Objective:To evaluate postoperative biochemical and clinical remission rates in patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism and analyze related influencing factors.Methods:A total of 406 patients of primary aldosteronism with confirmed subtyping, who underwent adrenalectomy and completed follow-up in the Department of Endocrinology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from November 2013 to March 2022 were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical and biochemical data were recorded. Postoperative clinical and biochemical outcomes were assessed according to Primary Aldosteronism Surgery Outcome(PASO) consensus.Results:Complete biochemical success was achieved in 391(96.31%) of 406 primary aldosteronism patients, while partial and absent biochemical success in only 4(0.99%) and 11(2.71%) primary aldosteronism patients; Complete clinical success was seen in 217(53.45%) patients, and partial clinical success in 189(46.55%) patients. Compared to the partial clinical success group, the complete clinical success group was younger, had a greater proportion of women, a smaller body mass index, a shorter duration of hypertension, a smaller daily defined dose value for antihypertensive medication, a higher estimated glomerular filtration rate(eGFR), and a lower proportion of family history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Multifactorial logistic regression analysis further showed that gender( OR=2.49, 95% CI 1.42-4.35, P=0.001), body mass index( OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.05-1.28, P=0.003), antihypertensive drug daily defined dose( OR=1.83, 95% CI 1.37-2.44, P<0.001), family history of hypertension( OR=2.16, 95% CI 1.22-3.83, P=0.008), history of diabetes( OR=2.47, 95% CI 1.15-5.29, P=0.021), and eGFR( OR=0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.99, P=0.001) were independent factors influencing clinical prognosis of primary aldosteronism. Conclusion:The postoperative complete biochemical success is higher in patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism, but only about half of all patients achieve complete clinical success.

Objective:To investigate the appropriate cut-off for diagnosis of primary aldosteronism (PA) by seated saline suppression test (SSST) based on liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).Methods:In this cross-sectional study, patients who underwent SSST for suspected PA in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from January 2018 to March 2022 were evaluated. Briefly, 300 patients with PA and 119 with essential hypertension (EH) were included. Plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) after SSST was determined by LC-MS/MS. Primary aldosteronism confirmatory testing (PACT) score was used as the reference standard for diagnosis of PA, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to explore the cut-off value.Results:The average age of the PA group was (50.8±10.5) years, and males accounted for 53.00% ( n=159); the average age of the EH group was (49.4±11.2) years, and males accounted for 26.89% ( n=32). The area under the ROC curve of PAC post-SSST was 0.819 (95% CI 0.775-0.862). When 40 pg/ml (110.8 pmol/L) was selected as the appropriate cut-off for diagnosis of PA, the sensitivity was 83.67% (95% CI 78.88%-87.56%) and specificity was 60.50% (95% CI 51.10%-69.21%). Thus, 95.09% (155/163) of patients with unilateral PA could be identified. Conclusion:PAC after SSST determined by LC-MS/MS has high efficacy for diagnosis of PA, and 40 pg/ml is recommended as the appropriate cut-off value.

The typical manifestations of primary aldosteronism (PA) are hypertension with or without hypokalemia, high aldosterone, and low renal level. However, PA with normal blood pressure is rare in clinical practice. This article reported the diagnosis and treatment of a patient with subclinical PA, admitted for "adrenal accidental tumor" with normal blood pressure and serum potassium. We summarized and analyzed the clinical characteristics and treatment strategies, in order to provide some reference for clinicians.

