Blood eosinophils and mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: A propensity score matching analysis

BACKGROUND: The effect of blood eosinophils(EOSs) on mortality in acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS) patients and whether corticosteroids affect this effect are unclear.METHODS: The Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III database(version 1.4) was used to extract data. Patients with ARDS were selected for inclusion. Cox regression models using the backward stepwise method and propensity score matching(PSM) were used to assess the relationship between blood EOS counts and 28-day mortality. RESULTS: A total of 2,567 patients with ARDS were included, and the 28-day mortality rate was 24.19%. The crude 28-day mortality was significantly lower in patients with EOS counts ≥2%(18.60% [85/457] vs. 25.40% [536/2,110], P=0.002) than in those with EOS counts <2%. In the Cox regression model, the EOS counts ≥2% showed a significant association with the decreased 28-day mortality(hazard ratio [HR] 0.731;95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.581–0.921, P=0.008). In the corticosteroid non-use subgroup, EOS counts ≥2% was significantly related to decreased 28-day mortality(HR 0.697, 95% CI 0.535–0.909, P=0.008), but the result was not significant in the corticosteroid non-use subgroup model(P=0.860). A total of 457 well-matched pairs were obtained by a 1:1 matching algorithm after PSM. The 28-day mortality remained significantly lower in the EOS counts ≥2% group(18.60% [85/457] vs. 26.70% [122/457], P=0.003).CONCLUSIONS Higher EOS counts are related to lower 28-day mortality in ARDS patients, and this relationship can be counteracted by using corticosteroids.

Update on diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis(PAM)(MIM265100)is a rare disease characterized by the diffuse deposit of microlithiasis in alveolar spaces.PAM could occur worldwide with high prevalence in Asia and Europe.Familial occurrence indicates its autosomal recessive trait and the SLC34A2 gene was identified as the responsible gene for the disease.In spite of the versatile mutation sites in patients from other countries,exon 7and exon 8 might be the most liable gene in Chinese and Japanese patients.Most mutations caused the premature termination of proteins and produced truncated proteins,leading to the blocking of the recycling and degrading of outdated surfactant which is full of phospholipids.The most outstanding clinical feature of PAM is the discrepancy between the paucity of symptoms and the degree of pulmonary involvement.Diagnosis is easy to establish based on typical chest radiograph image and nuclear medicine improves its early diagnosis and active evaluation.Pathology of the unique intra-alveolar lamellar microliths gives strong support for diagnosis.No effective treatment is considered valid currently.However,lung transplantation is effective for advanced-stage patients,and long term treatment of disodium etidronate seems promising.