OBJECTIVES: To explore the value of serum cystatin C (CysC) levels in evaluating renal prognosis in IgA nephropathy (IgAN) patients. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of IgAN patients diagnosed by renal biopsy at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital from January, 2014 to December, 2018. Based on baseline serum CysC levels, the patients were divided into high serum CysC (>1.03 mg/L) group and normal serum CysC (≤1.03 mg/L) group. The composite endpoint for poor renal prognosis was defined as ≥50% decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and/or progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Lasso regression, multivariate Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis were used to identify the risk factors and compare renal survival rates between the two groups. Smooth curves fitting and threshold effect analysis were used to explore the relationship between serum CysC levels and the outcomes. A nomogram model was constructed and its predictive performance was evaluated using concordance index, calibration curve, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under curve (AUC). RESULTS: A total of 356 IgAN patients were enrolled, who were followed up for 4.65±0.93 years. The composite endpoint occurred in 74 patients. High serum CysC was identified as an independent risk factor for poor renal prognosis in IgAN (HR=2.142, 95% CI 1.222 to 3.755), and the patients with high serum CysC levels had a lower renal survival rate (Log-rank χ²=47.970, P<0.001). In patients with serum CysC below 2.12 mg/L, a higher CysC level was associated with an increased risk of poor renal prognosis (β=3.487, 95% CI: 2.561-4.413, P<0.001), while above this level, the increase of the risk was not significant (β=0.676, 95% CI: -0.642-1.995, P=0.315). The nomogram model based on serum CysC and 3 other independent risk factors demonstrated good internal validity with a concordance index of 0.873 (95% CI: 0.839-0.907) and an AUC of 0.909 (95% CI: 0.873-0.945). CONCLUSIONS Serum CysC levels are associated with renal prognosis in IgAN patients, and high serum CysC an independent risk factor for poor renal prognosis.
Humans ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA/diagnosis* ; Cystatin C/blood* ; Prognosis ; Risk Factors ; Retrospective Studies ; Glomerular Filtration Rate ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Male ; Female ; Adult ; Nomograms ; Middle Aged

BackgroundDepressive disorder is one of the most common mental disorders in the elderly and the existing meta-analyses on the prevalence of depressive disorder among the elderly have mainly summarized the findings from patient self-rating scales or examiner-rating scales. ObjectiveTo examine the prevalence of depressive disorder among elderly people in China using Meta-analysis， aiming to provide references for interventions targeting elderly patients with depressive disorder. MethodsOn December 20， 2022， a computerized searches were conducted in databases including CNKI， Wanfang， VIP， SinoMed， PubMed， Springer， Web of Science and Embase to collect studies on the prevalence of depressive disorder among the elderly in China. The Joanna Briggs Institute （JBI） quality assessment tool was used to evaluate the included literature. A meta-analysis was conducted using the statistical software R version 4.2.2. ResultsA total of 29 studies involving 2 341 elderly patients with depressive disorder were included. The prevalence of depressive disorder among the elderly in China was 3.90% （95% CI： 0.030~0.049）. Subgroup analysis revealed that there was a statistical difference in the prevalence of depressive disorder between elderly people without spouses and those with spouses （χ²=6.844， P<0.01）. ConclusionThe prevalence of depressive disorder among the elderly in China is relatively high， and the prevalence of depressive disorder among those without a spouse is higher than that of those with a spouse. ［Funded by Hangzhou Science and Technology Development Project （number， 20201203B192）］

The paper reported a patient under maintained hemodialysis for 11 years, with a large mass appeared in the right thigh after local injury. The mass was clinically considered as tumoral calcinosis combined with clinical, imaging and pathological findings. Several treatments such as enhancing dialysis adequacy, low calcium dialysate, calcimimetic agent, non-calcium- phosphorus binding agents, parathyroidectomy and intravenous infusion of sodium thiosulfate could not vanish the mass. Finally, the lump was surgically removed. The treatment of tumoral calcinosis in the hemodialysis patient can provide a instruction for similar situations in clinical practice.

