Objective To investigate multifunctional direct digital radiography system (DDR) in clinical practice, in order to improve the applied value of it.Methods EPEX DDR was performed in 1000 cases,these images were analysedby 3 senior radiologists and tried to find the best method of usually positions. Results The quality of DDR was assessed as grade A in73.00%, grade B in 22.70%, grade C in 4.30%, and no waste film.Conclusion DDR is easy to operate, fast in capturing image and can provide post-processing techniques, which will facilitate the accurate diagnosis of radiography.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted radical gastrectomy between elderly and non-elderly patients with gastric cancer. Methods: A total of 219 patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted radical gastrectomy in the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery IV, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute from April 2009 to October 2013 were included in this retrospective study. All patients were divided into elderly (≥65 years) and non- elderly (<65 years)groups. We compared these groups based on clinicopathological characteristics, postoperative morbidities, and survival. Results:Theelderly group showed higher ASA scores and higher number of preoperative comorbidities (P<0.05). The operative time, blood loss,and conversion rate did not differ significantly between the groups (all P>0.05). The mean time to first ambulation in elderly group was 2.2±2.3d while first ambulation time in the non-elderly group was 1.4±1.3d,which showed significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed between groups in terms of postoperativemorbidities (34.8％ vs. 28.5％, P> 0.05) as well as 3-year disease-free survival and overall survival (P>0.05). However, the elderly patients withpostoperative morbidities experienced significantly poorer overall survival rate than non-elderly patients (44.5％ vs. 70.5％, P<0.05). Conclusion: Laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy can be safely and successfully performed in an elderly population with acceptable short- and long-term outcomes.Enhanced perioperative treatment is necessary to improve postoperative outcomes.

Purpose: Recently, totally laparoscopic gastrectomy has been gradually accepted by surgeons worldwide for gastric cancer treatment. Complete dissection of the lymph nodes and the establishment of the surgical margin are the most important considerations for curative gastric cancer surgery. Previous studies have demonstrated that indocyanine green (ICG)-traced laparoscopic gastrectomy significantly improves the completeness of lymph node dissection. However, it remains difficult to identify the tumor location intraoperatively for gastric cancers that are staged ≤T3. Here, we investigated the feasibility of ICG fluorescence for lymph node mapping and tumor localization during totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy. Materials and Methods: Preoperative and perioperative data from consecutive patients with gastric cancer who underwent a totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy were collected and analyzed. The patients were categorized into the ICG (n=61) or the non-ICG (n=75) group based on whether preoperative endoscopic mucosal ICG injection was performed. Results: The ICG group had a shorter operation time and less intraoperative blood loss.Moreover, significantly more lymph nodes were harvested in the ICG group than the non-ICG group. No pathologically positive margin was found and there was no significant difference in either the proximal or distal surgical margins between the 2 groups. Conclusions Near-infrared fluorescence imaging with ICG can be successfully used in totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy, and it contributes to both the completeness of D2 lymph node dissection and confirmation of the gastric transection line. Well-designed prospective randomized studies are needed in the future to fully validate our findings.

