AIM:Titanium-Nickel shape memory alloy(TiNi-SMA) has memory,abradability and good biocompatibility. It has different osteotomy methods and biomechanics from routine distraction osteogenesis. In this study,the dog models of mandibular defects were established to explore the effect of TiNi-SMA distractor with different osteotomy methods on mandibular distraction osteogenesis. METHODS:The experiment was performed at the animal experimental center of Sun Yat-sen University from October to December 2005. ①Eight male adult Beagle canines of 12-14 kg were selected. A 1.5 cm?1.0 cm bone defect was made in bilateral mandible of each dog. The same size transport bone disc was created mesially by osteotomy on left side and corticotomy on right side. TiNi-SMA distractor was implanted to repair defect. ②One,four,and seven days,and nine weeks after operation,the canines were radiographed for histological analysis and bone formation was observed. RESULTS:Eight dogs were all included in the final analysis. ①Gross observation found the wounds healed well without infection in all experiment dogs. ②X-ray examination showed the bone transport disc on the right side of corticotomy moved to defect area gradually after operation and filled defect area on the whole on the 7th day after operation;The bone transport disc dislocated 1 day after operation and separated from defect area totally on the 7th day after operation on the side of osteotomy(left side). ③ Histological examination demonstrated bone formed in accordance with intramembranous ossification in distraction zone and bony connection between the transport disc and mesial mandible on right side;On the left side,there was a big defect at the area of both distraction and defect zone because of dislocated bone transport disc,and no obvious new bone regeneration was found. CONCLUSION:Corticotomy can be used to establish a successfully canine model of mandibular distraction osteogenesis.

Objective To evaluate outcomes of modified transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) assisted by the minimally invasive expandable access system and spinal channel endoscope for acute and chronic lumbar intervertebral disc injury.Methods From March 2013 to November 2014, 45 patients with lumbar intervertebral disc injury were managed with minimally invasive (Group A) or open TLIF (Group B).Location for disc injury was at L3/4 in 5 patients, L4/5 in 28 patients and L5-S1 in 12 patients.Group A composing 12 males and 10 females showed age of (53.70 ±3.59) years (range, 43 to 67 years).Group B composing 14 males and 9 females showed age of (54.80 ± 4.37) years (range, 42 to 68 years).Between-group comparison was conducted with respect to operation time, blood loss, postoperative drainage loss, ambulation time and postoperative complications.Clinical outcomes were evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS), Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI), and bone fusion rate.Results Except for the comparable operation time, group A was associated with better results in the blood loss [(152.1 ± 15.5) ml vs (409.9 ± 28.3) ml], drainage volume [(106.1 ± 14.3)mlvs (223.0 ± 19.4)ml], ambulation time[(4.5 ±1.1)d vs (8.9 ±1.4)d] and 1-week postoperative VAS [(3.0±0.7) points vs (4.7 ±0.4) points] (P ＜0.05).At the final follow-up, VAS and ODI of both groups were significantly improved compared to the preoperative levels (P ＜ 0.05), but the differences between groups were insignificant (P ＞0.05).Bone fusion rate in Group A was 95％ (21/22) versus 96％ (22/23) in Group B 6-month postoperatively (P ＞ 0.05).No nerve root injury, intervertebral space infection or other complications occurred.Conclusion Modified TLIF assisted by the minimally invasive expandable access system offers the benefits of less trauma, less bleeding and a quicker recovery for acute and chronic lumbar intervertebral disc injury and has similar long-term clinical outcomes with open TLIF.

Objective:In general, patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are considered to show an aggressive disease course. However, the relationship between the two subgroups in disease severity is controversial. Our study is aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and prognosis of double-seropositive and seronegative RA in China through a real-world large scale study.Methods:RA patients who met the 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria or the 2010 ACR/European Anti-Rheumatism Alliance RA classification criteria, and who attended the 10 hospitals across the country from September 2015 to January 2020, were enrolled. According to the serological status, patients were divided into 4 subgroups [rheumatoid factor (RF)(-) anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody (-), RF(+), RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+), anti-CCP antibody(+)] and compared the disease characteristics and treatment response. One-way analysis of variance was used for measurement data that conformed to normal distribution, Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for measurement data that did not conform to normal distribution; paired t test was used for comparison before and after treatment within the group if the data was normally distributed else paired rank sum test was used; χ2 test was used for count data. Results:① A total of 2 461 patients were included, including 1 813 RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) patients (73.67%), 129 RF(+) patients (5.24%), 245 RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) patients (9.96%), 74 anti-CCP antibody(+) patients (11.13%). ② Regardless of the CCP status, RF(+) patients had an early age of onset [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) (51±14) years old, anti-CCP antibody(+) (50±15) years old, RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) (48±14) years