Abnormal homeostasis of glutamate(Glu)and γ-aminobutyric acid(GABA)in the brain is one of pathophysiological mechanisms of brain dysfunction in major depressive disorder(MDD).Neurotransmitters play an important role in maintaining chemical balance in the brain,and pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies based on resetting excitation-inhibitory neurotransmitter system rebalancing are of interest.Studies based on magnetic resonance spectroscopy(MRS)have shown a homeostasis imbalance of Glu and GABA in the brain of MDD patients.Pharmacological therapies such as ketamine,selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors,and other novel receptor modulators and non-pharmacological therapies such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation,electroconvulsive therapy,and physical exercise can target on the regulation of neurotransmitter levels.Abnormal homeostasis of Glu and GABA provides theoretical support for revealing pathophysiologic mechanisms of MDD,exploring neurotransmitter biomarkers,guiding clinical practice and facilitating personalized treatment.

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease in our country is increasing, and it has been a big problem affecting the social and economic development. It has been demonstrated that early intervention of cardiovascular risk factors can effectively reduce cardiovascular disease-caused mortality. Therefore, extensive implementation of cardiovascular testing and risk factor screening in the general population is the key to the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, the categories of devices available for quick cardiovascular testing are limited, and in particular, many existing devices suffer from various technical problems, such as complex operation, unclear working principle, or large inter-individual variability in measurement accuracy, which lead to an overall low popularity and reliability of cardiovascular testing. In this study, we introduce the non-invasive measurement mechanisms and relevant technical progresses for several typical cardiovascular indices (e.g., peripheral/central arterial blood pressure, and arterial stiffness), with emphasis on describing the applications of biomechanical modeling and simulation in mechanism verification, analysis of influential factors, and technical improvement/innovation.
Arterial Pressure ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Blood Pressure ; Blood Pressure Determination ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Risk Factors

Objective: To identify the anatomical positional relation of the internal jugular vein and the common carotid artery, and investigate the predictive factors associated with the stenosis rate of the internal jugular vein after catheterization in hemodialysis patients. Methods: A single-center cross-sectional survey study of 235 patients from the Department of Nephrology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital between August 2017 and June 2018 was performed. According to whether received hemodialysis treatment, The patients were divided into dialysis group (n=187) and control group (chronic kidney disease non-dialysis patients, n=48). Clinical data such as age, primary disease, history of deep vein catheterization, catheter indwelling time and dialysis age were collected. The positional relationship between the internal jugular vein and the common carotid artery was examined by Doppler ultrasound. Measure the cross-sectional area of the internal jugular vein in different neck anatomical planes and analyse of the incidence of internal jugular vein stenosis in the dialysis group. Chi-square test was used to compare the differences in the incidence of internal jugular vein stenosis between subgroups of different ages, with or without catheter retention, catheter indwelling time, dialysis age and presence or absence of diabetic nephropathy. Results: Doppler ultrasonography showed that in the 235 patients, there were four types of anatomical relationship between the internal jugular vein and the common carotid artery in the plane of the flat thyroid cartilage and the apex plane of the upper clavicle. The internal jugular vein was located on the lateral, anterolateral, anterior and medial sides of the common carotid artery, accounting for 16.23%, 36.52%, 41.11% and 3.14% respectively. There were significant differences in the anatomical relationship between the internal jugular vein and the common carotid artery between the left and right sides, different anatomical planes and patients of different ages (P<0.05). The rate of internal jugular vein stenosis in 187 hemodialysis patients was 47.1%. The right internal jugular vein stenosis rate was 66.4% and 44.1% in the age<65 years old group (n=128) and age≥65 years old group (n=59), respectively (P=0.004). The rate of internal jugular vein stenosis was 49.0% and 32.8% (P=0.018) in the catheter placement group (n=151) and the catheterless retention group (n=36), respectively. Two variables including age and history of catheterization were included in the logistic regression equation. The results showed that the history of catheterization was a risk factor for internal jugular vein stenosis (OR=1.668, 95% CI 1.083-2.568, P=0.020). Conclusions There is variability in the anatomical relationship between the internal jugular vein and the common carotid artery. Internal jugular vein stenosis is a common complication after indwelling catheters in hemodialysis patients. The history of internal jugular vein catheterization is a risk factor affecting internal jugular vein stenosis.

Objective Pulmonary hypertension (PH) was an independent predictor of mortality and new onset cardiovascular events in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Recent studies revealed PH complicated by pericardial effusion (PE) increased mortality in non-CKD (chronic kidney disease) population. No such evidence existed in MHD patients. Methods We enrolled 108 MHD patients with diagnosed PH by echocardiography (61 with PE) between 2009 and 2011. All patients had been followed-up for 2 years. The endpoints were all-cause mor-tality, cardiovascular (CV) mortality and new onset CV events. Results The mean age was (60.2 ± 14.1) years, 55.6% were males and SPAP was (53.0 ± 15.4) mmHg. 12.0% were severe PH and 1.9% were moderate-to-severe PE. The overall mortality, cardiovascular mortality and new on-set cardiovascular events in PE and non-PE group were 34.4% vs. 21.3%、 23.0% vs. 12.8% and 54.1% vs. 42.6%, respectively (P > 0.05). Kaplan-Meier curve showed there was no difference on all-cause mortality , CV mortality nor new-onset CV events between PE and non-PE group (Log Rank P > 0.05). Conclusions Compared with patients without PE, the presence of PE in patients with PH did not increase the mortality and worsen the cardiovascular outcome in MHD patients.

Objective To analyze the complications of total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (TPC-IPAA) in treatment of severe or refractory ulcerative colitis (UC).Methods The retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted.The clinical data of 67 patients with severe or refractory UC who underwent TPC-IPAA in the Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University from February 2008 to October 2015 were collected.All the patients received open and laparoscopy-assisted TPC-IPAA,and two-stage or three-stage surgery was performed according to the patients' conditions.Observation indicators:(1) treatment and follow-up situations,(2) short-term complications after TPC-IPAA,(3) long-term complications after TPC-IPAA.The follow-up using telephone interview and outpatient examination was performed to detect the quality of postoperative life in patients and occurrence of complications up to July 2016.Measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M (range).The comparison of quality of pre-and post-operative life in patients was done using the paired t test.Results (1) Treatment and follow-up situations:all the 67 patients received successful surgery,including 45 with two-stage surgery and 22 with three-stage surgery.Thirty-seven patients underwent open surgery and 30 underwent laparoscopic surgery.The average frequency of postoperative daily defecation,average scores of quality of pre-and post-operative lifes were 5.6,0.47 and 0.67,respectively,with a statistically significant difference between preoperative indicators and postoperative indicators (t =-4.80,P ＜ 0.05).All the 67 patients were followed up for a median time of 4.6 years (range,1.0-8.4 years).(2) Short-term complications after TPC-IPAA:Of 67 patients,10 had short-term complications (some patients with multiple complications).One patient was complicated with presacral abscess secondary to sinus formation and then was cured by topical incision of sinus under colonoscopy.Five patients were complicated with anastomotic site-related complications of TPCIPAA,and 1 with pouch-anal anastomotic fistula combined with presacral abscess underwent drainage with ileostomy and didn't undergo stoma reversion of ileum.Two patients with fistula at the top of pouch were improved by surgery and repair.Of 2 patients with pouch-vagina fistula,1 underwent resection of pouch stump-vagina fistula and then were cured,and the space between pouch stump and posterior fornix was filled with a free greater omentum flap and temporary ileal bypass was simultaneously conducted.The other patient received twice transanal vaginal fistula repairs with advancement flap,and unclosed fistula was confirmed by angiography,with a clinical symptomatic relief.Eight patients with wound infection received actively dressing change after discharge,and no wound dehiscence was occurred.(3) Long-term complications after TPC-IPAA:28 of 67 patients had long-term complications.Twelve patients with intestinal obstruction underwent conservative treatments of gastrointestinal decompression,anti-inflammatory with corticosteroid and anti-infection with antibiotic,without the occurrence of severe intestinal perforation and prognosis needing surgical intervention,including 9 undergoing open TPC-IPAA and 3 undergoing laparoscopic TPC-IPAA.Thirteen patients with postoperative pouchitis received the conservative treatment of mesalazine.Three patients with failed pouch underwent small intestine permanent colostomy,including 2 with secondary pouch Crohn's disease and 1 with severe pouchitis.Conclusions TPC-IPAA is safe and effective in treatment of UC,with a lower incidence of complications.Anastomotic site-related complication of TPC-IPAA is the main short-term complication.And in the long-term complications,pouchitis is the most,followed it is intestine obstruction.

