Bronchoscopy is a minimally invasive method for obtaining peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPL). Traditional bronchoscopy-guided transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) is performed under X-ray guidance, and diagnostic rate is relatively low. A new, real-time electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) is a minimally invasive diagnostic technique which appeared in recent years. Studies suggest ENB is a feasible and safe method for diagnosis of PPL which shows higher diagnostic yields than traditional TBLB, and its potential application in localization and treatment of PPL. This article reviews the clinical application of the technique.

AIM: To establish a sensitive method for quantitative determination of astragaloside Ⅳ (AGS-Ⅳ) in plasma and a preliminary evaluation of its pharmacokinetics parameters in intact rats. METHODS: A liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) was applied for determining AGS-Ⅳ in plasma by using digoxin as the internal standard (I.S.). Six rats were given AGS-Ⅳ 2.0 mg/kg by intravenous infusion for 5 min. Blood samples were drawn intermittently with each intact rat from left femoral artery at 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 14 and 24 h after medication. The samples were prepared by solid phase extraction and analyzed through a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospary probe. The samples were monitored in selected ion recording (SIR) mode of positive ions by using target ions at m/z 807.5 for AS- Ⅳand at m/z 803.5 for I.S. RESULTS: Calibration curves were linear over the ranges 1-1 000 ng/mL for AGS-Ⅳ (r=0.9992). The intra-and inter-day assay variability values were less than 6% and 8%, respectively. Extraction recoveries from plasma were 92.8%-98.4% for AGS-Ⅳ and 80.0%-90.9% for digoxin, respectively. The lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) for AGS-Ⅳ was 0.5 ng/mL. The concentration-time curves of AGS-Ⅳ for each rat were fitted to an open two-compartment model by CAPP program. The pharmacokinetics parameters of AGS-Ⅳ were as following: the elimination half-life (t1/2β), clearance rate (CL), distribution volume at steady state (Vss), and AUC0-∞ were (3.46±0.52) h, (0.47±0.02) L/h, (0.76±0.16) L/kg and (4.27±0.19) μg·mL-1·h, respectively. CONCLUSION: These results show that this method is satisfied for the measurements of pharmacokinetics study for AGS-Ⅳ.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle biopsy (EBUS-TBNA) in intrathoracic tuberculosis(TB).Methods We retrospectively analyzed patients underwent EBUS-TBNA with a final diagnosis of intrathoracic TB at Shanghai Chest Hospital from October 2009 to March 2013 and observed that the diagnostic efficacy by pathology and microbiology and safety of EBUS-TBNA for intrathoracic TB.Results 75 patients were diagnosed with pulmonary TB or intrathoracic tuberculous lymphadenitis,and accuracy was 80％ (60/75) by EBUS TBNA.A total of 60 patients had pathology,acid-fast bacilli(AFB) staining and mycobacterial culture test results,of whom 52 (86.67％)were diagnosed.Pathological findings were consistent with TB in 77.33％ patients (58/75),in 20.31％ (13/64) the smear were positive for AFB and in 46.67％ (28/60) were positive for cuhure.One hundred and twenty-nine mediastinal or hilar lymph nodes and 10 intrapulmonary lesions were biopsied in 75 patients,the average target number of per patient were 1.85.Pathological findings were consistent with TB in 66.19％ samples(92/139),in 13.91％ (16/115) were positive for AFB and in 38.32％ (41/107) were positive for culture.Multivariate regression revealed that short-axis diameter was an independent risk factor associated with positive pathology,smear and euhure.Additionally,more aspiration times cause higher pathology positive rate,pathology showing necrosis and positive smear were independent risk factors associated with positive cuhure.There were two patients occurred complications during operation.Conclusion EBUS-TBNA was a safe and effective method for the diagnosis of intrathoracic tuberculosis.

