BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia in the elderly. This study aimed to evaluate urban-rural disparities in its prevalence and management in elderly Chinese. METHODS: Consecutive participants aged ≥ 65 years attending outpatient clinics were enrolled for AF screening using handheld single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) from April 2017 to December 2022. Each ECG rhythm strip was reviewed from the research team. AF or uninterpretable single-lead ECGs were referred for 12-lead ECG. Primary study outcome comparison was between rural and urban areas for the prevalence of AF. The Student's t-test was used to compare mean values of clinical characteristics between rural and urban participants, while the Pearson's chi-square test was used to compare between-group proportions. Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the association between AF and various patient characteristics. RESULTS: The 29,166 study participants included 13,253 men (45.4%) and had a mean age of 72.2 years. The 7073 rural participants differed significantly (P ≤ 0.02) from the 22,093 urban participants in several major characteristics, such as older age, greater body mass index, and so on. The overall prevalence of AF was 4.6% (n = 1347). AF was more prevalent in 7073 rural participants than 22,093 urban participants (5.6% vs. 4.3%, P < 0.01), before and after adjustment for age, body mass index, blood pressure, pulse rate, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and prior medical history. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified overweight/obesity (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.17-1.54) in urban areas and cigarette smoking (OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.20-2.17) and alcohol consumption (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.04-1.93) in rural areas as specific risk factors for prevalent AF. In patients with known AF in urban areas (n = 781) and rural areas (n = 338), 60.6% and 45.9%, respectively, received AF treatment (P < 0.01), and only 22.4% and 17.2%, respectively, received anticoagulation therapy (P = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In China, there are urban-rural disparities in AF in the elderly, with a higher prevalence and worse management in rural areas than urban areas. Our study findings provide insight for health policymakers to consider urban-rural disparity in the prevention and treatment of AF.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) combined with thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA), and clarify the clinical outcomes and related risk factors of pediatric patients through their treatment and follow-up.Methods:This was a single-center retrospective case-control study. Children diagnosed with SLE combined with TMA between January 2017 and January 2023 at Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University, were selected as the TMA group, and SLE children without TMA were selected as the control group.According to the prognosis, children in the TMA group were further divided into the good prognosis group and the poor prognosis group.The data of the children were collected, including age, gender, SLE disease activity, clinical presentations at the time of diagnosis and at the time of thrombosis, laboratory examinations, treatment strategies, prognosis, and follow-up results.The chi-square test and Z-test were used for comparison of count data.The t-test was used for comparison of metrological pairing data.The Fisher′s exact test was used to compare the differences between the 2 groups in categorical variables.The univariate Logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of poor prognosis. Results:There were 29 cases in the TMA group, and the incidence of TMA accounted for 2.53% of SLE patients; 33 cases were in the control group.The age at diagnosis of TMA was 13 years and 5 months (ranging from 9 years, 1 month and 5 days to 17 years and 4 months).The common clinical manifestations in order of prevalence were renal involvement (28 cases, 96.55%), hematologic involvement (26 cases, 89.66%), serous effusion (17 cases, 58.62%), rash (13 cases, 44.82%), and neurologic involvement (12 cases, 41.38%).Pleurisy or pericarditis, renal involvement and neurological involvement occurred more often in the TMA group than in the control group (17 cases vs.3 cases, 28 cases vs.10 cases, 12 cases vs.3 cases), and the TMA group showed less facial rash and arthritis than the control group (13 cases vs.25 cases, 4 cases vs.17 cases), and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05).The Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index score in the TMA group [(24.14±9.42) scores] was significantly higher than that in the control group [(10.18±9.42) scores], and the difference was statistically significant ( t=3.233, P<0.05).The hemoglobin level, platelet count, and complement C3 level of the children in the TMA group were significantly lower than those in the control group, whereas the double stranded DNA antibody, lactate dehydrogenase, D-dimer, urea, creatinine, ferritin level, and urine protein quantitation were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05).In the TMA group, 5 cases had decreased ADAMTS13 activity, and 5 cases had significantly increased complement C5b9.A total of 15 cases (51.72%) in the TMA group underwent renal biopsy, and 13 of them had combined renal TMA.In the TMA group, 28 patients (96.6%) received hormone therapy, 17 patients received plasma exchange, and 12 patients were treated with immunosuppressants and biologics; 19 patients (65.5%) improved, and 10 patients (34.5%) gave up the treatment due to deterioration of the disease.The urea level and peripheral blood fragmented erythrocyte rate in the good prognosis group were significantly lower than those in the poor prognosis group [(13.18±4.39) mmol/L vs.(21.16±10.14) mmol/L, t=2.975, P=0.006; 8/17 (47.06%) vs.7/7 (100%), χ2=5.929, P=0.015].The univariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the fragmented erythrocyte, ADAMTS13 activity and urea were the independent risk factors for poor prognosis (all P<0.05). Conclusions:SLE patients with moderate-to-severe disease activity, especially children with hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal dysfunction as prominent manifestations, should be alert to the risk of TMA.Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial.

