Objective To investigate whether there is a correlation between the esophageal length of the adult Chinese people and their height, sitting height, sex or age. Methods The length from the upper end of esophagus to the dentate line of the cardia was measured by watching esophageal cavity with endoscope. A total of 613 cases (378 males and 235 females) were studied. Results ① The average length of esophagus was (24.8?2.1)cm for male and (22.8?1.9)cm for female. The difference between male and female was statistically significant (P

Aptamers are DNA or RNA fragments that can specifically bind to target substances.Because of the excellent properties such as strong binding force,high specificity,small physical size,chemical synthesis and modification,good biocompatibility,and low immunogenicity aptamers show wide application propects in biomedical researches.Aptamers can also bind specifically to receptors on the surface of cell membranes,and mediate the endocytosis of nanoparticles into cells,making them ideal drug targeting ligands.Organic nanomaterials have excellent application value in nanodrug delivery system because of their good biocompatibility and degradability.In this paper,the recent research progress of aptamers and organic nanomaterials drug delivery systems was reviewed.

Objective:To develop the children′s postoperative health-related quality of life scale for thyroid cancer and to test its reliability and validity.Methods:The first draft of the scale was developed through literature search, focus group meetings, and a pre-survey, and 116 children (76 for testing and 40 for external validation) with thyroid cancer attending Beijing Children′s Hospital of Capital Medical University were selected to answer the scale, to screen and categorize the questions and to form the final scale with multiple dimensions.Results:The children′s postoperative health-related quality of life scale for thyroid cancer contained 5 dimensions and 29 questions. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the cumulative variance explained by the 5 factors was 64.343%. Confirmatory factor analysis showed correlations between the questions and dimensions of this scale, fair convergent validity for the scale, and good discriminant validity. The validity of the validity scale showed that there was a existing correlation between the questions and the validity scale of this scale. The item-dimension correlation coefficients showed that the questions in each dimension were well differentiated. The total Cronbach′s α coefficient of the scale was 0.930, the folded half reliability was 0.843, and retest reliabilities at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months after the initial test were respectively 0.936, 0.922, and 0.910.Conclusion:The developed children′s postoperative health-related quality of life scale for thyroid cancer has good reliability and validity and can be used to assess the health-related quality of life of children after thyroid cancer surgery.

Objective:To analyze the treatment outcomes and prognoses of children with head and neck non-parameningeal rhabdomyosarcoma (HNnPM RMS).Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of children with HNnPM RMS admitted to Beijing Children′s Hospital from September 2012 to September 2022. The clinical features, comprehensive treatment modes and prognoses of the patients were analyzed. The overall survival rate (OS) and event free survival rate (EFS) were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and univariate analysis was performed using the Log-rank test.Results:A total of 70 children were included in this study, 38 males and 32 females, with a median age of 47 months (2-210 months). Pathological subtypes including the embryonal in 27 cases, the alveolar in 36 cases and the spindle cell and sclerosing in 7 cases. Thirty children (83.3%) with alveolar type were positive for FOXO1 gene fusion. All 70 children underwent chemotherapy, including 38 with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 32 with adjuvant chemotherapy. Sixty of 70 children underwent surgery, of whom, 10 underwent two or more surgeries. There were 63 children underwent radiotherapy, including 54 with intensity-modulated radiation therapy, 4 with particle implantation and 5 with proton therapy. The median follow-up was 45 (5-113) months, the 5-year OS was 73.2%, and the 5-year EFS was 57.7%. Univariate analysis showed lymph node metastasis ( χ2=5.022, P=0.025), distant metastasis ( χ2=8.258, P=0.004), and high Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study (IRS) group ( χ2=9.859, P=0.029) as risk factors for poor prognosis. Before June 2016, the 5-year OS based on BCH-RMS-2006 scheme was 63.6%, and after 2016, the 5-year OS based on CCCG-RMS-2016 scheme was 79.6%. Conclusion:Multidisciplinary combined standardized treatment can offer good treatment outcome and prognosis for children with HNnPM RMS. Local control is a key to the efficacy of comprehensive treatment.

Objective:To determine the characteristics of cervical neuroblastoma and the effect of resection extent on survival and outcomes.Methods:We performed a retrospective review of 32 children with cervical neuroblastoma treated at Beijing Children′s Hospital between April 2013 and August 2020. Data were collected from the medical record. The individualized therapy was designed based on staging and risk group. Based on the extent of resection, patients were divided into incomplete and complete resection groups. Event free and overall survival rates were compared between two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method.Results:The ages of patients ranged from 1 month to 81 months, with a median age of 11 months, including 7 males and 15 females. Twenty-nine patients (90.6%) presented with cervical painless mass. The average diameter of the primary tumors was (5.12±1.43) cm. Tumors were located in the parapharyngeal space in 25 cases (78.1%) and in the root of the neck in 7 cases (21.9%). None had MYCN amplification. According to International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS), 15 patients (46.9%) were identified as stage 1, 11 patients (34.3%) as stage 2B, 3 patients (9.4%) as stage 3 and 3 patients (9.4%) as stage 4. There were 12 patients (37.5%) at low risk, 17 patients (53.1%) at intermediate risk and 3 patients at high risk according to Children′s Oncology Group (COG) risk classification system. All patients underwent tumor resection. Postoperatively Horner′s syndrome occurred in 13 patients (40.6%), pneumonia in 9 patients (28.1%), pharyngeal dysfunction in 8 patients (25.0%) and transient hoarseness in 4 patients (12.5%). At a median follow-up of 36.5 months, the overall survival rate was 96.4%, with no significant difference between incomplete and complete resection groups (100.0% vs. 96.3%, χ 2=0.19, P=0.667); the event free survival rate was 78.1%, with a significant difference between the two groups (40.0% vs. 85.2%, χ2=6.71, P=0.010). Conclusions:Primary cervical neuroblastoma has a young onset age, mostly in low and medium risk groups, and represents favorable lesions with good outcomes after multidisciplinary therapy. Less aggressive surgery with preservation of important structures is recommended. Complete resection should not be attempted if it would compromise vital structures.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and influencing factors of surgery combined with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of children with non-orbital head and neck rhabdomyosarcoma (HNRMS).Methods:Information from 45 children diagnosed as non-orbital HNRMS and subjected to surgery combined with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in Beijing Children′s Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University from August 2017 to July 2021 was analyzed. The patients included 25 males and 20 females, aged from 1 to 17 years old. The primary tumor site, pathological subtype, clinical stage, risk group, therapeutic regimen, resection range and outcome of all cases were also collected. The survival curves were made using the Kaplan-Meier method and the potential prognostic factors were investigated by Cox regression analysis.Results:Fifteen (33.3%) of 45 children achieved negative surgical margin under complete tumor resection. The postoperative pathological results showed that there were 20 cases of embryonic subtype, 19 cases of alveolar subtype and 6 cases of spindle sclerosis subtype. The postoperative follow-up time ranged from 4 to 71 months, with a median of 26 months. During the follow-up period, 13 children died, among whom brain metastasis was the most common cause of death, accounting for 7/13. The 3-year overall survival rate was 67.6%. Multivariate analysis showed that non-embryonic subtype ( HR=6.26, 95% CI: 1.52-25.87, P=0.011) and failure to reach R0 resection ( HR=9.37, 95% CI: 1.18-74.34, P=0.034) were independent risk factors affecting overall survival rate. Conclusion:Surgery combined with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy can offer a good efficacy for children with non-orbital HNRMS. Non-embryonic subtype and resection without negative operative microscopic margins are independent risk factors for poor prognosis, and brain metastasis is the main cause of death in these children.