Background and Objectives: The Fractional Flow Reserve and Intravascular UltrasoundGuided Intervention Strategy for Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Intermediate Stenosis (FLAVOUR) trial demonstrated non-inferiority of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided PCI. We sought to investigate the cost-effectiveness of FFR-guided PCI compared to IVUS-guided PCI in Korea. Methods: A 2-part cost-effectiveness model, composed of a short-term decision tree model and a long-term Markov model, was developed for patients who underwent PCI to treat intermediate stenosis (40% to 70% stenosis by visual estimation on coronary angiography).The lifetime healthcare costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were estimated from the healthcare system perspective. Transition probabilities were mainly referred from the FLAVOUR trial, and healthcare costs were mainly obtained through analysis of Korean National Health Insurance claims data. Health utilities were mainly obtained from the Seattle Angina Questionnaire responses of FLAVOUR trial participants mapped to EQ-5D. Results: From the Korean healthcare system perspective, the base-case analysis showed that FFR-guided PCI was 2,451 U.S. dollar lower in lifetime healthcare costs and 0.178 higher in QALYs compared to IVUS-guided PCI. FFR-guided PCI remained more likely to be cost-effective over a wide range of willingness-to-pay thresholds in the probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Conclusions Based on the results from the FLAVOUR trial, FFR-guided PCI is projected to decrease lifetime healthcare costs and increase QALYs compared with IVUS-guided PCI in intermediate coronary lesion, and it is a dominant strategy in Korea.

AIM: To compare the clinical outcomes of extended depth-of-focus intraocular lenses(EDOF IOLs)using either micromonovision implantation or mixed implantation of EDOF and diffractive bifocal IOLs.METHODS: This retrospective clinical trial included 130 patients(260 eyes), who were divided into two groups. Group RR comprised 70 patients(140 eyes)bilaterally implanted with ZXR00 IOLs(Tecnis ZXR00, where one target was -0.5 D to -0.75 D and the other was 0 to -0.25 D). Group RM comprised 60 patients(120 eyes)unilaterally implanted with both ZXR00 and ZMB00 IOLs(Tecnis ZMB00, 0 to -0.25 D). Postoperative outcomes were compared after 3 mo, including visual acuity, defocus curves, stereoacuity, modulation transfer functions(MTFs), higher-order aberrations, and Visual Function-14(VF-14)questionnaire responses.RESULTS: Group RR had superior bilateral intermediate vision, while the group RM had superior bilateral near vision(both P<0.05). Group RM also exhibited superior MTFs and reduced higher-order aberrations(both P<0.05). Stereoacuity and VF-14 questionnaire results showed no statistically significant difference between groups(P>0.05).CONCLUSION: The implantation of micromonovision has significantly improved near vision. IOLs and their collocation can be customized according to individual patient needs to achieve precise treatment and provide cataract patients with high-quality vision.

AIM: To compare the clinical outcomes of extended depth-of-focus intraocular lenses(EDOF IOLs)using either micromonovision implantation or mixed implantation of EDOF and diffractive bifocal IOLs.METHODS: This retrospective clinical trial included 130 patients(260 eyes), who were divided into two groups. Group RR comprised 70 patients(140 eyes)bilaterally implanted with ZXR00 IOLs(Tecnis ZXR00, where one target was -0.5 D to -0.75 D and the other was 0 to -0.25 D). Group RM comprised 60 patients(120 eyes)unilaterally implanted with both ZXR00 and ZMB00 IOLs(Tecnis ZMB00, 0 to -0.25 D). Postoperative outcomes were compared after 3 mo, including visual acuity, defocus curves, stereoacuity, modulation transfer functions(MTFs), higher-order aberrations, and Visual Function-14(VF-14)questionnaire responses.RESULTS: Group RR had superior bilateral intermediate vision, while the group RM had superior bilateral near vision(both P<0.05). Group RM also exhibited superior MTFs and reduced higher-order aberrations(both P<0.05). Stereoacuity and VF-14 questionnaire results showed no statistically significant difference between groups(P>0.05).CONCLUSION: The implantation of micromonovision has significantly improved near vision. IOLs and their collocation can be customized according to individual patient needs to achieve precise treatment and provide cataract patients with high-quality vision.

Objective:To investigate the impact of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfraction cholesterol, measured by the vertical auto profile (VAP) technique based on vertical density gradient ultracentrifugation, on the occurrence and progression of coronary heart disease.Methods:This retrospective case-control study consecutively enrolled 94 inpatients diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) by percutaneous coronary angiography at Ningbo University Affiliated First Hospital between June 2023 and June 2024 (CAD group), and 48 outpatients from the cardiology department without carotid or coronary atherosclerosis(non-CAD group). The VAP technique was employed to measure HDL subfraction cholesterol levels (HDL 3-C and HDL 2-C) and their subtypes (HDL 2a-C, HDL 2b-C, HDL 2c-C; HDL 3a-C, HDL 3b-C, HDL 3c-C, HDL 3d-C). Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between HDL subfraction composition and CAD. CAD patients were further stratified by the number of affected coronary vessels (left anterior descending artery, left circumflex artery, and right coronary artery): 44 with single-vessel disease, 22 with double-vessel disease, and 28 with triple-vessel disease for correlation analysis. All CAD patients underwent 6-month clinical and telephone follow-up to record major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeat revascularization. Using the median HDL 3d-C level (0.064 mmol/L) as cutoff, CAD patients were divided into high-level ( n=48) and low-level ( n=46) subgroups for Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with log-rank testing. Results:Compared with non-CAD controls, CAD patients showed significantly higher HDL 3d-C [0.064 (0.041, 0.095) mmol/L vs 0.055 (0.038, 0.067) mmol/L] and HDL 3b-C [0.031 (0.001, 0.054) mmol/L vs 0.007 (0.004, 0.029) mmol/L], lower HDL 3c-C (0.220±0.080 mmol/L vs 0.254±0.062 mmol/L) and HDL 3a-C [0.282 (0.224, 0.351) mmol/L vs 0.334 (0.269, 0.433) mmol/L] (all P<0.05). Logistic regression revealed that HDL2b-C was a protective factor against atherosclerosis severity ( OR=0.914, 95% CI 0.896-0.987, P<0.001); HDL 3d-C served as both a CAD risk factor ( OR=2.303,95% CI 1.740-3.047, P<0.001) and disease progression indicator ( OR=1.224, 95% CI 1.123-1.335, P=0.025). MACE patients ( n=6) had elevated HDL3d-C versus non-MACE cases ( n=88) [0.120 (0.083, 0.173) mmol/L vs 0.061 (0.037, 0.092) mmol/L, P<0.05]. The high HDL 3d-C subgroup demonstrated significantly lower 6-month survival (χ2=4.777, P=0.029). Conclusion:Contrary to conventional understanding, our study reveals that HDL2b serves as a protective factor against coronary artery disease progression, whereas HDL 3d-C acts not only as a pathogenic factor for CAD but also as a critical determinant of CAD-related adverse events.