Objective: To analyze the characteristics of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the distribution of HPV subtypes in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, and to explore the application evaluation of multiple PCR capillary electrophoresis fragment analysis for HPV typing test. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 434 women (age range 17 to 74 years old, 260 patients and 174 physical examinations) included from May to August 2022 in Hebei General Hospital. HPV typing was detected by multiple PCR-capillary electrophoresis fragment analysis. Using the multiple fluorescence quantitative PCR kit as a reference, Chi-square test was used to analyze the diagnostic effect of multiple PCR-capillary electrophoresis fragment analysis, and the consistency was analyzed by Kappa value. Results: The total HPV infection rate was 45.85%(199/434), including 35.48% (154/434) of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV), 3.92% (17/434) of low-risk HPV (LR-HPV), 6.45% (28/434) of HR-HPV and LR-HPV mixed infection, 27.88% (121/434) of single type HPV and 17.97% (78/434) of multi type HPV. HPV52 (9.68%, 42/434), HPV16 (6.91%, 30/434), and HPV58 (6.91%, 30/434) are common HPV subtypes. The positive rate of physical examination was 45.40% (79/174), which was slightly lower than that of patients 46.15% (120/260), there was no significant difference (χ²=0.024,P>0.05). The highest infection rate in the 17-30 age group was 54.76% (46/84), and there was no statistical difference among the age groups(χ²=4.123,P>0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of multiplex PCR capillary electrophoresis fragment analysis were 92.96% and 94.04%, respectively, and Kappa value was 0.870, with the multiplex fluorescent quantitative PCR as the reference. Conclusion: HPV infection may appear younger, and the positive rate of HR-HPV infection is the highest, with HPV52, 16, 58 as the main infection subtypes. The detection results of multiplex PCR capillary electrophoresis fragment analysis method are highly consistent with those of multiplex fluorescent quantitative PCR method, which is suitable for HPV DNA typing.
Humans ; Female ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Papillomavirus Infections/diagnosis* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Genotype ; Papillomaviridae/genetics*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a child with mental retardation. METHODS: Whole exome sequencing was carried out for the child. Candidate variant was screened based on his clinical features and verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The child was found to harbor a c.995_1002delAGACAAAA(p.Asp332AlafsTer84) frameshift variant in the SYNGAP1 gene. Bioinformatic analysis suggested it to be pathogenic. The same variant was not detected in either parent. CONCLUSION The c.995_1002delAGACAAAA(p.Asp332AlafsTer84) frameshift variant of the SYNGAP1 gene probably underlay the mental retardation in this child. Above finding has expanded the spectrum of SYNGAP1 gene variants and provided a basis for the diagnosis and treatment for this child.