Objective:To determine possible risk factors of developing HBS after parathyroidectomy for PHPT.Methods:The clinical data of 104 patients with PHPT who were hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and underwent PTX surgery from Apr. 2014 to Apr. 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.There were 36 males and 68 females. 105 patient were divided into two groups: HBS group ( n=29) and non-HBS group ( n=75) according to whether HBS occurred after PTX. The clinical related data of the two groups were collected and analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software to determine the risk factors of HBS. Results:Serum albumin, blood magnesium, blood phosphorus, 25 (OH) D and hip bone mineral density in HBS group were lower than those in non HBS group; Preoperative blood calcium, blood PTH, bone turnover markers (BALP, OC, PINP β- CTX) were higher than those in non HBS group ( P<0.05). The preoperative serum calcium, BALP, and PINP levels in the HBS group and non HBS group were: (3.37±0.58) vs (2.91±0.28) mmol/L; 38.37 (15.59, 58.79) vs 18.21 (11.28, 25.57) μg/L; 256.25 (139.95, 527.95) vs 79.72 (50.64, 120.33) ng/ml. Preoperative serum calcium ( OR=15.006, P<0.001), PTH ( OR=1.002, P<0.001), BALP ( OR=1.055, P<0.001), OC ( OR=1.019, P<0.001), PINP ( OR=1.008, P<0.001), β-CTX ( OR=1.816, P=0.006) were positively correlated with HBS, while serum albumin ( OR=0.850, P=0.011), magnesium ( OR=0.012, P=0.002), 25 (OH) D ( OR=0.844, P=0.001) and hip BMD ( OR=0.00, P=0.019) were negatively correlated with HBS. Preoperative serum calcium ( OR=36.689, P=0.009), PINP ( OR=1.019, P=0.022) and BALP ( OR=1.049, P=0.031) were independent risk factors for HBS. The ROC curves showed that the AUC values were 0.7368, 0.8326, and 0.7605, respectively, with sensitivities of 55.2%, 75.9%, and 72.4%; the specificities were 88.0%, 81.3% and 78.7%. The amount of intravenous calcium supplement in HBS patients was related to preoperative blood BALP and PINP ( P=0.035) . Conclusions:Patients with PHPT have a significantly increased risk of postoperative HBS when preoperative blood calcium>3.22 mmol/L, P1N P>138.80 ng/ml, or BAL P>26.08 (μg/L). For patients with significantly elevated preoperative blood P1NP, postoperative calcium supplementation can be appropriately increased.

Objective:To test and evaluate the reliability and clinical effectiveness of osteoporotic thoracolumbar fracture (OTLF) scoring and classification system.Methods:A multicenter retrospective case series study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 530 OTLF patients admitted to 8 hospitals including Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi'an Jiaotong University from January 2021 to June 2022. There were 212 males and 318 females, aged 55-90 years [(72.6±10.8)years]. There were 4 patients with grade C and 18 with grade D according to American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) classification. According to the osteoporotic thoracolumbar injury classification and severity (OTLICS) score, all patients had an OTLICS score over 4 points and required surgical treatment. Among them, 410 patients had acute symptomatic OTLF (ASOTLF), including 24 patients with type I, 159 type IIA, 47 type IIB, 31 type IIC, 136 type IIIA, 8 type IIIB, 2 type IV (absence of neurological symptoms) and 3 type IV (presence of neurological symptoms), and 120 patients had chronic symptomatic OTLF (CSOTLF), including 62 patients with type I, 21 type II, 17 type III, 3 type IV (reducible under general anesthesia), 9 type IV (not reducible under general anesthesia), 1 type V (reducible under general anesthesia), 5 type V (presence of neurological symptoms), and 2 type V (not reducible under general anesthesia). Surgical procedures included percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP), positional repositioning plus PVP, percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP), posterior open reduction combined with bone graft fusion and bone cement augmented screw internal fixation, posterior open reduction combined with decompression, bone graft fusion and bone cement augmented screw internal fixation, and posterior open reduction combined with osteotomy and orthopedics, bone graft fusion and bone cement augmented screw internal fixation. A weighted Kappa was used to test the interobserver and intraobserver reliability of the OTLICS score, the ASOTLF classification, and the CSOTLF classification. The visual analog scale (VAS), Oswestry disability index (ODI), ASIA classification were compared before, at 1 month after surgery and at the last follow-up. Incidence of postoperative complications was observed.Results:The percentage of mean interobserver agreement for OTLICS staging was 93.4%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.86, and the percentage of mean intraobserver agreement was 93.0%, with a mean confidence kappa value of 0.86. The percentage of mean interobserver agreement for ASOTLF staging was 94.2%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.84, and the percentage of mean intraobserver agreement was 92.5%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.83. The percentage of mean interobserver agreement for CSOTLF subtyping was 91.9%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.80, and the percentage of mean intraobserver agreement was 91.3%, with a mean confidence Kappa value of 0.81. All the patients were followed up for 6-12 months [(9.0±2.1)months]. The VAS and ODI scores were significantly lower in patients with ASOTLF and CSOTLF classifications at 1 month after surgery and at the last follow-up than those before surgery (all P<0.05). The VAS scores in patients with ASOTLF types IIA, IIB, IIC, IIIA, and IV were significantly lower at the last follow-up than that at 1 month after surgery; the ODI scores in patients with ASOTLF types I, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB and IV were significantly lower at the last follow-up than those at 1 month after surgery. The VAS scores in patients with CSOTLF types II, III, IV, and V were significantly lower at the last follow-up than those at 1 month after surgery, and the ODI scores in patients with all CSOTLF types were significantly lower at the last follow-up than those at 1 month after surgery (all P<0.05). Two patients with ASIA grade C recovered to grade D, and the rest recovered to grade E at the last follow-up ( P<0.01). No major vessel or nerve injury or internal fixation failure was found during follow-up. There were 18 patients with cement leakage, none of whom showed relevant clinical symptoms. There were 35 patients with new vertebral fractures, all of whom recovered well after symptomatic treatment. Conclusions:The OTLICS score, ASOTLF classification and CSOTLF classification have a high degree of reliability. Application of stepwise treatment for patients with different levels of injury according to the scoring and classification system can reduce pain, promote recovery of the spinal function, and reduce complications, which is of some significance in guiding the selection of clinical treatment.

