Objective: To explore the association between the consumption of chemical fertilizers and the risk of low birth weight (LBW), to provide references for prevention programs on LBW and to improve the birth outcomes. Methods: Stratified multivariate logistic regression method was used in this study involving 153 preterm LBW infants, 179 term LBW infants and 204 normal control infants that were randomly selected from the birth monitoring data between October 2007 and September 2012 in Pingding county, Shanxi province. Associations between the risk of LBW and maternal exposure to chemical fertilizers during pregnancy were identified. A normal control group was set up to compare results between preterm and term LBW groups. Results: Totally, 18 749 infants were born between 2007 and 2012, with the total incidence rates of LBW as 48.5‰, preterm LBW as 19.4‰, and term LBW as 29.1‰. Concerning the case control study on preterm LBW, after adjustment for confounding factors, the risk of preterm LBW appeared 2.51 (95%CI: 1.05-5.99) times higher in villages with annual consumption of chemical fertilizer ≥100 tons than those villages that using chemical fertilizer less than 50 tons. No significant statistical associations were found between the amounts of household chemical fertilizer consumption and the risks of preterm LBW. Regarding the case control study on term LBW, after adjustment for confounding factors, in villages with ≥100 tons annual consumption of chemical fertilizers, the risk of term LBW was 4.03 (95%CI: 1.63-9.92) times of the risk in villages where the annal use of chemical fertilizers was less than 50 tons. There was no significant association between household consumption of chemical fertilizers and the risk of term LBW. Conclusions: Maternal exposure to chemical fertilizers during pregnancy was associated with the risk of LBW. Our findings suggested that the amount of chemical fertilizer consumption in rural areas seemed also associated with the risks of other adverse pregnancy outcomes. Women should avoid the chance of exposure to chemical fertilizers during pregnancy and the consumption of chemical fertilizers should be carefully managed.
Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Environmental Exposure/adverse effects* ; Female ; Fertilizers/adverse effects* ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Maternal Exposure ; Pregnancy ; Premature Birth/epidemiology* ; Random Allocation ; Risk Factors

Objective To explore the impact of SARS-CoV-2-positive donors on the prognosis of heart transplant recipients. Methods The Medline, EMbase, CENTRAL, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP and China Biology Medicine from inception to May 2023 were searched by computer for studies about impact of SARS-CoV-2-positive donors on the prognosis of heart transplant recipients. The data were extracted from all the relevant literatures, and the quality of the data was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). All statistical analyses were conducted by the Stata 11.0 software. Results A total of 10 studies (NOS score ranging from 5 to 9 points) involving 643 patients were enrolled. The pooled results demonstrated that the pooled mortality of heart transplant recipients from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors was 4% (95%CI 2% to 5%). And the incidence of composite outcome, regarding graft failure, rejection and death as poor prognosis, was 7% (95%CI 5% to 9%). Besides, compared with recipients from SARS-CoV-2-negative donors, the pooled odds ratio (OR) value of death of SARS-CoV-2-positive donors was 0.68 (95%CI 0.38 to 1.22, Z=1.28, P=0.200). The pooled OR value of rejection rate was 0.41 (95%CI 0.27 to 0.64, Z=3.97, P<0.005). For the composite outcome, the pooled OR value was 0.50 (95%CI 0.37 to 0.69, Z=4.30, P<0.005). In addition, there was no statistical difference in the length of hospital stay between heart transplant recipients from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors and negative donors (SMD=–0.03, 95%CI –0.22 to 0.15, Z=0.36, P=0.720). Conclusion The application of heart from SARS-CoV-2-positive donor for transplantation is safe and feasible. However, further prospective studies with longer follow-up are still needed to verify its impact on long-term outcomes.

Objective To examine the safety, efficacy and durability of totally endoscopic minimally invasive (TEMI) mitral valve repair in Barlow’s disease (BD). Methods A retrospective study was performed on patients who underwent mitral valve repair for BD from January 2010 to June 2021 in the Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. The patients were divided into a MS group and a TEMI group according to the surgery approaches. A comparison of the clinical data between the two groups was conducted. Results A total of 196 patients were enrolled, including 133 males and 63 females aged (43.8±14.9) years. There were 103 patients in the MS group and 93 patients in the TEMI group. No hospital death was observed. There was a higher percentage of artificial chordae implantation in the TEMI group compared to the MS group (P=0.020), but there was no statistical difference between the two groups in the other repair techniques (P>0.05). Although the total operation time between the two groups was not statistically different (P=0.265), the TEMI group had longer cardiopulmonary bypass time (P<0.001) and aortic clamp time (P<0.001), and shorter mechanical ventilation time (P<0.001) and postoperative hospitalization time (P<0.001). No statistical difference between the two groups in the adverse perioperative complications (P>0.05). The follow-up rate was 94.2% (180/191) with a mean time of 0.2-12.4 (4.0±2.4) years. Two patients in the MS group died with non-cardiac reasons during the follow-up period. The 3-year, 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates of all patients were 100.0%, 99.2%, 99.2%, respectively. Compared with the MS group, there was no statistical difference in the survival rate, recurrence rate of mitral regurgitation, reoperation rate of mitral valve or adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events in the TEMI group (P＞0.05). Conclusion TEMI approach is a safe, feasible and effective approach for BD with a satisfying long-term efficacy.

