National Medical Journal of China
Volume 102 · Issue 05 · 2022
Natl Med J China
The aged population in China is rapidly increasing, but there is a relative lower anesthesia rate with surgical indication for elderly patients because of worry for higher morbidity and mortality. In past five years, Chinese anesthesiologists have made the tremendous efforts to change this situation in as follow aspects. Firstly, establishing the anesthesia and multidisciplinary evaluation system for elderly patients to improve preoperative functional status, and accelerating the postoperative rehabilitation process. Secondly, releasing the publications of perioperative experts consensus for elderly patients based on the high level clinical researches to highlight clinical practice in China. Thirdly, implementing online virtual MDT discussion of anesthesia and perioperative management for critical elderly patients to improve perioperative diagnosis and treatment level. Fourthly, making the innovation of clinical practice and management pathway to adopt to the ERAS′ clinical requests for elderly patients, especially advanced aged patients.
Medical image-based artificial intelligence (AI) systems have shown great potential in assisting disease diagnosis and treatment. However, the challenges, such as data silos, privacy security and standardization, seriously impedes the application of AI in disease diagnosis and treatment. By integrating federated learning technology and FAIR data principle, it is possible to resolve the aforementioned obstacles. Then, it is able to maximize the value of multicenter data to develop a more efficient and accurate disease diagnosis and treatment AI systems, and promote the clinical application of medical image-based AI systems in the field of disease diagnosis and treatment.
To explore the application value of plasma heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1(hnRNP A2B1), β-amyloid 42(Aβ42) and phosphorylated tau protein(P-tau) levels in elderly patients in the preoperative diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment(MCI).
A total of 200 patients who underwent elective surgery at Tianjin Third Central Hospital from June 2020 to March 2021were Enrolled, regardless of gender, age 65-80 years old. According to the international MCI working group standards and the European Alzheimer′s Disease Federation working group standards, patients were divided into MCI group and control group. There were 58 males and 42 females in each group. The patient′s plasma hnRNP A2/B1, Aβ42 and P-tau levels were detected before operation. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the diagnosis of MCI were calculated. The receiver operating characteristic curve were drew to evaluate the diagnostic value of each index.
The plasma levels of hnRNP A2/B1, Aβ42 and P-tau in the MCI group were 310.0 (275.1, 344.2), 34.5 (24.9, 42.5), 190.4 (150.4, 301.7) ng/L, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the control group [272.7 (239.6, 291.5), 18.7 (14.7, 26.6), 140.0 (101.8, 217.5) ng/L]. The differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Taking the international MCI working group standard as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity and area under the ROC curve (AUC) of plasma hnRNP A2/B1 for predicting MCI were 80%, 61%, and 0.781, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC of plasma Aβ42 for predicting MCI were 78%, 73%, and 0.744. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of P-tau for predicting MCI were 51%, 79%, and 0.675, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and AUC of hnRNP A2/B1 and Aβ42 in predicting MCI were not statistically significant (all P>0.05), but the sensitivity of both were higher than P-tau (all P<0.001). Compared with P-tau, the AUC of plasma hnRNP A2/B1 was higher when predicting MCI (P<0.05). When the three indicators were combined, the sensitivity was 82%, and the AUC was 0.842, both of which were the highest, but the specificity reduced (71%) (all P<0.05).
Plasma hnRNP A2/B1 combined with Aβ42 and P-tau levels can improve the sensitivity and accuracy of MCI diagnosis in elderly MCI patients before surgery, and have the greatest diagnostic efficiency. It has certain application value.
To evaluate the effect of reducing-opioids on postoperative delirium (POD) incidence in elderly patients with gastric cancer surgery.
From July 2016 to September 2021, 130 elderly patients undergoing scheduled gastric cancer surgery in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital were selected and divided into conventional opioid general anesthesia group (group A) and reducing-opioids general anesthesia group (group B) according to random number table. Postoperative analgesic pump formula: group A: 0.2% ropivacaine and 1 μg/ml sufentanil solution; Group B: 0.2% ropivacaine solution. POD assessment was performed once daily between 8 am and 8 pm for 3 days after surgery. The primary outcome measures were POD incidence 3 days after surgery, and the secondary outcome measures included anaesthesia related adverse events 3 days after surgery, such as nausea and vomiting, postoperative fever and fatigue.
