Telemedicine includes remote teleradiology, remote ultrasound diagnostics, telesurgery, telemedicine consultation, and other forms. Telemedicine consultation is the most used form of telemedicine. However, the traditional telemedicine consultation is limited by a lack of communication and presentation methods, and its wide application is greatly limited. Mixed reality technology cuts through the boundaries between virtual reality and actual reality, bringing a new method of remote consultation.

s: Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided upper-pole access percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for the treatment of renal staghorn calculi. Methods From October 2008 to July 2012,193 cases of renal staghorn calculi treated with ultrasound-guided upper-pole access PCNL were reviewed. Among the 193 cases,74 cases were complete staghorn calculi while the other 119 cases were partial staghorn calculi, and the calculi diameter was 2. 5 to 9. 0 cm. All the 193 cases were treated through upper-pole ac-cess successfully,70 accesses were accomplished below the 12th rib,while the other 123 accesses were accomplished between the 11th adn 12th rib. Disintegration of the stone was accomplished using Holmium laser. Results The mean operative time was 70 min (45~150 min), single tract was used in 186 cases, and double tracts were used in the other 7 cases. The stone clearance rate for one session was 72. 0%(139/193),and the total stone clearance rate was 88. 1%(170/193). Transfusion was required in 6 patients, while 2 patients with signifi-cant bleeding were treated with selective renal arterial embolization. Hydrothorax occured in 4 patients, and closed thoracic drainage was re-quired in 2 of them. 20 patients had fever, and they recovered after effective antibiotic treatment. No patients had injury to the lung or other viscera. Conclusion Upper-pole access offers optimal visibility and convenience for rigid ureteroscope to achieve a high rate of stone-free status and operating time reduce. Ultrasound guided upper-pole access PCNL should be attempted in selected cases of renal staghorn stone.

Plasmablastic myeloma is a rare pathological classification of multiple myeloma. This condition must be differentially diag-nosed because of lack of a distinctive phenotype. Involvement of the central nervous system is a rare complication of multiple myelo-ma. The choice of treatment is important for plasmablastic myeloma. Thus, this article presents a rare case of plasmablastic myeloma with multiple cranial nerve involvement. We clarify the diagnosis through the multidisciplinary team and select the optimal therapy for the patient.

Objective To discuss the clinical characteristics of yon Hippel-Lindau (VHL)syndrome and the significance of genetic test for this disease.Methods Patients with VHL disease from 3 different families were reviewed from August 1985 to October 2017.The study was including clinical family survey and VHL-gene test on phylogenetic level.Totally 21 family members from 3 families were investigated,consisting of 14 males and 7 females with average age of 48.6 (5-70)years when analyzed.There were 8 patients with VHL disease comprising 5 males and 3 females with average onset age of 31.5 (9-67) years.Results The proband of pedigree one (VHL-Ⅱ C) was diagnosed as pheochromocytoma (PHEO) of right adrenal gland at 18 years old and underwent adrenalectomy,and her son was diagnosed with PHEO of bilateral adrenal glands with diagnostic age of 9 years old and received bilateral adrenalectomy sequentially.Her niece was diagnosed as PHEO of bilateral adrenal glands at 28 years old and received bilateral adrenal-sparing surgery simultaneously.Genetic analysis revealed a heterozygous mutation located at the third exon of the VHL gene (c.482G ＞ A).The proband of pedigree two (VHL-Ⅱ B) was diagnosed as right PHEO,bilateral multiple renal clear cell carcinoma (RCC),multiple pancreatic cysts and bilateral epididymal cystadenoma,and he received right adrenalectomy,right partial nephrectomy at 25 years old and delayed eystadenoma excision.His younger brother was also diagnosed as bilateral,pancreatic multiple cysts and bilateral epididymal nodules at 27 years old,and underwent right radical nephrectomy.Genetic analysis revealed a heterozygous mutation located at the first exon of the VHL gene (c.233A ＞ G).The proband of pedigree three (VHL-Ⅱ B) was diagnosed with central nerve system hemangioblastomas (CNS-HB) at 35 years old and received external beam radiotherapy.His elder sister was diagnosed as CNS-HB at 43 years old and received surgery.His father was diagnosed as right PHEO,bilateral RCC,bilateral multiple renal and pancreatic cysts and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors at 67 years old.He received right adrenalectomy and partial nephrectomy.Genetic analysis showed a heterozygous mutation located at the third exon of the VHL gene(c.500G ＞ A).In addition,two cases (F2-Ⅲ 1 and F3-ⅣV1) were found to be asymptomatic VHL gene carriers by genetic screening.8 patients were followed up for an average of 9.8 (2-32) years.The symptoms were stable and no local recurrence or distant metastasis was found after operation.In this study,no CNS-HB was found in patients within family 1 and family 2,and RCC in 3 patients within family 2 and family 3 were low grade.Conclusions The clinical manifestations of VHL disease are diverse.RCC and CNS-HB are not present in all patients with the disease.PHEO is the only manifestation in patients with VHL-ⅡC.It is necessary to inform the members of VHL syndrome family for genetic test.Genetic test combined with clinical screening can facilitate differential diagnosis for VHL syndrome and other hereditary urological diseases.

