Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a progressive and fatal disease. The dysfunction of pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs) is one of its important pathogenic factors. PAECs are monolayer flat epithelial cells, which play an important role in maintaining pulmonary vascular homeostasis. Studies have found that PAECs show damage and apoptosis at the early stage of PH development, while PAECs show anti-apoptotic characteristics at the late stage of PH development. The transition of PAECs into mesenchymal cells induced by hypoxic and inflammatory factors is also involved in the pathogenesis of PH. Carcinoid metabolism and mitochondrial dysfunction, bone mor- phogenic type 2 receptor mutation, epigenetic changes and inflammation of PAECs are the main pathogenesis of pulmonary vascular endothelial dysfunction in PH patients. New therapeutic measures targeting PAECs dysfunction are expected to play an important role in the treatment of PH in the future.

Objective To investigate the incidence rate,clinical characteristics,and prognosis of neonatal stroke in Shenzhen,China.Methods Led by Shenzhen Children's Hospital,the Shenzhen Neonatal Data Collaboration Network organized 21 institutions to collect 36 cases of neonatal stroke from January 2020 to December 2022.The incidence,clinical characteristics,treatment,and prognosis of neonatal stroke in Shenzhen were analyzed.Results The incidence rate of neonatal stroke in 21 hospitals from 2020 to 2022 was 1/15 137,1/6 060,and 1/7 704,respectively.Ischemic stroke accounted for 75％(27/36);boys accounted for 64％(23/36).Among the 36 neonates,31(86％)had disease onset within 3 days after birth,and 19(53％)had convulsion as the initial presentation.Cerebral MRI showed that 22 neonates(61％)had left cerebral infarction and 13(36％)had basal ganglia infarction.Magnetic resonance angiography was performed for 12 neonates,among whom 9(75％)had involvement of the middle cerebral artery.Electroencephalography was performed for 29 neonates,with sharp waves in 21 neonates(72％)and seizures in 10 neonates(34％).Symptomatic/supportive treatment varied across different hospitals.Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment was performed for 12 neonates(33％,12/36),with a mean score of(32±4)points.The prognosis of 27 neonates was followed up to around 12 months of age,with 44％(12/27)of the neonates having a good prognosis.Conclusions Ischemic stroke is the main type of neonatal stroke,often with convulsions as the initial presentation,involvement of the middle cerebral artery,sharp waves on electroencephalography,and a relatively low neurodevelopment score.Symptomatic/supportive treatment is the main treatment method,and some neonates tend to have a poor prognosis.

Humans ; Plasma Cells/pathology* ; Hyperplasia/pathology* ; Immunoblastic Lymphadenopathy ; B-Lymphocytes/pathology* ; Lymphoma, T-Cell

