A large amount of data has been accumulated in Chinese medical area. Problems as how to use big data to carry out randomized controlled trials have also been increasingly noteworthy. Through learning the successful experiences in conducting randomized controlled trials on big data from abroad, this article introduces the knowledge regarding sources of data, identification of research subjects and outcomes, interventions, methods of randomization and the implementation of informed consent, etc., all related to big data, hoping to shed light on studies of this kind, for the years to come in China.

Objective:The aim of this study is to analyze the distribution features of patients with solitary plasmacytoma and calculate the prevalence of solitary plasmacytoma in China in the year 2016.Methods:This study was based on China’s urban employees’ basic medical insurance and the urban residences’ basic medical insurance from 21 provinces from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. Patients with solitary plasmacytoma were identified by disease names and codes. Subgroup analyses were carried out by sex, region, and age. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses were performed to test the robustness of the results. Age-adjusted prevalence was calculated based on the 2010 Chinese census data, the 2013 Revised European Standard Population, the 2010 US population, and the 2011 Australian population.Results:In 2016, the prevalence of solitary plasmacytoma in China was 1.18 per 100 000 population (95% CI, 1.06-1.31) , with 1.26 per 100 000 population (95% CI, 1.10-1.43) and 1.10 per 100 000 population (95% CI, 0.93-1.29) for males and females, respectively. The age-adjusted prevalence based on the 2010 Chinese census data was 0.85 per 100 000 population (95% CI, 0.82-0.88) . Conclusion:This study estimated the prevalence of solitary plasmacytoma in China on the basis of the national urban medical insurance, which can provide clues for the enactment of solitary plasmacytoma-related medical policies and basic studies about solitary plasmacytoma.

OBJECTIVETo assess the association of S447X mutation and Hind III polymorphism in the lipoprotein lipase gene with dyslipidemia of the metabolic syndrome in patients with essential hypertension.

METHODSA total of 983 patients were randomly selected from those with hypertension (diagnosed in the Community-based Comprehensive Studies on Prevention and Control of Hypertension Project in China) and those not treated with anti-hypertensive medications for at least in 2 weeks immediately before blood collection. Among them were 389 subjects with dyslipidemia and 594 subjects without dyslipidemia. The definition of dyslipidemia in patients with hypertension was used only when triglyceride or HDL-cholesterol was at abnormal level. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to determine Ser447stop mutation and Hind III polymorphism in LPL gene.

RESULTSLinkage disequilibrium between the two sites was observed, with three major haplotypes identified: H+S, H-S, and H-X. The LPL gene S447X mutation and H-X haplotype were significantly associated with dyslipidemia (OR=0.547, 95%CI: 0.348-0.859 for S447X mutation; OR=0.537, 95%CI: 0.328-0.880 for H-X haplotype) in male, both by themselves and after adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, education and serum glucose. The LPL H- carriers and H-S haplotype were significantly associated with dyslipidemia (OR=0.575, 95%CI: 0.358-0.923) in female after multivariate adjustment. Moreover, compared with the H+S haplotype, the H-X haplotypes were associated with significantly lower TG and Log (TG/HDL-C) levels in both men and women, and with higher HDL-C levels in women; whereas no significant difference was observed between the H-S and H+S haplotype. Compared with the H-S haplotype, the H-X haplotypes had significant effect on the HDL-C levels in women.

CONCLUSIONThe LPL H-X haplotype was one of the protective factors of dyslipidemia of metabolic syndrome in hypertensive patients. It is significantly associated with low triglyceride, log triglyceride-to-HDL-cholesterol ratio and high HDL-cholesterol levels. S447X mutation does not explain all the effect associated with the Hind III polymorphism, although the effect on serum lipids associated with the H-X haplotype appeared to be mainly mediated by the S447X mutation. It is possible that some functional mutations in the LPL gene besides the S447X mutation are in linkage disequilibrium with the Hind III polymorphism.

Aged ; Cholesterol, HDL ; blood ; Dyslipidemias ; blood ; complications ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Hypertension ; complications ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; Lipoprotein Lipase ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Triglycerides ; blood

