Objective To investigate the feasibility of reduced radiation dose for CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and the possible lowest radiation threshold by a phantom study.Methods The CT value difference between air within the trachea and the extracorporeal background region was measured in132 consecutive patients.A noise-measurement phantom and a pulmonary embolism (PE) phantom were made of phenol-formaldehyde, and both phantoms and a water phantom were scanned with standard and lower radiation doses as follow: 280, 200, 160, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, 15, and 10 mA respectively, at a fixed voltage of 120 kVp.Standard and soft tissue algorithms were used to reconstruct the images.Three experienced doctors independendy evaluate the image quality and the efficiency of detecting PE of the images with various doses.The Pearson correlation analysis, two-tailed paired t test, ANOVA, and Kappa test were employed for the statistical analysis.Results The CT value difference between air within the trachea and the extracorpereal background region in 132 consecutive patients ranged from 20.00 to 55.00 HU, which had a positive correlation with weight[(64.99±11.86) kg], weight-height ratio [(38.71±6.13) kg/m], and BMI[(23.11±3.38) kg/m2](r=0.228,0.374,0.449 respectively; P <0.01).The image noise level with soft-tissue reconstruction algorithm[(16.55±9.08), (16.42±9.40) HU]was significantly lower than that of the image with standard reconstruction algorithm[(22.43±11.25),(21.99±11.67) HU](F=4.316, P < 0.05).The image noise level with soft-tissue reconstruction algorithm at 100 mA was similar to that of the images with standard reconstruction algorithm at 280 mA, and the signal-w-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of the image of PE phantom was 23.05 and 20.52 respectively, without any impairment in detectability of embolus.The image noise level with soft-tissue reconstruction algorithm at 60 mA was similar to that of the image with standard reconstruction algorithm at 160 mA, while the SNR and CNR was 18.01 and 15.97 respectively, also with acceptable detectability of embolus.When the tube current was reduced below 30 mA, the image quality decreased significantly, with the SNR and CNR was lower than 12.36 and 10.95 respectively, and the detectability of embolus was degraded.The consistency of the image quality grading by 3 observers was excellent(K=0.807,0.712,0.904 ,respectively; P < 0.01).Conclusions The 100 mA may potentially be the ideal low dose tube current setting, with radiation dose only equal to 36% of 280 mA (standard dose).The 30 mA may possibly be a minimum radiation dose for detecting PE.The soft-tiasue reconstruction algorithm was favorable in preserving the SNR when the radiation dose was reduced.

Objective To evaluate the accuracy, of different threshold segmentation of 18FDG PET for target volume delineation of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) and the potential influence on radiotherapy treatment planning. Methods Eight NSCLC patients who had tumor with clear margin on CT scan and the amplitude of tumor movements not more than 5 mm were enrolled. PET scans were carried out at 1 h after intravenous injection of 18FDG with CT image for attenuation revisement. Gross target volume (GTV) delineated on CT image ( GTVCT ) was used as the standard. Then, GTVs were delineated on PET image with three different threshold segmentation of 42% Imax(total) (42% of maximum voxel intensity within the tumor) ,Iback + 20% Imax-back(max) (mean background intensity + 20% of normalized background-subtracted maximum voxel intensity within the tumor) and Iback -20% Imax-back(slice) (mean background intensity + 20% of normalized background-subtracted maximum voxel intensity of each slice within the tumor) ,the corresponding GTV was named as GTV42%, GTV20%max and GTV20%slice. Both the size of GTV42%, GTV20%max, GTV20%slice and GTVCT,and the coverage over GTVCT for each GTV were compared. A