OBJECTIVES: To propose a hypothesis that aloe-emodin may inhibit scar tissue fibrosis through thrombospondin-1(THBS1)-PI3K-Akt pathway. METHODS: By cultivating fibroblasts derived from scar tissue after cleft palate surgery in humans, aloe emodin of different concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 μmol/L) was added to the cells which activity was detected. At the same time, transcriptome sequencing was performed on scar tissue and cells, and bioinformatics methods were used to explore potential targets and signaling pathways of scar tissue fibrosis. RESULTS: Aloe-emodin had a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on fibroblast proliferation,with the 40 μmol/L concentration group showing the most significant effect. The results of tissue and cell sequencing indicated that differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction pathway, and shared a common differential gene which was THBS1. The ORA analysis results indicated that differentially expressed genes, including THBS1, were significantly enriched in the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. CONCLUSIONS Aloe emodin may inhibit the PI3K-Akt pathway by downregulating THBS1, thereby reducing the proliferation activity of fibroblasts derived from postoperative palatal scar tissue.
Thrombospondin 1/genetics* ; Humans ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Fibroblasts/cytology* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Fibrosis ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Cicatrix/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Anthraquinones/pharmacology* ; Cells, Cultured

Objective:To investigate the clinical effects of combined tissue flap transplantation in repairing giant chest wall defects.Methods:This study was a retrospective observational study. From August 2013 to December 2020, 31 patients with chest wall tumor or radiation ulcer after radical resection of chest wall tumor and conformed to the inclusion criteria were admitted to the Department of Breast Oncoplastic Surgery of Hunan Cancer Hospital, including 12 males and 19 females, aged 25-71 years. After resection of tumor or ulcer and wound debridement, the area of secondary chest wall defect was 300-600 cm 2 with length of 16-35 cm and width of 16-32 cm. According to the actual situation of the patients and the preoperative design, the chest wall defects were repaired with the flexible combination of perforator flaps and myocutaneous flaps from different donor sites, and the area of the combined tissue flap was 260-540 cm 2 with length of 20-30 cm and width of 13-20 cm. Free posteromedial thigh perforator flap+free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap were used in 2 patients, free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap+free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap were used in 5 patients, free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap+pedicled rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap+free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flap were used in 7 patients, free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap+pedicled rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap+pedicled latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap were used in 2 patients, and bilateral free anterolateral thigh myocutaneous flaps were used in 15 patients. For the remaining small area of superficial tissue defect after being repaired by combined tissue flaps, skin graft was used to repair or delayed local flap transfering was performed after the tissue flaps survived and edema subsided. The appropriate blood vessels in the donor and recipient sites were selected for anastomosis to reconstruct the blood supply of tissue flaps. The wounds in the donor sites of tissue flaps that can be directly sutured were sutured directly; for those that cannot be sutured directly, the skin grafting or delayed suture was performed. The anastomosis of blood vessels in the recipient sites, operation length, and postoperative hospital stay were recorded. The survivals of tissue flaps and skin grafts, the shape and texture of reconstructed chest wall, the wound healing, scar formation, and function of donor sites of tissue flaps, and the scar formation of the donor sites of skin grafts were observed after operation. Tumor recurrence and death of recurrent patients were followed up after operation. Results:The blood vessels in the recipient sites were anastomosed as follows: proximal internal thoracic vessels for 24 times, distal internal thoracic vessels for 12 times, trunk of thoracodorsal vessels for 4 times, anterior serratus branches of thoracodorsal vessels for 8 times, and thoracoacromial vessels for 12 times. The operation length was 6.0 to 8.5 hours, and the postoperative hospital stay was 9 to 21 days. Necrosis at the edge of partial tissue flaps occurred in 4 patients after operation, which healed after dressing change, and the tissue flaps and skin grafts of the other patients survived completely. The shape and texture of the reconstructed chest wall were good. Four patients had poor wound healing in the donor sites of abdominal tissue flaps, which healed after dressing change and local drainage. Only linear scar was left in the donor sites of all tissue flaps, and there was no obvious dysfunction in the donor sites of tissue flaps. Mild hypertrophic scar was left in the donor sites of skin grafts. During follow-up of 9 to 36 months after operation, 6 patients had tumor recurrence, and the recurrence time was 5 to 20 months after operation. After comprehensive treatment for patients with tumor recurrence, 3 patients died.Conclusions:Transplantation of combined tissue flaps in repairing the giant chest wall defects can shorten the time of total operation and hospital stay, and avoid multiple operations. After operation, patients had good chest wall appearance, with reduced tumor recurrence in patients with chest wall tumor.

