Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)+SpyGlass system versus percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGD)+ERCP in the treatment of acute cholecystitis secondary to choledocholithiasis. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of the patients with acute cholecystitis secondary to choledocholithiasis who were treated in Department of Gastroenterology, Jilin City People's Hospital, from December 2019 to September 2021, among whom there were 23 patients in the ERCP+SpyGlass group and 19 patients in the PTGD+ERCP group. The two groups were compared in terms of the indicators such as surgical technical success, surgical operation time, surgical clinical success, postoperative recovery, length of hospital stay, and complications. The two-independent-samples t test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups, and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between groups; the chi- square test or the Fisher's exact test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. Results Compared with the PTGD+ERCP group, the ERCP+SpyGlass group had a significant reduction in C-reactive protein after surgery ( Z =2.999, P =0.003). There were no significant differences between the two groups in technical success rate ( χ 2 =1.735, P =0.188), clinical success rate ( χ 2 =0.846, P =0.358), total time of operation ( t =1.667, P = 0.113), white blood cell count on day 1 after surgery ( t =1.075, P = 0.289), length of postoperative hospital stay ( t =1.560, P =0.127), and incidence rate of complications (all P > 0.05). Conclusion In the treatment of acute cholecystitis secondary to choledocholithiasis, the ERCP+SpyGlass system has a comparable clinical effect to PTGD+ERCP and is safe and effective, without increasing surgery-related adverse events and risks, and it can also solve the problems of the biliary tract and the gallbladder at one time through natural orifices, with no scars on body surface and convenient postoperative nursing. Therefore, it holds promise for clinical application.

ObjectiveTo investigate the safety and efficacy of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography （ERCP） combined with electrohydraulic lithotripsy under the direct view of eyeMax biliary-pancreatic imaging system in the treatment of difficult choledocholithiasis. MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 12 patients with difficult choledocholithiasis who underwent ERCP and electrohydraulic lithotripsy under the direct view of eyeMax biliary-pancreatic imaging system in Department of Gastroenterology， Jilin People’s Hospital， from May to November 2022. The clinical effect of lithotripsy and lithotomy was observed， and postoperative complications and time of surgical operation were assessed. ResultsAmong the 12 patients， 11 （91.67%） were successfully treated by electrohydraulic lithotripsy under direct view， 9 （75.00%） achieved first-attempt success in lithotripsy， and 11 （91.67%） had complete removal of calculi； 1 patient was found to have stenosis of the bile ducts caused by multiple biliary tract surgeries， and grade Ⅱ intrahepatic bile duct stones above the sites of stenosis were removed under direct view， but there were still residues of grade Ⅲ intrahepatic bile duct stones， which led to the fact that complete calculus removal was not achieved. The mean time of ERCP operation was 91.3±26.2 minutes， including a time of 41.8±22.2 minutes for energy lithotripsy. There were 2 cases of postoperative biliary tract infection which were improved after anti-infective therapy， 2 cases of hyperamylasemia which were not given special treatment， and 3 cases of mild pancreatitis which were improved after symptomatic medication， and there were no complications such as bleeding and perforation. ConclusionERCP combined with electrohydraulic lithotripsy under the direct view of eyeMax biliary-pancreatic imaging system is safe， effective， and feasible in the treatment of difficult choledocholithiasis.

Objective:Comparing the effect of different doses of simvastatin in lowering the serum lipid.Methods:79 patients were randomized into group A and group B,and were given simvastatin 10 mg*d-1 (group A) and 20 mg*d-1 (group B),respectively for a total of 8 weeks.Results:Comparing with baseline,in group A,TC,TG,LDL-C were decreased by 23.4%,20.0% and 30.7%,respectively (P＜0.01); HDL-C was increased by 17.5%.The content of serum TC,TG and LDL-C was decreased to the normal range in 12.8%,28.2% and 15.4% of the patients in group A.For the group B,TC,TG,LDL-C were decreased by 32.7%,22.8% and 42.8%,respectively (P＜0.01); HDL-C was increased by 13.7%.The content of serum TC,TG and LDL-C was decreased to the normal range in 65.0%,57.5% and 65.0% of the group B patients.Conclusion:Oral intake of 20 mg of simvastatin once a day can effectively reduce the serum lipid.The patients can well tolerate and no obvious side effect was observed in our study.

