OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupoint thread-embedding therapy of regulating governor vessel, dispersing lung, and suppressing reflux for gastroesophageal reflux cough (GERC). METHODS: A total of 120 GERC patients were randomly assigned to an observation group (60 cases, 1 case dropped out) and a control group (60 cases, 1 case was eliminated). The observation group received acupoint thread-embedding treatment at positive response points of governor vessel. If no such points were detected, the following acupoints were used: Dazhui (GV14), Fenghu (Extra), Shendao (GV11), Lingtai (GV10), and Zhiyang (GV9). Treatment was administered once every two weeks. The control group received oral rabeprazole enteric capsules at 20 mg twice daily. All the treatment was given for 6 weeks. Clinical outcomes were assessed using cough symptom score, reflux disease questionnaire (RDQ) score, and Leicester cough questionnaire (LCQ) score before and after treatment in the two groups. Clinical efficacy was also compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, both groups showed decreased cough symptom scores and the each item scores and total scores of RDQ (P<0.001), and increased LCQ scores (P<0.001) compare with those before treatment. The observation group exhibited lower cough symptom score and chest pain, reflux and total score of RDQ, and higher LCQ score compared to those in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 94.9% (56/59), which was higher than 84.7% (50/59) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Acupoint thread-embedding therapy of regulating governor vessel, dispersing lung, and suppressing reflux could effectively alleviate cough and reflux symptoms in patients with GERC and improve their quality of life.
Humans ; Acupuncture Points ; Gastroesophageal Reflux/physiopathology* ; Male ; Female ; Cough/physiopathology* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Treatment Outcome ; Lung/physiopathology* ; Meridians

This paper discussed the current education status on medical ethics and styles and the assessment condition in the examination of doctors' qualification， as well as the existing problems and potential solutions by reviewing domestic and foreign literature and summarizing the practice experience. Traditionally， medical ethics and styles have always been integrated into clinical medical practice in China. However， under the modern medical education system， it is challenged to integrate traditional education on medical ethics and styles with the rules of modern medical knowledge. By summarizing the education and assessment status of medical ethics and styles in the examination of doctors' qualification， it is found that the current examination is relatively poor in the evaluation content， and the way of evaluation is not diverse， with lack of curriculum of medical humanities. The solutions suggested are enriching relevant examination content， introducing more and comprehensive evaluation method， and establishing more medical humanities-related courses.

Objective To systematically explore the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)common symptoms,syndrome elements,clinical syndrome differentiation,and medication rules of coronary microvascular disease(CMVD),and to provide a reference for quantitative criteria of clinical differentiation of CMVD,specification of the diagnosis and efficacy evaluation of TCM clinical syndrome,and guidance of clinical medication.Methods The databases including CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,and SinoMed were searched for research papers on the treatment of CMVD by TCM published from database inception to May 16,2023.Relevant information of the included literature was extracted and the database was established.Then,the frequency statistics of symptoms,syndrome elements,syndrome types and Chinese medicinals were carried out.Latent structural models were constructed using Latern 5.0 and Rstudio softwares respectively for comprehensive clustering and association rule analysis,so as to explore the symptom characteristics,syndrome elements distribution,common syndromes and medication rules for TCM treatment of CMVD.Results A total of 107 literature were included,involving 36 syndromes,17 syndrome elements,121 symptoms and 143 Chinese medicinals.It was speculated that the main syndrome element of CMVD was blood stasis,followed by qi deficiency,qi stagnation,phlegm turbidity,yin deficiency and yang deficiency.The main type of syndrome was qi deficiency and blood stasis,followed by heart blood stasis obstruction,qi stagnation and blood stasis,phlegm blended with stasis,qi-yin deficiency,etc..The main medicinals were Chuanxiong Rhizoma,Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma,Angelica Sinensis Radix and Astragali Radix.The medicinals used in the treatment of CMVD were classified as blood-activating and stasis-resolving drugs,deficiency-tonifying drugs,qi-regulating drugs in terms of their efficacy.Conclusion The location of CMVD is in heart,and related to liver and kidney.The syndrome of CMVD is deficiency in origin and excess in superficiality.Blood stasis runs through the development of the disease.The treatment is mainly to activate blood circulation and remove stasis,activate meridians and relieve pain,which should be supplemented with the therapies of tonifying and invigorating qi,soothing the liver and regulating qi,dispelling phlegm and dissipating masses according to the patients'syndromes.

