Risk factor analysis for adverse prognosis of the fetal ventricular septal defect (VSD).

BACKGROUND: Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is the most common subtype of congenital heart disease. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether chromosome aberration was associated with the occurrence of VSD and evaluate the association of VSD size, location and chromosome aberration with adverse outcomes in the Chinese fetuses. METHODS: Fetuses with VSD and comprehensive follow-up data were included and evaluated retrospectively. Medical records were used to collect epidemiological data and foetal outcomes. For VSD fetuses, conventional karyotype and microarray analysis were conducted. After adjusting confounding factors by using multivariable logistic regression analyses, the association between chromosome variations and VSD occurrence was explored. The association between defect size, location and chromosome aberrations and adverse foetal outcomes was also investigated. RESULTS: Chromosome aberration was the risk factor for VSD occurrence, raising 6.5-fold chance of developing VSD. Chromosome aberration, peri-membranous site and large defect size of VSD were significant risk factors of adverse fetal outcome. Chromosome aberrations, including pathogenic copy number variations (CNVs) and variations of uncertain significance (VUS), were both risk factors, increasing the risk of the adverse fetal outcome by 55.9 times and 6.7 times, respectively. The peri-membranous site would increase 5.3-fold risk and defects larger than 5 mm would increase the 7.1-fold risk for poor fetal outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The current investigation revealed that chromosomal abnormalities, large defects, and the peri-membranous site were all risk factors for poor fetal outcomes. Our study also indicated that chromosome aberration was one of risk factors for the VSD occurrence.

Guiding of serum procalcitonin-guided antibiotic in elderly early-onset stroke-associated pneumonia / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To evaluate the effects of serum procalcitonin (PCT)-guided antibiotic therapy in elderly patients with early-onset stroke-associated pneumonia (EOP).Methods Totally 179 eligible elderly patients with EOP were randomly devided into 2 groups:standard therapy group (standard group,n=88) and PCT-guided group (PCT group,n=91).Patients in standard group received antibiotics according to antibiotics guidelines in China by the treating physicians.Patients in PCT group were treated with antibiotics for 5 days,then the antibiotic treatment was based on serum PCT levels as follows:discouraged if PCT＜0.25 μg/L and encouraged if PCT≥0.25 μg/L.Length of hospitalization,duration of antibiotics,costs of hospitalization and antibiotics,clinical efficacy,andmortality,National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and Barthel index (BI) on the 28th day were observed.Results There were no significant differences in clinical efficacy,mortality,NIHSS score and BI between the two groups on the 28th day [(85.7％ vs.86.3％),(8.8％ vs.7.9％),10.1 (7.8,16.2) vs.9.8 (6.0,15.5),60.1(42.5,82.3) vs.57.9 (39.2,84.8),respectively,all P＞ 0.05].The length of hospitalization,antibiotic duration,costs of hospitalization and antibiotics were lower in PCT group than in standard group [19 (10,38) d vs.26(17,42) d,10 (7,14) dvs.15 (6,21) d,3350 (2052,6163) yuanvs.10355 (6877,15421) yuan,7532 (4810,12116) yuan vs.5358 (3089,8144) yuan,respectively,all P＜0.05].Conclusions PCT guidance of antibiotic therapy is effective and safe for the treatment of early-onset stroke associated pneumonia in elderly patients.It can reduce the antibiotic duration and costs of hospitalization.