To investigate the renal venous and spermatic venous sampling in assisting the diagnosis of reninoma. The case of reninoma was retrospectively reviewed together with the literature review of reninoma diagnosed with renal venous and spermatic venous sampling. A young patient with hypertension and headache was admitted to our hospital. Laboratory test showed high plasma renin concentration (>500 mIU/L), and enhanced computed tomography(CT) in the upper abdomen showed a mass in left inferior renal pole. The concentration of renin in the left spermatic vein was significantly higher than that in renal veins and branches, and peripheral vein, which was considered the left reninoma possibility. The left renal mass was resected surgically and pathologic exam revealed reninoma. The renin level and the blood pressure recoveried normal after operation.The literature reported that the positive rate of renal vein segmental blood collection for locating renin tumor was only 8.3%-64%. The possible reason was that reninoma usually located in the renal cortex, and the tumor blood might be collected by renal capsule vein instead of renal vein. In fact, the renal capsule vein intersects with the lateral division of the spermatic vein, but there have been no reports about the localization of reninoma by spermatic vein sampling. Since renin secreted by reninoma may go into the spermatic vein through renal capsule vein, it should be noted that spermatic venous blood should be collected simultaneously in renal vein sampling when locating reninoma.

Objective:To explore the proportion of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in primary aldosteronism (PA) in Chinese population and compare the clinical characteristics between PA patients with OSA and those without.Methods:A total of 96 patients diagnosed with PA from September 2015 to November 2018 were recruited in this study. OSA was screened by cardio-respiratory polygraphy. According to the apnea hypopnea index (AHI), the patients were divided into PA with OSA group (AHI ≥5 times) and PA without OSA group (AHI<5 times).Results:Among all patients (96), 69 (71.9%) were with OSA, among them 22 patients (22.9%) were with mild OSA, 17 patients (17.7%) were with moderate OSA and 30 patients (31.3%) were with severe OSA. Compared with the patients without OSA, the patients with OSA were elder, and had higher levels of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), creatinine (CR) and glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ( P<0.05), but lower concentrations of plasma aldosterone (PAC), supine aldosterone renin concentration ratio(ARR) and the PAC after the diagnosis test ( P<0.05). Spearman correlation analyses showed that BMI, WC, HC, CR and HbA1c were positively correlated with AHI ( P<0.05), while high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C), supine-PAC and saline infusion test(SIT)-post PAC were negatively correlated with AHI ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The proportion of OSA in PA patients is relatively high (71.9%). Metabolic abnormalities are more common in PA patients with OSA, indicating that screening for OSA should be carried out routinely in PA patients.