BACKGROUND: To discuss the feasibility of allogeneic freeze-drying radiation sterilization bone sheet applying in the prevention of post-laminectomy adhesion as an ideal biological material for filling and repairing bone defect. OBJECTIVE: To observe the preventive effect of allogeneic freeze-drying radiation sterilization bone sheet on the postlaminectomy adhesion and restenosis.DESIGN: Follow-up survey on cases.SETTINGS: Department of Orthopedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology; Shanxi Medical Tissues of China Institute for Radiation Protection PARTICIPANTS: From March 2003 to June 2005, 58 patients with segmental lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) were selected from Department of Orthopedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, including 34 males and 24 females, aged 30-78 years, including 25 cases of simple LSS and 33 combined LSS; and including 36 cases in L4-5 and 33 cases in L5, S1 segments. All the patients were similar in age, gender and healthy conditions.METHODS: The segmental whole laminectomies were performed in 58 patients with prolapse of lumbar intervertebral or LSS, and allogeneic freeze-drying radiation sterilization bone sheet in "H" shape was used to cover the vertebral laminae. According to the follow-up standard of lumbar spine operation recommended by the Orthopaedics Branch of Chinese Medical Association, all patients were followed up to evaluate their clinical symptoms, absorption of implanted bone as well as CT and MRI presentations.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Improvements of clinical symptoms;Absorption of bone sheet in lumbar spinal canal.RESULTS: Totally 58 LSS patients were involved in the result analysis.In postoperative 0.5-year follow-up period, 17 of 21 patients showed excellent curative effects while other 4 patients showed fine effects. In postoperative 1-year follow-up period for 23 patients, CT and MRI results demonstrated that the spinal canal had been extended obviously. There was no tilt or displacement of the femoral sheet or compression of the spinal cord. As for 14 patients who were followed up for 1.5 years, CT results displayed that there was no rejective reaction observed in this study. The edgeof the allograft was inosculated with connective lamina of vertebra, and the shape of lumber spinal was good.CONCLUSION: Allogeneic freeze-drying radiation sterilization bone sheet is an ideal dressing material for epidural laminoplasty. The imaging results of patients in postoperative 1.5-year follow-up indicate that it can effectively reduce the post-laminectomy adhesion formation and prevent recurrence of post-laminectomy spinal restenosis, so as to apply on the segmental vertebral plate dressing.

Image-navigation-assisted positioning and puncturing system is a newly-developed treatment technology in recent years,which carries broad application prospects.It combines image and navigation technology together.Guided by the dynamic real-time imaging the operator can precisely manipulate the surgical instruments to operate on the target lesion,in this way the minimally-invasive interventional therapy can be greatly optimized.The image-guided methods mainly include ultrasound,CT,MR,etc.Based on the principles of different positioning methods,the navigation and positioning technology can be classified into mechanical positioning,optical positioning and electromagnetic positioning.Each image guidance and navigation technology has its own advantages and disadvantages.At present,image-navigation-assisted positioning and puncturing system has already been widely used in various minimally-invasive interventional therapies,such as tumor biopsy,local ablation therapy,radioactive seed implantation,etc.,and satisfactory clinical results have been achieved although in clinical practice they still have some shortcomings.In this paper,the application of this technique in minimally-invasive interventional therapy is briefly reviewed.

Objective To discuss the application of routine CT three-phase perfusion parameter,that is arterial enhancement fraction (AEF) value,in evaluating the curative effect of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods The clinical data of a total of 30 patients with pathologically proved HCC were enrolled in this study.Routine CT three-phase perfusion scan was performed 1-3 days before as well as 30-40 days after TACE in all patients.AEF value was calculated by using CT Kinetics software (GE Healthcare).The formula for calculating AEF value was as follows:AEF value=(arterial phase CT value-plain scan CT value)÷(portal phase CT value-plain scan CT value).The results were statistically analyzed.Results Effective treatment group had 17 patients,and ineffective treatment group had 13 patients.The postoperative AEF values in the effective treatment group and the ineffective treatment group were (0.351±0.090) and (0.438±0.050) respectively,the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P＜0.05).Taking postoperative AEF value of 0.392 as the critical value to predict the postoperative effect of TACE,the sensitivity and specificity were 86.7％ and 73.2％ respectively,and the area under the curve was 0.876 (P＜0.001).Conclusion The routine CT three-phase perfusion parameter (AEF) can quantitatively reflect the hemodynamic changes of HCC after TACE,which is helpful for making early evaluation of TACE effect,meanwhile,no additional radiation dose will be added.

