Management of dyspepsia—The role of the ED Observation unit to optimize patient outcomes

Background

Dyspepsia is a common complaint that can confer significant burden on one's quality of life and may also be associated with serious underlying conditions. The objective of this study was to determine if patients admitted to the emergency department observation unit (EDOU) for severe or persistent dyspepsia would have cost effective management in terms of investigations performed, length and cost of hospital stay. The secondary objective was to determine if any patient characteristics could predict a need for admission to the inpatient unit.

A critical role of neural-specific JNK3 for ischemic apoptosis

c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling is an important contributor to stress-induced apoptosis, but it is unclear whether JNK and its isoforms (JNK1, JNK2, and JNK3) have distinct roles in cerebral ischemia. Here we show that JNK1 is the major isoform responsible for the high level of basal JNK activity in the brain. In contrast, targeted deletion of Jnk3 not only reduces the stress-induced JNK activity, but also protects mice from brain injury after cerebral ischemia-hypoxia. The downstream mechanism of JNK3-mediated apoptosis may include the induction of Bim and Fas and the mitochondrial release of cytochrome c. These results suggest that JNK3 is a potential target for neuroprotection therapies in stroke.     

Immediate and long-term outcomes of stent implantation for unprotected left main coronary artery disease

Left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease is now uniformly treated with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, some patients with LMCA disease do not receive CABG because of high operative risks. The advent of stent implantation has permitted a non-operative improvement in myocardial blood flow in many patients with single- and multi-vessel coronary artery disease. However, the outcomes of stent implantation for unprotected LMCA disease are still unclear. Stent implantation was performed for unprotected LMCA disease in 13 patients; eight patients had high operative risk and five patients had refused CABG. The primary success rate was 100% (13/13 patients). One patient (8%) developed a non-Q-wave myocardial infarction after LMCA stenting. Repeat angiography was obtained in five patients (38%) with recurrent angina, and three patients (23%) received repeated percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for LMCA restenosis. In the follow-up period of 18±3 months, 12 patients (92%) remained in satisfactory condition with no further need for surgical intervention. One patient (8%) ultimately required CABG, and she died after CABG at 3 months after LMCA stenting. In conclusion, although CABG remains the standard treatment for LMCA disease, the present study demonstrates that stent implantation is a safe and clinically beneficial revascularization procedure for unprotected LMCA disease in patients who have high operative risk as well as those who refuse CABG.     

继发性肺部念珠菌感染47例治疗分析

目的 探讨继发性肺部念珠茵感染的诊断和治疗相关问题.方法 收集2004-09-01-2006-08-31广东省人民医院呼吸内科47例住院患者,其中男24例,女23例.年龄(57.0±16.1)岁.均有住院时间较长、发热、有肺部感染性病变、普通抗感染治疗无效、呼吸道分泌物找到念珠茵并经抗真茵治疗有效,对其临床诊治情况进行分析.体温平均(38.4±0.6)℃,发热时间均超过6 d.发现真茵时的住院天数为(17.7±5.2)d,全部病例均有基础疾病.结果 病例的病原体包括:白色念珠茵38株,光滑念珠菌5株,克柔念殊菌2株,热带念珠菌1株,葡萄牙念珠菌1株.使用氟康唑进行治疗的28例患者,1例白色念珠菌和1例光滑念珠菌治疗无效,改用伏立康唑后治疗成功.使用伊曲康唑进行治疗的9例患者,有1例白色念珠菌和1例光滑念珠菌治疗无效,改用伏立康唑后治疗有效.使用伏立康唑进行治疗的7例全部有效,包括3例光滑念珠茵、1例葡萄牙念珠菌和3例白色念珠菌.7例使用卡泊芬净进行治疗的全部有效,本研究该药物抗真茵治疗覆盖了3例光滑念珠菌、2例克柔念珠菌、1例热带念珠菌和1例白色念珠菌.结论 本组继发性肺部念珠菌感染以白色念珠菌为主,全部患者均有发热.目前使用的新一代抗真菌药物伏立康唑、卡泊芬净均有可靠的疗效,其中卡泊芬净具有更好的安全性和耐受性.     

PICC置管并发症的预防及护理研究进展

PICC目前在临床上主要用于为危重症患者提供中长期的静脉输液,尽管它为患者提供了相对安全的静脉通路,但受多种因素的影响,PICC置管后极易引发多种并发症。本文对PICC置管后常见并发症的发生原因进行了综述,并探讨了相应的预防与护理措施,以期提高我国护理人员对PICC置管并发症的认知与重视,预防并减少PICC置管后并发症的发生。     

2019冠状病毒病的临床相关研究

自2019年12月以来,中国湖北省武汉市发现了多例新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎患者,湖北省卫生健康委员会宣布了最早的1例发病于2019年12月1日[1],流行病学调查后考虑该感染病例可能与武汉市华南海鲜批发市场有关。2020年2月11日,WHO将新型冠状病毒感染的肺炎命名为“coronavirus disease 2019,COVID-19”。     

Andrographolide mitigates cardiac apoptosis to provide cardio‐protection in high‐fat‐diet‐induced obese mice

Excessive intake of high fat diet (HFD) and associated obese conditions are critical contributors of cardiac diseases. In this study, an active metabolite andrographolide from Andrographis paniculata was found to ameliorate HFD‐induced cardiac apoptosis. C57/BL6 mouse were grouped as control (n = 9), obese (n = 8), low dose (25 mg/kg/d) andrographolide treatment (n = 9), and high dose (50 mg/kg/d) andrographolide treatment (n = 9). The control group was provided with standard laboratory chow and the other groups were fed with HFD. Andrographolide was administered through oral gavage for 1 week. Histopathological analysis showed increase in apoptotic nuclei and considerable cardiac‐damages in the obese group signifying cardiac remodeling effects. Further, Western blot results showed increase in pro‐apoptotic proteins and decrease in the proteins of IGF‐1R‐survival signaling. However, feeding of andrographolide significantly reduced the cardiac effects of HFD. The results strongly suggest that andrographolide supplementation can be used for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease in obese patients.     

Protective effects of trehalose against Mn‐induced α‐synuclein oligomerization in mice: Involvement of oxidative stress and autophagy

Overexposure to manganese (Mn) is widely known to induce alpha‐synuclein (α‐Syn) oligomerization, which has been attributed to the oxidative damage of α‐Syn protein. Trehalose has been shown to induce autophagy and serve as a chemical chaperone, but little information has been reported about its effect on Mn‐induced α‐Syn oligomerization. In this study, we investigate whether trehalose can effectively interfere with Mn‐induced α‐Syn oligomerization, using different concentrations of trehalose (2% and 4% (g/vol [mL])) in a mouse model of manganism. After 6 weeks of exposure to Mn, both oxidative stress and autophagy were activated and resulted in α‐Syn oligomerization and neuronal cell damage in the mouse brain tissue. Our results also revealed that pretreatment with trehalose significantly reduced the oxidative damage to α‐Syn protein and increased autophagy activation. These findings clearly demonstrated that trehalose can relieve Mn‐induced α‐Syn oligomerization and neuronal cell damage through its anti‐oxidative and autophagy‐inducing effects.