Objective To evaluate the ability of high resolution pleuropulmonary ultrasonography and bedside chest X-ray in identifying different pathologic abnormalities in patients with dyspnea,using thoracic computed tomography (CT) as a gold standard.Methods Bedside pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was performed in 350 dyspneic patients in the emergency department and ICU,111 patients were enrolled in the study with pleuropulmonary ultrasonography,chest X-ray and chest CT examination performed within 24 hours.Pathologic entities were evaluated:pleural effusion,consolidation,atelectasis,pneumothorax,pulmonary interstitial fibrosis,and pulmonary edema.The sensitivity,specificity,negative and positive prediction value of pleuropulmonary ultrasonography and chest X-ray were compared with the corresponding CT scan results.Results Pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was highly concordant with chest X-ray.Overall ultrasonography exhibited higher sensitivity than chest X-ray and CT for pleural effusion.For atelectasis and pulmonary edema,the sensitivity of ultrasonography was up to 100%.In the diagnosis of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis,the sensitivity of pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was higher than that of chest X-ray,but the specificity was slightly lower.The sensitivity of pleuropulmonary ultrasonography was slightly higher than that of chest X-ray in pneumothorax,and the specificity was coincident with chest X-ray.Although the sensitivity of ultrasonography was slightly lower for consolidation,it was still higher than chest X-ray.The ability of chest X-ray for differentiating pleural effusion from atelectasis or consolidation was worse than that of ultrasonography.Conclusions Our study demonstrates a high concordance between ultrasonography with radiography.The diagnostic performance of bedside pleuropulmonary ultrasonography is better than that of chest X-ray.

Objective To investigate the causes of peripheral cytopenia in patients with posthepatitic cirrhosis and portal hypertensive splenomegaly.Methods The clinical data of 183 patients with hepatitic cirrhosis and portal hypertensive splenomegaly complicated by peripheral cytopenia who were operated in our hospital in the past 17 years were retrospectively studied.Results All these patients underwent splenectomy.Before operation,all these patients had one or more types of peripheral cytopenia (cumulative cytopenia:390 patient-times).After splenectomy,blood counts in 79.2％ returned to normal;in 15.9％ increased but failed to reach normal levels;and in 4.9％ became lower than before operation.5 patients died soon after operation.Conclusion Hypersplenism is the main cause for the peripheral cytopenia most cirrhotic portal hypertension patients.Splenectormy is an effective method to treat hypersplenism.

Objective:To evaluate the fetal left atrial phasic function in normal pregnancy by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging(2D-STI).Methods:The antenatal examination images of 80 normal singleton fetuses from January 2019 to January 2020 in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. The following parameters were acquired from apical or basal four-chamber views at 24 weeks, 32 weeks and 37 weeks: global peak systolic strain and strain rate (S-LAs, SR-LAs), global conduit strain and strain rate (S-LAe, SR-LAe), global contractile strain and strain rate (S-LAa, SR-LAa).Results:The possibilities to identify left atrial phasic strain at 24 weeks, 32 weeks and 37 weeks were 97.5%, 88.8% and 87.5%, respectively. There were no significant differences among the 3 groups( P=0.051). Compared with at 24 weeks, S-LAs was decreased at 32 weeks and 37 weeks(all P<0.05), while S-LAe at 37 weeks was higher than at 24 weeks and 32 weeks(all P<0.05). S-LAa decreased gradually among the 3 groups, and reached the lowest at 37 weeks of gestation( P<0.05). SR-LAs and SR-LAa were lower at 32 weeks and 37 weeks than at 24 weeks(all P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in SR-LAe among the three groups( P=0.076). Conclusions:It is feasible to evaluate the phasic function of fetal left atrium by 2D-STI. Compared with the second trimester, the left atrial reservoir function and pump function of the fetus are decreased in the third trimester, while the ductal function is enhanced in the third trimester. The determination of the changes of normal atrial function with gestational weeks can provide a basis for the evaluation of fetal cardiac maturity and the detection of fetal cardiac dysfunction.

