Peking Union Medical College Hospital

About: Peking Union Medical College Hospital is a healthcare organization based out in Beijing, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Medicine & Population. The organization has 15996 authors who have published 16018 publications receiving 226505 citations.

IP-10 and MCP-1 as biomarkers associated with disease severity of COVID-19.

Abstract: COVID-19 is a viral respiratory disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-Coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients with this disease may be more prone to venous or arterial thrombosis because of the activation of many factors involved in it, including inflammation, platelet activation and endothelial dysfunction. Interferon gamma inducible protein-10 (IP-10), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein 1-alpha (MIP1α) are cytokines related to thrombosis. Therefore, this study focused on these three indicators in COVID-19, with the hope to find biomarkers that are associated with patients’ outcome. This is a retrospective single-center study involving 74 severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients recruited from the ICU department of the Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, China. The patients were divided into two groups: severe patients and critically ill patients. The serum IP-10, MCP-1 and MIP1α level in both groups was detected using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. The clinical symptoms, laboratory test results, and the outcome of COVID-19 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The serum IP-10 and MCP-1 level in critically ill patients was significantly higher than that in severe patients (P < 0.001). However, no statistical difference in MIP1α between the two groups was found. The analysis of dynamic changes showed that these indicators remarkably increased in patients with poor prognosis. Since the selected patients were severe or critically ill, no significant difference was observed between survival and death. IP-10 and MCP-1 are biomarkers associated with the severity of COVID-19 disease and can be related to the risk of death in COVID-19 patients.

The world's major religions' points of viewon end-of-life decisionsin the intensive care unit

Abstract: Objective Recent research has shown that the religious affiliation of both physicians and patients markedly influences end-of-life decisions in the intensive care unit in the Western world. The world's major religions' standings on withholding and withdrawing of therapy, on hastening of the death process when providing pain relief (double effect) and on euthanasia are described. This review also discusses whether nutrition should be provided to patients in a permanent vegetative state, and the issues of brain death and organ donation.

Tumor-induced osteomalacia: An important cause of adult-onset hypophosphatemic osteomalacia in China: Report of 39 cases and review of the literature

Abstract: Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO) is an acquired form of hypophosphatemia. Tumor resection leads to cure. We investigated the clinical characteristics of TIO, diagnostic methods, and course after tumor resection in Beijing, China, and compared them with 269 previous published reports of TIO. A total of 94 patients with adult-onset hypophosphatemic osteomalacia were seen over a 6-year period (January, 2004 to May, 2010) in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. After physical examination (PE), all patients underwent technetium-99m octreotide scintigraphy (99Tcm-OCT). Tumors were removed after localization. The results demonstrated that 46 of 94 hypophosphatemic osteomalacia patients had high uptake in 99Tcm-OCT imaging. Forty of them underwent tumor resection with the TIO diagnosis established in 37 patients. In 2 patients, the tumor was discovered on PE but not by 99Tcm-OCT. The gender distribution was equal (M/F = 19/20). Average age was 42 ± 14 years. In 35 patients (90%), the serum phosphorus concentration returned to normal in 5.5 ± 3.0 days after tumor resection. Most of the tumors (85%) were classified as phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor (PMT) or mixed connective tissue variant (PMTMCT). Recurrence of disease was suggested in 3 patients (9%). When combined with the 269 cases reported in the literature, the mean age and sex distribution were similar. The tumors were of bone (40%) and soft tissue (55%) origins, with 42% of the tumors being found in the lower extremities. In summary, TIO is an important cause of adult-onset hypophosphatemia in China. 99Tcm-OCT imaging successfully localized the tumor in the overwhelming majority of patients. Successful removal of tumors leads to cure in most cases, but recurrence should be sought by long-term follow-up. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.