Purpose To investigate the relation of Epstein-Barr virus ( EBV) infections and malignant lymphoma. Methods EBV-co-ded RNA ( EBER) was detected by in situ hybridization in tumor tissue of 81 cases of malignant lymphoma in oral, maxillofacial and neck regions, with analysis of the clinical pathological features. Results The detection frequencies of EBER was 44. 44%. The posi-tive detection of EBER in Hodgkin′s lymphomas was 40% and that in non-Hodgkin lymphomas was 45. 1%, including 75% in T cell lymphomas, 87. 5% in NK/T cell lymphomas and 2. 9% in B-cell lymphoma. The positive rates of EBER in T cell lymphomas and NK/T cell lymphomas were significantly higher than that in B-cell lymphoma (P<0. 05). There was a significant difference in the pos-itive rates of EBER between intra-nodal ( 17. 9%) and extra-nodal ( 58. 5%) lymphomas ( P<0. 05 ) . But there was no significant difference the positive rates of EBER between in lymphoma patients over 50 years of age and under the age of 50 patients (55. 9%) (P>0. 05). Conclusion Oral and maxillofacial and neck lymphoma is closely associated with EBV infection in Guangxi region, espe-cially, in which NK/T cell lymphoma most typically occurs in extra-nodal diffuse lymphoid tissues.

BACKGROUNDThoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) is an emerging treatment modality, which has been rapidly embraced by clinicians treating thoracic aortic disease. However, the clinical manifestations of systemic inflammatory response after TEVAR as post-implantation syndrome (PIS) resemble the perioperative infection. This study aimed to evaluate changes and diagnostic value of procalcitonin (PCT) and other traditional inflammatory markers for infections after TEVAR.

METHODSWe conducted a prospective clinical study that enrolled 162 consecutive aortic dissection cases, who underwent TEVAR in our institution between July 2011 and November 2012. The PCT, C-response protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and blood routine examination were monitored before the operation and on days 1, 2, 3 and 5 after the operation. The diagnosis of infection was confirmed by the infection control committee with reference to Hospital Acquired Infection Diagnostic Criteria Assessment, released by the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China.

RESULTSPost endovascular repair of thoracic aorta, PCT changes significantly at different time points (χ(2) = 13.225, P = 0.021), without significant difference between the PIS group and the control group (0.24 ± 0.04 vs.0.26 ± 0.10, P = 0.804). PCT values were significantly higher in the first day after TEVAR than the preoperative levels (0.18 ± 0.03 vs. 0.11 ± 0.02, P < 0.001). Compared with PIS patients, the level of PCT, CRP, White blood cell (WBC) and neutrophil (NEU) in the infection patients elevated significantly (relatively χ(2) = 6.062, P = 0.048; χ(2) = 6.081, P = 0.048; χ(2) = 11.030, P = 0.004; χ(2) = 14.632, P = 0.001). According to the ROC analysis, the PCT levels in the first day after TEVAR (AUC = 0.785, P = 0.012) had better predictive values of infection than WBC, NEU CRP and ESR (AUC = 0.720, P = 0.040; AUC = 0.715, P = 0.045; AUC = 0.663, P = 0.274; AUC = 0.502, P = 0.991). The best predictive index was the changes of PCT between preoperative and postoperative (PCT), which possess AUC as 0.803 (P = 0.014). And PCT = 0.055 could be considered as an infection diagnosis cutoff value with a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity 69.0%.

CONCLUSIONSPCT provides better diagnostic value of infection compared with other inflammatory markers. The potential applications of PCT in differential diagnosis of PIS and infection after percutaneous TEVAR deserve further studies.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Sedimentation ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Calcitonin ; metabolism ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Protein Precursors ; metabolism ; Vascular Surgical Procedures