Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure in treating high transsphincteric fistulas. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the success rate of LIFT treatment in 82 patients with high transsphincteric fistulas involving at least one-third of the external sphincter. This study was carried out across 2 centers from November 2009 to February 2023. Results: All patients underwent successful surgery with a median operative time of 48.9 minutes (range, 20–80 minutes), and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were reported. The median follow-up duration was 85.5 months (range, 4–120 months), with 5 patients (6.1%) lost to follow-up. Treatment was successful in 62 patients, whose symptoms disappeared and both the external opening and the intersphincteric incision completely healed, yielding an overall efficiency rate of 80.5%. There were 15 cases (19.5%) of treatment failure, including 6 (7.8%) that converted to intersphincteric anal fistula and 9 (11.7%) that experienced persistent or recurrent fistulas. Only 1 patient reported minor overflow during the postoperative follow-up, but no other patients reported any significant discomfort. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with surgical success and those with treatment failure in terms of fistula length, history of previous abscess or anal fistula surgery, number of external orifices or fistulas, and location of fistulas (all P>0.05). Conclusion LIFT is a safe and effective sphincter-preserving procedure that yields satisfactory healing outcomes and has minimal impact on anal function.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure in treating high transsphincteric fistulas. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the success rate of LIFT treatment in 82 patients with high transsphincteric fistulas involving at least one-third of the external sphincter. This study was carried out across 2 centers from November 2009 to February 2023. Results: All patients underwent successful surgery with a median operative time of 48.9 minutes (range, 20–80 minutes), and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were reported. The median follow-up duration was 85.5 months (range, 4–120 months), with 5 patients (6.1%) lost to follow-up. Treatment was successful in 62 patients, whose symptoms disappeared and both the external opening and the intersphincteric incision completely healed, yielding an overall efficiency rate of 80.5%. There were 15 cases (19.5%) of treatment failure, including 6 (7.8%) that converted to intersphincteric anal fistula and 9 (11.7%) that experienced persistent or recurrent fistulas. Only 1 patient reported minor overflow during the postoperative follow-up, but no other patients reported any significant discomfort. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with surgical success and those with treatment failure in terms of fistula length, history of previous abscess or anal fistula surgery, number of external orifices or fistulas, and location of fistulas (all P>0.05). Conclusion LIFT is a safe and effective sphincter-preserving procedure that yields satisfactory healing outcomes and has minimal impact on anal function.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure in treating high transsphincteric fistulas. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the success rate of LIFT treatment in 82 patients with high transsphincteric fistulas involving at least one-third of the external sphincter. This study was carried out across 2 centers from November 2009 to February 2023. Results: All patients underwent successful surgery with a median operative time of 48.9 minutes (range, 20–80 minutes), and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were reported. The median follow-up duration was 85.5 months (range, 4–120 months), with 5 patients (6.1%) lost to follow-up. Treatment was successful in 62 patients, whose symptoms disappeared and both the external opening and the intersphincteric incision completely healed, yielding an overall efficiency rate of 80.5%. There were 15 cases (19.5%) of treatment failure, including 6 (7.8%) that converted to intersphincteric anal fistula and 9 (11.7%) that experienced persistent or recurrent fistulas. Only 1 patient reported minor overflow during the postoperative follow-up, but no other patients reported any significant discomfort. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with surgical success and those with treatment failure in terms of fistula length, history of previous abscess or anal fistula surgery, number of external orifices or fistulas, and location of fistulas (all P>0.05). Conclusion LIFT is a safe and effective sphincter-preserving procedure that yields satisfactory healing outcomes and has minimal impact on anal function.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure in treating high transsphincteric fistulas. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the success rate of LIFT treatment in 82 patients with high transsphincteric fistulas involving at least one-third of the external sphincter. This study was carried out across 2 centers from November 2009 to February 2023. Results: All patients underwent successful surgery with a median operative time of 48.9 minutes (range, 20–80 minutes), and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were reported. The median follow-up duration was 85.5 months (range, 4–120 months), with 5 patients (6.1%) lost to follow-up. Treatment was successful in 62 patients, whose symptoms disappeared and both the external opening and the intersphincteric incision completely healed, yielding an overall efficiency rate of 80.5%. There were 15 cases (19.5%) of treatment failure, including 6 (7.8%) that converted to intersphincteric anal fistula and 9 (11.7%) that experienced persistent or recurrent fistulas. Only 1 patient reported minor overflow during the postoperative follow-up, but no other patients reported any significant discomfort. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with surgical success and those with treatment failure in terms of fistula length, history of previous abscess or anal fistula surgery, number of external orifices or fistulas, and location of fistulas (all P>0.05). Conclusion LIFT is a safe and effective sphincter-preserving procedure that yields satisfactory healing outcomes and has minimal impact on anal function.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of the ligation of the intersphincteric fistula tract (LIFT) procedure in treating high transsphincteric fistulas. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the success rate of LIFT treatment in 82 patients with high transsphincteric fistulas involving at least one-third of the external sphincter. This study was carried out across 2 centers from November 2009 to February 2023. Results: All patients underwent successful surgery with a median operative time of 48.9 minutes (range, 20–80 minutes), and no intraoperative or postoperative complications were reported. The median follow-up duration was 85.5 months (range, 4–120 months), with 5 patients (6.1%) lost to follow-up. Treatment was successful in 62 patients, whose symptoms disappeared and both the external opening and the intersphincteric incision completely healed, yielding an overall efficiency rate of 80.5%. There were 15 cases (19.5%) of treatment failure, including 6 (7.8%) that converted to intersphincteric anal fistula and 9 (11.7%) that experienced persistent or recurrent fistulas. Only 1 patient reported minor overflow during the postoperative follow-up, but no other patients reported any significant discomfort. There were no statistically significant differences between patients with surgical success and those with treatment failure in terms of fistula length, history of previous abscess or anal fistula surgery, number of external orifices or fistulas, and location of fistulas (all P>0.05). Conclusion LIFT is a safe and effective sphincter-preserving procedure that yields satisfactory healing outcomes and has minimal impact on anal function.

