Objective To define risk factors of nosocomical pneumonia (NP) in elderly in-patients. Methods Two hundred elderly in-patients were selected in the Geriatric Department of West China Hospital from January 1999 to June 2002. Among them, 100 patients developed NP during their hospital days and the others didn’t have the episodes of NP at the same time. The following factors were analyzed: sex, age, multiple underline diseases and their severity, smoking, activity of daily life, conscious status, aspiration, nasogastrial intubations, antibiotics use and hospitalization. SPSS 10.0 was used for Logistic regression analysis to determine the factors significantly associated with the development of NP. Results The following factors were significantly associated with the development of NP in the logistic regression analysis: aspiration [OR 28.452, 95%CI (3.793 to 213.447)],multiple diseases [OR 17.157, 95%CI (2.734 to 107.651)], multiple antibiotics use [OR 6.396, 95%CI (1.861 to 21.980)], smoking [OR 1.774, 95%CI (1.211 to 2.600)] and prolonged hospitalization [OR 1.134, 95%CI (1.081 to 1.189)]. Conclusions Aspiration, multiple diseases, multiple antitiotics use, smoking and prolonged hospitalization are closely related to NP in elderly in-patients. Cautionary medical measures and shortening hospitalization were the key factors to decrease the incidence of NP for the patients in Geriatric Department.
ObjectiveTo investigate the pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of common variable immune deficiency (CVID).MethodsOne case of CVID with cellular immunodeficiency leading to bronchiectasis and liver cirrhosis was analyzed retrospectively. Relevant literatures were also searched through WanFang Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and PubMed, Ovid, Embase, Cochrane using the key words " common variable immunodeficiency”, " common variable hypogammaglobulinemia” in Chinese and English.ResultsA 52-year-old female patient, complained of cough, expectoration for 20 years, edema for 7 years and aggravated for 3 months with a history of recurrent respiratory infections was hospitalized in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University. The chest computed tomography revealed bronchiectasis, liver cirrhosis and portal hypertension. Laboratory tests showed remarkable hypogammaglobulinemia. The CD4+ T-cell count was below the normal range. Probable diagnosis of CVID was made based on clinical characteristics and laboratory tests. Immunoglobulin infusion with a dose of 20 g was given and the symptoms were relieved. About 288 case reports including 8 000 patients were searched. Most of them were reported individually. Conclusions CVID has a low morbidity and is rare in China. It is mostly caused by genetic factors. When there are recurrent infections in common areas of body, infections in rare areas or infections of conditioned pathogen, clinicians should be vigilant and give intervention as soon as possible. Family and genetic researches could be done when permitted.
ObjectiveTo investigate the value of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) by detecting the relationship between NLR and other well-known inflammatory biomarkers.MethodsRetrospective study of 610 AECOPD cases was performed. In order to analyze the influence of NLR level on disease condition, treatment plan and prognosis, the clinical data with acute exacerbation were collected and the value of NLR in AECOPD were analyzed.ResultsThe level of NLR was higher in the group with pneumonia than that in the non-pneumonia group (P<0.05), and the more severe the pulmonary inflammation, the higher the NLR level (P<0.05). The level of NLR was higher in the group with heart failure and the group treated with ventilator and glucocorticoid (P<0.05). The NLR level was higher in the group of hospital stay over 14 days than the group of hospital stay less than 14 days (P<0.05). The NLR value of the death group was higher than that of the survival group (P<0.05). With the increase of NLR value, the mortality rate in hospital increased gradually. Compared with C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, NLR had the highest odds ratio by binary regression analysis. Cutoff value of NLR was 5.92 by analysis of receiver-operating characteristic curve with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 51%, and the area under the curve in predicting in-hospital death was 0.727 (OR=4.112, 95% confidence interval 0.609 - 0.849, P=0.02).ConclusionsNLR can be used as an inflammatory marker to evaluate the severity of AECOPD and to predict the prognosis.
ObjectiveTo analyze risk factors, clinical features and outcome factors of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in severe H1N1 patients so as to achieve early diagnosis and improve prognosis.MethodsFifty severe H1N1 influenza patients with IPA admitted to West China Hospital and 64 severe H1N1 influenza patients in the same period matched by age and gender were collected. Patient characteristics, laboratory examinations, radiological imaging, microbiology data and prognostic indicators were involved into analysis.ResultsThe mortality of severe H1N1 influenza patients with IPA was significantly higher than those without IPA (51.6% vs. 32.0%, P=0.036). However, the incidence of IPA in severe H1N1 influenza patients was not related with the patient's age, gender, underlying disease, glucocorticoid use and CD4+ T cell count. Serum C-reactive protein level [(125.0±88.8) vs. (86.1±80.1) mg/L, P=0.038] and interleukin-6 level [(148.7±154.2) vs. (81.7±110.2) μg/L, P=0.039] of severe H1N1 influenza patients with IPA were significantly higher than those without IPA. Besides, more patients presented with fever (81.3% vs. 64.0%, P=0.038) and dyspnea (51.6% vs. 24.0%, P=0.003) in severe H1N1 patients with IPA. The radiological imaging of severe H1N1 patients with IPA were mostly characterized by combining with nodular changes on the basis of ground-glass opacity.ConclusionThe occurrence of IPA in severe H1N1 influenza patients may be related with pulmonary excessive inflammatory response secondary to viral invasion rather than basic condition of the patient.
Objective To investigate the risk factors, clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of venous thrombosis (and pulmonary embolism) in patients with idiopathic hypereosinophilia (IHE) so as to provide a theoretical basis for clinical prevention of venous thrombosis and improve prognosis.Methods Thirty-nine patients with IHE admitted to West China Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2010 to January 2022 were collected in this retrospective case-control study to explore the risk factors of venous thrombosis (including pulmonary embolism) and thrombosis recurrence after treatment. Results There were 17 (43.5%) patients combined with venous thrombosis of 39 patients with IHE. In the patients with vascular involvement, pulmonary embolism was the initial expression of IHE accounted for 29% (5/17). patients of IHE with pulmonary embolism were younger [44 (24.5 - 51.0) vs. 56 (46.3 - 67.8) year, P=0.035] and had higher peak absolute eosinophil counts [11.7 (7.2 - 26.5)×109/L vs. 3.8 (2.9 - 6.7)×109/L, P=0.020] than those without pulmonary embolism. After a mean follow-up of 13 months (2 - 21 months), thrombosis recurred in 35.3% (6/17) of patients. Persistent increasing in eosinophils (>0.5×109/L) was an independent risk factor for thrombus recurrence (odds ratio 13.33, 95% confidential interval 1.069 - 166.374). Conclusions Thrombosis is a common vascular impaired complication in IHE , and increased eosinophilia is a risk factor for thrombosis and thrombus recurrence after therapy. Controlling and monitoring the eosinophilic cell levels in patients with IHE may avoid severe comorbidities.
ObjectiveTo explore the feasibility and clinical application value of low attenuation areas (LAA) scoring system in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD).MethodsA total of 380 patients with AECOPD were included. Clinical data including general information, laboratory examinations and treatments during hospitalization were collected. According to the high-resolution computed CT (HRCT) imaging performance, the patients were divided into bronchitis phenotype and emphysema phenotype. The clinical data between these two groups were compared to analyze the differences between different phenotypes and the feasibility of LAA scoring system.ResultsIn patients of bronchitis phenotype, the levels of body mass index, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, procalcitonin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and eosinophil counts on admission were higher than those of emphysema phenotype (P<0.05). Patients with emphysema phenotype had a higher proportion of male, a higher smoking index, higher cystatin C levels and lower bilirubin levels on admission (P<0.05), the rates of using mechanical ventilation and systemic glucocorticoids were higher as also (P<0.05). LAA scores had a positive correlation with the use of mechanical ventilation and systemic glucocorticoids and cystatin C levels, and a negative correlation with interleukin-6 levels (P<0.05).ConclusionsFor patients with AECOPD, using LAA scoring system to classify different phenotype through HRCT has relevant accuracy and clinical practicability. The LAA scoring system might help to evaluate the patient's condition and prognosis to a certain extent.
Objective To improve the knowledge and diagnostic accuracy of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) syndrome in connective tissue diseases (CTD) by summarizing the clinical characteristics of 20 CTD patients with CPFE and reviewing literatures. Methods The medical records of 20 CTD patients with CPFE from January 2011 to June 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Results There were 11 males and 9 females. The average age was 47 years. Among them, 4 patients were smokers and 15 patients were nonsmokers. The average duration of CTD was 3.5 years with an average onset age of 41 years. Respiratory symptoms were reported in 17 patients and Velcro rale was found in 9 patients; The most common type of CTD disease in these 20 patients was inflammatory myopathy (9 patients, 45%) followed by systemic sclerosis (SSc) (4 patients, 20%). High resolution computerized tomography of lung showed typical radiological features of CPFE containing fibrosis lesions predominantly distributed in the subpleural (14 patients) and basal (18 patients) parts and emphysema mainly located in upper zones. Relatively normal results of lung volume and ventilation function, and markedly reduced carbon monoxide transfer capacity were observed. One patient was confirmed with pulmonary hypertension and 1 patient died from severe inflammation and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Conclusions The CPFE syndrome can be identified in CTD patients as an entity with male predominance, especially among patients with inflammatory myopathy and SSc. Higher risk of secondary pulmonary hypertension and acute lung injury in these patients may increase mortality. Early differentiation of CPFE from pure interstitial lung disease in CTD patients could be helpful in improving prognosis.