Aged ; Risk Assessment/methods* ; China/epidemiology* ; Multifactorial Inheritance ; Aged ; Risk Factors ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Case-Control Studies ; Adult ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Genetic Risk Score ; East Asian People

Objective:To investigate the alterations in brain functional activity before and after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients with chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and their relations with cognitive impairment.Methods:A prospective observational study was performed; female breast cancer patients with CRCI admitted to Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital 6 of Nantong University were recruited, and age- and education level-matched female healthy controls were chosen. Before and one month after chemotherapy, statuses of cognitive function, depression and anxiety in breast cancer patients with CRCI were evaluated by Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), functional assessment of cancer therapy-cognitive function (FACT-cog), self-rating depression scale (SDS), and self-rating anxiety scale (SAS); subsequently, conventional MRI and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) were conducted. The healthy controls accepted MoCA, SDS, and SAS, followed by conventional MRI and rs-fMRI. Differences in clinical data and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF, rs-fMRI brain spontaneous neural activity index) were compared between breast cancer patients with CRCI before chemotherapy and healthy controls, and in the breast cancer patients with CRCI between before and after chemotherapy. Taking the brain regions with significant differences in ALFF before and after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients with CRCI as seed points, the difference in whole-brain functional connectivity (FC) before and after chemotherapy was compared in breast cancer patients with CRCI. Pearson or Spearman correlation tests were used to analyze the correlations of ALFF and FC in brain regions with significant differences in ALFF with cognitive function scores in breast cancer patients with CRCI.Results:(1) A total of 22 breast cancer patients with CRCI and 22 healthy controls were enrolled. Compared with the healthy controls, the breast cancer patients with CRCI before chemotherapy had significantly higher SDS and SAS scores ( P<0.05). Compared with breast cancer patients with CRCI before chemotherapy, the breast cancer patients with CRCI after chemotherapy had significantly lower MoCA, FACT-cog-perceived cognitive impairment, FACT-cog-comment from others on cognitive function, and FACT-cog-perceived cognitive ability ( P<0.05). (2) Compared with those before chemotherapy, breast cancer patients with CRCI after chemotherapy exhibited significantly increased ALFF in the right precuneus, right middle occipital gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus, while statistically decreased FC in the right middle occipital gyrus-left middle temporal gyrus, right precentral gyrus-right middle temporal gyrus, and left superior frontal gyrus-left fusiform gyrus ( P<0.05). (3) ALFF in the right precentral gyrus in breast cancer patients with CRCI after chemotherapy was negatively correlated with difference value of FACT-cog before and after chemotherapy ( r=-0.497, P=0.018) and difference value of PCA before and after chemotherapy ( r s=-0.436, P=0.042); FC in the left superior frontal gyrus-left fusiform gyrus was positively correlated with score of FACT-cog-perceived cognitive impairment ( r=0.621, P=0.002). Conclusion:Chemotherapy induces compensatory enhancement of spontaneous neural activity in multiple brain regions in breast cancer patients with CRCI, accompanied by FC disruption at specific brain areas, which are associated with cognitive impairment.

ObjectiveTo determine the syndrome of a rat model of follicular dysplasia induced by Tripterygium glycosides based on prescriptions and investigate the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine intervention via the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase （AMPK）/mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR）/hypoxia-inducible factor-1 （HIF-1）/vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） pathway. MethodForty-eight rats with regular estrous cycles were randomly assigned into a normal group （n=8） and a modeling group （n=40）. The rats in the modeling group were administrated with Tripterygium glycoside suspension （75 mL·kg^-1） by gavage for 30 days. The modeled rats were assigned into model， Siwutang （3.69 g·kg^-1）， Youguiyin （3.11 g·kg^-1）， Zuoguiyin （7.29 g·kg^-1）， and Guishenwan （10.35 g·kg^-1） groups， with 8 rats in each group. The drug intervention lasted for 14 days. The changes of estrous cycle were detected by Pap staining， and a stereoscope was used to observe the morphology of the ovarian tissue. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was employed to observe the pathological changes and follicle count in the ovarian tissue. Enzyme-related immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to measure the levels of follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， and estradiol （E₂） in the serum. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were employed to determine the mRNA and protein levels， respectively， of AMPK， mTOR， HIF-1， and VEGF in the ovarian tissue. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model group had a disordered estrous cycle， reduced secondary and mature follicles， increased atretic follicles， elevated FSH and LH levels， lowered E₂ level， up-regulated mRNA and protein levels of AMPK， and down-regulated mRNA and protein levels of mTOR， HIF-1， and VEGF （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Guishenwan increased secondary and mature follicles， decreased atretic follicles， lowered the FSH and LH levels， elevated the E₂ level， down-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of AMPK， and up-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of mTOR， HIF-1， and VEGF （P<0.01）. Compared with Guishenwan group， Siwutang， Youguiyin， and Zuoguiyin decreased mature follicles， increased atretic follicles （P<0.01）， elevated the LH （P<0.01） and FSH （P<0.05） levels， and lowered the E₂ level （P<0.05）. In addition， Youguiyin up-regulated the protein level of AMPK （P<0.05） and down-regulated the mRNA levels of mTOR and HIF-1 （P<0.01） as well as the mRNA and protein levels of VEGF （P<0.01）. Siwutang down-regulated the mRNA levels of mTOR and HIF-1 as well as the mRNA and protein levels of VEGF （P<0.05）. Zuoguiyin down-regulated the mRNA level of mTOR and the protein and mRNA levels of VEGF （P<0.05）. ConclusionGuishenwan may improve the ovarian function and promote follicle maturation in a rat model of follicular dysplasia by inhibiting the AMPK/mTOR/HIF-1/VEGF pathway， with the therapeutic effect superior to Zuoguiyin， Youguiyin， and Siwutang. It was hypothesized that this model presented the syndrome of kidney-essence deficiency.