Hemoglobin, the principal protein in red blood cells, is crucial for oxygen transport in the bloodstream. The quantification of hemoglobin concentration is indispensable in medical diagnostics and health management, which encompass the diagnosis of anemia and the screening of various blood disorders. Immunological methods, based on antigen-antibody interactions, are distinguished by their high sensitivity and accuracy. Consequently, it is necessary to develop hemoglobin-specific antibodies characterized by high specificity and affinity to enhance detection accuracy. In this study, we immunized a Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) with human hemoglobin and subsequently constructed a nanobody library. Utilizing a solid-phase screening method, we selected nanobodies and evaluated the binding activity of the screened nanobodies to hemoglobin. Initially, human hemoglobin was used to immunize a Bactrian camel. Following four immunization sessions, blood was withdrawn from the jugular vein, and a nanobody library with a capacity of 2.85×10⁸ colony forming units (CFU) was generated. Subsequently, ten hemoglobin-specific nanobody sequences were identified through three rounds of adsorption-elution-enrichment assays, and these nanobodies were subjected to eukaryotic expression. Finally, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and biolayer interferometry were employed to evaluate the stability, binding activity, and specificity of these nanobodies. The results demonstrated that the nanobodies maintained robust binding activity within the temperature range of 20-40 ℃ and exhibited the highest binding activity at pH 7.0. Furthermore, the nanobodies were capable of tolerating a 10% methanol solution. Notably, among the nanobodies tested, VHH-12 displayed the highest binding activity to hemoglobin, with a half maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) of 10.63 nmol/L and a equilibrium dissociation constant (K_D) of 2.94×10^-7 mol/L. VHH-12 exhibited no cross-reactivity with a panel of eight proteins, such as ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin, while demonstrating partial cross-reactivity with hemoglobin derived from porcine, goat, rabbit, and bovine sources. In this study, a hemoglobin-specific high-affinity nanobody was successfully isolated, demonstrating potential applications in disease diagnosis and health monitoring.
Animals ; Camelus/immunology* ; Single-Domain Antibodies/immunology* ; Hemoglobins/immunology* ; Humans ; Peptide Library

Objective To evaluate and analyze the accuracies of 3 software solutions based on deep learning techniques in the automatic segmentation of head and neck organs at risk(OAR).Methods The automatic segmentation accuracies of 3 software(PV-iCurve,RT-Mind,and AccuContour)were evaluated with Dice similarity coefficient(DSC),Hausdorff distance(HD),center of mass deviation(COMD),false negative rate(FNR),false positive rate(FPR),Jaccard coefficient(JC),sensitivity index(SI),and inclusive index(II)using the manual contours of head and neck OAR as the gold standard.Results The FNR,JC,SI of brain,the FPR,II of brainstem,the FPR,FNR,JC,SI of eye_L,the FPR,FNR,SI,II of mandible,the FPR,FNR,SI,II of parotid_L,and the DSC,FPR,JC,II of spinal cord manifested significant differences among the 3 software(P<0.05);but the HD,FNR,SI of brainstem,and the HD of spinal cord revealed trivial differences among the 3 software(P>0.05).Conclusion Through the comparison of multiple parameters,it is found that the accuracies of 3 software are different in OAR segmentation,which makes it difficult to make overall horizontal comparisons.Therefore,these parameters are for reference only and cannot be used as criteria for evaluating the segmentation results in clinic.Although all 3 software achieve preferable segmentation outcomes,scrutiny and manual modifications before clinical practice are still necessary.