Objective To study the phosphorylation of AKT2 protein and autophagy activation in cardiac tissues of mice infected with coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) for further analyzing the regulatory mecha-nism of PI3K/AKT2/mTOR signaling pathway on autophagy activation in viral myocarditis. Methods Thir-ty BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups (n=10): control group, myocarditis group and AKT activator-treated group. Those in the latter two groups were intraperitoneally injected with CVB3 to es-tablish the mouse model of acute viral myocarditis. Daily intraperitoneal injection of 0.04 mg/g of Akt acti-vator (SC79) was given to each mouse in the AKT activator-treated group 24 hours after CVB3 infection for 7 consecutive days,while the mice in the other two groups were given the same dose of normal saline. HE staining was used to observe the infiltration of inflammatory cells and tissue necrosis. Expression of CVB3 and inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-6 in cardiac tissues at mRNA level was detected by q-PCR. Brain natriuretic peptide(BNP) and cardiac troponin I(cTnI) were measured by ELISA to evaluate myocardial injury. Changes in the expression of autophagy-related protein LC3 and Beclin1 at protein level as well as PI3K/AKT2/mTOR pathway were analyzed by Western blot assay. Results Compared with the con-trol group,massive inflammatory cell infiltration was observed in cardiac specimens of mice with myocarditis, but no obvious tissue necrosis was detected. Moreover,expression of CVB3 and inflammatory factors in car-diac tissues at mRNA level,levels of BNP and cTnI in blood,LC3Ⅱto LC3Ⅰratio as well as Beclin1 pro-tein level in cardiac tissues were significantly increased after CVB3 infection(P<0.05),whereas the activi-ty of PI3K/AKT2/mTOR signaling pathway was decreased. AKT activator not only down-regulated the LC3Ⅱ to LC3Ⅰratio and the expression of Beclin1 protein, but also enhanced the activation of PI3K/AKT2/mTOR signaling pathway in cardiac tissues of mice with myocarditis (P<0.05). Conclusion Enhanced autophagy and suppressed PI3K/AKT2/mTOR signaling pathway are observed in cardiac tissues of mice with myocarditis,indicating that the activation of autophagy may be regulated by PI3K/AKT2/mTOR signaling pathway.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an interdisciplinary subject developed on the basis of computer technology, cybernetics, mathematics, philosophy and brain science. The purpose of AI is to study new ways to extend the intelligence of human brain in various fields. In recent years, the rapid development of AI technology has brought innovation to medical science and health care. During the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) AI has been widely used in epidemiological investigation and outbreak prediction, clinical diagnosis and treatment, hospital management, research and development of new drugs and vaccines. The application of AI has reduced the clinical workload and the consumption of medical resources, greatly assisted the battle against COVID-19.This article introduces the progresses on the applications of AI technology to provide information for its further application in the fighting against COVID-19.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of internal fixation of Pipkin types I and II femoral head fractures through the modified Smith-Petersen (S-P) approach.Methods:A retrospective case control study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 33 patients with Pipkin types I and II femoral head fractures admitted to Union Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology from June 2015 to September 2019. There were 22 males and 11 females, aged 20-40 years (mean, 29.5 years). There were 15 patients with Pipkin type I fractures and 18 with Pipkin type II fractures. A total of 22 patients were treated using the modified S-P approach via the sartorius and tensor fascia lata space (modified S-P group) and 11 patients were treated using the modified K-L approach via the posterior superior iliac spine and gluteus maximus (modified K-L group). The operation duration, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage volume, length of hospital stay, numeric rating scales (NRS) for pain assessment at postoperative 15 days, bone healing time, Harris hip joint score at postoperative one month, and complication rate were compared between the two groups.Results:All patients were followed up for 1-24 months (mean, 6.5 months). The operation duration, blood loss, drainage rate and length of hospital stay in modified S-P group were better than those in modified K-L group [(71.7±7.3)minutes vs. (112.1±6.7)minutes, (55.9±6.2)ml vs. (99.4±8.7)ml, (91.2±5.9)ml vs. (121.3±7.0)ml, (6.0±1.5)days vs. (10.5±1.6)days] ( P<0.01). There were no significant differences between two groups in terms of NRS, bone healing time and Harris score ( P>0.05). The incidence of complications was similar between the two groups, including femoral head ischemia necrosis, traumatic arthritis, and heterogenous ossification ( P>0.05). Conclusion:For Pipkin types I and II femoral head fractures, the modified modified S-P approach is superior to modified K-L approach in aspects of operative time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage and length of hospital stay.