Objective
To explore the diagnostic value of the coagulation marker D-dimer and its combination with the traditional marker C-reactive protein (CRP) in distinguishing bacterial meningitis (BM) from tuberculous meningitis (TM).
Methods
We performed a retrospective study on specimens from 173 patients with meningitis who were hospitalized at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, China, from 2012 through 2020. The patient records were divided into the BM group and the TM group, and hematological parameters D-dimer and CRP were evaluated for the 2 groups.
Results
The levels of D-dimer and CRP in the BM group were significantly higher than those levels in the TM group (P ˂.001 for each), and the sensitivity and specificity of the combined detection of the 2 markers was 86.3% to 100%; the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve reached 0.983 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.966–0.999).
Conclusion
D-dimer testing has high specificity in distinguishing between BM and TM; CRP testing also has high sensitivity. The combined diagnosis of the 2 biomarkers helps to distinguish TM from BM.
We describe the first case of two chromosomal abnormalities, balanced reciprocal translocation t(17;22)(p11.2;q11.2) and a microduplication in the region 10q23.31, in an infertility man suffering from teratospermia. Several genes located on the translocation breakpoints or the region of duplication show rich expression in the tissue of testis. They have been reported to be associated with developmental disorder and retardation, which might also be the risk factors affecting in spermatogonial differentiation and spermatogenesis. More studies should be carried out for identifification of new genes associated with semen quality. Our case might support the opinion that haploinsufficiency of the testis-expressed gene could be the cause of sperm immotility and abnormal sperm morphology. The two chromosomal abnormalities that carry additional reproductive risks, is apparently harmful with regard to the male infertility, and could contribute to the genomic instability resulting in disease.
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