In recent years, the field of cardiovascular surgery has undergone revolutionary changes and made rapid progress in various aspects, bringing more hope and possibilities for the health and well-being of patients. The constant emergence of new technologies brings new opportunities and hope, as well as constant challenges to past concepts. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in cardiovascular surgery in recent years, especially since 2023. It introduces cutting-edge knowledge and technologies in the field of cardiovascular surgery, including lifelong management of aortic valve disease, artificial valves, mitral valves, treatment options for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, heart transplantation, left ventricular assist, coronary artery surgery, cardiac structural interventions for chronic heart failure, aortic dissection, and comprehensive surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation. It also analyzes and explores future development directions in depth, aiming to provide useful references and inspiration for cardiovascular doctors and jointly promote the continuous progress of cardiovascular surgery in China.

With the completion of the "Human Genome Project" and the smooth progress of the "Herbal Genome Project", the research wave of RNAomics is gradually advancing, opening the research gateway for the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and initiating the post-genome era of medicinal plant RNA research. Therefore, this article proposes for the first time the concept of HerbRNomes, which involves constructing databases of medicinal plant, medicinal fungus, and medicinal animal RNA at different stages, from different origins, and in different organs. This research aims to explore the role of HerbRNA in self-genetic information transmission, functional regulation, as well as cross-species regulation functional mechanisms and key technologies. It also investigates application scenarios, providing a theoretical basis and research ideas for the resistance of TCM or medicinal plants to adversity and stress, molecular assistant breeding, and the development of small nucleic acid drugs. This article reviews recent research progress in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of the transmission and expression of genetic information, self-regulation and cross-species regulation of herbs at the RNA level, along with key technologies. It proposes a development strategy for small nucleic acid drugs based on HerbRNomes, providing theoretical support and guidance for the modernization of TCM based on HerbRNomes research.

[Objective] To determine the correlation between traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) inspection of spirit classification and the severity grade of depression based on facial features, offering insights for intelligent intergrated TCM and western medicine diagnosis of depression. [Methods] Using the Audio-Visual Emotion Challenge and Workshop (AVEC 2014) public dataset on depression, which conclude 150 interview videos, the samples were classified according to the TCM inspection of spirit classification: Deshen (得神, presence of spirit), Shaoshen (少神, insufficiency of spirit), and Shenluan (神乱, confusion of spirit). Meanwhile, based on Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) score for the severity grade of depression, the samples were divided into minimal (0 – 13, Q1), mild (14 – 19, Q2), moderate (20 – 28, Q3), and severe (29 – 63, Q4). Sixty-eight landmarks were extracted with a ResNet-50 network, and the feature extracion mode was stadardized. Random forest and support vectior machine (SVM) classifiers were used to predict TCM inspection of spirit classification and the severity grade of depression, respectively. A Chi-square test and Apriori association rule mining were then applied to quantify and explore the relationships. [Results] The analysis revealed a statistically significant and moderately strong association between TCM spirit classification and the severity grade of depression, as confirmed by a Chi-square test (χ2 = 14.04, P = 0.029) with a Cramer’s V effect size of 0.243. Further exploration using association rule mining identified the most compelling rule: “moderate depression (Q3) → Shenluan”. This rule demonstrated a support level of 5%, indicating this specific co-occurrence was present in 5% of the cohort. Crucially, it achieved a high Confidence of 86%, meaning that among patients diagnosed with Q3, 86% exhibited the Shenluan pattern according to TCM assessment. The substantial Lift of 2.37 signifies that the observed likelihood of Shenluan manifesting in Q3 patients is 2.37 times higher than would be expected by chance if these states were independent—compelling evidence of a highly non-random association. Consequently, Shenluan emerges as a distinct and core TCM diagnostic manifestation strongly linked to Q3, forming a clinically significant phenotype within this patient subgroup. [Conclusion] Automated facial analysis can serve as a common lens for TCM and western psychological assessments align in the diagnosis of depression. The inspection of spirit decline trajectory parallels worsening depression, supporting early screening and stratified intervention, and providing a reference for the intelligent assistance of integrated TCM and western medicine in the diagnosis of depression.