Objective:To evaluate the global and segmental myocardial work in patients with cardiac amyloidosis (CA) by left ventricular pressure-strain loop (PSL) noninvasively.Methods:Eighteen patients with CA in Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital from March 2018 to December 2020 were included as CA group, 20 healthy subjects were selected as control group. The global longitudinal strain (GLS) and mechanical dispersion (MD) of left ventricle were analyzed by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging. The left ventricular PSL was used to assess global work index (GWI), global constructive work (GCW), global waste work (GWW), and global work efficiency (GWE). The mean value of left ventricular basal, mid and apical myocardial work index (MWI), constructive work (CW), waste work (WW) and work efficiency (WE) were calculated and compared between the two groups.Results:①Compared with the control group, GLS was decreased and MD was increased in CA group (all P<0.05). ②GWI, GCW, GWW and GWE were decreased in CA group compared with the control group (all P<0.05). ③In CA group, the MWI, CW and WE of the basal, mid and apical segments were lower than those of control group (all P<0.05), WW of the basal and mid segments were lower than those of apical segment(all P<0.05). The impairment of MWI, WW and WE in basal and mid segment were more significant than those of apical segment (all P<0.05). ④GWI, GCW and GWE were positively correlated with GLS ( r=0.854, 0.816, 0.748; all P<0.001) and LVEF ( r=0.674, 0.634, 0.650; all P<0.01), and negatively correlated with MD ( r=-0.657, -0.672, -0.710, all P<0.01). GWI and GCW were negatively correlated with E/e′ ( r=-0.493, -0.539; all P<0.05). Conclusions:The global, basal, mid and apical left ventricular myocardial work indices are decreased in CA patients. MWI, CW and WE show an apical sparing pattern. Quantitative assessment of myocardial work by PSL may provide more valuable information for CA patients.

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) accompanied with diarrhea.Methods:From January 11 to February 6 in 2020, the clinical data of 663 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University were collected and divided into diarrhea group and non-diarrhea group according to whether they had diarrhea or not. The differences in baseline characteristics, basic disease history, clinical manifestations, chest computed tomography (CT), laboratory findings, disease severity and mortality between the two groups were compared. Chi-square test and Fisher exact test were used for statistical analysis.Results:Among 663 COVID-19 patients, 70 (10.6%) patients accompanied with diarrhea. The proportion of fatigue and increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels of diarrhea group were higher than those of non-diarrhea group (58.6%, 41/70 vs. 28.2%, 167/593; and 64.2%, 43/67 vs. 50.4%, 277/550), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=26.891 and 4.566, both P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of pneumonia in chest CT between diarrhea group and non-diarrhea group (100.0%, 62/62 vs. 99.4%, 529/532) ( P>0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the proportions of mild and normal type, severe type and critical type between diarrhea group and non-diarrhea group (35.7%, 25/70 vs. 38.6%, 229/593; 50.0%, 35/70 vs. 47.2%, 280/593; and 14.3%, 10/70 vs. 14.2%, 84/593, respectively) (all P>0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the mortality of mild and normal type, severe type and critical type between diarrhea group and non-diarrhea group (0 vs. 0.5%, 3/593; 0 vs. 0 and 1.4%, 1/70 vs. 3.5%, 21/593) (all P>0.05). Conclusions:Patients with COVID-19 accompanied with diarrhea are more likely to have fatigue and increased LDH level. Diarrhea is not significantly correlated with the disease severity of patients with COVID-19.

Objective To investigate the changes and clinical significance of plasminogen activator inhibi-tor-1(PAI-1),transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),and inter-leukin-6(IL-6)in patients with tuberculous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis.Methods A total of 103 patients with tuberculous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis who were treated in a hospital from July 2020 to July 2023 were selected as the research subjects.After 2 weeks of treatment,they were divided into a significant effect group and a non-significant effect group based on the therapeutic efficacy of glucocorticoid treatment.The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion were compared before treatment,after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment.The correlation between the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion and the therapeutic efficacy was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.Pearson correlation analy-sis was used to analyze the correlation between the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleu-ral effusion and the levels of these indicators in pleural effusion after 2 weeks of treatment.A receiver operat-ing characteristic curve was drawn to analyze the predictive value of the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion for the efficacy of tuberculous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis patients after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment.Results The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment in both groups were lower than those before treatment,and the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment in the significant effect group were lower than those in the non-significant effect group,with statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment were negatively correlated with the efficacy(P＜0.05).The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 2 weeks of treatment were positively correlated(r=0.761,0.783,0.812,0.741,all P＜0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of combined detection of serum and pleural effusion in-dicators after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment was greater than the AUC of individual indicators(P＜0.05).Con-clusion The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion of patients with tubercu-lous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis are related to the efficacy of treatment.The combined detection of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion has good predictive value and can provide reference for clinical intervention.

To investigate the association between the change of left ventricular ( LV ) function and mechanical dispersion ( MD ) and exercise capacity in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ( HCM ) by exercise stress echocardiography . Methods Sixty‐five HCM patients [ 40 cases of hypertrophic non‐obstructive cardiomyopathy ( HNCM ) , 25 cases of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy ( HOCM ) ] and 25 control subjects were recruited .LV function ,MD and exercise capacity were evaluated by two‐dimensional speckle‐tracking imaging and echocardiography at rest and during exercise ,and the following parameters of LV function were recorded : LV global longitudinal strain ( LVGLS) ,MD ,early diastolic strain rate ( Sre) ,the ratio of peak early diastolic mitral inflow and annulus velocity ( E/e′) ,LV outflow tract gradient ( LVO TG) ; LV functional reserve was assessed by ΔLVGLS and ΔSRe ; exercise capacity was evaluated by metabolic equivalents ( M ET s ) . T he association between the change of LV function and MD and exercise capacity was investigated . Results ①Compared with normal controls ,LVO TG ,E/e′ and MD increased ,and LVGLS ,Sre , ΔLVGLS , ΔSRe and M ET s decreased in HNCM patients at rest and during exercise ( all P ＜ 0 .05 ) . ② LVO TG , E/e′ and MD were further increased ,LVLGS ,Sre ,ΔSRe and M Ets were further reduced in HOCM patients compared with HNCM patients ( all P ＜ 0 .05 ) . ③LVGLS and MD measured at peak exercise were associated with M ET s ( r ＝－0 .68 , P ＜ 0 .001 ; r ＝ －0 .43 , P ＜ 0 .001 ) . ④ ROC curve analysis showed LVGLS had a better predictive value for exercise intolerance in HCM patients ,followed by E/e′ and MD . Conclusions LV function and mechanic reserve are reduced but MD is increased in HCM patients ,especially in HOCM patients . Exercise capacity is associated with LV function and MD ,w hich can predict the reduced exercise capacity in HCM patients .

Objective:To evaluate the mid-term complication rates of the Hui-Jing one-stage procedure (lingual mucosa combined with longitudinal preputial island flap onlay urethroplasty + tubularized incised plate glansplasty)versus the classic Bracka staged surgery for children with severe hypospadias.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical data of 75 children with proximal hypospadias who were treated at the Seventh Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from March 2017 to June 2022. Of these patients, 31 cases (15 cases penoscrotal type and 16 cases perineal type) were underwent the Bracka two-stage surgery with a median age of 38 months (24.0, 44.5) and 44 cases underwent the Hui-Jing one-stage procedure (23 cases penoscrotal type and 21 perineal type) with a median age of 40.5 months (20.75, 90.5). The length of urethral plate defect after correction of penile curvature was (4.30±0.84)cm in the Bracka group and (4.56±0.79)cm in the Hui-Jing group, which also showed no significant difference.There was no statistically significant difference of the median age and the position of preoperative urethral opening between the two groups( P=0.47, P=0.74). The first stage of Bracka repair consists of orthoplasty and urethral bed substitution with free preputial graft. After 6 months, the urethral plate created from free graft was tabularized to form neourethra; Hui-Jing procedure group used the free lingual mucosal as urethral plate substitution, then we conducted longitudinal preputial island flap Onlay and Snodgrass phalloplasty. The incidence of postoperative urethral fistula, urethral stricture and urethral diverticulum was compared between the two groups of cases and the difference in efficacy between the two procedures was assessed. Results:Among the 75 patients included in the study, there was no statistically significant difference in age or location of urethral meatus between the Bracka and Hui-Jing groups. In Bracka group, 9 cases of urethral stricture (29.0%), 6 case of urethral fistula (19.4%), and 2 cases of urethral diverticulum (6.5%) occurred after surgery, while 12 cases of urethral fistula (27.3%) and 3 case of urethral fistula (6.8%) occurred in the Hui-Jing group. No urethral stricture occurred in Hui-Jing group. There was no statistically significant difference in overall incidence of complications between the two groups [17/31(54.8%) vs.15/44(34.1%), P=0.12]. The incidence of urethral fistula and urethral diverticulum show no significant differences between two groups(19.4% vs 27.3, P=0.61, 6.5% vs. 6.8%, P=0.13). The number of operation in Bracka group was (2.68±1.03) and the hospitalization cost was (12 984.63±3 808.15) Yuan, while the number of operation in Hui-Jing group was (1.36±0.53) and the hospitalization cost was (8 490.54±3 136.84) Yuan. Conclusions:The Hui-Jing one-stage procedure can be used for the surgical treatment of children with severe hypospadias. There is no urethral stricture happened in Hui-Jing group, while the general complication incidence and incidence of urethral fistula and diverticulum show no differences.