Objective:To explore the application of the classification of the accompanying vein of deep inferior epigastric artery and vascular anastomotic strategy in breast reconstruction.Methods:The data of patients who underwent breast reconstruction after breast cancer surgery with unilateral free lower abdominal flap transplantation in Hunan Cancer Hospital from October 2015 to January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. During surgery, free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap or free muscle-sparing rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap was used for breast reconstruction, and the recipient vessel was internal mammary vessel. The anatomy of the accompanying vein of the deep inferior epigastric artery can be divided into three types: independent type, including one branch type and two branch type; Y-shaped structure; H-shaped structure. Direct anastomosis was used for independent veins. There were five methods of vascular anastomoses for Y-shaped and H-shaped accompanying vein: (1) direct anastomosis; (2) the Y-shaped common stem segment was removed and the two accompanying veins were anastomosed respectively; (3) ligate the communicating branch and anastomose the two accompanying veins respectively; (4) the communicating branch was reserved and the two accompanying veins were anastomosed respectively; (5) ligate the smaller accompanying vein and anastomose the larger accompanying vein. Methods 1 and 2 were suitable for Y-shaped accompanying veins, and methods 3 to 5 were suitable for H-shaped accompanying veins. The excessively long inferior abdominal artery segment was removed during the operation. The complications of intraoperative vascular anastomosis were counted, and the survival of flap, aesthetics of breast reconstruction and tumor recurrence were followed up.Results:A total of 173 female patients were included, ranging from 26 to 60 years, with an average age of 41.2 years. There were 92 cases of immediate breast reconstruction and 81 cases of delayed breast reconstruction. 109 cases of free DIEP flap and 64 cases of free muscle-sparing rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap were harvested. The length of the flap was (26.9±1.9) cm, the width of the flap was (11.3±0.7) cm, the length of the vascular pedicle was (10.5±0.4) cm. The anatomical type of the deep inferior epigastric artery with only one accompanying vein accounted for 16 cases, and the veins were anastomosed directly. The anatomical type of Y-shaped accompanying vein accounted for 14 cases, of which 5 cases were anastomosed directly using method 1, 3 cases were anastomosed directly using method 1 after partial resection of the third costal cartilage to create a groove, and 6 cases were anastomosed using method 2. The H-shaped accompanying vein of the deep inferior epigastric artery was found in 143 cases. In 96 cases, vascular anastomosis were accomplished using method 3, 19 cases were anastomosed using method 4 and 28 cases were anastomosed using method 5. In 97 cases, the excessively long segment of the deep inferior epigastric artery were trimmed before vascular anastomosis. The average length of the trimmed segment was (2.7±0.7) mm. There were 6 cases of vascular anastomotic complications during operation, of which 2 patients were treated with method 1. Venous entrapment occurred during operation and was relieved after changing into method 2. The venous anastomosis methods adopted in the other 4 cases included 1 case of method 2, 1 case of method 3, and 2 cases of method 4, all of which were relieved of vessel entrapment by timely adjusting the placement of vessel pedicles. Postoperative flap necrosis occurred in 1 case. The vein anastomosis was direct Y-shaped vein anastomosis. The remaining 172 cases were completely successful. The patients were followed up for 10 to 36 months, with an average of 18.7 months. The reconstructed breast shape was good, the texture was soft, without flap contracture and deformation. Only linear scar remained in the donor site of the flap, which had no significant effect on the function of the abdominal wall. No tumor recurrence was observed.Conclusion:By flexibly adjusting the vascular anastomosis strategy according to the classification of the accompanying vein of the deep inferior epigastric artery, the blood supply of the free lower abdominal flap transfer in breast reconstruction can be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