Among the 130 patients, 7 patients were excluded because they did not comply with the POD test after operation. Finally, 123 elderly patients completed the study. There were 59 cases in group A, aged (73±5) years, including 45 males, and 64 cases in group B, aged (71±6) years, including 56 males. The incidence of total POD 3 days after surgery in group A and B was 30.5% (18/59) and 18.8% (12/64), respectively, with no statistical significance (P>0.05). However, POD incidence at 48 and 72 h after operation in group A [27.1% (16/59) and 16.9% (10/59)] was higher than that in group B [10.9% (8/64) and 4.7% (3/64), both P<0.05]. The incidence of nausea and vomiting in group A was higher than that in group B [15.3% (9/59) vs 1.6% (1/64), P<0.05].
Reducing-opioids consumption have no effect on the incidence of total POD 3 d after gastric cancer surgery in elderly patients, but can reduce the risk of POD 48-72 h after surgery.
To explore the 50% effective dose (ED50) and 95% effective dose (ED95) of Remimazolam during gastroscopic sedation in elderly patients, and to observe the adverse reactions during anesthesia.
From July to November 2020, 39 elderly patients, of which there were 18 males and 21 females, aged from 65 to 82 (72±5) years, were examined by gastroscopy in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, who American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) was grade Ⅰ or Ⅱ. Sufentanil 0.1 μg/kg and test dose Remimazolam were injected intravenously, and the initial dose of Remimazolam was 0.17 mg/kg. The dose of the next patient was determined according to the modified Dixon sequential method. If the former patient had a positive reaction during gastroscopy, such as cough, nausea, vomiting and/or body movement reaction occurred when the gastroscope was placed into the pharynx or in the 2 min, the next patient would increase the dose, otherwise, the dose would be reduced. The dose increase and decrease gradient of Remimazolam was 0.01 mg/kg, and the test was stopped after 12 times of return. At the same time, the occurrence of adverse reactions during anesthesia was observed.
A total of 39 elderly patients completed the trial, of which 21 were effective and 18 were ineffective. When the elderly patients were sedated by gastroscopy, the ED50 of single intravenous injection of Remimazolam was 0.153 mg/kg (95%CI:0.151-0.154 mg/kg) and the ED95 was 0.164 mg/kg (95%CI:0.160-0.166 mg/kg). The total dose of Remimazolam was (10.6±2.8) mg, the recovery time was (10.0±3.4) min, and the stay time in resuscitation room was (8.2±2.6) min. During anesthesia, nausea and vomiting occurred in 1 case, transient hypotension in 4 cases, and no other adverse reactions were found.
The ED50 of Remimazolam during gastroscopic sedation in elderly patients is 0.153 mg/kg, ED95 is 0.162 mg/kg, and the incidence of adverse reactions is low.
To investigate the predictive value of postoperative urine protein level in critically ill patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery with acute kidney injury (AKI).
A total of 661 critically ill patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, who visited the Department of Critical Care Medicine of Peking University First Hospital from May 20, 2019 to November 24, 2020, were enrolled in this prospective study. The clinical data of the patient′s age, gender, body mass index, laboratory examination, surgical status, etc. were collected. AKI diagnostic criteria of the 2012 KDIGO guidelines were used to diagnose the occurrence of AKI after surgery. The independent predictors of AKI were determined by multivariate logistic regression.
