Objective To investigate the relationship between serum albumin, bilirubin and cognitive impairment in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods Serum albumin, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin were analyzed in 89 cases of MCI and 82 cases of cognitively normal control. All of the cases underwent neuropsychological testing by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The risk factors of MCI were subject to Logistic regression analysis. Results The serum level of total bilirubin in MCI group were significantly lower than that in controls (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in albumin between MCI and control group (P > 0.05). The bilirubin level was positively correlated with MMSE scores and MoCA scores (including attention, delayed recall and abstract) (P < 0.05), while no significant correlation between serum albumin level and scores of MMSE and MoCA (P > 0.05) by using Spearman correlation analysis. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, education level, diabetes and serum bilirubin levels were independent risk factors for MCI. Conclusion Our data show that decreased serum level of bilirubin is positively related to cognitive impairment.

Objective:To study the predictive value of combining alpha-feto protein (AFP) with contrast-enhanced MRI imaging features in predicting incidence of microvascular invasion (MVI) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods:The data of 206 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated at Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from January 2017 to April 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 179 males and 27 females, with an average age of 58.7 years. The roles of preoperative MRI imaging features and clinical data on predicting the incidence of MVI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were evaluated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Multivariable regression analysis was then used to plot a nomogram.Results:There were 86 patients (41.7%) with MVI positivity and 120 patients (58.3%) with MVI negativity. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that AFP >400 μg/L ( OR=3.318, 95% CI: 1.243-8.855, P=0.017), two-trait predictor of venous invasion (TTPVI) ( OR=13.111, 95% CI: 6.797-28.119, P<0.001), diffusion weighted imaging/T 2 weighted imaging (DWI/T 2WI) mismatch ( OR=17.233, 95% CI: 4.731-44.490, P<0.001), and rim enhancement( OR=5.665, 95% CI: 2.579-18.152, P=0.013) predicted increased risks of MVI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. The constructed nomogram directly predicted the risk of MVI in these patients. Conclusions:AFP>400 μg/L, TTPVI, DWI/T 2WI mismatch and rim enhancement were independent risk factors in predicting MVI in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. This predictive model of MVI which was based on multivariate logistic regression analysis was helpful to clinicians in making individualized treatment plans for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective To investigate Aβ42 and P-tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods CSF of 25 cases of MCI and 14 cases of cognitively normal (CN) were investigated. The CSF levels of Aβ42 and P-tau were detected by ELISA method. Correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between P-tau level and MMSE score in MCI. Results The CSF level of Aβ 42 was higher and P-tau was lower in MCI than CN group(P<0.05). P-tau level in MCI was also negatively correlated with MMSE score (P<0.05). Conclusion Aβ42 and P-tau levels in CSF may be valuable biological markers in the diagnosis of MCI. P-tau level in CSF of MCI may be related to the severity of cognitive impairment.

Objective To evaluate the early diagnostic value of circulating microRNA-1 (miR-1) on acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted. The patients with chest pain admitted to the Second People's Hospital of Wuxi from November 2012 to June 2015 were enrolled. According to AMI diagnostic criteria, the patients were divided into AMI group and non-AMI group, and healthy individuals during the same period were served as heath controls. The venous samples of the onset patients were collected within 3 hours after admission. The plasma miR-1 was determined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the levels of plasma cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB) were measured by electrochemiluminescence. The correlation between plasma miR-1 and cTnI as well as CK-MB was performed by Spearman analysis. The early diagnostic performance of plasma miR-1, cTnI, and CK-MB for AMI was estimated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results There were 127 patients in AMI group, and 107 in non-AMI group, including 82 patients with angina pectoris, 2 with pulmonary embolism, 3 with aortic dissection, 2 with acute pericarditis, 3 with myocarditis, 13 with acute heart failure, and 2 with peptic ulcer. Ninety volunteers were served as healthy controls. There was no difference in clinical characteristics including gender and hyperlipidemia between AMI group and non-AMI group. The expressions of plasma miR-1, cTnI and CK-MB were significantly increased in AMI patients as compared with those of the healthy controls [miR-1 (2-ΔΔCt): 4.32±2.60 vs. 1.44±0.75 and 0.98±0.18, cTnI (μg/L): 3.23 (0.63, 10.70) vs. 0.02 (0.00, 0.17) and 0.00 (0.00, 0.00), CK-MB (U/L): 32.40 (14.20, 95.40) vs. 14.40 (11.20, 17.10) and 8.90 (8.28, 9.50), all P < 0.01]. The expression of plasma miR-1 had a significantly positive correlation with cTnI and CK-MB in AMI patients (r1 = 0.395, r2 = 0.490, both P < 0.000). It was demonstrated by ROC curve analysis that the area under ROC curve (AUC) for the diagnostic value of miR-1 on AMI was 0.905 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.860-0.950, P = 0.000], the sensitivity was 86.6%, and the specificity was 95.4%; the AUC for cTnI was 0.908 (95%CI = 0.870-0.946, P = 0.000), the sensitivity was 81.9%, and the specificity was 95.9%; the AUC for CK-MB was 0.795 (95%CI = 0.736-0.854, P = 0.000), the sensitivity was 63.0%, and the specificity was 92.9%. Conclusions Plasma miR-1 has the capacity in early diagnosis of AMI, superior to CK-MB, and equal to cTnI. It can provide additional diagnostic information beyond cTnI. The diagnostic accuracy for early AMI can be improved with the combination of plasma miR-1 and cTnI.

Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of chest computed tomography (CT) characteristics in crizotinib-treated pa-tients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Forty-seven patients with advanced ALK-rearranged NSCLC who re-ceived crizotinib treatment from January 2014 to March 2017 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pre-treatment CT characteris-tics were evaluated. Patients were followed up after crizotinib treatment, and the best overall response and progression-free survival (PFS) were assessed according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST version 1.1). Results: The median PFS of all patients was 10 months. There was no association between CT characteristics and response. In univariate analysis, large tumor size (P=0.009), central type (P=0.002), consolidation of surrounding lung tissue (P=0.002), pleural effusion (P=0.001), and lymphangitic carcino-matosis (P=0.019) suggested a poor prognosis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that location (hazard ratio, 3.219; 95% con-fidence interval: 1.517-6.833; P=0.002) was an independent prognostic predictor. Conclusions: Pre-treatment CT characteristics are useful in predicting the PFS of crizotinib-treated patients with advanced NSCLC harboring ALK rearrangement.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) baseline and follow-up scans of lung cancer screening and to analyze lung nodules and other thoracic lesions detected from baseline and follow-up. Methods:A total of 650 sub-jects were enrolled in the LDCT lung cancer screening program, and investigators mainly focused on the analysis of 548 subjects who participated in the follow-up scan. The investigators recorded the nodules and other lesions of baseline screening, compared them with the follow-up images, and recorded their progress. Results:A total of 101 subjects were positive in the baseline screening, with a positivity rate of 18.4%. Six cases of lung cancer were confirmed by pathology, with a detection rate of 0.92%(6/650). The detection rate of lung cancer in female non-smokers (1.59%) was higher than that in male smokers (1.04%) without significant difference (P=0.624). Detected in the follow-up scan were 19 cases of new nodule-positive subjects. The positive rate for new nodules was 3.5%(19/548). The difference between the three-and two-dimensional levels was statistically significant. Conclusion:The effect of LDCT screen-ing for early lung cancer is significant. The detection rate in female non-smokers was not significantly higher than that in male smok-ers. Thus, LDCT lung cancer screening is equally significant for both sexes. The computer-aided detection (CAD) volume measurement technique is better to evaluate the progress of nodules during the follow-up interval.

