ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) for tuberculous pleural effusion. MethodsWe electronically searched CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM, PubMed, The Cochrane Library and EMbase from inception to April, 2013, to collect the literature about the diagnostic value of PCT for tuberculous pleural effusion compared with gold standard (positive outcomes of mycobacterium tuberculosis culture). Two reviewers screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies. MetaDiSc 1.4 were used to conduct the meta-analysis. ResultsEight studies were finally included. The results of meta-analysis showed the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.63 (95%CI 0.58 to 0.68) and 0.76 (95%CI 0.70 to 0.81), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio were 2.72 (95%CI 1.48 to 5.02) and 0.49 (95%CI 0.29 to 0.82), respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 5.77 (95%CI 1.89 to 17.58). And the SROC AUC was 0.79. Heterogeneity was mainly derived from the QUADAS score and Begg's test showed there was no presence of publication bias. ConclusionPCT is a potential marker in the diagnosis of benign and tuberculous pleural effusion, which can be used to determine diagnosis identification of tuberculous pleural effusion.
ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of using hemoglobin-revised trauma score (HB-RTS) on predicting mortality risk in trunk injury patients. MethodsAccording to case control study rules, medical records of patients with trunk injury who were treated between July 2011 and October 2013, were collected. Patients were divided into two groups according to their survival prognosis within 28 days. The HB-RTS, revised trauma score (RTS), and injury severity score (ISS) of the two groups were calculated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn, and the area under the curve (AUC) and Youden's index were calculated. And then, we selected the optimal cutoff value using HB-RTS and RTS to predict the trunk injury patients' mortality and calculated their sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. In the end, the correlation of ISS with HB-RTS and RTS using linear correlation analysis method was analyzed. ResultsBesides RTS, HB-RTS and ISS in the death group were statistically significant higher than that in the survival group. The AUC of HB-RTS and RTS of the two groups were 0.922 and 0.888, respectively. The sensitivity of HB-RTS and RTS were 91.5% and 83%; and the specificity of HB-RTS and RTS were 95.7% and 76.6%, respectively. The correlation of HB-RTS and ISS was -0.592, while the correlation of RTS and ISS was 0.585. ConclusionCompared to RTS, ROC of HB-RTS is enlarged, the specificity is increased, and the sensitivity is decreased. HB-RTS has stronger correlation with ISS than with RTS. The predictive effect of HB-RTS is higher than RTS in predicting mortality of trunk injury patients.
ObjectiveTo evaluate prehospital treatment strategies of rescuers and first-line hospitals for thoracic trauma victims after Lushan earthquake, and provide reference for making emergency response plans, staff training, and preparedness of material and human resources for future disasters. MethodsClinical data of 365 victims in Lushan '4.20' earthquake who received treatment in West China Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 63 victims had thoracic trauma, including 40 males (63.5%)and 23 females (36.5%)with their age of 49.08±19.10 years. There were 244 victims with orthopedic trauma, including 133 males (54.5%)and 111 females (45.4%)with their age of 41.59±22.74 years. Prehospital treatment methods (including specific treatment and general treatment)were compared between thoracic trauma victims and orthopedic trauma victims. ResultsAmong all the thoracic trauma victims, 51 victims required specific pre-hospital treatment, but only 10 (19.6%)victims actually received it. Among all the orthopedic trauma victims, 220 victims required specific prehospital treatment, but actually 162 (73.6%)victims received it. The percentages of thoracic and orthopedic victims who received specific prehospital treatment were statistically different (P < 0.01). There was no statistical difference in the percentage of victims who received general treatment between thoracic and orthopedic trauma victims (P > 0.05). ConclusionsThoracic trauma victims receive less specific prehospital treatment than orthopedic trauma victims from rescuers and first-line hospitals after Lushan earthquake. More specific prehospital treatment is needed for thoracic trauma victims in disaster rescue in the future.