The age of this patient cohort was (69±15) years. The prevalence of AKI was 45.4% (300/661). Multivariate logistic regression showed that urine protein semi-quantitative ≥2+(OR=2.62, 95%CI: 1.05-6.56, P=0.039) was independent factor for postoperative AKI in critically ill patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery, other independent factors include higher age (OR=1.04, 95%CI: 1.02-1.06, P=0.001), higher body mass index (BMI) (OR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.04-1.21, P=0.004), lower plasma hemoglobin level (OR=0.98, 95%CI: 0.97-1.00, P=0.019), lower central venous pressure (OR=0.89, 95%CI: 0.83-0.97, P=0.005) and lower total hypotension time (OR=1.01, 95%CI: 1.00-1.01, P=0.041).
Urine protein semi-quantitative ≥2+after surgery is an independent predictive factor for the occurrence of postoperative AKI in critically ill patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. It is important to check urine routine immediately after surgery to detect and deal with high-risk patients.
To compare the incidences of neurological complications after three-column osteotomy based on the magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)-based classification of spinal cord shape and cerebrospinal fluid in patients with severe thoracic kyphoscoliosis.
A total of 112 patients (52 males, 60 females, age (M(Q1,Q3)) 13.5 years (9.0-38.5 years)) with thoracic kyphoscoliosis who underwent three-column osteotomy in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from August 2015 to August 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The radiographic parameters including spinal cord morphology at apex, Cobb angle of main curve, distance between C7 plumb line and center sacral vertical line (C7PL-CSVL), global kyphosis (GK) and sagittal vertical axis (SVA) were measured, retrospectively. The Frankel scoring system was used for the evaluation of neurological status at pre-operation, post-operation and the last follow-up.
The spinal cord morphologies at apex were classified into type Ⅰ in 8 (7.1%) patients, type Ⅱ in 58 (51.8%), and type Ⅲ in 46 (41.1%), respectively. The patients were followed-up for (28.5±3.4) months. Compared with pre-operation, the Cobb angle of main curve, C7PL-CSVL, GK and SVA showed significantly improvement at post-operation (all P<0.05) and with no significant correction loss at the last follow-up (all P>0.05). New neurological complications were detected in 3 patients with type Ⅱ spinal cord shape, of whom the neurological scores were Frankel D at post-operation. For patients with type Ⅲ spinal cord shape, new neurological complications were detected in 6 patients including 1 Frankel C and 5 Frankel D. In addition, deterioration of neurological status from Frankel D to Frankel C was found in 3 patients with type Ⅲ spinal cord shape. The incidence of new or deteriorating neurological complications in patients with type Ⅲ spinal cord shape was higher than that in type Ⅱ patients (19.6% vs 5.2%, P=0.037).
The MRI-based classification is associated with post-operative neurological complications in patients with severe kyphoscoliosis undergoing three-column osteotomy. Patients with type Ⅲ spinal cord shape are at higher risk of post-operative neurological complications.
To compare the morphological and hemodynamic features of mirror intracranial aneurysms (MIAs) on CT angiography (CTA), and to elucidate the rupture risk factors of MIAs.
This study retrospectively collected 29 patients with 58 digital subtraction angiography (DSA) or surgically confirmed MIAs from January 2010 to December 2016 in Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University. Among them, there are 6 males and 23 females, aged from 40 to 83 (61±11) years old. Based on the results of hemorrhagic manifestation, 58 MIAs were divided as the ruptured (n=29) group and unruptured group (n=29). In addition, according to the location of aneurysms, they were further divided into the subgroup of posterior communicating MIAs (n=32) and non-posterior communicating MIAs (n=26). Clinical data of the patients and the morphological parameters of the MIAs were collected. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed to obtain hemodynamic parameters, such as pressure (P), wall shear stress (WSS), wall shear stress gradient (WSSG), and oscillatory shear index (OSI). The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to describe the aforementioned hemodynamic parameters of intracranial aneurysms, so the index after CV adjustment is expressed as PCV , WSSCV , WSSGCV , OSICV . Characteristics between ruptured and unruptured groups were compared. Conditional logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the rupture risk factors of MIAs.