Aim To evaluate the mucosal-protective effects of carboxymethylpachyman( CMP) on Fluorou-racil(5-Fu)-induced mice intestinal mucositis and ex-plore its mechanisms. Methods ICR mice were as-signed randomly to four groups:normal group( n=8;re-ceiving pure water orally for 14 d) ,CMP group( n=8;200 mg·kg-1 CMP for 14 d orally),5-Fu group(n=8;25 mg·kg-1 5-Fu for 7 d,intraperitoneally( i. p. ) , and CMP+5-Fu group( n=8;200 mg·kg-1 CMP for 14 d orally and 25 mg·kg-1 5-Fu for 7 d,i. p. ). At day 14the mice were sacrificed. The intestinal propel-ling rate and the colon length were measured. ROS, GSH and IL-1βcontents,and CAT,GSH-Px activities in homogenate supernatant of PPs were measured by kits for observing the effects of CMP on mice lipid peroxida-tion and intestinal mucosal inflammatory induced by 5-Fu. Colon tissues were used for hematoxylin and eosin ( HE ) staining for the determination of the effect of CMP on mice colon histopathology, immunohistochem-istry for the protein levels of NF-κB and p-p38 . Results CMP significantly extended colon lengths,accelerate the intestinal propelling rates, reduced colonic mucosa epithelium goblet cell loss, inflammatory cells infiltra-tion,and crypt depth shallow induced by 5-Fu. CMP obviously reduced ROS and IL-1β contents, and pre-vented reductions in homogenate supernatant of PPs GSH content, CATand GSH-Px activities by 5-Fu ad-ministration,and also reduced the expression of NF-κB and p-p38 in colon tissues. However, CMP alone had no effect on the colon of normal mice. Conclusion The current study demonstrates that CMP may have sig-nificant protective effects against 5-Fu-induced intesti-nal mucositis. Its mechanism may be related to enhan-cing the antioxidant activity,anti-inflammatory and an-ti-apoptotic effects.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study is to evaluate diagnostic yield and the safety of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in the diagnosis ofbronchogenic carcinoma.

METHODSBetween July, 2009 and February, 2010, 95 patients with mediastinal/hilar lymphadenopathy and/or intrathoracic peritracheal or peribronchial masses previously detected with CT scan underwent EBUS-TBNA. No rapid onsite cytology was performed.

RESULTSIn all 95 patients, 60 cases were newly diagnosed lung cancer through the pathological examination and clinical follow-up certification. In 60 lung cancer cases, 112 samples were obtained from lymph nodes (LNs) and 11 samples were obtained from intrapulmonary lesions. Fifty-eight cases of patients were diagnosed, false negative in 2 cases. Sensitivity and specificity of EBUS-guided TBNA method in distinguishing benign from malignant LNs or thoracic masses were 96.67% and 100%, respectively. There was any major complication in this series, the procedure was uneventful.

CONCLUSIONEBUSTBNA seemed a safe and effective technique in making bronchogenic carcinoma diagnosis for mediastinal/hilar LNs and intra-pulmonary masses.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; methods ; Bronchi ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic ; diagnosis ; Endosonography ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged

Background and objective hTe aim of this study is to determine the best reference values of the opti-mal evaluation indexes that identify different disease types. Disease identiifcation was conducted using the YUV quantitative analysis of autolfuorescence bronchoscopy (AFB) images in the target areas. Furthermore, this study discusses the signiifcance of AFB in the diagnosis of the central-type lung cancer. Methods A biopsy was conducted for cases that showed pathologic changes under either autolfuorescence or white-light bronchoscopy. Moreover, MATLAB was used to carry out the quantita-tive analyses of lesion in multi-color spaces from AFB images. hTe cases were divided into different groups according to the pathological diagnosis of normal bronchial mucosa, inlfammation, low-grade dysplasia (LGD), high-grade dysplasia (HGD), and invasive cancer. SPSS 11.5 was used to process the data for statistical analysis. Results hTe Y values were different and statistically different between invasive cancer and LGD (P<0.001) and invasive cancer and inlfammation (P=0.040), respec-tively. hTe U values between invasive cancer and the other groups were statistically different (P<0.050). Similarly, the V values between invasive cancer and LGD and inlfammation and normal bronchial mucosa were different. Lastly, the V values between normal bronchial mucosa and HGD and inlfammation and normal bronchial mucosa were different. Conclusion hTe YUV values in the AFB effectively identiifed benign and malignant diseases and were proven to be effective scientiifc bases for the ac-curate AFB diagnosis of lung cancer.

Objective:To compare the satisfaction and tolerability of patients under local anesthesia with conscious sedation and simple local anesthesia in Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) .Methods :Sixty patients undergoing EBUS-TBNA operation were randomly divided into local anesthesia with conscious sedation group (Group A) and simple local anesthesia group (Group B) ,with 30 patients in each group .The satisfaction and tolerability of patients , safety and accuracy of operations were observed by preoperative records ,intraoperative observation ,postoperative question-naires and follow-up .Results :Compared with Group B ,the blood oxygen saturations of patients before ,during and after oper-ation in Group A decreased significantly (P<0 .05) .The mean contractive pressure of patients before and during operation in Group A were significantly lower than that in Group B .However ,there were no significant differences in the satisfaction and tolerability ,the incidence rates of complications of patients and diagnostic accuracy in two groups .Conclusions :The simple lo-cal anesthesia in EBUS-TBNA in Outpatient Department is safe and effective ,with good satisfaction and tolerability .

