The 461th case: fever, hematuria, and right lumbar pain / 中华内科杂志

A 56-year-old female was admitted to the Department of Rheumatology,Peking Union Medical College Hospital with complaint of recurrent fever and acute lumbar pain.Fever was complicated with malaise,cough and occasional blood-streaked sputum.Lab tests showed elevated white blood cell count,increased serum creatinine,erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein.Other lab findings included severe anemia,hematuria,and proteinuria.Immunological examinations were positive for antinuclear antibodies,antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and antiglomerular basement membrane antibody.Ultrasonography and CT scan detected a huge spontaneous perirenal hematoma at right side.Angiography revealed multiple microaneurysms on bilateral renal arteries and branches.A diagnosis of systemic vasculitis was suggested.Under the combination therapy of corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide,the patient presented sustained remission for one year.This case indicates that prompt and sufficient treatment of primary disease is essential to a promising outcome.

The 454th case：a 29-week pregnant woman with abdominal pain, hyperlipemia and multiorgan dysfunction / 中华内科杂志

[Summary] A 32 year-old woman in the third trimester of pregnancy was admitted for severe acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia . During hospitalization she developed multiorgan dysfunction , infected pancreatic necrosis , abdominal compartment syndrome and intrauterine fetal death . She was successfully treated by multidisciplinary team including department of emergency medicine , ICU, gastroenterology, obstetrics, endocrinology, ultrasonography, radiology, infectious disease, nutrition and surgery.

The effect of lying position on the location depth and cross-sectional area of internal jugular vein / 中华急诊医学杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of the site for access to internal jugular vein (lateral versus anterior),lying position of patients (supine versus Trendelenburg),and head rotation (0°,20°,and maximum) during central venous catheterization on the location depth and cross-sectional area (CSA) of the right internal jugular vein (IJV).Methods Fifteen healthy volunteers were recruited in this prospective observational study from September 2008 to October 2008.Healthy volunteers were placed in flat supine position and 15°.Trendelenburg position separately.In each position,IJV were measured ultrasonographically from lateral site and anterior site with the head oriented at 0°,20°,and maximum rotation separately.Data of measured CSA and location depth of internal jugular vein in different positions were compared.Results The largest CSA (2.16 ±0.89) cm2 and location depth [(1.38 ± 0.43)cm] were occurred at the lateral approach in Trendelenburg position with head oriented at maximum rotation.The CSA in Trendelenburg position was larger than that in flat supine position.Only at the maximum head rotation,lateral approach got statistically larger CSA.The effects of head rotation varied with different degrees of rotation.Conclusions Site of approach,lying position and head rotation had noticeable effects on internal jugular vein cross-sectional area.Trendelenburg position increased the CSA of IJV.

Accuracy of different blood glucose measurements in a medical intensive care unit / 中华急诊医学杂志

Objective To evaluate the accuracy of five blood glucose measurements commonly used in ICU and to determine the potential factors interfering the accuracy. Method This prospective study carried out in consecutively enrolled 49 patients stayed more than 48 hours in the medical ICU of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from November 2007 to January 2008. A total of 130 blood samples were measured to determine blood glucose with five different methods, and the biochemistry analyzer in central laboratory was regarded as reference method for comparison with other four methods, ( 1 ) capillary blood/glucometer;(2) arterial blood/glucometer; (3) arterial blood/blood gas analyzer; and (4) arterial blood/biochemistry analyzer. The accuracy of a method tested was judged by the difference in level of blood glucose between it and reference method, correlation coefficient, bias correction factor and discrepancy. The independent factors for the discrepancies were identified by multivariate logistic regression. Results The values of differences in level of blood glucose between above four methods and the reference were ( 1.7 ± 1.4) mmol/L,( 1.6 ± 1.4 ) mmol/L, ( 1.1 ± 1.2) mmol/L, and (0.5 ± 1.2 ) mmol/L, respectively. The rates of discrepancy were 66.9%, 63.8%, 40.0% and 23.8%. The correlation coefficients were 0. 844, 0. 845, 0. 895and 0. 896. The bias correction factors were 0. 821,0.831,0.914 and 0. 979. Decrease in hematocrit was statistically associated with the discrepancy between glucometer analysis methods and the reference, with OR of 0.923 for capillary blood ( P = 0.03 ) and 0. 912 for arterial blood( P = 0.014), respectively. Conclusions Glucometer analysis poorly correlated with reference method and blood gas analysis in ICU patients. Decrease in hematocrit significantly increased the degree of discrepancy in glucose measurements between glucometer analysis and the reference.