Objective To analyze the clinical features and etiologic of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) among the elderly aged 80 and over, and provide evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods The clinical characteristics and etiology of the elderly CAP (≥80 years old) were analyzed by collecting and comparing the clinical characteristics and etiology between the very elderly CAP group (≥80 years old, 94 cases) and control group (65 to 79 years old, 100 cases). Results On clinical symptoms, there were statistical differences in dyspnea and gastrointestinal symptoms, systemic symptoms, and mental status (P<0.05) between the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in upper respiratory tract symptoms, fever, cough, sputum, hemoptysis and chest pain between the two groups (P>0.05). On the complications, the very elderly CAP group was more prone to respiratory failure, sepsis, urinary tract infection and electrolyte metabolism than the control group (P<0.05). On the experimental indicators, anemia and abnormal renal function in the elderly CAP group were high (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the two groups of inflammation indicators (white blood count, procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, neutrophil alkaline phosphatase score). The pneumonia severity index score and CURB-65 score of the very elderly CAP group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P<0.001). On pathogen analysis, in the very elderly CAP group the number of bacterial infections (23/94), viral infections (21/94) and bacterial mixed virus infections (21/94) were probably equivalent, and the proportion of bacterial infections of two or more types accounted for 17.0% (16/94); The bacteria detection rate was Streptococcus pneumoniae (22.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19.4%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (16.4%), Staphylococcus aureus (14.9%). Viral infection mainly focused on influenza A virus (23/94) and human cytomegalovirus (21/94). Bacterial mixed virus infection was mainly caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza A virus infection. Comparing the two groups, the most common bacterial pathogen both of them was Streptococcus pneumoniae, but the overall proportion was dominated by gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae were more common; the gram-positive bacteria in the two groups were mainly Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. There was no significant difference in the detection rate of above Gram-positive bacteria between the two groups (P>0.05). The two groups of virus infections were mainly influenza A virus, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The two groups of single bacteria rate, single virus infection rate, double virus infection rate and bacterial mixed virus infection rate were similar, the difference had not been found (P>0.05). Conclusions The elderly (aged 80 and over) CAP group is prone to dyspnea, often presents with extrapulmonary atypical symptoms such as digestive tract symptoms, systemic symptoms and psychiatric symptoms, and usually accompanied with many complications. The etiological treatment mainly covers gram-negative bacteria, and we must pay attention to the possibility of combined virus infection.
Objective To detect the levels and study the significance of serum soluble intercellular adhension molecule-1(sVCAM-1),soluble vascular cell adhension molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in patients with community-acquired pneumonia(CAP).Methods sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were detected by enzymelinked immunosorbent assy（ELISA）in 25 patients with CAP before and after treatment as well as in 10 healthy controls.Results Before treatment, the levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 in the patients with CAP[（2.658 4±0.259 7）ng/mL,(2.680 9±0.255 4）ng/mL)] were significantly higher than those in controls[(2.472 8±0.077 6)ng/mL,（2.426 3±0.307 2)ng/mL](Plt;0.01,Plt;0.05). After treatment, the levels of serum sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 significantly decreased [(2.518 3±0.205 2)ng/mL,(2.523 0±0.279 4)ng/mL](Plt;0.01,Plt;0.01) and were not different from those in controls（Pgt;0.05）.The levels of sICAM-1 were positively associated with neutrophil counts（r=0.602，Plt;0.001）rather than the levels of sVCAM-1（r＝0.036，Pgt;0.05）.Conclusion The changes of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 before and after treatment are predictive to the prognosis in patients with CAP.
ObjectiveTo investigate and compare the clinical characteristics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma-COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS). MethodsA case-control study was conducted in 139 patients with COPD who admitted between March 2013 and September 2013. The patients were divided into a COPD-only group and an ACOS group. Clinical data were collected and compared between two groups. ResultsOf all 139 patients, 93 patients were diagnosed with COPD only (66.9%) and 46 patients were diagnosed with ACOS (33.1%). Compared with the COPD-only group, the ACOS group had a lower ratio of exposure to cigarette smoking (80.4% vs. 93.5%), but high possibility of a history of asthma (89.1% vs. 4.3%), allergies (60.9% vs. 9.6%) and airway hyperreactivity (80.4% vs. 6.5%) (P < 0.05). In clinical symptoms, the ACOS group had a higher ratio of breathless as the first complaint of symptom (26.1% vs. 8.6%) and dry and moist rales in lung by auscultation (67.4% vs. 31.2%) (P < 0.05). In laboratory examination, the ACOS group had increased levels of peripheral blood eosinophils and IgE than those of the COPD-only group (21.7% vs. 5.4%, 18.3% vs. 4.3%, P < 0.05). In treatment, the ACOS group was more likely to use systemic glucocorticoid (58.7% vs. 24.7%) and be treated with higher dosage of glucocorticoid (80 mg, P < 0.05). ConclusionsACOS and COPD-only are two subtypes of COPD. Compared with COPD-only patients, ACOS patients might be more likely to be breathless and have dry and moist rales in clinical symptoms, more likely to have increased levels of peripheral blood eosinophils and IgE in blood test, and more inclined to receive systemic glucocorticoid treatment.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between pulmonary ventilation function (obstructive and restrictive ventilation dysfunction) and atherosclerosis, and explore the correlation between brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV, an effective index for evaluating atherosclerosis) and pulmonary ventilation function.MethodsFrom January to August 2018, a total of 6403 healthy subjects who reported no major chronic diseases such as stroke, myocardial infarction, cor pulmonale or malignant tumor were selected. Past history such as smoking history, hypertension, diabetes, blood biochemistry, and blood hypersensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP), hemodynamic indexes such as systolic pressure, diastolic pressure and ba-PWV, body measurement indexes such as height, weight, waist circumference and pulmonary ventilation function were collected. The relationship between ba-PWV and pulmonary ventilation function were evaluated.ResultsA total of 2433 subjects were included, including 916 males and 1517 females. Ba-PWV showed significant positive correlations with age, smoking index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, triglyceride, cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, hs-CRP, glycosylated hemoglobin, and significant negative correlations with height, percentage of forced vital capacity (FVC) in the predicted value (FVC%pred), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), percentage of FEV1 in the predicted value (FEV1%pred), FEV1/FVC ratio and percentage of maximun midexpiratory flow (MMEF) in the predicted value (MMEF%pred). The ba-PWV was not correlated with weight, body mass index, FVC, MMEF, γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, high density lipoprotein, creatinine or uric acid. In multiple regression analysis using factors other than ba-PWV and respiratory function as adjustment variables, both FVC%pred and FEV1%pred showed significant negative relationships with ba-PWV (P<0.05).ConclusionsThe results indicate that FEV1/FVC, an indicator of airflow limitation, is not a predictor of ba-PWV. However, since ba-PWV showed significant negative relationship with FVC%pred and FEV1%pred, clinically assessment of arterial stiffness might be considered in individuals with impaired pulmonary ventilation.