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Objective To review the experience in diagnosis and treatment of pheochromocytoma in a single center. Methods A total number of 142/145 pheochromocytoma cases treated surgically in our institute from August 2002 to February 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. The mean diameter of tumor was 5.9 cm (1.3- 18. 0 cm). The majority of the tumors (92.9%) were adrenal pheochromocytomas. Ninety-eight patients (69.0 % ) presented initially with hypertension, whereas 44 patients (31%)presented with adrenal incidentaloma. A specific anti-hypertensive pre-surgery preparation with phenoxybenzamine or doxazosine mesylate was started over 1 week before the operation.Of the 142 patients, 91 accepted open surgery, 54 accepted laparoscopic surgery, of which, 5 converted from laparoscopic surgery to open surgery. Results Histopathological results showed that all the cases were pheochromocytoma, while 83 cases were benign, 23 cases were malignant and 37 cases were suspected malignant. Sudden rising of blood pressure during operation was related to the preoperative serum level of catecholamine. Eighty-seven of 98 patients with preoperative hypertension had normal postoperative blood pressure; the remaining 11 patients reduced the dosage of anti-hypertension medication postoperatively. During the follow-up of 3-96 months (median 46 months), 10 of 91patients had a recurrence or metastasis. Six patients died of recurrences or metastasis within 5 years.Conclusions The procedures of qualitative and locative diagnosis of phechromocytoma include clinical manifestations, biochemical tests and imaging investigation. Surgical excision is the fundamental treatment for cure. Patients with high serum level of catecholamine tend to have a sudden rising of blood pressure during operation. Preoperative management is extremely important for the safety of the patient. Intensive follow up is necessary.

To study the abnormal distribution of type Ⅳ collagen and laminin chains in glomerular basement membrane (GBM) in membranous nephropathy (MN).Methods 52 cases of MN were collected and staged according to electron microscopic morphological characteristics,and 10 cases of kidney tissues of minimal change disease were used as normal GBM control.Distribution pattern of or5 (Ⅳ) chain,laminin α5and β2 chains,and laminin α2 and β1 chains were detected using immunofluorescence method.Results In minimal change disease,α5 (Ⅳ) chain,laminin α5 and β2 chains all showed continuously linear positive expression along GBM,and laminin α2 and β1 chains were negatively expressed in GBM.In stage Ⅰ MN,α5 (Ⅳ) chain,laminin α.5 and β2 chains all showed continuous linear positive expression along GBM.In stage ⅡMN,the expression of α5 (Ⅳ) chain was increased and showed abundant spikes on the basis of continuous linear positive staining along GBM,and the expression of laminin α5 and β2chains was increased,and segmental spikes were seen on the basis of continuous linear positive staining along GBM.In stage ⅢMN,the expression of α5 (Ⅳ),laminin α5 and β2 chains was also enhanced and segmental double tracks were seen.The expression of laminin α2 chain was negative in GBM in stage ⅠMN,but granular positive expression along GBM was seen in stage Ⅱ and stage Ⅲ MN.No positive expression of laminin β1chain was seen in GBM in different stages in MN.Conclusion The GBM thickness in MN originates not only from intrinsic type Ⅳ collagen chains and laminin chains,but also from laminin α2chain,which only exist in glomerulus mesangium in normal condition.

Objective:To assess the prognostic potential of post systolic shortening (PSS) on cardiac injury in the breast cancer patients after chemotherapy.Methods:This was a prospective cohort study in breast cancer patients after chemotherapy who were followed up to observe the risk of cardiac injury. A total of 69 female patients with HER-2 negative breast cancer were selected in the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from February to August 2019. The post-systolic strain index (PSI) of each segment of left ventricular myocardium after chemotherapy was obtained by two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography. PSI (%) was defined as follows: [(peak strain in cardiac cycle-peak strain in systole)/peak strain in cardiac cycle]×100%. PSS was regarded as meaningful if PSI >20%. End point was cardiac injury, which could be manifested as cardiotoxicity, cardiogenic death, myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris, and severe arrhythmias. Occurence of any above mentioned cardiac injuries was considered as end point event. According to the number of myocardial walls with PSS, the patients were divided into three groups: group A (no walls), group B (1 wall), and group C (≥2 walls). Additionally, the patients were also stratified according to tertiles of PSI: layer A (the first tertile), layer B (the second tertile), and layer C (the third tertile).Results:During a median follow-up of 18 months (Q 1=17 months, Q 3=18 months), 17 patients (24.64%) were diagnosed as having end point events. The risk of end point increased with the increase in the number of myocardial walls with PSS and the increase in PSI stratification.After adjusting for age, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, global longitudinal strain, and E peak of mitral early diastolic inflow velocity/average peak early diastolic mitral annular velocity e′ (E/e′), the association remained significant, (Per 1 increase in number of walls with PSS, hazard ratio, 1.96, P=0.007. Per 1% increase in PSI, hazard ratio, 1.44, P<0.001). In terms of predictive ability, the Harrell′s C index of PSS and of PSI was 0.70 and 0.73, respectively, both P<0.01, which indicated moderate accuracy. Conclusions:The presence of PSS in breast cancer patients after chemotherapy can provide independent prognostic information for the future occurrence of cardiac injury.