Objective:To investigate intraoperative pathological findings and the interventional effects of "deep cervical lymphaticovenous anastomosis+" (dcLVA+) on deep cervical lymphatic drainage as well as the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein in elderly patients with cognitive impairment, and to put forward the thoughts based on the findings from the surgery.Methods:Between May 2024 and December 2024, retrospective analysis of Microsurgery Hospital, Fengcheng Hospital, Xi'an Medical College performed dcLVA+ between the deep cervical lymphatics or lymph nodes and jugular veins in 50 elderly patients with cognitive impairment (19 males and 31 females, aged 55-88 years with 69.94 years in average). Nine patients were found with Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score at 1 (mild), 7 with CDR score at 2 (moderate) and 34 with CDR score at 3 (severe). Intraoperative observations based on literature reviews had identified anatomical relationships between the lymphatic sacs containing cervical lymphatic chain and the carotid sheath. The lymph node count, size, distribution, thickness of fat tissue and conditions of lymphatic vessels were documented. Ultrasound was used to compare the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein as well as the cross-sectional areas at the planes of hyoid and cricoid cartilage before and after the closure of incisions under anaesthesia in 39 patients. Correlation analyses for Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa), Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Agitation behavior score before and 1 week after surgery were performed using Spearman's correlation and Wilcoxon paired tests. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Postoperative follow-ups were conducted via the visit of outpatient clinic and WeChat and telephone interviews. Results:In surgery, the cervical lymphatic chain was found running within an almost enclosed sac surrounding the carotid sheath. There were enlarged lymph nodes, increased fat deposition, lymphatic dilation or fibrosis in the sac. The preoperative blood flow in the carotid artery at the planes of hyoid and cricoid cartilage in the 39 patients was recorded at 150.52 ml/min±40.33 ml/min and 358.29 ml/min±129.30 ml/min, while that in the jugular vein was at 172.50 ml/min±63.94 ml/min and 317.00 ml/min±105.21 ml/min, respectively, both were far lower than the normal blood flow. There were statistically significant differences in the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein before and after surgery ( P<0.01). It was found that the preoperative blood flow of the internal carotid artery at the plane of hyoid was positively correlated with the preoperative scores of MMSE ( P<0.01), MoCa ( P<0.05) and ADL ( P<0.01). The blood flow of the common carotid artery at the plane of cricoid cartilage was found significantly and positively correlated with the preoperative scores of MMSE ( P<0.05). It was also noted that the blood flow of the internal carotid artery at the plane of hyoid was significantly and positively correlated with the postoperative ADL ( P<0.01) but negatively correlated with the Agitation behavior score ( P<0.05). The blood flow of the common carotid artery at the plane of cricoid cartilage was significantly and positively correlated with the postoperative scores of MMSE and MoCa ( P<0.05). The blood flow of the internal jugular vein at the plane of hyoid was negatively correlated with the Agitation behavior score ( P<0.01). The cross-sectional area of carotid artery at the plane of left hyoid was significantly and positively correlated with the MMSE score ( P<0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed in MMSE, MoCa, ADL and Agitation behavior score before and after surgery ( P<0.01). Conclusion:dcLVA+ shows a certain therapeutic benefit to the elderly patients with cognitive impairment. The intraoperatively observed pathological changes in cervical lymphatic sacs affect deep cervical lymphatic drainage and the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein. Further studies are necessary to find out whether the findings from this study would be the specific pathological changes and the morbidity mechanisms among the elderly patients with cognitive impairment.