In December 2021, a 37-year-old female patient was admitted to the Department of Oncology Plastic Surgery, Hunan Cancer Hospital, 32 months after bilateral mastectomy. After admission, it was planned to perform bilateral breast reconstruction with bilateral free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap and bilateral free posterior medial thigh perforator flap. The ipsilateral lower abdominal flap and posterior medial thigh flap were stacked to reconstruct the ipsilateral breast, and the vascular pedicle of profunda artery perforator was anastomosed with the distal end of internal mammary vessel, the deep inferior epigastric artery was anastomosed with the proximal end of the internal mammary vessel. During the operation, the blood supply of the flap was good, and the donor sites of the thigh and abdomen were closed directly. The postoperative course of the patient was stable, the flap survived well, and the donor site healed well. After 1 month follow-up, the appearance and function of the donor area of abdomen and thigh were good, no obvious complications were found, and the reconstructed breast shape was satisfactory. This case suggests that the combined transplantation of free DIEP flap and posterior medial thigh perforator flap is suitable for the reconstruction of large breast.

On June 15, 2021, a female patient with right breast cancer aged 43 years old was admitted in Hunan Cancer Hospital. She received left mastectomy 13 years ago and left breast reconstruction with pedicled rectus abdominis myuocutaneous flap 6 years ago. After admission, she received right mastectomy and immediate right breast reconstruction with bilateral free medial arm perforator flaps. The lateral side of the breast was reconstructed with the ipsilateral medial arm flap. The superior ulnar collateral vessels were anastomosed with the proximal end of the lateral thoracic artery and distal end of the lateral thoracic vein. And the contralateral medial arm flap was used to reconstruct the medial part of the breast. The superior ulnar collateral vessels were anastomosed with the proximal and distal ends of the internal mammary vessels. After revascularization, the blood supply of the flap was good, and the donor sites were closed directly. The postoperative course of the patient was stable, the flap survived well, and the donor area healed well. In the two-month follow-up, the appearance and function of the flap donor area was good, there were no obvious complications, while the reconstructed breast shape was not satisfactory. This case suggests that the combined transplantation of bilateral free arm medial perforator flaps is suitable for small and medium-sized breast reconstruction, but not enough for large-volume breast reconstruction.

Objective:To explore the application of the classification of the accompanying vein of deep inferior epigastric artery and vascular anastomotic strategy in breast reconstruction.Methods:The data of patients who underwent breast reconstruction after breast cancer surgery with unilateral free lower abdominal flap transplantation in Hunan Cancer Hospital from October 2015 to January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. During surgery, free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap or free muscle-sparing rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap was used for breast reconstruction, and the recipient vessel was internal mammary vessel. The anatomy of the accompanying vein of the deep inferior epigastric artery can be divided into three types: independent type, including one branch type and two branch type; Y-shaped structure; H-shaped structure. Direct anastomosis was used for independent veins. There were five methods of vascular anastomoses for Y-shaped and H-shaped accompanying vein: (1) direct anastomosis; (2) the Y-shaped common stem segment was removed and the two accompanying veins were anastomosed respectively; (3) ligate the communicating branch and anastomose the two accompanying veins respectively; (4) the communicating branch was reserved and the two accompanying veins were anastomosed respectively; (5) ligate the smaller accompanying vein and anastomose the larger accompanying vein. Methods 1 and 2 were suitable for Y-shaped accompanying veins, and methods 3 to 5 were suitable for H-shaped accompanying veins. The excessively long inferior abdominal artery segment was removed during the operation. The complications of intraoperative vascular anastomosis were counted, and the survival of flap, aesthetics of breast reconstruction and tumor recurrence were followed up.Results:A total of 173 female patients were included, ranging from 26 to 60 years, with an average age of 41.2 years. There were 92 cases of immediate breast reconstruction and 81 cases of delayed breast reconstruction. 109 cases of free DIEP flap and 64 cases of free muscle-sparing rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap were harvested. The length of the flap was (26.9±1.9) cm, the width of the flap was (11.3±0.7) cm, the length of the vascular pedicle was (10.5±0.4) cm. The anatomical type of the deep inferior epigastric artery with only one accompanying vein accounted for 16 cases, and the veins were anastomosed directly. The anatomical type of Y-shaped accompanying vein accounted for 14 cases, of which 5 cases were anastomosed directly using method 1, 3 cases were anastomosed directly using method 1 after partial resection of the third costal cartilage to create a groove, and 6 cases were anastomosed using method 2. The H-shaped accompanying vein of the deep inferior epigastric artery was found in 143 cases. In 96 cases, vascular anastomosis were accomplished using method 3, 19 cases were anastomosed using method 4 and 28 cases were anastomosed using method 5. In 97 cases, the excessively long segment of the deep inferior epigastric artery were trimmed before vascular anastomosis. The average length of the trimmed segment was (2.7±0.7) mm. There were 6 cases of vascular anastomotic complications during operation, of which 2 patients were treated with method 1. Venous entrapment occurred during operation and was relieved after changing into method 2. The venous anastomosis methods adopted in the other 4 cases included 1 case of method 2, 1 case of method 3, and 2 cases of method 4, all of which were relieved of vessel entrapment by timely adjusting the placement of vessel pedicles. Postoperative flap necrosis occurred in 1 case. The vein anastomosis was direct Y-shaped vein anastomosis. The remaining 172 cases were completely successful. The patients were followed up for 10 to 36 months, with an average of 18.7 months. The reconstructed breast shape was good, the texture was soft, without flap contracture and deformation. Only linear scar remained in the donor site of the flap, which had no significant effect on the function of the abdominal wall. No tumor recurrence was observed.Conclusion:By flexibly adjusting the vascular anastomosis strategy according to the classification of the accompanying vein of the deep inferior epigastric artery, the blood supply of the free lower abdominal flap transfer in breast reconstruction can be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

