Hospitalizations and in-hospital mortality for inflammatory bowel disease in Brazil

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is associated with complications,frequent hospitalizations,surgery and death.The introduction of biologic drugs into the therapeutic arsenal in the last two decades,combined with an expansion of immunosuppressant therapy,has changed IBD management and may have altered the profile of hospitalizations and in-hospital mortality(IHM)due to IBD.AIM To describe hospitalizations from 2008 to 2018 and to analyze IHM from 1998 to 2017 for IBD in Brazil.METHODS This observational,retrospective,ecological study used secondary data on hospitalizations for IBD in Brazil for 2008-2018 to describe hospitalizations and for 1998-2017 to analyze IHM.Hospitalization data were obtained from the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified Health System and population data from demographic censuses.The following variables were analyzed:Number of deaths and hospitalizations,length of hospital stay,financial costs of hospitalization,sex,age,ethnicity and type of hospital admission.RESULTS There was a reduction in the number of IBD hospitalizations,from 6975 admissions in 1998 to 4113 in 2017(trend:y=-0.1682x+342.8;R^(2)=0.8197;P<0.0001).The hospitalization rate also decreased,from 3.60/100000 in 2000 to 2.17 in 2010.IHM rates varied during the 20-year period,between 2.06 in 2017 and 3.64 in 2007,and did not follow a linear trend(y=-0.0005049x+2.617;R^(2)=0,00006;P=0.9741).IHM rates also varied between regions,increasing in all but the southeast,which showed a decreasing trend(y=-0.1122x+4.427;R^(2)=0,728;P<0.0001).The Southeast region accounted for 44.29%of all hospitalizations.The Northeast region had the highest IHM rate(2.86 deaths/100 admissions),with an increasing trend(y=0.1105x+1.110;R^(2)=0.6265;P<0.0001),but the lowest hospitalization rate(1.15).The Midwest and South regions had the highest hospitalization rates(3.27 and 3.17,respectively).A higher IHM rate was observed for nonelective admissions(2.88),which accounted for 81%of IBD hospitalizations.The total cost of IBD hospitalizations in 2017 exhibited an increase of 37.5%compared to 2008.CONCLUSION There has been a notable reduction in the number of hospitalizations for IBD in Brazil over 20 years.IHM rates varied and did not follow a linear trend.

Prediction of hospital mortality in intensive care unit patients from clinical and laboratory data: A machine learning approach

BACKGROUND Intensive care unit(ICU)patients demand continuous monitoring of several clinical and laboratory parameters that directly influence their medical progress and the staff’s decision-making.Those data are vital in the assistance of these patients,being already used by several scoring systems.In this context,machine learning approaches have been used for medical predictions based on clinical data,which includes patient outcomes.AIM To develop a binary classifier for the outcome of death in ICU patients based on clinical and laboratory parameters,a set formed by 1087 instances and 50 variables from ICU patients admitted to the emergency department was obtained in the“WiDS(Women in Data Science)Datathon 2020:ICU Mortality Prediction”dataset.METHODS For categorical variables,frequencies and risk ratios were calculated.Numerical variables were computed as means and standard deviations and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed.We then divided the data into a training(80%)and test(20%)set.The training set was used to train a predictive model based on the Random Forest algorithm and the test set was used to evaluate the predictive effectiveness of the model.RESULTS A statistically significant association was identified between need for intubation,as well predominant systemic cardiovascular involvement,and hospital death.A number of the numerical variables analyzed(for instance Glasgow Coma Score punctuations,mean arterial pressure,temperature,pH,and lactate,creatinine,albumin and bilirubin values)were also significantly associated with death outcome.The proposed binary Random Forest classifier obtained on the test set(n=218)had an accuracy of 80.28%,sensitivity of 81.82%,specificity of 79.43%,positive predictive value of 73.26%,negative predictive value of 84.85%,F1 score of 0.74,and area under the curve score of 0.85.The predictive variables of the greatest importance were the maximum and minimum lactate values,adding up to a predictive importance of 15.54%.CONCLUSION We demonstrated the efficacy of a Random Forest machine learning algorithm for handling clinical and laboratory data from patients under intensive monitoring.Therefore,we endorse the emerging notion that machine learning has great potential to provide us support to critically question existing methodologies,allowing improvements that reduce mortality.

