Background::Risk assessment and treatment stratification for three-vessel coronary disease (TVD) remain challenging. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of left atrial volume index (LAVI) with the Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score II, and its association with the long-term prognosis after three strategies (percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI], coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], and medical therapy [MT]) in patients with TVD.Methods::This study was a post hoc analysis of a large, prospective cohort of patients with TVD in China, that aimed to determine the long-term outcomes after PCI, CABG, or optimal MT alone. A total of 8943 patients with TVD were consecutively enrolled between 2004 and 2011 at Fuwai Hospital. A total of 7818 patients with available baseline LAVI data were included in the study. Baseline, procedural, and follow-up data were collected. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), which was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. Secondary endpoints included all-cause death, cardiac death, MI, revascularization, and stroke. Long-term outcomes were evaluated among LAVI quartile groups. Results::During a median follow-up of 6.6 years, a higher LAVI was strongly associated with increased risk of MACCE (Q3: hazard ratio [HR] 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.37, P = 0.005; Q4: HR 1.85, 95%CI 1.64-2.09, P <0.001), all-cause death (Q3: HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.17-1.69, P <0.001; Q4: HR 2.54, 95%CI 2.16-3.00, P <0.001), and cardiac death (Q3: HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.39-2.37, P <0.001; Q4: HR 3.47, 95%CI 2.71-4.43, P <0.001). Moreover, LAVI significantly improved discrimination and reclassification of the SYNTAX score II. Notably, there was a significant interaction between LAVI quartiles and treatment strategies for MACCE. CABG was associated with lower risk of MACCE than MT alone, regardless of LAVI quartiles. Among patients in the fourth quartile, PCI was associated with significantly increased risk of cardiac death compared with CABG (HR: 5.25, 95% CI: 1.97-14.03, P = 0.001). Conclusions::LAVI is a potential index for risk stratification and therapeutic decision-making in patients with three-vessel coronary disease. CABG is associated with improved long-term outcomes compared with MT alone, regardless of LAVI quartiles. When LAVI is severely elevated, PCI is associated with higher risk of cardiac death than CABG.

With the rising aging population, the number of people with stroke, dementia and Parkinson's disease is huge.These patients often have swallowing dysfunction, cognitive decline, decreased immune function, long-term bed rest, malnutrition, and sarcopenia, and are prone to pneumonia.However, the clinical manifestations of these patients with pneumonia are non-specific.The patients often cannot accurately express their complaints, resulting in symptoms being ignored.The underlying diseases of the nervous system increase the risk of pneumonia-related death, and is associated with poor prognosis.This article aimed to review the risk factors, prevention and treatment of these three neurological disorders complicated with pneumonia.

Community acquired pneumonia(CAP)is characterized by high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients, with the elderly as the main vulnerable population.However, current guidelines in China and elsewhere do not offer specific recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of such patients.This paper reviews the definition, classification, epidemiology, etiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of CAP in immunocompromised elderly patients, to provide a theoretical framework for its diagnosis and treatment and for the formulation of guidelines.

Objective:To investigate the clinical and mycological characteristics, treatment and prognosis of invasive candidiasis(IC)in the elderly.Methods:This retrospective study included aged patients(≥65 years)admitted to the Peking University First Hospital between January, 2010 and December, 2019, who were diagnosed with IC based on positive culture results.The infecting strains were re-identified and their antifungal drug resistance was tested.The clinical and mycological characteristics, treatment and prognosis information of the elderly patients were collected and compared with those of non-elderly adults.Results:A total of 99 aged patients were included, with a median age of 78(70-83)years and a male-to-female ratio of 2.1∶1.0.The elderly accounted for 62.7%(99/158)of the adult IC patients.Compared with their younger counterparts, elderly patients were more likely to need medium-to long-term hospitalization and intensive care unit(ICU)stay, and to show concurrent heart failure, respiratory failure or renal failure, to require mechanical ventilation, and to show deep-seated bacterial infections and multifocal Candida colonization, especially for those with previous fluconazole exposure( P<0.05). Bloodstream was the most common Candida transmission route(71/99, 71.7%)and Candida albicans was the most prevalent species(47/99, 47.5%). Antifungal resistance was highest for fluconazole(17/117, 14.5%)and voriconazole(15/117, 12.8%). No significant difference was found between elderly patients and non-elderly patients in terms of infected sites, Candida species, and antifungal resistance( P>0.05). A total of 86 patients(86.9%)received systemic antifungal treatment and fluconazole was the most commonly used drug(35/86, 40.7%). The thirty-day all-cause mortality in aged IC patients was 32.6%(29/89), significantly higher than in younger patients( P=0.022). Logistic regression analysis revealed that advanced age( OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.06-1.20, P<0.001), renal failure( OR=4.81; 95% CI: 1.65-14.03; P=0.004), and a high Candida score( OR=1.81, 95% CI: 1.06-3.11, P=0.031)significantly increased the risk of death. Conclusions:Elderly patients were the main affected population of IC, and the mortality of IC steadily increases with age.Treatment for aged IC patients should be proactive and cautious.

