ObjectiveTo analyze the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in order to provide reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment.MethodThe epidemiological histories, clinical characteristics, laboratory examinations, chest images, and treatment outcomes of 20 confirmed cases of severe COVID-19 admitted to Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu from January 16th to February 5th, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed.ResultsAmong the 20 patients with severe COVID-19, 12 were male and 8 were female. The age ranged from 34 to 84 years old, with an average of (57.4±16.5) years old. Thirteen patients (65.0%) had one or more co-existing diseases, such as hypertension (9 cases), diabetes (6 cases), and coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (4 cases). Eleven cases (55.0%) had a history of living or traveling in Wuhan, 4 cases (20.0%) had a history of living in non-Wuhan areas of Hubei Province, 3 cases (15.0%) had a history of contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, while 2 cases had no above-mentioned epidemiological history, but had a history of traveling in non-epidemic areas. The main symptoms were fever (100.0%), cough (100.0%), shortness of breath (75.0%), and fatigue (65.0). Some patients developed into acute respiratory distress syndrome in 3-10 d after onset. The white blood cell count of the patients was normal or decreased, the hypersensitive C-reactive protein and serum amyloid protein significantly increased, while the CD4+ T lymphocyte count and CD56+ natural killer cell count significantly decreased. Sixteen patients (80.0%) were given transnasal hyperbaric oxygenation [among whom 6 patients (30.0%) were transferred to non-invasive ventilator after no improvement], 3 patients (15.0%) were given tracheal intubated ventilator, and 1 patient (5.0%) was treated by tracheal intubated ventilator combined with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to support breathing. By April 8th, 2020, 3 patients died and the remaining 17 had been cured and discharged, with an average length of hospital stay of 21.4 d. The 3 death cases were all elderly with underlying diseases such as heart disease and pulmonary disease.ConclusionsSevere COVID-19 is associated with hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and other basic diseases, and some patients develope acute respiratory distress syndrome. Respiratory support may help to improve prognosis.
Objective To explore the effects of Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and its components on the condition and prognosis of patients with Severe Pneumonia. Methods 306 patients with severe pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from January 2020 to July 2023 were included as study subjects.The patients were divided into MS and non-MS groups according to whether they were combined with MS,and into survival and death groups according to 28-day prognosis,and the general data, laboratory indexes, condition and prognostic indexes of the two groups were compared; multifactorial logistic regression was used to analyze the independent risk factors for the prognosis of patients with severe pneumonia. ResultsThe levels of test indicators such as body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), blood lactate,white blood cell count(WBC),urea phosphate (Urea), creatinine (SCr),as well as the incidence of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), shock,multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS), rate of endotracheal intubation and mortality, ICU treatment cost,and total treatment cost of the MS group were significantly higher than those of the non-MS group; the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and oxygenation index (OI) of the MS group were significantly lower than those of the non-MS group (P<0.05).Multifactorial logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of death from severe pneumonia was 1.276 times higher in combined MS than in no combined MS (95%CI: 1.013, 5.114, P=0.047). Subgroup analyses also showed that the risk of death from non-viral severe pneumonia was 2.147 times higher in those with MS than those without (95%CI: 1.175, 8.428, P=0.023). ConclusionSevere pneumonia with MS may be more severe and may have a worse prognosis.