Objectives:This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of bendamustine in combination with rituximab (BR regimen) for the treatment of newly diagnosed indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-iNHL) and elderly mantle cell lymphoma (eMCL) .Methods:From December 1, 2020 to September 10, 2022, a multi-center prospective study was conducted across ten Grade A tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China. The BR regimen was administered to evaluate its efficacy and safety in newly diagnosed B-iNHL and eMCL patients, and all completed at least four cycles of induction therapy.Results:The 72 enrolled patients with B-iNHL or MCL were aged 24-74 years, with a median age of 55 years. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status scores of 0-1 were observed in 76.4% of patients, while 23.6% had scores of 2. Disease distribution included follicular lymphoma (FL) (51.4% ), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) (33.3% ), eMCL (11.1% ), and the unknown subtype (4.2% ). According to the Ann Arbor staging system, 16.7% and 65.3% of patients were diagnosed with stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅳ lymphomas, respectively. Following four cycles of BR induction therapy, the overall response rate was 98.6%, with a complete response (CR) rate of 83.3% and a partial response (PR) rate of 15.3%. Only one eMCL patient experienced disease progression during treatment, and only one FL patient experienced a relapse. Even when evaluated using CT alone, the CR rate was 63.9%, considering the differences between PET/CT and CT assessments. The median follow-up duration was 11 months (range: 4-22), with a PFS rate of 96.8% and an OS rate of 100.0%. The main hematologic adverse reactions included grade 3-4 leukopenia (27.8%, with febrile neutropenia observed in 8.3% of patients), grade 3-4 lymphopenia (23.6% ), grade 3-4 anemia (5.6% ), and grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia (4.2% ). The main non-hematologic adverse reactions such as fatigue, nausea/vomiting, rash, and infections occurred in less than 20.0% of patients.Conclusion:Within the scope of this clinical trial conducted in China, the BR regimen demonstrated efficacy and safety in treating newly diagnosed B-iNHL and eMCL patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical value of oligoclonal bands (OB) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: The laboratory test and clinical data of 624 newly diagnosed MM patients admitted to Blood Diseases Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2013 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including 30 patients with OB, and the clinical characteristics, treatment effects and survival of OB and non-OB patients were analyzed and compared. RESULTS: OB occurred in 11.8% (22/187) of patients who received autologous stem cell transplantation(ASCT) and only 1.8% (8/437) of patients who did not receive ASCT (P=0.000). The median time to the appearance of oligoclonal bands was 3.2(0.6-10.5) months after transplantation. The M protein types of oligoclonal bands mainly include IgG κ, IgG λ, IgM λ and λ light chains. In the presence of oligoclonal bands, 90% of patients were evaluated as complete remission (CR) and above. There were no statistically significant differences in disease stage, tumor burden, and genetic abnormalities between OB and non-OB patients. Among the all patients, the prognosis of OB patients was significantly better than that of non-OB patients, and OB patients showed deeper disease remission (significantly higher CR rate, MRD negative rate, and longer MRD negative duration). Among patients who underwent ASCT, OB patients showed earlier immune recovery, but the depth of treatment response and survival outcomes were similar between OB and non-OB patients, it was no statistically difference. Although OB patients showed earlier immune reconstitution, this did not translate into better survival, suggesting that the better prognosis of OB patients was mainly related to deeper and durable remission rather than early immune reconstitution. Further analysis in patients who received ASCT and obtained MRD negative indicated that there was no additional survival benefit in patients with OB. CONCLUSION The better prognosis of OB patients may be related to the deeper treatment response, but not to the early immune reconstitution. The appearance of OB is only a sign of deep remission and early immune reconstitution in patients, it cannot be translated into survival benefit of MM patients.
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Multiple Myeloma ; Oligoclonal Bands ; Retrospective Studies ; Transplantation, Autologous

