OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of intact canal wall tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy (ICWT) with titanium ossicular prostheses. METHOD: A retrospective review was performed on 31 patients who underwent ICWT from 2008 to 2011. Patients' postoperative hearing results and complication rates were evaluated based on different types of ossicular prosthesis: partial ossicular replacement prosthesis (PORP), total ossicular replacement prosthesis (TORP). RESULT: The total effectiveness was 87.1%. No prosthesis was extruded. There was no significant difference in postoperative hearing results (average postoperative gain and ABG) between the two prostheses. In the low frequency (0.5 kHz), significant difference in ABG was found. CONCLUSION No significant difference in postoperative hearing results was found between PORP and TORP, which could be useful materials for tympanoplasty and obviously improve the hearing of otitis media patients after operation. As for the low incidence of postoperative complications in our short-term study, long-term follow-up visit is necessary.
Adult ; Cholesteatoma, Middle Ear ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Ossicular Prosthesis ; Retrospective Studies ; Titanium ; Tympanoplasty ; instrumentation ; methods

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of mastoid obliteration withsingle-pedicle muscle flap covered by bone pate on vestibular stimulation. METHODS A retrospective study was performed on 59 patients who were treated for chronic otitis media with or without cholesteatoma by two techniques: canal wall down tympano-mastoidectomy(CWD) and subsequent mastoid obliteration(MO). The postoperative vestibular functions of all the patients in both groups were assessed by vestibular function tests and questionnaires. Finally, the data of examination a nd symptoms were a nalyzed. RESULTS After a minimum follow up period of 12 months, the rate of ear dry was 84％(22/26) for MO group and 55％(18/33) for CWD group(χ2=4.72, P <0.05). The dry ear time were 5.46±1.39 weeks for MO group and 8.67±2.3 weeks for CWD group(t =6.2529, P <0.05). When compared latent period of Caloric testing in the MO group (10.3±2.57)s and CWD group (12.7±3.33)s, significant differencewas found(t =3.1639, P <0.05). The postoperative caloric vestibular tests revealed an average nystagmus count of 52.96±20.82 beats per minute in the MO group and 69.94±18.98 beats in the CWD group(t =3.2688, P <0.05). By analyzing the questionnaire, 30％(10/33) of the patients who received CWD treatment reported vertigo by caloric stimuli such as wind, water compared with MO group(0)(χ2=7.45, P <0.05). The rate of suction cleaning induced vertigo was 48％(16/33) in CWD group and 23％(6/26) in MO group(χ2=3.17, P =0.075). CONCLUSION Our technique of mastoid obliteration with single-pedicle muscle flap covered by bone pate results in small cavities with complete epithelialization of all surfaces. Furthermore, obliteration of mastoid cavities provides protection to the labyrinthine organ and reduces postoperative vertigo to caloric stimulation.

Objective To investigate the effect of pelvic floor stabilized structure preservation (PPSS) during robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP)on postoperative continence recovery.Methods From October 2017 to April 2018,86 patients with prostatic cancer who underwent traditional RARP and RARP plus PPSS were included.There were 31 patients in non-PPSS group and 55 patients in PPSS group.In non-PPSS group,patients age was (68.48 ± 7.79) years old,BMI was (24.79 ± 3.05) kg/m2,median prostate volume was 63.54 (53.00-99.36) cm3,clinic T-stage T1-T2,T3,T4 accounted for 49.39％,22.58％,6.45％ and ISUP grade 1,2,3,4,5 accounted for 22.58％,22.81％,12.90％,12.90％,19.35％ respectively.In PPSS group,patients age was (69.53 ± 6.81)years old,BMI was (23.95 ± 3.03) kg/m2,median prostate volume was 73.39 (54.88-94.23) cm3,clinic T-stage T1-T2,T3,T4 accounted for 72.73％,7.27％,3.64％ and ISUP grade 1,2,3,4,5 accounted for 21.82％,18.18％,23.64％,18.18％,10.91％ respectively.The preoperative PSA,BMI,clinical T-stage,ISUP grade,and postoperative hospital days had no significant differences (P ＞ 0.05)between the two groups.Both groups were operated via transperitoneal approach.In the non PPSS group,endo-pelvic fascia and pubic prostate ligament was cut,and dorsal vessel complex was ligated.In PPSS group,the partial endo-pelvic fascia was bluntly pushed to the pelvic wall to preserve tendon arch,and pubic prostate ligament also was preserved without suturing and ligating dorsal vascular complex.The catheter was removed 7 d after RARP.The continence recovery were compared between the two groups,including pad number on the day of I,7,14,30,90 and ICI-Q-SF scores on the day of 30 and 90 after catheter removal.Results There was no significant difference in pad numbers used between the two groups on the day of 1,7,14,30 after catheter removal.On the 90th day,the proportions of using pad ≥4 in PPSS group were significantly lower than those in non-PPSS group (1.89％ vs.20.69％,P =0.004).No significant difference was found in ICI-Q-SF scores on the 30th and 90th day between the two groups.Univariate analysis showed that PPSS group used less pads than non-PPSS group on the 90th day [OR =0.07(95％ CI 0.01-0.65),P =0.019];T3 patients used more pads than T1-T2 patients [OR =9.19 (95％ CI 1.32-63.87),P =0.025].After adjusting for age,ISUP grading,T staging,and PSA,multivariate regression analysis showed that the risk of using pad ≥ 4 in PPSS group compared with non-PPSS group was 0.46,0.34,0.27,0.25,and 0.03 on the day of 1,7,14,30 and 90 after catheter removal,respectively.The PPSS approach didn't increase the risk of positive surgical margin.Conclusions Preservation of pelvic stabilized structure in RARP is very efficient in term of continence rate after RARP,and it does not increase the risk of positive surgical margin.

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a micro-barrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells. METHODS: The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. RESULTS: Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts. CONCLUSIONS The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.
Animals ; Mice ; Humans ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Actins/metabolism* ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; Glycolysis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; Mammals/metabolism* ; Tripartite Motif Proteins/metabolism* ; Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism* ; Integrin beta Chains