In recent years, with the continuous development and increasing maturity of interventional techniques, interventional treatment for congenital heart disease (CHD) has been progressively disseminated to county- and city-level hospitals in China. Concurrently, the standardized management of adult CHD (particularly patent foramen ovale) and the lifelong management of complex CHD are gaining increasing clinical attention, while the emergence of new techniques and products continuously advances the discipline. This article aims to review the new progress made in the field of interventional treatment for congenital heart disease in China during 2024. It specifically reviews and analyzes the following key aspects: (1) annual statistics on interventional closure procedures for CHD; (2) recent insights into patent foramen ovale closure; (3) advances in transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement; (4) interventional treatment and lifelong management strategies for complex CHD; (5) new interventional techniques for acquired heart disease; and (6) the application of artificial intelligence in CHD management. Through the synthesis and discussion of these topics, this article seeks to provide a detailed analysis of the current landscape of interventional treatment for CHD in China and project its future development trends.

AIM: To investigate the preoperative ocular symptoms and the characteristics of asymptomatic ocular surface abnormalities in hospitalized patients with primary pterygium.METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Hospitalized patients diagnosed with primary pterygium and scheduled to receive pterygium excision surgery at the Xiamen Eye Center of Xiamen University from August 2022 to October 2022 were enrolled. Ocular surface disease index questionnaire(OSDI), six examinations including non-invasive tear film break-up time, Schirmer I test, tear meniscus height, lid margin abnormality, meibomian gland dropout and tear film lipid layer thickness, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography(AS-OCT)were performed and statistically analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 178 cases(178 eyes), with a mean age of 54.39±10.75 years old, were recruited, including 75 males(42.1%)and 103 females(57.9%). The average values of ocular surface parameters in these patients included OSDI: 11.47±9.69, tear film break-up time: 7.10±3.86 s; tear meniscus height: 0.16±0.07 mm, Schirmer I test values: 14.39±7.29 mm/5 min, and pterygium thickness: 504.74±175.87 μm. Totally 161 eyes(90.4%)presented with abnormal lid margin, 44 eyes(24.7%)presented with meibomian gland dropout score ≥4, 52 eyes(29.2%)presented with low lipid layer thickness. In the 6 objective examinations, abnormalities in at least 4 of these tests were found in 85.4% of eyes. Pterygium morphology was classified into four grades: 10 eyes(5.6%)of grade Ⅰ, 93 eyes(52.2%)of grade Ⅱ, 60 eyes(33.7%)of grade Ⅲ, and 15 eyes(8.4%)of grade Ⅳ. In patients with a higher grade of pterygium, the tear film break-up time was lower, and the proportion of abnormal lid margin was also significantly higher(P<0.05). The patients were further divided into two subgroups, including 121 eyes(68.0%)with normal OSDI <13 in the normal group and 57 eyes(32.0%)with OSDI ≥13 in the abnormal group. No significant difference was found in the proportion of meibomian gland dysfunction between the two groups of patients(71.9% vs. 71.9%, P=0.872). In addition, there were differences in the number of abnormal objective examinations(4.11±0.85 vs. 4.91±0.99, P<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic ocular surface abnormalities were present preoperatively in patients hospitalized for primary pterygium. A comparable high incidence of structural or functional meibomian gland dysfunction existed in pterygium patients with or without apparent ocular discomfort. More attention should be paid to the ocular surface abnormalities in those asymptomatic patients before primary pterygium surgery.

