ely in patients with uterine cervix carcinoma. The sensitivity is rather higher according to diagnostic criteria of most diameter ≥10 mm.

Objective To explore the clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of primary malignant pericardial mesothelioma (PPM).Methods Cases of PPM with description of echocardiographic presentations from China mainland were searched from database during 1981 to 2015.Data about the clinical and echocardiographic features of the patients were collected.Results A total of 122 patients were included for analysis.It involved mainly middle-aged [(39.9 ± 14.7)years] and male patients (79,64.8％).The most common echocardiographic demonstration was pericardial effusion (74.6％) with were mostly bloody (97.7％),followed by pericardial masses (36.9％) and pericardial thickening (18.0％).The echocardiographic diagnostic accordance rate was about 26.2％.Conclusions The most common presentation of PPM on echocardiogram is massive pericardial effusion.Echocardiography is of great value in screening and assessment of PPM.The definitive diagnosis is made by histopathological examination.

Objective To study the perfusion imaging features of renal cell cancer(RCC) and their correlation with microvessel density(MVD) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) ex-pression status. Methods Dynamic contrast-enhanced multislice spiral CT was performed preopera-tively in 73 cases with histologically proven RCC (65 cases of clear cell carcinoma, 3 of papillary ade-nocarcinoma, and 5 of chromophobic carcinoma). Blood volume (BV), blood flow (BF), mean transit time (MTT), and permeability surface area product (PS) of tumors were recorded. MVD and VEGF expression status were studied by immunohistochemial staining. Results The mean BV, BF, MTT negative in 35 (47.9 %) cases, slightly positive in 24 (32.9 %) cases, moderate positive in 10 (13.7 %) cases, and intensively positive in 4 (5.5 %) cases. MVD of RCC was positively correlated with BV, BF and PS (P<0.01),and negatively correlated with MTT (P<0.05). No relationship was found be-tween the expression of VEGF and perfusion CT parameters. Conclusion Perfusion CT scan is use-ful to evaluate the angiogenesis status of RCC.

BACKGROUNDTo construct a DC-Ad-Ki-ras(V12) vaccine and investigate the anti-tumor activities of lung cancer dendritic cell vaccine modified by mutant Ki-ras gene in vitro.

METHODSKi-ras(V12) cDNA was transfected into cultured bone marrow-derived DC with the recombinant adenovirus [(Ad-Ki-ras(V12)] containing human mutant Ki-ras gene. Anti-tumor activity of the vaccine was studied in vitro by flow cytometry, PCR, MLR and cytotoxicity assay.

RESULTS(1) The DC vaccine was confirmed not only to express Ki-ras(V12) gene, but also to remarkably stimulate lymphocyte proliferation and improve CTL activity. (2) The DC vaccine modified by mutant Ki-ras gene could induce specifical CTL activity of immunized mice against Lewis lung carcinoma that could express Ki-ras(V12) gene, but not to B16.

CONCLUSIONSThe DC vaccine modified by mutant Ki-ras gene can induce obvious anti-tumor activities against Lewis lung carcinoma that can express Ki-ras(V12) gene.