Objective:To investigate intraoperative pathological findings and the interventional effects of "deep cervical lymphaticovenous anastomosis+" (dcLVA+) on deep cervical lymphatic drainage as well as the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein in elderly patients with cognitive impairment, and to put forward the thoughts based on the findings from the surgery.Methods:Between May 2024 and December 2024, retrospective analysis of Microsurgery Hospital, Fengcheng Hospital, Xi'an Medical College performed dcLVA+ between the deep cervical lymphatics or lymph nodes and jugular veins in 50 elderly patients with cognitive impairment (19 males and 31 females, aged 55-88 years with 69.94 years in average). Nine patients were found with Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) score at 1 (mild), 7 with CDR score at 2 (moderate) and 34 with CDR score at 3 (severe). Intraoperative observations based on literature reviews had identified anatomical relationships between the lymphatic sacs containing cervical lymphatic chain and the carotid sheath. The lymph node count, size, distribution, thickness of fat tissue and conditions of lymphatic vessels were documented. Ultrasound was used to compare the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein as well as the cross-sectional areas at the planes of hyoid and cricoid cartilage before and after the closure of incisions under anaesthesia in 39 patients. Correlation analyses for Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCa), Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Agitation behavior score before and 1 week after surgery were performed using Spearman's correlation and Wilcoxon paired tests. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Postoperative follow-ups were conducted via the visit of outpatient clinic and WeChat and telephone interviews. Results:In surgery, the cervical lymphatic chain was found running within an almost enclosed sac surrounding the carotid sheath. There were enlarged lymph nodes, increased fat deposition, lymphatic dilation or fibrosis in the sac. The preoperative blood flow in the carotid artery at the planes of hyoid and cricoid cartilage in the 39 patients was recorded at 150.52 ml/min±40.33 ml/min and 358.29 ml/min±129.30 ml/min, while that in the jugular vein was at 172.50 ml/min±63.94 ml/min and 317.00 ml/min±105.21 ml/min, respectively, both were far lower than the normal blood flow. There were statistically significant differences in the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein before and after surgery ( P<0.01). It was found that the preoperative blood flow of the internal carotid artery at the plane of hyoid was positively correlated with the preoperative scores of MMSE ( P<0.01), MoCa ( P<0.05) and ADL ( P<0.01). The blood flow of the common carotid artery at the plane of cricoid cartilage was found significantly and positively correlated with the preoperative scores of MMSE ( P<0.05). It was also noted that the blood flow of the internal carotid artery at the plane of hyoid was significantly and positively correlated with the postoperative ADL ( P<0.01) but negatively correlated with the Agitation behavior score ( P<0.05). The blood flow of the common carotid artery at the plane of cricoid cartilage was significantly and positively correlated with the postoperative scores of MMSE and MoCa ( P<0.05). The blood flow of the internal jugular vein at the plane of hyoid was negatively correlated with the Agitation behavior score ( P<0.01). The cross-sectional area of carotid artery at the plane of left hyoid was significantly and positively correlated with the MMSE score ( P<0.05). Statistically significant differences were observed in MMSE, MoCa, ADL and Agitation behavior score before and after surgery ( P<0.01). Conclusion:dcLVA+ shows a certain therapeutic benefit to the elderly patients with cognitive impairment. The intraoperatively observed pathological changes in cervical lymphatic sacs affect deep cervical lymphatic drainage and the blood flow of carotid artery and jugular vein. Further studies are necessary to find out whether the findings from this study would be the specific pathological changes and the morbidity mechanisms among the elderly patients with cognitive impairment.

Background::Acute pulmonary embolism (APE) is a fatal cardiovascular disease, yet missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis often occur due to non-specific symptoms and signs. A simple, objective technique will help clinicians make a quick and precise diagnosis. In population studies, machine learning (ML) plays a critical role in characterizing cardiovascular risks, predicting outcomes, and identifying biomarkers. This work sought to develop an ML model for helping APE diagnosis and compare it against current clinical probability assessment models.Methods::This is a single-center retrospective study. Patients with suspected APE were continuously enrolled and randomly divided into two groups including training and testing sets. A total of 8 ML models, including random forest (RF), Na?ve Bayes, decision tree, K-nearest neighbors, logistic regression, multi-layer perceptron, support vector machine, and gradient boosting decision tree were developed based on the training set to diagnose APE. Thereafter, the model with the best diagnostic performance was selected and evaluated against the current clinical assessment strategies, including the Wells score, revised Geneva score, and Years algorithm. Eventually, the ML model was internally validated to assess the diagnostic performance using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.Results::The ML models were constructed using eight clinical features, including D-dimer, cardiac troponin T (cTNT), arterial oxygen saturation, heart rate, chest pain, lower limb pain, hemoptysis, and chronic heart failure. Among eight ML models, the RF model achieved the best performance with the highest area under the curve (AUC) (AUC = 0.774). Compared to the current clinical assessment strategies, the RF model outperformed the Wells score ( P = 0.030) and was not inferior to any other clinical probability assessment strategy. The AUC of the RF model for diagnosing APE onset in internal validation set was 0.726. Conclusions::Based on RF algorithm, a novel prediction model was finally constructed for APE diagnosis. When compared to the current clinical assessment strategies, the RF model achieved better diagnostic efficacy and accuracy. Therefore, the ML algorithm can be a useful tool in assisting with the diagnosis of APE.

Objective To evaluate the effect of parasternal intercostal plane block(PIB)on postopera-tive fatigue in elderly patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG).Methods A to-tal of 111 elderly patients undergoing elective off-pump CABG in Xuzhou Municipal Central Hospital from May 2021 to January 2023 were selected as the study subjects.The patients were divided into the control group(group C,n=55)and PIB group(group P,n=56)by adopting the random number table method.After induction of anesthesia,the patients in the group P received the ultrasound-guided bilateral PIB,and the group C received the equal volume of normal saline at the same site.The incidence rate of postoperative fatigue syn-drome(POFS)on postoperative 1,3,5,7 d and postoperative 8 weeks,NRS scores immediately after extuba-tion and at postoperative 12,24,48 h,postoperative opioid drugs consumption,ICU stay duration,hospitaliza-tion duration and adverse events occurrence were compared between the two groups.Results Compared with the group C,the incidence rates of POFS on postoperative 1,3,5,7 d and postoperative 8 weeks in the group P were significantly decreased,the NRS scores immediately after extubation and at postoperative 12,24 h in the group P were lower,the postoperative opioid drugs consumption were smaller,the ICU stay duration was shorter,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).The NRS score at postoperative 48 h and hospitalization duration had no statistical differences between the two groups(P＞0.05).No nerve block re-lated adverse events in the patients appeared during the study period.Conclusion The ultrasound guided PIB could effectively reduce the incidence rate of POFS in elderly patients undergoing off-pump CABG,promote the patients'prognosis and improve the recovery quality of the patients.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of acupotomy loosening Heyangnei on improving knee joint function in patients with moderate and severe KOA and the regulation of muscle strength of periknee muscle group.Methods 60 patients with K-L Ⅲ-Ⅳ grade KOA were randomly divided into acupotomy group and placebo acupotomy group.The two groups received the same health education and were given diclofenac diethylamine emulsion for external use.The acupotomy group received acupotomy loosening Heyangnei treatment,and the placebo acupotomy group received dermal simulated acupotomy operation once a week,3 weeks as a course of treatment.WOMAC scale and VAS score were performed before and after treatment and during follow-up,and knee motion and periknee muscle strength were measured.Results After treatment and at follow-up,the WOMAC score and VAS score in the acupotomy group were significantly lower than those in the placebo acupotomy group(P<0.01),and the knee motion and muscle strength of periknee muscles(quadriceps,hamstring,gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior)in the acupotomy group were significantly higher than those in the placebo acupotomy group,with statistical significance(P<0.01).Conclusion Acupotomy can effectively relieve joint pain in K-L Ⅲ-Ⅳ KOA patients,improve joint range of motion,enhance the strength of major muscles around the knee,and improve the function of the knee joint.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of acupotomy loosening Heyangnei on improving knee joint function in patients with moderate and severe KOA and the regulation of muscle strength of periknee muscle group.Methods 60 patients with K-L Ⅲ-Ⅳ grade KOA were randomly divided into acupotomy group and placebo acupotomy group.The two groups received the same health education and were given diclofenac diethylamine emulsion for external use.The acupotomy group received acupotomy loosening Heyangnei treatment,and the placebo acupotomy group received dermal simulated acupotomy operation once a week,3 weeks as a course of treatment.WOMAC scale and VAS score were performed before and after treatment and during follow-up,and knee motion and periknee muscle strength were measured.Results After treatment and at follow-up,the WOMAC score and VAS score in the acupotomy group were significantly lower than those in the placebo acupotomy group(P<0.01),and the knee motion and muscle strength of periknee muscles(quadriceps,hamstring,gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior)in the acupotomy group were significantly higher than those in the placebo acupotomy group,with statistical significance(P<0.01).Conclusion Acupotomy can effectively relieve joint pain in K-L Ⅲ-Ⅳ KOA patients,improve joint range of motion,enhance the strength of major muscles around the knee,and improve the function of the knee joint.

