Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment strategies, and prognosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) complicating childhood rheumatic diseases.Methods:A retrospective case series study was performed on the demographic data, laboratory indicators, imaging features, treatment regimens, and follow-up data of 8 children with rheumatic diseases complicated by PE who were admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Capital Center for Children′s Health, Capital Medical University from January 2014 to October 2023.Results:Among the 8 children, there were 4 boys and 4 girls, with an age of 12.0 (7.5, 13.0) years. Among the primary diseases, there were 3 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus, 2 cases of Beh?et′s disease, 2 cases of Takayasu arteritis, and 1 case of antiphospholipid syndrome. All children developed PE during the active phase of the primary disease. PE was detected at the onset of the primary disease in 3 cases, and the median time from the diagnosis of the primary disease to the development of PE was 10.0 (6.0, 25.0) months in the remaining 5 cases. Fever was present in all 8 children, 4 cases were accompanied by chest tightness, dyspnea, etc., and 2 cases only presented with fever. Laboratory examinations revealed the following results: erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 42.0 (17.0, 78.0) mm/1 h, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein was 12.7 (2.6, 78.7) mg/L, white blood cell count was 9.6 (7.2, 18.7)×10 9/L; D-dimer was 2.3 (0.9, 6.2) mg/L; and hemoglobin was (109±16) g/L.Imaging examinations revealed that 5 cases had involvement of the bilateral lower pulmonary arteries, 5 cases had peripheral embolism, and 3 cases had central PE. Complications included 3 cases of deep vein thrombosis, 2 cases of intracranial venous sinus thrombosis, and 1 case of mild pulmonary hypertension.In terms of treatment, 7 cases received anticoagulation with heparin followed by warfarin. Immunomodulation was mainly based on glucocorticoids combined with immunosuppressants, and 4 cases were combined with biological agents. The follow-up time of 4.17 (1.75, 7.17) years, the time for complete absorption of PE was 10.5 (6.0, 18.0) months; all 8 children had no target events, with no recurrence or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, and the pulmonary artery remodeling was good. Conclusions:PE complicating childhood rheumatic diseases is closely related to the activity of the primary disease. The clinical manifestations are insidious, with fever as the main symptom. Imaging examination is the key to diagnosis.Early adoption of heparin followed by warfarin anticoagulation and glucocorticoids combined with immunosuppressants and (or) biological agents to control the primary disease can achieve a favorable prognosis.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment strategies, and prognosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) complicating childhood rheumatic diseases.Methods:A retrospective case series study was performed on the demographic data, laboratory indicators, imaging features, treatment regimens, and follow-up data of 8 children with rheumatic diseases complicated by PE who were admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Capital Center for Children′s Health, Capital Medical University from January 2014 to October 2023.Results:Among the 8 children, there were 4 boys and 4 girls, with an age of 12.0 (7.5, 13.0) years. Among the primary diseases, there were 3 cases of systemic lupus erythematosus, 2 cases of Beh?et′s disease, 2 cases of Takayasu arteritis, and 1 case of antiphospholipid syndrome. All children developed PE during the active phase of the primary disease. PE was detected at the onset of the primary disease in 3 cases, and the median time from the diagnosis of the primary disease to the development of PE was 10.0 (6.0, 25.0) months in the remaining 5 cases. Fever was present in all 8 children, 4 cases were accompanied by chest tightness, dyspnea, etc., and 2 cases only presented with fever. Laboratory examinations revealed the following results: erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 42.0 (17.0, 78.0) mm/1 h, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein was 12.7 (2.6, 78.7) mg/L, white blood cell count was 9.6 (7.2, 18.7)×10 9/L; D-dimer was 2.3 (0.9, 6.2) mg/L; and hemoglobin was (109±16) g/L.Imaging examinations revealed that 5 cases had involvement of the bilateral lower pulmonary arteries, 5 cases had peripheral embolism, and 3 cases had central PE. Complications included 3 cases of deep vein thrombosis, 2 cases of intracranial venous sinus thrombosis, and 1 case of mild pulmonary hypertension.In terms of treatment, 7 cases received anticoagulation with heparin followed by warfarin. Immunomodulation was mainly based on glucocorticoids combined with immunosuppressants, and 4 cases were combined with biological agents. The follow-up time of 4.17 (1.75, 7.17) years, the time for complete absorption of PE was 10.5 (6.0, 18.0) months; all 8 children had no target events, with no recurrence or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, and the pulmonary artery remodeling was good. Conclusions:PE complicating childhood rheumatic diseases is closely related to the activity of the primary disease. The clinical manifestations are insidious, with fever as the main symptom. Imaging examination is the key to diagnosis.Early adoption of heparin followed by warfarin anticoagulation and glucocorticoids combined with immunosuppressants and (or) biological agents to control the primary disease can achieve a favorable prognosis.

