Chronic pancreatitis has a long course with complex conditions, and regular follow-up and clinical evaluation are of vital importance. Accurate, objective, comprehensive, and standardized imaging evaluation is an important basis for clinical doctors to formulate diagnosis and treatment strategies. At present, there is a lack of corresponding guidelines or consensus in China, which leads to strong subjectivity, incomplete description of content, and low reference value of imaging diagnostic reports. This guideline combines domestic and foreign research progress, proposes a total of 18 recommendations based on evidence-based medicine. It aims to standardize the imaging diagnosis report of chronic pancreatitis in China, further improve the standardized imaging diagnosis, and assist the clinical treatment decision-making.

Acute pancreatitis is a common acute abdominal disease. Objective, accurate, and comprehensive imaging examinations and diagnostic reports are of great significance for the grading of acute pancreatitis, further clinical treatment decisions and patient prognostic assessment. Currently, there is a lack of corresponding guidelines domestically, which leads to issues such as high subjectivity in diagnostic reports, incomplete content descriptions, and non-standard use of terminology. This guideline, incorporating domestic and international research advancements, proposes 17 recommendations based on evidence-based medicine. Its aim is to standardize the accuracy and consistency of imaging diagnostic reports for acute pancreatitis in China, further improve the standardization of imaging diagnosis for this disease, and assist in selecting clinical treatment strategies.

Peripancreatic infection secondary to acute pancreatitis, also known as infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN), is one of the most serious complications of acute pancreatitis. In recent years, with the continuous advancement of endoscopic and surgical therapeutic concepts and technologies, the complication rate and mortality of IPN have significantly decreased and entered a plateau period. Early diagnosis of IPN and targeted interventions are expected to become a breakthrough for further improving its prognosis.

Objective:To identify the relationship between the CT arterial radiomics score and the treatment response to neoadjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer.Methods:The clinical data of 243 pancreatic cancer patients who received surgical resection after neo-adjuvant therapy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University from March 2017 to March 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. Based on the tumor regression grade (TRG), the patients were divided into good response group (TRG 0-1, n=30) and non-good response group (TRG 2-3, n=213). The clinical, radiological and pathological features were compared between two groups. Fully-automated segmentation tool was used for segmenting the arterial CT scan of pancreatic tumor before and after treatment. Python package was applied to extract the radiomics features of tumors after segmentation and the extracted features were reduced and chosen using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) logistic regression algorithm. Lasso logistic regression formula was applied to calculate the arterial radiomics score. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between arterial radiomics score and treatment response to neoadjucant therapy. Receiver operating-characteristics (ROC) curve was drawn and area under curve (AUC), specificity, sensitivity and accuracy for evaluating the treatment response were calculated. The clinical usefulness of arterial radiomics score for diagnosing the response of neoadjuvant treatment for pancreatic cancer were determined by decision curve analysis (DCA) . Results:A total of 330 arterial radiomics CT features were obtained, and 9-selected arterial phase features associated with treatment response were determined after being reduced by the Lasso logistic regression algorithm. Univariate analysis showed that the arterial radiomics score, three-dimensional diameter after neoadjuvant therapy, pancreatic contour, T stage, N stage, Peri-pancreatic nerve invasion, lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI) and invasion of duodenum were all associated with treatment response (all P value <0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analyses confirmed that arterial radiomics score was obviously associated with the neoadjuvant treatment response ( P<0.001). At the cut-off value of 1.93, AUC of the arterial radiomics score for diagnosing neoadjuvant treatment response was 0.92, and the specificity, sensitivity and accuracy was 86.7%, 84.5% and 84.8%. DCA demonstrated that when the percentage for predicting the treatment response by using the arterial radiomics score was >0.2, the patients could benefit from the application of arterial radiomics score for evaluating neoadjuvant therapy response. Conclusions:The arterial radiomics score was strongly correlated with the neoadjuvant treatment response of pancreatic cancer, and can accurately predict neoadjuant treatment efficacy.

