Y0, then the diagnosis of hypertension with liver cirrhosis obtained. The positive rate of diagnosis is 95% and the specificity is 96% and 91% respectively, much better than those in type B ultrasonography or gastric endoscopy, 78% or 75% respectively (P

Objective To estimate the value of confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE)for differential diagnosis of gastric ulcer. Methods Patients diagnosed as gastric ulcer by conventional endoscopic mode of CLE were enrolled. The eonfocal endoscopic mode of CLE was used to observe the borderline and/or the surface of the ulcers. Biopsy specimen was taken for histopathological examination and the result of CLE was compared with histopathological finding. Results A total of 12 769 CLE images were obtained from 150 sites of 43 patients. The sensitivity and specificity of CLE for phlegmonosis process were 83.54% and 85.92%, respectively, with positive predictive value of 86.84% and negative predictive value of 82.43%. Whereas the sensitivity and specificity of CLE for intraepithelial neoplasia were 53.57% and 88.52%, respectively, with positive predictive value of 51.72% and negative predictive value of 89.26%. As for diagnosis of gastric cancer, the sensitivity and specificity of CLE were 88.37% and 93.46%, respectively, with positive predictive value of 84.44 % and negative predictive value of 95.24%. The kappa values for agreement of histopathological findings and CLE for diagnosis of phlegmonosis process, intraepithelial neoplasia and gastric cancer were 0.69,0.42 and 0.81, respectively. Conclusions CLE can provide a real-time histopathological diagnosis of the gastrointestinal tract with high sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values. Targeted biopsy can be done under CLE and the detective rates of precancerous lesions and tumors will be increased.

Objective To assess the value of confocal laser endomieroscopy (CLE) in diagnosis of early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and precancerous lesions. Methods CLE examination was performed in 41 patients who needed further examination because of lesions in esophagus during July 2008 to April 2009. The diagnosis was made based on the features of esophageal squamous cells which was defined as low grade intraepithelial neoplasia(LGIN), high grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGIN) and early esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (EC). Biopsy specimens were taken precisely matched to the CLE imaging sites. The result was compared with that of histopathology. Results There were 7281 eonfocal images obtained from 60 target lesions in 41 patients. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CLE were 75.0%, 88.6% and 85.0% in diagnosis of LGIN, respectively, 85.7% ,92.3% and 90.0% in diagnosis of HGIN, respectively,and 88.9% ,96.1% and 95.0%, in diagnosis of EC,respectively. Conclusions It is an effective method for diagnosis of esophageal neoplastic lesions using CLE, which has high accuracy in diagnosis of HGIN and early esophageal cancer.

Objective To investigate the value of fluorescin-aided confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) for diagnosis of helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection. Methods From June 2009 to November 2009, patients undergone gastric endoscope examination with upper gastrointestinal symptoms (upper abdominal discomfort, abdominal distension, satiation, acid reflux and eructation) or screened for gastric cancer were enrolled. The gastric mucosa CLE image data of twenty diagnosed Hp positive patients and 10 Hp negative patients was analyzed retrospectively. By comparing with histological image of targeted biopsy tissue, the CLE diagnostic criteria for Hp infection were established. In the prospective study, CLE diagnose result was compared with Hp tested result. The consistency of CLE diagnostic criteria in different observers was also analyzed. The CLE image data with histopathology result were compared accordingly. Results Total 72 patients were enrolled in the prospective study,of 34 Hp positive patients, 31 patients were correctly diagnosed by CLE. The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of CLE diagnosis were 88.9%, 91.2 and 86.8% respectively. CLE image displaying fluorescin leakage and cell shedding was the highest specificity for Hp infection diagnosis, (97.4 %);fluorescin leakage plus gastric pits distortion and cell edema was the highest sensitivity (88. 2%). The consistency of CLE diagnostic criteria in different observers was high (Kappa value 0. 72, 0.87). The CLE image of Hp infection was highly correlated with inflammation activity (P＜0. 001). Conclusion CLE can accurately distinguish normal mucosa from Hp infected mucosa at the cellular level. The diagnostic value for Hp infection was reliable.