three dimensional margin of 1 cm were added to GTVCT, GTV42%, GTV20%max and GTV20%slice to form corresponding PTVCT, PTV42%, PTV20%max and PTV20%slic e. Three dimensional conformal radiotherapy treatment plans were designed based on PTVCT,PTV42% , PTV20%max and PTV20%slice respectively for each patient. The prescription dose of all PTVs was 66 Gy in 33 fractions in 6.6 weeks. Both the volume accepting dose less than 95% of prescription dose within PTVCT ( VPTV ) and the lung V20 were compared among the four plans based on different PTVs. Tumor control probability(TCP) as well as lung normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) were also compared. Resuits Eight patients were enrolled in this study. Median deviation of volume between GTVPET and GTVCT were -54.1% , -21.5 % and 5.3 % for GTV42% , GTV20%max and GTV20%slice, respectively. Median coverage over GTVCT of GTV42% , GTV20%max and GTV20%slice was 45.9% ,78.0% and 95.3% respectively( F = 57.50,P＜0.01). Median 7.5% of VPTV was observed for radiotherapy treatment plan based on PTV42% ,which meant that it might induce median 1% decrease of TCP comparing with that of radiotherapy treatment plan based on PTVCT. Whereas,there were only 1.3% and 0.0% of VPTV for treatment plans based on PTV20%max and PTV20%slice respectively. As far as TCP was concemed, both PTV20%max group and PTV20%slice group were superior to PTV42% group,there was no significant difference among PTV20%max group, PTV20%slice group and PTVCT group. Lung V20 and lung NTCP showed no significant difference among all groups. Conclusions The threshold segmentation of Iback + 20% Imax-back(slice) , being slice specialized, might be an optimal threshold segmentation for target volume delineation of lung caner. Independent of information of target volume provided by CT scan in advance,it is recommended to use for the target volume delineation of NSCLC with atelectasis.

Objective To describe the pathological unit and octagonal en bloc resection for the treatment of ossification ligamentum flavum(OLF)in thoracic spine with spondylotic myelopathy.Methods Ninety-five patients from January 2002 to January 2007 were diagnosed as thoracic OLF,61 males and 34 females with an average age of 53.9 years(range,31-78 years).There were upper thoracic spine OLF in 32 cases,middle thoracic spine OLF in 24 cases and lower thoracic spine OLF in 39 cases.Single-segment OLF was found in 53 cases,double segments OLF was found in 38 cases and three segments OLF was found in 4 cases.CT scan multiplanar co-localized reconstruction was employed to detect the structure of spine with OLF.The Japanese Orthopaedic Association(JOA)lower limb motor function score,sphincter function score and motor function improvement rate were used to evaluate the outcomes.Results CT scan was engaged to observe 141 OLF pathological unite.The OLF pathology unit was defined as all the spine structures between the extension lines of the lower margin of the OLF two adjacent pedicles.Each OLF associates with an OLF pathology unit.The mean follow up duration was 38.3 months(range,24-60 months).Among 86 patients with sensations disturbance before operation,67 totally recovered and 19 relieved after operation.Trunk restrictions in 69 cases before operation were completely recovered after operation.Postoperative JOA sphincter function score was 2.651±0.334,comparing with preoperation score(2.262±0.561),and the difference was statistically significant.Postoperative JOA motor function score was 3.694±0.429,which was significantly increased than preoperative score 1.539±0.873,and motor function recovery rate was 87.57%.There was excellent in 71 cases,good in 17 cases and fair in 5 cases.The excellent and good rate was 94.74%.Conclusion The octagonal en block resection is relative safe for treatment thoracic OLF with myelopathy.Pathological unit of OLF in thoracic spine is more accurate to summarize the pathological contents and features of the OLF and its adjacent structure.