Child ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability/genetics* ; Frameshift Mutation ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Computational Biology ; Heterozygote ; Mutation ; ras GTPase-Activating Proteins/genetics*

OBJECTIVES: At present, there are many reports about the treatment of cricopharyngeal achalasia by injecting botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) into cricopharyngeal muscle guided by ultrasound, electromyography or CT in China, but there is no report about injecting BTX-A into cricopharyngeal muscle guided by endoscope. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic BTX-A injection combined with balloon dilatation in the treatment of cricopharyngeal achalasia after brainstem stroke, and to provide a better method for the treatment of dysphagia after brainstem stroke. METHODS: From June to December 2022, 30 patients with cricopharyngeal achalasia due to brainstem stroke were selected from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, the First Hospital of Changsha. They were randomly assigned into a control group and a combined group, 15 patients in each group. Patients in both groups were treated with routine rehabilitation therapy, while patients in the control group were treated with balloon dilatation, and patients in the combined group were treated with balloon dilatation and BTX-A injection. Before treatment and after 2 weeks of treatment, the patients were examined by video fluoroscopic swallowing study, Penetration-aspiration Scale (PAS), Dysphagia Outcome Severity Scale (DOSS), and Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) were used to assess the swallowing function. RESULTS: In the combined group, 1 patient withdrew from the treatment because of personal reasons. Two weeks after treatment, the scores of DOSS, PAS, and FOIS in both groups were better than those before treatment (all P<0.01), and the combined group was better than the control group (all P<0.001). The effective rate was 85.7% in the combined group and 66.7% in the control group, with no significant difference between the 2 groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS BTX-A injection combined with balloon dilatation is more effective than balloon dilatation alone in improving swallowing function and is worthy of clinical application.
Humans ; Deglutition Disorders/therapy* ; Esophageal Achalasia/drug therapy* ; Dilatation/adverse effects* ; Botulinum Toxins, Type A/therapeutic use* ; Brain Stem Infarctions/drug therapy* ; Treatment Outcome

Objective:To explore the correlation between autoantibodies and organ involvement in children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods:From June 2006 to October 2020, 581 children with SLE who were hospitalized in Beijing Children's Hospital for the first time and had autoantibody detection and clinical data in our hospital were selected. A correlation study was carried out on the clinical manifestations and autoantibodies. Data were analyzed with Pearson χ2 or Fisher's exact test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:A total of 581 children with SLE were included in this study, with a male to female ratio of 1∶3.6. The average age at diagnosis was (10.6±2.8) years, and the main symptoms were rash (388, 66.8%), fever (335, 57.7%), and joint swelling and pain (170, 29.3%). The most commonly affected organ is the blood system (414, 71.3%), followed by lupus nephritis (257, 44.2%) and arthritis (170, 29.3%). In this study, the positive rate of ANA was 100%, and the positive rates of anti-dsDNA antibody and anti-Sm antibody were 59.7% and 21.2%, respectively. The children with anti-dsDNA antibody positive were more likely to have fever (64.6% vs 47.4%, χ2=16.77, P<0.001), and the kidneys (53.3% vs 30.8%, χ2=28.80, P<0.001) and blood systems (76.1% vs 64.1%, χ2=9.79, P=0.002) were more likely to be involved than anti-dsDNA antibody negative. The proportion of renal involvement (27.8% vs 47.5%, χ2=12.69, P<0.001), blood system (57.7% vs 74.0%, χ2=10.40, P=0.001), lung involvement (12.4% vs 21.1%, χ2=3.88, P=0.049) and cardiac involvement (9.3% vs 17.8%, χ2=4.11, P=0.042) in patients with anti-SSB antibody positive were lower than those in patients with anti-SSB antibody negative. Anti-histone antibody-positive patients were prone to lupus nephritis (56.9% vs 36.6%, χ2=22.62, P<0.001), arthritis (37.6% vs 24.2%, χ2=11.77, P=0.001) and lung involvement (24.3% vs 16.8%, χ2=4.87, P=0.027). Anti-Sm antibody positive patients were prone to skin manifestations such as butterfly erythema (52.8% vs 31.7%, χ2=11.38, P<0.001) and sunlight allergy (13.8% vs 7.4%, χ2=4.96, P=0.026), but the proportion of joint involvement (22.0% vs 31.2%, χ2=4.03, P=0.045) and thrombocytopenia (17.1% vs 27.3%, χ2=5.38, P=0.026) were lower than those of anti-Sm antibody negative. Arthritis (44.4% vs 24.8%, χ2=19.00, P<0.001), secondary SS (28.6% vs 5.4%, χ2=57.98, P<0.001) and parotid gland involvement (25.6% vs 2.9%, χ2=70.84, P<0.001) were more common in RF factor positive children, but the proportion of kidney involvement (30.8% vs 48.2%, χ2=12.57, P<0.001) was lower than in RF negative children. Conclusion:The clinical manifestations of childhood SLE are diverse and highly heter-ogeneous. A variety of autoantibodies are associated with organ involvement and clinical phenotypes, and anti-SSB antibodies may have protective effects in kidney and other organ damage.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy between vesselplasty and percutanous kyphoplasty (PKP) in the treatment of Kümmell disease. METHODS: The clinical data of patients with Kümmell disease from July 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the different therapeutic methods, the patients were divided into vesselplasty group and PKP group. There were 20 patients in vesselplasty group, including 2 males and 18 females, aged from 54 to 83 years with an average of (67.40±7.44)years, 1 case of T₁₀ fracture, 3 cases of T₁₂ fracture, 9 cases of L₁ fractures, 5 cases of L₂ fractures and 2 cases of L₃ fractures. There were 20 patients in PKP group, including 3 males and 17 females, aged from 56 to 81 with an average of(67.20±7.01) years, 2 cases of T₁₀ fracture, 1 case of T₁₁ fracture, 6 cases of T₁₂ fracture, 10 cases of L₁ fracture and 1 case of L₃ fracture. Visual analogue scale(VAS), Cobb angle, anterior vertebral height were recorded before operation, 1 day after operation and 1 year after operation. Oswestry Disability Index(ODI) was recorded before operation, 1 month after operation and 1 year after operation. And bone cement leakage rate was compared between two groups after operation. RESULTS: All the patient were followed up for more than 1 year. In vesselplasty group, VAS score was 1.20±0.41, ODI was(13.50±3.10)%, Cobb angle was(17.20±3.12)° and anterior vertebral height was(20.20±1.35) mm at 1 year after operation. In PKP group, VAS score was 1.15±0.40, ODI was (13.20±3.00)%, Cobb angle was (17.10±3.19)° and anterior vertebral height was (20.10±1.37) mm at 1 year after operation. These index was significantly better than pre-operation through intra-group comparison(P<0.05), and there was no statistically difference between the two groups(P>0.05). There were 20 cases (20 vertebrae) in vesselplasty group, of which 1 case had bone cement leakage at the upper endplate, with a leakage rate of 5%(1/20). In PKP group, there were 20 cases (20 vertebrae), 3 cases of upward endplate leakage(3/7), 1 case of downward endplate leakage(1/7), 1 case of leakage to the front of the vertebral body(1/7), 2 cases of leakage to the side of the vertebral body(2/7), with a leakage rate of 35% (7/20). The difference between two groups was statistically significant(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Vesselplasty in the treatment of Kümmell disease can better reduce leakage rate of bone cement and reduce complications.