Aspiration is the entry of oropharyngeal or gastric contents into the lower respiratory tract through the glottis, a common and important cause of death in elderly patients due to lung infections.However, a lack of accurate and rapid clinical methods for the diagnosis of aspiration leads to misdiagnosis, missed diagnosis or delayed diagnosis of aspiration, especially aspiration pneumonia.In recent years, with further research into the mechanisms of aspiration syndromes, multiple aspiration biomarkers with potential and clinical translational value have been found, and may help early detection of aspiration and have important and practical significance for elderly health.Therefore, this article reviews aspiration biomarkers such as pepsin, α-amylase, bile acid and other potential biomarkers as well as current relevant research, detection methods, their clinical value and prospects concerning challenges and directions of innovation in future research.

The population is susceptible to Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), and the proportion of severe cases and fatality rate in the elderly are higher.For patients with COVID-19, clinicians routinely monitor their inflammatory markers, such as neutrophils, lymphocytes, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, serum amyloid A, tumor necrosis factor-α, serum albumin, interleukin-3 and others.This article reviews the diagnostic value of the above mentioned inflammatory markers for COVID-19 in the elderly.It aims to provide a reference for the clinical diagnosis and management of these patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause great damage to the elderly patients and lead to high mortality. The clinical presentations and auxiliary examinations of the elderly patients with COVID-19 are atypical, due to the physiological ageing deterioration and basal pathological state. The treatment strategy for the elderly patients has its own characteristics and treatment protocol should be considered accordingly. To improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of COVID-19 in the elderly, the Expert Committee of Geriatric Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, China Society of Geriatrics established the "Expert consensus for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 in the elderly" . We focused on the clinical characteristics and key points for better treatment and prevention of COVID-19 in the elderly. (1) For diagnosis, atypical clinical presentation of COVID-19 in the elderly should be emphasized, which may be complicated by underlying disease. (2) For treatment, strategy of multiple disciplinary team (mainly the respiratory and critical care medicine) should be adopted and multiple systemic functions should be considered. (3) For prevention, health care model about integrated management of acute and chronic diseases, in and out of hospital should be applied.

Objective: To analyze the association between plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and the severity of coronary artery disease, and to evaluate the impact of HDL-C levels on long-term outcomes in patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: A total of 10 458 consecutive patients underwent PCI from January 2013 to December 2013 at Fuwai hospital were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into three groups according to HDL-C tertiles: low HDL-C group (HDL-C≤0.89 mmol/L, n=3 525), median HDL-C group (HDL-C>0.89-1.11 mmol/L, n=3 570) and high HDL-C group (HDL-C>1.11 mmol/L, n=3 363). SYNTAX score was used to evaluate the severity of coronary artery disease, linear regression was used to analyze the relationship of HDL-C and SYNTAX score. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to compare the outcomes among the three groups. Multivariate Cox regression was used to define the potential associations of HDL-C and outcomes. Results: The HDL-C level was (1.03±0.28) mmol/L and the SYNTAX score was 11.7±8.1. Patients were older, proportion of female, stable angina pectoris, successful PCI and left ventricular eject fraction value were higher, while incidence of diabetes mellitus was lower, hyperlipidemia, old myocardial infraction, smoking history and left main and three vessels disease were lower in high HDL-C group (all P<0.05). Patients in high HDL-C group also had the lowest SYNTAX score (12.2±8.4 vs. 11.7±8.1 vs. 11.2±7.8, P<0.001). Both univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis showed that HDL-C was negatively associated with SYNTAX score, e.g. Univariate analysis: β=-0.046, P<0.001; Multivariate analysis: β=-0.058, P=0.001. And 10 400 (99.4%) patients completed 2-year follow up. At 2-year follow-up, there were no difference in all-cause death, cardiac death, myocardial infarction, revascularization, stroke, major adverse cardiovascular and cerebral events (MACCE) and stent thrombosis among three groups (P for trend>0.05), while patient in high HDL-C group experienced the highest BARC type 2 bleeding events (P for trend=0.018). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that HDL-C level was not an independent risk factor of 2-year adverse ischemia events (P>0.05) and 2-year bleeding events (P>0.05). Conclusion In patients underwent PCI, plasma HDL-C level is negatively associated with SYNTAX score, but not an independent risk factor of ischemic and bleeding events post PCI.