Objective:To investigate the epidemiological characteristics, diagnosis, treat-ment and prognosis of gallbladder cancer in China from 2010 to 2017.Methods:The single disease retrospective registration cohort study was conducted. Based on the concept of the real world study, the clinicopathological data, from multicenter retrospective clinical data database of gallbladder cancer of Chinese Research Group of Gallbladder Cancer (CRGGC), of 6 159 patients with gallbladder cancer who were admitted to 42 hospitals from January 2010 to December 2017 were collected. Observation indicators: (1) case resources; (2) age and sex distribution; (3) diagnosis; (4) surgical treatment and prognosis; (5) multimodality therapy and prognosis. The follow-up data of the 42 hospitals were collected and analyzed by the CRGGC. The main outcome indicator was the overall survival time from date of operation for surgical patients or date of diagnosis for non-surgical patients to the end of outcome event or the last follow-up. Measurement data with normal distribu-tion were represented as Mean±SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3) or M(range), and com-parison between groups was conducted using the U test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test. Univariate analysis was performed using the Logistic forced regression model, and variables with P<0.1 in the univariate analysis were included for multivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Logistic stepwise regression model. The life table method was used to calculate survival rates and the Kaplan-Meier method was used to draw survival curves. Log-rank test was used for survival analysis. Results:(1) Case resources: of the 42 hospitals, there were 35 class A of tertiary hospitals and 7 class B of tertiary hospitals, 16 hospitals with high admission of gallbladder cancer and 26 hospitals with low admission of gallbladder cancer, respectively. Geographical distribution of the 42 hospitals: there were 9 hospitals in central China, 5 hospitals in northeast China, 22 hospitals in eastern China and 6 hospitals in western China. Geographical distribution of the 6 159 patients: there were 2 154 cases(34.973%) from central China, 705 cases(11.447%) from northeast China, 1 969 cases(31.969%) from eastern China and 1 331 cases(21.611%) from western China. The total average number of cases undergoing diagnosis and treatment in hospitals of the 6 159 patients was 18.3±4.5 per year, in which the average number of cases undergoing diagnosis and treatment in hospitals of 4 974 patients(80.760%) from hospitals with high admission of gallbladder cancer was 38.8±8.9 per year and the average number of cases undergoing diagnosis and treatment in hospitals of 1 185 patients(19.240%) from hospitals with low admission of gallbladder cancer was 5.7±1.9 per year. (2) Age and sex distribution: the age of 6 159 patients diagnosed as gallbladder cancer was 64(56,71) years, in which the age of 2 247 male patients(36.483%) diagnosed as gallbladder cancer was 64(58,71)years and the age of 3 912 female patients(63.517%) diagnosed as gallbladder cancer was 63(55,71)years. The sex ratio of female to male was 1.74:1. Of 6 159 patients, 3 886 cases(63.095%) were diagnosed as gallbladder cancer at 56 to 75 years old. There was a significant difference on age at diagnosis between male and female patients ( Z=-3.99, P<0.001). (3) Diagnosis: of 6 159 patients, 2 503 cases(40.640%) were initially diagnosed as gallbladder cancer and 3 656 cases(59.360%) were initially diagnosed as non-gallbladder cancer. There were 2 110 patients(34.259%) not undergoing surgical treatment, of which 200 cases(9.479%) were initially diagnosed as gallbladder cancer and 1 910 cases(90.521%) were initially diagnosed as non-gallbladder cancer. There were 4 049 patients(65.741%) undergoing surgical treatment, of which 2 303 cases(56.878%) were initially diagnosed as gallbladder cancer and 1 746 cases(43.122%) were initial diagnosed as non-gallbladder cancer. Of the 1 746 patients who were initially diagnosed as non-gallbladder cancer, there were 774 cases(19.116%) diagnosed as gallbladder cancer during operation and 972 cases(24.006%) diagnosed as gallbladder cancer after operation. Of 6 159 patients, there were 2 521 cases(40.932%), 2 335 cases(37.912%) and 1 114 cases(18.087%) undergoing ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination before initial diagnosis, respec-tively, and there were 3 259 cases(52.914%), 3 172 cases(51.502%) and 4 016 cases(65.205%) undergoing serum carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19-9 or CA125 examination before initially diagnosis, respectively. One patient may underwent multiple examinations. Results of univariate analysis showed that geographical distribution of hospitals (eastern China or western China), age ≥72 years, gallbladder cancer annual admission of hospitals, whether undergoing ultrasound, CT, MRI, serum carcinoembryonic antigen, CA19-9 or CA125 examination before initially diagnosis were related factors influencing initial diagnosis of gallbladder cancer patients ( odds ratio=1.45, 1.98, 0.69, 0.68, 2.43, 0.41, 1.63, 0.41, 0.39, 0.42, 95% confidence interval as 1.21-1.74, 1.64-2.40, 0.59-0.80, 0.60-0.78, 2.19-2.70, 0.37-0.45, 1.43-1.86, 0.37-0.45, 0.35-0.43, 0.38-0.47, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that geographical distribution of hospitals (eastern China or western China), sex, age ≥72 years, gallbladder cancer annual admission of hospitals and cases undergoing ultrasound, CT, serum CA19-9 examination before initially diagnosis were indepen-dent influencing factors influencing initial diagnosis of gallbladder cancer patients ( odds ratio=1.36, 1.42, 0.89, 0.67, 1.85, 1.56, 1.57, 0.39, 95% confidence interval as 1.13-1.64, 1.16-1.73, 0.79-0.99, 0.57-0.78, 1.60-2.14, 1.38-1.77, 1.38-1.79, 0.35-0.43, P<0.05). (4) Surgical treatment and prognosis. Of the 4 049 patients undergoing surgical treatment, there were 2 447 cases(60.435%) with complete pathological staging data and follow-up data. Cases with pathological staging as stage 0, stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅱ, stage Ⅲa, stage Ⅲb, stage Ⅳa and stage Ⅳb were 85(3.474%), 201(8.214%), 71(2.902%), 890(36.371%), 382(15.611%), 33(1.348%) and 785(32.080%), respectively. The median follow-up time and median postoperative overall survival time of the 2 447 cases were 55.75 months (95% confidence interval as 52.78-58.35) and 23.46 months (95% confidence interval as 21.23-25.71), respectively. There was a significant difference in the overall survival between cases with pathological staging as stage 0, stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅱ, stage Ⅲa, stage Ⅲb, stage Ⅳa and stage Ⅳb ( χ2=512.47, P<0.001). Of the 4 049 patients undergoing surgical treatment, there were 2 988 cases(73.796%) with resectable tumor, 177 cases(4.371%) with unresectable tumor and 884 cases(21.833%) with tumor unassessable for resectabi-lity. Of the 2 988 cases with resectable tumor, there were 2 036 cases(68.139%) undergoing radical resection, 504 cases(16.867%) undergoing non-radical resection and 448 cases(14.994%) with operation unassessable for curative effect. Of the 2 447 cases with complete pathological staging data and follow-up data who underwent surgical treatment, there were 53 cases(2.166%) with unresectable tumor, 300 cases(12.260%) with resectable tumor and receiving non-radical resection, 1 441 cases(58.888%) with resectable tumor and receiving radical resection, 653 cases(26.686%) with resectable tumor and receiving operation unassessable for curative effect. There were 733 cases not undergoing surgical treatment with complete pathological staging data and follow-up data. There was a significant difference in the overall survival between cases not undergoing surgical treatment, cases undergoing surgical treatment for unresectable tumor, cases undergoing non-radical resection for resectable tumor and cases undergoing radical resection for resectable tumor ( χ2=121.04, P<0.001). (5) Multimodality therapy and prognosis: of 6 159 patients, there were 541 cases(8.784%) under-going postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and advanced chemotherapy, 76 cases(1.234%) under-going radiotherapy. There were 1 170 advanced gallbladder cancer (pathological staging ≥stage Ⅲa) patients undergoing radical resection, including 126 cases(10.769%) with post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy and 1 044 cases(89.231%) without postoperative adjuvant chemo-therapy. There was no significant difference in the overall survival between cases with post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy and cases without postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy ( χ2=0.23, P=0.629). There were 658 patients with pathological staging as stage Ⅲa who underwent radical resection, including 66 cases(10.030%) with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and 592 cases(89.970%) without postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no significant difference in the overall survival between cases with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and cases without postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy ( χ2=0.05, P=0.817). There were 512 patients with pathological staging ≥stage Ⅲb who underwent radical resection, including 60 cases(11.719%) with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and 452 cases(88.281%) without postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. There was no significant difference in the overall survival between cases with postoperative adjuvant chemo-therapy and cases without post-operative adjuvant chemo-therapy ( χ2=1.50, P=0.220). Conclusions:There are more women than men with gallbladder cancer in China and more than half of patients are diagnosed at the age of 56 to 75 years. Cases undergoing ultrasound, CT, serum CA19-9 examination before initial diagnosis are independent influencing factors influencing initial diagnosis of gallbladder cancer patients. Preoperative resectability evaluation can improve the therapy strategy and patient prognosis. Adjuvant chemotherapy for gallbladder cancer is not standardized and in low proportion in China.

Objective:To explore the risk factors and follow-up outcomes of pediatric heart transplantation(HT).Methods:Between January 2018 and June 2022, perioperative data are retrospectively reviewed for 41 pediatric HT recipients aged <18 years and donor-recipient weight data for infants aged under 3 years at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital.Perioperative survivors are followed up until August 31, 2022 through out patient visits and telephone calls.Postoperative survivals are examined by Kaplan-Meier method and possible risk factors for perioperative survival identify with Logistic regression.Results:There are 22 boys and 19 girls with a median age of 120(58~138)months.After preoperative adjuvant therapy of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation(ECMO), 8 cases had a successful transition to HT and 2 children underwent ABO incompatible(ABOi)HT.Six children aged under 3 years had a donor-recipient weight ratio of 2.95.Among 17 children, there are one or more complications, including continuous renal replacement therapy(CRRT, 9 cases, 21.95%), tracheotomy (3 cases, 7.32%), delayed chest closure or redo of sternotomy(6 cases, 14.63%)and acute graft dysfunction(4 cases, 9.76%). Five children died during perioperative period.The possible risk factors for perioperative mortality include preoperative ECMO assistance[ HR: 32.00, 95% CI: (2.83~361.79), P<0.05], preoperative CRRT[ HR: 11.33, 95% CI: (1.15~111.69), P<0.05] and total bilirubin [ HR: 1.02, 95% CI: (1.002~1.040), P<0.05]. During follow-ups, one child died from Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)associated post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease; another case of EBV-associated hepatic leiomyoma underwent transcatheter arterial embolization.With an overall survival rate of 85.37%, the cumulative survival rate is 96.97% for children without preoperative ECMO assistance( P<0.05). Postoperative mortality rate spiked markedly in children with preoperative ECMO assistance ( P=0.0013). However, follow-up results of perioperatively survivors indicate that preoperative usage of ECMO will not affect follow-up survival( P=0.53). In ABOi group or infants aged under 3 years, no mortality occurres postoperatively or during follow-ups. Conclusions:In infant aged under 3 years, the strategies of ABOi HT and large-weight donor HT are both safe and effective and it has no effect upon perioperative and follow-up survivals.Preoperative ECMO assistance, total bilirubin and preoperative use of CRRT are risk factors for perioperative survival.