Objective To explore the policy foundations of early family education and rehabilitation support systems for children with developmental disabilities aged zero to three years,based on the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health(ICF),and to construct a comprehensive,whole-person and whole-lifecycle support system integrating early childhood education and rehabilitation services for families;and to propose corresponding sys-tem architecture,construction pathways and governance models.Methods Policy documents were compared,which were related to children's rehabilitation from the World Health Orga-nization,early education guidelines for children with disabilities from the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization,the U.S.Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,European Union children's reha-bilitation policies,and the"14th Five-Year Plan"from China Disabled Persons'Federation.The related policy frameworks and key content of early family education and rehabilitation were reviewed,and the composition,implementation pathways and governance models of the support system were systymatically analyzed.Results The support system consisted of early screening and assessment,family education and parent training,counsel-ing and personalized education and rehabilitation support,community support and resource integration,and re-mote digital support platforms.The study proposed the implementation pathways for five systems,including early screening and assessment,family education and parent training,counseling and personalized rehabilitation support,community support and resource integration,and remote digital support platforms.It emphasized gover-nance mechanisms such as multidisciplinary collaboration,interdepartmental coordination and support from re-mote digital platforms to build a continuous service chain from standardized assessments to interdepartmental collaboration.Conclusion The person-centered approach and whole life span development concept based on the ICF model,as well as the guiding principles of the health services continuum,provide systematic theoretical and policy support for early childhood education and rehabilitation for children with developmental disabilities aged zero to three years.Through multidisciplinary collaboration,interdepartmental coordination and the application of digital platforms,a scientific,continuous and child-centered support system can be built.This not only facilitates early detection and precise intervention but also promotes multi-party collaboration among families,communities and profes-sional institutions.It will further integrate disability prevention,rehabilitation and healthcare services,thereby im-proving children's functional abilities and family quality of life.

Objective To assess the clinical value of a novel surgical technique—Tubeless subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with percutaneous suspension technique via balance-shaped sternal elevation device in the resection of anterior mediastinal masses. Methods Patients who underwent tubeless subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery via balance-shaped sternal elevation device in anterior mediastinal masses process at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University from March to April 2025 were included, and their clinical data were analyzed. Results A total of 4 patients were included, with 2 males and 2 females, aged 58-75 years. The diameter of the tumor was 2.5-3.0 cm. The operation time was 60.0-150.0 min, intraoperative blood loss was 5-10 mL, pain score on the 3rd day after surgery was 0 points, and postoperative hospital stay was 2-3 days. All patients achieved complete resection of the masses and thymus without perioperative complications. Conclusion The tubeless subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with percutaneous suspension technique via balance-shaped sternal elevation device technique optimizes surgical visualization and instrument maneuverability while avoiding complications related to conventional anesthesia and tubing, thereby markedly enhancing the minimally invasive profile of anterior mediastinal masses resections. In addition to maintaining procedural safety, this approach effectively reduces postoperative pain and accelerates patient recovery, highlighting its potential for widespread clinical adoption.

Objective To explore the policy foundations of early family education and rehabilitation support systems for children with developmental disabilities aged zero to three years,based on the International Classification of Functioning,Disability and Health(ICF),and to construct a comprehensive,whole-person and whole-lifecycle support system integrating early childhood education and rehabilitation services for families;and to propose corresponding sys-tem architecture,construction pathways and governance models.Methods Policy documents were compared,which were related to children's rehabilitation from the World Health Orga-nization,early education guidelines for children with disabilities from the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization,the U.S.Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,European Union children's reha-bilitation policies,and the"14th Five-Year Plan"from China Disabled Persons'Federation.The related policy frameworks and key content of early family education and rehabilitation were reviewed,and the composition,implementation pathways and governance models of the support system were systymatically analyzed.Results The support system consisted of early screening and assessment,family education and parent training,counsel-ing and personalized education and rehabilitation support,community support and resource integration,and re-mote digital support platforms.The study proposed the implementation pathways for five systems,including early screening and assessment,family education and parent training,counseling and personalized rehabilitation support,community support and resource integration,and remote digital support platforms.It emphasized gover-nance mechanisms such as multidisciplinary