Objective To develop and validate a nomogram for predicting the risk of weaning failure in elderly patients with severe pneumonia undergoing mechanical ventilation. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 330 elderly patients with severe pneumonia undergoing mechanical ventilation who were hospitalized in our hospital from July 2021 to July 2023. According to their weaning outcomes, they were divided into a successful group (n=213 ) and a failure group (n=117). Univariate analysis and multivariate non-conditional logistic regression analysis were used to explore the factors influencing the weaning failure of mechanical ventilation in elderly patients with severe pneumonia. Results Univariate analysis showed that there were significant differences in age, smoking status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ventilation time, albumin, D-dimer, and oxygenation index levels between the two groups (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that age ≥65 years, smoking, presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ventilation time ≥7 days, D-dimer ≥2 000 μg/L, and reduced oxygenation index were risk factors for weaning failure in the elderly patients with severe pneumonia. The nomogram model constructed based on these factors had an area under ROC curve of 0.970 (95%CI 0.952 - 0.989), and the calibration curve demonstrated good agreement between predicted and observed values. Conclusions Age, smoking status, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ventilation time, D-dimer, and oxygenation index are influencing factors for weaning failure in elderly patients with severe pneumonia receiving mechanical ventilation. The nomogram model constructed based on these factors exhibits good discrimination and accuracy.
Objective To evaluate the predictive value of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) to albumin (Alb) ratio (LAR) in the prognosis of severe pneumonia patients complicated with DIC. Methods A total of 312 patients with severe pneumonia hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Affiliated Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital with Nanjing Medical University from January 1, 2018 to March 1, 2023 were retrospectively collected. The clinical parameters, such as gender, age, underlying diseases, and lactate dehydrogenase, albumin etc. l of the first test on admission were collected. LAR, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ(APACHEⅡ) within 24 hours were calculated. The firstly endpoint of the study was the incidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), the secondary endpoint was the 30-day in-hospital mortality in severe pneumonia patients with DIC. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the risk factors of severe pneumonia with DIC. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the predictive value of LAR for the incidence of DIC in patients with severe pneumonia. Results The level of LAR was higher in the severe pneumonia patients with DIC than the severe pneumonia patients without DIC [LAR median ratio 12.72 (8.72, 21.89) vs. 7.23 (5.63, 10.90), P<0.001]. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that LAR [OR=1.071, 95%CI 1.038 - 1.106, P<0.001] was the independent risk factor of the incidence of DIC in the patients with severe pneumonia. ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC for LAR to predict the incidence of DIC was 0.723, 95%CI 0.650 - 0.796, P<0.001. When the LAR cut-off value was 8.08, the sensitivity was 79.7% and the specificity was 56.1%. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis curve showed that the patients in the above LAR cut-off value group had a significantly lower 30-day survival rate than those in the below LAR cut-off value group (P<0.001). In the subgroup analysis and numerical variable transformed analysis, LAR was still the risk factor of DIC. Conclusion The increased LAR is a high risk factor of the incidence of DIC and mortality in patients with severe pneumonia, which is useful for predicting prognosis of patients with severe pneumonia.
ObjectiveTo explore the correlation of serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) with inflammatory response in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and assess the diagnostic value of sNGAL for severe CAP (SCAP).MethodsFrom January 2018 to June 2019, a total of 85 patients with CAP were enrolled in this study. Age, length of hospital stay, the levels of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, white blood cell count,C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and procalcitonin, and CURB-65 score were compared between patients with SCAP (n=34) and patients without SCAP (n=51). The correlations of sNGAL with serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, white blood cell count, CRP, IL-6, procalcitonin, and CURB-65 score were assessed with Spearman’s correlation analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for sNGAL diagnosing SCAP was examined. ResultsCompared with patients without SCAP, SCAP patients demonstrated older age, longer hospital stay, higher serum CRP and IL-6 concentritions, and higher CURB-65 score (P<0.05). The Spearman’s correlation test showed that sNGAL was positively correlated with serum CRP, IL-6, PCT and CURB-65 score (rs=0.472, 0.504, 0.388, and 0.405, respectively; P<0.01). According to ROC analysis, the area under curve of sNGAL for diagnosing SCAP were 0.816, with a sensitivity of 76.56% and a specificity of 74.4% when the cut-off value was 171.0 ng/mL.ConclusionssNGAL concentration is positively correlated with the serverity of CAP. It can be regarded as a reliable indicator for diagnosis of SCAP in patients with CAP.