Correlation of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio to severity of coronary artery disease and in-hospital clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome: A prospective observational study

Objective:To explore correlation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio(NLR)to severity of coronary artery disease(CAD)and in-hospital clinical outcomes in patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS).Methods:In this prospective and observational study,we recruited 500 patients with ACS.For all the eligible patients,demographic details were collected,and laboratory parameters were evaluated.The CAD severity was evaluated in terms of the number of involved vessels.The NLR was calculated based on neutrophils and lymphocytes and the correlation of various risk factors and severity and outcome of CAD was performed.Results:77.2%of Patients was male,and 52%of the patients aged between 55-70 years.Based on the type of ACS,396 out of 500 patients had ST-elevation myocardial infarction.An ascending trend in the white blood cell levels and NLR value was noted as the severity of the ACS increased and the highest white blood cell levels and NLR was noted among classⅣpatients.The mean NLR value among the non-survivors were higher compared to the survivors(9.52±5.72 vs.4.76±2.36;P<0.01).Receiver operating curve showed that the cut-off NLR value was 5.76 with a sensitivity of 75.0%and a specificity of 77.3%.Conclusions:The NLR can be used as an independent prognostic marker in ACS.An elevated NLR value serves as a reliable predictor for short-term complications,notably in-hospital mortality.

Perioperative mortality of metastatic spinal disease with unknown primary: A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Spinal metastases are common in patients with malignancies,but studies on those metastasized from unknown primaries are scarce due to the difficulty in treatment and the relatively poor prognosis.Knowledge of surgical complications,particularly perioperative mortality,in patients with spinal metastases from unidentified sources is still insufficient.CASE SUMMARY A 54-year-old man with chest-back pain was diagnosed with spinal metastasis in the seventh thoracic vertebra(T7).Radiographic examinations,as well as needle biopsy and immunohistochemical tests were performed to verify the characteristics of the lesion,resulting in an inconclusive diagnosis of poorly differentiated cancer from an unknown primary lesion.Therefore,spinal surgery was performed using the posterior approach to relieve symptoms and verify the diagnosis.Postoperative histologic examination indicated that this poorly differentiated metastatic cancer was possibly sarcomatoid carcinoma.As the patient experienced unexpectedly fast progression of the disease and died 16 d after surgery,the origin of this metastasis was undetermined.We discuss this case with respect to reported perioperative mortality in similar cases.CONCLUSION A comprehensive assessment prior to surgical decision-making is essential to reduce perioperative mortality risk in patients with spinal metastases from an unknown origin.

Systematic review on the risk-benefit ratio of morphine for acute heart failure

Objective:To evaluate morphine's risk-benefit profile in the treatment of acute heart failure.Method:Different electronic databases,including PubMed,MEDLINE,Cochrane Library,and Google Scholar,as well as clinicaltrails.gov,were searched for articles published between 2012 and 2022.The risk of bias in the present study was evaluated by employing randomized controlled trials(RCTs)checklist that assesses the effectiveness of new interventions through random assignment of participants to different treatment groups.The two-part tool was used to address the five specific domains such as selection bias,performance bias,detection bias,attrition bias,and selective reporting bias.Evaluation of the quality of diagnostic accuracy studies was conducted using the RevMan software(version 5.4),a quality assessment tool.Results:A total of 13 studies were included in the present review,in which there were 5 retrospective studies,3 randomized-control studies,2 prospective studies,1 multicenter pharmacodynamics study,1 multicenter cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study,and 1 open-label,cross-over study.The mortality of acute heart failure patients treated with morphine was higher compared to those without morphine.Conclusions:Acute heart failure patients who do not receive morphine have a lower mortality rate compared to those who receive morphine.Considering the adverse effects,including mortality associated with morphine,there is a pressing need for further research to explore alternative and effective treatment options in acute heart failure.

