Search

BackgroundThe diagnosis of paroxysmal events in infants is often challenging. Reasons include the child’s inability to express discomfort and the inability to record video electroencephalography at home. The prevalence of mobile phones, which can record videos, may be beneficial to these patients. In China, this advantage may be even more significant given the vast population and the uneven distribution of medical resources. ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate the value of mobile phone videos in increasing the diagnostic accuracy and cost savings of paroxysmal events in infants. MethodsClinical data, including descriptions and home videos of episodes, from 12 patients with paroxysmal events were collected. The investigation was conducted in six centers during pediatric academic conferences. All 452 practitioners present were asked to make their diagnoses by just the descriptions of the events, and then remake their diagnoses after watching the corresponding home videos of the episodes. The doctor’s information, including educational background, profession, working years, and working hospital level, was also recorded. The cost savings from accurate diagnoses were measured on the basis of using online consultation, which can also be done easily by mobile phone. All data were recorded in the form of questionnaires designed for this study. ResultsWe collected 452 questionnaires, 301 of which met the criteria (66.6%) and were analyzed. The mean correct diagnoses with and without videos was 8.4 (SD 1.7) of 12 and 7.5 (SD 1.7) of 12, respectively. For epileptic seizures, mobile phone videos increased the mean accurate diagnoses by 3.9%; for nonepileptic events, it was 11.5% and both were statistically different (P=.006 for epileptic events; P

BackgroundThe electromechanical dyssynchrony associated with right ventricular pacing (RVP) has been found to have adverse impact on clinical outcomes. Several studies have shown that left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) has superior pacing parameters compared with RVP. We aimed to assess the difference in ventricular electromechanical synchrony and investigate the risk of atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs) in patients with LBBAP and RVP.MethodsWe consecutively identified 40 patients with atrioventricular block and no prior atrial fibrillation. They were divided according to the ventricular pacing sites: the LBBAP group and the RVP group (including the right ventricular apical pacing (RVA) group and the right side ventricular septal pacing (RVS) group). Evaluation of ventricular electromechanical synchrony was implemented using electrocardiogram and two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE). AHRE was defined as event with an atrial frequency of ≥176 bpm lasting for ≥6 min recorded by pacemakers during follow-up.ResultsThe paced QRS duration of the LBBAP group was significantly shorter than that of the other two groups: LBBAP 113.56 ± 9.66 ms vs. RVA 164.73 ± 14.49 ms, p

Background Recent small subcortical infarct (RSSI) is one of the manifestations of lacunar infarction. It is a common brain disease and can lead to the clinical outcome of disability or dementia in many patients. However, the relationship of infarction burden and cognitive impairment with blood glucose fluctuation in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with RSSI is not very clear. Objective To explore the correlation of blood glucose variability (GV) with infarction burden and cognitive impairment in T2DM patients with RSSI, and based on this, to build a risk prediction model. Methods A total of 140 patients with T2DM and RSSI who were treated in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2021 to June 2022 were retrospectively selected. The basic clinical data of the patients were collected. The 72-hour continuous blood glucose monitoring was performed. The infarct burden was evaluated by the magnetic resonance imaging performance (the study subjects were divided into the high infarction burden group including 45 cases and the low infarction burden group including 95 cases according to the imaging performance). The cognitive function was evaluated by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Spearman correlation analysis was used to explore the correlation between GV and cognitive function (MoCA score). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of infarction burden and cognitive dysfunction in T2DM patients with RSSI. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of GV on cognitive impairment in T2DM patients with RSSI, and the nomogram predictive model was constructed and the predictive value was analyzed. Results In terms of GV-related indicators, the high infarction burden group had higher standard deviation (SD) and percentage of coefficient of variation (%CV) and lower time in range (TIR) than the low infarction burden group, with statistically significant differences (P