In December 2021, a 37-year-old female patient was admitted to the Department of Oncology Plastic Surgery, Hunan Cancer Hospital, 32 months after bilateral mastectomy. After admission, it was planned to perform bilateral breast reconstruction with bilateral free deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap and bilateral free posterior medial thigh perforator flap. The ipsilateral lower abdominal flap and posterior medial thigh flap were stacked to reconstruct the ipsilateral breast, and the vascular pedicle of profunda artery perforator was anastomosed with the distal end of internal mammary vessel, the deep inferior epigastric artery was anastomosed with the proximal end of the internal mammary vessel. During the operation, the blood supply of the flap was good, and the donor sites of the thigh and abdomen were closed directly. The postoperative course of the patient was stable, the flap survived well, and the donor site healed well. After 1 month follow-up, the appearance and function of the donor area of abdomen and thigh were good, no obvious complications were found, and the reconstructed breast shape was satisfactory. This case suggests that the combined transplantation of free DIEP flap and posterior medial thigh perforator flap is suitable for the reconstruction of large breast.

On June 15, 2021, a female patient with right breast cancer aged 43 years old was admitted in Hunan Cancer Hospital. She received left mastectomy 13 years ago and left breast reconstruction with pedicled rectus abdominis myuocutaneous flap 6 years ago. After admission, she received right mastectomy and immediate right breast reconstruction with bilateral free medial arm perforator flaps. The lateral side of the breast was reconstructed with the ipsilateral medial arm flap. The superior ulnar collateral vessels were anastomosed with the proximal end of the lateral thoracic artery and distal end of the lateral thoracic vein. And the contralateral medial arm flap was used to reconstruct the medial part of the breast. The superior ulnar collateral vessels were anastomosed with the proximal and distal ends of the internal mammary vessels. After revascularization, the blood supply of the flap was good, and the donor sites were closed directly. The postoperative course of the patient was stable, the flap survived well, and the donor area healed well. In the two-month follow-up, the appearance and function of the flap donor area was good, there were no obvious complications, while the reconstructed breast shape was not satisfactory. This case suggests that the combined transplantation of bilateral free arm medial perforator flaps is suitable for small and medium-sized breast reconstruction, but not enough for large-volume breast reconstruction.

