Objective To investigate the etiology of pleural effusions. Methods All adult patients with pleural effusions of unknown etiology admitted to this hospital between January 2011 and December 2013 were investigated. The etiological data of these patients with pleural effusion were retrospectively reviewed. Results During the 3-year period, 1 541 patients eventually were included in this study. The most frequent cause of pleural effusions was bacterial infection (38.7%), followed by malignancy (23.7%), congestive heart failure (13.1%), and tuberculosis (10.7%). The etiology of 120 patients (7.8%) remained uncertain. Conclusions The most frequent cause of pleural effusion is bacterial infection, followed by malignancy, cardiac failure, and tuberculosis. These four etiologies account for over 85 percent of all pleural effusions.
Objective To evaluate the significance of serum colon cancer-specific antigen-2 (CCSA-2) in diagnosisof colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods By using ELISA method, the serum CCSA-2 was measured from 105 patients with 5 kinds of diseases, including CRC, gastric cancer, inguinal hernia, acute appendicitis, and breast cancer, who weretreated in our hospital from Jul. to Dec. in 2008, and 20 health donors were enrolled in addition. The blood samples were collected on 3 days before surgery, but blood samples from patients with acute appendicitis were collected before emergencysurgery, blood samples of health donors were collected on 1 day before ELISA test. Results The level of serum CCSA-2 in CRC patients was (99.27±6.25) μg/L, which was significantly higher than those of other patients and health individuals〔(53.58±2.73) μg/L, t=48.29, P=0.000〕. Serum CCSA-2 at a cutoff of 73.96μg/L had a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI:100%-100%) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI:100%-100%) in separating CRC populations from all other indivi-duals by using receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. As compared with carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA19-9, the serum CCSA-2 assay (at a cutoff of 73.96μg/L) was significantly more sensitive than CEA and CA19-9 assay in CRC detection (P<0.01). Serum CCSA-2 was not related with patients’ gender (P=0.81), age (P=0.59), TNM stage (P=0.85), Dukes stage (P=0.63), nuclear grade (P=0.44), as well as expressions of multidrug resistance associated protein (P=0.33), P-glycoprotein (P=0.72), and topoisomeraseⅡ(P=0.95), but higher in patients with colon cancer than those of patients with rectal cancer (P=0.02). Conclusion Serum CCSA-2 may be a useful biomarker in diagnosis of CRC, and it may be only related to tumorigenesis, but is irrelated to tumor progression and chemotherapy.
Objective To explore the effect of arthroscopy on diagnosing and treating suppurative arthritis of knee joint. Methods The clinical data of 22 patients with suppurative arthritis of knee joint diagnosed between January 2012 and December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively, including 13 males and 9 females with the age of 7-56 years (average 28.5 years). The duration of disease history was from 7 days to 4.5 months with the average of 2.8 months. All of the patients had swelling, pain, and limitation of motion of the knee joint in different degrees. Among them, 20 patients were diagnosed definitely and remaining 2 were osteoarthritis with atypical infections. Patients were investigated by Lysholm questionnaires during the follow-up period. Results All of the 22 patients were followed up for 3-10 months with the average of 8.5 months. The diagnosis was confirmed by pathological and arthroscopic examination after the surgery, and no recurrence was found. Lysholm score ranged from 77 to 99 with the average of 92.8. Only 1 patient had the motion range of 10-40°of the knee joint after several treatment. Conclusion Early arthroscopic treatment for suppurative arthritis of knee joint with continuous postoperati ve lavage and irrigation combined with comprehensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation has the advantages of high efficacy, maximum recovery of knee function, and quick recovery, which should be promoted in the clinical application