BACKGROUND: Severe stroke has high rates of mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to investigate the clinical course, causes of worsening, and outcomes of severe ischemic stroke. METHODS: This prospective, multicenter cohort study enrolled adult patients admitted ≤30 days after ischemic stroke from nine hospitals in China between September 2017 and December 2019. Severe stroke was defined as a score of ≥15 on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Clinical worsening was defined as an increase of 4 in the NIHSS score from baseline. Unfavorable functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin scale score ≥3 at 3 months and 1 year after stroke onset, respectively. We performed Logistic regression to explore baseline features and reperfusion therapies associated with clinical worsening and functional outcomes. RESULTS: Among 4201 patients enrolled, 854 patients (20.33%) had severe stroke on admission. Of 3347 patients without severe stroke on admission, 142 (4.24%) patients developed severe stroke in hospital. Of 854 patients with severe stroke on admission, 33.95% (290/854) experienced clinical worsening (median time from stroke onset: 43 h, Q1-Q3: 20-88 h), with brain edema (54.83% [159/290]) as the leading cause; 24.59% (210/854) of these patients died by 30 days, and 81.47% (677/831) and 78.44% (633/807) had unfavorable functional outcomes at 3 months and 1 year respectively. Reperfusion reduced the risk of worsening (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.24, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.12-0.49, P  <0.01), 30-day death (adjusted OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.11-0.41, P  <0.01), and unfavorable functional outcomes at 3 months (adjusted OR: 0.24, 95% CI: 0.08-0.68, P <0.01) and 1 year (adjusted OR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06-0.50, P  <0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one-fifth of patients with ischemic stroke had severe neurological deficits on admission. Clinical worsening mainly occurred in the first 3 to 4 days after stroke onset, with brain edema as the leading cause of worsening. Reperfusion reduced the risk of clinical worsening and improved functional outcomes. REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT03222024.
Humans ; Male ; Female ; Prospective Studies ; Ischemic Stroke/mortality* ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Stroke ; Brain Ischemia

Objective:To explore the potential correlation between cumulative pulse pressure (cumPP) level and metabolic syndrome (MetS), and to provide insights for MetS management.Methods:A total of 3 968 subjects who underwent health checkup were selected to form a research cohort, and the data were categorized into three groups based on the tertiles of cumPP levels. Cox proportional hazards regression model was employed to analyze the association between different cumPP levels and the incidence of new-onset MetS. Results:The risk of MetS increased with the increased tiers of the cumPP levels (2.5%, 4.3%, and 4.6%, Ptrend<0.001) during the median follow-up period of 2.16 years. Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that cumPP was positively correlated with waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose (all P<0.05). The Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted model showed that the risk of MetS in Q2 and Q3 was higher than that in Q1 in the total population, and the same results were observed in males (all P<0.05), while there was no statistical significance in females. Model 3 of the total population adjusted for a variety of confounding factors displayed a higher risk of MetS in Q3 compared with that in Q1[1.654 (95% CI 1.272-2.151) ]. When stratified by sex, and the risk of MetS in Q3 was 1.665 times higher than that in Q1 (95% CI 1.245-2.227), while there was no statistically significant risk in female. According to the visual nomogram of independent risk factors screened by multivariate analysis based on Cox proportional hazards regression model, the incidence of MetS at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years was 0.18%, 3.97% and 7.39%, respectively. In addition, the dose-response curve was plotted according to cumPP, suggesting that the risk of MetS gradually increased with the increase of cumPP in the total population. Subgroup analyses based on baseline systolic blood pressure levels showed that higher cumPP levels were associated with a higher risk of developing MetS, regardless of whether systolic blood pressure was abnormal. Conclusions:Elevated cumPP levels is significantly related to the incidence of new-onset MetS. Maintaining pulse pressure within an appropriate range over long term is crucial for the management of MetS.

Objective    To investigate the clinical effect of 3D computed tomography bronchial bronchography and angiography (3D-CTBA) and guidance of thoracoscopic anatomic pulmonary segmentectomy by Mimics software system. Methods    A retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent thoracoscopic segmentectomy in the Department of Thoracic Surgery of Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University from June 2020 to December 2022. The patients who underwent preoperative 3D-CTBA using Materiaise's interactive medical image control system (Mimics) were selected as an observation group, and the patients who did not receive 3D-CTBA were selected as a control group. The relevant clinical indicators were compared between the two groups. Results    A total of 59 patients were included, including 29 males and 30 females, aged 25-79 years. There were 37 patients in the observation group, and 22 patients in the control group. The operation time (163.0±48.7 min vs. 188.8±43.0 min, P=0.044), intraoperative blood loss [10.0 (10.0, 20.0) mL vs. 20.0 (20.0, 35.0) mL, P<0.001], and preoperative puncture localization rate (5.4% vs. 31.8%, P=0.019) in the observation group were better than those in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in the thoracic tube placement time, thoracic fluid drainage volume, number of intraoperative closure nail bin, postoperative hospital stay, or postoperative air leakage incidence (P>0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion    For patients who need to undergo anatomical pulmonary segmentectomy, using Mimics software to produce 3D-CTBA before surgery can help accurately identify pulmonary arteriovenous anatomy, reduce surgical time and intraoperative blood loss, help to determine the location of nodules and reduce invasive localization before surgery, and alleviate patients' pain, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective:To analyze the changes of diagnosis and treatment before and after renal biopsy in adult patients with acute kidney disease (AKD), and to explore the value of renal biopsy in the diagnosis and treatment of AKD.Methods:It was a single-center retrospective observational study. The adult patients with AKD who underwent renal biopsy in the Department of Nephrology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2021 were enrolled. Demographic data, general clinical data, laboratory tests, and diagnosis and treatment data before and after renal biopsy were collected to analyze the concordance rate between clinical and pathological diagnoses, changes in treatment after renal biopsy, and bleeding complication.Results:A total of 575 patients diagnosed with AKD by renal biopsy were included in this study, with age of 51 (36, 63) years old and 359 males (62.4%). Among them, there were 293 patients (51.0%) of acute kidney injury, 348 patients (60.5%) of hypertension and 124 patients (21.6%) of diabetes. The peak serum creatinine was 272 (190, 477) μmol/L. The hemoglobin was 106 (86, 126) g/L. The 24-hour urine protein was 2.15 (0.79, 4.82) g. There were 347 patients (60.3%) of acute glomerular diseases, 136 patients (23.7%) of acute interstitial nephritis, 47 patients (8.2%) of thrombotic microangiopathy, and 45 patients (7.8%) of acute tubular necrosis. The most common types of acute glomerular diseases were IgA nephropathy and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated glomerulonephritis, accounting for 22.3% (128/575) and 12.2% (70/575), respectively. The clinical diagnoses before renal biopsy were consistent with the renal histopathological diagnoses in 454 patients, with an accuracy rate of 79.0%. Following the renal biopsy, the treatment plan involving glucocorticoids or immunosuppressants was adjusted in 394 patients (68.5%). Significant post-biopsy bleeding occurred in 15 patients (2.6%), with 12 patients requiring blood transfusion and 1 patient requiring surgical intervention.Conclusions:Twenty-one clinical diagnoses do not match the pathological diagnoses in adult AKD patients, 68.5% of patients have changes in their treatment plans, and 2.6% of patients have significant hemorrhagic complications after renal biopsy. Clinicians need to carefully consider the benefits and risks and make individualized decisions about renal biopsy.

Background: Feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) is a widespread and highly infectious pathogen in cats with a high mortality rate. Although Yanji has a developed cat breeding industry, the variation of FPV locally is still unclear. Objectives: This study aimed to isolate and investigate the epidemiology of FPV in Yanji between 2021 and 2022. Methods: A strain of FPV was isolated from F81 cells. Cats suspected of FPV infection (n = 80) between 2021 and 2022 from Yanji were enrolled in this study. The capsid protein 2 (VP2) of FPV was amplified. It was cloned into the pMD-19T vector and transformed into a competent Escherichia coli strain. The positive colonies were analyzed via VP2 Sanger sequencing. A phylogenetic analysis based on a VP2 coding sequence was performed to identify the genetic relationships between the strains. Results: An FPV strain named YBYJ-1 was successfully isolated. The virus diameter was approximately 20–24 nm, 50% tissue culture infectious dose = 1 × 10 −4.94 /mL, which caused cytopathic effect in F81 cells. The epidemiological survey from 2021 to 2022 showed that 27 of the 80 samples were FPV-positive. Additionally, three strains positive for CPV-2c were unexpectedly found. Phylogenetic analysis showed that most of the 27 FPV strains belonged to the same group, and no mutations were found in the critical amino acids. Conclusions A local FPV strain named YBYJ-1 was successfully isolated. There was no critical mutation in FPV in Yanji, but some cases with CPV-2c infected cats were identified.

Objective:To characterize the histopathological subtypes and their clinicopathological parameters of gender and onset age by common, rare and sparse primary esophageal malignant tumors (PEMT).Methods:A total of 272 437 patients with PEMT were enrolled in this study, and all of the patients were received radical surgery. The clinicopathological information of the patients was obtained from the database established by the State Key Laboratory of Esophageal Cancer Prevention & Treatment from September 1973 to December 2020, which included the clinical treatment, pathological diagnosis and follow-up information of esophagus and gastric cardia cancers. All patients were diagnosed and classified by the criteria of esophageal tumor histopathological diagnosis and classification (2019) of the World Health Organization (WHO). The esophageal tumors, which were not included in the WHO classification, were analyzed separately according to the postoperative pathological diagnosis. The χ 2 test was performed by the SPSS 25.0 software on count data, and the test standard α=0.05. Results:A total of 32 histopathological types were identified in the enrolled PEMT patients, of which 10 subtypes were not included in the WHO classification. According to the frequency, PEMT were divided into common (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, ESCC, accounting for 97.1%), rare (esophageal adenocarcinoma, EAC, accounting for 2.3%) and sparse (mainly esophageal small cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, etc., accounting for 0.6%). All the common, rare, and sparse types occurred predominantly in male patients, and the gender difference of rare type was most significant (EAC, male∶ female, 2.67∶1), followed with common type (ESCC, male∶ female, 1.78∶1) and sparse type (male∶ female, 1.71∶1). The common type (ESCC) mainly occurred in the middle thoracic segment (65.2%), while the rare type (EAC) mainly occurred in the lower thoracic segment (56.8%). Among the sparse type, malignant melanoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma were both predominantly located in the lower thoracic segment (51.7%, 66.7%), and the others were mainly in the middle thoracic segment.Conclusion:ESCC is the most common type among the 32 histopathological types of PEMT, followed by EAC as the rare type, and esophageal small cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma as the major sparse type, and all of which are mainly occur in male patients. The common type of ESCC mainly occur in the middle thoracic segment, while the rare type of EAC mainly in the lower thoracic segment. The mainly sparse type of malignant melanoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma predominately occur in the lower thoracic segment, and the remaining sparse types mainly occur in the middle thoracic segment.