Objective To observe the effects of dexmedetomidine combined with esketamine on early postoperative pain and cognitive function in elderly patients undergoing spinal surgery.Methods The aged spinal surgery patients were divided into control group and treatment group by random number table method.Both groups were anesthetically induced by intramuscular injection of esketamine 3 mg·kg-1,while the control group was anesthetically induced by intravenous injection of propofol 4 mg·kg-1 with constant velocity pump.The treatment group was given 1 μg·kg-1 dexmedetomidine by intravenous pump for 10 min,and then continued pumping at 0.5 μg·kg-1 rate.The changes of vital signs 5 min before surgery(T1),5 min after surgery(T2),at the end of surgery(T3),at the time of recovery(T4),early postoperative pain,cognitive function,the time of the first patient control analgesia(PC A),the cumulative dosage of sufentanil in different time periods within 48 h and the occurrence of adverse drug reactions were observed in the 2 groups.Results 44 patients were included in the control group and 45 patients in the treatment group,respectively.At T2,T3 and T4,the heart rate of treatment group were(82.51±3.05),(80.15±3.21)and(81.51±3.04)beat·min-1,and that of control group were(92.54±3.10),(93.52±3.05)and(88.45±3.51)beat·min-1,respectively.The mean arterial pressure(MAP)of the treatment group were(54.51±3.58),(55.25±3.21)and(60.25±3.24)mmHg;and that of the control group were(73.25±3.54),(70.52±3.20)and(68.51±3.05)mmHg,respectively.The blood oxygen saturation(SPO2)of treatment groups were(98.56±0.38)％,(98.25±0.35)％and(99.02±0.14)％;and the SPO2 of control group were(94.52±0.35)％,(95.25±0.25)％and(96.25±0.32)％,respectively.Visual analogue pain(VAS)scores were(5.69±1.12),(5.02±0.89),(4.52±0.65)and(4.01±0.45)scores at 2,4,6 and 8 h after operation,respectively;the control group were(6.25±1.35),(5.46±1.12),(4.98±0.84)and(4.25±0.52)scores,respectively.24,36 and 72 h after operation,the scores of MMSE in treatment group were 24.25±1.15,26.25±1.14,27.25±0.89 and 28.86±0.62,respectively;the control group were 22.52±1.02,24.25±1.12,26.58±0.87 and 28.78±0.52,respectively.Compared with the control group,there were statistically significant differences in the above indexes of treatment groups(all P＜0.05).The adverse drug reactions in the control group were mainly lethargy,respiratory depression,nausea and vomiting,and the adverse drug reactions in the treatment group were mainly lethargy,nausea and vomiting,and the incidence of total adverse drug reactions in the treatment group and the control group was 6.67％and 22.73％,respectively,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).Conclusion Dexmedetomidine combined with esketamine is safe and effective in elderly patients undergoing spinal surgery.It can effectively reduce early postoperative pain and quickly restore cognitive function.

Nitazoxanide is an FDA-approved antiprotozoal drug. Our previous study found that oral administration of nitazoxanide inhibited Western diet (WD)-induced hepatic steatosis in ApoE^-/- mice. However, the specific mechanism remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we performed an untargeted metabolomics approach to reveal the effect of nitazoxanide on the liver metabolic profiles in WD-fed ApoE^-/- mice, and carried out the cellular experiments to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. UPLC-MS-based untargeted metabolomics analysis was used to investigate the effect of nitazoxanide on global metabolite changes in liver tissues. The differential metabolites were screened for enrichment analysis and pathway analysis. Hepatocytes were treated with tizoxanide, the metabolite of nitazoxanide, to investigate the underlying mechanism based on the findings in metabolomics study. The improvement of liver lipid metabolism disorders by nitazoxanide treatment in WD-fed ApoE^-/- mice was mainly through regulating glycerophospholipid metabolism, D-glutamine and glutamate metabolism, glutathione metabolism, and arginine biosynthesis metabolism. Tizoxanide, the active metabolite of nitazoxanide, increased glutathione (GSH) contents and glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (Gcl-c) and glutathione reductase (Gsr) mRNA expressions in HepG2 cells. Tizoxanide increased cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) and phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT) protein levels, inhibited lipid accumulation in hepatocytes induced by free fatty acid (FFA). Tizoxanide increased S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase (SAHH) protein levels in HepG2 cells and mouse primary liver cells stimulated with free fatty acid (FFA). Tizoxanide increased N-acetyl glutamate synthase (Nags) and carbamoylphosphate synthetase 1 (Cps1) mRNA expressions in HepG2 cells. In conclusion, nitazoxanide improves WD-induced hepatic steatosis in ApoE^-/- mice and the underlying mechanisms include increasing CBS expression, GSH content, PEMT protein expression, Nags and Cps1 mRNA expression in hepatocytes.