Objective:To assess the diagnostic value of whole-lesion intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules based on turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence.Methods:Totally 57 patients with thyroid nodules diagnosed by pathology were prospectively collected at the Affiliated Lianyungang Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from March 2019 to December 2019. A total of 62 nodules were included for analysis, including 27 benign nodules and 35 malignant nodules. All patients underwent routine MRI scan and IVIM-DWI based on TSE sequence before surgery. The regions of interest were drawn along the edge of the lesion on multiple consecutive slices to cover the entire nodule, and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), diffusivity (D), pseudo-diffusivity (D *) and quantitation of perfusion fraction (f) values were measured, and the mean value of the multilayer measurement was recorded for further analysis. The differences of the parameters between benign and malignant thyroid nodules were analyzed using independent samples ttest (normal distribution) and Mann-Whitney U test (non-normal distribution). The diagnostic efficacy of parameters with statistical significance was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. Results:The ADC, D and D *values in the malignant nodules were lower than those in benign nodules, the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.821, P=0.001; t=2.034, P=0.046).There were no statistical differences of D * and f values ( t=-1.170, P=0.247; Z=-0.559, P=0.577).The optimal cut-off values of ADC and D were 1.90×10 -3mm 2/s and 1.10×10 -3mm 2/s, with both sensitivity of 81.5%, specificity of 73.5% and 61.8%, respectively. The area under ROC curve of ADC and D were 0.782 and 0.688, and the statistical difference was found ( Z=2.098, P=0.040). Conclusion:The whole-lesion IVIM parameters (ADC and D) based on the TSE sequence provide imaging features for preoperative differentiation of benign and malignant nodules of the thyroid gland.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and economic burden of palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) in China.Methods:A population-based retrospective study was conducted using the data from China′s Urban Basic Medical Insurance data from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016. International Classification of Diseases code and diagnoses in Chinese for PPP were used to identify cases and estimate the prevalence, incidence, and cost. Subgroup analyses were performed according to age and sex, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the robustness of the results. Age-adjusted prevalence rates were calculated based on the 2010 national census data.Results:The crude prevalence and incidence rate of PPP in 2016 were 2.730/100 000 (95% CI: 2.218/100 000-3.242/100 000) and 1.556/100 000 (95% CI: 1.154/100 000-1.958/100 000), and the prevalence rate of females (2.910/100 000) was higher than that of males (2.490/100 000, χ2=97.48, P=0.001). The incidence rate of females (1.745/100 000) was also higher than that of males (1.418/100 000, χ2=85.02, P=0.001). The age peak of incidence and prevalence of patients with PPP was in the 30-39-year age group and a small peak existed in the 0-3-year age group among people under 20 years old. From 2012 to 2016, the average number of visits was (2.44±0.04) per patient, and the total per-capita cost per year was (982.40±39.19) yuan. Conclusion:In 2016, the prevalence and incidence rate of PPP in China were higher in females than in males, and the highest age peak was in the 30-39-year age group.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological characteristics and economic burden of palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) in China.Methods:A population-based retrospective study was conducted using the data from China′s Urban Basic Medical Insurance data from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2016. International Classification of Diseases code and diagnoses in Chinese for PPP were used to identify cases and estimate the prevalence, incidence, and cost. Subgroup analyses were performed according to age and sex, and sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the robustness of the results. Age-adjusted prevalence rates were calculated based on the 2010 national census data.Results:The crude prevalence and incidence rate of PPP in 2016 were 2.730/100 000 (95% CI: 2.218/100 000-3.242/100 000) and 1.556/100 000 (95% CI: 1.154/100 000-1.958/100 000), and the prevalence rate of females (2.910/100 000) was higher than that of males (2.490/100 000, χ2=97.48, P=0.001). The incidence rate of females (1.745/100 000) was also higher than that of males (1.418/100 000, χ2=85.02, P=0.001). The age peak of incidence and prevalence of patients with PPP was in the 30-39-year age group and a small peak existed in the 0-3-year age group among people under 20 years old. From 2012 to 2016, the average number of visits was (2.44±0.04) per patient, and the total per-capita cost per year was (982.40±39.19) yuan. Conclusion:In 2016, the prevalence and incidence rate of PPP in China were higher in females than in males, and the highest age peak was in the 30-39-year age group.

Objective:To understand the current status of rare disease related health information release in WeChat official accounts in China.Methods:We used a series of key words containing "rare diseases" and the names of the top 30 rare diseases in hospitalizations in China to search WeChat official accounts. Eligible articles were selected by systematic sampling. All including WeChat official accounts and articles were evaluated to extract the basic information.Results:No relevant WeChat official accounts were found for 14 rare diseases (46.67 %). Most of the WeChat official accounts (52.17 %) were initiated by patients and patient groups. No significant difference was detected in the total number of articles between the official accounts related with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and non-TCM related ones, however, the frequency of the monthly information release was significantly higher in TCM related official accounts ( P<0.001), while the average reading number of articles was significantly higher in non-TCM related official accounts ( P<0.001). Nearly 80 % of the WeChat official accounts had navigation menu, and the average reading number of official accounts with menus was larger than those without menus. The top three topics were rare disease diagnosis and treatment knowledge (46.00 %), public welfare activity for rare diseases (12.81 %) and uncorrelated things (8.65 %), while the first three leading topics were cutting-edge information, public welfare activity and patient story, respectively. Conclusions:The scale for rare disease related health information release based on WeChat official accounts in China has been basically formed, but it is still in development stage. Many improvements should be made in their coverage of rare diseases, release frequency, topic and form. It is urgent to establish or recreate some high-quality WeChat official accounts in order to provide precise information and effectively facilitate the prevention and treatment of rare diseases.

Objective:To analyze the epidemiological features of patients with plasma cell leukemia (PCL) and calculate the prevalence of PCL in urban China in 2016.Methods:Calculation in this study was based on China's urban basic medical insurance from 23 provinces between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. The identification of the patients with PCL was based on the disease names and codes in the claim data. Subgroup analyses were carried out by sex, region, and age. To test the robustness of the results, we performed sensitivity analyses. Age-adjusted prevalence was calculated, based on the 2010 Chinese census data.Results:The prevalence of PCL in urban China in 2016 was 0.11 per 100 000 population (95% CI 0.05-0.19) , and the male prevalence and female prevalence were 0.12 per 100 000 population (95% CI 0.06-0.21) and 0.10 per 100 000 population (95% CI 0.04-0.19) , respectively. The prevalence of PCL peaked at 70-79 years old. Sensitivity analyses proved the robustness of the primary result. The age-adjusted prevalence based on 2010 Chinese census data was 0.12 per 100 000 population (95% CI 0.11-0.13) . Conclusion:This study firstly analyzed the epidemiological characteristics of PCL in China, which can provide evidence for the research and policies regarding PCL.