Objective To investigate the necessity of further surgery for patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma following treatment with the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor combined with chemotherapy, and to assess its impact on survival. Methods Patients with stage ⅡA to ⅢB esophageal squamous cell carcinoma who received immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy at our hospital from January 2020 to June 2022 were selected for this study. Based on whether they underwent surgery after receiving PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy, patients were divided into a surgery group and a non-surgery group. We compared the general clinical data, side effects, clinical complete response rates, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) between the two groups. Results A total of 58 patients were included in the study, comprising 45 males and 13 females, with an average age of (65.5±6.9) years. There were no statistical differences in general clinical data or adverse reactions between the two groups. Univariate analysis revealed that the objective response rate and surgery were significantly associated with PFS (P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that surgery was the only independent risk factor for PFS (P=0.003). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the PFS and OS in the surgery group were significantly higher than those in the non-surgery group (HR=0.13, 95%CI 0.036 to 0.520, P＜0.001; HR=0.17, 95%CI 0.045 to 0.680, P=0.004). Conclusion After treatment with the PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy, patients with locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma still require surgical intervention to achieve improved PFS and OS.

Objective    To explore the association between radiotherapy and the risk of subsequent primary lung cancer in female patients with breast cancer. Methods    The EMbase, Web of Science, PubMed, CNKI, VIP and WanFang databases were searched from the establishment date to July 1, 2021. The relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were combined and all statistical analyses were performed by STATA 12.0 software. Results    A total of 10 publications including 466 510 participates from 14 studies were included. The meta-analysis indicated that radiotherapy was a risk factor for the occurrence of second primary lung cancer among female breast cancer patients [RR=1.45, 95%CI (1.18, 1.78), P<0.001]. Subgroup analysis based on the relative position of breast cancer and lung cancer was conducted and the results demonstrated that radiotherapy only increased the incidence rate of ipsilateral lung cancer [RR=1.27, 95%CI (1.10, 1.45), P=0.001], without significant change of the risk of contralateral lung cancer [RR=1.16, 95%CI (0.77, 1.74), P=0.487]. Conclusion    Radiotherapy is one of the risk factors for subsequent primary pulmonary carcinoma among female breast cancer patients, especially for ipsilateral lung carcinoma. However, more high-quality studies are still needed to verify above findings.

Objective     To exploring the effectiveness of perioperative application of new surgical clinical classification and staging for myasthenia gravis (MG) in reducing the incidence of postoperative myasthenic crisis (MC). Methods     The clinical data of patients with generalized MG admitted to the Comprehensive Treatment Center for Myasthenia Gravis of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital from January 2018 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, who were scored with myasthenia gravis-activities of daily living (MG-ADL) score and quantification of the myasthenia gravis (QMG) score at the first visit, 1 day before surgery, and 3 days after surgery. The patients were divided into a group A (typeⅡ) and a group B (typeⅢ+Ⅳ+Ⅴ) by the new surgical clinical classification and staging of MG according to the disease progression process, and all patients underwent expanded thoracoscopic thymus (tumor) resection after medication and other interventions to control symptoms in remission or stability. The incidence of MC and the efficiency rate after surgery were analyzed. The normal distribution method and percentile method were used to calculate the unilateral 95% reference range of the QMG score and MG-ADL score. Results     Finally 126 patients were enrolled, including 62 males and 64 females, aged 13-71 years, with an average age of 46.00±13.00 years. There were 95 patients in the group A and 31 patients in the group B, and the differences of the preoperative baseline data between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative MC was 1.05% (1/95) in the group A and 3.23%(1/31) in the group B (P>0.05). The effective one-sided 95% reference range of the QMG score and MG-ADL score 1 day before surgery was 0-7.75 and 0-5.00, and there was no postoperative death in both groups. Conclusion     The new surgical clinical classification and staging of MG can guide the timing of surgery, which can benefit patients undergoing surgery for MG and greatly reduce the incidence of postoperative MC.