Objective:To explore the categories and influencing factors of family caregivers′benefit finding in patients with esophageal cancer based on latent profile analysis.Methods:From May 2020 to February 2021, 255 primary family caregivers of patients with esophageal cancer in the First People′s Hospital of Changzhou and Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University were selected for the study using a cross-sectional survey method. Surveys were conducted by the General Information Questionnaire, the Benefit finding Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Event Related Rumination Inventory.Results:The benefit finding among family caregivers of patients with esophageal cancer was divided into 2 latent profile classifications, low benefit rumination group 33.3% (85/255) and high growth adaptation group 66.7% (170/255), and the results of binary Logistic regression analysis showed that caregivers with high school education or above ( OR=0.053, P<0.05) and higher deliberate rumination scores ( OR=0.778, P<0.01) had a higher degree of benefit finding; caregivers with higher intrusive rumination scores ( OR=1.163, P<0.05) and higher anxiety ( OR=1.323, P<0.01) and depression scores ( OR=1.128, P<0.05) had a lower benefit finding. Conclusions:There is heterogeneity in the caregiver′s benefit finding of patients with esophageal cancer. Health professionals and nursing staff should develop targeted psychological support and interventions to improve the caregiver ′s benefit finding according to the different sub-types of caregivers.

Objective To establish high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)characteristic chromatograms of Xinqingduyin Granules(composed of Taraxaci Herba,Lonicerae Japonicae Flos,Chrysanthemi Indici Flos,etc.)and content determination of chicory acid and glycyrrhizic acid,and to optimize the preparation process of Xinqingduyin Granules.Methods Using the characteristic chromatograms of Xinqingduyin and the retention rate of chicory acid and glycyrrhizic acid as indexes,we carried out orthogonal experiment to optimize the extraction process of Xinqingduyin,and studied the concentration process.The molding process of Xinqingduyin Granules was conducted by screening the types and dosage of auxiliary materials,then three batches of pilot experiments were carried out.Results HPLC characteristic chromatograms of Xinqingshuyin Granules and the determination methods of chicory acid and glycyrrhizic acid were established.The optimal preparation technology was as follows:8 times amount of water was added,the drug was decocted for 3 times,with 1 hour per time.After the extract was concentrated under reduced pressure at 80℃,the appropriate amount of steviol glycoside and lactose was added into the extract and mixed.One-step granulation and packaging were adopted.The retention rates of chicoric acid and glycyrrhizic acid in the 3 batches of Xinqingduyin Granules,which were prepared on the pilot scale,were(54.56±1.63)%and(54.96±1.08)%,and the rate of finished product was(87.47±0.49)%,respectively.The quality is uniform,and the characteristic map of Xinqingduyin Granules showed high similarity with that of decoction prepared from the same batch of slices.Conclusion The optimized preparation technology is reasonable,feasible and reproducible.This preparation can be used to obtain the granule with similar materials of Xinqingduyin decoction.

Objective To establish a HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of artemisinin,arteannuin B,chrysosplenetin and chrysosplenol-D in the water extract of Artemisia annua L.Methods The analysis was performed on Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18(250 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm)column with a mobile phase of acetonitrile(A)-water(B)and the flow rate of 0.8 mL·min-1 in a gradient elution manner.The column temperature was 30℃.The injection volume was 10 μL,and the detection wavelength was 210 nm.Results Artemisinin,arteannuin B,chrysosplenetin and chrysosplenol-D were correlated well linearly with peak area in their respective ranges 1.608 8-16.088 μg(r=0.999 9),0.014 1-0.141 4 μg(r=1),0.185 1-1.850 9 μg(r=0.999 9),0.144 1-1.441 4 μg(r=0.999 9),the average recovery rate(n=6)were 102.44%,97.82%,95.07%,95.55%,and the RSD values were 1.12%,1.44%,1.29%,1.53%.Conclusion This method is convenient and accurate.It has good stability and repeatability,and can be used to simultaneously determine the content of artemisinin,arteannuin B,chrysosplenetin and chrysosplenol-D in the water extract of Artemisia annua L.