Among the 29 pairs of mirror aneurysms, 16 pairs were distributed in bilateral posterior communicating arteries (55%), 9 pairs distributed in bilateral middle cerebral arteries (31%), and 4 pairs distributed in bilateral internal carotid arteries (14%). Compared with the unruptured MIAs group, the ruptured aneurysms group usually had a larger maximum diameter, neck width, and size ratio (SR) [4.98 (3.18, 6.79) mm vs 3.20 (2.10, 4.31) mm, 4.19 (3.46, 5.95) mm vs 4.05 (3.23, 5.02) mm, 1.69 (0.81, 2.28) vs 0.96 (0.67, 1.49)] (all P<0.05). In the subgroup hemodynamic analysis of MIAs, the ruptured aneurysms had higher WSSCV and WSSGCV than the contralateral unruptured ones [1.00(0.87, 1.21) vs 0.65(0.57, 0.87), 1.09(0.56, 1.90) vs 0.57(0.50, 1.13), 1.52 (1.34, 1.80) vs 1.21 (1.07, 1.38), 1.52±0.46 vs 1.21±0.23] (all P<0.05), while the PCV was lower than the contralateral unruptured ones [0.004 (0.002, 0.008) vs 0.010 (0.006, 0.013), 0.003 (0.002, 0.011) vs 0.009 (0.002, 0.066)] (both P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that high WSSGCV was an independent risk factor for MIAs rupture (OR=279.20(95%CI:1.10-71 028.28)).
The maximum diameter, neck width, and SR were considered as a reliable morphological parameters to distinguish the ruptured status of MIAs, higher WSSGCV in the aneurysm sac are highly correlated with MIAs rupture.
To evaluate the perioperative period and long-term effects of minimally invasive gasless laparoscopic transhiatal esophagectomy (LTE) and minimally invasive combined thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy (CTLE) for stageⅠ-Ⅲ cervical esophageal cancer.
The clinical data of 158 consecutive patients with cervical esophageal cancer stageⅠto Ⅲ who underwent minimally invasive CTLE or LTE esophagectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital from January 2008 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 40 pairs of cases were matched (40 cases of CTLE and 40 cases of LTE surgery) after using the propensity score matching analysis which aimed to balance the influence of confounding factors between groups, including 43 males and 37 females, aged 51 to 81 (62.5±7.0) years old. The perioperative variables and long-term outcomes of the two groups were compared.
The operation time ((148.0±31.3) min vs (201.3±48.3) min), intraoperative blood loss ((192.6±77.9) ml vs (387.8±112.4) ml), ICU monitoring time (0 day vs 1 day), and the complication rates of postoperative pneumonia (0 vs 15%) and arrhythmia (2.5% vs 20%) were lower in the LTE group than that of in the CTLE group(all P<0.05). The number of lymph node dissections in the CTLE group was higher than that of in the LTE group (21.2±6.1 vs 12.9±4.3, P<0.001). The 3-and 5-year overall survival (OS) rate and disease-free survival (DFS) rate in the LTE group (OS: 53.53% and 34.27%, DFS: 43.62% and 24.89%, respectively) and the CTLE group (OS: 59.48% and 37.29%, DFS: 49.12% and 28.82%, respectively) had no statistical differences (all P>0.05).
The LTE group has advantages in reducing operation time, intraoperative bleeding, ICU monitoring time, postoperative incidence of pneumonia and arrhythmia, and its long-term prognosis is comparable to that of the CTLE group.
To explore the effect of metformin combined with intermittent fasting on endoplasmic reticulum stress after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice.
One hundred 10-Week-old healthy KM mice of SPF grade, weighing 25-28 g, were divided into 5 groups by the random number table method: sham group, focal cerebral ischemia group (I/R group), intermittent fasting group (IF group), metformin group (Met group), metformin+intermittent fasting group (Met+IF group). In IF group, food was provided ad libitum from 8∶00 to 16∶00 daily, but the mice were fasted for the rest of the time. In Met group, the mice underwent intraperitoneal injection of metformin (10 mg/kg). In Met+IF group, the mice received the same eating method as the IF group and the same method of metformin injection as Met Group. In Sham group, I/R group and IF group, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with equal volume of normal saline. Mice in all groups were not restricted to drinking water. Random plasma glucose and body weight changes in mice during preconditioning were monitored, and a focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion model was established 14 days later. The cerebral infarction volume was measured after 1 hour of ischemia and 24 hours of reperfusion. The brain tissues of mice were subjected to Western blot to detect the contents of endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins, including glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), and apoptosis proteins (Caspase-3 and Cleaved-caspase 3).
