Objective To summarize the imaging features of computed tomography (CT)and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with multi-technology imaging and compare its effects in the preoperative evaluation of malignant perihilar biliary obstruction.Methods The clinical data of 20 patients receiving CT and MRI who were diagnosed with malignant perihilar biliary obstruction by pathological examination at the Wuxi Second People's Hospital between January 2008 and April 2014 were retrospectively analyzed.Patients receiving CT combined with negative-contrast CT cholangiopancreatography (nCTCP) and computed tomography angiography (CTA) were allocated into the CT group,and patients receiving MRI combined with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) were allocated into the MRI group.The images of the 2 groups were analyzed by 2 independent reviewers.The classification of malignant perihilar biliary obstruction,hepatic artery and portal vein invasions and lymph node and organ metastases were evaluated respectively,and then the results of evaluation were compared with the results of surgery and pathological examinations.The comparison between the accuracy of imaging examination in the 2 groups and accuracy of perihilar biliary obstruction classification were analyzed by the chi-square test.The comparison of evaluating accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) among vascular invasion and lymph node and organ metastases were done by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis,and the comparison of its accuracy were done by the z-score test.Results The imagings of bile duct involvement of the 2 groups showed that there were irregular thickening bile duct wall combined with retrograde intrahepatic bile duct dilatation.The symptoms of vascular invasion included the stricture and occlusion of blood vessels or more than half of vascular contact surface with tumor.The symptoms of lymph node metastasis included the enlarging short-axis or round-like circular enhanced lesions.The symptoms of organ involvement included the unclear boundary of lesions or low-density necrotic foci within organ.All the 20 patients underwent the surgical treatment,including 13 patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma and 7 patients with gallbladder carcinoma.Hepatic artery invasions were detected in 5 patients,portal vein invasions in 10 patients,lymph node metastases in 10 patients and organ metastases in 4 patients.The cases of classification of perihilar biliary obstruction,hepatic artery invasion,portal vein invasion,lymph node metastasis and organ metastasis which were evaluated respectively by reviewer 1 and 2 were 18/18,19/18,18/18,17/16 and 18/19 in the CT group and 17/16,14/13,17/16,15/14 and 19/18 in the MRI group.The imaging of the 2 groups were compared with the evaluating accuracies of classification of malignant hilar biliary obstruction,hepatic artery and portal vein invasions,lymph node and organ metastases in the 2 groups,showing no significant differences (x2=12.593,8.889,z=1.823,1.956,0.462,0.817,0.977,0.751,0.233,1.403,P＞0.05).Conclusion CT and MRI for malignant hilar biliary obstruction had the same imaging features,meanwhile,they can provide an equivalent performance in the classification of malignant hilar biliary obstruction,hepatic artery and portal vein invasions and lymph node and organ metastases.

[Objective] To explore the risk factors for mortality of bloodstream infections in the patients with hematologic diseases,so as to provide evidence for reasonable and effective application of treatments.[Methods] The clinical data of 242 cases of bloodstream infections who were hospitalized from Jan 2012 to Jun 2016 were analyzed retrospectively,then the analysis was performed for risk factors.The statistical analysis was processed by SPSS 19.0.[Results] A total of 266 strains of pathogens were isolated,including 99 strains of gram-positive bacteria,accounting for 37.2％,and 164 strains of gram-negative bacteria,accounting for 61.7％.Multivariate analysis showed that the significant independent risk factors for mortality were active states of hematologic diseases (P =0.007,OR =5.622,95％ CI 1.586 ～ 19.924),presentation with septic shock(P =0.007,OR =4.978,95％ CI 1.560 ～15.884),cardiac insufficiency (P =0.001,OR =11.878,95％ CI 2.760 ～ 51.120),level of albumin less than 35 g/L (P =0.036,OR =3.468,95％ CI 1.087 ～ 11.066),polymicrobial infection (P =0.010,OR =6.024,95％ CI 1.540 ～ 23.563),and Staphylococcus haemolyticus (P =0.001,OR =19.308,95％ CI 3.392 ～ 109.888)/Enterococcus (P =0.002,OR =15.266,95％ CI 2.817 ～82.728) infection.The survival curves show that the inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy group or presentation with any one of the independent risk factors had a lower probability of survival than the control group.[Conclusions] Bloodstream infections in patients may cause high mortality rate,so it is necessary that we use antibiotic reasonably and spare no effort to reduce the mortality rate by appropriate application of antimicrobial therapy and effective intervention of the risk factors.