Objective To assess the efficacy of immunoprophylaxis against mother-to-infant transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in a real-world setting since the implementation of charge-free hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and hepatitis B vaccine in China. Methods The screening rate and the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in 61 790 puerperants, and the administration of combined immunoprophylaxis in infants of HBsAg-positive mothers in Rugao City of Jiangsu Province from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. HBV infection status of infants born to HBV infected mothers was followed up after 7 months of age. HBsAg-positive infants and their mothers were followed up again for HBV markers in April 2018. Fisher's exact test and Cochran-Armitage trend test were used to statistically analyze the differences between groups and various years, respectively. Results All 61 790 puerperants were screened for HBsAg and the prenatal screen rate was 98.6% (60 937/61 790) with an increasing trend over time (χ2trend=750.908, P<0.001). HBsAg-positive puerperants accounted for 5.5% (3 397/61 790) with a decreasing trend over time (χ2trend=32.667, P<0.001). In total, 778 offspring (399 boys and 379 girls) of 759 HBsAg-positive mothers were followed up at (13.7±6.9) months of age, among which 751 (96.5%) were administered and 25 (3.2%) were probably administered standard combined immunoprophylaxis after birth, and the rest two (0.3%) were not. Fourteen infants (1.8%) were HBsAg positive and all born to mothers with positive hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). None of the 538 infants born to HBeAg-negative mothers was HBsAg-positive. HBsAg-positive rate in infants born since 2013 was lower than those in 2011 and 2012 (χ2trend=13.352, P=0.000 3). Eleven HBsAg-positive mothers and their children were followed up again 4–5 years later in April 2018. HBV DNA levels of all mothers were within the range of (7.34–28.2)×107 IU/ml except one case of spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion. One out of the 11 infected children also had HBeAg seroconversion. Phylogenetic analysis of HBV S gene showed that the 11 pairs of mothers and children were all infected with HBV of genotype C. Conclusions The implementation of charge-free HBIG and hepatitis B vaccine for newborns achieves fruitful results in Rugao city as the mother-to-infant transmission of HBV in the real-world had been further reduced to a similar level reported in literature survey.