Objective:To discuss the value of CT quantitative parameters in prediction of the invasiveness of pulmonary mixed ground glass nodules(mGGNs).Methods:CT images of 164 patients with pulmonary ground-glass nodules(mGGNs),enrolled in Tianjin Medi-cal University Cancer Institute and Hospital from January 2013 to September 2016,confirmed by surgical pathology were analyzed ret-rospectively.CT quantitative parameters including maximum diameter,largest diameter perpendicular to the maximum diameter,vol-ume on both pulmonary window and mediastinal window,mean CT value and TDR(tumor shadow disappear rate)were evaluated be-tween minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) and invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC) with ROC and Logistic regression analysis. Re-sults:Logistic regression analysis showed that the maximum diameter of the pulmonary window(OR=3.080,95% CI:1.135-8.355,P=0.027)and the maximum diameter of the mediastinal window(OR=5.881,95%CI:1.634-21.166,P=0.007)independently predicted the invasiveness of mGGNs;the corresponding values of area under the curve of the combination of two parameters were 0.855,with sen-sitivity of 77.61% and specificity of 86.67 %.The cut-off point to the corresponding value of the maximum diameter on pulmonary win-dow and mediastinal window was 1.902cm and 1.273cm,respectively.Conclusions:CT quantitative parameters are helpful in predict-ing the invasiveness of mGGNs.The maximum diameters on both pulmonary window and mediastinal window are independent predic-tors.

To investigate the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and tumor risk grade of gas-trointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Methods: Between September 2007 to December 2017, 54 patients who underwent MRI and were pathologically diagnosed in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. We analyzed MRI features including the size, location, shape, boundary, and growth pattern of the tumor; cystic necrosis; metastasis; T1WI and T2WI signal intensities; enhancement signal intensity-time (SIT) curve pattern; and average apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) val-ues. The MRI features were compared with the tumor risk grade. Results: Of the 54 cases, 16 were of low-risk grade, 13 were of inter-mediate-risk grade, and 25 were of high-risk grade. Statistical analysis showed that tumor size, location, shape, boundary, cystic necro-sis, signal intensity, and average ADC values were correlated with tumor risk grade (P<0.05). However, tumor growth pattern, metasta-sis, and enhancement SIT curve pattern were not correlated with tumor risk grade (P>0.05). GISTs with higher aggressive features were more likely to have larger size, irregular shape, unclear boundary, cystic necrosis, heterogeneous signal intensity, and lower ADC values on MRI. Conclusions: MRI has the potential to predict the risk grade of GISTs before surgery, thereby guiding clinical manage-ment, and evaluating prognosis.

On January 1st 2018, a male 44 years old diabetic patient with subcutaneous soft tissue infection in right thigh was admitted to our hospital. The patient repeatedly used the same needle to inject insulin subcutaneously in the unsterilized right thigh, and his blood glucose was badly controlled in the long term. Severe subcutaneous soft tissue infection of the right thigh occurred after his fatigue, accompanied with ketoacidosis. Then he received conservative treatment in the local hospital for one month, but the infection persisted. After being transferred to our hospital, we highly suspected the diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis according to previous test indicators and local B-ultrasound results, but suggestion of aggressive surgery was refused. So we treated him with conservative therapies using sensitive antibiotics and supportive remedies. The patient was basically healed after treatment of 1 month and he was recovered well during the follow-up 2 months after discharged from our hospital. This case emphasizes the importance of standard injection of insulin and early diagnosis of severe subcutaneous soft tissue infection.

Patients with primary membranous nephropathy(PMN)tend to develop thrombosis,especially in the early phase of the disease.The pathogenesis of thrombosis is multifactorial,with hypoalbuminemia being widely regarded as an inde-pendent risk factor.Other factors include proteinuria,M-type phospholipase A2 receptor antibody,and D-dimer.Although prophy-lactic anticoagulation therapy is frequently used in clinical practice to prevent thrombosis in PMN patients,there are still many un-resolved issues regarding the optimal prevention of thrombosis in this condition.The timing of prophylactic anticoagulation,the threshold of serum albumin level,and the choice of treatment regimen are still lacking consensus.This article reviewed the relevant literature on these topics,aiming to establish a standard for thrombosis prevention and treatment for this population in the future and provide guidance for clinical practice.