Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics,diagnosis,treatment,and prognosis of descending necrotizing mediastinitis(DNM)to provide a reference for the early diagnosis and timely treatment of DNM.Methods Data on DNM in China was electronically retrieved from the core databases and comprehensively reviewed from June 2012 to June 2023.The infection,pathogenic microorganisms,main symptoms,comorbidities and treatment methods of DNM were analyzed.Results The data of a total of 781 DNM patients,with an average age of(52.97±5.64)years,were retrieved,including 554 males and 227 females.Odontogenic source,tonsillitis,pharyngeal abscess,sialoadenitis,upper respiratory tract infection,foreign body injury,or iatrogenic traumatic procedures are common causes.Among these,odontogenic infection is the most common source.Streptococcus sp.(n=217)and Staphylococcus sp.(n=82)were most isolated,followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa(equally n=59).A total of 69.4％(542/781)of DNM patients recruited in this study were discovered to have various comorbidities,and more than one-third of these patients(n=185)had diabetes.Of the broad antibiotics,carbapenem was most frequently used as treatment,and vancomycin was the most frequently coadministered.The mediastinal drainage approach varies widely,and the optimal regimen is still unknown.Seventy-two patients were treated with video-assisted thoracoscopic/mediastinoscopic surgical drainage,22 patients were treated with percutaneous catheter drainage,30 underwent the transcervical approach,and 40 underwent thoracotomy.A total of 617 patients who were selected underwent the appropriate combined operation for surgical drainage according to the specific location of the infected focus.The overall mortality rate of all 781 DNM pa-tients included was 11.2％.Conclusion The most effective diagnosis and treatment of DNM is a high degree of clini-cal vigilance followed by prompt and adequate drainage with intensive care,including hemodynamic monitoring,nutri-tional support,computer tomographic scanning repeated as necessary,and combined use of systemic antibiotics.

Objective To evaluate the application of three deep learning algorithms in automatic segmentation of clinical target volumes (CTVs) in high-dose-rate brachytherapy after surgery for endometrial carcinoma. Methods A dataset comprising computed tomography scans from 306 post-surgery patients with endometrial carcinoma was divided into three subsets: 246 cases for training, 30 cases for validation, and 30 cases for testing. Three deep convolutional neural network models, 3D U-Net, 3D Res U-Net, and V-Net, were compared for CTV segmentation. Several commonly used quantitative metrics were employed, i.e., Dice similarity coefficient, Hausdorff distance, 95th percentile of Hausdorff distance, and Intersection over Union. Results During the testing phase, CTV segmentation with 3D U-Net, 3D Res U-Net, and V-Net showed a mean Dice similarity coefficient of 0.90 ± 0.07, 0.95 ± 0.06, and 0.95 ± 0.06, a mean Hausdorff distance of 2.51 ± 1.70, 0.96 ± 1.01, and 0.98 ± 0.95 mm, a mean 95th percentile of Hausdorff distance of 1.33 ± 1.02, 0.65 ± 0.91, and 0.40 ± 0.72 mm, and a mean Intersection over Union of 0.85 ± 0.11, 0.91 ± 0.09, and 0.92 ± 0.09, respectively. Segmentation based on V-Net was similarly to that performed by experienced radiation oncologists. The CTV segmentation time was < 3.2 s, which could save the work time of clinicians. Conclusion V-Net is better than other models in CTV segmentation as indicated by quantitative metrics and clinician assessment. Additionally, the method is highly consistent with the ground truth, reducing inter-doctor variability and treatment time.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a heterogeneous group of diseases that affect the temporomandibular joint, chewing muscle system, dental occlusion, and even various structures throughout the body, with significant characteristics of biological-psychological-social pattern. TMD related chronic pain, as the most important clinical symptom, can result in negative emotions seriously affecting patients′ quality of life and physical and mental health. Although a variety of therapies have been previously reported to treat TMD related chronic pain, there is a lack of widely recognized therapies. Professor Jason W Busse (from Michael G DeGroote National Pain Centre, McMaster University, Hamilton ON, Canada) took the lead and collaborated with multiple internationally renowned schools/hospitals of stomatology to develop an international consensus on the management of chronic pain associated with TMD, a clinical practice guideline, which took two years and was published in December 15th, 2023 in a global top journal of clinical research The British Medical Journal. This clinical practice guideline explored the comparative effectiveness of available therapies for chronic pain associated with TMD, conditionally recommended the specific intervention for different treatment or pain relief, proposed a comprehensive, agreed, and standardized clinical practice guideline. This present article describes the methodology and key elements of the clinical practice guideline to help clinicians fully understand and appropriately apply this guidance, which could provide the references for clinical practice of TMD associated chronic pain in China.

