Objective To explore the guiding value for operation of MRI in diagnosing the cranial base chordoma. Methods MRI features of 15 cases with cranial base chordoma, which were proved by biopsy and surgery, were retrospectively analyzed. Results Most of the cranial base chordoma were located in the middle area of the skull base such as clivus and sellar region and always invaded extensively the nerves and major intracranial vessels of skull base. All tumors were hypointense on T_2WI and enhanced more markedly, but steady heterogeneous. Conclusion MRI examination is of great clinical signifiance in delineating the location, size and extension of cranial base chordoma, and showed anatomic relation with surrounding structures such as the major intracranial vessels of skull base, which is very important in surgical planning.

Acute -on -chronic liver failure (ACLF) is characterized by the rapid deterioration of liver function resulting from acute insults in patients with pre -existing liver disease,which is usually correlated with multisystem organ failure .There is still no ideal therapy available for ACLF untill now.An early and accurate evaluation of the prognosis of patients with ACLF is helpful for physicians to optimize treatment strategies and improve the outcome of these patients .This article highlights the characteristics and predictive power of diffrent scoring systems in an attempt to guide the therapeutic strategy and prognostic assessment by reviewing the prognostic models for ACLF in recent years .

OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between the TCM Syndrome Differentiation-types of congestive heart failure (CHF) and thyroid hormones, including triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), as well as cardiac function parameters, including left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), mean velocity of circumferentid fiber shortening (mVcf) and A peak/E peak (A/E).

METHODSOne hundred patients with CHF were divided into 4 Syndrome Differentiation-type groups, their cardiac function parameters, ANP and thyroid hormones were determined and compared with those in the 23 subjects in the control group.

RESULTSIn CHF patients with edema and blood stasis Syndrome type, the level of plasma ANP was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05); level of T3 was significantly lower than that in the control group and in CHF patients of other three (Xin-qi deficiency, Yin-deficiency and blood stasis) Syndrome groups (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P < 0.05 and P < 0.01); levels of LVEF and mVcf were significantly lower than those in the other three Syndrome groups (all P < 0.01). Level of T4 in other three Syndrome groups significantly increased than that in the edema and blood stasis Syndrome type. A/E value showed a higher level in patients of all TCM type than that in the control (P < 0.01). Correlation analysis showed that T3 was positively correlated with LVEF and T4 (r = 0.200, P < 0.05, and r = 0.293, P < 0.01), and negatively correlated with ANP (r = -0.263, P < 0.01); T4 was negatively correlated with A/E (r = -0.226, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe lowering of T3 and T4 and increasing of ANP may be one of the important reasons for lowering of LVEF in CHF patients with edema and blood stasis Syndrome-type. The decrease of T4 may be one of the important reasons for elevation of A/E and aggravation of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in CHF patients of all the 4 TCM Syndrome-types.

Adult ; Aged ; Atrial Natriuretic Factor ; metabolism ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Heart Failure ; blood ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Contraction ; Stroke Volume ; physiology ; Thyroid Hormones ; blood ; Thyrotropin ; blood ; Thyroxine ; blood ; Triiodothyronine ; blood ; Ventricular Dysfunction, Left ; physiopathology ; Ventricular Function, Left

Objective To explore the value of prostate specific antigen density (PSAD) in clinical decision making for patients with prostate imaging reporting and data system version 2 (PI-RADS v2) category 3 lesions.Methods Totally 54 patients with PI-RADS v2 category 3 lesions who underwent prostate biopsy before MRI were enrolled and divided into prostate cancer (PCa) group (n=11) and benign group (n=43) according to biopsy results.Then clinical data and imaging features,including total prostate specific antigen (TPSA),free prostate specific antigen (FPSA),FPSA/TPSA ratio (F/T),PSAD,prostate volume and the volume of index lesion were collected and statistically analyzed between the two groups.ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of PSAD in predicting malignant and benign lesions in patients with PI RADS v2 category 3 lesions.Results PSAD had statistical difference (P=0.006),whereas TPSA,FPSA,F/T,prostate volume and the volume of index lesion showed no statistical differences between PCa group and benign group (all P＞0.05).ROC curves showed that area under the curve was 0.771(P＜0.05).Using the optimal threshold of PSAD-0.25 ng/ml2,the sensitivity and specificity of PSAD in predicting PCa and benign lesions was 72.73 ％ (8/11) and 74.42％(32/43),respectively.Conclusion PSAD is an effective index to predict the risk of PCa in patients with PI-RADS v2 category 3 lesions.Using the threshold of PSAD=0.25 ng/ml2 to screen high risk patients for prostate biopsy,the positive rate could be improved and unnecessary biopsies could be avoided.