Objective To explore the values of translocator protein (TSPO) and serum cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) in predicting the disease condition and prognosis of patients with traumatic shock. Methods Eighty patients (traumatic shock group) with traumatic shock and eighty patients (without traumatic shock group) without traumatic shock were selected. Complete demographic and clinical laboratory data of patients were collected. Blood samples of patients with traumatic shock were collected at the time points of immediately after admission (T₁) and the first day (T₂), the third day (T₃) and seventh day (T₄) after admission, the level of TSPO was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and level of cf-mtDNA was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). The levels of TSPO and cf-mtDNA were compared between patients with and without traumatic shock; the patients with traumatic shock were divided into the poor prognosis group and good prognosis group according to differed prognostic outcome, and the levels of TSPO and cf-mtDNA were compared between the two groups. The predictive values of TSPO and cf-mtDNA for the prognosis of patients with traumatic shock were analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Compared with the no traumatic shock group, the traumatic shock group had higher levels of serum TSPO at T₁ to T₄ and higher levels of cf-mtDNA at T₂ to T₃, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Compared with the good prognosis group, the poor prognosis group had higher levels of serum TSPO and cf-mtDNA at T₁ to T₄, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Taking the prognosis of traumatic shock patients as the state variable to perform ROC curve analysis, the results showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of TSPO from T₁ to T₄ for predicting prognosis in the poor prognosis group was 0.825, 0.829, 0.695 and 0.869 respectively, while those of cf-mtDNA level from T₁ to T₄ for predicting prognosis in the poor prognosis group was 0.766, 0.766, 0.837 and 0.783 respectively, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion Traumatic shock patients have elevated levels of TSPO and cf-mtDNA, with significantly higher levels observed in those with poor prognosis, and the TSPO level on the seventh day and cf-mtDNA level on the third day have the highest predictive value for prognosis.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of the vascularised semi-split fibular flap with lateral approach in ankle fusion.Methods:A total of 54 patients who underwent ankle fusion through the lateral menstrual approach by the Department of Trauma and Micro Orthopaedics, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from June 2015 to December 2020 was retrospectively analysed. Of the 54 patients, 27 patients who underwent ankle fusion with a semi-split fibular flap carrying blood supply were assigned to the fibular flap group, while other 27 patients who had ankle fusion with lateral plate were assigned to the plate group. The ankle fusions for both groups were performed by the same surgical team. The clinical efficacy of the 2 groups was evaluated by the success rate of bone fusion, the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Surgery(AOFAS) Ankle-Hindfoot Score System, and the Visual analog score(VAS). All the patients entered the postoperative follow-up at outpatient clinic.Results:The follow-up lasted for 12-24 months, with an average of 15 months. At 6 months after surgery, 24 patients in the fibular flap group achieved osseous union with 88.9% in the success rate of bone fusion. While 17 patients in the plate group achieved osseous union, with the success rate of bone fusion at 63.0%. There was a statistically significant difference between the groups( P<0.05). At 1 year after surgery, all 27 patients in the fibular flap group achieved bony union, with a 100% of the success rate of bone fusion, while 23 patients in the plate group achieved bony union at a 85.2% success rate of bone fusion, with 4 patients failed to heal. The difference was statistically significant( P<0.05). The AOFAS scores of the fibular flap group were 41.3±12.0, 65.6±5.6, and 79.1±7.0 before operation, at 6 months after operation and 1 year after operation, respectively, while the scores for the plate group at the same time were 40.8±11.3, 64.5±4.1 and 69.3±7.2. There was no significant difference in the scores between the groups before surgery and at 6 months after the operation ( P>0.05). The scores at 1 year after surgery in the fibular flap group was significantly higher than the plate group, and there was a statistically significant difference( P<0.05). The preoperative VAS score in the fibular flap group was 7.6±1.3, while it was 7.5±1.1 in the plate group. There was no significant difference between the groups in VAS score( P>0.05). However, the VAS score at 1 year after surgery was found at 1.8±0.9 in the plate group, and 1.9±0.8 in the fibular flap group and the difference between groups was statistically significant( P<0.05). Conclusion:The surgical procedure of semi-split fibular flap through the lateral approach has lower complications and higher success rate in ankle fusion in comparison with those of the fusion with lateral plate. Thus, further clinical investigations can be considered.