Surgical operation is the main treatment of oral and maxillofacial tumors.Dysphagia is a common postoperative complication.Swal-lowing disorder can not only lead to mis-aspiration,malnutrition,aspiration pneumonia and other serious consequences,but also may cause psychological problems and social communication barriers,affecting the quality of life of the patients.At present,there is no systematic evalua-tion and rehabilitation management plan for the problem of swallowing disorder after oral and maxillofacial tumor surgery in China.Combining the characteristics of postoperative swallowing disorder in patients with oral and maxillofacial tumors,summarizing the clinical experience of ex-perts in the field of tumor and rehabilitation,reviewing and summarizing relevant literature at home and abroad,and through joint discussion and modification,a group of national experts reached this consensus including the core contents of the screening of swallowing disorders,the phased assessment of prognosis and complications,and the implementation plan of comprehensive management such as nutrition management,respiratory management,swallowing function recovery,psychology and nursing during rehabilitation treatment,in order to improve the evalua-tion and rehabilitation of swallowing disorder after oral and maxillofacial tumor surgery in clinic.

Cryoablation therapy with explicit anti-tumor mechanisms and histopathological manifestations has a long history.A large number of clinical practice has shown that cryoablation therapy is safe and effective,making it an ideal tumor treatment method in theory.Previously,its efficacy and clinical application were constrained by the limitations of refrigerants and refrigeration equipment.With the development of the new generation of cryoablation equipment represented by argon helium knives,significant progress has been made in refrigeration efficien-cy,ablation range,and precise temperature measurement,greatly promoting the progression of tumor cryoablation technology.This consensus systematically summarizes the mechanism of cryoablation technology,indications for oral mucosal melanoma(OMM)cryotherapy,clinical treatment process,adverse reactions and management,cryotherapy combination therapy,etc.,aiming to provide reference for carrying out the standardized cryoablation therapy of OMM.

Neck dissection(ND)is one of the main treatment methods for oral and maxillofacial malignancies.Although ND type is in con-stant improvement,but intraoperative peal-pull-push injury of the accessory nerve,muscle,muscle membrane,fascia and ligament induced shoulder syndrome(SS)is still a common postoperative complication,combined with the influence of radiochemotherapy,not only can cause pain,stiffness,numbness,limited dysfunction of shoulder neck and arm,but also may have serious impact on patient's life quality and phys-ical and mental health.At present,there is still a lack of a systematic evaluation and rehabilitation management program for postoperative SS of oral and maxillofacial malignant tumors.Based on the previous clinical practice and the current available evidence,refer to the relevant lit-erature at home and abroad,the experts in the field of maxillofacial tumor surgery and rehabilitation were invited to discuss,modify and reach a consenusus on the etiology,assessment diagnosis,differential diagnosis,rehabilitation strategy and prevention of SS,in order to provide clinical reference.

Purpose: Cavernous nerve injury induced erectile dysfunction (ED) is a refractory complication with high incidence in person under radical prostatectomy. Studies have shown that relaxin-2 (RLX-2) plays a vital role of endothelial protection, vasodilation, anti-fibrosis and neuroprotection in a variety of diseases. However, whether penile cavernous erection can benefit from RLX-2 remains unknown. The purpose of the experiment was to explore the effects of RLX-2 on ED in the rat suffering with bilateral cavernous nerve injury (BCNI). Materials and Methods: The rats were divided into three groups: Sham group was underwent sham operation, BCNI+RLX group or BCNI group was underwent bilateral cavernous nerve crush and then randomly treated with RLX-2 (0.4 mg/kg/d) or saline by continuous administration using a subcutaneously implanted micro pump for 4 weeks respectively. Then, erectile function was evaluated by electrical stimulation of cavernous nerves. Cavernous nerves and penile tissues and were collected for histological evaluation. Results: Erectile function of rats with BCNI was partially improved after RLX-2 treatment. The BCNI group had lower expression of relaxin family peptide receptor (RXFP) 1, p-AKT/AKT, p-eNOS/eNOS ratios than sham operation rats, but RLX-2 could partially reversed these changes. Histologically, the BCNI+RLX group had a significant effect on preservation of neurofilament, neuronal glial antigen 2 of penile tissue and nNOS of cavernous nerves when compared with BCNI group. RLX-2 could inhibited the lever of BCNI induced corporal fibrosis and apoptosis via regulating TGFβ1-Smad2/3-CTGF pathway and the expression of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase3. Conclusions RLX-2 could improve erectile function of BCNI rats by protecting cavernous nerve and endothelial function and suppressing corporal fibrosis and apoptosis via RXFP1 and AKT/eNOS pathway. Our findings may provide a promising treatment for refractory BCNI induced ED.

