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Background: With the evolving specialization of modern medicine, family medicine (FM), also known as general practice, is relatively late in being recognized as a formal specialty in most countries of the world. Because many non-FM specialists were recruited into the new specialty in the early stages of FM specialization, the contents of FM specialty journals might, to an extent, reflect the development of the FM specialization. Methods: In this study, the voluminous journal, Chinese General Practice, which is regarded as the most representative specialty journal, was chosen and analyzed to illustrate the current situation of FM in China. A total of 878 articles, relating to the journal, Chinese General Practice in 2018, were retrieved from the publisher's web site and the original articles were categorized into FM- and non-FM- related articles by 3 board-certified FM doctors. Furthermore, the first authors, as well as the institutions and regions where the first authors worked, and their related specialties, were also analyzed. Results: Of the 634 original articles, 252 (39.7%) articles were FM related. Only 41 FM-related articles were written by authors working at FM departments: 3 at community health service centers, 29 at hospitals, and 9 at universities. Of the 382 non-FM related articles, 159 articles dealt with the topic of internal medicine, followed by traditional Chinese medicine (36), obstetrics and gynecology (28), neurology (27), pediatrics (27), and surgery (21). Conclusion: In conclusion, FM publications in China in the study year, as exemplified by Chinese General Practice, were mostly contributed by non-FM authors dealing with non-FM topics. A transition to more FM-oriented development might be anticipated in the near future.

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) has a distinctive geographical distribution in China, especially southern China. There are several risk factors for NPC, such as Epstein-Barr virus, genetics, and environmental exposures. Although the incidence of eye metastasis (EM) is lower than metastasis in other body parts, it often indicates poor prognosis. We assessed several serum biomarkers for their ability to predict EM in NPC. Patients with NPC were selected (n = 963), and were separated into two groups, EM and no eye metastasis. Ten factors were analyzed in both groups including triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, alkaline phosphatase, alpha fetoprotein, carbohydrate antigen-199, cancer antigen-153, apolipoproteins AI, apolipoprotein B, and cytokeratin fragment 19 (CYFRA21-1). Independent t tests, binary logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the data. The EM group had significantly higher CYFRA21-1 and lower TG compared with the no eye metastasis group. Areas under the curve for CYFRA21-1, TG and CYFRA21-1/TG were 0.966, 0.771, and 0.976, respectively. The corresponding cut-off values were 12.12 ng/ml, 0.41 mmol/L, and 13.5. The sensitivity and specificity of CYFRA21-1/TG were 100% and 92.2%, respectively. The increased ratio of CYFRA21-1 to TG can be an accurate method to detect EM in patients with NPC.

The incidence of community-onset bacteremia caused by extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) producers is increasing. The adverse effects of ESBL production on patient outcome have been recognized and this antimicrobial resistance has significant implications in the delay of appropriate therapy. However, a simple scoring algorithm that can easily, inexpensively, and accurately be applied to clinical settings was lacking. Thus, we established a predictive scoring algorithm for identifying patients at the risk of ESBL-producer infections among patients with community-onset monomicrobial Enterobacteriaceae bacteremia (CoMEB). In a retrospective cohort, multicenter study, adults with CoMEB in the emergency department (ED) were recruited during January 2008 to December 2013. ESBL producers were determined based on ESBL phenotype. Clinical information was obtained from chart records. Of the total 1141 adults with CoMEB, 65 (5.7%) caused by ESBL producers were identified. Four independent multivariate predictors of ESBL-producer bacteremia with high odds ratios (ORs)—recent antimicrobial use (OR, 15.29), recent invasive procedures (OR, 12.33), nursing home residents (OR, 27.77), and frequent ED user (OR, 9.98)—were each assigned +1 point to obtain the CoMEB-ESBL score. Using the proposed scoring algorithm, a cut-off value of +2 yielded a high sensitivity (84.6%) and an acceptable specificity (92.5%); the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.92. In conclusion, this simple scoring algorithm can be used to identify CoMEB patients with a high ESBL-producer infection risk. Of note, frequent ED user was firstly demonstrated to be a crucial predictor in predicting ESBL-producer infections. ED clinicians should consider adequate empirical therapy with coverage of these pathogens for patients with risk factors.