Objective To discuss the feasibility,the advantages and disadvantages,the clinical efficacy and the indications of minimally invasive transforaminal endoscopic debridement combined with allograft and posterial percutaneous internal fixation for thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis.Methods All of 22 patients with thoracolumbar tuberculosis treated in our department from January 2012 to December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed.There are 11 male and female cases separately,with an average age of 54.1 ±10.2 years and with an average disease duration of 5.3 ± 1.9 months.Endoscopic lesion removal and allograft bone grafting combined with posterial percutaneous immobilization were performed on all these cases.The data of these patients were complete,and all patients had been followed up for more than 36 months.The clinical and radiographic results were recorded and analyzed.Results In this group,22 patients were followed-up for 41.9±2.5 months(36-48 months).The spinal kyphosis was not improved 3 months after surgery (t=0.3546,P=0.7029),but the amount of blood loss (30.5±7.9 ml) was less in the operation,the amount of postoperative analgesics(0.3±0.1 g) was low and the bed time(1.5±0.3 days) was short.No recurrence and no internal fixation failure was found after long term follow-up.Good clinical outcomes were achieved with the fusion rate reached above grade 2 in all patients(95.5％) except one.The neuralgia was relieved,and the spinal cord injury was recovered to ASIA E.The VAS score and SF-36 score which were recorded 1 month and 3 months after operative were all improved significantly compared with those before operation,and patients' life quality in the early period after operation was excellent.The incidence of complications was low(9.0％),and the patients were satisfied with the treatment process.Conclusion It may be a potential way to treat spinal tuberculosis with minimally invasive transforaminal endoscopic debridement combined with allograft and percutaneous internal fixation,which could be a powerful supplement to other therapeutic measures,and is worthy of further research and development.

Objective To investigate the effects of high glucose and glucose fluctuation on the apoptosis of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts. Methods MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts cultured in vitro were divided into control, N-acetyl-L-cysteine ( NAC) group, high glucose ( HG), HG + NAC, glucose fluctuation ( GF), and GF + NAC groups. Cell proliferation was examined by CCK-8 analysis. The apoptosis rates of cells in different groups were measured by flow cytometry, which was stained with Annexin V-FITC/ PI. The protein expressions of Bax and Bcl-2 were detected by Western blot. DCFH-DA probe was used to measure reactive oxygen species (ROS) level. Results Compared with control group, the proliferation rates of cells in HG and GF groups were significantly declined(P<0. 01), especially more obviously in GF group(P<0. 05). The apoptosis rates in HG and GF groups were higher than that in control group(P<0. 05 or P<0. 01), being higher in GF group than in HG group(P<0. 01). The protein expressions of Bcl-2 were decreased in HG and GF groups compared with control group (P<0. 01) while Bax expression was raised (P<0. 05 or P<0. 01). Compared with HG group, Bcl-2 expression was lower and Bax expression was higher in GF group (P<0. 05). HG and GF promoted the production of ROS, especially the latter. NAC suppressed the production of ROS, increased Bcl-2 expression, while decreased Bax expression, and ameliorated the elevated cell apoptosis rate. Conclusion Glucose fluctuation aggravates high glucose-induced oxidative stress, which contributes to the declined proliferation and increased apoptosis of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts.

A total of 108 subjects were enrolled in this study, including 21 healthy subjects(control group), 34 non-obese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS1 group, body mass index(BMI)<25 kg/m²], 32 obese patients with PCOS(PCOS2 group, BMI≥25 kg/m²), and 21 simple obese patients whose age and BMI matched with PCOS2(OB group). BMI, waist-hip ratio(WHR), fasting plasma glucose(FPG), postprandial 2h plasma glucose(2hPG), HbA_1C, fasting insulin(FINS), postprandial 2h insulin(2hINS), sex hormones, and lipid parameters were determined. The status of insulin resistance was assessed by homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistant index(HOMA-IR)and insulin sensitivity index(ISI). Levels of plasma galectin-3 and interleukin-6(IL-6)were detected by ELISA. The results showed that the plasma level of galectin-3 was significantly higher in PCOS group than those in control and OB groups(all P<0.05). Moreover, the level of galectin-3 was also higher in OB group compared with control group, while galectin-3 level in PCOS2 group was higher than that in PCOS1 group(all P<0.05). After adjusted by age, BMI, and WHR, correlation analysis showed that the level of galectin-3 was positively correlated with FPG, 2hPG, FINS, HOMA-IR, highly-sensitive C-reactive protein, and IL-6, while negatively correlated with ISI. A multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the plasma galectin-3 concentration was independently associated with IL-6, HOMA-IR, and BMI(all P<0.05). These data suggest that plasma galectin-3 is closely associated with glucose metabolism, chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance, which may be involved in the pathogenesis of PCOS. (Chin J Endocrinol Metab, 2018, 34: 578-582)