Objective To systematically analyze the characteristics of the disease burden of hypertensive heart disease (HHD) in the elderly (≥60 years) globally and in China from 1990 to 2021, and to predict its future trends from 2022 to 2040, with the aim of providing data support for optimizing comprehensive prevention and control strategies for HHD. Methods Based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 database, the number of prevalent cases and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of HHD in the elderly were extracted for the world, China, and five regions categorized by sociodemographic index (SDI). Joinpoint regression was used to analyze the temporal trends of age-standardized prevalence rate and age-standardized DALYs rate of HHD in the elderly. A three-factor decomposition method was applied to evaluate the relative contributions of aging, population growth, and epidemiological changes to the variations in the elderly HHD burden. Additionally, a Bayesian age-period-cohort model was used to predict the elderly HHD burden from 2022 to 2040. Results In 2021, the number of prevalent elderly HHD cases reached 10 283 000 globally and 3 412 400 in China, representing increases of 179.20% and 159.20% respectively, compared with 1990. The DALYs of elderly HHD were 18 812 700 person-years globally and 4 731 400 person-years in China, rising by 76.08% and 29.45% respectively from 1990. Meanwhile, the growth rates of the number of prevalent cases and DALYs of elderly HHD varied across different SDI regions. From 1990 to 2021, the age-standardized prevalence rate of elderly HHD in China, as well as the age-standardized DALYs rate of elderly HHD both globally and in China, showed significant downward trends (all average annual percentage changes<0, all P<0.001). In 2021, the 70-74 years age group accounted for the highest proportion of prevalent cases and DALYs of elderly HHD, both globally and in China. Decomposition analysis revealed that population growth was the dominant factor driving the increase in the elderly HHD burden across all regions. The prediction model results indicated that the number of prevalent cases and DALYs of elderly HHD would continue to rise globally and in China from 2022 to 2040, with the growth rate of the elderly HHD burden in China between 2021 and 2040 expected to exceed the global average. Conclusion Over the past 32 years, although the age-standardized disease rates of elderly HHD have mainly shown a downward trend globally and in China, the absolute number of the disease burden has increased substantially. The projection model indicates a continued upward trajectory, with the growth rate in China higher than the global average. Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement precise prevention and control strategies to effectively mitigate the disease burden of elderly HHD.

ObjectiveTo observe the clinical effectiveness and safety of Qingfei Shenshi Decoction （清肺渗湿汤） combined with western medicine for patients with bronchial asthma of heat wheezing syndrome， and to explore its potential mechanism of action. MethodsEighty-six participants with bronchial asthma of heat wheezing syndrome were randomly divided into treatment group and control group， each group with 43 participants. The control group received conventional western medicine， and the treatment group was additionally administered Qingfei Shenshi Decoction orally on the basis of the control group， 1 dose per day. Both groups were treated for 14 days. The primary outcome measure was clinical effectiveness； secondary outcome measures included traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndrome score， asthma control test （ACT） score， pulmonary function indices such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second （FEV₁）， forced vital capacity （FVC）， peak expiratory flow （PEF）， serum inflammatory factor levels including interleukin-4 （IL-4）， tumour necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein （hs-CRP）， and immune function indices including CD3⁺， CD4⁺， CD8⁺， CD4⁺/CD8⁺. All outcome measures were evaluated before and after treatment. Vital signs were monitored， and electrocardiography， blood routine， urine routine， liver function， and renal function tests were performed before and after treatment. Adverse events and reactions during the study were recorded. ResultsA total of 80 patients completed the trial with 40 in each group. The total clinical effective rate of the treatment group was 97.5% （39/40）， which was significantly higher than that of the control group （85.0%， 34/40， P＜0.05）. After treatment， both groups showed decreased TCM syndrome scores， IL-4， TNF-α， hs-CRP， and CD8⁺ levels， as well as increased ACT scores， CD3⁺， CD4⁺， CD4⁺/CD8⁺， FEV₁， FVC， and PEF levels （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Moreover， the improvements in these indices were more significant in the treatment group than in the control group （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. No significant abnormalities in safety indicators were observed in either group， and no adverse events or reactions occurred. ConclusionQingfei Shenshi Decoction combined with conventional western medicine for patients with bronchial asthma of heat wheezing syndrome can effectively improve the clinical symptoms， pulmonary function， and clinical effectiveness， with good safety. Its mechanism may be related to reducing inflammatory factor levels and regulating T lymphocyte subsets to improve immune function.