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy of transendoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) lithotripsy with that of traditional surgical procedures in the treatment of pancreatic ductal stones.Methods:The clinical data of 47 patients with chronic pancreatitis combined with pancreatic duct stones hospitalized in Yueyang Hospital affiliated to Hunan Normal University and Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University between November 2017 and November 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. All the patients were divided into ERCP group ( n=19), laparoscopic group ( n=10) and open abdominal group ( n=18) according to the mode of surgical treatment for pancreatic stone, and the general clinical characteristics, the surgical and postoperative recovery indicators, pain level grading, one-stage stone removal rate, complication rate and evaluation of pancreatic function were compared among the three groups. Results:The age, gender, body mass index, etiology, duration of disease, symptoms (abdominal pain, diarrhea), stone location, stone size, preoperative tumor markers (CEA, AFP, CA19-9) and serum inflammatory factor (CRP) level were not statistically significant among three groups. In ERCP group, the operation time (1.47±0.51) h, the time of the first postoperative intestinal ventilation (1.16±0.20) days, the time of drainage removal (8.68±3.30) days, the length of hospitalization (11.37±4.59) days and intraoperative blood loss (109.5±16.5) ml, the CRP on the first postoperative day (11.24±2.62) mg/L, and the treatment cost (35 238±10 663) were obviously shorter or lower than those of laparoscopic and open abdominal group; in the laparoscopic group, the time to first postoperative bowel ventilation (2.40±0.70) days, drainage removal time (12.10±5.36) days and intraoperative blood loss (195.0±83.2) ml, postoperative CRP on day one (14.52±3.62) mg/L, and the treatment cost (69 908±11 310) were greatly shorter or lower than those in open abdominal group; and all the differences were statistically significant (all P value <0.05). Those with moderate and severe pain in ERCP group (10.53%) were lower than those in laparoscopic group (70.00%) and open abdominal group (83.38%), and the difference was statistically significant (all P value <0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between ERCP group and laparoscopic and open abdominal group in terms of phase I stone removal rate, complication rate, and postoperative glycated haemoglobin level, but patients' weight loss (26.32%) and incidence of diarrhea (21.05%) were lower than those of laparoscopic and open abdominal group, and all the difference was statistically significant (all P value <0.05). Conclusions:ERCP lithotripsy is an effective, safe, minimally invasive and economical treatment for pancreatic duct stone and is suitable for most patients with pancreatic duct stone, but patients with embedded or complex pancreatic duct stones should be treated with laparoscopic or open abdominal surgery according to the actual situation.

Objective:To investigate the feasibility and therapeutic effects of a self-designed portable enteral nutrition (EN) kit for home EN in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) .Methods:A total of 60 patients suffered from moderately severe AP and severe AP and needed home EN in Department of Gastroenterology of First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University between April 2022 and June 2023 were enrolled. They were randomly assigned to portable EN group (observation group, n=28) and routine EN group (control group, n=29) according to random number table. All patients were given EN guidance before discharge. After discharge, all patients were given weekly telephone follow-up to guide the resolution of home EN problems. Patients were followed up from discharge to extubation. The age, gender, body mass index (BMI), disease severity, laboratory indicators (white blood cell, hemoglobin, albumin, total protein), AP related complications before discharge were recorded. During the follow-up period, changes in BMI, laboratory indicators, gastrointestinal symptoms, infection related complications, nutrition tube related complications and Barthel index were recorded. Results:all indicators in the two groups were not significantly statistically different, which comparable at baseline. During the 1-week, 2-week, 3-week and 4-week follow-up period, there was no significant difference on the incidence of infection and complications related to nutrition tube between the two groups, while the incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms in observation group was significantly lower than that in control group and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). At the 3-week and 4-week follow-up, the BMI [ (22.38±3.84) vs (20.38±3.56) kg/m 2; (22.59±3.77) vs (20.54±3.37) kg/m 2], hemoglobin [ (125.00±13.46) vs (113.4±13.64) g/L; (126.20±14.37) vs (114.3±13.25) g/L], and albumin [ (40.96±3.07) vs (39.17±3.31) g/L; (41.79±2.73) vs (39.97±2.67) g/L] levels of the observation group were significantly higher than those of the control group; the living ability score of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group (87.32±5.85 vs 82.59±9.79; 89.64±1.31 vs 83.97±8.80) ; and all the differences were statistically significant (all P value <0.05) . Conclusions:The application of portable EN kit can help reduce the gastrointestinal symptoms of AP patients who need long-term home EN, improve nutritional status and life ability.