Objective To explore the effect of early rehabilitation treatment on complications and prognosis of elderly patients with sever pneumonia undergoing mechanical ventilation. Methods The patients who meeting the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into an early rehabilitation group and a control group, with 35 cases in each group. On basis of same routine treatment, the early rehabilitation group was treated with early rehabilitation. The early rehabilitation methods included exercise therapy, electrical stimulation therapy, swallowing therapy, cough training and wheelchair-bed transfer training, etc. The patients received individual training methods according to their conditions. The difference of two groups were observed in the rates of ICU-acquired weakness (ICU-AW), ventilator-associate pneumonia (VAP), the incidence of delirium, the mechanical ventilation time, ICU-hospital time, total hospital time, 30-day hospital mortality, extubation fail rate and tracheotomy rate. Results Compare with the control group, the incidence of ICU-AW (14.28% vs. 37.14%), VAP (8.57% vs. 28.57%), and delirium (40.00% vs. 65.71%) in the early rehabilitation group were significantly reduced (all P<0.05). The duration of delirium [(3.50±1.31) dvs. (6.40±1.47) d], the ventilation time [(6.32±2.19) d vs. (9.40±4.43) d], ICU hospitalization time [(10.80±3.64) d vs. (15.31±3.85) d] and total hospitalization time [(22.52±7.56) d vs. (30.22±11.54) d] of the early rehabilitation group were significantly lower than the control group (all P<0.001). The tracheotomy rate and 30-day hospital mortality of the early rehabilitation group were significantly lower than the control group (25.71%vs. 51.42% and 28.57% vs. 54.28%, both P<0.05). There was no significant difference in extubation fail rate (5.71%vs. 11.42%, P>0.05). In the early rehabilitation group, there were no complications such as pipe prolapse, limb injury or serious arrhythmia. Conclusion Early rehabilitation can reduce the incidence of ICU-AW, VAP, delirium in elderly patients with severe pneumonia, help to shorten the mechanical ventilation time, ICU hospitalization time and total hospitalization time, reduce extubation failure rate and tracheotomy rate, so it is safe and effective, and worthy of being popularized and applied.
Severe pneumonia remains a critical global concern. The immune and cytokine imbalance mediated by lymphocytes are related to the severe transformation and tissue damage of pneumonia, and are expected to become potential therapeutic targets for severe pneumonia. This article elaborates on the protection and pathogenic mechanism of lymphocyte in severe pneumonia, and further introduces the clinical application and research status of host-directed immunotherapy in severe pneumonia from two aspects: enhancing host immunity and improving immunopathological damage. It also introduces the challenges faced by immunotherapy in the future clinical translational application, aiming to provide new thinking directions for its clinical diagnosis, treatment, and research.
Objective To explore the thromboembolic events and mortality in patients with different types of severe pneumonia, and to analyze the related high-risk factors. Methods A total of 161 severe pneumonia patients who admitted in intensive care unit from January 2018 to February 2023 were included in the study. The patients were divided into a COVID-19 group (n=88) and a community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) group (n=73) according to the type of pneumonia, and divided into a thrombosis group and a non-thrombosis group according to the occurrence of thrombosis. The patients were followed-up until discharge or in-hospital death, registering the occurrence of thrombotic events. Results During the in-hospital stay, 32.9% of CAP and 36.4% of COVID-19 patients experienced thrombotic events (P>0.05). In CAP group all the events (including 24 paitents) were venous thromboses, while in COVID-19 group 31 patients were venous and 3 were arterial thromboses (2 were cerebral infarction, and 1 with myocardial infarction). There were statistically significant difference in gender, age, venous thromboembolism score (VTE score), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), and procalcitonin (PCT) between the TE group and the Non-TE group. Logistic regression analysis showed that thrombotic events was associated with sex, age and APTT; gender (female: OR=2.47, 95%CI 1.13 - 5.39, P<0.05) and age (OR=1.04, 95%CI 1.01 - 1.07, P<0.05) were positively associated with thrombotic events. During the in-hospital follow-up, 44.3% of CAP patients and 42.5% of COVID-19 patients died (P>0.05). Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that APACHEⅡ score was more accurate in predicting mortality of severe pneumonia, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.77 (95%CI 0.70 - 0.84, sensitivity 74.3%, specificity 68.1%), the AUC of the VTE score was 0.61 (95%CI 0.53 - 0.70, Sensitivity 31.4%, specificity 81.7%); the AUC of the creatinine was 0.64 (95%CI 0.56 - 0.73, sensitivity 72.9%, specificity 51.2%). While the Kappa value for kidney disease was 0.409 (P<0.05) presenting moderate consistency. Conclusions The incidence of thromboembolic events and mortality are high in patients with different types of severe pneumonia. Thrombophilia was associated with sex, age, and APTT. APACHEⅡ score, VTE score, and creatinine value were independent risk factors for predicting death from severe pneumonia.