Objective:To explore the clinical effect of observation and psychological intervention, splint or brace fixation as well as surgical treatment on habitual dislocation of the hip (HDH) and to combine the authors' data with a compilation of the cases from the literature, evaluingating the epidemiological characteristics of HDH and the treatment scheme to maintain the stability of hip joint by systematic literature review in children.Methods:A retrospective analysis of the relevant data of 11 patients (12 hips) with HDH were treated from March 2007 to March 2021, including 2 boys and 9 girls. The age of the first dislocation was 2.25 (1.66, 3.75) years old and 4.33 (3.33, 6.17) years old at the age of diagnosis. At the same time, the relevant literature reports were searched from 1932 to 2022, and 24 HDH patients reports and clinical studies were confirmed to be included in this study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data of 33 patients (38 hips) with HDH who were obtained in the literature, including 5 boys and 28 girls. The age of the first dislocation was 2.00 (1.50, 2.00) years old and 4.00 (2.55, 5.00) years old at the age of diagnosis. A total of 44 patients (50 hips) with HDH who were analyzed, including gender, age of first dislocation, age of diagnosis, mode of stimulating dislocation, side and direction of dislocation, accompanying symptoms, family history, trauma history and imaging examination. The data of 41 patients with HDH (3 patients were excluded due to lack of treatment description) were treated with observation and psychological intervention in 19 patients, splint or brace fixation in 13 patients, and surgical treatment in 9 patients. The femoral neck-stem angle, acetabular index, central edge angle (CE angle) and Reimers instability index were measured by AutoCAD software, and the hip function was evaluated by Harris standard. Meantime, the disappearance time of dislocation was recorded.Results:The average follow-up time of 44 patients (50 hips) with HDH were 4.05±2.93 years old, and the time of disappearance of dislocation after treatment were 1.28±1.19 years old. Patients were diagnosed as 7 boys and 37 girls, 30 right and 8 left as well as 6 bilateral, the age of the first dislocation was 2.64±1.54 years old and 4.52±2.64 years old at the age of diagnosis. The data of 39 patients took hip flexion, adduction, internal rotation or hip flexion and adduction as the mode of stimulating dislocation. There were 43 patients with posterior dislocation, 41 patients with an audible "click" sound during dislocation, 36 patients with painless dislocation, and 37 patients with "vacuum phenomenon" were captured at the moment of dislocation. All patients with HDH had no specific family history and obvious history of trauma. There was no significant difference in general data between observation and psychological intervention group, splint or brace fixation group as well as surgical treatment group ( P>0.05). Harris standard to evaluate hip function, CE angle and Reimers instability index of the affected side were significantly different from those before and after treatment at the moment of dislocation ( H=127.51, P<0.001; H=55.70, P<0.001; H=54.69, P<0.001). Compared with the immediate disappearance of dislocation in the surgical treatment group, the disappearance time of dislocation in the observation and psychological intervention group and the splint or brace fixation group were significantly longer, and the difference was statistically significant ( H=20.83, P<0.001). Conclusion:Without specific family history and obvious trauma at young girls, painless posterior dislocation of hip with an audible "click" sound and "vacuum phenomenon" at the moment of dislocation are the significant epidemiological characteristics of HDH. Observation and psychological intervention, splint or brace fixation are recommended as the initial treatment scheme. When conservative treatment is ineffective, surgical treatment is needed to stabilize the hip joint quickly.

The vagina contains at least a billion microbial cells,dominated by lactobacilli.Here we perform metagenomic shotgun sequencing on cervical and fecal samples from a cohort of 516 Chinese women of reproductive age,as well as cervical,fecal,and salivary samples from a second cohort of 632 women.Factors such as pregnancy history,delivery history,cesarean section,and breastfeeding were all more important than menstrual cycle in shaping the microbiome,and such information would be necessary before trying to interpret differences between vagino-cervical micro-biome data.Greater proportion of Bifidobacterium breve was seen with older age at sexual debut.The relative abundance of lactobacilli especially Lactobacillus crispatus was negatively associated with pregnancy history.Potential markers for lack of menstrual regularity,heavy flow,dysmenor-rhea,and contraceptives were also identified.Lactobacilli were rare during breastfeeding or post-menopause.Other features such as mood fluctuations and facial speckles could potentially be predicted from the vagino-cervical microbiome.Gut and salivary microbiomes,plasma vitamins,metals,amino acids,and hormones showed associations with the vagino-cervical microbiome.Our results offer an unprecedented glimpse into the microbiota of the female reproductive tract and call for international collaborations to better understand its long-term health impact other than in the settings of infection or pre-term birth.