Objective To explore the potential influence of gender on screening value of aldosterone-renin ratio (ARR) for primary aldosteronism (PA).Methods The biochemical parameters were collected of 451 PA patients and 300 essential hypertension (EH) patients who were diagnosed in the General Hospital of PLA from 1992 to 2014. Each group was then divided into two groups by gender. The clinical characteristics were compared and then the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was conducted to evaluate the best cut-off value.Results The plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC), serum sodium and ARR were much higher, but the plasma rennin activity (PRA), serum potassium and BMI were much lower in PA patients than in EH patients (P<0.01), and no significant difference existed between the two groups in age, duration of hypertension and blood pressure. The PRA was obviously lower in males than in females either in PA or in EH patients, but no signicantcant difference existed between males and females in PAC (P>0.05). The best cut-off value of ARR in male PA patients was 19.11, the relevant area under the curve (AUC) was 0.968, the sensitivity and specicantcity was 92.44% and 93.08%, and the Youden index (YI) was 0.86. The best cut-off value of ARR in female PA patients was 27.26, with AUC 0.956, sensitivity 92.07%, specicantcity 90.00% and YI 0.82, respectively. If the cut-off value was set at 27.26 in males, the specicantcity would rise a little, but the sensitivity and YI would sharply decrease. Similarly, the sensitivity would increase a little but the specicantcity and YI would fall substantially if the cut-off value in females was set at 19.11. The best cut-off value of ARR in men was smaller than the ocantcial value recommended by guidelines.Conclusion Gender is an important factor should be considered while ARR is used in PA screening, and the cut-off value of ARR in screening female PA patients should be setting higher.

Objective To investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection and the development of chronic urticaria.Methods Published case-control studies which concerned HP infection related chronic urticaria were searched in Wanfang,CNKI,CQVIP Chinese databanks and PubMed.Meta-analysis was applied to analyze the pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95％ confidence interval (CI).Results 37 studies which comprised 2 909 cases of chronic urticaria and 1 873 persons served as controls were enrolled.When compared with the controls,HP infection significantly increased the risk of chronic urticaria development with a pooled OR of 3.20 (95％CI:2.31-4.43).Results from Meta-regression analyses showed that the distribution of residential areas and detection method being used were potential influential factors.Conclusion HP infection seemed to be associated with an increased risk of developing the chronic urticaria.

Objective To investigate the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and the occurence of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) among the patients with thyroid nodules. Methods This cross-sectional study collected the data of 4 350 patients with thyroid nodules who underwent thyroidectomy in our hospital from January 1994 to December 2013. The patients were divided into normal weight (BMI 18.50~23.9 kg/m 2), overweight (BMI 24.0~27.9 kg/m 2), and obese (BMI≥28.0 kg/m 2) groups according to BMI, as well as benign nodules and papillary thyroid carcinoma groups based on their pathological finding. The differences of age-sex composition, nodule diameter, TSH level, overweight and obese constituent ratio between two groups were also analyzed. Logistic regression method was used to evaluate the risk factors of PTC. Results (1) Compared with the benign nodule group, there was a higher proportion of patients under the age of 40 years (34.1% vs 19.5%, P<0.01) in PTC group, with smaller tumour diameters [ 1.0 (0.7-2.0) cm vs 3.0 (2.0-4.0) cm, P<0.01]and higher TSH levels [ 1.9 (1.2-3.0) mU/L vs 1.6 (0.9-2.5) mU/L, P<0.01]. (2) The proportion of obese patients was higher in PTC group than that in the benign nodule group (28.7% vs 20.7%, P<0.01) among male patients. While the difference was not found among female patients. (3) Stratification analysis according to gender and age showed that the proportion of overweight (49.4% vs 44.1%, P<0.05) or obese (26.5% vs 15.3%, P<0.01) in PTC group was higher than that of benign nodule group among male patients aged≤40 years and the proportion of obese patients in PTC group was higher than that of benign nodule group (30.8% vs 22.2%, P<0.01) among male patient aged 41 to 65 years. (4) A multivariate analysis indicated that overweight (OR=4.947) and obesity (OR=7.648) were all independent risk factors for PTC (P<0.01) among male patients aged≤40 years. Conclusion Overweight and obesity are associated with higher PTC risk for male patients aged 40 years or less.