Objective To evaluate postoperative quality of life （QOL） of patients aged over 65 after mitral valvereplacement （MVR）. Methods Ninety patients aged over 65 undergoing MVR by the same surgical group in Departmentof Cardiovascular Surgery of Anzhen Hospital were prospectively enrolled in this study. There were 62 male and 28 femalepatients with their age of 65-76 （68.6±6.8） years. There were 55 patients with hypertension，38 patients with type 2 diabetes，and all the patients had persistent atrial fibrillation. Nottingham Healthy Profile （NHP，Part I） and Duke Activity StatuIndex （DASI） were used to evaluate preoperative and postoperative QOL. According to the choice of prosthetic heart valves they received，all the patients were divided into two groups with 45 patients in each group: biological valve group and mechanical valve group. All the patients received MVR via the interatrial groove approach under general anesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass. Mechanical valve replacement was performed using continuous suture without preserving the posterior leaflet of the mitral valve. Biological valve replacement was performed using interrupted suture and some of the posteriorleaflet of the mitral valve was routinely preserved. Patients in both groups underwent intraoperative bilateral pulmonary vein isolation and left atrial appendage ablation using a bipolar radiofrequency ablation device. The left atrial appendage was not excised or ligated. Results Postoperative QOL of all the patients was significantly better than preoperative QOL. There was no statistical difference in NHP and DASI at the 6th month after discharge between the 2 groups. But from the 1st year after discharge，QOL of the biological valve group was significantly better than that of the mechanical valve group. At the 3rd year after discharge，NHP and DASI of the mechanical valve group was not statistically different from those at the 1st year after discharge，but NHP and DASI of the biological valve group was significantly better than those at the 1st year after discharge. Conclusions QOL of elderly patients are significantly improved after MVR. Patients who receive biologicalvalve replacement may acquire better long-term QOL than patients who receive mechanical valve replacement.
Objective To investigate epidemiological characteristics of geriatric hip fractures between 2010 and 2011 in Hebei province. Methods The digital radiography image data and basic information of patients above 60 years old with hip fractures (femoral neck fracture, femoral intertrochanteric fracture, and femoral head fracture) in 5 hospitals of Hebei province between January 2010 and December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively. All the data including patients’ gender, age, and AO types were abstracted and analyzed to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of geriatric hip fractures in Hebei province. Results A total of 4 207 hip fracture patients above 60 years old were included, accounting for 59.61% of all patients with hip fractures and 26.24% of all fractures patients over 60 years old in the same period. There were 1 703 (40.48%) males and 2 504 (59.52%) females (M∶F=1∶1.47). The patients ranged in age from 61 to 99 years, with an average of 75.4 years; the majority of patients aged 70-79 years (43.97%) and the minority of the patients aged 90-99 years (2.02%); women of all ages were more than men, but the difference was not significant (P>0.05). According to AO classification, there were 2 118 cases (50.34%) of type 31-A, 2 004 case (47.63%) of type 31-B, and 85 cases (2.02%) of type 31-C. Except for the type 31-A1, 31-A3, and 31-C1 of 60-69 age group, and the type 31-A3 of 80-89 age groups, women were significantly more than men. Conclusion There are more women than men in hip fractures in Hebei province, and 70-79 age group is the high-risk age group of geriatric hip fractures. Among them, intertrochanteric comminuted fractures are common types.
ObjectiveTo analyze the methods and effects of the reformation of undergraduate course of geriatric nursing in China. MethodsIn the spring semester of 2012 and 2013, we implemented the experiential scenario teaching and autonomous group learning with simulation and heuristic teaching method, and the nursing undergraduates were given scale of Kogan's attitude toward older people and Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz 1 for investigation. The attitude to and knowledge on the elderly were compared before and after the study. Meanwhile, we also surveyed the interest in geriatric nursing among the students. ResultsThe interest in, attitude to and knowledge on the elderly among the students increased considerably after the teaching reformation. ConclusionThe undergraduate course teaching reformation of geriatric nursing with the simulation and heuristic teaching method has achieved good effects, and it can be widely used in geriatric nursing teaching in China. In the future, the reformation should focus on improving the students' professional interests and career choice.
ObjectiveTo introduce the clinical pathway for geriatric hip fracture regulated by our hospital and report the five-year outcomes after the implementation of the pathway. MethodsThe geriatric hip fracture patients treated between September 2003 and August 2012 were followed up. We did not implement the clinical pathway until January 2007. Statistical analysis was done to evaluate the effect of the clinical pathway on patient outcomes by comparing rate of complication, mortality, and length of hospital stay before and after the implementation of the clinical pathway. ResultsAfter the implementation of the pathway, the in-hospital mortality, one-year mortality and the rate of complication were significantly lower. Besides, the time from admission to operation and the total length of stay in hospital were obviously shortened. ConclusionThe use of clinical pathway for geriatric hip fracture can reduce the rate of complication and mortality, and shorten hospital stay, and the five-year outcomes after the implementation of the pathway are satisfying.
Objective To assess the risk factors associated with postoperative infection after elective abdominal operation for elderly in department of general surgery. Methods One hundred and fifty-nine consecutive elderly patients admitted to the department of general surgery in our hospital for elective abdominal operation between May 2010 and February 2012 were considered for inclusion and retrospectively analyzed. Thirty-eight patients （23.90%）with postoperative infection were taken as the infection group and 121 patients without postoperative infection as noninfection group. The differences in the objective physiological indicators， subjective health status indicators， operation status， the incidence of postoperative infective complications， and mortality were compared between the two groups. Results Of enrolled 159 patients in this study， the incidence of postoperative infective complications was 23.90% （38/159）； 2 patients died， and the postoperative mortality rate was 1.26%. Single factor and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative malnutrition risk， history of diabetes， and chronic respiratory system disease were the independent risk factors of postoperative infection complications in elective abdominal surgery for elderly patients. Conclusion Improving preoperative respiratory function， diabetes mellitus， and nutritional status would help to reduce incidence of postoperative infection for elderly patients with elective abdominal operation.
Objective To review the outcomes of geriatric distal humeral fracture fixed with locking compression plate (LCP). Methods From January 2005 to December 2007, 24 patients (20 females and 4 males) with distal humeral fracture underwent open reduction and internal fixation with LCP. Their average age was 75.5 years old, ranged from 60 to 93 years old. Fracture was caused by injury from fall in 22 cases, by traffic accident in 1 case, and by direct hit in 1 case. There were 12 cases of type A2, 2 cases of type A3, 2 cases of type B1, 2 cases of type C1, 2 cases of type C2, 4 cases of type C3 fractures according to AO/ASIF classification. X-ray films in AP and lateral view were taken preoperatively. CT scan with three dimensional reconstructions was done in more comminuted fracture only. Open reduction with triceps sparingtechnique was used in all except type B fracture, and olecranon osteotomy was considered only in more comminuted C3fracture. The average interval between injury and operation was 3 days (range, 1-6 days). Outcome measures includedpain assessment, range of motion, and Mayo elbow performance score and findings at 1 year follow-up. Results Theaverage length of follow-up was 25 months (range, 12-48 months). All 24 fractures were healed within 6 months with anaverage of about 4 months. At 1 year follow-up, 83% (n=20) of patients felt no pain and 17% (n=4) of patients had mildpain; 83% of patient can gain a flexion range of more than 100°; according to Mayo elbow performance score, the meanscores of type A, B and C fracture groups were 97, 85, and 89, respectively, and the post-operative performance of typeA fracture was significantly better than that of type B and C (P=0.034). Four patients had postoperative compl ications.Conclusion Open reduction and internal fixation of geriatric distal humeral fracture can achieve relatively good functionalresult and bony union despite of age.
Objective To provide baseline date for further research by retrospectively investigating the disease constitution of over-60-year old patients in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University in 2011. Methods The information of over-60-year old outpatients was extracted from HIS and their diagnoses were classified by ICD-10. The data of single disease among top 3 categories of diseases were rearranged and analyzed by Excel software. Results The total of over-60-year old outpatients was 895 123 person-time in 2011, accounting for 19.65%, including 716 826 person-time in specialist outpatient clinics. The specialist diagnoses of 683 491 person-time could be classified by ICD-10, accounting for 95.35% of specialist outpatients. The top 12 diseases were neoplasm, circulatory, digestive, factors influencing health status and contacting with health services, respiratory, musculoskeletal system and connective tissues, nervous, eyes, symptoms/signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, non-classified, mental and behavioral disorders, endocrine, and genitourinary system diseases, and the cumulative constituent ratio was 92.96%. The main pathogenic sites of neoplasm were bronchus and lung (21.98%), esophagus (8.66%), stomach (8.10%), rectum (7.37%), prostate (5.86%), and liver and intrahepatic bile ducts (5.55%), with a cumulative constituent ratio of 57.72%. The main disease burden in circulatory system was hypertension (39.50%), chronic ischaemic heart disease (11.17%), and cerebral infarction (9.70%), and the cumulative constituent ratio was 60.38%. While the main disease burden in digestive system was gastritis and duodenitis (24.98%), other diseases of digestive system (9.26%), and other diseases of liver (8.90%), and the cumulative constituent ratio was 43.13%. There were more female than male among the over-60-year old outpatients (50.67% vs. 49.33%), and male was higher than female only in the incidence of neoplasm, respiratory, factors influencing health status and contacting with health services, and genitourinary system diseases. The disease constitution ratio of 60-69 years old patients was 58.21%. The top 3 neoplasm were the malignant tumors in digestive (38.20%), respiratory and intrathoracic organs (24.70%), and lymphoid, haematopoietic and related tissue (11.97%), with a cumulative constituent ratio of 74.87%. Conclusion The top 3 disease burden of over-60-year old outpatients in West China Hospital were neoplasm, circulatory and digestive diseases, which reflects the trend and law of treatment demands of old patients. It needs to deeply analyze the frequency and flow pattern of patients, and to provide evidence for preventing and treating geriatric diseases.