Objective:To evaluate the right atrial volume and function abnormalities in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) by four-dimensional automatic quantitation technique, and to explore the application value of this technique in evaluating the risk stratification and World Health Organization functional class(WHO-FC) of PH patients.Methods:Eighty-four adult patients with PH diagnosed by right heart catheterization from April to October 2022 in Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital were consecutively enrolled as the PH group. All cases were divided into 3 groups according to the mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP): mild PH group ( n=28), moderate PH group ( n=28), severe PH group ( n=28). Twenty-eight healthy volunteers matched by gender and age were included in the same period as the control group. The volume and strain parameters of the right atrium were obtained by analyzing the four-dimensional image of the right atrium using four-dimensional automatic quantitation technique, including right atrial minimum volume index (RAVImin), right atrial maximum volume index (RAVImax), right atrial presystolic volume index (RAVIpreA), right atrial ejection fraction (RAEF), right atrial passive ejection fraction (RAPEF), right atrial active ejection fraction, RAAEF, longitudinal strains of right atrial reserve, conduit and systolic period (RASr, RAScd, RASct), circumferential strains of right atrial reserve, conduit and systolic period (RASr-c, RAScd-c, RASct-c). The differences in right atrial parameters among four groups were compared.ROC curve was used to analyze the diagnostic efficiency of right atrial four-dimensional strain parameters for PH patients with WHO-FC≥Ⅲ. Pearson linear correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationships between RASr and right atrial area (RAA), NT-proBNP and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion to pulmonary arterial systolic pressure ratio (TAPSE/sPAP). Results:①Compared with the control group, RAEF, RAPEF, RASr, RAScd, RASr-c, RAScd-c were significantly decreased in mild, moderate and severe PH groups; while RAAEF, RASct, RASct-c were significantly increased in mild PH group and significantly decreased in moderate and severe PH groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). RAVImin, RAVImax, RAVIpreA gradually increased among the control, mild PH, moderate PH and severe PH groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). RAEF, RAPEF, RAAEF, RASr, RAScd, RASct, RASr-c, RAScd-c, RASct-c were decreased successively among mild, moderate and severe PH groups, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). ②ROC curve showed that RASr had the highest diagnostic efficiency in PH patients with WHO-FC ≥Ⅲ, and the cut-off value was 20.5% (AUC=0.914, P<0.001). ③Correlation analysis showed that RASr was correlated with RAA, NT-proBNP and TAPSE/sPAP ( r=-0.803, -0.621, 0.739; all P<0.001). Conclusions:The degree of right atrial function impairment increased in patients with mild, moderate and severe PH in turn. RASr is the best predictor of WHO-FC ≥Ⅲ in patients with pulmonary hypertension and is a potential parameter for risk stratification in patients with PH.

Objective:To detect the abnormal changes of myocardial blood perfusion in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM) by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) combined with adenosine stress test.Methods:Fifteen adult patients with HCM who were treated in Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital from May 2021 to March 2022 were prospectively selected as the HCM group, and eighteen healthy volunteers matched by gender, age and body surface area during the same period were chosen as the control group. All subjects underwent routine echocardiography, rest and adenosine stress MCE. The MCE images were analyzed by QLab software to obtain the myocardial perfusion parameters: peak signal intensity (A value), rising slope of the curve (β value) and A×β value, and the differences of above parameters between the two groups were compared.According to whether the end-diastolic wall thickness ≥12 mm, the myocardial segments in the HCM group were divided into hypertrophic segments and non-hypertrophic segments. The differences in myocardial perfusion parameters were compared among control group segments, hypertrophic segments and non-hypertrophic segments of the HCM group. The correlations of stress myocardial blood flow with maximal left ventricular wall thickness (MLVWT), left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and left atrial volume index (LAVI) in the HCM group were analyzed.Results:Compared with the control group, the A value, β value and A×β value of whole myocardium, hypertrophic segments and non-hypertrophic segments in the HCM group were significantly decreased in the rest and adenosine stress state, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). In the stress state, the A value, β value and A×β value of the hypertrophic segments were significantly lower than those in the non-hypertrophic segments in the HCM group, and the detection rate of abnormal perfusion segments in the HCM group was significantly higher than that in the rest state(all P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the myocardial blood flow reserve of whole myocardium, hypertrophic segments and non-hypertrophic segments in the HCM group were significantly decreased, and the differences were statistically significant(all P<0.05). The stress myocardial blood flow in the HCM group was negatively correlated with MLVWT, LVMI and LAVI ( r=-0.815, -0.805, -0.742; all P<0.05). Conclusions:Myocardial blood perfusion abnormalities can occur in both hypertrophic and non-hypertrophic myocardial segments in patients with HCM, and adenosine stress MCE can significantly improve the sensitivity of detecting myocardial perfusion abnormalities. The stress myocardial blood flow in patients with HCM is negatively correlated with MLVWT, LVMI and LAVI.

Transcription, Genetic