Objective:In the operation of esophageal cancer, nano carbon suspension was used for lymph tracing, and the effect of lymph tracing in different regions and its influence on prognosis were analyzed.Methods:From July 2013 to August 2014, 100 patients under esophageal cancer surgery in our department were analyzed. Randomly divided into experimental group and control group, 50 cases each. During the operation, nano carbon suspension was used to trace the lymph nodes in the experimental group, while conventional operation was only used in the control group. The general baseline data, the number of lymph nodes and positive lymph nodes in each region in the two groups were compared, the lymph node metastasis and survival were followed up, and the prognosis of the two groups were compared.Results:There was no significant difference in baseline data between the two groups( P>0.05). The average number of lymph nodes in the experimental group was 18.6 per case, and that in the control group was 15.1 per case. There was significant difference between the two groups( P=0.003). There was no significant difference in the number and degree of metastasis between the two groups( P=0.233, P=0.463). The effect of nano carbon suspension on tracing lymph nodes around the lower mediastinal esophagus was better. In the experimental group, 4.38 lymph nodes were removed in this area on average, 0.34 of which were metastatic lymph nodes. In the control group, 2.52 lymph nodes were removed in each case on average, 0.10 of which were metastatic lymph nodes. The comparison between the two groups was significantly higher than that of the control group( P=0.001, P=0.011 respectively). In the upper mediastinum, abdominal cavity and other mediastinal lymph nodes, there was no significant difference in the number of lymph nodes, the number of lymph nodes and the degree of metastasis between the two groups( P>0.05). The time of lymph node metastasis in the experimental group was significantly later than that in the control group( P=0.048, log rank test). There was no significant difference in survival time between the two groups( P=0.692, log rank test) . Conclusion:The results show that the nano carbon suspension has a good effect on the lymph node tracing during the operation of esophageal cancer, and the effect on the lymph node tracing around the lower mediastinal esophagus is better.In the area close to the lung drainage area, the tracer effect is poor, and it has certain effect in reducing or delaying lymph node metastasis.

Objective    To investigate the value of esophageal activity examination under X-ray fluoroscopy and chest CT in evaluating the resectability of upper thoracic esophageal cancer. Methods    A total of 221 upper thoracic esophageal carcinoma patients underwent radical operation between 2009 and 2015 in our hospital were enrolled, including 141 males and 80 females with a median age of 59 (47-79) years. Preoperative routine esophageal activity examination under X-ray fluoroscopy and chest enhanced CT were performed to determine whether the tumor had external invasion. The results of the two methods were compared with that observed during the operation. Results    The number of patients with esophageal activity score 1-6 was 70, 85, 32, 29, 2 and 3, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of esophageal activity examination was 0.897 (95%CI 0.85-0.93, P<0.001), and the cut off value was >3. According to the ROC curve activity score, 4-6 points were considered as invasion, and 1-3 points were non-invasion. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and misdiagnosis rate of esophageal activity examination was 75.0%, 89.3%, 88.2%, 10.7%, respectively, and those of CT scan were 75.0%, 66.8%, 67.4%, 33.2%, respectively. Compared with CT scan, the specificity of esophageal activity examination was higher and the misdiagnosis rate was lower. Compared with the detection during the operation, 86.7% of patients with actual invasion of trachea and 85.7% of patients with actual invasion of other parts were in accordance with the esophageal activity examination results. Conclusion    Esophageal activity examination under X-ray fluoroscopy can accurately predict the resectability of upper thoracic esophageal cancer, which is a useful supplement to chest CT examination, especially in the aspect of judging the relationship between lesions and the trachea.