Background and Objectives: The Fractional Flow Reserve and Intravascular UltrasoundGuided Intervention Strategy for Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Intermediate Stenosis (FLAVOUR) trial demonstrated non-inferiority of fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) compared with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided PCI. We sought to investigate the cost-effectiveness of FFR-guided PCI compared to IVUS-guided PCI in Korea. Methods: A 2-part cost-effectiveness model, composed of a short-term decision tree model and a long-term Markov model, was developed for patients who underwent PCI to treat intermediate stenosis (40% to 70% stenosis by visual estimation on coronary angiography).The lifetime healthcare costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were estimated from the healthcare system perspective. Transition probabilities were mainly referred from the FLAVOUR trial, and healthcare costs were mainly obtained through analysis of Korean National Health Insurance claims data. Health utilities were mainly obtained from the Seattle Angina Questionnaire responses of FLAVOUR trial participants mapped to EQ-5D. Results: From the Korean healthcare system perspective, the base-case analysis showed that FFR-guided PCI was 2,451 U.S. dollar lower in lifetime healthcare costs and 0.178 higher in QALYs compared to IVUS-guided PCI. FFR-guided PCI remained more likely to be cost-effective over a wide range of willingness-to-pay thresholds in the probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Conclusions Based on the results from the FLAVOUR trial, FFR-guided PCI is projected to decrease lifetime healthcare costs and increase QALYs compared with IVUS-guided PCI in intermediate coronary lesion, and it is a dominant strategy in Korea.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of stellate ganglion block(SGB)combined with intranasal dexmedetomidine for the treatment of insomnia.Methods A total of 64 patients aged 18 to 75 with insom-nia were randomly assigned to either the experimental group(DS group)or the control group(S group).The S group received SGB treatment for 14 consecutive days,whereas the DS group received an additional intranasal dexmedeto-midine spray at a dose of 100 μg,administered 30 minutes before bedtime on days 1 through 6,in conjunction with SGB.We measured and recorded the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI),Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS),Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS)scores,and Psychomotor Vigilance Test(PVT)results for both groups at three time points:baseline(T1),the day after treatment(T2),and one month after treatment(T3).Results Intra-group Com-parison:In both the DS and S groups,PSQI scores and dimensionspecific scores at T2 and T3 were significantly lower compared to T1(P<0.05).SAS and SDS scores in both groups showed a significant reduction at T3 compared to T1 and T2(P<0.05),while PVT results exhibited no significant changes(P>0.05).Inter-group Comparison:The PSQI scores and dimensionspecific scores in the DS group at T2(8.44±2.99)and T3(8.22±2.60)were significantly lower than those in the S group at T2(10.88±2.56)and T3(10.88±2.84)(P<0.05).However,no significant differences were observed in SDS and SAS scores between the DS and S groups at T2 and T3(P>0.05).Conclusion Compared to standalone SGB,the combination of SGB with intranasal dexmedetomidine significantly enhances sleep quality in patients with insomnia,while not impacting their levels of anxiety,depression,or alertness.

Liquid chip technology is based on liquid carrier. Comparing to the traditional detection methods, it has unique characteristics such as multiple detection ability, high throughput, high sensitivity, good repeatability, less sample and fast analysis. It can analyse proteins, nucleic acids and other biological molecules in liquid. At present, it has been widely used in the laboratory diagnosis of tumors, autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases, cytokines related diseases, as well as infectious diseases. This article discussed the principles, detection performances, clinical applications and future prospects of liquid chip technology.

Purpose To explore the value of the clinical radiomics nomogram based on ultrasound in evaluating the degree of fibrosis in chronic kidney disease(CKD).Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 350 patients with CKD in Nanchong Central Hospital from January 2014 to July 2022 who underwent renal biopsy.The patients were categorized by the tubule atrophy with interstitial fibrosis(TA/IF)and divided into a training cohort(n=245)and test cohort(n=105).The patient demographics were evaluated to establish a clinical prediction model.The XGBoost machine learning model was constructed by extracting the radiomics features from the ultrasound images.The clinical radiomics nomogram prediction model was constructed by combining the radiomics score(Rad score)and important clinical features.The diagnostic performance of the three models was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.Results Among the 350 patients with CKD,226 had TA/IF 0 and 124 had TA/IF 1.Based on the clinical characteristics and Rad score,the clinical radiomics nomogram prediction model had the highest area under the curve in the training and testing cohorts,with the area under the curve of 0.938(95%CI 0.909-0.969)and 0.933(95%CI 0.891-0.980),respectively.Conclusion The ultrasound-based radiomics prediction model has potential value for the noninvasive diagnosis of TA/IF in CKD.Nomogram prediction models based on renal Rad scores and clinic may help clinicians to manage patients.