By introducing the unqualified cases of radiation emission test of medical laser equipment, this paper analyses the causes of the problems and the corrective measures adopted, and analyses the effectiveness of the corrective measures. It is proposed that the design rules and rules related to radiation emission should be mastered from the input stage of product design and development, and the radiation emission problem should be considered and solved as soon as possible.
Equipment Design ; Laser Therapy ; instrumentation ; Lasers ; Light

Objective: To observe the safety and impact of short-term anticoagulant therapy on prognosis after selective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with coronary artery disease. Methods: From January 2013 to December 2013, 9 769 consecutive patients underwent selective PCI in Fuwai Hospital were retrospectively included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups, including non-post-PCI anticoagulant therapy group and low-dose and short-time post-PCI anticoagulant therapy group (enoxaparin 0.4 ml/12 h or fondaparinux 2.5 mg/day by subcutaneous injection for 2-3 days after PCI). All patients were evaluated at 30 days, 180 days and 12 months for major adverse coronary and cerebral events (MACCE) including all-cause death, myocardial infarction, revascularization and stroke as well as in-stent thrombosis and bleeding events. Data from 1 755 pairs of patients were analysis after propensity score matching. The clinical outcomes were compared between groups by using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis before and after propensity score matching. Multivariable Cox analysis was used to define the impact and determinants of post-PCI anticoagulation on clinical outcomes. Results: one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five (18.0%) patients didn′t receive post-PCI anticoagulation and 8 014 (82.0%) patients received post-PCI anticoagulation, 5 666 (58.0%) patients received enoxaparin and 2 348 (24.0%) patients received fondaparinux. Patients were younger and incidence of female patients was less, incidence of renal dysfunction and acute coronary syndrome were higher in low-dose and short-time post-PCI anticoagulant therapy group than in non-post-PCI anticoagulation group (all P<0.05). Similarly, patients with post-PCI anticoagulation were associated with more left main coronary artery lesion and branch lesion (P<0.05). Post-PCI anticoagulation patients were associated with less trans-femoral process, more drug-eluting stents implantation and less simple balloon dilatation (all P<0.05). Nine thousand seven hundred and seventeen (99.5%) patients completed 2 years follow up. Post-PCI anticoagulation patients had significantly lower 30-day all-cause death (0.05% (4 cases) vs. 0.46% (8 cases), P<0.001) and stroke (0 vs. 0.11% (2 cases), P=0.003), lower 180-day all-cause death (0.17% (14 cases) vs. 0.57% (10 cases), P=0.002), revascularization (2.07% (166 cases) vs. 3.71% (65 cases), P<0.001) and MACCE (3.49% (280 cases) vs. 5.47% (96 cases), P<0.001), lower 2-year revascularization (7.61% (610 cases) vs. 12.84% (225 cases), P<0.001) and MACCE (10.92 (875 cases) vs. 16.01% (281 cases), P<0.001). Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that post-PCI anticoagulant therapy was an independent protective factor of 30-day (HR=0.17, 95%CI 0.05-0.62, P=0.007), 180-day all-cause death (HR=0.37, 95%CI 0.16-0.87, P=0.023) and MACCE (HR=0.74, 95%CI 0.58-0.94, P=0.013), 2-year MACCE (HR=0.71, 95%CI 0.62-0.81, P<0.001). After propensity score matching, post-PCI anticoagulation therapy remained as an independent protective factor of 30-day all-cause death (HR=0.11, 95%CI 0.01-0.92, P=0.042) and 2-year MACCE (HR=0.81, 95%CI 0.68-0.96, P=0.015). Conclusions Low-dose and short-time post-PCI anticoagulant therapy may decrease 30-day all-cause death, 180-day all-cause death and MACCE and 2-year MACCE, and meanwhile this option does not increase bleeding risk in patients underwent selective PCI.