Objective To analyze the application effects of artificial intelligence (AI) software and Mimics software in preoperative three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction for thoracoscopic anatomical pulmonary segmentectomy. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent thoracoscopic pulmonary segmentectomy at the Second People's Hospital of Huai'an from October 2019 to March 2024. Patients who underwent AI 3D reconstruction were included in the AI group, those who underwent Mimics 3D reconstruction were included in the Mimics group, and those who did not undergo 3D reconstruction were included in the control group. Perioperative related indicators of each group were compared. Results A total of 168 patients were included, including 73 males and 95 females, aged 25-81 (61.61±10.55) years. There were 79 patients in the AI group, 53 patients in the Mimics group, and 36 patients in the control group. There were no statistical differences in gender, age, smoking history, nodule size, number of lymph node dissection groups, postoperative pathological results, or postoperative complications among the three groups (P>0.05). There were statistical differences in operation time (P<0.001), extubation time (P<0.001), drainage volume (P<0.001), bleeding volume (P<0.001), and postoperative hospital stay (P=0.001) among the three groups. There were no statistical differences in operation time, extubation time, bleeding volume, or postoperative hospital stay between the AI group and the Mimics group (P>0.05). There was no statistical difference in drainage volume between the AI group and the control group (P=0.494), while there were statistical differences in operation time, drainage tube retention time, bleeding volume, and postoperative hospital stay (P<0.05). Conclusion For patients requiring thoracoscopic anatomical pulmonary segmentectomy, preoperative 3D reconstruction and preoperative planning based on 3D images can shorten the operation time, postoperative extubation time and hospital stay, and reduce intraoperative bleeding and postoperative drainage volume compared with reading CT images only. The use of AI software for 3D reconstruction is not inferior to Mimics manual 3D reconstruction in terms of surgical guidance and postoperative recovery, which can reduce the workload of clinicians and is worth promoting.

Purpose To investigate the role of secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine(SPARC)expression in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of mesothelioma.Methods Immunohistochemical EnVision two-step method was used to detect SPARC expression in 40 cases of mesothelioma,4 cases of well-differentiated mesothelial tumour(WDPMT),40 cases of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the lung,40 cases of poorly differentiated ad-enocarcinoma of the lung,20 cases each of low-grade and high-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary.The sensitivity and specificity of SPARC,Calretinin,D2-40,and WT-1 expression in mesothelioma were compared and analyzed.Results SPARC showed diffuse strong positive expression in mesothelioma(37/40 cases),medium positive expression in WDPMT(3/4 cases),and focal weak positive expression in a few cases of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcino-ma of the lung(1/40 cases),poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the lung(2/40 cases),low-grade serous carci-noma of the ovary(0/20 cases),and high-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary(1/20 cases).In 40 mesotheliomas,the sensitivity of SPARC was 92.5％,and the specificity of SPARC in control tumors(squamous carcinoma of the lung,adenocarcinoma of the lung,and serous carcinoma of the ovary)was 96.7％.Conclusion SPARC is widely expressed in mesotheliomas,with a sensitivity similar to that of Calretinin,D2-40,and WT-1,but with a much higher specificity than other mesothelial markers.It is of great significance in distinguishing between mesothelioma and pulmo-nary poorly differentiated carcinoma and ovarian serous carcinoma.