Objective To study the acute toxicity of tetrodotoxin to zebra fish. Methods The maximum non-lethal concentration (MNLC) and 10% lethal concentration (LC₁₀) determinations were used to assess the acute toxicity of tetrodotoxin. Results According to the simulation calculation of Origin 8.0 software, the MNLC was 8.62 µmol/L and 15.2 µmol/L for LC₁₀. Under the experimental conditions, tetrodotoxin at a concentration of 16.0 µmol/L and above induced pericardial edema and arrhythmia, leading to the death of zebra fish. The target organs for acute toxicity of tetrodotoxin were the heart and liver. The main manifestations were pericardial edema, arrhythmia, and delayed yolk sac absorption. The toxicity appeared at a concentration of 0.958 µmol/L. Conclusion Tetrodotoxin has heart and liver toxicity to zebra fish, and its toxicity is dose-dependent.

Objective:To explore the effectiveness of the Exowalk gait training robot in improving the walking ability of stroke survivors.Methods:Forty stroke survivors were randomly divided into a control group and an experimental group, each of 20. In their rehabilitation, the control group was given routine walking training, while the experimental group′s training was assisted with the Exowalk robot. Both groups trained for 60 minutes a day, five days a week for four weeks. Before as well as after 2 and 4 weeks of training functional ambulatory categories (FACs), the Berg balance scale (BBS), the 6-minute walking test (6MWT), the 10-minute walking test (10MWT), the Rivermead mobility index and an exercise index were used to evaluate those in both groups.Results:After 2 weeks significant improvement was observed in the average FAC, BBS, 6MWT and 10MWT results of both groups, without significant differences between them. After 4 weeks there was still no significant difference in the groups′ average BBS scores. However, the average FAC rating in the experimental group had improved significantly while there was no significant increase in the control group′s average score.Conclusions:The Exowalk robot can help to improve the balance and walking ability of hemiplegic stroke survivors.

Objective To investigate the effect of 2-h Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) on the pulmonary arterial endothelium by comparing the endothelium-dependent relaxation between EVLP group and fresh control group.Methods The lungs from 6 Swedish domestic pigs were divided into two groups:the right lungs as fresh control group and the left lungs as EVLP group.Lungs in EVLP group were perfused for 2 h.Pulmonary artery segments were obtained.The endothelium-dependent relaxation and pulmonary artery smooth muscle contraction were studied in organ bath.Results The contractions induced by U-46619 were 22.4 ± 2.2 mN and 24.5 ± 2.9 mN in two groups.The maximum endothelium dependent relaxations were 97 ± 0.67％ and 97 ± 0.68％ in two groups.The negative logarithm of 50％ relaxation (pEC50) was 6.74 ± 0.07 and 6.76 ± 0.07 in two groups.There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups.Conclusion The function of endothelium and smooth muscle of pulmonary artery was fully preserved after 2-h EVLP.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of drug-eluding beads transarterial chemoembolization (DEB-TACE) in treatment of unrecectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).The clinical data of 42 consecutive HCC patients undergoing TACE were retrospectively analyzed, including 20 cases received conventional TACE (cTACE group) and 22 cases received TACE with epirubicine-loaded microspheres (CalliSpheres) (DEB-TACE group). MRI scans were performed 1 week before and 1, 3 and 6 months after initial therapy. The response to treatment, disease recurrence, complications and adverse effects were documented and compared between two groups.There were no significant differences in 1-month, 3-month and 6-month objective response rate (CR+PR) and disease control rate (CR+PR+SD), disease recurrence, complications and adverse effects of interventional therapy between cTACE group and DEB-TACE group. Additionally, there were no significant differences about locoregional biliary injuries, intrahepatic biloma, and newly detected intra- or extrahepatic HCC on MRI between cTACE group and DEB-TACE group.There were no statistically significant differences between cTACE group and DEB-TACE group with regard to the short-term response, disease recurrence, complications and side effects. Hepatic-locoregional complications may be more frequent in DEB-TACE group than those in cTACE group.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Chemoembolization, Therapeutic ; adverse effects ; instrumentation ; methods ; Comparative Effectiveness Research ; Drug Delivery Systems ; instrumentation ; methods ; Epirubicin ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Microspheres ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome