Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis and the methodological quality of systematic reviews(SRs).Methods SRs of moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis were retrieved from CNKI,VIP,Wanfang Data,SinoMed,PubMed,Cochrane Library,Embase and Web of Science was conducted from the establishment of the databases to February 10,2022.AMSTAR 2 was used to assess the methodological quality of SRs.The randomized controlled trials(RCTs)included in these SRs were screened and summarized according to inclusion standard.RevMan 5.4 software was used for Meta-analysis,and GRADE approach was used to assess the certainty of evidence.Results A total of 15 SRs were included.The evaluation results of the AMSTAR 2 showed that the methodological quality was very low for 14 SRs,and low for other 1 SR.A total of 36 RCTs were included.Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs),the moxibustion group had better effects on improvement of WOMAC scores[mean difference(MD)=-5.95;95%confidence interval(CI):-9.25 to-2.65;low quality],relieving pain[MD=-1.26;95%CI:-2.19 to-0.32;very low quality],and improving effective rate[risk ratio(RR)=1.16;95%CI:1.11 to 1.22;low quality].In the moxibustion group,some patients experienced blisters,and most healed in 3 days.Conclusion Moxibustion has advantages in pain reduction and improving effective rate compared with routine Western therapy for knee osteoarthritis.However,well-designed high-quality RCTs are needed for further verification.

Objective:To investigate the value of BRAF V600E mutation combined with 2015 American Thyroid Association (ATA) Guidelines ultrasound (US) pattern in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology of thyroid nodules with atypia of undetermined significance or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS).Methods:This study retrospectively enrolled 96 consecutive patients with 101 AUS/FLUS thyroid nodules who underwent preoperative US, FNA, and BRAF V600E mutation analysis. All AUS/FLUS nodules were classified based on US pattern-based risk stratification of 2015 ATA Guidelines. With postoperative pathology as the gold standard, the diagnostic value of BRAF V600E mutation, US pattern and the combination of two methods were compared.Results:Postoperative pathology confirmed 33 benign nodules and 68 malignant nodules. The mutation rates of BRAF V600E in AUS/FLUS nodules was 51.5%. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of BRAF V600E in the diagnosis AUS/FLUS nodules were 72.1%, 90.9% and 78.2%, respectively. The ROC curve demonstrated that the best cut-off of US pattern was high suspicion. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of US pattern in the diagnosis of AUS/FLUS nodules were 63.2%, 81.8% and 69.3%, respectively. The accuracy of US pattern in determining AUS/FLUS nodules without BRAF V600E mutation was 70.6%. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the combination of two methods in the differential diagnosis of AUS/FLUS nodules were 89.7%, 75.8%, and 85.1%, respectively. The combination had the highest sensitivity ( P<0.05). Conclusions:BRAF V600E mutation has a good diagnostic value for differentiating benign and malignant AUS/FLUS nodules. Combined with US pattern, the differential diagnostic value for AUS/FLUS nodules without BRAF V600E mutation can be improved, and the sensitivity can be raised.

Objective:To establish a predictive model of lateral lymph node metastasis in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC), and further to compare the diagnostic efficiency of this model with the suspected abnormal lymph node thyroglobulin in fine-needle aspirate fluid (FNA-Tg) for lateral lymph node metastasis.Methods:The preoperative clinical and ultrasonographic data of 110 patients (257 lymph nodes) who underwent PTC cervical lymph node dissection were retrospectively analyzed. According to the postoperative pathological results, they were divided into lateral lymph node metastasis and non-metastasis group. Regression analysis was used to screen out independent risk factors affecting lateral lymph node metastasis and establish a predictive model. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy and the best diagnostic cut-off point.Results:Prediction model: Logit( P)=-2.987+ 2.189(S/L ratio of lymph nodes)+ 1.748(hilum absent)+ 2.030(hyperechoic)+ 1.849(vascular abnormalities). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and AUC of the prediction model in the diagnosis of lateral lymph node metastasis were 92.1%, 83.9%, 87.9% and 0.929, respectively. The Homser-Lemeshow goodness of fit test showed that the Logistic model has a good fitting effect. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of FNA-Tg in the diagnosis of lateral lymph node metastasis were 87.4%, 95.4%, 90.3% and 0.968, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and AUC of the combined diagnosis of the predictive model and FNA-Tg were 92.9%, 96.9%, 94.2% and 0.989, respectively. Conclusions:The model has a good predictive value for PTC cervical lymph node metastasis. Combined with FNA-Tg, it can improve its diagnostic efficiency and provide more valuable information for the decision-making of clinical surgical procedures.