Background and objective Endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) has been widely applied in diagnosing mediastinal and hilar adenopathy. hTis study is further to evaluate value and safety of EBUS-TBNA in diagnosing intrathoracic metastasis from extrapulmonary malignancy. Methods Prospectively analysis of 41 patients suspected intrathoracic metastasis from previous diagnosed/concurrent extrapulmonary malignancies in Shanghai Chest Hospital, with radiologic ifndings showing mediastinal/hilar lymph node enlargement or intrapulmonary lesion requiring EBUS-TBNA examination for pathological diagnosis. Results 41 candidate patients enrolled, and 67 mediastinal/hilar lymph nodes and 5 intrapulmonary lesions were aspirated. 14 intrathoracic metastasis, 10 primary lung cancer, 9 reactive lymphadenitis, 4 sarcoid-like reactions, and 1 tuberculosis was diagnosed by EBUS-TBNA. Sensitivity and accuracy of EBUS-TBNA in diagnosing intra-thoracic metastasis was 87.50%and 95.12%, respectively. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed in 18 malignant tumors to obtain deifnite type or origin, twelve intrathoracic metastasis and 6 primary lung cancer were further conifrmed. Conclusion EBUS-TBNA is a safe, effective method for the diagnosis of intrathoracic metastasis from extrapulmonary malignancy. IHC can provide additional evidence for distinguishing extrapulmonary malignancy from primary lung cancer.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the frequency of the nucleophosmin (NPM1) gene and the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α gene (CEBPA) through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array in pediatric patients with cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) and explore the clinical significances of these mutations.

METHODBetween August 2009 and December 2012, 30 children (<16 years old) with newly diagnosed CN-AML were included. The clinical characteristics were analyzed in these patients. PCR combined with direct sequencing was used to detect NPM1, CEBPA gene mutations. All the data were statistically analyzed using SPSS17.0 software.

RESULTThe gene mutations were detected in each of the 30 patients. NPM1 mutation was positive in three patients (10%) with type A mutation, while CEBPA mutation was positive in two patients (6.7%) with double mutations (TAD, bZIP) . Besides, FLT3/ITD mutation was positive in three patients. Patients with NPM1 or FLT3/ITD had a significantly elevated diagnostic WBC count with a median diagnostic WBC count of 102.80×10(9)/L compared with 18.56×10(9)/L for the patients without mutations(t = 2.353, P = 0.043), as well as the marrow blast percentage (94.0% vs. 80.0%, t = 3.804, P = 0.002). The complete remission was achieved in all the 3 patients with NPM1 mutations and 2 patients with CEBPA mutations. All the patients with these mutations also achieved 2-year event-free survival (EFS) and 2-year overall survival (OS), while 2-year EFS and 2-year OS of the other patients were (40.1 ± 11.2)% and (51.8 ± 10.9)% (P = 0.044, 0.091, respectively).

CONCLUSIONNPM1 and CEBPA mutations may indicate a favorable prognosis in pediatric CN-AML.

Adolescent ; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Genotype ; Humans ; Infant ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; mortality ; pathology ; Male ; Mutation ; Nuclear Proteins ; genetics ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; fms-Like Tyrosine Kinase 3 ; genetics

The insufficient reporting of adverse reactions of Chinese proprietary medicines is common. In addition, there is a lack of safety information in the specifications of Chinese proprietary medicines, which led to less evidence for clinical safety of Chinese proprietary medicines in clinical practice. It is urgent to carry out post-marketing clinical safety re-evaluation of Chinese proprietary medicine. Developing a clinical safety evaluation data set for Chinese proprietary medicine may reduce the insufficient reporting of safety information and the inconsistency of data reporting in similar studies, as well as include more studies in systematic reviews, so that they can provide higher-level evidence for clinical safety of Chinese proprietary medicine. This paper proposes a method for developing core data set of clinical safety evaluation of Chinese proprietary medicine: firstly, the application scope of core data set for clinical safety evaluation was determined according to the characteristics of diseases, population, research objectives, administration methods, evaluation methods, etc. Systematic reviews and semi-structured interviews should be conducted to develop the list of original items for clinical safety evaluation. Based on the list, Delphi surveys can be developed in different stakeholders. Then the final core data set can be developed via consensus meetings.