Objective:To summarize the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of acinar cell carcinoma of the pancreas (ACCP).Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 21 patients with ACCP who were admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University from January 2015 to December 2019 were collected. There were 5 males and 16 females, aged (57±9)years, with a range from 41 to 74 years. Patients underwent CT and MRI examinations. Observation indicators: (1) imaging examination; (2) imaging features on CT; (3) imaging features on MRI; (4) pathological examination and immunohistochemistry staining; (5) treatment and follow-up. Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was conducted at 1, 3, 6 months after discharge and once every 6 months thereafter to detect survival of patients up to December 2019. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD. Count data were described as absolute numbers. Results:(1) Imaging examination. Of the 21 patients, 7 underwent single CT examination, 11 underwent MRI examination, and 3 underwent both CT and MRI examinations. ① Tumor shape: all the 21 patients had single tumor, including 17 showing round or quasi-round shape, and 4 showing irregular clumps. ② Tumor location: of the 21 patients, 6 had tumor located at pancreatic head, 2 had tumor located at pancreatic head and body, 2 had tumor located at pancreatic body, 4 had tumor located at pancreatic body and tail, 4 had tumor located at pancreatic tail, and 3 had had tumor located at ampulla. ③ The maximum tumor diameter was (43±29)mm, with a range from 11 to 129 mm. ④ Adjacent organ invasion: 10 of the 21 patients had invasion of adjacent organ, including 2 with invasion of stomach, spleen and left adrenal gland invasion, 4 with invasion of duodenum, 3 with invasion of duodenum and common bile duct, 1 with invasion of spleen. ⑤ Vascular invasion: 12 patients had invasion of splenic artery or splenic vein, including 1 combined with invasion of both common hepatic artery and superior mesenteric vein, 1 combined with invasion of celiac root. ⑥ Pancreatic and bile duct invasion: 8 patients had pancreatic and bile duct dilation, including 4 with bile duct and upper pancreatic duct dilation, and 4 with pancreatic duct dilation. ⑦ Lymph node metastasis: 2 patients had perineoplastic lymph node enlargement. ⑧ Other conditions: 7 patients had tumor center with cystic necrosis. Four patients had atrophy pancreatic parenchyma. Two patients had splenic vein tumor thrombosis. Two patients had cysts. One patient had multiple liver metastases. (2) Imaging features on CT. ① The solid part was dominant in the main body of the 10 patients undergoing CT examination, demostrating equal density, of which 3 cases had clear boundaries, 2 cases had pseudocapsule around the lesion, and 5 cases had low-density necrotic area in the center of lesion. ② In arterial phase of CT examination, the solid part of tumor had a lower enhancement compared with the normal pancreatic tissues in 7 patients, while the solid part of tumor had a high enhancement compared with the normal pancreatic tissues in 3 patients. ③ In delayed phase of CT examination, the tumor density was slightly lower than or equal to density of normal pancreatic parenchyma in 7 patients, showing slightly progressive enhancement, while the tumor density was slightly higher than or equal to density of normal pancreatic parenchyma in 3 patients. (3) Imaging features on MRI. ① MRI plain scan of 14 patients showed that 8 patients demostrated slightly longer T2 and slightly longer T1 signals in lesions, while 6 patients demostrated mixed signals dominated by long T2 and equal T1 signals. The area of cystic necrosis was observed in lesions of 4 patients and was not observed in 10 patients. No antiphase signal reduction was observed in the 14 patients. ② MRI dynamic enhanced scan of 12 patients showed that 11 patients presented mild progressive enhancement in lesions and 1 patient presented obvious confounding enhancement and clearance in the delayed phase. Compared with adjacent normal pancreatic parenchyma, diffused weighted imaging showed high signals in 6 cases, slightly high signals in 6 cases, and high signal halo in 2 cases. The apparent diffusion coefficient in 14 lesions was (1.22±0.14)×10 -3 mm 2/s. (4) Pathological examination and immunohistochemistry staining. Results of pathological examination in the 21 patients: acinic cell carcinoma, mixed ductal-acinic cell carcinoma, acinar-endocrine carcinoma, and atypical hyperplasia inacinus were detected in 14, 5, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. Of the 21 patients, 10 had invasion of adjacent organ, 3 had invasion of bile duct, 2 had invasion of lymph node. Results of immunohistochemistry staining in 17 patients: 17 patients had proliferation index of Ki-67 as 1%-80%; 10 out of 16 patients were positive for synaptophysin; 6 out of 16 patients were positive for CD56 protein; 2 out of 14 patients were positive for Chromogranin A; 12 out of 13 patients were positive for α-antitrypsin; 9 out of 11 patients were positive for cytokeratin; 8 patients were positive for β-catenin; 2 patients were positive for B lymphoma-10 protein. (5) Treatment and follow-up. Of the 21 patients, 10 cases underwent pancreatico-duodenectomy, 6 cases underwent pancreatic body and tail pancreatectomy combined with splenectomy, 2 cases underwent pancreatic body and tail pancreatectomy, 1 case underwent pancreatic tail tumor enucleation, 1 case underwent liver metastasis resection, and 1 case underwent ultrasound-guided pancreatic lesion puncture biopsy. All the 21 patients were followed up for (30±16)years, with a range from 2 to 52 months. There were 13 patient surviving and 8 cases of death. They had survived for (19±13)months, with a range from 2 to 35 months. Conclusions:The CT and MRI enhanced scan of ACCP showed slightly progressive enhancement, with cystic necrosis seen in the center and high signals in diffused weighted imaging. Dilation of bile duct and pancreatic duct is common in patients with pancreatic head tumors, and invasion of splenic artery and vein is common in pancreatic body and tail tumors. Calcification and cyst are rare and lesions of pancreatic head and body cause atrophy in pancreatic tail.

Objective:To investigate the current situation of satisfaction with graduate education among recent medical graduates in China, and analyze the differences between different populations, and to propose countermeasures and suggestions.Methods:From June to July 2023, a self-made questionnaire was used to survey 16 903 medical graduates who had recently earned a post-graduate degree from 78 institutions about their satisfaction with curriculum sessions, practical sessions, research training, tutoring, and institutional management. The degrees of satisfaction with education among different populations were compared through the t test and analysis of variance with the use of SPSS 26.0. Results:The scores of satisfaction of the graduates with tutoring, curriculum sessions, practical sessions, institutional management, and research training were 4.44, 4.03, 4.02, 3.90, and 3.82, respectively. Satisfaction scores for individual dimensions were significantly higher for males, doctors, non-transfers, comprehensive universities, non-agricultural household registration, moderate-to-high annual household income per capita, parents with high educational levels, and parents with mid- or senior-level occupations ( P<0.05). Conclusions:There is room for improvement in students' satisfaction with medical graduate education. To improve the quality of medical graduate education, attention should be paid to key populations, education policies, school management, and tutoring to provide appropriate education for different students.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the CT and MR findings of retroperitoneal ectopic pheochromocytoma.