Objective:To explore the application effect of high-fidelity intelligent simulator combined with scenario simulation for emergency response training in the Department of Radiology, and to improve the emergency preparedness of medical, nursing, and technical staff in managing contrast agent adverse reactions.Methods:From January to July 2024, 132 medical, nursing, and technical staff from the Department of Radiology of a tertiary hospital in Chengdu City, China were selected as the training subjects. The high-fidelity intelligent simulator combined with scenario simulation teaching mode was used to conduct emergency response training for the participants. The differences in theoretical knowledge and post competence regarding contrast agent adverse reactions among the staff were compared before and after the training. A self-made questionnaire was used to investigate their needs and satisfaction of the emergency response training. SPSS 26.0 was used for data analysis. The differences in theoretical knowledge and post competence scores before and after training were compared using the paired samples t test. Results:After the training, the average score of theoretical knowledge examination increased from (84.32±10.19) points to (90.34±7.87) points, and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.001). After the training, the scores of knowledge reserve, operational skills, situational decision-making ability, professional literacy, comprehensive literacy, and overall post competency were all significantly higher than those before the training ( P<0.05). The satisfaction score of emergency response training was (4.17±0.25) points. Conclusions:High-fidelity intelligent simulator combined with scenario simulation training improved the emergency preparedness and teamwork of radiology staff in clinical emergencies. The training received high recognition and satisfaction from the participants, which is of great significance for clinical emergency response and patient safety.

Objective:In response to the subjectivity and poor real-time performance in methods for evaluating the quality of medical theory teaching, this study aims to develop an objective and real-time evaluation method for medical theory teaching quality.Methods:Classroom behavior data from both teachers and students in the course "medical image processing" were collected. An approach combining chain-like agent genetic algorithm with support vector regression machines was employed to analyze the collected classroom behavior data, and a classroom behavior-based evaluation model for medical theory teaching quality was established.Results:The predicted value generated by the model showed minimal error compared to students' actual answer accuracy, with an average absolute error of 4.84%. Additionally, the model demonstrated low time computation, with an average modeling time of 8.63 seconds and an average prediction time of 21.00 milliseconds.Conclusions:The constructed teaching quality assessment model shows high fitting precision and low time consumption.

Objective:To explore the construction of an evaluation model for aortic root anatomy and calcium burden in patients with bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis before transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) based on deep learning (DL) algorithms.Methods:A retrospective collection of 362 BAV stenosis patients who underwent TAVR from September 2023 to May 2024 was performed. All patients underwent cardiac CT angiography. The patients were divided into training group ( n=104), internal validation group ( n=206), and external validation group ( n=52). A DL model was trained on the training dataset to assess aortic root anatomy and calcification burden. The evaluation included the segmentation accuracy of the algorithm, the measurement performance of key anatomical structures (i.e., valve leaflets and type-1 and type-2 fusion raphe), and calcification burden, as well as the measurement efficiency. Overall segmentation performance was assessed using the average Dice coefficient (ADC). The fine-scale segmentation quality was validated by the 95th-percentile Hausdorff distance (HD-95) and the average symmetric surface distance (ASSD). The consistency of the measurement results was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and the intraclass correlation coefficient ( ICC) with a two-way mixed model for absolute agreement. In addition, the total time and total mouse movement distance required for manual assessment versus the DL model on the validation datasets were recorded and compared. Results:The algorithm demonstrated excellent segmentation performance on aortic root anatomical targets, achieving outstanding consistency within both internal and external validation datasets (0.955