ObjectiveTo review the strengths and limitations of the development of general practice in China during the last decade (2010—2020) and to assess the opportunities and challenges for its future development.MethodsData were collected from statistic reports, journal articles and official policies and guidelines regarding general practice development in China from 2010—2020. Donabedian model was applied to examine and assess the quality of essential general practice services in China. SWOT analysis was used to identify internal and external determinants of general practice development in China.Results(1) Structural quality of general practice: the ten-year policies about general practice development were a continuation of the past relevant policies in essence but with developments, with highlights on continuous construction of general practice workforce and discipline, tiered diagnosis and treatment and regional medical consortium, but relevant fiscal and management policies still need improvements. The number of general medical workers has increased rapidly, while the lion's share of them are still allocated at tertiary hospitals. Full-time equivalent is suggested to be used to predict the staffing and assess the performance of these workers. The number of community health centres showed a steady increase, but its growth rate was still slower than that of hospital facilities. Relevant health economics data need to be further supplemented. (2) Process quality of general practice: in 2020, there were 2.045 billion visits in community health centers (stations) and township health centers, that is, 1.5 visits per person per year on average. There was a significant development when found only 1 visit per person per year for primary care in 2010. However, the frequency of visits for primary care was still lower than that of visiting hospital-based outpatients (an average of 2.7 visits per person per year) . The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on community health services/general medical services, and the number of outpatient visits dropped by about 20%. The number of general practice research articles reached a peak in 2018, mainly focusing on bi-directional referrals, tiered diagnosis and treatment, general practitioners (GPs) /family doctors, general medicine, community health services, chronic disease management (especially hypertension and diabetes) , and analysis of factors associated with aspects involved in general medical services. General practice research is expected to provide more support for developing innovative and critical thoughts, more practice-based evidence for clinical services, and more assistance for service quality and patient outcomes improvement as the discipline advances. (3) Results of implementing general medical services: there is no sufficient evidence on the influence of general medical services on people's health. The experiences and views of people including healthy individuals and patients indicated that those receiving general medical services or contracted family doctor services perceived positive experience and expressed high satisfaction, but perceptions and views of general population in the community toward general medical services need to be explored. GPs' own experience and opinions on general practice were quite different. Gender, age, professional title, urban and rural areas, and geographical location may be associated with their experience and job satisfaction. There may be instability in the general practice workforce, mainly due to personal income, workload and time pressure. (4) The major strengths of developing general practice in China are as follows: strong policy-based promotion and government leadership; rapidly constructing and developing GPs teams owing to the excellent resource allocating ability shown by the centralized system from central to all local governments; significantly enhanced general practice education and training systems; increased core professionals as general practice educators and trainers; special development of general practice characterized by the integration of medical sciences and Chinese traditional humanistic theories. (5) The development of general practice in China has been facing limitations similar to those in other countries. Besides that, its special limitations include late development of the discipline, unsatisfactory quality of workforce, high work pressure and high prevalence of burnout in the workforce, as well as impact of generation gap on education and practice among GPs. In addition, the relation between specialists and GPs is on transition of from undifferentiated attachment to self-recognised uniquity, and further seeking transdisciplinary. The teaching competences of GPs teachers, especially those teaching community and clinical care, are inadequate. GPs team building and management need to advance from the formation to the storming and performing phases. (6) Opportunities for further development of general practice in China include strategies for achieving the goals of Healthy China, and an all-round well-off society, the important role of primary health care in sustainable development and universal health coverage reaffirmed by the Declaration of Astana, as well as significantly improved health literacy of people. (7) Challenges for the development of general practice in China include population ageing, and aging-related changes in burden of disease and socio-economic status, the aging and dynamic changes of GPs human resources, the variation of urban and rural areas and regional differences, and the inverted pyramid structure of allocation of medical and health resources (namely, the largest part is allocated to tertiary care while the smallest to primary care) . Relevant recommendations to address these challenges comprise strengthening the advocacy of the development of general practice services, establishing a wide-ranging community collaborative network, and developing general practice professional organizations.ConclusionThe development of general practice in China is advancing, which is manifested as rapidly increased number of general medical workers, strong government promotion, quickly improved accessibility of essential medical services, and notably increased utilization rate of primary care services. However, the development is facing challenges, such as high discipline and social expectations regarding general practice, instability in the workforce due to high work pressure of the knowledge- and labor-intensive job, GPs' insufficient recognition of their self-identity, and unclear status of financial funding for general practice development. Given that there are unprecedented favorable conditions for general practice development, medical industries and general medical workers are suggested to make efforts to turn challenges into opportunities to develop general medical services, thereby universal health outcomes will be improved.

BackgroundAn increase in the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) during the acute phase of myocardial infarction (AMI) has been observed. But it is still unclear whether the implications of new-onset AF on in-hospital and long-term prognosis are of similar magnitude.MethodsUsing data from the CBD Bank study, 3,824 consecutive AMI patients, without prior AF, were analyzed. During the index hospitalization, all patients were monitored by continuous cardiac monitoring, twice daily performed 12- or 18-lead ECGs and timely ECG checks when cardiac symptoms occurred. Follow-up visits were routinely scheduled after discharge. Primary outcomes were all-cause death and cardiovascular death occurring during hospitalization and long-term follow-up. Secondary outcome was MACEs during hospitalization.ResultsDuring the median hospital stay of 9.0 (7.0, 11.0) days, new-onset AF was documented in 133 (3.48%) patients; 95 (71.43%) patients had AF attacks within 3 days following AMI. Independent risk factors associated with new-onset AF were older age, larger left atrial diameter, higher level of NT-proBNP, and primary PCI. New-onset AF was found to be significantly associated with in-hospital all-cause death (OR 4.33, 95%CI: 2.37-7.89, P < 0.001), cardiovascular death (OR 4.10, 95%CI: 2.18-7.73, P < 0.001), and MACEs (OR 2.51, 95%CI: 1.46-4.33, P = 0.001). A total of 112 new-onset AF and 3,338 non-AF patients were followed up for 1,090 (365, 1,694) days after discharge. There was no significant association between new-onset AF and long-term all-cause death (HR 1.21, 95%CI: 0.77-1.92, P = 0.406) or cardiovascular death (HR 1.09, 95%CI: 0.61-1.97, P = 0.764).ConclusionNew-onset AF following AMI is strongly associated with an increased risk of adverse in-hospital prognosis, but it does not affect prognosis in those who survive until hospital discharge.

X-ray diffraction (XRD) is extensively used in archaeometric investigation. Herein, we provide a novel XRD spectrum-based untargeted strategy for the classification of ancient painted pottery for various dynasties. It was accomplished using the original spectrum without a phase identification. To eliminate the influence of baseline drift, a new baseline drift correction algorithm was specifically designed for XRD spectra. The algorithm was implemented using local minimum values in the analyzed signal in an iterative optimization manner. The results indicated that with the aid of the algorithm, the baseline drift problem can be successfully resolved, and the classification of ancient painted pottery can be greatly improved. Finally, the developed strategy was successfully used to discriminate ancient painted pottery from the Han and Tang dynasties in the cities of Guyuan and Zhongwei, China. The developed untargeted strategy had the remarkable advantage of almost automatic data analysis. The toolbox of our strategy can be obtained from the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]