Objective To investigate the prognostic value of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio(PLR)at different early time points in adult patients undergoing veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(VA-ECMO).Methods A retrospective study was conducted,selecting 55 adult patients who underwent VA-ECMO treatment at the First Hospital of Jiaxing from June 2020 to October 2022 as the study subjects.Then,the patients'gender,age,past history[including hypertension,diabetes,heart disease,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)],and the reason for extracorporeal membrane pulmonary oxygenation(ECMO)adjuvant therapy[including severe myocarditis,acute myocardia infarction,in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,severe closed craniocerebral injury,severe pneumonia,pelvic fracture,other(pulmonary embolism,electrocution,traumatic hepatic rupture,post-partum hemorrhage,severe acute pancreatitis,crush syndrome)],acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ(APACHEⅡ),sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA)at the time of admission,and ECMO peripheral blood tests[creatinine,alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),blood lactate acid(Lac),white blood cell count(WBC),neutrophil count(NEU),lymphocyte count(LYM),hemoglobin(Hb),and platelet count(PLT)]and the last time prior to ECMO assistance,24 hours prior to the occurrence of acute kidney injury(AKI),and 24 hours after the occurrence of AKI.PLR levels at 24 hours ECMO,and the proportion of continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT).The patients were divided into a death group and a survival group based on their 30-day prognosis and further categorized into a CRRT group and a non-CRRT group based on whether CRRT was administered.Clinical indicators of patients with different prognosis and the differences in PLR levels between CRRT and non-CRRT groups were compared.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors affecting the 30-day prognosis of VA-ECMO patients.The receiver operator characteristic(ROC curves)were plotted to evaluate the prognostic predictive value of each risk factor.Results Compared to the survival group,the death group had significantly higher APACHEⅡscores,SOFA scores,LYM and proportion receiving CRRT[APACHEⅡscore:34.00(28.50,36.00)vs.25.00(14.75,34.00),SOFA score:5.00(4.00,6.50)vs.3.00(2.00,5.25),LYM(×109/L):3.40±1.97 vs.2.24±2.11,proportion receiving CRRT:91.30%(21/23)vs.62.50%(20/32)],and a significantly lower level of the last PLR prior to ECMO adjuvant[30.00(21.06,48.17)vs.58.82(41.80,145.72)],and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that the levels of the last PLR before ECMO assistance[odds ratio(OR)=0.965,95%confidence interval(95%CI)was 0.938-0.993,P=0.013],APACHEⅡscore at the time of admission(OR=1.121,95%CI was 1.018-1.234,P=0.020),and CRRT(OR=7.734,95%CI was 1.042-57.401,P=0.045)were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of the VA-ECMO patients at 30 days after adjuvant;the ROC curve analysis showed that APACHEⅡscore,CRRT and the last PLR level before ECMO assistance had a predictive value for the prognosis of VA-ECMO patients 30 days after assistance,in which the APACHEⅡscore+the last PLR level before ECMO assistance had the greatest predictive value in predicting the prognosis of the patients,with area under the curve(AUC)of 0.846,with a sensitivity of 62.5%and a specificity of 95.7%.Higher early PLR levels were associated with better prognosis.In the CRRT group,PLR levels at 24 hours before ECMO initiation,24 hours before AKI onset,and 24 hours after AKI onset were significantly lower than those in the non-CRRT group(all P<0.05).Conclusion Early PLR levels and CRRT administration have significant predictive value for the prognosis of patients undergoing VA-ECMO therapy.

Objective To investigate the prognostic value of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio(PLR)at different early time points in adult patients undergoing veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(VA-ECMO).Methods A retrospective study was conducted,selecting 55 adult patients who underwent VA-ECMO treatment at the First Hospital of Jiaxing from June 2020 to October 2022 as the study subjects.Then,the patients'gender,age,past history[including hypertension,diabetes,heart disease,chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)],and the reason for extracorporeal membrane pulmonary oxygenation(ECMO)adjuvant therapy[including severe myocarditis,acute myocardia infarction,in-hospital and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,severe closed craniocerebral injury,severe pneumonia,pelvic fracture,other(pulmonary embolism,electrocution,traumatic hepatic rupture,post-partum hemorrhage,severe acute pancreatitis,crush syndrome)],acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ(APACHEⅡ),sequential organ failure assessment(SOFA)at the time of admission,and ECMO peripheral blood tests[creatinine,alanine aminotransferase(ALT),aspartate aminotransferase(AST),blood lactate acid(Lac),white blood cell count(WBC),neutrophil count(NEU),lymphocyte count(LYM),hemoglobin(Hb),and platelet count(PLT)]and the last time prior to ECMO assistance,24 hours prior to the occurrence of acute kidney injury(AKI),and 24 hours after the occurrence of AKI.PLR levels at 24 hours ECMO,and the proportion of continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT).The patients were divided into a death group and a survival group based on their 30-day prognosis and further categorized into a CRRT group and a non-CRRT group based on whether CRRT was administered.Clinical indicators of patients with different prognosis and the differences in PLR levels between CRRT and non-CRRT groups were compared.Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors affecting the 30-day prognosis of VA-ECMO patients.The receiver operator characteristic(ROC curves)were plotted to evaluate the prognostic predictive value of each risk factor.Results Compared to the survival group,the death group had significantly higher APACHEⅡscores,SOFA scores,LYM and proportion receiving CRRT[APACHEⅡscore:34.00(28.50,36.00)vs.25.00(14.75,34.00),SOFA score:5.00(4.00,6.50)vs.3.00(2.00,5.25),LYM(×109/L):3.40±1.97 vs.2.24±2.11,proportion receiving CRRT:91.30%(21/23)vs.62.50%(20/32)],and a significantly lower level of the last PLR prior to ECMO adjuvant[30.00(21.06,48.17)vs.58.82(41.80,145.72)],and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05).Logistic regression analysis showed that the levels of the last PLR before ECMO assistance[odds ratio(OR)=0.965,95%confidence interval(95%CI)was 0.938-0.993,P=0.013],APACHEⅡscore at the time of admission(OR=1.121,95%CI was 1.018-1.234,P=0.020),and CRRT(OR=7.734,95%CI was 1.042-57.401,P=0.045)were independent risk factors affecting the prognosis of the VA-ECMO patients at 30 days after adjuvant;the ROC curve analysis showed that APACHEⅡscore,CRRT and the last PLR level before ECMO assistance had a predictive value for the prognosis of VA-ECMO patients 30 days after assistance,in which the APACHEⅡscore+the last PLR level before ECMO assistance had the greatest predictive value in predicting the prognosis of the patients,with area under the curve(AUC)of 0.846,with a sensitivity of 62.5%and a specificity of 95.7%.Higher early PLR levels were associated with better prognosis.In the CRRT group,PLR levels at 24 hours before ECMO initiation,24 hours before AKI onset,and 24 hours after AKI onset were significantly lower than those in the non-CRRT group(all P<0.05).Conclusion Early PLR levels and CRRT administration have significant predictive value for the prognosis of patients undergoing VA-ECMO therapy.

Dysbiosis can cause microenvironmental dysregulation, which can further lead to local or systemic diseases, such as caries, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and diabetes. Dysbiosis is primarily manifested as the disturbance of metabolic processes and products. Arginine plays an important role in various metabolic processes and homeostasis of the microbial flora and the host. This study aims to explore the potential therapeutic value of arginine and its metabolism and homeostasis regulation in diseases associated with oral-intestinal dysbiosis. Host and microbial homeostasis can be restored by regulating the composition or function of host microbiota, and arginine has been found to exhibit significant clinical potential in restoring host microbiota composition and function. For example, arginine can reduce the risk of caries by regulating the relative abundance of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguineus. Additionally, arginine metabolism may play a therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel disease and obesity by regulating the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. In addition, supplementation of arginine and its metabolite polyamine has clinical prospects in the treatment of diabetic patients with ketoacidosis. Although studies have demonstrated the therapeutic role of arginine in oral, intestinal, and metabolism-related diseases, the specific mechanism is yet to be explored. In addition, further research is required to determine the optimal clinical dosage of arginine that can maintain microbiota homeostasis without causing any side effects.