α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor(α7nAChR)is widely expressed in the central nervous system and immune system,and plays a neuro-immunoregulatory role.On the one hand,α7nAChR is involved in the transmission of neurotransmitters,the conduction of excitatory signals and the maintenance of synaptic plasticity,which is of great significance for maintaining the normal and stable neurocognitive function.On the other hand,as an important part of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway,α7nAChR is involved in the regulation of physiological and pathological processes such as inflammatory response,oxidative stress,apoptosis and autophagy in the central system,and plays an immunomodulatory and neuroprotective role,thus being potential target for improving perioperative neurocognitive function.This article reviews the biological characteristics of α7nAChR and its effect on perioperative neurocognitive function,in order to provide ideas and methods for clinical improvement of perioperative neurocognitive function in surgical patients.

"State-target-cause-result"is a new clinical theory combining macroscopic and microscopic syndrome differentiation based on the holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine combined with Western medical research.The"inflammation-cancer transformation"of chronic pancreatitis is a complex pathological process that is associated with the interaction between the pancreas and various pathological factors and multiple objects,involving the imbalance of multiple homeostasis.The microscopic process of"inflammation-cancer transformation"in chronic pancreatitis is the"target,"whereas various factors that could induce its occurrence under chronic inflammatory conditions are the"state."The"inflammation-cancer transformation"of chronic pancreatitis is summarized as yin and yang imbalance,qi movement disorder,endogenous dampness,heat,blood stasis,and turbid phlegm stagnation,unresolved congestion resulting in deficiency caused by stagnation,intermingled deficiency and excess,and internal cancer toxin generation.This paper elucidates the pathogenesis and intervention strategies of the"inflammation-cancer transformation"of chronic pancreatitis from a macro perspective of"state,"focusing on reducing the impact of"state"imbalance on the"target"to establish a balanced pancreas-immune-microbiota state.The aim is to broaden the theory for exploring the mechanism and drug development related to chronic pancreatitis"inflammation-cancer transformation"in both traditional Chinese and Western medicine.

Objective To investigate the expression of trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2(TROP2)in salivary ade-noid cystic carcinoma(SACC)in order to analyze its relationship with TROP2 expression and clinicopathological features,as well as to clarify the correlation between TROP2 expression and the prognosis of patients with SACC.Methods With approval from the ethics committee,the expression of TROP2 in 85 SACC and paracancer tissue sam-ples was detected by using the immunohistochemical method,and the relationship between TROP2 expression and clini-copathological characteristics was analyzed.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the relationship between TROP2 protein expression and 5-year disease-free survival(DFS)in 40 patients with SACC.Furthermore,the logistic re-gression model was used to analyze the prognostic factors of patients with SACC.Results The low or no expression rate of TROP2 in SACC tissues was significantly higher than that in paracancer tissues(P＜0.001).Low or no expres-sion of TROP2 was significantly positively correlated with tumor growth and clinical staging in patients with SACC(P＜0.05).Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the DFS of patients with SACC with low or no expression of TROP2 protein was significantly lower than those of patients with high expression of TROP2 protein(P＜0.05),and the progno-sis was poor.The logistic regression model showed that low or no expression of TROP2 protein(OR=5.37;95%CI:1.03-28.08;P=0.046)and Ⅲ-Ⅳ clinical staging(OR=6.89;95%CI:1.37～34.77;P=0.019)were risk factors affect-ing the prognosis of patients with SACC.Conclusion Low or no expression of TROP2 protein in SACC tissues leads to poor prognosis of patients and is positively correlated with tumor growth and clinical staging.In addition,low or no ex-pression of TROP2 can be used as an independent prognostic risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with SACC,and TROP2 is a marker of poor prognosis in patients with SACC.