Background Laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is frequently performed to reduce or eliminate myopic refractive error.Some patients complain of a loss of visual function after surgery even when they have 20/20 visual acuity.One of the reasons is the change of asphericity of the cornea.Objective This study attempts to investigate the short-term changes of the anterior and posterior corneal asphericity after LASIK.Methods One hundred and seven myopic eyes of 54 subjects with the equivalent spherical diopter of -1.30 to -7.50 D who have received LASIK were enrolled in this prospective study.The Q-values of the posterior corneal surface for different corneal diameters (6mm,7mm,8mm and 9mm) were measured with Pentacam preoperatively and 1 month postoperatively.The correlations between Q-value,Q change (△Q),and the mean preoperative spherical equivalent refraction (SE),central corneal thickness (CCT),central ablation depth (AD) and residual bed thickness were investigated.Written informed consents were obtained from all the subjects prior to the clinical trial.Results The Q-values of the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces gradually decreased to negative values with the increase of corneal diameter in myopic eyes.Weak correlations were found between the asphericity of the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces from diameters of 6mm,7mm,8mm and 9mm (r=0.227,0.288,0.303,0.389;P=0.019,0.003,0.002 and 0.000,respectively).No statistically significant correlation was found between Q-value and the diopter of refractive error (P＞0.05).Both the anterior and posterior corneal Q-values varied toward the positive direction except that in the 9mm area of the posterior corneal surface at postoperative 1 month(t=-1.495,P=0.138).The increase of the anterior corneal asphericity (△Q) was more obvious than that of the posterior corneal surface and showed a positive correlation with ablation depth and a negative correlation with residual bed thickness.However,no statistically significant correlation was seen between △Q and these two parameters in the posterior corneal surface (P＞0.05).Conclusion The shape of the anterior and posterior corneal surface shows more prolateness as the increase of corneal diameter in myopic eyes.Both the anterior and the posterior corneal surfaces have an oblate shift within the ablation zone 1 month after LASIK.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of osteopontin (OPN) splice variant mRNA, including the three isoforms OPN-A, OPN-B, and OPN-C, to explore its correlation with clinicopathologic features in gastric cancer, and to elucidate their role in tumor invasion and distant metastasis of gastric cancer.

METHODSThe expression of OPN-A, OPN-B and OPN-C mRNA were detected by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in 66 gastric cancer tissues. The relationship between the expression of OPN-A, OPN-B and OPN-C mRNA and clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer was analyzed.

RESULTSThe expression of OPN-C mRNA in the gastric cancer tissue was 3.21-fold higher than that in peritumoral mucosal tissue, showing a significant difference between them (P < 0.001). OPN-C mRNA expression was correlated with the depth of tumor invasion, tumor diameter, lymph node meatastasis, distant meatastasis and had no correlation with differentiation grades. The low expression of OPN-C mRNA was correlated with long survival benefit (P = 0.03). The expression of OPN-A and OPN-B mRNA had no significant relationship with clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer.

CONCLUSIONSOne of the isoform of osteopontin (OPN) OPN-C mRNA is overexpressed in gastric cancer. The overexpression of OPN-C mRNA may reflect the progression and is associated with the prognosis of gastric cancer. OPN-C mRNA may have value as a prognostic biomarker in gastric cancer. However, the expression of OPN-A and OPN-B are not correlated with the progression and metastasis of gastric cancer.

Disease Progression ; Gastric Mucosa ; metabolism ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Proteins ; genetics ; Osteopontin ; genetics ; Prognosis ; Protein Isoforms ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Stomach Neoplasms ; genetics ; mortality ; pathology

Apoptosis involves multiple signaling pathways. The intrinsic signaling pathway is the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, which is caused by a series of processes. First, the pro-apoptotic factors such as Bax are activated by signaling molecules and transfer to the mitochondrial outer membrane forming protein pores, thus the mitochondrial membrane permeability is affected, and then the downstream caspase-9 is activated and the apoptosis initiation is induced by releasing cytochrome C. In order to explore the apoptosis initiation activated by small molecules, the specific structural changes of Bax in apoptosis were studied. The results showed that there is a hydrophobic pocket structure near the C-terminal S184 of the Bax protein. This structure can be combined with certain small molecular substances specifically remove phosphorylation S184, and regulate Bax protein to promote apoptosis activity. At present, the nuclear magnetic structure of Bax protein has been obtained and the crystal structure has not been revealed. The eutectic structure formed by corresponding with other proteins in the Bcl-2 family has been resolved, which can be used to study the interactions between proteins and to understand the specific structural changes in the formation of heterologous dimers during apoptosis, site changes, etc. In this paper, the Bax protein structure resolved by nuclear magnetic structure was reviewed to learn the change of the sites in the induced apoptosis so as to promote the research on apoptosis initiation.

