Objective To investigate the differences in clinical symptoms and risk factors between non-elderly and elderly patients with acute pulmonary thromboembolism(PTE).Methods Totally141 patients with acute PTE and 100 sex and age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study.The final diagnosis was confirmed by CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and/or pulmonary angiography and/or pulmonary perfusion imaging as well as medical history.The patients with acute PTE were divided into two groups according age:elderly group (n=78,age≥60 years),young group (n =63,age ＜ 60 years).Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors of PTE and to confirm the risk of each factor.Results The morbidity rate of dyspnea,cough,chest distress and chest pain were 88.5％ (69 cases),76.9％ (60 cases),56.4％ (44 cases),15.4％ (12 cases) in elderly group,which was similar to 84.1％ (53 cases),69.8％ (44 cases),63.5％ (40 cases),25.4％ (16 cases) in young group (all P＞0.05)； while the morbidity rate of hemoptysis in elderly group [9.0％ (7 cases)] was lower than in young group [23.8％(15 cases)](P＜0.05).9％ (7 cases) in elderly patients without any symptoms were more than 1.6％ (1 cases) in young patients,but no significant differene (P＞0.05).There were more risk factors in the elderly group accompanying with diabetes (x2 =7.41,P ＜ 0.01),hypertension (x2 =14.51,P＜ 0.01),chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (x2 =7.42,P＜0.01) and previous stroke (x2 =4.91,P＜0.05)compared with young group.Independent risk factors for elderly acute PTE included COPD (OR:3.29,95％CI:1.04-10.46),previous deep veneus thrombosis(DVT) (OR:4.72,95％CI:1.68-13.27),cancers (OR:4.35,95％CI:1.00-18.13) and previous stroke (OR:5.13,95％CI:1.15-24.52).Independent risk factors for non-elderly PTE included previous DVT (OR:11.94,95％ CI:3.35-42.60)and cancers (OR:11.44,95％CI:1.44-89.92).Conclusions Much attention should be paid to the identification of diagnosis of acute PTE depending on the non-specific clinical features,although dyspnea may be the most frequency symptoms,but unexplained cough and chest distress should be alert for PTE.COPD,cancer,DVT and previous stroke are independent and important risk factors for elderly acute PTE.

Objective To explore the plasma expressions of monocyte chemotaxis proteins(MCPs) in patients with type A aortic dissection and their clinical significance.Methods 51 patients with type A aortic dissection were enrolled,in which 29 combined with hypertension.Fourteen hypertension patients and 1 1 hcalthy subjects were enrolled as control.Plasma samples were collected and we examined the levels of MCP-1,MCP-2 and MCP-4 by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results Plasma levels of MCP-1 and MCP-2 significantly decreased in patients with type A aortic dissection compared to healthy subjects(P ＜0.001),while MCP-4 had no change.Type A aortic dissection patients with or without hypertension both showed significant decreased plasma MCP-1 and MCP-2 levels compared to hypertension patients(P ＜0.001).There was no change of MCP-4 among different groups.Furthermore,Spearman correlation analysis showed that there was no correlation between serum CRP levels and plasma MCP-1,MCP-2 concentrations.Conclusion Plasma MCP-1 and MCP-2 may participate in the pathogenesis of type A aortic dissection,and their concentrations were not correlated with hypertension or serum CRP levels.The detailed mechanism needs further observations.

