According to the clinical needs of treatment for the carpal tunnel syndrome, a transparent combined dilation conductor was developed for the endoscopic carpal tunnel release. There are kinds of characters for this conductor: good photo permeability, facility to operation, easy to use, no toxic effect, low system cost etc.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ; surgery ; Humans ; Tissue Expansion ; instrumentation ; methods ; Tissue Expansion Devices ; Treatment Outcome

According to the needs of clinical study about the treatment for the crush injury, a special experimental apparatus was developed for the small animal crush injury. There are kinds of characters for this conductor, that is the apparatus was simple designed and can be easily used and the extruding time and weight can be exactly controlled.
Animal Use Alternatives ; instrumentation ; Animals ; Crush Syndrome ; Disease Models, Animal ; Equipment Design

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between preoperative waiting time and prognosis of elderly patients with hip fracture. METHODS: From January 2014 to December 2018, 333 elderly hip fracture patients undergoing surgery were retrospectively analyzed, including 104 males and 229 females, aged from 60 to 99 years with an average of (77.93±8.49) years, and 183 patients were femoral neck fracture, 150 patients were femoral intertrochanteric fracture. Among them, 269 patients (80.78%) had a clustered preoperative waiting time of 2 to 8 days, and then divided into within 4-day group(91 cases) and over 4-day group(242 cases) according to their preoperative waiting time. The survival situation was followed by telephone, and follow-up time started from fracture admission to the death event, or to the research deadline (December 31, 2019). The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and Cox risk proportion model was used to analyze the independent risk factors of hip fracture in elderly patients. RESULTS: All patients were followed up for 12 to 75 months(means 35 months), 59 patients died and the mortality rate was 17.72%(59/333). Compared with within 4-day group, the mortality rate was higher in over 4-day group[20.66%(50/242) vs. 9.89%(9/91), χ²=5.263, P=0.022]. Multiariable Cox regression analysis showed that preoperative waiting time, age, male and Charlson comorbidity index were independent risk factors for the prognosis of hip fracture in elderly patients (all P<0.05), and every 1-day delay was associated with 5% increase of the risk of death[HR=1.05, 95%CI(1.00-1.10), P=0.045]. Subsequent analyse was stratified according to the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and found that over 4-day group had a higher mortality rate in patients with CCI<2, with statistically significant difference(P<0.05). CONCLUSION For elderly patients with hip fracture, most of hospitals could not complete the hip fracture surgery within 48 hours, we also need to shorten the waiting time before surgery, and thereby improve their prognosis.
Aged ; Female ; Femoral Neck Fractures ; Hip Fractures/surgery* ; Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Waiting Lists

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of TiRobot-assisted and C-arm X-ray fluoroscopy assisted percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) via pedicle of vertebra in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) of thoracic vertebrae. METHODS: The clinical data of 85 patients with OVCF of thoracic vertebrae who were admitted between January 2020 and March 2023 and met the selection criteria was retrospectively analyzed including 40 patients (50 vertebrae) undergoing PKP assisted by TiRobot (group A) and 45 patients (50 vertebrae) undergoing PKP assisted by C-arm X-ray fluoroscopy (group B). There was no significant difference in the comparison of baseline data such as gender, age, body mass index, bone mineral density T-value, fracture segment, trauma history, and preoperative numerical rating scale (NRS) score, Oswestry disability index (ODI), and Cobb angle of injured vertebra between the two groups ( P>0.05). The effectiveness evaluation indexes of the two groups, including the operation time, the volume of injected cement, the times of fluoroscopies, the length of hospital stay, and the occurrence of postoperative complications were collected and compared. Anteroposterior and lateral X-ray films and CT of the injured vertebra were reviewed at 1 day after operation to observe whether there was cement leakage and to evaluate the distribution of cement in the injured vertebra. Before and after operation, pain was assessed using the NRS score, dysfunction was assessed using the ODI, and vertebral height recovery was assessed by measuring the Cobb angle of the injured vertebrae by X-ray films. RESULTS: Both groups of patients successfully completed the operation, the operation time, the volume of injected cement, the times of fluoroscopies, and the length of hospital stay in group A were significantly less than those in group B ( P<0.05). The patients in two groups were followed up 4-12 months (mean, 9.6 months). Bone cement leakage occurred in 5 vertebrae in group A and 15 vertebrae in group B after operation, all of which leaked to the intervertebral space and around the vertebral body, and the patients had no obvious clinical symptoms. The difference of bone cement leakage between the two groups was significant ( P<0.05). No severe complication such as intraspinal leakage, infection, or vascular embolism was found in the two groups. At 1 day after operation, the distribution index of bone cement in group A was mostly grade Ⅴ, which was well dispersed; while in group B, it was mostly grade Ⅱ and grade Ⅴ; the difference of bone cement distribution index between the two groups was significant ( P<0.05). The NRS score, ODI, and Cobb angle of injured vertebra in both groups were significantly improved at 1 day after operation when compared with preoperative ones ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the difference of the above indexes between the two groups before and after operation ( P>0.05). CONCLUSION TiRobot-assisted unilateral PKP in the treatment of OVCF of thoracic vertebrae is safe and effective, which can reduce the X-ray transmission times during operation, shorten the operation time, reduce the volume of bone cement injection, and thus decrease incidence of bone cement leakage.
Humans ; Thoracic Vertebrae/surgery* ; Fractures, Compression/surgery* ; Spinal Fractures/surgery* ; Kyphoplasty ; Bone Cements ; Retrospective Studies

