Clinical features related to hospital expenses for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in China.

OBJECTIVE: Bronchiectasis is a common chronic airway disease. We investigated the economic burden and associated factors of bronchiectasis in China. METHODS: In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, we reviewed medical records of patients admitted to 18 tertiary hospitals during 2010 to 2014 with a bronchiectasis-related diagnosis. RESULTS: A total 5469 patients with bronchiectasis were admitted, accounting for 3.13% ± 1.80% of all discharged patients with any diagnosis during the same period; 13 patients died upon discharge. The median hospitalization cost was RMB 8421.52 (RMB 5849.88-12,294.47). Risk factors associated with hospitalization costs included age at admission (>70 vs. <40 years, odds ratio (OR) = 1.221, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.082-1.379; >80 vs. <40 years, OR = 1.251, 95% CI = 1.089-1.438), smoking (≤15 packs/year vs. non-smokers, OR = 1.125, 95% CI = 1.006-1.271; >15 packs/year vs. non-smokers, OR = 1.127, 95% CI = 1.062-1.228), length of hospitalization (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.046-1.054), combination antibiotic treatment (OR = 1.089, 95% CI = 1.033-1.148), cough (OR = 0.851, 95% CI = 0.751-0.965), dyspnea (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.878-0.984), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 0.935, 95% CI = 0.878-0.996), respiratory failure (OR = 0.923, 95% CI = 0.862-0.989), cor pulmonale (OR = 0.919, 95% CI = 0.859-0.982), and death (OR = 1.816, 95% CI = 1.113-2.838). CONCLUSIONS: Age, smoking status, symptoms, and respiratory comorbidities were associated with hospitalization costs of bronchiectasis.

A sensitive label-free amperometric CEA immunosensor based on graphene-nafion nanocomposite film as an enhanced sensing platform.

A novel approach to fabricate a label-free amperometric immunosensor for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was described. Herein, methylene blue (MB), gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and carcinoembryonic antibody (anti-CEA) were layer-by-layer assembled on the graphene-Nafion nanocomposite film-modified electrode by means of a self-assembling technique and the opposite-charged adsorption. Subsequently, the stepwise self-assembling procedure of the immunosensor was further characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The factors influencing the performance of the resulting immunosensor were studied in detail. The developed procedure showed improved features, including larger amount and higher immunoactivity of the immobilized antibody and repeatable regeneration of the sensor, as well as direct, rapid and simple determination for the antigen without multiple separation and labeling steps. The immunosensor could detect the target protein in a range of 0.5 to 120 ng/mL with a limit of 0.17 ng/mL (at 3σ). Finally, the immunosensing system was evaluated on several clinical samples. Analytical results were found to be in satisfactory agreement with those detected by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, indicating that this new method was a promising alternative tool for clinical diagnosis.