Objective To investigate the bacterial resistance profile of clinical isolates collected in the hospitals across Chuzhou in 2016. Methods Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out by Kirby-Bauer method. The data were analyzed using WHONET 5.6 software according to CLSI 2015 breakpoints. Results A total of 5 465 clinical isolates were collected during 2016, of which gram positive organisms and gram negative organisms accounted for 25.9％ (1 416/5 465) and 74.1％ (4 049/5 465), respectively. Prevalence of MRSA was 37.6％ among S. aureus and the prevalence of MRCNS was 78.1％ in CNS. All Staphylococcus, E. faecalis and E. faecium isolates were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. The prevalence of extended spectrum-lactamases (ESBLs) positive strains was 51.2％ in E. coli, 23.4％ in Klebsiella spp. (K. pneumoniae and K. oxytoca), and 23.6％ in P. mirabilis isolates, respectively. The Enterobacteriaceae strains were highly sensitive to carbapenems. The percentage of the P. aeruginosa isolates resistant to the antimicrobials tested was lower than 30％. The percentage of the Acinetobacter strains resistant to meropenem and imipenem was 65.6％ and 67.4％, respectively. Conclusions The situation of antibiotic resistance is still very serious, especially multi-drug or pan-drug resistant strains, which is of great concern.

Objective To explore the relationship between social isolation ( SI) and relationship quality(RQ) of college couples at individual and matching level. Methods The SI and average RQ of 187 college couples were surveyed,and a quadratic polynomial regression with response surface analysis was used to conduct the cross-sectional study. Results The scores of SI were ( 1.81± 0.89) in males and ( 1.71 ± 0.80) in females,while the score of average RQ was ( 5.34 ± 0.89).SI had a negative linear correlation (male:r＝－0.21,P＜0.01; female:r＝－0.17,P＜0.05) and a U-shaped correlation (male:β＝0.163,P＜0.01;female:β＝0.186,P＜0.01) with RQ.When SI of the two partners was similar,their matching predicted RQ negatively (β＝－0.62,P＜0.01) and had a U-shaped correlation (β＝0.25,P＜0.01) with RQ,but when they were not,their matching only had a U-shaped correlation (β＝0.45,P＜0.01) with RQ.Conclusion Individ-uals in a relationship or couples may have higher RQ when SI is high.When the couple’s SI is quite differ-ent,the bigger the difference,the higher RQ might be.

Objective To explore the role of NT-proBNP in the differentiation of acute pulmonary embolism (APE) from congestive heart failure (CHF) in patients with acute dyspnea.Methods Consecutive 260 patients aged ≥ 60 years complaining of acute dyspnea were collected between June 2010 and October 2015.The patients were divided into two groups of APE and CHF according to their diagnosis standards.The levels of NT-proBNP between the two groups were compared using t test,and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC curve) was made to show the value of NT-proBNP in differentiation of APE from CHF.Results Patients in APE group had significantly lower median levels of NT-proBNP as compared with patients in CHF group [(2 478.8±1 473.9)ng/L vs.(5 955.4±3 180.1)ng/L,t =-12.020,P ＜ 0.01].The ROC curve of APE existence against serum levels of NT-proBNP showed an optimal cut-point of NT-proBNP of 1 518 ng/L,with specificity up to 98.8％,and the area under the ROC curve for NT-proBNP was 0.877.Conclusions NT-proBNP as a simple and bedside approach to identify APE versus CHF patients with acute dyspnea can help clinicians identify APE early and reduce the rates of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of APE.But the confirmative diagnosis of APE is still based on spiral CT angiography.

Objective To investigate the inhibition mechanism of rohdea roth on hyphae formation by Candida albicans.Methods MTT assay was used to detect the minimum inhibitory concentration(MIC)and minimum fungicidal concentration(MFC)of C.albicans.The inhibitory effect of fungicidal adherence was detected by MTT assay.Inverted fluorescence microscope was used to observe effect on hyphae formation.The influence on Efg1 and Hwp1gene expression were detected by RT-PCR method.ResultsMIC and MFC of C.albicans were 16 mg/mL and 32 mg/mL, respectively.The inhibitory effects of rohdea roth on C.albicans adherence and hyphae formation were significantly inhibited,and the concentration was dose-dependent.After the concentration of 16 mg/mL acted on C.albicans for 6 h, hyphae disappeared completely.The results of RT-PCR showed that the gene expression of Efg1 and Hwp1 could be inhibited by rohdea roth.Compared with the control group,the expression of Efg1 and Hwp1in the experimental groupwere reduced by 84.18% and 59.57%(P<0.01).Conclusion The inhibitory effect of rohdea roth on the adherence and hyphae formation of C.albicans is mainly through inhibiting the expression of Efg1 and Hwp1genes.