PURPOSE: Evidence on the contribution of genes to the hereditary predisposition to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is limited. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, we hypothesized that single nucleotide variants in vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene may alter gene function and expression and may be associated with PAH risk. Five putatively functional loci (rs699947C>A and rs833061T>C in the promoter, rs3025040C>T, rs10434G>A and rs3025053G>A in the 3'-UTR) in the VEGF gene were genotyped and analyzed in a retrospective study of 587 patients with PAH and 736 healthy subjects from southern China. RESULTS: We found that the rs833061T>C polymorphism was significantly associated with PAH risk, while the other single nucleotide polymorphisms were not. Compared to carriers with TT genotype, those with rs833061C variant genotype (CT/CC) had an increased risk of PAH (odds ratio=1.47, 95% confidence interval=1.18–1.83, p=0.001). Functional assays indicated that CT/CC variant genotype had significantly higher mRNA levels of VEGF in peripheral blood mononuclear cells than TT genotype (p=0.021). Luciferase reporter assay indicated that having a C allele conferred a significantly higher transcription activity than that with a T allele. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the functional polymorphism rs833061T>C in VEGF gene promoter modulates VEGF expression and may be a valuable biomarker for predicting PAH susceptibility.
Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; China ; Genotype ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hypertension* ; Luciferases ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Retrospective Studies ; RNA, Messenger ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A*

Objective:To investigate risk factors for decompressive craniectomy (DC) after endovascular therapy (EVT) in patients with acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke.Methods:Patients underwent EVT due to acute anterior circulation large vessel occlusion in Liaocheng Brain Hospital from January 2018 to January 2020 were retrospectively included. They were divided into DC group and non-DC group. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine risk factors for DC after EVT. Results:A total of 207 patients were enrolled, 126 were male (60.87%), and their age was 66.22±11.24 years old. The baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 19.84±9.20, and the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) was 7.98±0.66. The immediate postoperative modified Treatment In Cerebral Ischemia (mTICI) blood flow grade in seven patients (5.80%) was ≤2a, 30 (14.49%) experienced hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after procedure, and 28 (13.5%) received DC. There were statistically significant differences between the DC group and the non-DC group in terms of past stroke history, preoperative NIHSS score and ASPECTS, vascular occlusion site, EVT time, immediate postoperative mTICI ≤2a, and HT (all P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that atrial fibrillation (odds ratio [ OR] 3.202, 95% confidence interval [ CI] 1.335-9.796; P=0.011), previous stroke history ( OR 2.655, 95% CI 1.016-6.938; P=0.046), high preoperative NIHSS score ( OR 1.074, 95% CI 1.026-1.124; P=0.002), internal carotid artery occlusion ( OR 4.268, 95% CI 1.399-13.024; P=0.011), longer EVT time ( OR 1.010, 95% CI 1.003-1.016; P=0.003), mTICI grade ≤2a ( OR 5.342, 95% CI 1.565-18.227; P=0.007) and postoperative HT ( OR 3.036, 95% CI 1.024-9.004; P=0.045) were independent risk factors for DC. Conclusions:It is not uncommon for patients with acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke to need DC after EVT. Previous stroke history, atrial fibrillation, high baseline NIHSS score, internal carotid artery occlusion, prolonged blood EVT time, mTICI grade ≤2a and postoperative HT are independent predictors of needing DC after EVT.

Trauma has the characteristics of complex disease, high disability rate and fatality rate, which adds difficulty to treatment. Due to the limitation of medical conditions and untimely allocation of resources, the current trauma treatment modes still have shortcomings such as low first aid efficiency and irregular application, and hence the treatment is facing enormous challenges. In the process of trauma treatment, a large amount of dynamic data that are valuable for disease diagnosis and treatment will be generated. Big data and artificial intelligence technology is an algorithm that can reasonably predict or estimate the given data based on large-scale data collection, and has been applied to trauma treatment modes. The efficient and accurate statistical analysis of big data and innovative medical technology directions such as machine learning, planning and decision-making not only improve the efficiency and safety of trauma treatment, but also reduce the workload of clinicians, making up for the shortcomings of traditional trauma treatment modes. The authors mainly review the application of big data and artificial intelligence technology in pre-hospital first aid and in-hospital diagnosis and treatment for trauma patients, in order to provide a reference for trauma treatment.

