Medicine
-
Case Reports
Diagnosis and rehabilitation of deep wound infection and internal fixation rejection in elbow: A case report.
This study aims at diagnosis and rehabilitation of a rare case of deep wound infection and internal fixation rejection in elbow. The patient sustained a distal fracture in the humerus 1 year ago, which was internal fixed. The wound always effused and the elbow had pain and swelling; joint motion was limited. ⋯ He got back to his former job. When encountered deep wound infection again and again after internal fixation, rejection should be considered. Except for anti-infection treatment, rehabilitation cannot be neglected, or the healing process may be delayed.
-
Porous polyethylene is a widely used implants in orbital reconstruction, on which comprehensive clinical analysis, various treatments, and different prognosis according to specific classification principles on long-term complications have not been reported. To investigate the new clinical symptoms, intraoperative findings, treatments, and outcomes of complications long period after previous surgery, resulting from the use of porous polyethylene mesh for orbital fracture reconstruction. A retrospective study was conducted on 21 patients at the Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital with orbital complications after orbital fracture reconstruction with porous polyethylene mesh for 4 ± 2.2 years from 2011 to 2013. ⋯ In the last follow-up, 19 patients (90.5%) were cured or improved according to our assessment principle. The follow-up ranged from 3 to 45 months (35 months in average). According to specific classification for orbital complications resulting from the use of porous polyethylene mesh for orbital fracture reconstruction, various medical treatments should be carried out, and the prognosis may be different.
-
Observational Study
Pathophysiological and diagnostic implications of cardiac biomarkers and antidiuretic hormone release in distinguishing immersion pulmonary edema from decompression sickness.
Immersion pulmonary edema (IPE) is a misdiagnosed environmental illness caused by water immersion, cold, and exertion. IPE occurs typically during SCUBA diving, snorkeling, and swimming. IPE is sometimes associated with myocardial injury and/or loss of consciousness in water, which may be fatal. ⋯ The combined "BNP-cTnI" levels provided most discrimination: all IPE patients, but none of the DCS patients, had elevated levels of either/both of these markers. We propose that antidiuretic hormone acts together with a myocardial ischemic process to promote IPE. Thus, monitoring of antidiuretic hormone and cardiac biomarkers can help to make a quick and reliable diagnosis of IPE.
-
Observational Study
Nutritional predictors for postoperative short-term and long-term outcomes of patients with gastric cancer.
Evidence indicates that impaired immunocompetence and nutritional status adversely affect short-term and long-term outcomes of patients with cancer. We aimed to evaluate the clinical significance of preoperative immunocompetence and nutritional status according to Onodera's prognostic nutrition index (PNI) among patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer (GC). This study included 260 patients with stage II/III GC who underwent R0 resection. ⋯ Moreover, patients in the PNI < 47 group experienced significantly shorter overall and disease-free survival compared with those in the PNI ≥ 47 group, notably because of a higher prevalence of hematogenous metastasis as the initial recurrence. Subgroup analysis according to disease stage and postoperative adjuvant treatment revealed that the prognostic significance of PNI was more apparent in patients with stage II GC and in those who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Preoperative PNI is easy and inexpensive to determine, and our findings indicate that PNI served as a significant predictor of postoperative morbidity, prognosis, and recurrence patterns of patients with stage II/III GC.
-
Influenza as a severe infectious disease has caused catastrophes throughout human history, and every pandemic of influenza has produced a great social burden. We compiled monthly data of influenza incidence from all provinces and autonomous regions in mainland China from January 2004 to December 2011, comprehensively evaluated and classified these data, and then randomly selected 4 provinces with higher incidence (Hebei, Gansu, Guizhou, and Hunan), 2 provinces with median incidence (Tianjin and Henan), 1 province with lower incidence (Shandong), using time series analysis to construct an ARIMA model, which is based on the monthly incidence from 2004 to 2011 as the training set. We exerted the X-12-ARIMA procedure for modeling due to the seasonality these data implied. ⋯ Finally, we applied this model to predict the monthly incidence of influenza in 2012 as the test set, and the simulated incidence was compared with the observed incidence to evaluate the model's validity by the criterion of both percentage variability in regression analyses (R) and root mean square error (RMSE). It is conceivable that SARIMA (0,1,1)(0,1,1)12 could simultaneously forecast the influenza incidence of the Hebei Province, Guizhou Province, Henan Province, and Shandong Province; SARIMA (1,0,0)(0,1,1)12 could forecast the influenza incidence in Gansu Province; SARIMA (3,1,1)(0,1,1)12 could forecast the influenza incidence in Tianjin City; and SARIMA (0,1,1)(0,0,1)12 could forecast the influenza incidence in Hunan Province. Time series analysis is a good tool for prediction of disease incidence.