BackgroundAsthma is a common chronic respiratory disease and is related to air pollution exposure. However, only a few studies have concentrated on the association between air pollution and adult asthma. Moreover, the results of these studies are controversial. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the influence of various pollutants on hospitalization due to asthma in adults.

MethodsA total of 1019 unrelated hospitalized adult asthma patients from Northeast China were recruited from 2014 to 2016. Daily average concentrations of air pollutants (particulate matter <2.5 μm [PM], particulate matter <10 μm [PM], sulfur dioxide [SO], nitrogen dioxide [NO], and carbon monoxide [CO]) were obtained from the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre website from 2014 to 2016. Cox logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between air pollutants and hospital admissions in adult asthma.

ResultsThe maximum odds ratio (OR) value for most air pollutants occurred on lag day 1. Lag day 1 was chosen as the exposure period, and 8 days before onset was chosen as the control period. Three pollutants (PM, CO, and SO) were entered into the regression equation, and the corresponding OR (95% confidence interval) was 0.995 (0.991-0.999), 3.107 (1.607-6.010), and 0.979 (0.968-0.990), respectively.

ConclusionsA positive association between hospital admissions and the daily average concentration of CO was observed. CO is likely to be a risk factor for hospital admissions in adults with asthma.

Air Pollutants ; toxicity ; Air Pollution ; adverse effects ; Asthma ; epidemiology ; Carbon Monoxide ; toxicity ; China ; Environmental Monitoring ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Hospitalization ; statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Odds Ratio ; Particulate Matter ; toxicity ; Risk Factors ; Sulfur Dioxide ; toxicity

BACKGROUND: Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a promising biomarker for non-invasive epidermal growth factor receptor mutations (EGFRm) detection in lung cancer patients, but existing methods have limitations in sensitivity and availability. In this study, we used the ΔCt value (mutant cycle threshold [Ct] value-internal control Ct value) generated during the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to convert super-amplification-refractory mutation system (superARMS) from a qualitative method to a semi-quantitative method named reformed-superARMS (R-superARMS), and evaluated its performance in detecting EGFRm in plasma ctDNA in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. METHODS: A total of 41 pairs of tissues and plasma samples were obtained from lung adenocarcinoma patients who had known EGFRm in tumor tissue and were previously untreated. EGFRm in ctDNA was identified by using superARMS. Through making use of ΔCt value generated during the detection process of superARMS, we indirectly transform this qualitative detection method into a semi-quantitative PCR detection method, named R-superARMS. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of the data were performed. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to estimate the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Fisher exact test was used for categorical variables. RESULTS: The concordance rate of EGFRm in tumor tissues and matched plasma samples was 68.3% (28/41). At baseline, EGFRm-positive patients were divided into two groups according to the cut-off ΔCt value of EGFRm set at 8.11. A significant difference in the median OS (mOS) between the two groups was observed (EGFRm ΔCt ≤8.11 vs. >8.11: not reached vs. 11.0 months; log-rank P = 0.024). Patients were divided into mutation clearance (MC) group and mutation incomplete clearance (MIC) group according to whether the ΔCt value of EGFRm test turned negative after 1 month of treatment. We found that there was also a significant difference in mOS (not reached vs. 10.4 months; log-rank P = 0.021) between MC group and MIC group. Although there was no significant difference in PFS between the two groups, the two curves were separated and the PFS of MC group tended to be higher than the MIC group (not reached vs. 27.5 months; log-rank P = 0.088). Furthermore, EGFRm-positive patients were divided into two groups according to the cut-off of the changes in ΔCt value of EGFRm after 1 month of treatment, which was set at 4.89. A significant difference in the mOS between the two groups was observed (change value of ΔCt >4.89 vs. ≤4.89: not reached vs. 11.0 months; log-rank P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS Detecting EGFRm in ctDNA using R-superARMS can identify patients who are more likely sensitive to targeted therapy, reflect the molecular load of patients, and predict the therapeutic efficacy and clinical outcomes of patients.
Adenocarcinoma of Lung/genetics* ; Circulating Tumor DNA/genetics* ; ErbB Receptors/genetics* ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics* ; Mutation/genetics* ; Protein Kinase Inhibitors

Adult ; Aged ; Autoantibodies ; blood ; Autoimmunity ; Female ; Hepatitis C ; immunology ; Hepatitis, Autoimmune ; immunology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged