Admission serum cholinesterase concentration for prediction of in-hospital mortality in very elderly patients with acute ischemic stroke: a retrospective study

The association between preoperative serum cholinesterase and all-cause mortality in geriatric patients with hip fractures: a cohort study of 2387 patients

OBJECTIVE

This study is to evaluate the association between preoperative cholinesterase levels and all-cause mortality in geriatric hip fractures.

METHODS

Elderly patients with hip fractures were screened between Jan 2015 and Sep 2019. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were collected. Linear and nonlinear multivariate Cox regression models were used to identify the association between preoperative cholinesterase levels and mortality in these patients. Analyses were performed using EmpowerStats and the R software.

RESULTS

Two thousand three hundred eighty-seven patients were included in this study. The mean follow-up period was 37.64 months. Seven hundred eighty-seven (33.0%) patients died due to all-cause mortality. Preoperative cholinesterase levels were 5910 ± 1700 U/L. Linear multivariate Cox regression models showed that preoperative cholinesterase level was associated with mortality (HR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.78-0.88), P < 0.0001) for every 1000 U/L. However, the linear association was unstable, and nonlinearity was identified. A cholinesterase concentration of 5940 U/L was an inflection point. When preoperative cholinesterase level < 5940 U/L, the mortality decreased by 28% for every 1000 U/L increase in cholinesterase (HR = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.66-0.79, P < 0.0001). When cholinesterase was > 5940 U/L, the mortality was no longer decreased with the rise of cholinesterase (HR = 1.01, 95%CI: 0.91-1.11, P = 0.9157). We found the nonlinear association was very stable in the propensity score-matching sensitive analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Preoperative cholinesterase levels were nonlinearly associated with mortality in elderly hip fractures, and cholinesterase was a risk indicator of all-cause mortality.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This study is registered on the website of the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR: ChiCTR2200057323) (08/03/2022).

Association between blood urea nitrogen to creatinine ratio and 3-month outcome in patients with acute ischaemic stroke: a retrospective cohort study from a large healthcare system

OBJECTIVES

The blood urea nitrogen to creatinine (BUN/Cr) ratio is associated with early neurological deterioration in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS). However, the predictive value of the BUN/Cr ratio for the AIS prognosis remains unclear. Therefore, we evaluated the correlation between the BUN/Cr ratio and the 3-month outcome in patients with AIS, further testing their dose-response relationship.

DESIGN

This retrospective cohort study enrolled patients with AIS who were admitted between 1 January 2013 and 31 May 2022. Poor clinical outcome was defined as 3-month Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) >2. Cox proportional HR was used to evaluate the correlation between the BUN/Cr ratio and 3-month outcome. Restricted cubic spline and robust locally weighted regression analyses were conducted to determine the dose-response relationship between the BUN/Cr ratio and the 3-month outcome.

RESULTS

A total of 4952 eligible patients were included in the study. The patients were divided into three groups according to the tertiles of BUN/Cr ratio (T1, <0.071; T2, 0.071-0.093; and T3, >0.093). After logistic regression adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics, the BUN/Cr ratio was found to be independently associated with the 3-month outcome in patients with AIS. The restricted cubic spline and locally regression smoothing scatterplot graph showed a strong dose-response relationship between the BUN/Cr ratio and the 3-month outcome in patients with AIS.

CONCLUSION

A dose-response relationship was observed between the BUN/Cr ratio and the 3-month outcome in patients with AIS, suggesting that the BUN/Cr ratio could serve as a reliable predictor for the AIS prognosis.

Reduced serum cholinesterase is an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality in the pediatric intensive care unit

Objective

Our aim was to assess the relationship between serum cholinesterase levels at intensive care unit admission and all-cause mortality in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Methods

We used the pediatric intensive care unit database (a large pediatric intensive care database in China from 2010 to 2018) to conduct a retrospective analysis to evaluate the serum cholinesterase levels at intensive care unit admission of 11,751 critically ill children enrolled to the intensive care unit. We analyzed the association between serum cholinesterase and all-cause mortality. Adjusted smoothing spline plots, subgroup analysis and segmented multivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted to estimate the relative risk between proportional risk between serum cholinesterase and death.

Results

Of the 11,751 children, 703 (5.98%) died in hospital. After adjusting for confounders, there was a negative association between serum cholinesterase and the risk of death in pediatric intensive care unit. For every 1,000 U/L increase in serum cholinesterase, the risk of death was reduced by 16% (adjusted OR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.79, 0.89). The results of sensitivity analysis showed that in different stratified analyses (age, intensive care unit category, albumin, alanine aminotransferase, creatinine, neutrophils), the effect of serum cholinesterase on all-cause mortality remained stable.

Conclusion

After adjusting for inflammation, nutrition, and liver function factors, cholinesterase reduction is still an independent risk factor for pediatric intensive care unit all-cause mortality.

Predictive value of serum cholinesterase in the mortality of acute pancreatitis: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Severe acute pancreatitis has a high mortality of 20%-40%, but there is a lack of optimal prognostic biomarker for the severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) or mortality. This study is designed to investigate the relationship between serum cholinesterase (ChE) level and poor outcomes of AP.

METHODS

A total of 1904 AP patients were screened in the study, and we finally got 692 patients eligible for analysis. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on serum ChE. The primary outcome was mortality, and multivariable logistic regression analysis for mortality was completed. Additionally, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to clarify the predictive value of serum ChE for mortality and organ failure.

RESULTS

Three hundred and seventy eight patients and 314 patients were included in the ChE-low and ChE-normal group, respectively. Patients in the ChE-low group were older (46.68 ± 12.70 vs. 43.56 ± 12.13 years old, p = .001) and had a lower percentage of man (62.4% vs. 71.0%, p = .017) when compared to the ChE-normal group. Mortality was significantly different in two groups (10.3% vs. 0.0%, p < .001). Moreover, organ failure also differed significantly in two groups (46.6% vs. 8.6%, p < .001). Decreased ChE level was independently associated with mortality in acute pancreatitis (odds ratio: 0.440; 95% confidence interval, 0.231, 0.838, p = .013). The area under the curve of serum ChE was 0.875 and 0.803 for mortality and organ failure, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower level of serum ChE was independently associated with the severity and mortality of AP.

Value of IMA, IMAR, the IMA Index, and Other Hematological Features in Predicting AIS Caused by MCA Stenosis/Occlusion

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we investigated the relationship between serum ischemic modified albumin (IMA) levels and other hematologic features and middle cerebral artery (MCA) severe stenosis/occlusion in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients.

METHODS

The levels of serum IMA and Albumin (ALB) of 169 AIS patients were measured, and the ratio of IMA to albumin (IMAR) and the albumin-adjusted ischemia-modified albumin index (IMA index) were calculated. Different combinations of other hematologic changes and clinical features of the patients were analyzed.

RESULTS

The results indicated that the levels of blood IMA and IMAR were significantly higher in the group with severe intracranial stenosis/occlusion than in the group with non-severe stenosis/ occlusion in AIS patients, while the CHE levels were significantly lower than those in the other groups. In the MCA severe stenosis/occlusion group, the levels of blood IMA and IMAR were significantly higher than that in the other vascular severe stenosis/occlusion groups, while the IMA index, ALB, and CHE were significantly lower than that in the other groups. Multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant negative correlation between IMA and albumin. A combined diagnostic ROC curve analysis showed that among AIS patients, the best combination for determining severe stenosis/occlusion of the great intracranial arteries was the admission NIHSS score + CHE (AUC = 0.783). The best combination for determining severe stenosis or occlusion of the MCA in AIS patients was IMAR combined with the admission NIHSS score and CHE (AUC = 0.827).

CONCLUSION

The combined use of IMA, IMAR, and the IMA index has some diagnostic value in AIS caused by severe stenosis or occlusion of the MCA. IMAR, CHE, and the admission NIHSS scores are the best combinations to determine whether an AIS patient has severe stenosis or occlusion of the MCA.