After different interventions, there was no significant difference in random plasma glucose changes among the four groups (all P<0.05). The blood glucose level of the mice in the Met+IF group was lower than the sham group, I/R group, IF group and Met group (all P<0.05). GRP78/β-actin in sham group, I/R group, IF group, Met group, IF+Met group were 0.48±0.05, 1.35±0.10, 0.94±0.05, 0.70±0.14, 0.41±0.37, respectively; CHOP/β-actin were 0.27±0.04, 1.03±0.03, 0.72±0.04, 0.63±0.04, 0.44±0.01, respectively; Caspase-3/β-actin were 0.51±0.04, 1.04±0.04, 0.83±0.03, 0.76±0.03, 0.63±0.05, respectively; Cleaved-Caspase-3/β-actin were 0.17±0.06, 1.01±0.20, 0.75±0.06, 0.51±0.12, 0.29±0.08, respectively, with statistically significant differences (all P<0.001). The counts of GRP78-positive cells in the hippocampus immunohistochemistry in the sham group, I/R group, IF group, Met group, and IF+Met group were 53±5, 192±11, 162±12, 140±10, 114±13, respectively, while the counts of CHOP-positive cells were 35±4, 177±12, 120±12, 100±7, 69±10, respectively, with statistically significant differences (all P<0.001). The relative volume of cerebral infarction in I/R group, IF group, Met group and IF+Met group were 0, 0.333±0.046, 0.258±0.023, 0.116±0.039, 0.111±0.039, respectively, and there were statistically significant differences (all P<0.001).
Both Metformin and intermittent fasting can alleviate endoplasmic reticulum stress after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in mice, and the combination of the two has a better effect.
To investigate the effect of ultrasonic parameter settings on maximum temperatures in the drilling site and penetration time and determine the most suitable parameters for efficient and safe robot-based ultrasonic bone drilling in spinal surgery.
Five adult bovine thoracic and lumbar vertebrae specimens (T10-L6) were cut into 10 mm thick slices. A total of 50 slices were obtained. Among them, 30 and 20 slices were used for cancellous bone experiments and cortical bone experiments, respectively. In the cancellous bone experiment, the slices were randomly divided into three groups, corresponding to different feed rates of 0.8 mm/s, 1.6 mm/s, and 2.4 mm/s, respectively, with 10 slices in each group. The cancellous part of each slice was drilled 9 times with different output powers from 20% (48 W) to 100% (120 W). In the cortical bone experiment, the slices were randomly assigned into two groups, corresponding to a different feed rate (0.8 mm/s and 1.6 mm/s). Drilling was performed on the cortical part of each slice 4 times with different output power, which increased from 70% (84W) to 100% (120 W). All experiments were conducted at room temperature of 25 ℃. Maximum temperature and penetration time were recorded. The maximum grinding temperature and penetration time of cancellous bone and cortical bone under different output power and feed rate were compared.
