Objective To observe imaging characteristics of carotid body tumor and schwannoma in carotid space. Methods CT, MRI and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) appearances of 16 patients with carotid body tumors and schwannomas in carotid space confirmed pathologically were retrospectively analyzed. There were 8 patients with carotid body tumors and 8 patients with schwannomas. Six patients with carotid body tumors and 5 patients with schwannomas underwent CT plain scan. All the patients underwent MR plain and contrast-enhanced scan. Four patients with carotid body tumors and 2 patients with schwannomas underwent DSA examination. Results CT: Six carotid body tumors were lobulated soft tissue masses. The density of the tumors was similar to neck muscles. Two carotid body tumors involving jugular foramen expanded jugular foramen, and the margin was irregular and erosion-destructive. Five schwannomas were ovoid or fusiform soft tissue masses. The density of the tumors was mixed. Two schwannomas involved jugular foramen expanded jugular foramen, and the margin was smooth. MRI: Eight carotid body tumors were lobulated, well-defined, longitudinal growth masses with characteristic high-velocity flow voids. The tumor splayed and surrounded internal carotid artery and external carotid artery. The diameters of the arteries were normal. The tumors intensely enhanced on contrast-enhanced MRI. Eight schwannomas were ovoid or fusiform, well-defined, longitudinal growth masses with heterogeneous signal, splaying carotid artery and jugular vein. The diameters of the vessels were narrow. The tumors nonuniformly enhanced on contrast-enhanced MRI. DSA: Four carotid body tumors showed intense tumor blush, while 2 schwannomas showed slight tumor blush. Conclusion According to the imaging characteristic of the tumors, carotid body tumor and schwannoma in carotid space can be accurately differentiated.

In adult orbital diseases, thyroid associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is of very high incidence rate, and it can seriously affect patients' appearance, eyesight and binocular visual function and so on, and significantly reduce the patients' quality of life.In addition to the common manifestations such as eyelid retraction, exophthalmos and strabismus, some TAO patients may suffer from obviously increased ocular pressure and even visual field damage, which are often ignored or missed in diagnosis and should be paid more attention to.The pathogenesis of elevated intraocular pressure in TAO is mainly related to the elevated episcleral venous pressure and the extraocular muscles.Because the elevated intraocular pressure resulted from TAO is secondary and its pathogenesis is complex, personalized treatment different from primary glaucoma therapy is needed.In this article, the epidemiology, pathogenesis and therapy of elevated intraocular pressure in TAO including medication, surgery, and radiotherapy were reviewed to provide reference for the clinical diagnosis and treatment for TAO.

Objective Acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is the leading cause of hospitalization and death in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Exploring the prognostic factors of AECOPD patients will assist in optimizing treatment strategies and standardizing disease management. Methods This study retrospectively collected the clinical data of 664 patients with AECOPD admitted to the Respiratory Department of Dongzhimen Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from January 2013 to September 2019. The 3-year survival rate and treatment of the patients were investigated. According to whether the patients died,they were divided into a non-survivors group and a survivors group,and clinical data such as basic information,comorbidities,and auxiliary examination results were compared between the two groups. Incorporating clinical experience of researchers and previous research evidence,a secondary screening of variables was conducted to ultimately determine the covariates to be included in the multifactorial Cox proportional hazards regression model,and the factors affecting the 3-year survival rate of the patients were analyzed. Results A total of 664 cases were included in this study,including 362 males and 302 females,with an average age of (77.25±6.89) years old. The 3-year all-cause mortality rate of older hospitalized patients with AECOPD was 20.48％(136 patients). Older age (HR:1.071,95％CI:1.040-1.102,P<0.001);smoking history (HR:1.788,95％CI:1.173-2.723,P=0.007);Charlson comorbidity index (HR:1.209,95％CI:1.029-1.421,P=0.022);lower arterial partial pressure of oxygen (HR:1.014,95％CI:1.006-1.022,P<0.001);higher brain natriuretic peptide(HR:1.001,95％CI:1.000-1.001,P=0.025);cor pulmonale(HR:1.896,95％CI:1.235-2.908,P=0.004);respiratory failure (HR:2.437,95％CI:1.378-4.311,P=0.003);TCM syndrome differentiation elements,including kidney (HR:1.639,95％CI:1.055-2.546,P=0.028) and fluid retention (HR:2.512,95％CI:1.653-3.816,P<0.001),were independent risk factors for 3-year all-cause death of older hospitalized patients with AECOPD. Long-term regular use of bronchiectasis (HR:0.474,95％CI:0.324-0.695,P<0.001) was an independent protective factor for 3-year all-cause death. Conclusion The 3-year survival rate of elderly hospitalized patients with AECOPD is relatively low,with the TCM syndrome elements manifested as lung-kidney qi deficiency,yang deficiency with water retention,and blood stasis obstruction. Patients with moderate to severe impairment of lung function due to COPD have an increased risk of death within 3 years. Therefore,for such patients,nourishing lung-kidney qi,resolving phlegm and water retention,activating blood circulation to remove blood stasis and dredging collaterals,combined with regular use of bronchodilators,may help improve their 3-year survival rate.