Purpose To detect the expression of peroxiso-mal membrane protein 4(PXMP4)in breast cancer tissues and to explore the effect of PXMP4 on the proliferation,invasion,and epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)of breast cancer cells.Methods Bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry(IHC)were used to detect the expression of PXMP4 in breast cancer tissues.In breast cancer cells,Western blot was used to detect the expression of Cyclin D1,E-cadherin,vimentin and N-cadherin after knockdown and overexpression of PMXP4.The proliferation ability of breast cancer cells was analyzed by CCK-8 and plate cloning assay.Scratch healing and Transwell assay an-alyzed the migration and invasion ability of breast cancer cells.Lentivirus was used to construct a PXMP4-silenced MCF-7 cell line,and the PXMP4-silenced MCF-7 cells were injected into the subcutaneous or tail vein of mice to observe lung metastasis and the number of subcutaneous tumors.Results Bioinformat-ics and IHC showed that the expression of PXMP4 in breast cancer tissues was significantly increased(P＜0.05),and the prognosis of breast cancer patients with high expression of PXMP4 was poor(P＜0.05).The clinicopathological analysis showed that the expression of PXMP4 was correlated with tumor grade and lymph node metastasis(P＜0.05).In vitro knock-down of PMXP4 inhibited the proliferation,invasion and EMT process of breast cancer cells(P＜0.05).Conversely,overex-pression of PXMP4 promoted the proliferation,invasion and EMT process of breast cancer cells(P＜0.05).In vivo,the number of lung metastases,the size of subcutaneous tumor,and the expression of Ki67 in tumor tissue were significantly de-creased after silenced PXMP4(P＜0.05).Conclusion PXMP4 is related to tumor grading and lymph node metastasis.PXMP4 promotes proliferation,invasion and EMT process of breast cancer cells.

OBJECTIVETo review the influencing factors of the early complication after carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

METHODSRetrospective analysis of clinical data of 509 cases received CEA in Xuan Wu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Liaocheng People's Hospital and Dalian Central Hospital from January 2001 to December 2011. There are 422 male patients and 72 female patients among the 494 patients, 15 patients underwent CEA by stages. The patients were between 35-84 years old,and the mean age was (64 ± 9) years. The complications within 30 days after CEA were analyzed, and find the risk factors for the major adverse events. Chi-square analysis was performed to analyze the correlation between the each variable of the basic characteristics of population, clinical features and intraoperative data and early adverse events after CEA. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between a variety of factors and the postoperative complications within 30 days.

RESULTSTechnical complete rate of 98.6%, 7 cases of near-total occlusion patients could not been recanalized. Major complications in 30 days after CEA occurred in 20 cases (3.9%), including 6 cases of deaths (1.2%), 9 cases of cerebral infarction (1.8%) and 5 cases of cerebral hemorrhage (1.0%). Secondary complications occurred in 120 cases (23.6%). Univariate analysis showed modified Rankin scale (mRS) ≥ 3 on the incidence of early postoperative complication had significantly difference (χ² =20.517, P < 0.01), multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that smoking (OR=2.667, 95% CI: 1.048-6.791, P=0.040) and mRS ≥ 3 (OR=8.690, 95% CI: 3.279-23.031, P=0.000) were the significant predictors of 30 days of the end event.

CONCLUSIONThe complications after CEA are uncommon, the security is proved. Smoking and mRS ≥ 3 can increase the risk of CEA.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cerebral Hemorrhage ; complications ; Cerebral Infarction ; complications ; Endarterectomy, Carotid ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

[Objective]To evaluate the efficacy and safety of total oral regimens containing pomalidomide as a second-line treatment strategy in multiple myeloma.[Methods]A total of 22 patients with multiple myeloma placed on total oral regimens containing pomalidomide as a second-line therapy from March 2020 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the treatment response,survival and safety.[Results]The median age of the 22 patients was 71.5 years old. The total oral treatment regimens containing pomalidomide included IPD (7 cases),PCD (11 cases),XPD (2 cases),and PD (2 cases). The median number of treatment cycles was 14. Among the 13 patients with prior lenalidomide exposure,ORR was 53.85％,of which 23.08％ was ≥VGPR. In 9 patients without prior lenalidomide exposure,the ORR was 77.78％,and of which 55.56％ was ≥VGPR. There was no significant difference in ORR between these two groups (P=0.38). In 12 patients with high genetic risk,the ORR was 50％,and ≥VGPR was 16.67％. The median follow-up time was 10.6 months. Disease progressed in 10 patients and death occurred in 6 patients of them. The median progression free survival (PFS) was not reached (not reached and 10.6 months in non-lenalidomide-exposure patients or lenalidomide-exposure patients,respectively).The high grade treatment-related adverse events (AEs)(≥3 ) were reported in 18.18％ patients,including granulocytopenia,thrombocytopenia,and pulmonary infection. There was no treatment-related death.[Conclusion]Total oral regimens containing pomalidomide as a second-line therapy is generally effective and safe for multiple myeloma patients.