METHODSTo analyze retrospectively the CT and MR images of 32 patients with retroperitoneal ectopic pheochromocytoma proved by pathology.

RESULTSThe lesions (benign=28, malignant=4) were located in the anterior pararenal space (ARS) (n=12), the perirenal space (PS) (n=13) and the posterior pararenal space (PRS) (n=7). The tumors showed heterogeneous density on unenhanced CT (n=25). Among the 23 cases with enhanced CT imaging, 19 cases had marked contrast and 4 had mild contrast. The enhancement patterns included whole enhancement (n=9), solid area enhancement (n=12), peripheral enhancement (n=1), and spotted enhancement (n=1). The tumors had heterogeneous signal on unenhanced MR (n=23), and usually showed enhancement at arterial, portal and delayed phases on 22 enhanced MR, while cystic area with no enhancement. The lesions usually had cystic changes (n=18), septa (n=16), vessels inside (n=9), hemorrhage (n=3), and calcification (n=3). Besides that the morphology had statistical significance (P=0.013), other indexes had no statistical significance (P>0.05) in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant retroperitoneal ectopic pheochromocytomas.

CONCLUSIONSRetroperitoneal ectopic pheochromocytomas have some CT and MR features, usually revealed as an oval mass, growing along the paravertebral axis, and often with cystic changes. Those signs combined with hypertension and elevated catecholamine level may lead to a correct diagnosis.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Calcinosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Image Enhancement ; Pheochromocytoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Retroperitoneal Space ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND: The objectives of this study are to investigate the incidence and reporting behavior of sharp injuries among healthcare workers (HCWs) and identify the risk factors associated with these injuries. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in February 2017 in a provincial teaching hospital in China. Data were collected from 901 HCWs using a self-administered questionnaire which included demographic information, experience, and reporting behavior of sharp injuries. Stepwise logistical regression was used to analyze the risk factors. RESULTS: HCWs (248 [27.5%]) had sustained a sharp injury in the previous year. Factors including seniority, job category, title, education, department, and training programs were associated with the occurrence of sharp injuries. According to the stepwise logistical regression, seniority, and training programs were the risk factors associated with the occurrence of sharp injuries. Of 248 sharp injuries, 130 HCWs were exposed to blood. Only 44 (33.9%) HCWs reported their injuries to the concerned body. The main reasons for not reporting the sharp injuries were as follows: perception that the extent of the injury was light (30.2%), having antibodies (27.9%), and unaware of injury (16.3%). CONCLUSIONS Sharp injuries in the studied hospital were common and were likely to be underreported. Therefore, an effective reporting system and sufficient education on occupational safety should be implemented by the relevant institutions. Moreover, it is important to take effective measures to manage sharp injuries in HCWs and provide guidance for their prevention.
Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Health Personnel ; statistics & numerical data ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Needlestick Injuries ; epidemiology ; etiology ; psychology ; Occupational Exposure ; statistics & numerical data ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUNDBenign and malignant primary retroperitoneal tumors (RT) have different pathological manifestations, and overlapping imaging characteristics. This study aimed to evaluate the value of computed tomography (CT) for differentiating benign from malignant RT.

METHODSOne hundred and ninety-four patients with clinical and radiographic data were evaluated retrospectively following surgical resection of primary RT. There were 38.1% (n = 74) benign lesions and 61.9% (n = 120) malignant lesions. Categorical variables were tested with a chi-square test or Fisher's exact test for the diagnostic indexes and sensitivity and specificity of CT characteristics.

RESULTSIn univariate analysis, the differences in ill-defined margins, irregular surfaces, long diameter >6.75 cm, short diameter >6.25 cm, and solid or mixed texture had statistical significance; the sensitivity and specificity were 44.2% and 91.9%, 70.0% and 62.2%, 68.8% and 60.7%, 59.7% and 74.2%, 87.5% and 35.1%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, a combination of all the above indexes was the best model for differentiating malignant tumors, resulting in the most accurate diagnosis of malignancies with a sensitivity of 77.2% and a specificity of 81.1% (P < 0.0001) when the score was 4. The differences in other findings including CT attenuation, number, and calcification had no statistical significance. The unique characteristics included the spotted enhancement (mottled high density) in schwannoma (P < 0.0001), adipose tissue in liposarcoma (P < 0.0001) and paravertebral location in neurogenic tumors (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONSMore accurate differential diagnosis of primary RT can be made through comprehensive analysis of the combined diagnostic indexes of CT. Some specific characteristics of CT can assist in preoperative planning.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retroperitoneal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods ; Young Adult