Objective To explore the relationship between peripherally inserted central catherer (PICC) complications and body mass index (BMI) in cancer patients, and provide references the preventive measures of PICC complications.Methods Totally 180 cancer patients with PICC complications were analyzed by retrospective analysis. Complications includes thromboembolism, infection, plugging, catheter extrusion, skin injury related to medical patches, exudation and phlebitis, etc. Patients′ BMI were calculated, and the correlation between patients with different BMI classification and the incidence rate of complications was analyzed.Results The result have indicated that there was a correlation between BMI and thromboembolism, plugging and phlebitis (r=0.203,0.204,0.198;P<0.05).Conclusions Nurses should pay attention to the correlation between BMI and thromboembolism, plugging and phlebitis in cancer patients with PICC. They also should take intervention measures and carry out individualized health education among patients.

Objective To evaluate treatment effect of nodal lymphoma by using multiple b value diffusion-weighted MRI based on intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model. Methods From November 2012 to November 2013, 22 patients with pathology confirmed lymphoma in Guangdong General Hospital were chosen. Patients were examined on a 1.5 T MR scanner with plain MRI scan and multiple b value diffusion-weighted MRI scan before and after cycle two of chemotherapy. According to chemotherapy response which evaluated after cycle 2 of chemotherapy, lymphoma nodes were divided into four groups:complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), progressive disease (PD). Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to compare prechemotherapy D value, f value among CR, PR, SD groups. Nemenyi test was used to compare prechemotherapy D value between the two of CR, PR, SD groups. One-way ANOVA was used to compare D*value among CR, PR, SD groups. Paired-sample t test was used to compare D, f, D*value between before and after chemotherapy in PR group. CR and PR group were ascribed to curative group, and SD group ascribed to poor response group. ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive efficiency of parameters derived from IVIM. Results Twenty-two lymphoma patients were scanned before chemotherapy and 21 patients were scanned after cycle 2 of chemotherapy. There were 49 lesions in CR group, 17 lesions in PR group, 8 lesions in SD group and no lesions in PD group. Prechemotherapy D value of CR, PR, SD group were (0.63±0.26)×10-3, (0.57±0.10)×10-3,(0.42±0.04)×10-3 mm2/s, respectively. There was significant difference among the three groups (H=12.944,P=0.002). There was no statistically difference of prechemotherapy D value between CR and PR group (χ2=0.072,P=0.965). Prechemotherapy D value was lower in SD group than that in CR group (χ2=12.090,P=0.002) and PR group (χ2=10.684,P=0.005). There was no statistically difference of prechemotherapy f value among CR, PR, SD groups (χ2=2.312,P=0.315) or D*value (F=0.535,P=0.588). D value significantly increased after chemotherapy in PR group [(1.03±0.37)× 10-3 vs.(0.63 ± 0.26)× 10-3 mm2/s, t=-4.781, P=0.001]. f value significantly increased after chemotherapy in PR group [(9.39 ± 4.52)% vs.(6.44 ± 3.25)%, t=2.294, P=0.036]. D* value slightly increased after chemotherapy but with no statistical difference in PR group [(99.72 ± 42.12)× 10-3 vs.(90.37 ± 45.33)× 10-3 mm2/s, t=-0.579, P=0.570]. When a D value of 0.48 × 10-3 mm2/s was used as the threshold value for predicting chemotherapy response, the best results were obtained with sensitivity of 100.00%and specificity of 75.76%.Conclusions Prechemotherapy D value can predict chemotherapy response and D value can monitor chemotherapy response in lymphoma.