Objective:To observe the expression of S100A8 in plasma exosomes, microvesicles (MV), plasma and vitreous in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR), and verify it in a diabetic rat model, and to preliminarily explore its role in the occurrence and development of DR.Methods:A case-control study. From September 2018 to December 2019, a total of 73 patients with type 2 diabetes, hospitalized patients undergoing vitrectomy, and healthy physical examinations in the Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital were included in the study. Among them, plasma were collected from 32 patients and vitreous fluid were collected from 41 patients, which were divided into plasma sample research cohort and vitreous sample research cohort. The subjects were divided into simple diabetes group (DM group), non-proliferative DR group (NPDR group) and proliferative DR group (PDR group) without fundus changes; healthy subjects were regarded as normal control group (NC group). In the study cohort of vitreous samples, the control group was the vitreous humor of patients with epimacular membrane or macular hole. Plasma exosomes and microvesicles (MVs) were separated using ultracentrifugation. Transmission electron microscopy, nanometer particle size analyzer and Western blot (WB) were used to characterize exosomes and MVs. The mass concentration of S100A8 was determined by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. Eighteen healthy male Brown Norway rats were divided into normal control group and diabetic group with 9 rats in each group by random number table method. The rats of diabetes group were induced by streptozotocin to establish diabetic model. Five months after modeling, immunohistochemical staining and WB were used to detect the expression of S100A8 in the retina of rats in the normal control group and the diabetes group. t test was used for the comparison of measurement data between the two groups. Single-factor analysis of variance were used for the comparison of multiple groups of measurement data.parison of measurement data between the two groups. Single-factor analysis of variance were used for the comparison of multiple groups of measurement data. Results:Exosomes and MVs with their own characteristics were successfully separated from plasma. The concentrations of plasma exosomes and vitreous S100A8 in the PDR group were higher than those in the NPDR group, DM group, NC group, and the difference was statistically significant ( P=0.039, 0.020, 0.002, 0.002, P<0.000,<0.000). In the plasma sample cohort study, It was not statistically significant that the overall comparison of the S100A8 mass concentrations of plasma and plasma MV in the four groups of subjects ( F=0.283, 0.015; P=0.836, 0.996). Immunohistochemical staining showed that retinal ganglion cells, bipolar cells, cone rod cells and vascular endothelial cells in the diabetic group all expressed S100A8 protein. Compared with the normal control group, the expression level of S100A8 in the retina of the diabetic group increased, and the difference was statistically significant ( t=8.028, P=0.001). Conclusions:The level of S100A8 protein in circulating exosomes increases significantly with the severity of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes. S100A8 may be an influential factor in the inflammatory environment of DR and a potential anti-inflammatory therapeutic target.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparo-scopic lower anterior resection (LAR) of rectal cancer, and the application value of its risk assess-ment scoring model.Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinico-pathological data of 539 patients who underwent laparoscopic LAR of rectal cancer in 13 medical centers, including 248 cases in Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 35 cases in Ningbo First Hospital, 35 cases in Changzhou Second People's Hospital, 32 cases in the First People's Hospital of Nantong, 32 cases in Linyi People's Hospital, 31 cases in Changzhou Wujin People's Hospital, 28 cases in Jiading District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 27 cases in the First Hospital of Taizhou, 26 cases in Shanghai Pudong Gongli Hospital, 21 cases in the People's Hospital of Rugao, 11 cases in Central Hospital of Fengxian District, 7 cases in Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Hospital and 6 cases in Jiangsu jianhu People's Hospital, from January 2016 to November 2020 were collected. There were 157 males and 382 females, aged (62.7±0.5)years. Observation indicators: (1) follow-up; (2) risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR; (3) establishment of risk assessment scoring model for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. Follow-up was conducted by outpatient examination or telephone interview. Patients were followed up at 1 week after discharge or 1 month after the operation to detect the anastomotic leakage. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were represented as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. Univariate analysis was conducted using the chi-square test and multivariate analysis was conducted usong the Logistic regression model. The area under curve of receiver operating characteristic curve was used to estimate the efficiency of detecton methods. The maximum value of the Youden index was defined as the best cut-off value. Results:(1) Follow-up: 539 patients were followed up at postoperative 1 week and 1 month. During the follow-up, 79 patient had anastomotic leakage, with an incidence of 14.66%(79/539). Of the 79 patients, 39 cases were cured after conservative treatment, 40 cases were cured after reoperation (ileostomy or colostomy). (2) Risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. Results of univariate analysis showed that sex, age, body mass index, smoking and/or drinking, tumor diameter, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin, albumin, grade of American Society of Anesthesio-logists (ASA), neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, distance from anastomotic level to dentate line, the number of pelvic stapler, reinforced anastomosis, volume of intraoperative blood loss, placement of decompression tube, preservation of left colic artery, operation time and professional doctors were related factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR ( χ2=14.060, 4.387, 5.039, 4.094, 17.488, 33.485, 25.066, 28.959, 34.973, 34.207, 22.076, 13.208, 16.440, 17.708, 17.260, 4.573, 5.919, 5.389, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that male, tumor diameter ≥3.5 cm, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin <90 g/L, albumin <30 g/L, grade of ASA ≥Ⅲ, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, distance from anastomotic level to dentate line <1 cm, the number of pelvic stapler ≥3, non-reinforced anastomosis, volume of intraoperative blood loss ≥100 mL and no placement of decom-pression tube were independent risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR ( odds ratio=2.864,3.043,12.556,7.178,8.425,12.895,8.987,4.002,3.084,4.393,3.266,3.224,95% confidence interval as 1.279?6.411, 1.404?6.594, 4.469?35.274, 2.648?19.459, 2.471?28.733, 4.027?41.289, 3.702?21.777, 1.746?9.171, 1.365?6.966, 1.914?10.083, 1.434?7.441, 1.321?7.867, P<0.05). (3) Establishment of risk assessment scoring model for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. based on the results of univariate analysis, clinicopathological factors with χ2>20, χ2>10 and ≤20 or χ2≤10 were defined as scoring of 3, 2, 1, respectively. The cumulative clinicopatho-logical factors scoring ≥6 was defined as an effective evaluating indicator for postoperative anastomotic leakage. The risk assessment scoring model (6-321) for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR was established. The cumulative value ≥6 indicated high incidence of anastomotic leakage, and the cumulative value <6 indicated low incidence of anastomotic leakage. Conclusions:Male, tumor diameter ≥3.5 cm, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobin <90 g/L, albumin <30 g/L, grade of ASA ≥Ⅲ, neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy, distance from anastomotic level to dentate line <1 cm, the number of pelvic stapler ≥3, non-reinforced anastomosis, volume of intraoperative blood loss ≥100 mL and no placement of decompression tube are independent risk factors for anastomotic leakage after laparoscopic LAR. The risk assessment scoring model (6-321) is established according to the above results.The cumulative value ≥6 indicates high incidence of anastomotic leakage and the cumulative value <6 indicates low incidence of anastomotic leakage.

As a promising method in artificial intelligence, deep learning has been proven successful in several domains ranging from acoustics and images to natural language processing. With medical imaging becoming an important part of disease screening and diagnosis, deep learning-based approaches have emerged as powerful techniques in medical image areas. In this process, feature representations are learned directly and automatically from data, leading to remarkable breakthroughs in the medical field. Deep learning has been widely applied in medical imaging for improved image analysis. This paper reviews the major deep learning techniques in this time of rapid evolution and summarizes some of its key contributions and state-of-the-art outcomes. The topics include classification, detection, and segmentation tasks on medical image analysis with respect to pulmonary medical images, datasets, and benchmarks. A comprehensive overview of these methods implemented on various lung diseases consisting of pulmonary nodule diseases, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, and interstitial lung disease is also provided. Lastly, the application of deep learning techniques to the medical image and an analysis of their future challenges and potential directions are discussed.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of a convolutional neural network (CNN) model that can automatically detect and classify rib fractures, and output structured reports from computed tomography (CT) images. Materials and Methods: This study included 1079 patients (median age, 55 years; men, 718) from three hospitals, between January 2011 and January 2019, who were divided into a monocentric training set (n = 876; median age, 55 years; men, 582), five multicenter/multiparameter validation sets (n = 173; median age, 59 years; men, 118) with different slice thicknesses and image pixels, and a normal control set (n = 30; median age, 53 years; men, 18). Three classifications (fresh, healing, and old fracture) combined with fracture location (corresponding CT layers) were detected automatically and delivered in a structured report. Precision, recall, and F1-score were selected as metrics to measure the optimum CNN model. Detection/diagnosis time, precision, and sensitivity were employed to compare the diagnostic efficiency of the structured report and that of experienced radiologists. Results: A total of 25054 annotations (fresh fracture, 10089; healing fracture, 10922; old fracture, 4043) were labelled for training (18584) and validation (6470). The detection efficiency was higher for fresh fractures and healing fractures than for old fractures (F1-scores, 0.849, 0.856, 0.770, respectively, p = 0.023 for each), and the robustness of the model was good in the five multicenter/multiparameter validation sets (all mean F1-scores > 0.8 except validation set 5 [512 x 512 pixels; F1-score = 0.757]). The precision of the five radiologists improved from 80.3% to 91.1%, and the sensitivity increased from 62.4% to 86.3% with artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis. On average, the diagnosis time of the radiologists was reduced by 73.9 seconds. Conclusion Our CNN model for automatic rib fracture detection could assist radiologists in improving diagnostic efficiency, reducing diagnosis time and radiologists’ workload.