ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of cerebral hemorrhage in young and elderly patients, to provide evidences for individual clinical diagnosis and treatment, and lay a foundation for building a predictive model of prognosis in cerebral hemorrhage.MethodsPatients with spontaneous cerebral hemorrhage in the Third People’s Hospital of Chengdu were recruited prospectively and continuously from January 2014 to January 2019. They were divided into the youth group (≤50 years old) and the elderly group (>50 years old), and their risk factors, disease characteristics, etiology, and prognosis were analyzed.ResultsA total of 757 patients were recruited. There were 160 cases (21.1%) in the youth group, including 120 males and 40 females, aged from 17 to 50 years, with an average age of (42.06±7.62) years old; 597 cases (78.9%) in the elderly group, including 361 males and 236 females, aged from 51 to 96 years, with an average age of (69.34±10.56) years old. The incidences of hypertension (74.2% vs. 51.2%), diabetes (15.1% vs. 4.4%), coronary heart disease (12.1% vs. 1.3%), and the level of blood glucose at admission [7.1 (5.8, 8.4) vs. 6.3 (5.3, 8.1) mmol/L] in the elderly group were higher than those in the youth group (P<0.05), respectively. However, the proportions of males (60.5% vs. 75.0%), smoking (24.5% vs. 36.9%), and the diastolic blood pressure at admission [(92.37±18.50) vs. (100.95±25.25) mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa)] in the elderly group were lower than those in the youth group (P<0.05), respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups in systolic blood pressure at admission, Glasgow Coma Score, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, initial hematoma volume, hematoma enlargement, brain hernia, location of hemorrhage, midline shift, hydrocephalus, combined subarachnoid hemorrhage, or intraventricular extension (P>0.05). Hypertension was the most common etiology in the two groups. There was a significant difference in the etiology of cerebral hemorrhage between the two groups (P<0.05), the difference was mainly reflected in cerebral amyloid angiopathy, cavernous hemangioma, and arteriovenous malformation. The fatality rate during hospitalization (9.4% vs. 20.9%), 3 months after discharge (10.3% vs. 26.3%), and at 1 year follow-up (19.0% vs. 37.6%) in the youth group was lower than that in the elderly group (P<0.05), respectively. The disability rate 3 months after discharge and at 1 year follow-up in the youth group was lower than that in the elderly group (32.1% vs. 44.2%, 16.9% vs. 34.4%; P<0.05), respectively.ConclusionsThe education of healthy lifestyles should be strengthened to reduce the adverse effects of smoking in young patients. Young patients should choose antihypertensives that can control diastolic blood pressure better. There are more structural abnormalities in young patients, so routine vascular examination is reasonable. It is necessary to focus on whether the original underlying diseases are stable in elderly patients. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is an important cause of cerebral hemorrhage in elderly patients, and is a risk factor of recurrence. Anticoagulation or antiplatelet therapy should be cautious.
Objective To identify and investigate the quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in 11 non-key Chinese medical journals so as to learn about the current status and problems. Methods Eleven non-key medical journals of TCM from 1995 to 2000 were hand searched to identify the RCT and controlled clinical trials (CCTs). Each identified RCT or CCT was page by page verified by handsearchers based on the criteria developed by the Cochrane Handbook; the RCTs’ design, randomization method description, blind, baseline comparison, inclusion and exclusion criteria, diagnostic criteria,criteria for theraputic effectiveness, sample size, statistical method，described outcome, side effects, and follow up etc. were analyzed. Results In the related journals from 1995 to 2000, a total of 66 volumes and 390 issues were checked. As a result, 22 739 clinical studies were identified, of which 1 416 RCTs, only 24 (1.69%) were done with double blinding. There were 141 CCTs from 1995 to 2000, the total number of RCT increased from 95 to 1 416 and most of studies were on digestives diseases. Most of these studies had no detailed randomization method description, only 38 (2.68%) studies provided a methodology description. In addition, 1 220 (86.16% ) described outcome index, 1 203 (84.96%) used statistical method，934 (65.96%) had baseline comparison，828 (58.47%) described diagnostic criteria, 197 (13.91%) had inclusion and exclusion criteria，finally only 89 (6.29%) reported side effects. Conclusions Although the number of RCT has increased in the 11 non-key medical journals of TCM in the past six years, the quality of these RCTs needs to be improved.