Objective:To study on the association between vasoactive-inotropic score(VIS) and mortality of total arch replacement in Stanford type A aortic dissection(TAAD) patients.Methods:Data of TAAD patients admitted from January 2018 to November 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 187 patients were finally included in the analysis. 30-day mortality was calculated and the patients were divided into death group(18 cases) and non-death group(169 cases). The VIS at each time point and perioperative indexes of the two groups were compared. The value of VIS in predicting mortality was analyzed.Results:The 30-day mortality was 9.63%(18/187). The operation time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, ventilator assistance time, the incidence of tracheotomy and major postoperative complications in the death group were significantly higher than those in the non-death group( P<0.05). VIS of death group was significantly higher than that of non-death group( P<0.05). At each time point, the area under ROC curve(AUC) of VIS was greater than 0.500( P<0.05), among which AUC of ICU 48 h VIS was the largest(0.817), and the best cut-off point of ICU 48 h VIS was determined to be 9, sensitivity 61.1%, specificity 92.3%. Logistic regression analysis showed that ICU 48 h VIS was an independent risk factor for predicting the death of total arch replacement in TAAD patients( OR=1.465, 95% CI: 1.194-1.796, P<0.001). Conclusion:When ICU 48 h VIS≥9, the risk of death was increased in patients with total arch replacement of TAAD. VIS may be a useful reference index for predicting the mortality of total arch replacement in TAAD patients in the early postoperative period.

OBJECTIVE: To carry out prenatal diagnosis for a fetus with Pallister-killian syndrome (PKS). METHODS: The fetus was found to have limb malformations at 23rd gestational week. With informed consent from its parents, amniotic fluid sample was taken from the fetus and subjected to chromosomal karyotyping, chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay. RESULTS: G-banding analysis suggested the fetus has a mos47,XY,+mar[55]/46,XY[10] karyotype. CMA analysis of the cultured amniocytes with CytoScan 750K microarray revealed a segmental tetrasomy duplication of 12p13.33p11.1. FISH confirmed a 70% mosaicism of tetrasomy 12p in the metaphase amniocytes with 12pter/12qter probes. CONCLUSION Combined use of G-banding karyotyping, CMA and FISH analysis has enabled diagnosis of PKS in the fetus. Although short limb is a common feature of PKS, unequal femur length has not been reported previously, which has expanded the spectrum of PKS-associated limb abnormalities.
Chromosome Disorders/genetics* ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12/genetics* ; Female ; Fetus ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Mosaicism ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis

Objective:To investigate the feasibility, safety and reasonable operation of nasointestinal canal indwelling guided by miniature system in severe neurosurgery patients, and compare its advantages and disadvantages with traditional blind insertion.Methods:A prospective randomized controlled trial design was used to select 128 critically ill patients in need of enteral nutrition support at the Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from March 2022 to October 2023 by convenient sampling method. They were divided into blind insertion group and visualization group by random number table method, with 64 cases in each group. Nasointestinal canal indwelling was performed in the blind insertion group by traditional blind insertion method, and in the visualization group, nasointestinal canal indwelling was performed by indentations guided by the miniature visualization system. The success rate of initial catheterization, the time of catheterization, complications, changes of vital signs during catheterization and changes of nutritional indexes after catheterization were evaluated in 2 groups.Results:In the blind insertion group, there were 35 males and 29 females, aged (59.44 ± 13.84) years old. In the visualization group, there were 41 males and 23 females, aged (58.28 ± 12.08) years old. The success rate of the first catheter placement in the visual group was 96.8% (62/64), higher than that in the blind group 82.8% (53/64), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=6.94, P<0.05). The catheter placement time of the visualization group was (20.08 ± 2.69) min, which was shorter than that of the blind insertion group (38.19 ± 3.79) min, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant ( t=29.99, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications, changes of vital signs during catheterization and the changes of nutritional indexes after catheterization between two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions:Compared with traditional blind nasointestinal canal indwelling, nasointestinal canal indwelling guided by the miniature visualization system can improve the success rate of the first catheterization and shorten the catheterization time. Although there is no difference in the complication rate, changes in vital signs during catheterization and changes in nutritional indexes after catheterization, it is believed that with the continuous development and upgrading of this technology, it will further reflect the advantages of this technology, which is worthy of further clinical trials and application.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the risk factor of cholecystitis after radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

METHODSClinicpathological data of 553 gastric cancer patients with normal gallbladders undergoing radical gastrectomy in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between March 2013 and March 2015 were analyzed retrospectively. Univariate and multivariate analysis were applied to evaluate factors influencing the cholecystitis after radical gastrectomy using log-rank and logistic regression model.

RESULTSThere were 360 males and 193 females with a median age of 60 years. All patients were followed up from 6 months to 2 years. The incidence of cholecystitis after radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer was 33.1%(183/553), while incidence of cholecystolithiasis was 4.9%(27/553). In addition, the cholecystitis incidence of patients with No.12 lymph node cleaning was 39.6%(89/225), while with No.8a lymph node cleaning was 38.0%(151/397), with No.5 lymph node cleaning was 38.0%(68/179), with No.7 lymph node cleaning was 34.4%(138/402), with No.9 lymph node cleaning was 34.7%(136/392). Univariate log-rank test indicated that the lymphadenectomy of No.8a(χ(2)=15.530, P=0.000), No.12 group(χ(2)=7.157, P=0.007) and surgical methods (χ(2)=7.427, P=0.024) were significantly associated with cholecystitis after radical gastrectomy. Multivariate analysis showed that the lymphadenectomy of No.8a was independent factor of cholecystitis after radical gastrectomy (OR=2.016, 95% CI:1.244 to 3.267, P=0.004).

CONCLUSIONSVagal nerve trunk and sympathetic ganglion should be protected carefully during No.8a lymphadenectomy in radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, in order to reduce the incidence of postoperative cholecystitis.

Cholecystitis ; epidemiology ; Female ; Gastrectomy ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery