Significance of Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide Combined with Serum Procalcitonin and C-Reactive Protein in Evaluation of Elderly Asthma

Bronchial asthma is a common chronic airway inflammatory disease. Asthma is associated with high mortality, especially in the elderly patients. Repeated exacerbations cause disease progression. Therefore, identifying the onset of acute elderly asthma as soon as possible and giving the effective treatment is crucial to improve the prognosis. This study was to investigate the significance of fractional exhaled nitric oxide （FeNO） combined with serum procalcitonin （PCT） and C-reactive protein （CRP） in the evaluation of elderly asthma. A total of 120 elderly patients with an acute attack of asthma from July, 2010 to May, 2012 were studied. On presentation, FeNO, serum PCT and CRP concentrations were measured and sputum culture was also performed. The elderly patients were re-evaluated when they had returned to their stable clinical state. The elderly patients were classified into two groups： positive bac- terial culture group （A） and negative bacterial culture group （B）. The results showed that： （1） In patients with an acute exacerbation of asthma, 48 （40%） patients had positive sputum bacterial culture and 72 （60%） had negative sputum bacterial culture. （2） The levels of FeNO in patients with acute exacerbation of asthma were significantly higher than in those with no acute exacerbation state （63.8±24.6 vs. 19±6.5 ppb, P〈0.05）. There was no significant difference in FeNO between group A and group B （P〉0.05）. （3） The levels of PCT and CRP in group A patients with an acute exacerbation of asthma were significantly higher （P〈0.05） than in group B （for PCT： 27.46±9.32 vs. 7.85±3.52 ng/mL; for CRP： 51.25±11.46 vs. 17.11±5.87 mg/L, respectively）. When they had returned to stable clinical state, the levels of PCT and CRP in group A were decreased significantly （P〈0.05）, and those in group B had no significant change （P〉0.05） when compared with the exacerbation group. There were no significant differences in the levels of PCT and CRP between the two groups in non-acute exacerbation state （/9〉0.05）. These results suggest that the increase in FeNO indicates the acute exacerbation of asthma, and the elevation of serum PCT and CRP levels may be associated with bacterial infection.

Infection recurrence following minimally invasive treatment in patients with infectious pancreatic necrosis

BACKGROUND In recent decades,an increasing number of patients have received minimally invasive intervention for infected pancreatic necrosis(IPN)because of the benefits in reducing postoperative multiple organ failure and mortality.However,there are limited published data regarding infection recurrence after treatment of this patient population.AIM To investigate the incidence and prediction of infection recurrence following successful minimally invasive treatment in IPN patients.METHODS Medical records for 193 IPN patients,who underwent minimally invasive treatment between February 2014 and October 2018,were retrospectively reviewed.Patients,who survived after the treatment,were divided into two groups:one group with infection after drainage catheter removal and another group without infection.The morphological and clinical data were compared between the two groups.Significantly different variables were introduced into the correlation and multivariate logistic analysis to identify independent predictors for infection recurrence.Sensitivity and specificity for diagnostic performance were determined.RESULTS Of the 193 IPN patients,178 were recruited into the study.Of them,9(5.06%)patients died and 169 patients survived but infection recurred in 13 of 178 patients(7.30%)at 7(4-10)d after drainage catheters were removed.White blood cell(WBC)count,serum C-reactive protein(CRP),interleukin-6,and procalcitonin levels measured at the time of catheter removal were significantly higher in patients with infection than in those without(all P<0.05).In addition,drainage duration and length of the catheter measured by computerized tomography scan were significantly longer in patients with infection(P=0.025 and P<0.0001,respectively).Although these parameters all correlated positively with the incidence of infection(all P<0.05),only WBC,CRP,procalcitonin levels,and catheter length were identified as independent predictors for infection recurrence.The sensitivity and specificity for infection prediction were high in WBC count(≥9.95×109/L)and serum procalcitonin level(≥0.05 ng/mL)but moderate in serum CRP level(cut-off point≥7.37 mg/L).The catheter length(cut-off value≥8.05 cm)had a high sensitivity but low specificity to predict the infection recurrence.CONCLUSION WBC count,serum procalcitonin,and CRP levels may be valuable for predicting infection recurrence following minimally invasive intervention in IPN patients.These biomarkers should be considered before removing the drainage catheters.

Study on the relationship between serum PCT, CRP level and atypical lymphocyte ratio and severity of respiratory virus infection

Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) combined with the proportion of atypical lymphocytes and severity of respiratory virus infection. Methods: A total of 113 children with respiratory infection in our hospital from January 2018 to August 2018 were enrolled. According to the type of infection, they were divided into bacterial infection group (n=38) and virus infection group (n=52), 60 healthy children were selected as the control group. Serum PCT, CRP and atypical lymphocyte ratios were measured in each group, and the relationship between them and the severity of the disease was analyzed. Results: The serum CRP and PCT in the bacterial infection group were significantly higher than those in the virus-infected group and the control group. While The ratio of atypical lymphocytes in the virus-infected group was significantly higher than that in the bacterial-infected group and the control group;The serum PCR, CRP and atypical lymphocyte ratio gradually increased with the severity of the disease, the difference was statistically significant. Pearson correlation analysis showed that serum PCT, CRP content and atypical lymphocyte ratio were significantly positively correlated with the severity of the disease. The positive rate of PCR and CRP in the bacterial infection group was significantly higher than that in the virus infection group. The positive rate of heterotypic lymphocyte ratio was significantly lower than that in the virus infection group. Conclusion: The detection of serum PCT and CRP levels has a good diagnostic value for bacterial respiratory infections. The ratio of atypical lymphocytes can be used as a preliminary aid in the diagnosis of respiratory virus infection-related diseases. The combination of the two is of great significance for the clinical diagnosis of children with respiratory infections.