Bone Cements ; Female ; Fractures, Compression/surgery* ; Humans ; Kyphoplasty/methods* ; Male ; Osteoporotic Fractures/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fractures/surgery* ; Spondylosis ; Treatment Outcome ; Vertebroplasty

Osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) can lead to lower back pain and may be even accompanied by scoliosis, neurological dysfunction and other complications, which will affect the daily activities and life quality of patients. Vertebral augmentation is an effective treatment method for OVCF, but it cannot correct unbalance of bone metabolism or improve the osteoporotic status, causing complications like lower back pain, limited spinal activities and vertebral refracture. The post-operative systematic and standardized rehabilitation treatments can improve curative effect and therapeutic efficacy of anti-osteoporosis, reduce risk of vertebral refracture, increase patient compliance and improve quality of life. Since there still lack relevant clinical treatment guidelines for postoperative rehabilitation treatments following vertebral augmentation for OVCF, the current treatments are varied with uneven therapeutic effect. In order to standardize the postoperative rehabilitation treatment, the Spine Trauma Group of the Orthopedic Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized relevant experts to refer to relevant literature and develop the "Guideline for postoperative rehabilitation treatment following vertebral augmentation for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (2022 version)" based on the clinical guidelines published by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) as well as on the principles of scientificity, practicality and advancement. The guideline provided evidence-based recommendations on 10 important issues related to postoperative rehabilitation treatments of OVCF.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the methods and efficacy of unilateral extra-pedicle precision puncture percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) or percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP) by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs). METHODS: The clinical data of 68 patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures treated from August 2015 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 20 males and 48 females, aged 56 to 90(73.5±8.0) years, 40 cases of double segments, 28 cases of three segments, a total of 168 vertebrae. All the patients were performed PVP orPKP through unilateral extra pedicle precision puncture under the guidance of DSA. The vertebrae were distributed in T RESULTS: All the punctures were successful in 68 patients. All the puncture needles reached the midline of vertebral body, and the bone cement was well dispersed in the vertebral body with symmetrical distribution. The operation time was 35 to 60 (41.6±3.2) minutes, and there was no puncture complications. The injection volume of bone cement was 3 to 5 (3.6±0.5) ml in each vertebra. There were 8 cases of bone cement leakage, with a leakage rate of 11.76%. All 68 patients were followed up from 12 to 27 (14.3±3.5) months in the study. VAS score and ODI at 3 days after surgery and at final follow-up time were significantly improved ( CONCLUSION PVP or PKP under the guidance of DSA via a unilateral extrapedicular approach with precision puncture can effectively relieve pain, restore vertebral body height and spinal function, which is a safe, fast and effective method in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.
Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Female ; Fractures, Compression/surgery* ; Humans ; Kyphoplasty ; Male ; Osteoporotic Fractures/surgery* ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Fractures/surgery* ; Vertebroplasty

Slow freezing is the most commonly used technique for the cryopreservation of spermatozoa in clinical practice. However, it has been shown to have a negative impact on sperm function and structure. Vitrification as a successful alternative method has been proved to have better protective effects on human embryos, but vitrification of spermatozoa is still subject to low recovery rates. In this study, a modified vitrification method for native spermatozoa was developed. A total of 28 semen samples were included; each sample was divided into three equal parts and assigned to fresh, slow freezing, and vitrification groups. Sperm vitality, motility, morphology, DNA integrity, and acrosome reaction were assessed for each of the groups. The results showed that vitrification achieves better results for several sperm protection parameters than slow freezing; vitrification achieves a higher recovery rate (P < 0.05), motility (P <0.05), morphology (P <0.05), and curve line velocity (P <0.05) than slow freezing. Furthermore, DNA fragmentation was decreased (P <0.05) and better acrosome protection (P <0.05) was exhibited in the spermatozoa after vitrification. Principal component analysis of all sperm parameters revealed that the vitrification cluster was closer to the fresh cluster, indicating that spermatozoa are better preserved through vitrification. In conclusion, while both slow freezing and vitrification have negative effects on sperm function and structure, the vitrification protocol described here had a relatively better recovery rate (65.8%) and showed improved preservation of several sperm quality parameters compared with slow freezing.