Objective To analyze the early outcomes of the Sun' s procedure,which is an approach integrating total arch replacement using a 4-branched graft with implantation of a special stented graft in the descending aorta,and observe the mortality,morbidity and mid-term clinical results of postoperative in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (AAAD).Methods Clinical data of 61 consecutive AAAD patients undergoing the Sun' s procedure were analyzed.There were 53 male and 8 female,aged (54 ± 12) years.61 patients had postoperative follow-up and the clinical effect of Sun' s procedure were retrospectively analyzed.Results Cardiopulmonary bypass time was (229 ± 46) min,aortic clamping time was (147 ± 37) min and unilateral selective cerebral perfusion time was (35 ± 9) min.Reoperation for excessive bleeding in 5 cases (8.2％),acute renal failure in 3(4.9％),tracheotomy patients for pulmonary infection in 3(4.9％),and spinal cord injury in 2 (3.3％),delayed thoracic incision healing in 1 (1.6％),and osteofascial compartment syndrome of the right lower limb in 1 (1.6％).The 30 day mortality is 8.2％,and the leading causes was low cardiac output syndrome in 2(3.3％),multi-organ failure in 1 (1.6％),pulmonary infection in 1 (1.6％) and ruptured of abdominal aortic dissection in 1 (1.6％).The average follow-up time is(5.1 ± 0.7) years.Postoperative 1 year survival rate was 91.8％,5 year survival rate was 83.6％.Conclusion The Sun' s procedure has generated a relatively lower mortality rate in 61 patients with AAAD.Postoperative survival rate is high,and the reoperation rate is low.

Objective:To introduce a new method of root reconstruction for proximal repair of acute type A aortic dissection, and to retrospectively analyze its short-term efficacy.Methods:From January 2018 to October 2019, a total of 455 patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection received surgical treatment. Among them, 343 patients underwent double-jacket-wrapping(DJW) root reinforcement(11 patients underwent leaflet suspension), 81 patients underwent Bentall surgery, 15 Wheat operations, 12 untreated roots, and 4 David operations. Compared 343 patients who underwent double-jacket-wrapping root reconstruction and 81 patients who underwent Bentall surgery. The perioperative indicators and short-term survival of the two groups were compared.Results:No patients died intraoperatively. The 30-day mortality rate in the DJW group and the Bentall group were 10.5% and 7.4%, respectively( P=0.403); cardiopulmonary bypass time were(218.8±68.4) min and(240.2 ± 59.8), P=0.011; aortic clamp time were(150.6 ± 47.9) min and(181.3 ±45.6)min, P=0.000. There was no difference between the operation time and the deep hypothermia circulatory time between the two groups. The mean follow-up was(11.7±6.4) months. Seven and two follow-up deaths occurred in the DJW group and the Bentall group, respectively, and the cause of death was not related to the aortic root. The degree of aortic regurgitation after DJW was 0.7±0.5, which was significantly lower than that before surgery( P=0.000). Conclusion:Compared with Bentall surgery, DJW method is a safe and effective method for the repair of acute type A aortic dissection roots, which can obtain good perioperative and early curative effects.

Objective: To examine the effect of dietary behaviors on handgrip strength loss among the elderly, so as to provide insights into the prevention of handgrip strength loss. Methods : Based on the health surveillance cohort among the elderly in Zhejiang Province, two villages or communities were randomly sampled from each of Shaoxing and Zhoushan cities using a multi-stage cluster sampling method, and all residents that had lived in local areas for one year and longer and had an age of 60 years and older were enrolled. Participants' demographics, dietary behaviors, smoking, drinking, and exercise were collected through questionnaire surveys, and the height, body weight and handgrip strength were measured. The handgrip strength loss was diagnosed according the 2019 Consensus Update on Sarcopenia Diagnosis and Treatment proposed by Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia, and the effect of dietary behaviors on handgrip strength loss was examined using a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: A total of 1 265 residents were enrolled, with a mean age of (70.67±7.30) years, and including 565 men (44.66%) and 700 women (55.34%). The overall prevalence of handgrip strength loss was 42.85% among the participants, and the prevalence was 40.35% in men and 44.86% in women, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that nut intake for 1 to 3 times a week (OR=0.180, 95%CI: 0.088-0.367) and for 4 to 6 times a week (OR=0.241, 95%CI: 0.113-0.514) led to a reduced risk of handgrip strength loss among the elderly, and intake of sugary drinks for 4 to 6 times a week led to an increased risk of handgrip strength loss among the elderly (OR=2.298, 95%CI: 1.120-4.714) after adjustment for age, body mass index, educational level and exercise. Conclusion Intake of nuts and sugary drinks may affect the development of handgrip strength loss among the elderly.