collaboration,interdepartmental coordination and support from re-mote digital platforms to build a continuous service chain from standardized assessments to interdepartmental collaboration.Conclusion The person-centered approach and whole life span development concept based on the ICF model,as well as the guiding principles of the health services continuum,provide systematic theoretical and policy support for early childhood education and rehabilitation for children with developmental disabilities aged zero to three years.Through multidisciplinary collaboration,interdepartmental coordination and the application of digital platforms,a scientific,continuous and child-centered support system can be built.This not only facilitates early detection and precise intervention but also promotes multi-party collaboration among families,communities and profes-sional institutions.It will further integrate disability prevention,rehabilitation and healthcare services,thereby im-proving children's functional abilities and family quality of life.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, risk factors, and prognosis of childhood-onset Takayasu arteritis (TAK) with pulmonary artery involvement.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 107 pediatric patients who were initially diagnosed with childhood-onset TAK at Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Capital Center for Children′s Health, Capital Medical Universiy, from January 2010 to December 2024. Clinical data, including demographic information, imaging features, treatment regimens, and prognosis were collected. Patients were divided into with and without pulmonary artery involvement groups. Intergroup comparisons were performed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for pulmonary artery involvement. Kaplan-Meier analysis with Log-Rank testing was used for survival analyze.Results:Among 107 children with TAK, 26 were male, 81 were female, with a diagnosis age of 88 (5, 137) months. Sixteen cases were in the pulmonary artery involvement group and 91 cases in the non-pulmonary artery involvement group. The pulmonary artery involvement group was predominantly female (14 cases), with a diagnosis age of 39 (4, 104) months. The pulmonary artery involvement group had higher incidence rates of fatigue,pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure,superior mesenteric artery involvement,as well as higher neutrophil counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (all P<0.05). Hemoglobin was lower in the pulmonary artery involvement group ( P<0.05). Imaging findings revealed that all 16 children in the pulmonary artery involvement group showed signs of pulmonary arterial wall thickening. Other manifestations included dilation in 2 cases, stenosis in 2 cases, and occlusion in 1 case. Unilateral involvement (12 cases) was more common, and the right pulmonary artery (10 cases) was more frequently affected. Independent risk factors for pulmonary artery involvement in childhood-onset TAK patients included superior mesenteric artery involvement ( OR=5.58, 95% CI 1.41-22.10, P=0.014) and elevated CRP levels ( OR=1.02, 95% CI 1.00-1.03, P=0.027). During a follow-up of 3.9 (1.4,8.1) years, 2 patients with pulmonary artery involvement (all with pulmonary hypertension), among the survivors in the pulmonary artery involvement group, 2 cases still exhibited persistent pulmonary artery dilation, and one case had pulmonary artery occlusion; and 6 patients (6.6%) without pulmonary artery involvement died. Patients with pulmonary artery involvement had significantly lower survival rates compared to those without involvement ( P=0.024). Conclusions:Childhood-onset TAK with pulmonary artery involvement has an insidious clinical presentation, and can progress to pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary artery occlusion, and a significantly reduced survival rate. Patients with mesenteric artery involvement or elevated CRP have higher risks of pulmonary artery involvement, requiring close pulmonary vascular monitoring and early intervention to improve prognosis.

Gallbladder cancer with delayed diagnoses, as a malignant tumor diagnosed intraoperatively or postoperatively incidentally in benign gallbladder diseases, radical surgical treatment is its core treatment, and the necessity of re-operation, timing of surgery, choice of surgical procedure, definition of resection extent, and preoperative neoadjuvant therapy still remain controversial. Re-operation for gallbladder cancer with delayed diagnoses needs to balance tumor radicalization, postoperative risk, and survival benefit, and combining neoadjuvant therapy to facilitate radical treatment, and develop individualized protocols. The multidisciplinary team should integrate innovative technologies and multi-center prospective studies to promote the development of precise treatment strategies for gallbladder cancer with delayed diagnoses and optimize the survival of patients.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, imaging features, risk factors, and prognosis of childhood-onset Takayasu arteritis (TAK) with pulmonary artery involvement.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted in 107 pediatric patients who were initially diagnosed with childhood-onset TAK at Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Capital Center for Children′s Health, Capital Medical Universiy, from January 2010 to December 2024. Clinical data, including demographic information, imaging features, treatment regimens, and prognosis were collected. Patients were divided into with and without pulmonary artery involvement groups. Intergroup comparisons were performed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for pulmonary artery involvement. Kaplan-Meier analysis with Log-Rank testing was used for survival analyze.Results:Among 107 children with TAK, 26 were male, 81 were female, with a diagnosis age of 88 (5, 137) months. Sixteen cases were in the pulmonary artery involvement group and 91 cases in the non-pulmonary artery involvement group. The pulmonary artery involvement group was predominantly female (14 cases), with a diagnosis age of 39 (4, 104) months. The pulmonary artery involvement group had higher incidence rates of fatigue,pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure,superior mesenteric artery involvement,as well as higher neutrophil counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (all P<0.05). Hemoglobin was lower in the pulmonary artery involvement group ( P<0.05). Imaging findings revealed that all 16 children in the pulmonary artery involvement group showed signs of pulmonary arterial wall thickening. Other manifestations included dilation in 2 cases, stenosis in 2 cases, and occlusion in 1 case. Unilateral involvement (12 cases) was more common, and the right pulmonary artery (10 cases) was more frequently affected. Independent risk factors for pulmonary artery involvement in childhood-onset TAK patients included superior mesenteric artery involvement ( OR=5.58, 95% CI 1.41-22.10, P=0.014) and elevated CRP levels ( OR=1.02, 95% CI 1.00-1.03, P=0.027). During a follow-up of 3.9 (1.4,8.1) years, 2 patients with pulmonary artery involvement (all with pulmonary hypertension), among the survivors in the pulmonary artery involvement group, 2 cases still exhibited persistent pulmonary artery dilation, and one case had pulmonary artery occlusion; and 6 patients (6.6%) without pulmonary artery involvement died. Patients with pulmonary artery involvement had significantly lower survival rates compared to those without involvement ( P=0.024). Conclusions:Childhood-onset TAK with pulmonary artery involvement has an insidious clinical presentation, and can progress to pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary artery occlusion, and a significantly reduced survival rate. Patients with mesenteric artery involvement or elevated CRP have higher risks of pulmonary artery involvement, requiring close pulmonary vascular monitoring and early intervention to improve prognosis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the performance of different multi-modality fusion models for predicting radiation-induced oral mucositis (RIOM) following radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). METHODS: We retrospectively collected the data from 198 patients with locally advanced NPC who experienced RIOM following radiotherapy at the Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from September, 2022 to February, 2023. Based on oral radiation dose-volume parameters and clinical features of NPC, basic classification models were developed using different combinations of feature selection algorithms and classifiers and integrated using a multi-criterion decision-making (MCDM)-based classifier fusion (MCF) strategy and its variant, the H-MCF model. The basic classification models, MCF model, the H-MCF model with a single modality or multiple modalities and other ensemble classifiers were compared for performances for predicting RIOM by assessing the area under the ROC curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity. RESULTS: The H-MCF model, which integrated multi-modality features, achieved the highest accuracy for predicting severe RIOM with an AUC of 0.883, accuracy of 0.850, sensitivity of 0.933, and specificity of 0.800. CONCLUSIONS Compared with each of the individual classifiers, the multimodal multi-classifier fusion algorithm combining clinical and dosimetric modalities demonstrates superior performance in predicting the incidence of severe RIOM in NPC patients following radiotherapy.
Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma/radiotherapy* ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms/radiotherapy* ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomatitis/diagnosis* ; Algorithms ; Radiation Injuries/diagnosis* ; Female ; Male ; ROC Curve

Objective:To analyze the clinical features of adult deficiency of adenosine deaminase 2 (DADA2) with neurological impairment.Methods:The clinical data of an adult DADA2 patient with concurrent neurological damage who visited the Department of Neurology, Mindong Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University on September 18, 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical studies or case reports related to adult DADA2 with nervous system involvement from Pubmed, CNKI, and Wanfang databases were retrieved, and the clinical characteristics of adult DADA2 with neurological damage were summarized. The clinical data of children with nervous system involvement in the same study cohorts were also collected, and the clinical features of DADA2 between adults and children were compared.Results:The patient was a 30-year-old male, mainly presenting with manifestations of livedo reticularis, stroke and spastic paraplegia. Genetic testing showed a compound heterozygous mutation in the adenosine deaminase 2 ( ADA2) gene, and brain MRI showed lacunar infarcts in the right basal ganglia and thalamus, hypertrophic inferior olivary degeneration. The literature review found that a total of 22 adult DADA2 patients with neurological damage have been reported, with a onset age of 25 (19, 29) years. Stroke was the most common feature of neurological involvement in patients with this disease (17/22, 77.3%), followed by cranial nerve damage (7/22, 31.8%) and limb nerve damage (8/22, 36.4%). After the treatment with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, the condition of 17/20 patients remained stable or improved. Compared with pediatric DADA2 patients with concurrent neurological damage, the incidence of fever [12/22(54.5%) vs 48/59(81.4%)], arthritis [6/22(27.3%) vs 34/59(57.6%)], and hematological abnormalities [4/22(18.2%) vs 28/60(46.7%)] in adult DADA2 patients was significantly reduced, and the difference was statistically significant (χ 2=5.998, 5.907, 5.489, respectively, all P<0.05). Conclusions:Adult DADA2 with concurrent neurological damage generally onset in early adulthood, mainly manifested as stroke, and may also be accompanied by peripheral nerve damage. Adult patients have fewer systemic symptoms than children, and timely treatment with TNF inhibitors can lead to better outcomes.