AIM:To investigate the effects and mechanism of long noncoding RNA PCED1B antisense strand 1(lncRNA PCED1B-AS1)on the proliferation,migration,invasion and apoptosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC)cells.METHODS:Human PTC cells were cultured in vitro.The expression of PCED1B-AS1 and fused in sarcoma(FUS)was measured by RT-qPCR.The effects of knockdown/overexpression of PCED1B-AS1/FUS on the migration and invasion of PTC cells were detected via Transwell assay.The effects of knockdown/overexpression of PCED1B-AS1/FUS on PTC cell proliferation were analysed via CCK-8 and plate colony assay.The effect of knockdown PCED1B-AS1 on PTC cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry.The target binding of PCED1B-AS1 and FUS was determined with bioin-formatics and RNA immunoprecipitation(RIP)experiments.Fluorescence in situ hybridization experiment was performed to verify whether PCED1B-AS1 colocalises with FUS.The mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathway-re-lated proteins were detected via Western blot.RESULTS:(1)PCED1B-AS1 expression was significantly higher and FUS expression was significantly lower in PTC cells compared with normal thyroid Nthy-ori3-1 cell(P<0.05).(2)Knockdown of PCED1B-AS1 and overexpression of FUS inhibited PTC cell migration,invasion and proliferation,and promoted apopto-sis(P<0.05).(3)Bioinformatics analysis and RIP assay verified the existence of targeted binding of PCED1B-AS1 to FUS(P<0.05).(4)PCED1B-AS1 and FUS colocalised in the cytoplasm.(5)Inhibition of PCED1B-AS1 decreased the expression of MAPK signaling pathway-related proteins p-ERK 1/2,p-JNK and p-P38(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:ln-cRNA PCED1B-AS1 inhibits the proliferation,migration and invasion,and promotes the apoptosis of PTC cells,and its mechanism may be related to the expression of FUS and the MAPK signaling pathway.

Objective To compare the safety and efficacy of endovascular treatment(EVT)transradial approach and transfemoral approach in patients with acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion in the posterior circulation.Methods Patients with acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion in the posterior circulation admitted to the Stroke Center of Linyi People's Hospital,Shandong Second Medical University from February 2022 to April 2024 were retrospectively recruited.The baseline and clinical data were collected,including age,sex,past medical history(hypertension,diabetes mellitus,hyperlipidemia,atrial fibrillation,coronary artery disease,myocardial infarction and stroke),smoking,blood pressure at admission,National Institutes of Health stroke scale(NIHSS)score at admission,modified Rankin scale(mRS)score before the onset of stroke,Alberta stroke program early CT score(ASPECTS),whether intravenous thrombolysis was performed,volume of core infarct zone,volume of hypoperfused zone,occlusion location,etiology of stroke,time indexes(including time from onset to door,time from door to arterial puncture,arterial puncture to recanalization,and time from onset to revascularization),anesthesia modality,EVT first-line strategy,number of passes and whether with vascular access conversion.Clinical data included 90-day postoperative mRS scores,postoperative puncture site complications in 24 hours,symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage at 72 hours postoperatively,modified thrombolysis in cerebral infarction(mTICI)grade at the last angiography introperative and length of stay.The groups were categorized into transradial(TRA)and transfemoral(TFA)groups according to the final access route for EVT.The baseline and clinical data of the two groups were compared.Results A total of 129 patients underwent EVT with acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion in the posterior circulation were finally included,including 47 patients in TRA group and 82 patients in TFA group.The differences about sex,age,past medical history,smoking,blood pressure at admission,NIHSS score at admission,mRS score before the onset of the stroke,ASPECTS,whether intravenous thrombolysis was performed,volume of core infarct zone,volume of hypoperfused zone,occlusion location,etiology of stroke,anesthesia modality,EVT first-line strategy,number of passes,mTICI grade at the last angiography introperative and other aspects were not statistically significant(all P＞0.05).The good prognosis rate at 90 d after surgery(53.2％[25/47]vs.48.8％[40/82],P=0.630),distribution of mRS scores at 90d postoperatively(P=0.991),all-cause mortality at 90 days after surgery(27.7％[13/47]vs.28.0％[23/82],P=1.000),rate of good recanalization(mTICI grade≥2b)on intraoperative last angiogram(97.9％[46/47]vs.95.1％[78/82],P=0.436),rate of complication of puncture site(4.3％[2/47]vs.12.2％[10/82],P=0.209)between the two groups were not statistically significant.The time from door to arterial puncture was significantly longer in the TRA group than in the TFA group,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(122.00[95.00,153.00]min vs.105.00[80.25,118.00]min,Z=-2.937,P=0.03);average length of stay in the TFA group was significantly longer than that of the TRA group,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(6.00[4.95,7.05]d vs.7.00[6.95,8.88]d,Z=-2.573,P=0.010).Conclusions Patients who underwent EVT via radial or femoral artery approach with acute ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion in the posterior circulation had similar safety and efficacy,and the number of days of hospitalization was shorter via the TRA.However,more large prospective randomized controlled clinical trials are needed to validate the results of this study.