Background and purpose:Integrinαvβ3 receptor plays an important role in promoting, sustaining and regulating the angiogenesis. It is overexpressed on neovascular endothelial cells and tumor cells. RGD peptide specifically binds to integrinαvβ3, which could evaluate growth status and invasiveness of tumor. This study aimed to investigate the biodistribution in healthy KM mice and micro PET/CT imaging in U87MG tumor-bearing mice of 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2]. Methods: 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2] was produced using an automated synthesis module via a simple one-step 18F-labeling strategy of the precursor 4-NO2-3-TFMBz-E[c(RGDfK)2]. The percentage activity of injection dose per gram of tissue (%ID/g) was calculated at 0.5, 1, 2, 4 h post injection of the probe. Micro PET/CT images of U87MG tumor-bearing nude mice with or without 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2] blocking were acquired at each time point. Results: The labeling efficiency and radiochemical purity of 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2] were 10% and 98%, respectively. 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2] was excreted via renal route, with a high blood clearance. The other organs had background-level activity accumulation. At 1 h, the%ID/g of kidney, liver, intestine, muscle and blood was (1.02±0.16)%ID/g,(0.24±0.06)%ID/g, (0.35±0.03)%ID/g, (0.13±0.03)%ID/g and (0.11±0.03)%ID/g 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2] had initial high tumor uptake [(5.2±0.56)%ID/g] and good tumor-to-background contrast (5.36) at 1 h post injection. Tumor uptake for blocking group was lower than those without blocking, and T/M reduced to 1.57. Conclusion: 18F-E[c(RGDfK)2] appears a promising PET molecular imaging probe targeting integrin αvβ3, with high tumor uptake. It could be suitable for prognosis evaluation of integrin-positive tumor, selection of vascular targeting therapy and therapy effect monitoring.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility of replacing the femoral prosthesis and implanting antibiotic calcium sulfate carriers in a two-stage revision for periprosthetic infection following total knee arthroplasty (TKA).Methods:Between May 2017 and January 2020, 35 patients were admitted to Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital to Zhengzhou University for periprosthetic infection after TKA. They were 12 males and 23 females, aged from 49 to 84 years (average, 67.9 years). The two-stage revision for periprosthetic infection was performed for all of them and replacement of femoral prosthesis and implantation of antibiotic calcium sulfate carriers were carried out in stage-one revision. Recorded were postoperative culture of micro-organisms, white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) before stage-one and stage-two revisions; the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) knee score, range of motion (ROM) and American Knee Society Score (KSS) were compared between preoperation and the last follow-up.Results:Postoperative negative culture was found in 22 cases (62.9%), and positive one in 13 cases (37.1%) of which 4 were caused by Staphylococcus aureus, 2 by Staphylococcus epidermidis, 2 by Candida glabrata, 2 by Candida parapsilosis, one by Candida albicans, one by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and one by Escherichia coli. WBC, ESR and CRP decreased on average from 13.67×10 9/L, 49.71 mm/h and 45.13 mg/L before stage-one revision to 6.44×10 9/L, 18.79 mm/h and 7.82 mg/L before stage-two revision. All patients were followed up for an average of 22.4 months (from 8 to 41 months). At the last follow-up, ROM, HSS and KSS were significantly increased from preoperative 73.2°±15.9°, 59.5±14.6 and 36.1±6.0 to 105.6°±13.2°, 84.3±10.0 and 86.1±5.6, respectively ( P<0.05). None of the patients showed any sign of re-infection at the last follow-up. Conclusion:For patients with periprosthetic infection following total knee arthroplasty, replacing femoral prosthesis and implantation of antibiotic calcium sulfate carriers can well control infection, facilitating recovery of range of motion and function after surgery.

Background and objective The computed tomography (CT) follow-up of indeterminate pulmonary nodules aiming to evaluate the change of the volume and CT value is the common strategy in clinic. The CT dose needs to considered on serious CT scans in addition to the measurement accuracy. The purpose of this study is to quantify the preci-sion of pulmonary nodule volumetric measurement and CT value measurement with various tube currents and reconstruction algorithms in a phantom study with dual-energy CT.Methods A chest phantom containing 9 artificial spherical solid nodules with known diameter (D=2.5 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm) and density (-100 HU, 60 HU and 100 HU) was scanned using a 64-row detector CT canner at 120 Kilovolt & various currents (10 mA, 20 mA, 50 mA, 80 mA,100 mA, 150 mA and 350 mA). Raw data were reconstructed with filtered back projection and three levels of adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction algorithm (FBP, ASIR; 30%, 50% and 80%). Automatic volumetric measurements were performed using commercially available software. The relative volume error (RVE) and the absolute attenuation error (AAE) between the software measures and the reference-standard were calculated. Analyses of the variance were performed to evaluate the effect of reconstruction methods, different scan parameters, nodule size and attenuation on the RPE.Results The software substantially overestimated the very small (D=2.5 mm) nodule's volume [mean RVE: (100.8%±28%)] and underestimated it attenuation [mean AAE: (-756±80) HU]. The mean RVEs of nodule with diameter as 5 mm and 10 mm were small [(-0.9%±1.1%)vs (0.9%±1.4%)], however, the mean AAEs [(-243±26) HUvs (-129±7) HU)] were large. The ANOVA analysis for repeated measurements showed that different tube current and reconstruction algorithm had no significant effect on the volumetric measurements for nodules with diameter of 5 mm and 10 mm (F=5.60,P=0.10 vs F=11.13,P=0.08), but significant effects on the measurement of CT value (F=34.79, P<0.001 vs F=156.14, P<0.001).Conclusion An infinitesimally small errors of volumetric measurement of 5 mm or 10 mm nodule could achieved with very low current and ASIR reconstruction, suggesting a possibility of remarkable radiation dose reductions, while it is not applicable for 5 mm nodule. The attenuation acquired through three dimensional software has large measurement error and can not applied in clinical currently.

