Objective:To investigate the clinical application value of ultrasound in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis (TA ). Methods: A total of 39 suspected TA patients were examined by ultrasonography,erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR),C reactive protein (CRP)and CT angiography (CTA), and the ultrasound examination results were compared and analyzed with the final chinical diagnosis results. Results:Of the 39 cases of suspected TA patients which had been examined by ultrasound,33 cases were diagnosed as TA,2 cases were diagnosed as atherosclerosis (AS),2 cases were diagnosed as fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) and 2 cases were diagnosed as thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO).Compared with final chinical diagnosis results, 1 FMD patient was misdiagnosed as TA,and the rest of the diagnostic results were consistent with the final chinical diagnosis results.Conclusion:Ultrasound examination can provide objective and accurate basis for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of TA,and it is an effective method of imaging examination.

Due to the influence of immunosuppression, nerve injury and other comprehensive factors, the overall incidence of gastrointestinal complications after lung transplantation is relatively high, which can cause drug absorption disorder and chronic rejection. In recent years, more and more studies have been conducted on these complications. However, due to the great difference of the incidence of gastrointestinal complications among lung transplantation centers, clinicians lack of understanding of these. In this article, the general status, common types and risk factors of gastrointestinal complications after lung transplantation were reviewed, aiming to provide reference for comprehensive management of gastrointestinal complications after lung transplantation.

Objective To summarize and analyze the key procedures of the modified rat model of orthotopic left lung transplantation, aiming to provide more experience for the establishment of rat models of lung transplantation. Methods Two surgeons (A and B) performed complete transplantation in consecutive 15 rat models, and every 5 surgeries were divided into 1 practice stage. The operating time of each transplantation procedure was recorded. The differences of overall success rate and 1-week survival rate were calculated among different practice stages. The learning curve was delineated by the cumulative sum method. Results For surgeons A and B, the number of the first successful transplantation was the 5th and 6th time, the overall success rates of transplantation were 80% and 87% respectively, and the 1-week survival rates of rats both were 92%. Along with the increasing number of surgeries, the entire cardiopulmonary procurement, cannula preparation, cold ischemia, warm ischemia, transplantation and total operation time by two surgeons showed a significantly downward trend (all P < 0.05). For surgeons A and B, 3 and 2 rats died of heart failure due to overdose anesthesia, and 1 rat died of vein distortion at postoperative 1 d and 1 died of atelectasis at postoperative 7 d, respectively. The goodness of fit (R²) of cumulative sum method was 0.992 8 and 0.976 6. The turning point of learning curve was achieved in the 7th and 8th transplantation for surgeons A and B. Conclusions The modified rat model of orthotopic left lung transplantation yields high operability and repeatability both theoretically and technologically, and has multiple advantages of short learning curve, short operation time, high survival rate of the recipients and few complications, which is worthy of application in the basic research of lung transplantation.