Objective To study the clinical effects of Yinlian Qufeng decoction in the treatment of chronic urticaria (CU) and the effects on the changes of serum IgE and T cell subsets (CD4⁺, CD8⁺). Methods 96 patients were randomly divided into two groups, treatment group and control group, with 48 cases in each group. The treatment group was treated with Yinlian Qufeng decoction, while the control group was treated with desloratadine dispersible tablets for 8 weeks. The clinical symptom score, TCM syndrome score and quality of life [skin disease quality of life index (DLQI)] of the two groups were evaluated before and after treatment. The serum levels of IgE and CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ were measured by ELISA and flow cytometry. Clinical effect was observed and the rate of adverse reactions was counted. Results There was no statistically difference between two groups in clinical symptom scores, TCM syndrome scores, DLQI, the levels of IgE, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and the ratio of CD4⁺/CD8⁺ before treatment (P>0.05). After treatment, the clinical symptoms, TCM syndromes and DLQI were reduced in both groups. The treatment group had lower scores than that in control group with statistical significance（P < 0.05). CD4⁺ level and ratio of CD4⁺/CD8⁺ were increased, while IgE and CD8⁺ levels were decreased in both groups after treatment with statistical significance (P < 0.01). The changes of above indexes in the treatment group were better than those in the control group with statistical significance (P < 0.01). The effective rates of the two groups were 91.67% and 77.08% and rates of adverse reactions were 6.25% and 20.83% separately with statistical difference (P < 0.05). Conclusion Yinlian Qufeng decoction can effectively regulate the cellular immune function, alleviate the disease symptoms and improve life quality with few adverse reactions. This decoction deserves the promotion for clinical application.

Objective:To explore the consistency of peripheral whole blood and venous serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels, and the value of peripheral whole blood PCT in evaluating pediatric bacterial infection.Methods:This multicenter cross-sectional parallel control study was conducted in 11 children′s hospital. All the 1 898 patients older than 28 days admitted to these hospitals from March 2018 to February 2019 had their peripheral whole blood and venous serum PCT detected simultaneously with unified equipment, reagent and method. According to the venous serum PCT level, the patients were stratified to subgroups. Analysis of variance and chi-square test were used to compare the demographic characteristics among groups. And the correlation between the peripheral blood and venous serum PCT level was investigated by quantitative Pearson correlation analysis.The PCT resultes were also converted into ranked data to further test the consistency between the two sampling methods by Spearman′s rank correlation test. Furthermore, the ranked data were converted into binary data to evaluate the consistency and investigate the best cut-off of peripheral blood PCT level in predicting bacterial infection.Results:A total of 1 898 valid samples were included (1 098 males, 800 females),age 27.4(12.2,56.7) months. There was a good correlation between PCT values of peripheral whole blood and venous serum ( r=0.97 , P<0.01). The linear regression equation was PCT?venous serum=0.135+0.929×PCT peripheral whole blood. However, when stratified to 5 levels, PCT results showed diverse and unsatisfied consistency between the two sampling methods ( r=0.51-0.92, all P<0.01). But after PCT was converted to ordinal categorical variables, the stratified analysis showed that the coincidence rate of the measured values by the two sampling methods in each boundary area was 84.9%-97.1%. The dichotomous variables also showed a good consistency (coincidence rate 96.8%-99.3%, Youden index 0.82-0.89). According to the severity of disease, the serum PCT value was classified into 4 intervals（<0.5、0.5-<2.0、2.0-<10.0、≥10.0 μg/L）, and the peripheral blood PCT value also showed a good predictive value (AUC value was 0.991 2-0.997 9). The optimal cut points of peripheral whole blood PCT value 0.5、1.0、2.0、10.0 μg/L corresponding to venous serum PCT values were 0.395, 0.595, 1.175 and 3.545 μg/L, respectively. Conclusions:There is a good correlation between peripheral whole blood PCT value and the venous serum PCT value, which means that the peripheral whole blood PCT could facilitate the identification of infection and clinical severity. Besides, the sampling of peripheral whole blood is simple and easy to repeat.