Objective:To investigate the feasibility of using spectral CT chest enhancement venous phase images to obtain virtual non-contrast (VNC) images and virtual arterial phase images to achieve one phase scan instead of three phase scans.Methods:Imaging data of 100 patients who underwent spectral CT chest plain and dual-phase enhancement scans at the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from January to May 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. The venous phase images of all patients were post-processed to obtain virtual non contrast (VNC) and 40 keV virtual mono-energy images (VMI) for simulated arterial phase images (Vart). Image quality and lesion detection were compared between true non-contrast (TNC) and VNC images, and conventional arterial phase (CIart) and Vart images by paired t-test, Wilcoxon test and McNemar test. Objective evaluation indexes of image quality included thoracic aorta, all levels of pulmonary artery, T4 vertebral bone cancellous, chest wall fat CT value, background noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR); the subjective score of image quality was assessed by double-blind method on a 5-point scale; the assessment of lesion detection included the detection rate of calcified foci and pulmonary nodules size, density, volume, percentage of solid components and imaging characteristics. Results:Except for chest wall fat and T4 vertebral bone cancellous, the differences in CT values between VNC and TNC images were not statistically significant ( P>0.05); Except for right upper pulmonary artery and right lower pulmonary artery, the differences in background noise values and SNR between TNC images and VNC images were statistically significant ( P<0.05). Compared with CIart images, the CT values of chest wall fat were lower in Vart images ( P<0.05), and the CT values of the remaining sites were significantly higher ( P<0.05); the background noise values of all sites on Vart images were smaller than those on CIart images, and the SNR and CNR values were higher than those on CIart images ( P<0.05).The differences of subjective scores of images quality were not statistically significant between TNC and VNC images, between CIar and Vart images ( P>0.05). Taking TNC as the standard, the overall detection rate of VNC for calcification was 88.53% (301/340). Except for the short diameter of partially solid nodules, the differences of qualitative and quantitative assessment indexes of lung nodules between TNC and VNC images were not statistically significant ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Spectral CT chest venous phase 40 keV VMI can simulate arterial phase images in the diagnosis of vascular lesions, and venous phase VNC basically meets the standard of conventional plain scan, so it is feasible to replace plain scan, arterial phase and venous phase images in a certain range.

Objective Endothelial microparticles (EMPs) are direct indicator of endothelial cell activation or apoptosis,and may also reflect endothelial inflammation,increased coagulation,and vascular tone.The aim of this study is to investigate whether EMPs would be able to evaluate systemic involvement and be a new indicator of disease activity in Beh(c)et's disease (BD).Methods Thirty-nine consecutive BD patients (who fulfilled the modified International Study Group on BD in 1990 or International Criteria for BD in 2006) and 67 age and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled (Including 37 patients with hypertension and 30 healthy subjects).The plasma levels of EMPs were measured by flow cytometry utilizing specific labels for endothelial MPs (CD31+ and CD42b-).The measurement data of each group were expressed as-x±s,and the comparison data betwen groups were analyzed by independent sample t test and analysis of variance,Spearman/Pearson correlation analysis,P＜0.05 was statistically significant.Results The levels of circulating EMPs (CD31 + and CI42b-) were significantly elevated in the case group compared with the healthy control group and hypertension (F=6.845,P＜0.05).Moreover,BD patients plasma EMPs were positively correlated with active BD (r=0.802,P＜0.05).Vascular involvement in BD patients was higher than in patients without vascular EMPs,t=4.707,P＜0.05.Gastrointestinal involvement in BD patients was more frequent than that in patients without Gastrointestinal involvement,t=2.673,P＜0.05.Conclusion Levels of circulating EMPs are elevatedd in BD patients and correlated with disease activity in BD.Elevated EMPs may be a potential indicator to predict disease activity of BD.The plasma level of EMPs is increased,which indicats increased risk of vascular and digestive tract involvement in BD.

Objective To investigate the application of peripheral perfusion index (PPI) in early diagnosis and goal-directed therapy of septic shock, and to provide reference for the early clinical diagnosis and treatment of septic shock. Methods A prospective single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted. Adult patients with sepsis admitted to emergency medical department and intensive care unit (ICU) of the First People's Hospital of Lianyungang City in Jiangsu Province from January 2013 to December 2016 were enrolled. The patients were randomly divided into two groups (n = 46). The PPI group was defined using PPI < 1.4 as diagnosis of septic shock standard, and PPI > 2 as treatment guide target. Control group was defined according to the traditional diagnostic criteria of shock which systolic blood pressure was less than 90 mmHg (1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) or systolic blood pressure value decrease> 40 mmHg baseline and bundle treatment was performed. The volume of fluid resuscitation, organ dysfunction, the sequential organ failure score (SOFA), acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ (APACHE Ⅱ) score,continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) time, mechanical ventilation (MV) time, the length of ICU stay and 28-day mortality were observed. Results There were 39 and 27 septic shock patients in PPI group and control group respectively. The diagnostic criteria of traditional septic shock with blood pressure as "gold standard", the sensitivity of PPI < 1.4 for septic shock was 94.3%, the specificity was 28.2%, the authenticity was 66.3%, the positive predictive value was 64.1%, the negative predictive value was 78.6%, the positive likelihood ratio was 1.31, the negative likelihood ratio was 0.18. The per capita fluid replacement within 24 hours in the PPI group was significantly higher than that in the control group (mL: 4 601±1 250 vs. 3 458±1 006, P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference in the per capita volume of the patients diagnosed as septic shock (mL: 4 596±1 320 vs. 4 205±1 058, P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the PPI group treated patients within 48 hours with less vascular active drugs (cases: 6 vs. 15), APACHE Ⅱand SOFA score were lower (48 hours: APACHE Ⅱ was 10.2±2.1 vs. 12.0±3.2; 72 hours: SOFA was 5.1±1.8 vs. 6.0±2.1, APACHE Ⅱ was 8.9±1.8 vs. 9.8±2.2), the period of CRRT and the length of ICU stay were shorter [the period of CRRT (days): 3.0±0.9 vs. 3.6±1.4, the length of ICU stay (days): 5.2±2.1 vs. 6.3±2.9), the difference was statistically significant (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the liver and kidney function index, arterial blood lactic acid (Lac), MV time (days: 3.3±1.4 vs. 3.5±1.2) and 28-day mortality (15.22% vs. 19.57%) between two groups (all P > 0.05). Conclusions The inadequacy of microcirculatory perfusion by oximetry-derived PPI is more sensitive to the diagnosis of septic shock than hypotension of systemic circulation. With PPI guiding the fluid resuscitation of septic shock patients, vasopressors can be withdrawn earlier and the duration of the CRRT and ICU can be decreased.