The surgical management of empyema (excluding those caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria) is rapidly evolving towards minimally invasive, precise, and stepwise approaches. The traditional three-stage classification (exudative, fibrinopurulent, and organizing) has limitations in guiding dynamic clinical decision-making. For the first time, this consensus explicitly identifies two critical junctures in the pathological progression of empyema: "early transformation" (stage Ⅰ to Ⅱ) and "late transformation" (stage Ⅱ to Ⅲ), and thereby constructs a corresponding "identification-early warning-intervention" stepwise therapeutic framework. The consensus emphasizes that proactive debridement via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery should be performed during the early transformation phase to halt disease progression. Conversely, during the late transformation phase, therapeutic goals should be rationally adjusted to prioritize adequate drainage, avoiding futile pleural decortication. Moreover, the consensus underscores the pivotal role of precise perioperative etiological diagnosis (e.g. metagenomic nest-generation sequencing) and standardized anti-infective therapy. Integrating practical experiences from multiple thoracic surgery centers in China and relevant evidence-based literature, this consensus formulates recommendations on the precise definitions of staging, surgical indications for each phase, key technical points, perioperative management, and training systems. It aims to promote the standardized and individualized surgical management of empyema, ultimately optimizing patient prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of Xujiang Xie's bloodletting therapy combined with Qingyan Lige decoction on acute pharyngitis with lung-stomach heat accumulation. METHODS: A total of 88 patients with acute pharyngitis of lung-stomach heat accumulation were randomly divided into an observation group (44 cases, 4 cases dropped out) and a control group (44 cases, 4 cases dropped out). The control group was treated with oral Qingyan Lige decoction, 150 mL each time, twice a day for 6 continuous days. On the basis of the treatment in the control group, Xujiang Xie's bloodletting therapy was applied at bilateral Shaoshang (LU11), Shangyang (LI1), and Erjian (EX-HN6) in the observation group, 0.1-0.5 mL of bloodletting per site, once every other day for 3 times in total. The TCM symptom and sign score, complete blood count (white blood cell [WBC] count, neutrophilic granulocyte percentage [NE%]), inflammation indexes (serum levels of C-reactive protein[CRP], interleukin[IL]-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α) and immune indexes (？？, ？？, ？？) of the two groups were observed before treatment and after 6 days of treatment, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated. RESULTS: After 6 days of treatment, the sore throat scores, redness and swelling scores of pharyngeal mucosa and uvula, pharyngeal dry and burning scores, hyperemia scores of posterior pharyngeal lymphoid follicles, chill and fever scores, total scores of TCM symptom and sign, WBC count, NE%, CRP, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and ？？ in both groups were decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), the above indexes in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05, P<0.001). After 6 days of treatment, the levels of ？？ and ？？ in both groups were increased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), and the above indexes in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.001). The total effective rate of the observation group was 95.0% (38/40), which was higher than 90.0% (36/40) in the control group (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Xujiang Xie's bloodletting therapy combined with Qingyan Lige decoction could improve the symptoms in patients with acute pharyngitis of lung-stomach heat accumulation, inhibit inflammatory response and improve immune function.
Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Female ; Pharyngitis/drug therapy* ; Adult ; Middle Aged ; Bloodletting ; Young Adult ; Lung/drug effects* ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Interleukin-6 ; Adolescent ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Acute Disease/therapy* ; Treatment Outcome

Since 2020, the international community has successively proposed new nomenclatures for metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In 2024, the Chinese Society of Hepatology updated and published the Guideline for the prevention and treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated (non-alcoholic) fatty liver disease (version 2024). This review deeply analyzes the differences between MASLD and MAFLD in terms of concept, definition framework, and clinical management. On this basis, it provides an in-depth interpretation of the updated highlights and features of the working definition in the 2024 updated Chinese guideline.

Approximately 30%-40% of epilepsy patients do not respond well to adequate anti-seizure medications (ASMs), a condition known as pharmacoresistant epilepsy. The management of pharmacoresistant epilepsy remains an intractable issue in the clinic. Its early prediction is important for prevention and diagnosis. However, it still lacks effective predictors and approaches. Here, a classical model of pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) was established to screen pharmacoresistant and pharmaco-responsive individuals by applying phenytoin to amygdaloid-kindled rats. Ictal electroencephalograms (EEGs) recorded before phenytoin treatment were analyzed. Based on ictal EEGs from pharmacoresistant and pharmaco-responsive rats, a convolutional neural network predictive model was constructed to predict pharmacoresistance, and achieved 78% prediction accuracy. We further found the ictal EEGs from pharmacoresistant rats have a lower gamma-band power, which was verified in seizure EEGs from pharmacoresistant TLE patients. Prospectively, therapies targeting the subiculum in those predicted as "pharmacoresistant" individual rats significantly reduced the subsequent occurrence of pharmacoresistance. These results demonstrate a new methodology to predict whether TLE individuals become resistant to ASMs in a classic pharmacoresistant TLE model. This may be of translational importance for the precise management of pharmacoresistant TLE.
Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe/diagnosis* ; Animals ; Drug Resistant Epilepsy/drug therapy* ; Electroencephalography/methods* ; Rats ; Anticonvulsants/pharmacology* ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Male ; Humans ; Phenytoin/pharmacology* ; Adult ; Disease Models, Animal ; Female ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Young Adult ; Convolutional Neural Networks