Objective:To retrospectively analyze the efficacy and feasibility of surgical management in patients with cervical dysphagia secondary to Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis(DISH)of the cervical spine.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 6 patients who presented with dysphagia as the primary symptom, were diagnosed with cervical DISH, and underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery of The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2018 to February 2024. There were 5 males and 1 female, aged from 65 to 78 years (70.2±4.7 years). The duration of dysphagia prior to admission was 13 to 18 months (14.7±2.2 months). All patients had the symptom of dysphagia, and at least one other clinical manifestation of cervical DISH (dyspnea, restricted neck mobility, sleep apnea, odynophagia). One patient had undergone tracheotomy due to laryngeal obstruction before surgery. Surgical intervention was performed after failure of conservative management in all patients. All patients underwent anterior cervical osteophyte resection via the Smith-Robinson approach without concomitant spinal fusion. In the patient with prior tracheotomy for airway obstruction, epiglottoplasty and right arytenoidectomy were performed simultaneously. The swallowing function was evaluated by water swallow test, FEES, M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory. Clinical and imaging evaluations were conducted for follow-uppostoperatively. Preoperative and 30-day post operative data were statistically analyzed using paired samples t-test.Results:Cervical computed tomography revealed osteophyte involvement from C2 to T1 with a median of 4 vertebral segments affected. The most frequently involved vertebral segments were C4-C6 (all 6 patients were involved). The anteroposterior diameter of the most prominent osteophyte was 12.0 to 20.0 mm (16±3.1 mm). The time to resumption of a regular diet was 6 to 20 days(12.7±5.3 days), and the time to remove the nasogastric tube was 8 to 25 days(15.2±6.2 days). In the patient with prior tracheotomy, the tracheostomy tube was successfully decannulated 30 days after initial tube capping following conversion to a metal tube. All cervical DISH-related symptoms except for limited neck mobility improved postoperatively. Both water swallow test and the Rosenbek Penetration-Aspiration Scale showed significant improvement postoperatively. At 30 days postoperatively, MDADI scores significantly improved in all domains: l global (73.33±10.33), emotional (85.56±8.35), functional (83.33±5.89), and physical (82.08±6.60). No major perioperative complications occurred. and the length of hospital stay was 7 to 10 days (7.8±1.2 days). The follow-up time was 12 to 84 months (43.7±27.2 months). All patients maintained sustained symptom relief, with no evidence of osteophyte recurrence during follow-up.Conclusion:Cervical DISH is an under-recognized causes of dysphagia in elderly patients and warrants attention from otolaryngologists. For patients erefractory to conservative treatment, anterior resection of cervical osteophytes via the Smith-Robinson approach is a safe, minimally invasive procedure with favorable short-and long-term outcomes in improving swallowing function.

Objective To investigate the effects of dihydroquercetin(DHQ)on retinal ferroptosis and visual function in rats with optic nerve injury(ONI),and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.Methods Thirty-six 8-12-week-old adult male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups:SHAM group(sham surgery without optic nerve damage,fol-lowed by saline injection at the same time points),ONI group(ONI model established by surgery,followed by saline injec-tion),DHQ+ONI group(ONI model established by surgery,followed by intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg·kg-1DHQ on days 1,3,5,and 7 post-surgery).The ONI model was constructed by optic nerve clamping.After 7 days:Brn3a immuno-fluorescence was used to observe morphological and quantitative changes in retinal ganglion cells(RGCs).Immunohisto-chemistry and Western blot were performed to analyze protein expression of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2),phosphorylated protein kinase B(p-AKT),and glutathione peroxidase 4(Gpx4),Flash visual evoked potential(F-VEP)was applied to assess visual function changes.Results Immunofluorescence quantification of Brn3a-positive cells:SHAM group:(61.49±3.84)cells·mm-1,ONI group:(25.24±1.81)cells·mm-1,DHQ+ONI group:(46.50±3.51)cells·mm-1.Compared with SHAM group,ONI group showed decreased Brn3a-positive cells(P＜0.001).Compared with ONI group,DHQ+ONI group showed increased Brn3a-positive cells(P＜0.01).Immunohistochemistry and Western blot:Compared with SHAM group,ONI group showed decreased protein expression of Nrf2,p-AKT,and Gpx4(all P＜0.001).Compared with ONI group,DHQ+ONI group showed increased expression of these proteins(all P＜0.01).F-VEP meas-urements:SHAM group:P1 wave amplitude(49.87±0.81)μV,ONI group:(5.87±0.25)μV,DHQ+ONI group:(36.43±0.21)μV.Compared with SHAM group,ONI group showed reduced P1 amplitude(P＜0.001).Compared with ONI group,DHQ+ONI group showed increased P1 amplitude(P＜0.001).Conclusion DHQ may protect and repair RGCs in ONI rats by inhibiting the ferroptosis-related Nrf2/p-AKT/Gpx4 signaling pathway,thereby ameliorating vision impairment caused by ONI.