Objective:To examine the interaction between gender and the visceral adiposity index (VAI) in relation to the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods:This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the public Dryad database derived from the NAGALA (NAFLD in the Gifu Area, Longitudinal Analysis) project (1994-2016). Participants were stratified into quartiles based on VAI levels. A multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was employed to evaluate whether VAI independently predicts T2DM risk. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed for each VAI quartile. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine associations across age and body mass index categories. Both multiplicative and additive interaction effects between gender and VAI were assessed. Additionally, gender-specific Cox models were fitted to further explore these associations.Results:A total of 15 453 participants [8 419 males and 7 034 females; mean age, (43.7±8.9) years] were included, with a median follow-up duration of 5.39 years. During follow-up, 373 participants (2.4%) developed T2DM. After adjustment for potential confounders, higher VAI levels were independently associated with increased T2DM risk ( HR=1.16; 95% CI 1.11-1.21), consistent with the results across VAI quartiles. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significant trend of increasing T2DM incidence across VAI quartiles ( P<0.001). The area under the ROC curve for VAI in predicting T2DM at 3, 5, and 10 years was 0.755, 0.735, and 0.696, respectively. Sensitivity analyses showed that elevated VAI was associated with increased T2DM risk across all age and body mass index subgroups (all P<0.05). Regarding interaction analysis, the HR (95% CI) for the multiplicative interaction between VAI and gender was 1.22 (1.19-1.26). The relative excess risk of interaction was -1.08 (95% CI -2.96 to -0.06), the attributable proportion of interaction was -0.54 (95% CI -1.35 to -0.01), and the synergy index was 0.48 (95% CI 0.26-0.91), indicating a negative additive interaction. Using low-VAI women as the reference group, the risk of T2DM in high-VAI women was higher ( HR=2.53, 95% CI 1.59-4.02) compared to high-VAI men ( HR=2.01, 95% CI 1.49-2.72). In gender-specific analyses, increasing VAI remained significantly associated with elevated T2DM risk after adjustment in both females ( HR=1.43, 95% CI 1.21-1.68) and males ( HR=1.16; 95% CI 1.11-1.22), with consistent findings across VAI quartiles. Conclusions:VAI and gender demonstrated multiplicative and additive interaction in relation to T2DM risk. The association between increasing VAI and T2DM risk was more pronounced in women than in men.

Objective:To investigate the impact of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfraction cholesterol, measured by the vertical auto profile (VAP) technique based on vertical density gradient ultracentrifugation, on the occurrence and progression of coronary heart disease.Methods:This retrospective case-control study consecutively enrolled 94 inpatients diagnosed with coronary artery disease (CAD) by percutaneous coronary angiography at Ningbo University Affiliated First Hospital between June 2023 and June 2024 (CAD group), and 48 outpatients from the cardiology department without carotid or coronary atherosclerosis(non-CAD group). The VAP technique was employed to measure HDL subfraction cholesterol levels (HDL 3-C and HDL 2-C) and their subtypes (HDL 2a-C, HDL 2b-C, HDL 2c-C; HDL 3a-C, HDL 3b-C, HDL 3c-C, HDL 3d-C). Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between HDL subfraction composition and CAD. CAD patients were further stratified by the number of affected coronary vessels (left anterior descending artery, left circumflex artery, and right coronary artery): 44 with single-vessel disease, 22 with double-vessel disease, and 28 with triple-vessel disease for correlation analysis. All CAD patients underwent 6-month clinical and telephone follow-up to record major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeat revascularization. Using the median HDL 3d-C level (0.064 mmol/L) as cutoff, CAD patients were divided into high-level ( n=48) and low-level ( n=46) subgroups for Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with log-rank testing. Results:Compared with non-CAD controls, CAD patients showed significantly higher HDL 3d-C [0.064 (0.041, 0.095) mmol/L vs 0.055 (0.038, 0.067) mmol/L] and HDL 3b-C [0.031 (0.001, 0.054) mmol/L vs 0.007 (0.004, 0.029) mmol/L], lower HDL 3c-C (0.220±0.080 mmol/L vs 0.254±0.062 mmol/L) and HDL 3a-C [0.282 (0.224, 0.351) mmol/L vs 0.334 (0.269, 0.433) mmol/L] (all P<0.05). Logistic regression revealed that HDL2b-C was a protective factor against atherosclerosis severity ( OR=0.914, 95% CI 0.896-0.987, P<0.001); HDL 3d-C served as both a CAD risk factor ( OR=2.303,95% CI 1.740-3.047, P<0.001) and disease progression indicator ( OR=1.224, 95% CI 1.123-1.335, P=0.025). MACE patients ( n=6) had elevated HDL3d-C versus non-MACE cases ( n=88) [0.120 (0.083, 0.173) mmol/L vs 0.061 (0.037, 0.092) mmol/L, P<0.05]. The high HDL 3d-C subgroup demonstrated significantly lower 6-month survival (χ2=4.777, P=0.029). Conclusion:Contrary to conventional understanding, our study reveals that HDL2b serves as a protective factor against coronary artery disease progression, whereas HDL 3d-C acts not only as a pathogenic factor for CAD but also as a critical determinant of CAD-related adverse events.