Objective To evaluate the methodological and reporting quality of systematic reviews/meta-analyses related to the efficacy and safety of corticosteroid-assisted treatment for severe pneumonia. Methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched by computer, and the systematic reviews/meta-analyses of corticosteroid hormone as an auxiliary means for the treatment of severe pneumonia which were published from establishment of the databases to October 25th, 2018 were searched. A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review-2 (AMSTAR-2) was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies, and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was used to evaluate the quality of literature reports. Results A total of 16 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were included, all of which were non-Cochrane systematic reviews. In terms of methodological quality assessed by AMSTAR-2, there was no plan in all studies; only one study explained the reasons for inclusion in the study type; eight studies did not describe the dose and follow-up time of the intervention/control measures in detail; three studies did not indicate the evaluation tools and did not describe the risk bias; six studies did not explicitly examine publication bias. In terms of reporting quality assessed by PRISMA, all studies had no pre-registered study protocol or registration number; thirteen studies did not describe the specific amount of articles retrieved from each database; three studies did not present their retrieval strategies or excluded reasons in detail; no funding sources were identified in included studies; eight studies reported both whether the study was funded and whether there was a conflict of interest. Conclusions At present, there are many systematic review/meta-analysis studies on the efficacy and safety of corticosteroid-assisted treatment for severe pneumonia, and the overall quality of the study has been gradually improved. However, the common problems in the study are relatively prominent. The follow-up period and dose of intervention in the study of severe pneumonia are different, so the baseline is difficult to be unified. Suggestions: strengthening the training of researchers, standardize the research process, and report articles in strict accordance with the PRISMA statement; subgroup analysis being conducted according to the dose and duration of the hormone.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the effectiveness of Xuebijing injection combined with routine therapy versus routine therapy alone in treating severe pneumonia. MethodsDatabases including PubMed (1990-2013.4), EMbase (1990-2013.4), The Cochran Library (Issue 4, 2013), CNKI (1982-2013.4), WangFang Data (1990-2013.4), VIP (1989-2013.4) and CBM (1978-2013.4) were searched from inception to April, 2013, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on Xuebijing injection for severe pneumonia. Studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data were extracted, and methodological quality was evaluated. Meta-analysis was then performed using RevMan 5.2 software. ResultsA total of 12 studies involving 860 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, routine therapy plus Xuebijing injection had higher total effective and excellent rates, and the combined therapy reduced the average hospitalization days, and they had better improvement in WBC, CRP, CPIS, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α. ConclusionThis current evidence shows that Xuebijing injection has a better clinical efficacy in treating severe pneumonia. Traditional Chinese herbs with the function of "promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis" may exert their pharmacological effects via a multi-target way in treating severe pneumonia, which have a great potential for both clinical work and scientific research. Due to the limited quality and quantity of the included studies, better designed RCTs are needed to support Xuebijing's clinical efficacy in the treatment of severe pneumonia.