Objectives:To investigate the coccygeal morphology in adult Chinese without coccydynia using CT scans,and to provide a morphological reference for assessing the risk of coccydynia in Chinese popula-tion.Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on 113 patients without coccydynia who underwent pelvic three-dimensional CT scans at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University between August 2018 and August 2023.There were 67 males and 46 females,with a mean age of 53.5±19.1 years(range:18-93 years).The morphological characteristics of the sacrococcygeal anatomical structures,including coccyx number,coccyx type(modified Nathan classification),sacrococcygeal joint fusion,intercoccygeal joint subluxation,coccygeal sacralization,lateral deviation of coccygeal tip,ventral angulation of S5,and coccygeal bony spicule,were analyzed on the three-dimensional reconstructed CT images;And relevant morphological parameters were measured,such as the coccygeal straight length,sacral straight length,sacrococcygeal straight length,sacrolumbar angle,sacrococcygeal angle,sacrococcygeal joint angle,intercoccygeal angle,and first in-tercoccygeal joint angle,with consistency tests conducted for the measurements.The differences in morpholog-ical parameters were compared between different genders and age groups(＜50 years and ≥50 years).Results:Among the 113 asymptomatic adult Chinese subjects,88 cases(77.9％)had a 4-segment coccyx,and type Ⅰcoccyx(modified Nathan classification)was the most common type(53 cases),accounting for approximately 46.9％.The incidence of sacrococcygeal joint fusion,intercoccygeal joint subluxation,coccygeal sacralization,lateral deviation of the coccygeal tip,ventral angulation of S5,and coccygeal bony spicule were 52.2％(59 cases),25.7％(29 cases),20.4％(23 cases),53.1％(60 cases),7.1％(8 cases),and 15.0％(17 cases),respectively.The consistency test showed that the consistency of the measurement data among observers was good.In Chi-nese population,the coccygeal straight length was 3.59±0.72cm,sacral straight length was 10.97±0.92cm,and sacrococcygeal straight length was 12.68(11.99,13.69)cm.The lumbosacral angle,sacrococcygeal angle,inter-coccygeal angle,and first intercoccygeal joint angle were 38.0°±7.3°,110.6°±10.6°,173.1°(164.2°,178.2°),131.5°±21.5°,and 152.8°±17.1°,respectively.Gender comparisons showed that males had greater sacrococ-cygeal straight length and sacrococcygeal angle than females(P＜0.05).Age group comparisons revealed that subjects＜50 years had shorter coccygeal straight length,smaller lumbosacral angle,sacrococcygeal joint angle,and first intercoccygeal joint angle than those ≥50 years(P＜0.05),while the sacral straight length was longer in the＜50 years group(P＜0.01).Conclusions:Among the adult Chinese without coccydynia,4 coccygeal seg-ments and type Ⅰ(modified Nathan classification)are the most common.Sacrococcygeal joint fusion,coccygeal bony spicules,intercoccygeal joint subluxation,and coccygeal sacralization have relatively high incidences.Males have longer and straighter sacrococcygeal structures than females.Compared with those ≥50 years,subjects＜50 years have shorter coccyxes,longer sacra,and smaller lumbosacral angles.