Objective:To explore regulatory effects of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) on hypoxia-induced oxidative stress and activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) .Methods:PSCs were cultured in normoxia or hypoxia conditions to establish normoxia or hypoxia group. PSCs were pre-treated with SCFA working solution (10 mmol/L sodium acetate, 0.5 mmol/L sodium propionate and 0.5 mmol/L sodium butyrate), and then cultured in hypoxia conditions to establish the hypoxia-SCFA group. PSCs pre-treated by normal saline was set as the hypoxia-control group. The relative growth viability of the cells was detected by the CCK-8 assay. Relative levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were detected by DCFH-DA fluorescence probe method. The mitochondrial membrane potential was detected by JC-1 fluorescence probe. Protein expression of cyclin-associated marker cyclin A and cyclin D, hypoxic marker HIF1α, activation marker α-SMA, and antioxidant marker NRF2 and HO-1 was detected by western blotting.Results:The relative viability of PSCs in hypoxia group was significantly higher than that in normoxia group at 48 h (1.23±0.05 vs 0.99±0.04), but the relative viability of hypoxia-SCFA group was significantly lower than that of the hypoxic-control group at both 36 h and 48 h (0.69±0.01 vs 0.86±0.03, 0.86±0.02 vs 1.25±0.05). The relative level of ROS was significantly higher in hypoxia group than normoxia group (1.74±0.11 vs 1.00±0.10). The relative level of ROS was significantly lower in the hypoxia-SCFA group than the hypoxia-control group (1.39±0.14 vs 1.66±0.11). The fluorescence signals of JC-1 polymer in hypoxia group were significantly higher than those in normoxia group (1.36±0.05 vs 1.00±0.11), whereas the fluorescence signals of JC-1 polymer were significantly lower in hypoxia-SCFA group than in hypoxia-control group (1.11±0.03 vs 1.32±0.06). The expression of cyclin A, cyclin D, HIF1α, α-SMA, NRF2, and HO-1 was significantly higher in hypoxia group than those in normoxia group (1.19±0.01 vs 0.63±0.02, 0.93±0.02 vs 0.83±0.03, 1.18±0.07 vs 0.41±0.02, 1.19±0.14 vs 0.66±0.04, 1.22±0.11 vs 0.61±0.04, 1.28±0.12 vs 0.68±0.02), but the expression of cyclin A, cyclin D, α-SMA, NRF2, and HO-1 in Hypoxia-SCFA group was significantly lower than those in hypoxia-control group (0.79±0.04 vs 1.15±0.03, 0.88±0.01 vs 0.95±0.03, 0.87±0.01 vs 1.18±0.05, 0.84±0.01 vs 1.22±0.04, and 0.92±0.02 vs 1.27±0.06). All these differences were statistically significant (all P values <0.05) . Conclusions:SCFA significantly improves the oxidative stress state of PSCs under hypoxic conditions, maintains the stability of mitochondrial membrane potential, and inhibites hypoxia-induced activation of PSCs.

