Spinal anaesthesia for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 and possible transmission rates in anaesthetists: retrospective, single-centre, observational cohort study.

Background: The safety of performing spinal anaesthesia for both patients and anaesthetists alike in the presence of active infection with the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unclear. Here, we report the clinical characteristics and outcomes for both patients with COVID-19 and the anaesthetists who provided their spinal anaesthesia.

Methods: Forty-nine patients with radiologically confirmed COVID-19 for Caesarean section or lower-limb surgery undergoing spinal anaesthesia in Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan, China participated in this retrospective study.

Lactulose improves cognition, quality of life, and gut microbiota in minimal hepatic encephalopathy: A multicenter, randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Lactulose is effective in the treatment and prevention of overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE), but there are limited data on its use on microbiota in relations to minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) recovery. The present study aimed to assess the efficacy of lactulose in recovery of MHE in aspects of cognitive function, quality of life, and impact on intestinal microbiota.

Methods: This multicenter, open-label randomized controlled trial was conducted in 11 teaching hospitals in China.

Benzofuran derivatives from Eupatorium fortunei.

A pair of epimers of benzofuranols and a benzofuran glucoside were isolated from a traditional Chinese medicine Eupatorium fortunei. Their structures and the relative stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of the spectral analysis and chemical transformation as 3beta, 6-dimethyl-2, 3-dihydrobenzofuran-2alpha-ol; 3beta, 6-dimethyl-2, 3-dihydrobenzofuran-2beta-ol and 3beta, 6-dimethyl-2, 3-dihydrobenzofuran 2beta-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside.

Complement factor 1 inhibitor improves cardiopulmonary function in neonatal cardiopulmonary bypass.

Background: The inflammatory insult associated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) continues to result in morbidity for neonates undergoing complex repair of congenital cardiac defects. Complement and contact activation are important mediating processes involved in this injury. Complement factor 1 esterase inhibitor (C1-inh), a natural inhibitor of complement, kallikrein, and coagulation pathways, may be decreased in children undergoing cardiac operations requiring CPB.