Effect of furosemide in the treatment of high-altitude pulmonary edema.

BACKGROUND: High-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) refers to the onset of breathlessness, cough, and fever at rest after arriving at high altitudes. It is a life-threatening illness caused by rapid ascent to high altitudes. Furosemide is controversial in HAPE treatment but is routinely used in China. Further research is needed to assess its efficacy and impact on HAPE management and prognosis. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of furosemide for HAPE. METHODS: A retrospective was conducted to analysis of patients with HAPE admitted to the People's Hospital of Shigatse City from January 2018 to September 2023. Patients were divided into furosemide group and non-furosemide group for further analysis. Clinical variables including demographic information, comorbidities, vital signs, inflammatory markers, biochemical analysis, CT severity score and prognostic indicators were collected. RESULTS: A total of 273 patients were enrolled, with 209 patients in the furosemide group and 64 patients in the non-furosemide group. The furosemide group showed a significantly decrease in CT severity scores compared to the non-furosemide group. Subgroup analysis showed that the longer the duration of furosemide use, the more pronounced the improvement in lung CT severity scores. But there were no significant differences in length of hospital stay and in-hospital mortality between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Furosemide helps alleviate pulmonary edema in HAPE patients, but further research is needed to clarify its impact on prognosis.

Real-life experience of accepting assistive device services for Tibetans with dysfunction: A qualitative study.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the real-life experiences of Tibetans in China with dysfunction in the process of accepting assistive device services and to provide a reference for service quality improvement and policy formulation. Methods: Semi-structured personal interviews were used to collect data. Ten Tibetans with dysfunction representing three categories of different economic level areas in Lhasa, Tibet were selected to participate in the study by purposive sampling method from September to December 2021. The data were analyzed using Colaizzi's seven-step method. Results: The results present three themes and seven sub-themes: identification of tangible benefits from assistive devices (enhancing self-care ability for persons with dysfunction, assisting family members with caregiving and promoting harmonious family relationships), problems and burdens (difficulty in accessing professional services and cumbersome processes, not knowing how to use it correctly, psychological burden: fear of falling and stigmatization), and needs and expectations (providing social support to reduce the cost of use, enhancing the accessibility of barrier-free facilities at the grassroots level and improving the environment for the use of assistive devices). Conclusion: A proper understanding of the problems and challenges faced by Tibetans with dysfunction in the process of accepting assistive device services, focusing on the real-life experiences of people with functional impairment, and proposing targeted suggestions for improving and optimizing the user experience can provide reference and basis for future intervention studies and related policy formulation.

Factors Influencing Utilization of Assistive Devices by Tibetan Seniors on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau: Based on Research Strategy of Triangulation.

Purpose: To investigate the current situation of assistive device (AD) usage among seniors in Tibet, China, and explore its influencing factors. Methods: A mixed-methods design was used. Cognition, attitude, behavior, and preference toward ADs were assessed by a self-designed questionnaire. Additionally, participants responded to the open-ended questions. Anderson's behavior model analyzed the impacts of the prerequisite factors, enabling factors, and demand factors influencing the utilization of ADs by Tibetan seniors. Results: Of the 211 Tibetan seniors, 149 (70.6%) Tibetan seniors expressed the willingness to utilize ADs. Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that one prerequisite factor: age; one enabling factor: care situation, and one demand factor: dysfunctional condition were factors influencing the utilization of ADs. Qualitative comments described: psychological, physical environment, and social support factors were the main influencing factors. Conclusion: This study presents the current situation to utilize ADs by Tibetan seniors on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, incorporates Anderson's behavioral model for quantitative analysis, and combines qualitative research to explore the facilitating and hindering factors, to provide reference and basis for the development of ADs for seniors and policy formulation. The sample size of this study is relatively small and limited to ethnic groups, and we plan to increase the sample size and include more ethnic groups in the future study.

Surfactant Therapy for Respiratory Distress Syndrome in High- and Ultra-High-Altitude Settings.