The main purpose of pathological analysis of pancreatic cancer(PC) specimens is to assess the tumor stage and predict the prognosis by evaluating the histological type, degree of differentiation, tumor size, depth of invasion, surgical margin status and the like. Careful, standardized and comprehensive pathological specimen sampling is prerequisite for accurate assessment. This guideline compiles a consensus on pathological sampling, definition of surgical margins, content and diagnostic points of structured report for PC after discussion, aiming to improve the standardization and precision of PC specimen sampling and diagnostic reports in our country, and enhance the precision diagnostic ability of pathologists. These provide clinicians with practical and effective pathologic parameters for prognosis assessment, thereby providing strong support for the formulation of treatment strategies for patients after surgery. Standardized oncology data collection also provides information for epidemiologists, which contributes to national and international standardization and research.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors for the relapse of autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) after steroid therapy.Methods:Clinical data of 72 AIP patients treated with steroids in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from January 2012 to December 2023 were collected retrospectively. AIP patients were divided into relapse group ( n=25) and non-relapse group ( n=47) based on the presence or absence of their relapse after steroid therapy. Patients' age of onset, gender, history of diabetes mellitus, first clinical manifestations, serum IgG4 and CA19-9 level, imaging features and other organ involvements were recorded. Oral prednisone was used at an initial dose of 0.6 mg·kg -1·d -1, gradually reduced to 5-10 mg/d and then maintained at a low dose. The follow-up period started from steroid initiation to the last follow-up or relapse. The presence of maintenance steroid treatment, time interval between onset and steroid initiation, the presence of significant IgG4 decrease and the presence of persistently enlarged pancreas after therapy were recorded. The cumulative relapse rate curve after steroid therapy was drawn by Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed by Cox proportional hazard regression model. The receiver operator characteristic curves (ROC) were plotted and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. The Log-Rank test was used to analyze the differences on the relapse between different groups. The subgroup forest plot was drawn to assess the effect of risk factors on the relapse of AIP in different subgroups. Results:The 72 patients with AIP had a median follow-up of 42 (12-127) months. 34.7% (25/72) of patients relapsed after steroid therapy during the follow-up period. The percentages of patients whose first clinical manifestation was abdominal distension or acute pancreatitis, whose interval between onset and steroid initiation was more than 1 year and whose pancreases were persistently enlarged after steroid therapy in the relapse group were higher than those in the non-relapse group, and the differences were all statistically significant (all P value <0.05). The 1-, 3- and 5-year cumulative relapse rate after steroid therapy was 20.8%, 34.1% and 37.8%, respectively. Univariate analysis found that the first clinical manifestations of abdominal distension or acute pancreatitis, interval between onset and steroid initiation more than 1 year, and persistently enlarged pancreas after steroid therapy were all significantly associated with relapse (all P value <0.05). Multivariate analysis found that interval between onset and steroid initiation more than 1 year and persistently enlarged pancreas after steroid therapy were independent risk factors for relapse of AIP [hazard ratio ( HR)=3.606 and 6.515, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.362-9.854 and 2.088-20.326]. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the relapse rate after steroid therapy was higher in AIP patients whose interval between onset and steroid initiation was more than 1 year than in those whose interval was less than 1 year (55.6% versus 27.8%), and the relapse rate in AIP patients with persistently enlarged pancreas after steroid therapy was higher than that in those without it (77.8% versus 28.6%), and the differences were both statistically significant (both P<0.05). Subgroup forest plot showed that persistently enlarged pancreas after steroid therapy was an independent risk factor for relapse of AIP regardless of the presence of a diabetes mellitus history, the first manifestation of abdominal pain, the diffuse or focal type in pancreatic imaging, and the presence of dilated pancreatic duct or not (all P value <0.05). Conclusions:Time interval between onset and steroid initiation more than 1 year and persistently enlarged pancreas after steroid therapy were independent risk factors for the relapse of AIP after steroid therapy.

Objective:To establish a paired organoid culture system for primary pancreatic cancer lesions and liver metastatic lesions in mice, and to investigate their morphological and biological behaviors.Methods:C57BL/6 mice aged 6 to 8 weeks were selected. Pancreatic cancer PANC02 cells carrying luciferase were injected into the pancreatic tail. After monitoring the formation of liver metastases using an in vivo imaging system, mice were sacrificed, and paired primary pancreatic cancer lesions and liver metastatic lesions were extracted and cultured in an in vitro organoid culture system. The formation process of organoids was observed under an inverted phase-contrast microscope. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to examine the morphological structure of the organoids. The expression of epithelial cell marker CK19 and proliferation marker Ki67 in the organoids was detected by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence staining. The expression of invasion markers N-cadherin, E-cadherin, vimentin, snail, and MMP9 was assessed by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. The drug sensitivity of organoids to gemcitabine was evaluated using the CellTiter-Glo ? 3D Cell Viability Assay, and the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) of the organoids was calculated. Results:A spontaneous liver metastasis model of pancreatic cancer in mice was successfully established, along with a paired organoid culture system for primary pancreatic cancer lesions and liver metastatic lesions. The organoids grew in a spherical shape and could be passaged up to 10 generations in vitro. Both liver metastatic lesion organoids and primary pancreatic cancer lesion organoids exhibited lumen-like structures, expressed the epithelial cell marker CK19, and the proliferation marker Ki67, with a significantly higher positive ratio of Ki67 in the liver metastatic lesions compared to the primary pancreatic cancer lesions. The expression levels of invasion markers N-cadherin, vimentin, snail, and MMP9 were significantly higher in liver metastatic organoids than in primary pancreatic cancer organoids, whereas the expression level of E-cadherin was significantly lower in liver metastatic organoids. The IC 50 value of gemcitabine for liver metastatic organoids was 165.0 nM, higher than the 108.5 nM for primary pancreatic cancer organoids. Conclusions:A stable, passagable organoids of primary pancreatic cancer lesions and liver metastatic lesions in mice were successfully established.