Objective:To investigate the effects of estimated dose of radiation to immune cells (EDRIC) on overall survival (OS), local progression-free survival (LPFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) in limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC) with different tumor burdens.Methods:Clinical data of 216 patients with LS-SCLC who initially received conventional fractionated radiotherapy of the chest for radical treatment in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital from 2013 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. EDRIC was calculated based on the model developed by Jin et al. and tumor burdens were assessed by gross tumor volume (GTV) or clinical stage. The study endpoints were OS, LPFS and DMFS, which were calculated from the date of diagnosis. The optimal cut-off value of EDRIC was calculated by R language. The correlation between EDRIC and tumor burdens was analyzed using Spearman's correlations. Survival analysis was performed by Cox proportional hazards regression model and Kaplan-Meier curve. Results:The median follow-up time for the whole group was 47.8 months, and the median OS and DMFS was 34.6 months and 18.5 months, respectively, while the median LPFS did not reach. The optimal cut-off value of EDRIC was 6.8 Gy. Cox multivariate analysis showed that EDRIC was an independent prognostic factor affecting OS and DMFS. EDRIC was weakly correlated with GTV or clinical stage. Stratified by the median GTV, OS ( P=0.021) and DMFS ( P=0.030) were significantly shortened and LPFS had a tendency of shortening ( P=0.107) when EDRIC>6.8 Gy compared with those when EDRIC ≤ 6.8 Gy in the GTV ≤ 34.6 cm 3 group; EDRIC had little effect on OS, LPFS, and DMFS ( P=0.133, 0.420, 0.374) in the GTV>34.6 cm 3 group. Stratified by clinical stage, OS ( P=0.003) and DMFS ( P=0.032) were significantly shortened and LPFS ( P=0.125) tended to shorten when EDRIC>6.8 Gy in stage I, II and IIIA groups; EDRIC exerted slight effect on OS, LPFS, and DMFS ( P=0.377, 0.439, 0.484) in stage IIIB and IIIC groups. Conclusion:EDRIC is an important factor affecting prognosis and exerts more significant impact on prognosis in patients with smaller tumor burden.

Objective:To investigate the different types of renal artery involvement in Stanford type B aortic dissection (TBAD) and the comparison of clinical effecacy after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR).Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study included 330 patients with TBAD and renal artery involvement treated with TEVAR from June 2002 to September 2021 in General Hospital of Northern Theater Command of the PLA. According to aortic CTA image, unilateral renal artery involvement conditions were divided into 5 types: the true lumen type (renal artery opening completely from the true lumen), false lumen type (renal artery opening completely from the false lumen), double lumen type (renal artery opening from the true and false double lumen), compression type (renal artery opening connected with the true lumen, but the renal artery opening was extremely squeezed by the inner membrane), open type (renal artery opening with intimal tear). There were seven types of bilateral renal artery involvement: true-true type (true lumen-true lumen type), true and false type (true lumen-false lumen type), true-double type (true lumen-double lumen type), true-opening type (true lumen-opening type), false-false type (false lumen-false lumen type), false-compression type (false lumen-compression type), double-double type (double lumen-double lumen type). The primary observation index of this study was the comparison of postoperative renal function and the incidence of clinical adverse events of different types of renal artery involvement. One-way ANOVA test, Kruskal-Wallis H test and paired sample rank sum test were used to compare postoperative renal function between different types of bilateral renal artery involvement. The Chi-square test or Fisher′s exact probability test were used to compare the near and long term adverse events between different types of bilateral renal artery involvement. Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare the all-cause mortality of patients with severe renal functional injury and non-severe renal functional injury before surgery. Results:The average age of the patients included in this study was (53±11) years, including 276 males (83.6%) and 54 females (16.4%). There were statistical difference in the level of serum creatinine (preoperative: H=18.686, P=0.005, postoperative: H=18.101, P=0.006) and cystatin C (preoperative: H=17.566, P=0.007, postoperative: H=10.433, P=0.016), pre-and post-operative, between the seven groups of TBAD patients with different renal artery involvement types ( P<0.05), and the false-false type group shown the worst kidney function. However, no statistically significant differences were shown when comparing their pre- and post-operative change values ( P>0.05). The 30-day follow-up result showed that there were statistically significant differences in the incidence of postoperative acute kidney injury ( χ2=15.623, P=0.007), aorta-related adverse events ( χ2=15.523, P=0.010), and intraoperative endoleak ( χ2=17.935, P=0.004) among the seven groups, and the false-false group was the highest (2/9, 5/9 and 5/9, respectively). In terms of long-term follow-up results, there were statistically significant differences in all-cause death ( χ2=14.772, P=0.011) and non-aortic death ( χ2=15.589, P=0.008) among the seven groups. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with worse pre-operative renal function showed higher long-term all cause death (17.7% vs. 4.8%, P=0.009). Conclusions:For TBAD patients with renal artery involvement, there were differences in renal function among different types, and TEVAR showed no significant effect on renal function in TBAD patients. The long-term all cause death was higher in patients with worse renal function pre-operative.