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the therapeutic effect of surfactant replacement therapy (SRT) on respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature infants in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Materials and Methods: This multi-center retrospective cohort study collected and screened reasonable clinical data of 337 premature infants with RDS from 10 hospitals in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 2015 to 2017. We grouped the cases by rationally analyzing their baseline characteristics, using logistic analysis to evaluate each factor's effect on the prognosis of the infants, and comparing the short-term improvement in blood gas and mortality after SRT treatment at different altitudes, in high-altitude (1,500-3,500 m) and ultra-high-altitude (3,500-5,500 m) groups. Results: Independent of altitude, the mortality rate of children with RDS in the SRT group was significantly lower than that of children in the non-SRT group (both P < 0.05). The effect of SRT on preterm infants with RDS in the high-altitude group [odds ratio (OR) = 0.44, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.22-0.87, P = 0.02] was better than that in the infants in the ultra-high-altitude group (OR = 0.26, 95% CI = 0.13-0.58, P < 0.01), with death rates of 34.34 and 49.71%, respectively. Similarly, after SRT, the improvement of PaO2/FiO2 and pH of children at high altitude was significantly better than those of children at ultra-high altitude (all P < 0.01). Conclusions: SRT plays a prominent role in curing infants with RDS in both high- and ultra-high-altitude regions, although with better effects at high rather than ultra-high altitude. This study provides a basis for further large-scale studies on SRT for RDS treatment at high altitudes.

[Analysis of relevant risk factors to Henoch-Schönlein purpura in Tibetan children].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze probable risk factors to Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) in Tibetan children so as to bring evidences for correct identification of high-risk children in plateau areas. METHODS: 140 high-altitude Tibetan children with HSP admitted to Shannan People's Hospital of Tibet Autonomous Region from October 2015 to October 2018 were enrolled, and 140 high-altitude Tibetan healthy children and 140 plain area HSP children were selected as the control. Gender, age, family history, allergy, past history (rheumatic disease, autoimmune disease, asthma), clinical phenotype, biochemical markers (antibody positive rate, platelet count and hemoglobin), clinical efficacy and recurrence were retrospective analyzed. The risk factors of HSP in the high-altitude Tibetan children were analyzed by univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: It was shown by univariate analysis that the proportion of allergic history and past history of high-altitude HSP children was higher than those of high-altitude healthy children (allergic history: 35.7% vs. 11.4%, past history: 21.4% vs. 5.7%, both P < 0.05). Compared with plain area HSP children, the age of high-altitude HSP children was increased (years old: 6.5±2.3 vs. 5.3±2.2), the clinical phenotype was more complex (37.9% vs. 57.1% for simple skin and limb type, 21.4% vs. 14.3% for abdominal type, 28.6% vs. 21.4% for renal type, 7.1% vs. 5.0% for brain or lung type, 5.0% vs. 2.2% for complex type), the positive rate of antibody was increased (64.3% vs. 50.0%), platelet count was decreased (×109/L: 116.2±12.3 vs. 176.8±35.4), hemoglobin level was increased (g/L: 125.6±15.7 vs. 113.8±10.9), recurrence rate was lower (4.3% vs. 10.7%), and the difference was statistically significant (all P < 0.05). It was shown by multivariate Logistic regression analysis that age, allergic history and past history were independent risk factors for HSP in high-altitude Tibetan children [age: odds ratio (OR) = 1.263, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.063-1.968; allergic history: OR = 1.765, 95%CI = 1.326-2.452, past history: OR = 1.421, 95%CI = 1.102-2.232, all P < 0.05]. Clinical phenotypic and biochemical indexes were important risk factors affecting the clinical efficacy of high-altitude Tibetan HSP children (non-simple skin and limb type: OR = 2.123, 95%CI = 1.623-2.869; antibody positive: OR = 1.865, 95%CI = 1.502-2.768; both P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is different of HSP occurrence in Tibetan children from plateau and plain areas. Attention should be paid to screening age, allergy history, past history, clinical phenotype, antibody positive and other high risk children. Early and effective intervention can improve clinical curative effect and reduce recurrence.