Objective To explore the change of serum levels of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 (TIMP-2), and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 7 (IGFBP-7) in the early stage of multiple trauma, and their predictive efficacy for acute kidney injury (AKI). Methods The multiple trauma patients admitted between February 2020 and July 2021 were prospectively selected, and they were divided into AKI group and non-AKI group according to whether they developed AKI within 72 h after injury. The serum levels of NGAL, TIMP-2, and IGFBP-7 measured at admission and 12, 24, and 48 h after injury, the Acute Pathophysiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ(APACHE Ⅱ) score, intensive care unit duration, rate of renal replacement therapy, and 28-day mortality rate were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 51 patients were included, including 20 in the AKI group and 31 in the non-AKI group. The APACHE Ⅱ at admission (20.60±3.57 vs. 11.61±3.44), intensive care unit duration [(16.75±2.71) vs. (11.13±3.41) d], rate of renal replacement therapy (35.0% vs. 0.0%), and 28-day mortality rate (25.0% vs. 3.2%) in the AKI group were higher than those in the non-AKI group (P<0.05). The serum levels of NGAL and IGFBP-7 at admission and 12, 24, and 48 h after injury in the AKI group were all higher than those in the non-AKI group (P<0.05). For the prediction of AKI, the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves and 95% confidence intervals of serum NGAL, TIMP-2 and IGFBP-7 12 h after injury were 0.98 (0.96, 1.00), 0.92 (0.83, 1.00), and 0.87 (0.78, 0.97), respectively. Conclusion Serum NGAL, TIMP-2, and IGFBP-7 have high predictive efficacy for AKI secondary to multiple trauma, and continuous monitoring of serum NGAL can be used for early prediction of AKI secondary to multiple trauma.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the economy of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) for COVID-19. MethodsThe Web of Science, PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, INAHTA, CNKI, WanFang Data and SinoMed databases were electronically searched to collect studies on health economic evaluations from 1 January 2020 to 20 August 2022. Then the included materials were reviewed, extracted and data integration analysis were conducted based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. ResultsSeventy-one academic publications were finally included, which contained 25 papers about nucleic acid testing, antigen testing and screening, 5 papers about personal protection, 12 papers about social distancing, quarantine and isolation, 11 papers about regional or national lockdown and 18 papers about multiple NPIs. The results showed that compared with no intervention, nucleic acid testing, antigen testing, screening and personal protection measures were economical. Social distancing, quarantine and isolation were also economical compared with no intervention. However, in low-income countries, movement restriction and factory shutdown may exact a heavy toll on the poorest and most vulnerable. Moreover, compared with a single long-term lockdown, multiple short-term lockdowns could be more economical, but the cost was still huge overall. ConclusionNPIs such as nucleic acid testing, antigen testing, personal protection, social distancing, quarantine, isolation and factory shutdown are economical. Although regional or national lockdown can save lives, it is not suitable for wide use. The researches on specific populations, specific variants (especially Omicron) and in the context of China need to be carried out.
When a clustered coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic occurs, how to prevent and control hospital infection is a challenge faced by each medical institution. Under the normalization situation, building an effective prevention and control system is the premise and foundation for medical institutions to effectively prevent and control infection when dealing with clustered epidemics. According to the principles of control theory, medical institutions should quickly switch to an emergency state, and effectively deal with the external and internal infection risks brought by clustered epidemics by strengthening source control measures, engineering control measures, management control measures and personal protection measures. This article summarizes the experience of handling clustered outbreaks in medical institutions in the prevention and control of coronavirus disease 2019, and aims to provide a reference for medical institutions to take effective prevention and control measures when dealing with clustered outbreaks.
Currently, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still widely prevalent around the world, leading to a major threat to the global public health. COVID-19 mainly involves the respiratory system, but extrapulmonary manifestations including that of the nervous system also exist in the setting of COVID-19. Misdiagnosis and delayed treatment of the disease may easily cause when ocular, especially neuro-ophthalmological symptoms are the first symptoms in early COVID-19, as the neuroophthalmological manifestations are rarely reported. First-line clinicians need to ask about not only respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough and sore throat, but also diplopia, impaired vision, eye motion pain, abnormal gait or other neurological deficits at the first reception, as these extrapulmonary manifestations are often signs of serious infection. The neuroophthalmological manifestations and possible underlying etiology of COVID-19 were summarized in this review, hoping to provide an early identification and effective treatment of COVID-19 for clinicians. More extensive studies are needed in the future to confirm the causal relationship between COVID-19 and neuroophthalmological disease to provide a sufficient basis for a comprehensive understanding of COVID-19.
Bloodstream infections are featured by acute onset, rapid progression and high mortality. Early identification and accurate prognostic assessment are crucial for improving patient outcomes. This article reviews five novel biomarkers in assessing the severity and prognosis of patients with acute bloodstream infection, namely soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-1, soluble form of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor, presepsin, heparin-binding protein and microRNAs, all of which are positively correlated with the severity of patients’ condition, and some perform better than traditional biomarkers. However, they still have limitations such as inadequate specificity or sensitivity and lack of large-scale verification. In the future, it is necessary to integrate molecular detection and artificial intelligence to optimize application strategies and provide personalized diagnosis and treatment.
Objective To analyze the characteristics of patients transferred by ambulances to emergency department before and after coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic, in order to improve the efficiency of emergency triage, optimize the utilization of emergency resources, and provide a reference for standardized tiered medical services in different situation. Methods The patients’ information collected through Wenjuanxing questionnaire was extracted, who were transferred by ambulances to the Emergency Department of West China Hospital of Sichuan University between December 27th, 2018 and April 28th, 2019 (before epidemic), or between December 27th, 2019 and April 28th, 2020 (during epidemic), or between December 27th, 2020 and April 28th, 2021 [in regular epidemic prevention and control period (REPCP)]. The general information, sources, reasons for referral, disease spectrum and triage levels of patients in the three periods were compared. Results There were 3993, 2252 and 1851 cases before epidemic, during epidemic, and in REPCP, respectively. The differences in gender and age among the three periods were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The percentage of referrals from tertiary hospitals in each period was 74.00%, 72.65%, and 76.12%, respectively, which was higher in REPCP than that during epidemic (P<0.05). The percentage of direct referrals from emergency department in each period was 41.00%, 42.14%, and 44.46%, respectively, which was higher in REPCP than that before epidemic (P<0.05). The percentage of two-way referrals in each period was 37.79%, 36.63%, and 34.36%, respectively, which was lower in REPCP than that before epidemic (P<0.05). During epidemic and in REPCP, the proportions of referrals due to “need for surgery” (24.72%, 27.84%, and 28.74%, respectively) and “request by family members” (49.64%, 53.33%, and 56.24%, respectively) increased compared with those before epidemic (P<0.05), while the proportion of referrals due to “critical illness” decreased compared with that before epidemic (40.20%, 35.21%, and 33.17%, respectively; P<0.05); the proportion of referrals due to “diagnosis unknown” decreased in REPCP compared with that before epidemic (15.50%, 13.90%, and 11.89%, respectively; P<0.05). The proportion of acute aortic syndromes in REPCP increased compared with that during epidemic (3.46%, 2.98%, and 4.65%, respectively; P<0.05), the proportion of trauma in REPCP increased compared with that before epidemic (13.72%, 15.76%, and 17.77%, respectively; P<0.05), and the proportion of pneumonia/acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during epidemic and in REPCP decreased compared with that before epidemic (8.44%, 3.73%, and 3.84%, respectively; P<0.05). The proportion of critically ill patients referred in each period was 72.88%, 75.58%, and 79.15%, respectively, which was the highest in REPCP (P<0.05). Conclusions The epidemic has a significant impact on emergency ambulance referrals, and emergency triage needs to be continuously optimised and improved in staff, facilities, processes and management. It is necessary to further improve the implementation of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, strengthen information communication between referral and emergency departments of receiving hospitals, and improve referral efficiency.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is highly contagious, and the route of transmission is dominated by respiratory droplets and contact transmission. At present, the disease prevention and control are difficult. In order to prevent and control COVID-19 and prevent its spread in the hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University has set up isolation wards in the center of infectious diseases. The work norms for isolation ward were formulated. This may help to strengthen the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, effectively control the epidemic situation, as well as protect the health and safety of the public and medical staff. This article introduces the specific settings, diagnosis and treatment specifications, and hospital infection prevention and control strategies of the isolation ward of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, shares the work experience of isolation wards, aims to provide a reference for other hospitals to effectively prevent the spread of COVID-19 in hospitals and curb the spread of COVID-19.