old, RF(+)(48±13) years old, F=3.003, P=0.029], longer disease duration [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) 50 (20, 126) months, anti-CCP antibody(+) 60(24, 150) months, RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) 89(35, 179) months, RF(+) 83(25, 160) months, H=22.001, P<0.01], more joint swelling counts (SJC) [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) 2(0, 6), Anti-CCP antibody(+) 2(0, 5), RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) 2(0, 7), RF(+) 2(0, 6), H=8.939, P=0.03] and tender joint counts (TJC) [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) 3(0, 8), anti-CCP antibody(+) 2(0, 6), RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) 3(1, 9), RF(+) 2(0, 8), H=11.341, P=0.01] and the morning stiff time was longer [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) 30(0, 60) min, anti-CCP antibody(+) 20(0, 60) min, RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) 30(10, 60) min, RF(+) 30(10, 60) min, H=13.32, P<0.01]; ESR [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) 17(9, 38) mm/1 h, anti-CCP antibody(+) 20(10, 35) mm/1 h, RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) 26(14, 45) mm/1 h, RF(+) 28(14, 50) mm/1 h, H=37.084, P<0.01] and CRP [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) 2.3 (0.8, 15.9) mm/L, Anti-CCP antibody(+) 2.7(0.7, 12.1) mm/L, RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) 5.2(1.3, 17.2) mm/L, RF (+) 5.2(0.9, 16.2) mm/L, H=22.141, P<0.01] of the RF(+)patients were significantly higher than RF(-) patients, and RF(+) patients had higher disease severity(DAS28-ESR) [RF(-) anti-CCP antibody(-) (4.0±1.8), anti-CCP antibody(+) (3.8±1.6), RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) (4.3±1.8), RF(+) (4.1±1.7), F=7.269, P<0.01]. ③ The RF(+) anti-CCP antibody(+) patients were divided into 4 subgroups, and it was found that RF-H anti-CCP antibody-L patients had higher disease severity [RF-H anti-CCP antibody-H 4.3(2.9, 5.6), RF-L anti-CCP antibody-L 4.5(3.0, 5.7), RF-H anti-CCP antibody-L 4.9(3.1, 6.2), RF-L anti-CCP antibody-H 2.8(1.8, 3.9), H=20.374, P<0.01]. ④ After 3-month follow up, the clinical characteristics of the four groups were improved, but there was no significant difference in the improvement of the four groups, indicating that the RF and anti-CCP antibody status did not affect the remission within 3 months. Conclusion:Among RA patients, the disease activity of RA patients is closely related to RF and the RF(+) patients have more severe disease than RF(-) patients. Patients with higher RF titer also have more severe disease than that of patients with low RF titer. After 3 months of medication treatment, the antibody status does not affect the disease remission rate.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of cryptococcal meningitis patients with anti-granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) autoantibodies.Methods:A total of 216 non-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) related cryptococcal meningitis cases with positive cultures of Cryptococcus, hospitalized at Huashan Hospital, Fudan University during January 2014 and December 2021, were retrospectively included. The serum anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, and the clinical characteristics and prognosis were compared between patients with and without anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies. Statistical comparisons were mainly performed using the chi-square test or Fisher′s exact test. Cox proportional-hazards model was used to analyze the risk factors associated with prognosis. Results:Among 216 enrolled patients, 23 patients were positive of anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies, with a positive rate of 10.6%. Among 23 patients, seven cases were infected with Cryptococcus gattii, and 16 cases were infected with Cryptococcus neoformans. In the group with positive anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies, 30.4%(7/23) of the patients were infected with Cryptococcus gattii, which was higher than that of 1.6%(3/193) in the group with negative anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies, and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=38.82, P<0.001). In the group with positive anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies, 30.0% (6/20) had mass lesions with a diameter greater than three centimeters in the lungs, and the one-year all-cause mortality rate was 50.0% (10/20), which were both higher than those of 3.4%(5/145) and 16.1% (29/180) in the negative group, respectively. The differences were both statistically significant (both Fisher′s exact test, P<0.01). Age≥60 years (hazard ratio ( HR)=4.146, P=0.002), predisposing factors ( HR=3.160, P=0.021), epilepsy ( HR=6.129, P=0.002), positive anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies ( HR=2.675, P=0.034), white blood cell count of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)<100 ×10 6/L ( HR=2.736, P=0.039), the titers of cryptococcal capsular polysaccharide antigen of CSF≥1∶1 280 ( HR=4.361, P=0.009) were independent risk factors for one-year all-cause mortality in patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Conclusions:In non-AIDS related cryptococcal meningitis patients, the positive rate of serum anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies is as high as 10.6%. Patients with anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies could be infected with both Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii, and they have higher proportion of lung mass lesions than patients with negative anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies. The one-year survival rate decreases significantly in patients with anti-GM-CSF autoantibodies, which is an independent risk factor for the prognosis of cryptococcal meningitis.

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of spinal endoscopic surgery for lumbar posterior ring apophysis separation (PRAS) via percutaneous transforaminal approach. Methods: A retrospective case series study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 32 patients with lumbar PRAS admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from September 2016 to March 2018. There were 20 males and 12 females, aged 20-47 years [(33.7 ± 6.6)years]. All patients had single-segment lesions. The injured segments were at L_3/4 in seven patients, L_4/5 in 14 patients, L₅/S₁ in 11 patients. All patients were treated with spinal endoscopic surgery via percutaneous transforaminal approach. The incision length, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, intraoperative fluoroscopy times of C-arm X-ray machine and operational complications were recorded. At 24 hours, 3 months and 12 months after operation, the efficacy was evaluated by visual analogue score (VAS), Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI) and modified MacNab criteria. Results: All patients were followed up for 12-30 months, with an average of 15.5 months. The incision length was 7-9.5 mm [(8.0±0.9)mm], the average operation time was 60-155 minutes [(80.5±13.2) minutes], the average intraoperative blood loss was 5-25 ml [(10.6±5.7)ml] and the average number of fluoroscopy was 5-25 times [(9.4±3.4) times]. The patients were permitted to move wearing hard waist 8-12 hours after operation and returned to normal work and life 6 weeks after operation. Postoperative dysesthesia was noted in one patient, who recovered after neurotrophy and physiotherapy after one week. There were no complications such as open surgery conversion, intervertebral space infection, nerve root injury and dural sac laceration. The VAS and ODI at 24 hours, 3 months and 12 months after operation [low back pain VAS: (3.4±1.5)point, (1.8±1.1)points, (1.7±0.9)points; leg pain VAS: (1.8±1.0)points, (1.6±0.8)points, (1.4±0.6)points; ODI: (26.8±9.7)%, (13.9±4.3)%, (12.8±2.8)%] were significantly improved compared with those before operation [ back pain VAS: (7.3±2.1)points, leg pain VAS: (7.9±2.7)points; ODI: (56.2±15.6)%] (P<0.05). According to the modified MacNab criteria, the results were excellent in 25 patients, good in five patients, and fair in two patients, with the excellent and good rate of 94%. Conclusion Spinal endoscopic surgery for lumbar PRAS via percutaneous transforaminal approach is an effective method with advantages of small incision, less complications, effective pain relief and fast functional recovery.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the preferences of patients who underwent solid organ transplantation regarding therapeutic drug monitoring （TDM） of mycophenolic acid （MPA） and explore the factors influencing patients’ decision-making process， so as to provide support for the development of individualized medication guidelines for MPA and improvement of clinical decision-making. METHODS The cross-sectional study was used to design the questionnaire on the patients’ preferences to accept MPA TDM， and involved patients who underwent solid organ transplantation and received MPA treatment at two tertiary hospitals in Beijing from April 14， 2022， to June 27， 2022. The Likert 5-level scoring method was used to score the patients’ preferences to accept MPA TDM， the influencing factors and their correlation of the patients’ preferences to accept MPA TDM were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis and binary Logistic regression analysis， and the nonparametric test and chi-square test were used to rank and analyze the consistency of the factors affecting patients’ preference decision. RESULTS A total of 140 questionnaires were collected， and the effective recovery rate was 77.35%. The average preference score of 140 patients to receive MPA TDM was （4.01±0.65）， and the overall preference value was high. There were 116 （82.86%） patients agreed or strongly agreed with MPA TDM. Significant differences were observed in preference scores between patients who had previously undergone MPA TDM and those who had never undergone it （[ 4.30±0.53） scores vs. （3.80±0.65） scores， P＜0.001]. Additionally， patients’ preference scores were significantly influenced by their understanding level and attention level （P＜0.001）. The ranking of factors contributing to decision-making exhibited consistency （P＜0.001）. The factors were ranked in descending order of clinical efficacy， safety， comfortability， economy and time cost. CONCLUSIONS The patients who underwent solid organ transplantation hold high preferences towards MPA TDM. The primary factors influencing their decisions are their prior experience， understanding level， and attention level.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effectiveness， safety， economy， innovation， suitability and accessibility of recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis fusion protein （EC）， and to provide evidence for selecting skin detection methods for tuberculosis infection diagnosis and auxiliary diagnosis of tuberculosis. METHODS The effectiveness and safety of EC compared with purified protein derivative of tuberculin （TB-PPD） were analyzed by the method of systematic review. Cost minimization analysis， cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-utility analysis were used to evaluate the short-term economy of EC compared with TB-PPD， and cost-utility analysis was used to evaluate the long-term economy. The evaluation dimensions of innovation， suitability and accessibility were determined by systematic review and improved Delphi expert consultation， and the comprehensive score of EC and TB-PPD in each dimension were calculated by the weight of each indicator. RESULTS The scores of effectiveness， safety， economy， innovation and suitability of EC were all higher than those of TB-PPD. The affordability scores of the two drugs were consistent， while the availability score of EC was lower than those of TB-PPD. After considering dimensions and index weight， the scores of effectiveness， safety， economy， innovation， suitability， accessibility and the comprehensive score of EC were all higher than those of TB-PPD. CONCLUSIONS Compared with TB-PPD， EC performs better in all dimensions of effectiveness， safety， economy， innovation， suitability and accessibility. However， it is worth noting that EC should further improve its availability in the dimension of accessibility.