Objective To investigate the association of bacterial translocation (BT) with cachexia in colonic cancer patients.Methods From September 2015 to May 2017 the clinical data of 292 colon cancer patients were studied at Qingdao Municipal Hospital.The bacteria in peripheral blood and mesenteric lymph nodes were detected by bacterial culture,and the bacterial DNA in peripheral blood was detected by PCR technique to determine the occurrence of bacterial translocation.Intestinal epithelial T-cell subsets and NK cells were evaluated using flow cytometry.Western blot and immunofluorescence were used to check tight junction proteins Occludin,Claudins-2,Zonula occluden-2 in intestinal epithelium.Fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the translocated bacteria and endotoxin.Results Compared with noncachectic patients,cachectic patients had a significandy higher BT ratio (27.8％ vs.7.2％,x2 =20.871,P ＜ 0.001).BT in the intestinal mucus layer was associated with lower levels of T-cell subsets and NK cells in the intestinal epithelium in BT(+) patients (CD3 + T:36.69％ ±5.87％ vs.41.63％ ±5.03％,CD4+T:44.08％ ±5.12％ vs.49.58％ ±7.01％,CD8+T:65.68％ ±5.51％ vs.61.43％ ± 5.58％,CD4+ T/CD8+ T:0.71％ ± 0.21％ vs.0.91％ ±0.23％,NK:27.86％ ± 3.93％ vs.34.69％ ± 4.52％,all P ＜ 0.01).Endotoxin was detected within the small intestinal wall in BT(+) patients and claudin-2 expression increased (0.63 ± 0.13 vs.0.21-± 0.06,t =-2.936,P ＜ 0.01),whereas Occludin and Zonula occluden-2 expressions decreased (0.37 ± 0.13 vs.0.84±0.17,0.16±0.07 vs.0.58±0.19,t=2.151,2.111,bothP＜0.05).Conclusions BTmay contribute to the development of colon cancer cacheria,and tight junction could be the gateway of BT.

Objective:To investigate the factors for and prevention of muscular calf vein thrombosis (MCVT) after unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA).Methods:Between January 2018 and October 2020, 551 patients were admitted to Department of Orthopedics, The First Affiliated Hospital to Zhengzhou University for unilateral TKA. They were 187 males and 364 females, aged from 32 to 90 years (average, 64.6 years) and with 234 left and 317 right knees affected. They were assigned into a MCVT group ( n=77) and a non-MCVT group ( n=474) according to whether or not MCVT had happened at 7 days after operation. Recorded were the patients’ baseline information, tourniquet time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative prothrombin time (PT), postoperative thrombin time (TT), postoperative fibrinogen (FIB), D-dimer, platelet count (PLT), postoperative bed time, knee society score (KSS), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) fall time, and C-reactive protein (CRP) fall time so as to analyze the risk factors for MCVT. Results:There were significant differences between the 2 groups in age [(66.8±7.0) versus (64.2±9.6) years], body mass index (BMI) [(28.7±2.2) versus (25.0±2.4) kg/m 2], smoking (20/57 versus 41/433), diabetes (56/21 versus 172/302), primary hypertension (45/32 versus 174/300), coronary heart disease (50/27 versus204/270), hyperlipidemia (33/44 versus 149/325), varicosity (50/27 versus 166/308), tourniquet time [(97.9±22.6) versus (83.1±10.6) min], intraoperative blood loss [(73.2±40.6) versus (62.4±11.5) mL], postoperative PT [(10.7±0.8) versus (11.9±1.0) s], TT [(15.2±1.3) versus (17.2±2.4) s], FIB [(3.7±0.8) versus (3.2±0.5) g/L], D-dimer [(1.1±1.0) versus (0.8±0.3) μg/L], PLT [(233.4±68.5) versus (178.5±27.8) 10 9/L], postoperative bed time [(17.3±2.6) versus (14.6±3.8) h], KSS [(3.32±0.7) versus (3.61±0.56) points], ESR fall time [(2.90±0.74) versus (1.55±0.64) d] and CRP fall time [(2.90±0.74) versus (1.55±0.64) d] (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that old age (95% CI: 0.890 to 1.112, P=0.034), high BMI (95% CI: 1.012 to 1.214, P=0.046), diabetes (95% CI: 1.002 to 2.590, P=0.020), D-dimer (95% CI: 1.239 to 10.292, P=0.001) and postoperative PLT (95% CI: 1.012 to 1.112, P=0.014) were independent risk factors for MCVT. Reduced postoperative bed time (95% CI: 1.009 to 1.469, P=0.040) was a protective factor. Conclusions:As old age, high BMI, diabetes, and high postoperative levels of D-dimer and PLT may be independent risk factors for MCVT, patients with such characteristics should be alert to MCVT. Early ambulation should be encouraged in patients after unilateral TKA to reduce postoperative bed time for prevention of the disease.

Objective:To test the usefulness of PET-range verification (RV) method for proton radiation accuracy verification in poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) phantom using off-line PET/CT scanning.Methods:Proton irradiation dose of 2 Gy and 4 Gy were delivered in PMMA phantom. Given the difference of clinical target volume (CTV), 7 subgroups with different depth (5.0, 7.5, 10.0, 12.5, 15.0, 17.5, 20.0 cm) were set for each dose (14 radiation plans or radiation fields). PET/CT scan was performed 10 min after irradiation of 48-221 MeV proton beam. A co-registration between CT from treatment planning system and PET/CT was performed, as well as the smoothing and normalization of PET/CT data. The region of interest (ROI) and profile lines were drawn with the Raystation PET-RV software. The predictive induced radioactivity and the measured induced radioactivity profile lines were analyzed to evaluate the Δ R50, namely, the error at the position corresponding to 50% of the maximum predictive induced radioactivity at the end of both curves. Results:The size of each ROI was 5.0 cm×5.0 cm×2.5 cm. Profile lines were evenly distributed with the interval of 3 mm, and totally 289 pairs of profile lines were drew. The 2 Gy- and 4 Gy-dose groups yielded similar mean depth errors (Δ R50 between 1 mm and -1 mm with a standard deviation <1 mm). Conclusions:The off-line PET/CT scanning of PMMA phantom reveals a good agreement between predicted and measured PET data, with error of ±1 mm. The PET-RV method can be extended to clinical cases′ verification in human body treatment with further investigation.

Objective: To understand the cognitive and management status of breast cancer patients with expectant nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients, and to provide reference for taking targeted measures to improve the symptoms of nausea and vomiting. Methods: From March to May 2018, 10 breast surgical nurses were selected by the purpose sampling method. The phenomenological research methods in qualitative research were used to interview them. The Colaizzi data analysis principle was used to analyze the data and refine the theme. Results: A total of five themes were extracted: nurses generally knew the impact of nausea and vomiting on patients; lack of knowledge about the expected nausea and vomiting of chemotherapy; nausea and vomiting has not been evaluated as an independent symptom; there is still no targeted, systematic management Measures; lack of attention is a major obstacle to the management of nausea and vomiting in patients. Conclusion Nurses should strengthen the knowledge of chemotherapy-predicted nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients, and effectively evaluate patients with nausea and vomiting. Nursing managers should formulate corresponding standardized interventions to improve patients' nausea and vomiting according to the existing problems. Improve the quality of life of patients.