Different Pharmacokinetics of Tramadol, O-Demethyltramadol and N-Demethyltramadol in Postoperative Surgical Patients From Those Observed in Medical Patients

Background: Most studies examining tramadol metabolism have been carried out in non-surgical patients and with oral tramadol. The aim of this study was 1) to measure concentrations of tramadol, O-demethyltramadol (ODT), and N-demethyltramadol (NDT) in the surgical patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) within the first 24 postoperative hours after intravenous application of tramadol, and 2) to examine the effect of systemic inflammation on tramadol metabolism and postoperative pain. Methods: A prospective observational study was carried out in the surgical ICU in the tertiary hospital. In the group of 47 subsequent patients undergoing major abdominal surgery, pre-operative blood samples were taken for CYP2D6 polymorphism analysis. Systemic inflammation was assessed based on laboratory and clinical indicators. All patients received 100 mg of tramadol intravenously every 6 h during the first postoperative day. Postoperative pain was assessed before and 30 min after tramadol injections. Tramadol, ODT, and NDT concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Results: CYP2D6 analysis revealed 2 poor (PM), 22 intermediate (IM), 22 extensive (EM), and 1 ultrafast metabolizer. After a dose of 100 mg of tramadol, t1/2 of 4.8 (3.2-7.6) h was observed. There were no differences in tramadol concentration among metabolic phenotypes. The area under the concentration-time curve at the first dose interval (AUC1-6) of tramadol was 1,200 (917.9-1944.4) μg ×h ×L-1. NDT concentrations in UM were below the limit of quantification until the second dose of tramadol was administrated, while PM had higher NDT concentrations compared to EM and IM. ODT concentrations were higher in EM, compared to IM and PM. ODT AUC1-6 was 229.6 (137.7-326.2) μg ×h ×L-1 and 95.5 (49.1-204.3) μg ×h ×L-1 in EM and IM, respectively (p = 0.004). Preoperative cholinesterase activity (ChE) of ≤4244 U L-1 was a cut-off value for a prediction of systemic inflammation in an early postoperative period. NDT AUC1-6 were significantly higher in patients with low ChE compared with normal ChE patients (p = 0.006). Pain measurements have confirmed that sufficient pain control was achieved in all patients after the second tramadol dose, except in the PM. Conclusions: CYP2D6 polymorphism is a major factor in O-demethylation, while systemic inflammation accompanied by low ChE has an important role in the N-demethylation of tramadol in postoperative patients. Concentrations of tramadol, ODT, and NDT are lower in surgical patients than previously reported in non-surgical patients. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04004481.

Longitudinal Profile of Laboratory Parameters and Their Application in the Prediction for Fatal Outcome Among Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background

Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) experience a wide clinical spectrum, with over 2% developing fatal outcome. The prognostic factors for fatal outcome remain sparsely investigated.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was performed in a cohort of patients with confirmed COVID-19 in one designated hospital in Wuhan, China, from 17 January–5 March 2020. The laboratory parameters and a panel of cytokines were consecutively evaluated until patients’ discharge or death. The laboratory features that could be used to predict fatal outcome were identified.

Results

Consecutively collected data on 55 laboratory parameters and cytokines from 642 patients with COVID-19 were profiled along the entire disease course, based on which 3 clinical stages (acute stage, days 1–9; critical stage, days 10–15; and convalescence stage, day 15 to observation end) were determined. Laboratory findings based on 75 deceased and 357 discharged patients revealed that, at the acute stage, fatality could be predicted by older age and abnormal lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), urea, lymphocyte count, and procalcitonin (PCT) level. At the critical stage, the fatal outcome could be predicted by age and abnormal PCT, LDH, cholinesterase, lymphocyte count, and monocyte percentage. Interleukin 6 (IL-6) was remarkably elevated, with fatal cases having a more robust production than discharged cases across the whole observation period. LDH, PCT, lymphocytes, and IL-6 were considered highly important prognostic factors for COVID-19–related death.

Conclusions

The identification of predictors that were routinely tested might allow early identification of patients at high risk of death for early aggressive intervention.