A meta‐analysis of the risk factors for neurosurgical surgical site infection following craniotomy

Abstract

The purpose of the meta-analysis was to evaluate and compare the risk factors for neurosurgical surgical site infection (SSI) after craniotomy. Using dichotomous or contentious random or fixed effect models, the odds ratio (OR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed based on the examination of the meta-analysis results. Eighteen analyses, covering 11 068 craniotomies between 2001 and 2023, were included in the current meta-analysis. Subjects with SSIs had a significantly younger age (MD, −2.49; 95% CI, −2.95 to −2.04, p < 0.001), longer operation duration (MD, 10.21; 95% CI, 6.49–13.94, p < 0.001) and longer length of postoperative hospital stay (MD, 1.52; 95% CI, 0.45–2.60, p = 0.006) compared to subjects with no SSI with craniotomy. However, no significant difference was found between craniotomy subjects with SSIs and with no SSI in gender (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.76–1.07, p = 0.23), and combination with other infection (OR, 3.93; 95% CI, 0.28–56.01, p = 0.31). The data that were looked at showed that younger age, longer operation duration and longer length of postoperative hospital stay can be considered as risk factors of SSI in subjects with craniotomy; however, gender and combination with other infections are not. Nonetheless, consideration should be given to their values because several studies only involved a small number of patients, and there are not many studies available for some comparisons.

Identification and validation of aging-related genes in atrial fibrillation

by Yong Zhou, Chao Sun, Yingxu Ma, Yunyin Huang, Keke Wu, Shengyuan Huang, Qiuzhen Lin, Jiayi Zhu, Zuodong Ning, Ningyuan Liu, Tao Tu, Qiming Liu

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia in the clinic. Aging plays an essential role in the occurrence and development of AF. Herein, we aimed to identify the aging-related genes associated with AF using bioinformatics analysis. Transcriptome profiles of AF were obtained from the GEO database. Differential expression analysis was performed to identify AF-specific aging-related genes. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses were performed. Subsequently, the LASSO, SVM-RFE, and MCC algorithms were applied to screen aging-related genes. The mRNA expression of the screened genes was validated in the left atrial samples of aged rapid atrial pacing-induced AF canine models and their counterparts. The ROC curves of them were drawn to evaluate their diagnostic potential. Moreover, CIBERSORT was used to estimate immune infiltration. A correlation analysis between screened aging-related genes and infiltrating immune cells was performed. A total of 24 aging-related genes were identified, which were found to be mainly involved in the FoxO signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, longevity regulating pathway, and peroxisome according to functional enrichment analysis. LASSO, SVM-RFE, and MCC algorithms identified three genes (HSPA9, SOD2, TXN). Furthermore, the expression levels of HSPA9 and SOD2 were validated in aged rapid atrial pacing-induced AF canine models. HSPA9 and SOD2 could be potential diagnostic biomarkers for AF, as evidenced by the ROC curves. Immune infiltration and correlation analysis revealed that HSPA9 and SOD2 were related to immune cell infiltrates. Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into the potential aging-related genes associated with AF. HSPA9 and SOD2 may play a significant role in the occurrence and development of AF.