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlation between polymorphism of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) -765G>C and susceptibility to colorectal cancer.

METHODSAll eligible case-control studies published up to March 2013 were searched out from PubMed, EMABSE, CJFD, CBM, CNKI, VIP and WanFang databases, while 99 articles were concluded. Two reviewers independently identified the literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 and Stata 12.0 software.

RESULTSA total of eleven studies comprising 3432 cases and 5286 controls were finally included. The included studies showed good homogeneity in the three genetic models, except the model of GC/GG genotype (I(2) = 52%, P = 0.03). Overall, there were no significant association between polymorphism of COX-2-765G>C and the susceptibility to colorectal cancer (dominant model: (GC+CC)/GG: OR = 1.08, 95%CI:0.96-1.21; recessive model:CC/(GC+GG): OR = 1.09, 95%CI:0.76-1.56; GC/GG: OR = 1.05, 95%CI:0.87-1.28; CC/GG: OR = 1.11, 95%CI:0.77-1.60). In stratification analysis by ethnicity, we observed that the polymorphism of COX-2 -765G>C could increase the susceptibility to colorectal cancer among yellow populations ((GC+CC)/GG: OR = 1.41, 95%CI:1.15-1.75; GC/ GG: OR = 1.48, 95%CI:1.15-1.90), but there was no significant association found among Caucasian populations.

CONCLUSIONThis meta-analysis suggested that the polymorphism of COX-2 -765G>C may increase the susceptibility to colorectal cancer in the yellow population.

Case-Control Studies ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; genetics ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Risk Factors

Objective:To investigate the relationship between abdominal visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) through quantitative computed tomography (QCT).Methods:The present study included 76226 participants. Abdominal fat areas were measured using the QCT Pro Model 4 system. Cardiometabolic indices were collected, including systolic and diastolic blood pressures, fasting plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density and high-density lipoprotein cholesterols CMR score was the sum of abnormal blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Restricted cubic spline and ordered logistic regression models were applied.Results:The mean age was 50±13 years and the percentage of men was 58.8%. The level of VAT area was higher in men than in women (191.7±77.1 cm 2 vs 116.4±56.2 cm 2, P<0.0001 for all). After adjustment for age, the cardiometabolic indices except high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased with increasing VAT area. When VAT area was 300 cm 2, age-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of a CMR score ≥ 1 were 14.61 (13.31, 16.04) for men and 5.46 (4.06, 7.36) for women, and the age-adjusted probability of a CMR score ≥ 3 was 31.7% for men and 31.3% for women. Conclusions:QCT-derived VAT is closely related to CMR. The findings suggest that measurement of visceral fat is recommended for the management of abdominal obesity in subjects who agree to undergo lung cancer screening via low-dose CT without additional radiation exposure.