Assessing the nutritional status of elderly Chinese lung cancer patients using the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA(®)) tool.

Purpose: This study assessed the nutritional status of elderly Chinese lung cancer inpatients using a revised version of the Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA(®)) tool.

Patients And Methods: The revised version of the MNA tool was used to assess the nutritional status of 180 elderly Chinese lung cancer inpatients prior to their scheduled surgery between June 2010 and July 2011. Patients' demographic data, anthropometric parameters, and biochemical markers were collected and analyzed.

Mini-nutrition assessment, malnutrition, and postoperative complications in elderly Chinese patients with lung cancer.

Purpose: To assist healthcare professionals in using the mini nutrition assessment (MNA) and its short-form (MNASF) for early identification of malnourished elderly lung cancer patients, conducting preoperative nutritional support, and improving patients' postoperative prognosis, quality of life, and survival.

Methods: The MNA with revised cut-off points to better suit the Chinese population was conducted on 103 elderly lung cancer Chinese patients aged 60 or above in the Tianjin Cancer Hospital prior to their scheduled surgery. Patient demographic data, anthropometric parameters, biochemical markers, and postoperative complications were collected and analysed.

Preliminary analysis of factors influencing organ donation rates in China.

In recent years, the People's Republic of China has experienced advancements in organ transplant surgical techniques, growing transplant waiting lists, and stagnant organ donation rates. All of these factors have pressured China to find ways to increase brain-dead cadaveric donation rates to narrow the gap between organ supply and demand. The objective of this work was to review the factors influencing brain-dead cadaveric donation rates in China including legislation, brain-death criteria, and clinical practice as well as cultural and public attitudes toward brain death and organ donation, for comparisons with other countries.

Analysis on the clinical features of 22 basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

Background: Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung is a rare and highly malignant tumor mostly observed in the proximal bronchi. Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung cases typically show rapid clinical progression, very poor prognosis and special pathological morphology. This project aimed to examine the clinical features of basaloid squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and the factors related to its prognosis; and to compare survival outcomes between basaloid squamous cell carcinoma and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas (PDSC).

Acute abdominal pain and urgency to defecate in the young and the old: a useful symptom-complex?

In the belief that "pattern recognition" is an important first step of the diagnostic process, we report our observation of an uncommon and heretofore poorly documented symptom-complex in 10 patients, and suggest that the constellation of abdominal pain and urgency to defecate in the acutely ill surgical patient should raise the diagnostic possibility of intra-abdominal bleeding. In our experience, this is statistically likely to be associated with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in the old and a ruptured ectopic pregnancy in the young.