Incidence,prognosis,and risk factors of sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND At present,large-scale studies on the clinical characteristics of sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy(SIC)are lacking.AIM To investigate the clinical characteristics of SIC.METHODS Based on the analysis of the MIMIC-III public database,we performed a largescale retrospective study involving sepsis patients who were admitted to the intensive care unit(ICU)and had no concomitant cardiac disease.We used propensity score matching analysis and multivariate logistic regression to ensure the robustness of the results.The primary outcome was hospital mortality,and the secondary outcomes included the number of patients who received mechanical ventilation or renal replacement therapy during their hospital stay,the number of patients administered with vasopressors,the length of ICU stay,and the length of hospital stay.RESULTS In the present study,after screening 38605 patients,3530 patients with sepsis were included.A total of 997 patients met the SIC diagnostic criteria,and the incidence of SIC was 28.20%(95%confidence interval[CI]:26.80%-29.70%).Compared to patients in the non-SIC group,patients in the SIC group were of older age and had a higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score(SAPS)-Ⅰ score,SAPS-Ⅱ score,and Elixhauser comorbidity index(ECI).A total of 367(36.8%)of 997 patients in the SIC group and 818(32.3%)of 2533 patients in the non-SIC group died in the hospital,which resulted in a significant between-group difference(odds ratios=1.22,95%CI:1.05-1.42;P=0.011).For the secondary outcomes,more patients in the SIC group received mechanical ventilation and vasopressors.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age,male sex,ECI,hemoglobin level,diabetes,and mechanical ventilation use on the first day of ICU admission were risk factors for SIC.CONCLUSION Compared with non-SIC patients,hospital mortality is higher in SIC patients.

Effects of early rehabilitation therapy on patients with mechanical ventilation

BACKGROUND: For patients in intensive care unit(ICU), mechanical ventilation is an effective treatment to survive from acute illness and improve survival rates. However, long periods of bed rest and restricted physical activity can result in side effects. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of early rehabilitation therapy in patients with mechanical ventilation.METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was carried out. Sixty patients, with tracheal intubation or tracheostomy more than 48 hours and less than 72 hours, were admitted to the ICU of the Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Qingdao University, from May 2010 to May 2012. These patients were randomly divided into a rehabilitation group and a control group. In the rehabilitation group, rehabilitation therapy was performed twice daily, and the training time and intensity were adjusted according to the condition of the patients. Early rehabilitation therapy included heading up actively, transferring from the supine position to sitting position, sitting at the edge of the bed, sitting in chair, transferring from sitting to standing, and ambulating bedside. The patient's body mass index, days to first out of bed, duration of mechanical ventilation, length of ICU stay, APACHE II score, highest FiO2, lowest PaO2/FiO2 and hospital mortality of patients were all compared between the rehabilitation group and the control group. The differences between the two groups were compared using Student's t test.RESULTS: There was no significant difference in body mass index, APACHE II score, highest FiO2, lowest PaO2/FiO2 and hospital mortality between the rehabilitation group and the control group(P>0.05). Patients in the rehabilitation group had shorter days to first out of bed(3.8±1.2 d vs. 7.3±2.8 d; P=0.00), duration of mechanical ventilation(5.6±2.1 d vs. 12.7±4.1 d; P=0.005) and length of ICU stay(12.7±4.1 d vs. 15.2±4.5 d; P=0.01) compared with the control group.CONCLUSION: Early rehabilitation therapy was feasible and effective in improving the outcomes of patients with mechanical ventilation.

Risk factors analysis of prognosis of adult acute severe myocarditis

BACKGROUND Adult severe myocarditis is primarily caused by infection with any number of a variety of viruses.It arises quickly,progresses rapidly,and may lead to severe heart failure or circulatory failure presenting as rapid-onset hypotension and cardiogenic shock with a high hospital mortality rate.AIM To analyze the risk factors affecting the short-term prognosis of adult acute severe myocarditis(ASM).METHODS Adult patients with ASM(ASM group,n=218)and acute nonsevere myocarditis(ANSM group,n=80)who came to our department from January 2014 to January 2020 were enrolled in this study.Patients with ASM were divided into the ASM survival group(n=185)and ASM nonsurvival group(n=33)according to the treatment results during hospitalization.The clinical symptoms,laboratory examinations,treatment methods,complications,and the relationship between the treatment results of the two groups were retrospectively compared and discussed.The risk factors for death in patients with severe myocarditis were analyzed by binary logistic regression.A follow-up to 5.5 years was conducted on patients in the ASM survival group and ANSM group after discharge,and the readmission rate and incidence rate of dilated cardiomyopathy were analyzed.RESULTS Compared with the ASM survival group,the ASM nonsurvival group had longer QRS complex,higher incidence of cardiogenic shock,higher serum creatinine(SCr,235μmol/L vs 89μmol/L,P<0.05),higher sensitive cardiac troponin I(cTnI,4.45μg/L vs 1.66μg/L,P<0.05)and brain natriuretic peptide(BNP,1756 pg/mL vs 401 pg/mL,P<0.05).The binary logistic regression revealed that there were statistical differences between the two groups in SCr,cTnI,and BNP values(all P<0.05).After discharging from the hospital,patients in the ASM group and ANSM group had no significant differences in the readmission rate and incidencerate of dilated cardiomyopathy.CONCLUSION Elevated SCr,cTnI,and BNP are independent predictors for poor prognosis in patients with ASM.The long-term prognosis of patients in the ASM survival group is good.

A New Coronavirus Estimation Global Score for Predicting Mortality During Hospitalization in Patients with COVID-19

Objective:Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)exists as a pandemic.Mortality during hospitalization is multifactorial,and there is urgent need for a risk stratification model to predict in-hospital death among COVID-19 patients.Here we aimed to construct a risk score system for early identification of COVID-19 patients at high probability of dying during in-hospital treatment.Methods:In this retrospective analysis,a total of 821 confirmed COVID-19 patients from 3 centers were assigned to developmental(n=411,between January 14,2020 and February 11,2020)and validation(n=410,between February 14,2020 and March 13,2020)groups.Based on demographic,symptomatic,and laboratory variables,a new Coronavirus estimation global(CORE-G)score for prediction of in-hospital death was established from the developmental group,and its performance was then evaluated in the validation group.Results:The CORE-G score consisted of 18 variables(5 demographics,2 symptoms,and 11 laboratory measurements)with a sum of 69.5 points.Goodness-of-fit tests indicated that the model performed well in the developmental group(H=3.210,P=0.880),and it was well validated in the validation group(H=6.948,P=0.542).The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.955 in the developmental group(sensitivity,94.1%;specificity,83.4%)and 0.937 in the validation group(sensitivity,87.2%;specificity,84.2%).The mortality rate was not significantly different between the developmental(n=85,20.7%)and validation(n=94,22.9%,P=0.608)groups.Conclusions:The CORE-G score provides an estimate of the risk of in-hospital death.This is the first step toward the clinical use of the CORE-G score for predicting outcome in COVID-19 patients.

Six-minute walking test performance is associated with survival in cirrhotic patients

BACKGROUND Patients with cirrhosis are at risk of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy,with resulting cardiac dysfunction and exercise limitations.Six minute walking test(6MWT)assesses functional status and predicts morbidity and mortality in cardiopulmonary diseases.AIM To determine if it associates with mortality by analyzing 6MWT performance in patients with liver cirrhosis.METHODS A cohort of 106 cirrhotic patients was evaluated in the outpatient setting with echocardiogram and 6MWT and follow up for one year to document hepatic decompensation and mortality.The distance in meters was recorded at the end of 6 min(6MWD).RESULTS This cohort had a mean age of 51 years and 56%male;patients were staged as Child A in 21.7%,B 66%and C 12.3%.Walk distance inversely correlated with Child scores,and was significantly reduced as Child stages progresses.Patients who died(10.4%)showed shorter mean 6MWD(P=0.006).Low 6MWD was an independent predictor of mortality(P=0.01).CONCLUSION 6MWT is a noninvasive inexpensive test whose result is related to Child scores and mortality.It is useful to identify patients with liver cirrhosis at high risk of mortality for closer monitoring and potential early intervention.

Reply to"Six-minute walking test performance is associated with survival in cirrhotic patients"to the editor

Use of the six-minute walk test has been proposed as a prognostic marker in liver cirrhosis.In the Letter to the Editor presented here,the authors highlight some important points,which were raised after the article was published in the November issue of the World Journal of Hepatology.

Acute Myocardial Infarction in Chinese Medicine Hospitals in China from 2006 to 2013: An Analysis of 2311 Patients from Hospital Data

Objective:To assess the trends in characteristics,treatments,and outcomes of acute myocardial infarction(AMI)patients in tertiary Chinese medicine(CM)hospitals in China between 2006 and 2013.Methods:This retrospective study was based on two nationwide epidemiological surveys of AMI in tertiary CM hospitals during 2 years(2006 and 2013).Patients admitted to the hospital for AMI were enrolled.Hospital records were used as the data source.Case data were derived regarding baseline characteristics,treatments,and outcomes of patients to assess changes from 2006 to 2013.Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between prognosis,general influencing factors of disease,and various treatment measures.Results:Totally 26 tertiary CM hospitals in 2006 and 29 tertiary CM hospitals in 2013(18 were repetitive)were surveyed.A total of 2,311 patients with AMI were enrolled(1,094 cases in 2006 and 1,217 cases in 2013).From 2006 to 2013,the mean age did not significantly change,but the proportion of patients younger than 65 years increased.The prevalence of risk factors such as hypertension,diabetes,and hyperlipidemia also increased.Significant increases were observed in primary percutaneous coronary intervention[20.48%(2006)vs.24.90%(2013)]and revascularization[36.11%(2006)vs.52.42%(2013)].In-hospital mortality decreased from 11.15%in 2006 to 10.60%in 2013.A mortality logistic regression analysis identified reperfusion therapy[odds ratio(OR),0.222;95%confidence interval(CI),0.106–0.464],Chinese patent medicines(OR,0.394;95%CI,0.213–0.727),and CM decoctions(OR,0.196;95%CI,0.109–0.353)as protective factors.Conclusion:Reperfusion and revascularization capabilities of tertiary CM hospitals have improved significantly,but in-hospital mortality has not significantly decreased.Efforts are needed to improve medical awareness of AMI and expand the use of CM to reduce in-hospital mortality in China.

Impacts of congestion on healthcare outcomes:an empirical observation in China

Many studies have shown that healthcare quality such as mortality rate exhibits Ushaped curves for congestion.These studies usually focus on how the congestion rate affects the overall hospitals’mortality rate.Our study investigates the impact of congestion on two subcategories:surgical and non-surgical inpatients,using the records of 27,575 patients from a public hospital in China.We confirm that the overall mortality rate exhibits a U-shaped curve.We further show that the mortality rate of surgical patients first decreases and then almost stays unchanged as congestion level increases,while the curve for the mortality rate of non-surgical patients remains U-shaped.The initial decrease partly results from the combination of decreasing mortality and increasing peak occupancy with time.The increase is in accordance with the overwork,but the condition requirement and high standard protocols of care may cause the mortality of surgical patients to be less affected by congestion.