Objective:To explores the clinical efficacy and safety of carotid endarterectomy in patients with high bifurcation carotid artery stenosis.Methods:A total of 169 patients with carotid artery stenosis (147 patients with non-high bifurcation carotid artery stenosis and 22 patients with high bifurcation carotid artery stenosis), underwent carotid endarterectomy under surgical microscope in our hospital from January 2017 to January 2020, were included in the study. Patients with high bifurcation carotid artery stenosis were operated by cutting off the posterior abdomen of the digastric muscle to assist in exposing the distal end of the internal carotid artery plaque. Cervical CTA/DSA examination was performed within one week of surgery to confirm whether carotid artery stenosis was relieved; ultrasound examination of cervical vessels was performed 6 months and 1 year after surgery to determine whether restenosis was appeared in the carotid artery. The surgical efficacy, perioperative complications and re-examination results were compared between the two groups.Results:Postoperative carotid artery stenosis was relieved in both groups. The proportions of new cerebral infarction and temporary neurological impairment between the two groups (4.5% vs. 2.0%; 9.1% vs. 3.4%) showed no significant differences ( P>0.05). Carotid artery restenosis was not found in both groups. There was no obvious functional abnormality in the digastric muscles of patients with high bifurcation carotid stenosis. Conclusion:Cutting off the posterior abdomen of the digastric muscle during carotid endarterectomy can better expose the distal end of the internal carotid plaque in patients with high bifurcation carotid stenosis, and provide convenience for effective relief of carotid artery stenosis with high safety.

Objective:To explore the clinical value of 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT targeting for CXCR4 in the diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of primary aldosteronism (PA). Methods:Retrospective analysis was performed on information of 72 patients diagnosed with PA who received operations according to the results of 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT in our hospital. There were 37 males and 35 females, with the average age of (48.3±9.5) years old. The average lesion diameter was (1.60 ± 0.54)cm. The preoperative systolic and diastolic blood pressure were (177.3 ± 23.9)mmHg and (107.6 ± 13.2)mmHg, respectively. The average preoperative potassium level was (2.62 ± 0.56)mmol/L. The average aldosterone concentration was (17.98 ± 4.66)ng/dl, and the median plasma renin activity was 0.01 (0.01, 0.09) ng/(ml·h). All patients underwent 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT examination, which lead to the decision of surgical strategies. For those patients with single lesion, multiple lesions in one side or positive lesion in one side but negative in the opposite side, surgical resection of the positive side lesion or total adrenalectomy was considered. For those patients with bilateral positive lesions, surgical resection of the side with more significant positive lesions or total adrenalectomy was considered. For those with negative multiple lesions, the surgical strategy was designed according to the results of CT examination or AVS. The positive rate of 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT and its relationship with the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients were analyzed. Results:The results of 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT were positive in 62 of 72 patients diagnosed with PA (86.1%), and the median SUVmax value was 11.1 (7.1, 16.2). The SUVmax value was positively correlated with the maximum diameter of adrenal lesion ( r=0.468) and negatively correlated with blood potassium levels ( r=-0.437), while not significantly correlated with other clinical characteristics. The positive rate of adenoma by 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT was higher than that of nodular hyperplasia [90.5%(57/63) vs. 55.6%(5/9), P=0.018], and the SUVmax value in adenoma was also higher than that in nodular hyperplasia [11.9(7.8, 16.2) vs. 4.3(3.4, 11.3), P=0.022]. 32 cases were cured after operations, and 37 cases were improved. And 3 cases were not cured. The SUVmax value of lesions in the cured patients was higher than that in the improved patients [15.4(8.1, 22.7) vs. 10.1(6.8, 13.3), P=0.013]. Among 59 cases of PA patients with single adrenal lesions, 50 cases represented positive results of 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT. 23 cases in 50 positive cases were cured and 27 cases were improved after resection of positive lesions. In the 13 PA patients with multiple adrenal lesions who underwent surgery according to the results of 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT, 12 patients (92.3%) showed postoperative prognosis in line with preoperative expectations. Conclusions:68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT showed high positive rate in the diagnosis of PA, especially for adenoma.The SUVmax value of the adrenal lesion was correlated with the blood potassium level, the size of the lesion and the postoperative prognosis. In addition, 68Ga-pentixafor PET/CT could effectively guide the surgical decision of PA.