Objective To explore inhibition of nicotine on apoptosis of chondrocytes induced by monosodium iodoacetate ( MIA) .Methods Rat primary chondrocytes were isolated by enzyme digestion, and the cells were treated with 10 -8 , 10 -7 , 10 -6 , 10 -5 mol/L nicotine for 48 h.The cases were randomly divided into five groups, except for normal group, the other four groups were treated with 4μmol/L MIA 24 h, and three groups were treated 10 -8 , 10 -7 , 10 -6 mol/L nicotine.The viability of chondrocytes was detected by MTT assay.The apoptosis of chondrocytes was examed by Annexin V-FITC/PI flow dual-staining method.The activity of cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 ( Caspase 3 ) was measured by spectrophotography method.The activation of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase ( PI3K)/protein kinase B ( AKT) and the expression of down-stream molecule Bax, Bcl-2 was assayed by western blot.Results 10 -7 , 10 -6 mol/L nicotine increased chondrocytes' viability (P<0.05), 10 -5mol/L nicotine reduced chondrocytes' viability (P<0.05), and 10 -8 mol/L nicotine didn't effect on chondrocytes' viability (P>0.05).10 -8, 10 -7, 10 -6 mol/L nicotine could increase MIA-induced chondrocytes' viability (P<0.05), suppress MIA-induced chondrocytes' apoptosis and the activity of MIA-induced Caspase 3 (P <0.05).Moreover, 10 -7, 10 -6 mol/L nicotine could increase the expression of PI3K and phosphorylation of AKT ( P<0.05) , down-regulate the expression of Bax and up-regulate the expression of Bcl-2 in MIA-induced rat chondrocytes ( P<0.05 ) .Conclusion These results suggested nicotine could exert anti-apoptosis in MIA-induced rat chondrocytes, which might be related to PI3K/AKT signal pathway.

Objective To investigate the role of silent mating type information regulation 2 homologue 1(SIRT1) in renal ischemia-reperfusion(IR) injury and its effect on NF-κBp65-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α) signal pathway in mice.Methods Seventy-two healthy C57BL/6 male mice were randomly divided into four groups:control group(n=18),sham-operated group(n=18),IR group(n=18),resveratrol group(n=18).Bilateral renal pedicle were clamped for 45 min was adopted to establish the model of acute ischemic renal injury,to give 2％ dimethyl sulfoxide or resveratrol by intraperitoneal injection for 7 days before modeling.Determination techniques included routine biochemical methods for the the levels of Scr and BUN,spectrophotometry for the level of superoxide dismutase (SOD),HE staining for the histological changes as well as immunohistochemical method and Western blotting for the expressions of SIRT1,NF-κBp65 and PGC-1α,respectively.Results Compared with that in control and sham-operated groups,the levels of serum Scr and BUN were higher and SOD levels in renal tissues were lower at 12 h and 24 h after operation in IR groups(P ＜ 0.05).HE staining revealed evident pathological lesions including necrosis of renal tubular epithelial cells in IR group.Compared with that in IR group,resveratrol attenuated the above-mentioned changes.Western blotting revealed the up-regulated SIRT1 expression and the activated NF-κB signal pathway,the up-regulated p65 expression and the down-regulated PGC-1αexpression subsequent to IR(P ＜ 0.05).Both Western blotting and immunohistochemistry showed that the expressions of SIRT1 and PGC-1α in resveratrol group were up-regulated compared to that in IRgroup(P ＜ 0.05),while the NF-κBp65 expression in resveratrol group was down-regulated(P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions In mouse model of renal ischemia-reperfusion injury,the activation of SIRT1 can inhibit the NF-κBp65 expression and accordingly up-regulated PGC-1α level,contributing to inhibiting inflammatory reactions and attenuating oxidative stress-induced injury in the protection of the kidneys.

BACKGROUND: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is mainly concerned with macrophage mobilizing function, as the upper stream cytokine of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), which may have critical effect in the process of the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlations between the change of serum MIF and the activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: Non-randomized control and case study, which was carried out in the Bethune International Peace Hospital of Chinese PLA from September in 2005 to October in 2006.PARTICIPANTS: Sixty RA patients were included in this study, and other thirty healthy subjects were selected as the control group. There were significant differences in age and sex between the two groups. METHODS: Clinical data of sixty RA patients were selected by carrying out retrospective analysis, then on the basis of disease activity score (DAS) accumulated points, they were divided into active and inactive group respectively, who were contrasted with 30 health adults. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Morning stiffness (in minutes), joint tenderness index, arthrocele index, semi-quantity rheumatoid factor (RF), C-reactive protein concentration (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and platelet count (PLT) were recorded; ② To compare the level of serum MIF, IL-1β and TNF-α among active group, inactive group, and control group; ③ The correlation analysis was carried out among the level of serum MIF, inflammatory index and clinical observation index.RESULTS: There was significantly increased in serum MIF of patients in the active group compared to of inactive and normal groups (P < 0.05), but there were no significantly differences between inactive and control groups (P > 0.05). There were significant correlations between the serum MIF concentration and active inflammatory index of RA disease, blood sedimentationrate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), platelet counting (PLT), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), swell joint index (SJI) and tenderness joint, but no significant difference was observed between the serum MIF, age, disease course, morning stiffness and rheumatoid factor (RF).CONCLUSION: The serum MIF concentration is significantly increased in patients with RA, and it may be a useful parameter for monitoring disease activity of RA.