Objective:To investigate the prevalence and associated risk of cardiovascular event of resistant hypertension in treated outpatients.Methods:This study was a nationwide multi-center prospective cohort study. The participants were treated outpatients enrolled in the China Nationwide Ambulatory and Home Blood Pressure Registry study of 42 hospitals in 19 provinces across the country from August 2009 to October 2017. Apparent resistant hypertension was defined as uncontrolled office blood pressure (≥140/90 mmHg, 1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) in spite of the use of three antihypertensive drugs or controlled office blood pressure (<140/90 mmHg) with four antihypertensive drugs or more. Subjects diagnosed with uncontrolled office blood pressure were further subdivided as pseudo-resistant hypertension and true resistant hypertension based on 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. The primary endpoint was fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, which was a composite endpoint consisting of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular death, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery revascularization, unstable angina, heart failure, and coronary artery stenosis≥50% confirmed by coronary angiography. Secondary outcomes included fatal and non-fatal stroke or cardiac events. Patients with controlled office blood pressure after taking only 1 or 2 antihypertensive drugs were included as control. Kaplan-Meier survival curves, log-rank test, and Cox proportional risk model were used to evaluate the risk of apparent refractory hypertension in relation to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular prognosis.Results:A total of 2 782 treated hypertensive patients, aged (58.1±12.3) years were enrolled, including 1 403 (50.4%) men. The prevalence of apparent and true resistant hypertension was 15.1% (420/2 782) and 10.5% (293/2 782), respectively. Among patients with apparent resistant hypertension, during a median of 5 years follow-up, the cumulative incidence rate was 28.2, 11.2 and 19.1 per 1 000 person-years for fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events ( n=58), stroke ( n=24) and cardiac events ( n=40), respectively. The Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test showed that those patients with true resistant hypertension, had the highest cumulative incidence rate of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, stroke, and cardiac events. Multivariable Cox regression analyses showed that true resistant hypertension was associated with a significantly higher risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events ( HR=1.73, 95% CI 1.17-2.56, P=0.006) and stroke ( HR=2.81, 95% CI 1.53-5.17, P=0.001). Conclusion:Resistant hypertension, especially true resistant hypertension, is associated with a higher risk of fatal and non-fatal cardiac and cerebrovascular events.

Acute ischemic stroke(AIS)is associated with a high mortality and disability rate.Endovascular therapy(EVT)has emerged as a primary treatment method for achieving vascular reperfusion in large vessel occlusion AIS patients.The cerebral hemodynamic status of patients undergoing reperfusion therapy is closely linked to the extent of cerebral vascular reperfusion and improvement in the ischemic penumbra at the site of injury.Transcranial Doppler(TCD)ultrasound offers non-invasive,reliable,and convenient advantages for evaluating intracranial vessel occlusion or stenosis,guiding treatment decisions,and predicting patient outcomes.The authors reviewed the application progress of TCD in AIS patients.

This review introduces a qualitative methodology called institutional ethnography (IE) to healthcare professionals interested in studying complex social healthcare systems. We provide the historical context in which IE was developed, and explain the principles and terminology in IE for the novice researcher. Through the use of worked examples, the reader will be able to appreciate how IE can be used to approach research questions in the healthcare system that other methods would be unable to answer. We show how IE and qualitative research methods maintain quality and rigour in research findings. We hope to demonstrate to healthcare professionals and researchers that healthcare systems can be analysed as social organisations, and IE may be used to identify and understand how higher-level processes and policies affect day-to-day clinical work. This understanding may allow the formulation and implementation of actionable improvements to solve problems on the ground.

BACKGROUND: Insufficient bone mass in the posterior maxilla region often increases the difficulty of dental implantation. The application of maxillary sinus floor elevation successfully solves this problem. In the surgery bone grafting can be used to obtain sufficient bone mass. However, nonuse of graft materials can shorten the cycle of patient's treatment and reduce trauma and cost. OBJECTIVE: Combining the latest relevant research trends, to review the advances in the study of maxillary sinus floor elevation with and without bone grafting. METHODS: The first author searched PubMed, VIP, WanFang and CNKI databases using computer for relevant articles published from January 1985 to August 2018. The key words were "dental implant, maxillary sinus, bone augmentation, bone substitute" in English and Chinese, respectively. Finally, 78 articles were included in result analysis after screening and summarizing. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Ideal results can be achieved in the maxillary sinus floor elevation with or without simultaneous bone grafting In addition, the nonuse of grafting materials have the advantages of simplifying surgical procedures, shortening treatment cycles, reducing trauma and pain, reducing treatment costs, reducing complications and failure rates, thus gaining the favor of doctors and patients. Therefore, the maxillary sinus floor elevation without simultaneous bone grafting will be the primary choice of the doctors engaged in dental implantation in the future.