Objective:To analyze the clinical outcomes of tibial bone transport over an intramedullary nail in combination with antibiotic-loaded calcium sulphate for treatment of segmental bone defect.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted by enrolling 11 surgically treated patients with tibial segmental bone defect after the debridement for tibial infection or osteomyelitis who were admitted in Lower Limb Surgery Ward of Traumatic Orthopedic Department, Xi′an Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi′an Jiaotong University from Jan. 2018 to Jan. 2020. The collected clinical materials and data included gender, age, injury mechanism, smoke or alcohol, comorbidities, intraoperative bleeding loss, bone defect length, resorption time of calcium sulphate, bone transport time, external fixation time, external fixation index, complications and Paley bone and functional criteria. SPSS 24.0 software was used to analyze the data.Results:Eleven patients were followed up for 8 to 31 months (average 23.2 months). All patients achieved bone healing and the infection was eradicated with no sign of recurrence. The mean length of defect was (8.1±1.6) cm, mean resorption time of calcium sulphate was (6.6±2.6) months, bone transport time was (11.4±2.8) weeks, external fixation time was (4.7±1.2) months, external fixation index was (0.58±0.07) month/cm and full weight bearing time was (6.1±1.4) months. The complication rate was 36.4% including deep vein thrombosis, delayed union of the docking site, pin tract infection and sterile draining of the wound. Paley bone evaluation results were excellent and good in 10 patients (90.9%) and functional results were excellent and good in 11 patients (100%).Conclusion:Tibial bone transport over an intramedullary nail in combination with antibiotic-loaded calcium sulphate is a safe, reliable and successful method for segmental bone defect and eradication of infection which reduces external fixation time and complication rate, allows patients perform weight bearing and return to daily life earlier.

Objective:To study the influence of anticoagulation timing on incidence of perioperative deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in elderly patients with hip fracture.Methods:A retrospective analysis was made of the 179 elderly patients with hip fracture who had been admitted to Department of Orthopedics and Traumaology, Hong-Hui Hospital from July 2017 to December 2018. They were 78 males and 101 females, aged from 62 to 91 years (mean, 79.5 years). There were 79 femoral neck fractures and 100 intertrochanteric fractures, 109 of which were treated by internal fixation and 70 by hip replacement. The patients were divided into 3 groups depending on the timing of anticoagulation after injury. In group 1 of 74 cases, anticoagulation started <24 h after injury; in group 2 of 36 cases, anticoagulation started 24 to 48 h after injury; in group 3 of 69 cases, anticoagulation started >48 h after injury. Anticoagulation continued until 12 h before surgery in all patients but was resumed 8 to 12 h after surgery. The 3 groups were compared in incidence of perioperative DVT.Results:The 3 groups were comparable due to insignificant differences between them in their pre-operative general data ( P>0.05). DVT occurred perioperatively in 84 patients, yielding an incidence of 46.9% (84/179). The incidences of perioperative DVT were 27.0% (20/74), 47.2% (17/36) and 68.1% (47/69) in groups 1, 2 and 3, respectively, showing significant differences ( χ2=24.206, P<0.001), between any 2 groups ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Since the earlier anticoagulation starts after injury the lower incidence of perioperative DVT in elderly patients with hip fracture, early standardized prophylactic anticoagulation after injury can effectively reduce incidence of perioperative DVT.

Objective:To explore the effects of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on the levels of serum magnesium in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and the effects of abnormal serum magnesium on the prognosis in T2DM patients with CAP.Methods:The study was a retrospective single-center study conducted in adult patients hospitalized with CAP at the First Hospital of Qinhuangdao between January 2015 and December 2018. These patients were divided into two groups according to the diagnosis of T2DM (control group and T2DM group). The reference range for serum magnesium is from 0.75 to 1.25 mmol/L. The primary endpoint was in-hospital mortality.Results:The prevalences of hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia were numerically higher in T2DM group than in control group (hypomagnesemia: 14.6% vs 12.0%, hypermagnesemia: 1.4% vs 0.7%), but there was no statistical difference ( P>0.05). In patients with T2DM, the in-hospital mortalities in patients with normal serum magnesium and hypomagnesemia were 5.9% and 12.7%, respectively; In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the in-hospital mortality of patients with hypomagnesemia was 5.629(95% CI 2.012-15.750, P=0.001)times as much as that of patients with normal serum magnesium. Conclusions:Abnormal serum magnesium was common in T2DM inpatients with CAP and hypomagnesemia was the most common. Hypomagnesemia was closely related to in-hospital mortality in T2DM patients with CAP. The assessment of serum magnesium levels on admission may be helpful in predicting the prognosis of T2DM patients with CAP.