At the same feed rate, the maximum temperature of the cancellous bone decreased as output power increased. There were statistically significant differences in the maximum temperature between the output powers of 120 W and 24 W under different feed rates(61.2 ℃±9.4 ℃ vs 70.9 ℃±5.7 ℃, 59.2 ℃±7.1 ℃ vs 69.5 ℃±10.7 ℃, 55.5 ℃±5.5 ℃ vs 69.2 ℃±9.3 ℃, all P<0.05). At the premise of the same output power, there was no significant difference in the maximum temperature among different feed rates (all P>0.05). At the feed rate of 0.8 mm/s, the maximum temperature of cortical bone decreased as the output power increased. The maximum temperature at the output power of 120 W was significantly lower than that of 84 W (P=0.048). However, at the feed rate of 1.6 mm/s, the maximum temperature could not be significantly lowered by the increase in output power (P>0.05). Under the same output power, the maximum temperature at the feed rate of 1.6 mm/s were all significantly lower than those of 0.8 mm/s (all P<0.05). The penetration time of cancellous bone did not decrease significantly with the increase in the output power (all P>0.05) while it decreased significantly as the feed rate increased (all P<0.05). Regarding cortical bone at the feed rate of 0.8 mm/s, the increase in output power could not shorten the penetration time (P>0.05); at the feed rate of 1.6 mm/s, the penetration time at the output power of 120 W was significantly shorter than that of 96 W (P=0.008). With the same output power, the penetration time at the feed rate of 1.6 mm/s were significantly shorter than those at 0.8 mm/s (all P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the penetration failure rate among different feed rates with the same output power (all P>0.05). The penetration failure rate was 0 when the output power of cancellous bone was 48 W and above and the output power of cortical bone were 108 W and 120 W.
The maximum temperature of vertebral cancellous bone and the cortical bone is primarily influenced by the output power and the feed rate, respectively; the penetration time of cancellous bone and the cortical bone is affected by the feed rate and both of feed rate and output power, respectively. The most suitable parameters are output power of 120 W and feed rate of 2.4 mm/s for cancellous bone and output power of 120 W and feed rate of 1.6 mm/s for cortical bone.
Patients with dementia with Lewy body(DLB), Alzheimer disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTP), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and healthy controls in the Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from August 2019 to March 2021 were recruited, with 3 in each group. Phosphorylated α-synuclein from the skin of DLB patients was detected by skin micro-biopsy and compared with patients with AD, FTP, PSP and health controls. Phosphorylated α-synuclein was found in the skin nerves of the DLB patients, while no α-synuclein were detected in the skin samples of others. Skin phosphorylated α-synuclein may potentially become a diagnostic biomarker of DLB, however further studies are warranted to assess its sensitivity and specificity.
The idea of evidence-based medicine is an important revolution in the development of medicine, and medicine has entered the era of evidence from the experience era. There is always an insurmountable transformation gap between evidence-based evidence and clinical practice. With the advancement of medical technology, clinicians can record clinical practice more accurately and generate big data closer to the real world. How to use medical big data to provide more basis for clinical decision-making is an urgent problem to be solved. Artificial intelligence technology is good at finding patterns in complex data, helping doctors analyze and mine data, and enhancing their understanding of diseases. In particular, deep learning methods are good at image segmentation, enhancement, reconstruction and generation, which can better reconstruct anatomy, realize visualization and help surgical operations. The combination of medical care and artificial intelligence not only provides traditional evidence-based medical evidence, but also enriches the connotation of evidence-based evidence, opening a new era of medicine that accurately grasps each patient's condition and reflects the real world.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease with progressive cognitive impairment as the main manifestation, and the pathogenesis is unknown. Therefore, it is particularly important to study the complex pathogenesis of AD. In vitro cell model of AD is an important tool to study the pathogenesis of AD. Experiments using a single cell line can effectively demonstrate the pathophysiological characteristics of AD. Compared with animal experiments, it is more simple and intuitive, and can be used to study the effects of single factors on the pathological process of AD, such as abnormal protein metabolism and regulation of intervention pathways. Its short experimental cycle, easy culture, unlimited passage and cost-effective characteristics provide a powerful tool for studying the pathogenesis of AD. Human neuroblastoma cell lines SH-SY5Y and BE (2) -M17, murine hybrid cell NC108-15, neuroblastoma cell Neuro-2A, microglia BV2 and hippocampal neuronal cell HT22 are several cell models commonly used in the study of AD pathogenesis. They are all immortalized cell lines. They not only have the cell processes, ion channels and enzymes of normal nerve cells, but also have their own characteristics. They can BE used as good nerve cell models to simulate the pathophysiological changes of AD. In this paper, a systematic review of these cell lines is made in order to provide reference for the follow-up study of the complex pathogenesis of AD.