Objective: To examine the associations of fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19), its co-receptor KLB gene and its receptor FGFR4 with susceptibility to sarcopenia, so as to provide insights into elucidation of sarcopenia pathogenesis and formulation of precision interventions for sarcopenia. Methods: A case-control study was conducted. Patients with sarcopenia at ages of 60 years and older included in the Zhejiang Provincial Elderly Health Surveillance Cohorts were selected as the sarcopenia group, and normal residents at ages of 60 years and older were served as controls. Subjects' demographics were collected using questionnaire surveys, and the height, body weight, appendicular skeletal muscle mass and grip strength were measured. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples for multiplex PCR targeted capture. The associations between the KLB gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and susceptibility to sarcopenia were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression models. Results: There were 200 cases in the sarcopenia group, including 91 men and 109 women, and 180 cases in the control group, including 70 men and 110 women. All SNPs satisfied the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, and the minor allele frequencies were all > 0.05. There were no significant differences in the distribution of SNPs between the sarcopenia and control groups (all P>0.05). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the SNP rs2687968 locus in the KLB gene was significantly associated with the susceptibility to sarcopenia among the elderly men (superdominant model), and individuals carrying the AC allele had a 2.332-fold higher risk of sarcopenia than those carrying the AA/CC allele (95%CI: 1.882-3.313). Conclusions KLB gene may correlate with the susceptibility to sarcopenia among the elderly men.

Objective: To investigate the factors affecting cataract among the elderly, so as to provide insights into cataract control. Methods: Based on the major public health monitoring project of Zhejiang Province, residents at ages of 60 years and older were selected from 7 districts (counties) using a multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method, and were followed up every other year from 2014 to 2020. Demographics, lifestyle, dietary habits and cataract incidence were collected, and factors affecting the incidence of cataract were identified using a multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression model. Results: Totally 9 642 residents were investigated, with a mean age of (68.89±7.39) years, and including 4 635 males (48.07%). There were 828 incident cataract cases, with an incidence rate of 20.946/1 000 person-years. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analysis showed that women (HR=1.695, 95%CI: 1.377-2.088), age of 65 years and older (HR=1.707-5.044, 95%CI: 1.400-7.327), overweight/obesity (HR=1.313, 95%CI: 1.131-1.524), educational level (primary school, HR=1.642, 95%CI: 1.400, 1.926; junior high school, HR=1.553, 95%CI: 1.148-2.102), annual family income (10 000 to 50 000 Yuan, HR=1.353, 95%CI: 1.155-1.585; 50 000 to 100 000 Yuan, HR=0.663, 95%CI: 0.500-0.881; 100 000 to 150 000 Yuan, HR=0.340, 95%CI: 0.204-0.565), smoking (HR=0.649, 95%CI: 0.494-0.853), frequency of vegetable intake of >3 days/week (HR=0.693, 95%CI: 0.527-0.912), frequency of fruit intake of >3 days/ week (HR=0.833, 95%CI: 0.694-0.899), frequency of egg intake of >3 days/week (HR=0.579, 95%CI: 0.450-0.745), frequency of soy products intake of >3 days/week (HR=0.706, 95%CI: 0.588-0.849), frequency of dairy products intake of >3 days/week (HR=1.510, 95%CI: 1.199-1.901) and frequency of nut intake of >3 days/week (HR=1.733, 95%CI: 1.162-2.586) were statistically associated with the development of cataract among the elderly. Conclusion Gender, age, body mass index, educational level, income, smoking, and frequency of vegetables, fruits, eggs, soy products, dairy products and nuts intake are associated with the development of cataracts.