Background::With functionally heterogeneous cells, tumors comprise a complex ecosystem to promote tumor adaptability and evolution under strong selective pressure from the given microenvironment. Diversifying tumor cells or intra-tumor heterogeneity is essential for tumor growth, invasion, and immune evasion. However, no reliable method to classify tumor cell subtypes is yet available. In this study, we introduced the single-cell sequencing combined with copy number characteristics to identify the types of tumor cells in microsatellite stable (MSS) colorectal cancer (CRC).Methods::To characterize the somatic copy number alteration (SCNA) of MSS CRC in a single cell profile, we analyzed 26 tissue samples from 19 Korean patients (GSE132465, the Samsung Medical Center [SMC] dataset) and then verified our findings with 15 tissue samples from five Belgian patients (GSE144735, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 3 [KUL3] dataset). The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort, GSE39582 cohort, and National Cancer Center (NCC) cohort (24 MSS CRC patients were enrolled in this study between March 2017 and October 2017) were used to validate the clinical features of prognostic signatures.Results::We employed single cell RNA-sequencing data to identify three types of tumor cells in MSS CRC by their SCNA characteristics. Among these three types of tumor cells, C1 and C3 had a higher SCNA burden; C1 had significant chromosome 13 and 20 amplification, whereas C3 was the polar opposite of C1, which exhibited deletion in chromosome 13 and 20. The three types of tumor cells exhibited various functions in the tumor microenvironment and harbored different mutations. C1 and C2 were linked to the immune response and hypoxia, respectively, while C3 was critical for cell adhesion activity and tumor angiogenesis. Additionally, one gene ( OLFM4) was identified as epithelium-specific biomarker of better prognosis of CRC (TCGA cohort: P = 0.0110; GSE39582 cohort: P= 0.0098; NCC cohort: P= 0.0360). Conclusions::On the basis of copy number characteristics, we illustrated tumor heterogeneity in MSS CRC and identified three types of tumor cells with distinct roles in tumor microenvironment. By understanding heterogeneity in the intricate tumor microenvironment, we gained an insight into the mechanisms of tumor evolution, which may support the development of therapeutic strategies.

ObjectiveTo establish an early predictive model using serological markers based on LASSO regression for predicting the possibility of HBsAg clearance in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B （CHB） patients treated with pegylated interferon α-2b （PEG-IFNα-2b）， and to investigate the diagnostic value of the model. MethodsA total of 136 HBeAg-negative CHB patients who received PEG-IFNα-2b treatment in the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from April 2020 to October 2021 were enrolled， among whom 47 received PEG-IFNα-2b for the first time （previously untreated） and 89 received PEG-IFNα-2b after 48 weeks of treatment with nucleos（t）ide analogues （treatment-experienced）. The patients were randomly assigned to a training set with 95 patients and a validation set with 41 patients at a ratio of 7∶3， and related data were collected for both groups， including virological markers， routine blood test results， and liver function at baseline and week 12 of treatment. According to HBsAg status at week 48 of treatment， the patients were divided into seroconversion group with 38 patients and non-seroconversion group with 98 patients. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups， and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups； the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical variables between two groups. The LASSO regression analysis and univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to establish a nomogram model； the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve was used to assess its predictive ability， and the area under the ROC curve （AUC） was used for comparison of predictive value. ResultsIn the training set， 95 HBeAg-negative CHB patients were treated with PEG-IFNα-2b for 48 weeks， among whom there were 27 patients in the seroconversion group and 68 in the non-seroconversion group. The univariate Logistic regression analysis， with P<0.2 as the criterion for screening， showed that 9 indicators were included in the LASSO regression analysis， i.e.， sex， baseline HBV DNA level， the reduction in HBV DNA in 0 — 12 weeks， baseline HBsAg level， the reduction in HBsAg in 0 — 12 weeks， baseline aspartate aminotransferase （AST） level， the reduction in AST in 0 — 12 weeks， baseline alanine aminotransferase （ALT） level， and the reduction in ALT in 0 — 12 weeks. The LASSO regression analysis showed that sex， baseline HBsAg level， the reduction in HBsAg in 0 — 12 weeks， and the reduction in ALT in 0 — 12 weeks were non-zero variables and were included in the multivariate Logistic regression analysis. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis obtained 4 independent predictive factors， i.e.， sex （odds ratio ［OR］=5.38， 95% confidence interval ［CI］： 1.11 — 34.21， P=0.049）， baseline HBsAg level （OR=0.12， 95%CI： 0.04 — 0.26， P<0.001）， the reduction in HBsAg in 0 — 12 weeks （OR=5.54， 95%CI： 1.97 — 19.18， P=0.003）， and the reduction in ALT in 0 — 12 weeks （OR=0.99， 95%CI： 0.97 — 1.00， P=0.039）. A nomogram model was established based on the results of the multivariate Logistic regression analysis， and the ROC curve was used to assess the predictive value of this nomogram model. This nomogram model had an AUC of 0.934 （95%CI： 0.886 — 0.981） in the training set and an AUC of 0.921 （95%CI： 0.838 — 1.000） in the validation set. In addition， the results of calibration curve and decision curve analyses showed that the model had good consistency and accuracy. ConclusionBased on general information and serological markers， the LASSO regression analysis is used to establish a nomogram model using sex， baseline HBsAg level， the reduction in HBsAg in 0 — 12 weeks， and the reduction in ALT in 0 — 12 weeks， and this model can be used to predict the probability of achieving HBsAg clearance in HBeAg-negative CHB patients treated with PEG-IFNα-2b， which provides important reference and theoretical support for the clinical treatment of patients.