ObjectiveTo summarize the research progress of multidisciplinary team (MDT) co-management models in the clinical treatment of geriatric hip fractures.MethodsThe literature about types and characteristics of MDT for geriatric hip fracture treatment were extensively reviewed, and the advantages of its clinical application were analysed and summarised. Finally, the MDT model and characteristics of geriatric hip fracture in the Zhongda Hospital affiliated to Southeast University were introduced in detail.ResultsClinical models of MDT are diverse and have their own characteristics, and MDT can shorten the length of stay and waiting time before operation, reduce the incidence of internal complications, save labor costs, and reduce patient mortality.ConclusionThe application of MDT in the treatment of geriatric hip fracture has achieved remarkable results, which provides an optimal scheme for the treatment of geriatric hip fracture.
ObjectiveTo explore the diagnostic efficacy of Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) in malnutrition of elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in outpatient department. MethodsOne hundred and five elderly outpatients with COPD were enrolled in the study, and their nutritional screening was carried out. The clinical and laboratory parameters of patients in the normal nutrition group (high GNRI group) and malnutrition group (low GNRI group) were compared, and the correlation analysis was conducted. The diagnostic efficacy of GNRI was evaluated based on the malnutrition universal screening tool (MUST). ResultsThe prevalence of malnutrition was high in COPD elderly outpatients. The prevalence of malnutrition in group D was 61.8%. There were significant differences between the two groups in body mass index, serum albumin, FEV1 percentage in the predicted value, 6-minute walk distance, and the number of acute exacerbations in the past year. GNRI was significantly related to the above parameters. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of GNRI were 81.8%, 83.6% and 82.9%, using MUST as the standard. ConclusionGNRI can be used for nutritional screening of COPD patients in elderly outpatients, which is simple, convenient and relatively accurate, and can be popularized in other medical institutions.
ObjectiveTo observe the clinical characteristics of elderly patients with demyelinating optic neuritis (DON), and preliminarily analyze the related factors affecting their visual prognosis. MethodsA observational clinical case-control study. A total of 107 patients with DON who were diagnosed and hospitalized in Beijing Tongren Hospital and its medical alliance Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Puren Hospital from March 2019 to October 2023 were included in this study. Detailed medical histories were recorded, including time of onset, presence of ocular pain, treatment modalities, and follow-up status. All affected eyes underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) testing, orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and laboratory tests, including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), antinuclear antibodies (ANA), extractable nuclear antigens (ENA), aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibodies, and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibodies in peripheral blood. Based on age, patients were categorized into the elderly DON group (≥50 years) and the young and middle-aged DON group (＜50 years), comprising 50 and 57 cases, respectively. Furthermore, the elderly DON group was subdivided by serum-specific antibody status into the AQP4 antibody-positive ON group (AQP4-ON group), the MOG antibody-positive ON group (MOG-ON group), and the double-negative ON group (DN-ON group), with 18, 10, and 22 cases respectively. The median follow-up duration was 36 months. Follow-up assessments were conducted using the same equipment, methods, and relevant examinations as those applied at baseline. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with visual prognosis in elderly DON patients. ResultsCompared with the DON group of young and middle-aged people, the incidence of binocular disease, accelerated ESR, MRI imaging score, the incidence of combined cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, tumors, and the proportion of adverse reactions of glucocorticoids in the elderly group were higher, and the proportion of ocular pain was lower. The differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05). Six months after the treatment, the number of cases with BCVA＞0.3 in the affected eyes in the elderly DON group and the young and middle-aged DON group was 28 (56.0%, 28/50) and 42 (73.7%, 42/57), respectively. The number of patients with BCVA＞0.3 in the elderly DON group was significantly lower than that in the young and middle-aged DON group, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.034). Moreover, with the increase of age, the degree of improvement in visual acuity showed a decreasing trend. The proportion of females in the AQP4-ON group, the proportion of optic chiasm and posterior optic pathway involvement in acute MRI, and the positive rate of ANA/ENA were significantly higher than those in the MOG-ON group and the DN-ON group, and the differences were statistically significant (P＜0.05). The rate of optic disc edema in the MOG-ON group was significantly higher than that in the AQP4-ON group, and the difference was statistically significant (P=0.031). One and six months after treatment, the BCVA in the MOG-ON group was significantly better than that in the AQP4-ON group and the DN-ON group, and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.05). The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that at the onset of the disease, BCVA＜0.01 [odds ratio (OR) =2.60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-5.52, P=0.013] and accelerated ESR (OR=4.68, 95%CI 1.08-20.18, P=0.039) was an independent risk factor affecting the prognosis of BCVA in elderly patients with DON. ConclusionsThere are different clinical characteristics between elderly DON patients and young and middle-aged patients. The risk of combined systemic diseases and side effects of glucocorticoids is higher, and the visual prognosis is worse. There are also differences in clinical characteristics and visual prognosis among subgroups of different serological antibodies in elderly DON. Advanced age, the lowest visual acuity at onset and immune inflammatory indicators are all factors affecting the visual prognosis of DON.