Objective : To build a model for influenza-like illness（ILI）prediction based on Elman neural network and to provide evidence for early warning of influenza epidemic in Zhejiang Province. Methods : The data of ILI from 11 sentinel hospitals,influenza pathogen detection,meteorological factors and air pollutants in Zhejiang Province from 2013 to 2014 were collected. Time-delay correlation analysis was conducted to select variables for modeling. Based on Elman neural network,data from the 14th week of 2013 to the 44th week of 2014 were used as a training set to establish the model and the data from 45th week to 52nd weeks of 2014 were used as a test set for the model performance. Results : There were ILI reported every week during 2013 and 2014,with a total of 506 391. The percentage of ILI cases per week was（3.07 ± 0.73）%. Ten variables selected by time-delay correlation analysis were the weekly average values of atmospheric pressure（13 weeks in advance）,vapor pressure（11 weeks in advance）,temperature（9 weeks in advance）,SO2（5 weeks in advance）,NO2（5 weeks in advance）,CO（5 weeks in advance）,PM2.5（5 weeks in advance）,PM10（5 weeks in advance）,air quality index（5 weeks in advance）and positive rate of pathogen（1 weeks in advance）. Elman neural network（10-15-1-1）was selected as the optimal model,and the prediction performed well,with 10.58% as the mean error rate and 0.876 7 as the nonlinear correlation coefficient. Conclusion This study demonstrated that Elman neural network including variables of meteorological factors,air pollutants and the positive rate of pathogen performed well on the short-term prediction of ILI incidence.

Objective: To explore the plasma chemokines expressions and related clinical implication in patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection (AD). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 65 patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection, hypertensive patients and 11 healthy subjects admitted in our department from October 2013 to December 2014, they were divided into four groups: NH-CON group (11 healthy subjects), H-AD group (29 AD patients with hypertension), NH-AD group (21 AD patients without hypertension), and H-CON group (14 hypertension patients). Four plasma samples from AD patients and 4 plasma samples from healthy subjects were collected randomly with random numbers table, and the levels of different chemokines were examined by protein array analysis. Then, plasma levels of chemokines including macrophage inflammatory protein 1β(MIP-1β), epithelial neutrophil activating peptide 78(ENA-78), interleukin 16(IL-16), interferon inducible protein 10(IP-10) and FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3(Flt-3) ligand were analyzed by luminex. Pearson analysis was used to determine the correlations between the chemokines and serum C reactive protein (CRP) levels. Results: Plasma levels of MIP-1β(34.0(29.3, 47.2) ng/L vs. 51.0(28.2, 80.7) ng/L, P<0.05) and ENA-78(110.5(59.1, 161.4) ng/L vs. 475.7(299.3, 837.3) ng/L, P<0.05) were significantly lower in H-AD group, while plasma IL-16 level was significantly higher in H-AD group(54.7(16.3, 187.8) ng/L vs. 17.5(11.9, 20.8) ng/L, P<0.05) than in H-CON group. Plasma levels of MIP-1β(48.3(26.4, 62.1) ng/L, P<0.05) were significantly lower in H-AD patients than in NH-AD patients. Plasma level of ENA-78 was significantly lower in NH-AD group than in NH-CON group (95.0(58.0, 155.0) ng/L vs. 257.7(85.2, 397.8) ng/L, P<0.05). The levels of IP-10 and Flt-3 ligand were similar among the 4 groups (all P>0.05). Pearson analysis showed that there were no correlation between MIP-1β(r²=0.01, P>0.05), ENA-78(r²=0.02, P>0.05), IL-16(r²=0.02, P>0.05), IP-10(r²=0.00, P>0.05), Flt-3 ligand(r²=0.02, P>0.05) and CRP levels in patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection. Conclusions Lower plasma levels of MIP-1β and ENA-78 and higher plasma levels of IL-16 may associate with the occurrence and development of type A aortic dissection, but their concentrations are not correlated with serum CRP levels. There is no significant change on plasma levels of IP-10 and Flt-3 in the Stanford type A aortic dissection patients.

This paper analyzed the current status of standardized training for specialists in China using American "milestone concept" and its competency training and assessment system for specialists as references. To achieve the goal of training high-standard and homogeneous cardiothoracic surgeons, a "milestone plan" focusing on the cultivation of diagnosis and treatment capacity of specialists, their mastery ability of medical knowledge, communication ability, professional ability, system-based clinical practice ability, practice-based learning ability and the ability of pursuing improvement was explored. In addition, daily assessment and summary assessment were carried out by means of self-evaluation, superior evaluation and peer evaluation. At the end, training of six core competencies and multi-dimensional evaluation system for cardiothoracic surgeons were constructed, which provided significant references to the construction of training and assessment system for specialists in China.