【Objective】 To explore the potential molecular biological mechanism of Belamcanda chinensis in the treatment of glioma based on network pharmacology, molecular docking technology and in vitro cell experiments. 【Methods】 ① The active components, targets of Belamcanda chinensis and targets of glioma were obtained by database search. String database was used to analyze protein-protein interaction relationship, R project was used to analyze gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, Cytoscape software was used to build "compound-target-disease" network and PPI network, and AutoDock software was used to verify molecular docking. ② Western blotting, qRT-PCT and apoptosis assay were used to verify the enrichment results of network pharmacology targets and protein pathway. 【Results】 ① We screened out 32 types of active components, 484 types of targets and 464 types of glioma targets, and obtained 62 kinds of therapeutic targets after mapping. We obtained 12 kinds of key pharmacodynamic molecules such as Isoiridogermanal, Iridobelamal A and Rhamnazinand and other key pharmacodynamic molecules, as well as AKT1, STAT3, HRAS and other core targets by network topology analysis. Enrichment analysis results demonstrated that they were mainly involved in biological processes such as peptide serine phosphorylation, protein kinase B signal transduction, peptide serine modification, and pathways including PI3K/AKT signal pathway and Rap1 signal pathway. The results of molecular docking verified the good binding activity of the key pharmacodynamic molecules with the core targets. ② The results of Western blotting showed that the protein expressions of VEGF and MMP9 of Belamcanda chinensis extracts in 8 mg/mL and 16 mg/mL groups were significantly lower than those in the blank control group (P<0.01 or P<0.001). Compared with the blank control group, the early apoptosis rate of Belamcanda chinensis extracts at 8 mg/mL and 16 mg/mL were significantly decreased (P<0.001 or P<0.000 1). qRT-PCR results showed that the mRNA expression levels of VEGF and MMP9 in Belamcanda chinensis extracts at 8 mg/mL and 16 mg/mL were significantly decreased (P<0.001 or P<0.0001). 【Conclusion】 The treatment of glioma with Belamcanda chinensis is the result of multi-component, multi-target and multi-channel interactions. The results of cell experiments confirmed that Belamcanda chinensis extracts can affect the expressions of related target proteins of PI3K/AKT signal pathway and VEGF and MMP9, which verified the results of network pharmacology. The results provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of Belamcanda chinensis and studies on glioma.

Objective: Non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) is a common birth defect with its genetic evidence widely explored. This study explored the potential the parent-of-origin (PoO) effect of WNT pathway on the risks of NSCL/P, using a case-parent trio design. Methods: Data on the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of WNT genes were selected from a genome-wide association study (GWAS). A total of 806 Chinese non-syndromic cleft lip patients, with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) case-parent trios, were gathered from an international consortium. PoO effect of WNT pathway genes and its haplotypes were explored by log-linear models. Additional Wald tests were performed to assess: a) the heterogeneity of PoO effect between different maternal exposures, b) the interaction between PoO effect, c) maternal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and d) multivitamin supplementation during pregnancy. The threshold for statistical significance was adjusted as 3.47×10^-4, according to Bonferroni correction. Results: After quality control, a total of 144 SNPs within seven genes were included for analyses, among which 8 SNPs were of potential PoO effect (P<0.05). However, none of them achieved the statistical significance after Bonferroni correction. The haplotype rs4074668-rs12725747 (T-A) on WNT9A showed significant PoO effect, based on the haplotype test for PoO (P=2.74×10^-4). In addition, no statistically significant interaction was found in further exploration of this haplotype under environmental exposures as ETS or multivitamin supplementation. Conclusions Genes in the WNT pathway may influence the NSCL/P risks through the potential PoO effect. Particularly, the haplotype rs4074668-rs12725747 (T-A) on WNT9A presented significant PoO effect on NSCL/P, statistically. From this current study, findings on WNT pathway related risks among the NSCL/P, need to be further validated by independent samples in the future.

BACKGROUND: China bears the biggest atrial fibrillation (AF) burden in the world. However, little is known about the incidence and predictors of AF. This study aimed to investigate the current incidence of AF and its electrocardiographic (ECG) predictors in general community individuals aged over 60 years in China. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study, recruiting subjects who were aged over 60 years and underwent annual health checkups from April to July 2015 in four community health centers in Songjiang District, Shanghai, China. The subjects were then followed up from 2015 to 2019 annually. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, and the resting 12-lead ECG were collected. Kaplan-Meier curve was used for showing the trends in AF incidence and calculating the predictors of AF. Associations of ECG abnormalities and AF incidence were examined using Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: This study recruited 18,738 subjects, and 351 (1.87%) developed AF. The overall incidence rate of AF was 5.2/1000 person-years during an observation period of 67,704 person-years. Multivariable Cox regression analysis indicated age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.07; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-1.09; P < 0.001), male (HR, 1.30; 95% CI: 1.05-1.62; P = 0.018), a history of hypertension (HR, 1.55; 95% CI: 1.23-1.95; P < 0.001), a history of cardiac diseases (HR, 3.23; 95% CI: 2.34-4.45; P < 0.001), atrial premature complex (APC) (HR, 2.82; 95% CI: 2.17-3.68; P < 0.001), atrial flutter (HR, 18.68; 95% CI: 7.37-47.31; P < 0.001), junctional premature complex (JPC) (HR, 3.57; 95% CI: 1.59-8.02; P = 0.002), junctional rhythm (HR, 18.24; 95% CI: 5.83-57.07; P < 0.001), ventricular premature complex (VPC) (HR, 1.76; 95% CI: 1.13-2.75, P = 0.012), short PR interval (HR, 5.49; 95% CI: 1.36-22.19; P = 0.017), right atrial enlargement (HR, 6.22; 95% CI: 1.54-25.14; P = 0.010), and pacing rhythm (HR, 3.99; 95% CI: 1.57-10.14; P = 0.004) were independently associated with the incidence of AF. CONCLUSIONS The present incidence of AF was 5.2/1000 person-years in the studied population aged over 60 years in China. Among various ECG abnormalities, only APC, atrial flutter, JPC, junctional rhythm, short PR interval, VPC, right atrial enlargement, and pacing rhythm were independently associated with AF incidence.
Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Atrial Fibrillation/epidemiology* ; Prospective Studies ; Incidence ; Atrial Flutter/complications* ; Risk Factors ; China/epidemiology* ; Electrocardiography