Objective:To explore the surgical outcomes and surgery-related complications of balanced orbital decompression and endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression for Grave's ophthalmopathy (GO).Methods:A cohort study was performed.The 56 GO patients who underwent balanced orbital decompression or endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression in the Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital from December 2016 to December 2019 were enrolled.The follow-up time was 6 months.Patients were divided into two groups according to the operation modes.Thirty-three eyes of 24 subjects were given deep lateral wall rim-sparing orbital decompression and transcaruncular medial wall decompression, and 51 eyes of 36 cases were given endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression.The demographics, surgical details, imaging data, postoperative changes of exophthalmos, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), orbital pressure and diplopia, surgery-related complications and further treatment were analyzed and compared.This study followed the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital [No.2020KY(L)-39]. All subjects signed informed consent.Results:The exophthalmos was (21.03±3.11)mm before operation, which was significantly higher than (17.06±2.55)mm after operation in the balanced orbital decompression group ( P<0.05). The exophthalmos was (20.51±3.53)mm before operation, which was significantly higher than (16.28±2.96)mm after operation in the endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression group ( P<0.05). No significant difference in the mean reduction of proptosis was found between the two groups ( P>0.05). All the subjects were accompanied with increase of intraorbital pressure before operation.The intraorbital pressure returned to normal at 6 months after operation.The postoperative BCVA of subjects with dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON) were significantly higher than preoperative values ( Z=-3.524, -4.376; both at P<0.01). The postoperative improvement values of BCVA were 0.48 (0.25, 0.67) and 0.72 (0.40, 0.80) in the balanced orbital decompression group and the endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression group, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups ( Z=-2.481, P=0.016). The incidence of complications in the balanced orbital decompression group was 21.2% (7/33), which was significantly lower than 47.0% (24/51) in the endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression group ( χ2=5.748, P=0.017). Conclusion:The two kinds surgical methods can effectively reduce the degree of exophthalmos and orbital pressure.Endoscopic transnasal inferomedial wall decompression can provide better improvement of visual function in patients with DON, but has a higher risk of surgery-related complications in comparison with the balanced orbital decompression.

Objective:To investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) on the differentiation of orbital fibroblasts (OF) in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) and its regulation mechanism.Methods:Six patients (six eyes) diagnosed with TAO were collected in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital from December 2019 to August 2020.Adipose connective tissue was collected during the orbital decompression surgery.OF was isolated and cultured using the tissue block method and vimentin was identified by immunofluorescence.Lipogenic differentiation of OF was induced and identified by oil red O staining.Complete culture medium containing 0, 0.1, 1.0 and 10.0 μg/L TNF-α was used to induce the dedifferentiation of orbital mature adipocytes.Primary culturing cells, 14-day differentiation cells and 20-day dedifferentiation cells were collected.The relative mRNA expression levels of peroxisomal proliferation-activated receptor (PPARγ), extracellular regulatory protein kinase1 (ERK1), ERK2 and fat-coated protein1 (perilipin1) were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR.The relative protein expression levels of PPARγ, P-ERK1/2 and perilipin1 were detected by Western blot.Results:Human TAO-derived OF were successfully cultured in vitro, spindle-shaped or polygonal, tightly arranged in a vortex pattern, and immunofluorescence staining for vimentin was positive.After OF adipogenic differentiation, lipid droplet structures could be seen in the cytoplasm of some cells, and the stained lipid droplet structures in the cytoplasm could be seen by oil red O staining, which confirmed that the cells obtained after differentiation were adipocytes.Dedifferentiation of adipocytes was induced by 0.1, 1.0, and 10.0 μg/L TNF-α.With the extension of induction time, the volume of lipid droplets in the cytoplasm and the number of cells containing lipid droplets decreased.Lipid droplets disappeared in the cytoplasm on the 20th day of dedifferentiation, and the cells became long spindle-shaped and tightly arranged, dedifferentiated into fibroblast-like cells.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR detection results showed that the relative expression levels of PPARγ, ERK1, ERK2 and perilipin1 mRNA in 14-day differentiation group were 4.26±0.09, 2.01±0.09, 3.23±0.10 and 8.69±0.33, respectively, which were significantly higher than 1.00±0.09, 1.05±0.19, 1.00±0.10 and 1.05±0.07 in primary group, and 1.06±0.03, 1.15±0.11 and 6.27±0.09 in 20-day dedifferentiation group (all at P<0.05). Western blot analysis showed that the expression levels of PPARγ, ERK1/2 and perilipin1 proteins in 14-day differentiation group were 1.07±0.03, 1.00±0.03 and 1.13±0.02, respectively, which were significantly higher than 0.37±0.02, 0.29±0.02 and 0.00±0.00 in primary group, and 0.20±0.02, 0.38±0.06 and 0.00±0.00 in 20-day dedifferentiation group (all at P<0.001). Conclusions:TNF-α has a dedifferentiation effect on TAO orbital adipocytes.The mechanism may be related to the downregulation of ERK1/2-PPARγ-perilipin1 signaling pathway.