About 12% of patients with apparent preoperative cognition developed symptoms of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) after undergoing anesthesia and non-cardiac surgery, a phenomenon more pronounced in older patients over 65 years of age. Recent studies have found difficulties in determining the existence of any clear link between anesthesia and POCD, in part because of a lack of consistency in definition and diagnosis. While physiological mechanisms that affect protein deposition in the brain do exist, POCD is usually self-limiting and rarely lasts for longer periods of time. The main reason for the difficulty of clinical research in this area is usually the lack of uniform definitions and consistent testing.
Recent studies have shown that changes in RNA metabolism during stress play an important role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. RNA-binding proteins can control mRNA utilization during stress by forming a membraneless organelle called a stress particle. These structures are formed by a liquid-liquid phase separation process. Various biochemical pathways can regulate the formation of stress granules. The main signaling pathways that regulate stress granule formation include the mammalian rapamycin target protein (mTOR) -alpha subunit pathways of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4F (eIF4F) and eukaryotic translation initiation factor eIF2, while the pathways that regulate stress granule dispersion and transfer are mediated by valcasein-containing proteins and autophagy. Post-translational modifications of RNA-binding proteins are also involved in the regulation of stress particles. There is evidence that stress granules are transient structures, but chronic stress associated with aging leads to chronic persistent stress granule formation that may act as a focus for disease-associated protein aggregation. Intrinsic vulnerability in cellular RNA metabolism may lead to pathological aggregation of RNA-binding proteins when stress particles persist. Therefore, the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases is likely to stem from the intrinsic fragility in cellular metabolism. This process accelerates the pathological process of some neurodegenerative diseases and provides new targets for disease intervention.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is the second most common cause of severe AKI in critically ill adult patients. AKI is also an important problem after cardiac surgery in children. Although the diagnosis and treatment of AKI have improved at present, the occurrence of AKI after cardiac surgery in children still has a high correlation with patient mortality, so early diagnosis and intervention of AKI after cardiac surgery in children are particularly important. To evaluate the utility of postoperative urinary albumin (uAlb) immediately after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) as a diagnostic marker to predict the occurrence and severity of AKI after cardiac surgery in children, 376 pediatric patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria from July 2010 to July 2012 were included. Applying the diagnostic and stratification criteria for acute kidney injury in children (pRIFLE), 133 patients (35.4%) were diagnosed as non-AKI patients (normal) and 243 (64.6%) were diagnosed as AKI patients, of which 172 were at risk (R, 45.7%), 44 were at injury (I, 11.7%), and 27 were at failure (F, 7.2%). Immediate postoperative uAlb and urinary creatinine-corrected urinary albumin (uAlb/Cr) levels were higher in AKI patients than in non-AKI patients [uAlb: 13.5 (6.4-39.6) vs 6.0 (3.4-16.0) μ g/ml,P<0.001; uAlb/Cr: 325 (138-760) vs 121 (53-269) mg/gCr,P<0.001]; Furthermore, patients with heavier pRIFLE classification had higher uAlb levels regardless of whether uAlb was corrected for urinary creatinine. The results of the subject operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis of uAlb/Cr predicting AKI occurrence after cardiac surgery in children showed that the area under the curve was 0.71 (P<0.001), the best cutoff, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for uAlb were: (1) uAlb: 5.1 μ g/ml, 81.9%, 46.7%, 74.1%, 58.2%; (2) uAlb/Cr: 282 mg/gCr, 56%, 77%, 81.9%, 48.4%. In summary, it is considered that the assessment of early uAlb levels after cardiac surgery in children is helpful in predicting the occurrence of postoperative AKI in patients. In the future, the origin and role of uAlb in the pathophysiology of AKI after cardiac surgery in children should be explored. In addition, since kidney function in children varies by age, it is necessary to conduct relevant studies according to age classification in a large sample size study population.
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