Objective To study the clinical and CT findings of bronchiolar adenoma. Methods Patients diagnosed with bronchiolar adenoma confirmed by surgical pathology at Linyi People's Hospital and Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital from 2016 to 2021 were collected. Their clinical and CT imaging features were retrospectively analyzed. Results Finally, 25 patients were collected, including 6 males and 19 females, aged 32-73 (58.6±10.1) years. The immunohistochemical Ki-67 (MIB1) of all lesions was <5%. The lesions were located in the upper and middle lobe of both lungs in 9 patients, lower lobes in 16 patients, extrapulmonary zone in 22 patients, intrapulmonary middle zone in 3 patients, round in 11 patients, irregular in 14 patients, well-defined in 22 patients, pure ground-glass/mixed ground-glass nodules in 6 patients, solid nodules in 19 patients. There were 11 patients with central small cavity, 18 patients with single bronchioles sign, 19 patients without adhesion with adjacent pleura, and 24 patients without mediastinal lymph node enlargement. Conclusion Bronchiolar adenomas usually occur in the middle-aged and elderly, mostly in the lower lobe of both lungs and the distribution of the peripheral lung field, most of the patients do not have any clinical symptoms, and the postoperative prognosis is good. CT may show large nodules or masses, pure ground-glass/mixed ground-glass nodules, irregular solid nodules and central small cavities. Irregular stellate nodules, central small cavity shadow, and single bronchiolar vascular bundle connected with the lesions are relatively specific imaging findings of bronchiolar adenoma.

Objective    To investigate the short-term therapeutic effect of neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy in the locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods    The clinical data of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant treatment in Gaozhou People's Hospital from August 2019 to October 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the different treatments, the patients were divided into two groups: a neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy group (NIC group) and a neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy group (NC group). The baseline data, incidence of adverse events during treatment, perioperative indicators, postoperative pathological remission rate and incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Results    Totally 33 patients were enrolled, including 15 males and 18 females, with an average age of 62.37±7.99 years. There were 17 patients in the NIC group and 16 patients in the NC group. In the NIC group, the carcinoma was mainly located in the middle and lower esophagus, with 5 paitents in stage Ⅱ, 9 patients in stage Ⅲ, and 3 patients in stage Ⅳa. In the NC group, the carcinoma was mainly located in the upper-middle esophagus, with 1 patient in stage Ⅱ and 15 patients in stage Ⅲ. During the neoadjuvant treatment, there was no significant difference in the occurrence of bone marrow suppression or gastrointestinal reactions between the two groups (P>0.05). There were 4 immune-related rashes in the NIC group and 1 esophageal perforation in the NC group. Fourteen (82.35%) patients in the NIC group and 12 (75.00%) patients in the NC group completed the operation on schedule. The postoperative ICU stay time and chest tube indwelling time in the NIC group were shorter than those in the NC group (P<0.05). There were 5 patients of complete remission in the NIC group, and 6 patients in the NC group. There was no significant difference in the pathological regression grade or residual tumor cells between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of anastomotic fistula, thoracic gastric fistula, bronchial mediastinal fistula, abdominal distension, pulmonary infection, stroke, or hoarseness during the perioperative period between the two groups of patients who completed the operation (P>0.05). In the NC group, 2 patients died during the perioperative period because of thoracic gastric fistula complicated by severe infection. Conclusion    Neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy dose not significantly increase the occurrence of adverse events and shows a good rate of pathological remission, which indicates that the neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy is a safe, feasible and potential new treatment model.

Objective     To investigate the risk factors for postoperative complications Clavien-Dindo classification≥grade Ⅱ after lung cancer surgery. Methods     The patients who underwent lung cancer surgery in a multicenter observational study from November 2017 to January 2020 were included. The Clavien-Dindo classification of postoperative complications was analyzed. Logistic regression was used to identify the risk factors for complications≥ gradeⅡ. Results     A total of 388 patients were enrolled, including 203 males and 185 females with a mean age of 56.14±10.36 years. The incidence of postoperative complications was 25.52% (99/388) after lung cancer surgery and the incidence of complications≥gradeⅡ was 20.10% (78/388). The five most common postoperative complications were pneumonia (6.96%), prolonged pulmonary air leak (>7 days, 5.67%), incision dehiscence (4.64%), arrhythmia (3.87%), and postoperative pleural effusion (3.35%). Multivariate analysis showed that open surgery [reference: uniportal thoracoscopic surgery, OR=2.18, 95%CI (1.01, 4.70), P=0.047], extended resection [reference: sublobar resection, OR=2.86, 95%CI (1.11, 7.19), P=0.030; reference: lobectomy, OR=2.20, 95%CI (1.10, 4.40), P=0.026] and operative time≥3 h [OR=2.07, 95%CI (1.12, 3.85), P=0.021] were independent risk factors for postoperative complications≥gradeⅡ after lung cancer surgery. Conclusion     Surgical approach, extent of resection and operative time are independent influencing factors for postoperative complications≥gradeⅡ after lung cancer surgery.

Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) is a relatively rare but complex congenital heart disease characterized by the anomalous drainage of the pulmonary veins. Rather than connecting to the left atrium, the pulmonary veins drain either directly or indirectly into the systemic venous circulation or the right atrium via abnormal pathways. While there is broad consensus on the diagnostic criteria for TAPVC, significant debate persists regarding the optimal timing of surgical intervention, preferred surgical techniques, and postoperative management including re-intervention strategies. This article formulates a Chinese consensus based on evidence-based data from the literature and opinions from domestic experts, with the goal of further standardizing the surgical treatment of TAPVC in China.