Background Plateau environment may pose a serious impact on the physiological and psychological stress of people stationed on a plateau, especially for those engaged in military training and occupational activities. There is an urgent need to find drugs to prevent and treat injuries caused by high-altitude environment. Objective To analyze the current status, hotspots, and future trends of domestic and international research in the field of prevention and treatment of high-altitude disease (HAD) by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and provide references for scientific research. Methods Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for literature on TCM and HAD published from inception to 2022. Excel, CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and RStudio softwares were used to conduct visual analysis on the number of publications, types of publications, journals, authors, research institutions, and keywords. Results A total of 501 publications were evaluated in the present study, including 443 Chinese publications and 58 English publications. The annual number of publications showed a rising trend. MA Huiping was the leading author in number of publications in Chinese (37 publications), and ZHANG Yi and MENG Xianli were the leading authors in the number of publications in English (both 8 publications), respectively. The institutions with the most publications in Chinese were The 940th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army and Lanzhou General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Region (both 32 publications), and the institution with the most publications in English was Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (8 publications), respectively. The Chinese and English journals with the largest number of publications were the Journal of High Altitude Medicine (39 publications) and the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (10 publications), respectively. The most highly cited Chinese and English literature included Effects of rhodiola on the free radical metabolism and serum creatine kinase after exercise at plateau (61 citations) and Anti-hypoxic activity at simulated high altitude was isolated in petroleum ether extract of Saussurea involucrate (68 citations) , respectively. The most frequent keywords in the Chinese and English literature were high altitude polycythemia and oxidative stress, respectively. The keyword time zone and emergence maps showed that the research hotspots in this field shifted from prevention and treatment of HAD to animal experiments, and then to mechanisms of action, in which oxidative stress, hypoxic injury, inflammation, and apoptosis were the main focuses. Conclusion The research of TCM against HAD is identified from early clinical observation to associations between clinical outcome variation and pharmacological mechanisms, and further to applying multi-omics techniques to explore the physical basis of TCM efficacy and mechanisms of action with focuses like TCM formula and single herb active ingredients, so as to elaborate potential scientific connotation of TCM against HAD.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the risk factors of postoperative pulmonary infection (PPI) in patients over 60 years of age with gastric cancer after radical gastrectomy. METHODS: Clinicopathological data of 373 patients over 60 years of age who underwent radical gastrectomy at Department IV of Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, Peking University Cancer Hospital, from April 2009 to December 2016 were retrospectively collected in this case-control study. The clinicopathological characteristics of patients with postoperative pulmonary infection (including postoperative atelectasis) and those without pulmonary infection were compared. A Student t-test (reported as Mean±SD if data matching normal distribution) or Mann-Whitney U test [reported as median (quartile) if data did not conform to normal distribution] was used to analyze continuous variables. A χ² test or Fisher exact tests (reported as number and percentage) was used for categorical variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors for pulmonary infection after operation of gastric cancer.PPI was defined as postoperative patients with elevated body temperature (>38.0 degrees centigrade) for more than 24 hours; cough and expectoration; positive sputum bacteria culture;recent infiltration, consolidation or atelectasis confirmed by chest imaging examination. RESULTS: Among 373 patients, 50 cases had PPI(13.4%, PPI group), 323 cases had no PPI(86.6%, non-PPI group). There were 39 (78.0%) and 178(55.1%) patients with comorbidities (including hypertension, diabetes and cardiopulmonary disease) preoperatively in PPI and non-PPI group, respectively. The difference between two groups was statistically significant (χ²=9.325,P=0.002). The incidence of preoperative hypoalbuminemia in PPI group was also significantly higher than that in non-PPI group [10.0%(5/50) vs. 3.1% (10/323),χ²=4.098, P=0.048]. Compared to non-PPI group, the rate of total gastrectomy [54.0%(27/50) vs. 34.4% (111/323), χ²=12.501, P=0.002], postoperative wound pain [34.0%(17/50) vs. 11.8% (38/323),χ²=16.928, P<0.001], secondary operation [6.0%(3/50) vs. 0.6% (2/323), χ²=6.032, P=0.014] and the rate of gastric tube removal later than 7 days postoperatively [96.0%(48/50) vs. 84.5%(273/323),χ²=4.811, P=0.028] were significantly higher in PPI group, respectively. The postoperative hospital stay was also prolonged in PPI group [16.0(9.5) days vs. 12.0(5.0) days, U=4 275.0, P<0.001]. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative comorbidities (OR=4.008, 95%CI:1.768-9.086, P=0.001), abdominal infection (OR=3.164, 95%CI:1.075-9.313, P=0.037), and wound pain (OR=3.428, 95%CI:1.557-7.548, P=0.002) were independent risk factors for PPI in patients over 60 years of age with gastric cancer. Furthermore, 50 patients with pulmonary infection were classified according to the length of latency and the type of infection. The patients with PPI latency ≤ 3 days were classified as early onset (34 cases, 68.0%), and those with latency ≥ 4 days as delayed onset (16 cases, 32.0%); PPI combined with surgical infection (including anastomotic leakage, abdominal infection, duodenal stump leakage, wound infection, etc.) was classified into mixed infection group (13 cases, 26.0%), with non-surgical infection as simple infection group (37 cases, 74.0%). The results showed that the pulmonary infection occurred 0 to 12 days (median 3 days) before surgical infection in mix infection group. The incidence of previous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in patients with early onset was significantly higher than that in patients with delayed onset [17.6%(6/34) vs. 0, χ²=5.005, P=0.025], and the incidence of mixed infection in patients with delayed onset was significantly higher than that in patients with early onset [50%(8/16) vs. 14.7%(5/34), χ²=6.730, P=0.009],but there was no significant difference in postoperative hospital stay between the two groups[17.0(9.8) days vs. 14.0(9.5) days, U=224.0, P=0.317]. CONCLUSIONS Postoperative pulmonary infection is common in gastric cancer patients over 60 years of age. Preoperative comorbidities, abdominal infection and wound pain are independent risk factors for postoperative pulmonary infection. Pulmonary infection within 3 days after operation is associated with preoperative COPD. For patients suffering from PPI after the 4th day,attentions should be paid to abdominal infection and anastomotic leakage.
