Objective To investigate the predictive factors affecting the efficacy of cyclophosphamide (CTX) combined with glucocorticoids in the treatment of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN),and to evaluate the efficacy of calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) adjustment due to poor treatment.Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted.Two hundreds and twenty-eight patients with IMN diagnosed by renal biopsy in the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from January 1,2007 to December 1,2016 were enrolled.All subjects were treated with CTX in combination with glucocorticoids.The patients were divided into two groups:remission group and no remission group.Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine the baseline clinical-pathological influencing factors for the remission of IMN in the enrolled patients.Results The number of total remission (including complete and partial remission) of the first CTX combined with glucocorticoid treatment in 228 patients with IMN was 188(82.5％).Among them,141 patients (61.8％) had complete remission (CR),the median time for CR was 8(6,12) months,and the median time for partial remission (PR) was 3(1,4) months.The median follow-up time for this study was 25(13,43) months.Compared with the remission group,the serum albumin level was lower in the non-remission group,the 24-hour urine protein content,the blood complement C3 and C4 levels were higher,and the pathological stage was milder (all P ＜ 0.05).Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that the levels of baseline serum albumin,complement C4,and pathological stage were independent predictors of clinical remission in IMN patients.Twenty-four non-remission patients were treated with CNI.The overall response rate was 66.7％(16/24) at 6 months and 77.3％(17/22) at 12 months.Conclusions The levels of baseline albumin,blood complement C4,and pathological stage were independent predictors of clinical remission in IMN patients treated with CTX plus glucocorticoids.The non-remission patients with CTX combined with glucocorticoid therapy can still achieve a higher response rate after adjusting for CNI.

Objective:To characterize the distribution characteristics of choroidal thickness in healthy normal subjects and to define the diagnostic cut-off value for pachychoroid.Methods:A cross-sectional study design was carried out.Four hundred and forty-six eyes of 230 healthy subjects from the pachychoroid disease spectrum (PCD) cohort in Beijing Tongren Hospital from April 2018 to June 2021, were enrolled for the choroidal thickness distribution analysis.Three hundred and fourteen eyes of 274 patients with PCD including 149 eyes of 113 patients with central serous chorioretinopathy, 95 eyes of 81 patients with polypoid choroidal vasculopathy, 70 eyes of 60 patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration, along with 382 eyes of 199 normal subjects matched for refractive error, age and gender with PCD were selected for likelihood ratio analysis.Routine eye examinations including the best corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slit-lamp microscopy, dilated fundus examination and color fundus photography were performed in all subjects.Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) of 9 mm×9 mm scanning mode was used to measure the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) automatically in nine macular regions according to the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study classification system using TOPCON Advanced Boundary Segmentation (TABS) software.Pearson linear correlation analysis and Spearman rank correlation analysis were adopted to evaluate the correlations between SFCT and age, diopter.Multiple linear regression was employed to analyze the factors affecting SFCT.After age and refractive error adjustment, the likelihood ratio test was used to determine the diagnostic cut-off value for pachychoroid.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Beijing Tongren Hospital (No.TRECKY2016-054). Written informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to entering the cohort.Results:A negative correlation was found between SFCT and age in normal eyes ( r=-0.34, P<0.001), in both normal male and female subjects ( r=-0.43, P<0.001; r=-0.38; P<0.001). A weak positive correlation was found between SFCT and diopter ( rs=0.19, P<0.001). It was found that age and diopter were strongly correlated with SFCT (both at P<0.001). The cut-off values for pachychoroid in 20-39 years group, 40-59 years group, 60-79 years group and ≥80 years group were 320-330 μm, 330-340 μm, 250-275 μm and 200-225 μm, respectively.The percentages of eyes with pachychoroid in 20-39 years group, 40-59 years group and ≥60 years group were 14.71%(10/68), 24.48%(47/192) and 28.89%(55/184), respectively, showing statistically significant differences among them ( χ2=6.170, P=0.046; LR=6.579, P=0.037). The proportion of pachychoroid in ≥60 years group was significantly higher than that of 20-39 years group, showing a statistically significant difference ( χ2=5.982, P=0.014; LR=6.479, P=0.011). Conclusions:The distribution characteristics of pachychoroid vary in normal subjects over age.Age and diopter are the independent influencing factors of SFCT.