Age Factors ; Anastomotic Leak ; etiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Gastrectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Humans ; Intraabdominal Infections ; etiology ; Middle Aged ; Pneumonia ; etiology ; Pulmonary Atelectasis ; etiology ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms ; complications ; surgery

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and feasibility of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy in gastric cancer patients over 65 years old. METHODS: Clinical, pathological and follow-up data of 188 gastric cancer patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy at Department IV of Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, Peking University Cancer Hospital, from April 2009 to December 2016 were collected for a retrospective cohort study. INCLUSION CRITERIA: ECOG performance score 0-1; preoperative gastroscopy discovered gastric masses, and pathological biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma; distant metastases were excluded by image examination; preoperative cardiopulmonary function was normal; preoperative blood routine test, liver and renal function, and coagulation function were normal; laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy was performed. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: intraoperative laparoscopic exploration indicated abdominal and/or pelvic peritoneal metastasis; free cancer cells in peritoneal cavity; conversion to laparotomy during laparoscopic surgery. Patients were divided by age into 2 groups, ≥ 65 years old group(59 cases) and < 65 years old group (129 cases). The perioperative conditions and postoperative complications between two groups were compared, and the high risk factors of postoperative complications in patients over 65 years old were analyzed. RESULTS: All the patients were operated by the same operation team. The incidence of comorbidities was 44.1%(26/59) in the ≥ 65 years old group, which was significantly higher than 20.2% (26/129) in the < 65 years old group (χ²=11.570, P=0.001). The incidence of cardia/fundus cancer was 64.4%(38/59) in the ≥ 65 years old group, which was also significantly higher than 40.3% (52/129) in the < 65 years old group (χ²=16.625, P=0.001). The number of retrieved lymph nodes in the ≥65 years old group was significantly lower than that in the < 65 years old group (28.9±10.7 vs. 36.1±15.4, t=3.271, P=0.001). The total morbidity of complications was 13.8%(21/188) and the mortality within 30 days after operation was 1.6%(3/188). The morbidity of postoperative complications and the mortality within 30 days after operation were 20.3%(12/59) and 3.4%(2/59,respectively) in the ≥ 65 years old group, which were slightly higher than those in the <65 years old group [10.9%(14/129) and 0.8%(1/129)], without significant difference(both P>0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative comorbidities(OR=0.223, 95%CI:0.053 to 0.944, P=0.041) was an independent risk factor for postoperative complications in patients aged ≥ 65 years old undergoing laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy. The median survival time was 21.3 months and the overall 5-year survival rate was 50.0%. The 5-year survival rate was 45.5% and 57.5% in patients aged ≥ 65 and < 65 years, respectively, and there was no significant difference(P=0.205). CONCLUSIONS Laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy is safe and effective in the treatment of gastric cancer patients ≥ 65 years old. Age is not a contraindication of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy.
Aged ; Cohort Studies ; Gastrectomy ; instrumentation ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome