OBJECTIVE: To explore the impact factors and the clinical significance of the urination intermittences in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients. METHODS: A retrospective study was performed in BPH patients who underwent urodynamic studies in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital form January 2016 to June 2021. The patients were aged 45 to 84 years with a median age of 63 years, and all the patients had no previous history of neurological disease and had no positive findings in neurological examinations. All the patients had free uroflometry followed by urethral catheterization and urodynamic tests. The voiding work of bladder was calculated using the detrusor power curve method, and the voiding power of bladder and the voiding energy consumption were also calculated. The frequency of urination intermittences generated in uroflometry was also recorded and the patients were divided into different groups according to it. The detrusor pressure at maximal flow rate (P_detQ_max), the maximal flow rate (Q_max), the bladder contractile index (BCI), the bladder outlet obstruction index (BOOI), the voiding work, the voiding power, and the voiding energy consumption were compared among the different groups. Multiva-riate analyses associated with presence of urination intermittences were performed using step-wise Logistic regressions. RESULTS: There were 272 patients included in this study, of whom, 179 had no urination intermittence (group A), 46 had urination intermittence for only one time (group B), 22 had urination intermittence for two times (group C), and 25 had urination intermittence for three times and more (group D). The BCI were 113.4±28.2, 101.0±30.2, 83.3±30.2, 81.0±30.5 in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively; The voiding power were (29.2±14.8) mW, (16.4±9.6) mW, (14.5±7.1) mW, (8.5±5.0) mW in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively, and the differences were significant (P < 0.05). The BOOI were 41.6±29.3, 46.4±31.0, 41.4±29.0, 42.7±22.8 in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively; The voiding energy consumption were (5.41±2.21) J/L, (4.83±2.31) J/L, (5.02±2.54) J/L, (4.39±2.03) J/L in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively, and the differences were insignificant (P>0.05). Among the patients, 179 cases were negative in presence of urination intermittences and 93 cases were positive. Step-wise Logistic regression analysis showed that bladder power (OR=0.814, 95%CI: 0.765-0.866, P < 0.001), BCI (OR=1.023, 95%CI: 1.008-1.038, P=0.003), and bladder work (OR=2.232, 95%CI: 1.191-4.184, P=0.012) were independent risk factors for urination intermittences in the BPH patients. CONCLUSION The presence of urination intermittences in the BPH patients was mainly influenced by bladder contractile functions, and was irrelevant to the degree of bladder outlet obstruction. The increase of frequency of urination intermittences seemed to be a sign of the decrease of the bladder contractile functions in the BPH patients.
Prostatic Hyperplasia/physiopathology* ; Humans ; Male ; Urodynamics ; Urination ; Retrospective Studies ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Urinary Bladder/physiopathology* ; Urination Disorders/etiology*

Objective:To explore the effect of exercise on the memory of rats modeling vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and also its effects on the hippocampal Sema3G/neuropilin-2 (Nrp2)/PlexinA4 signaling pathway.Methods:Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a sham-operated group, a model group, and an exercise group, each of 6. The model and exercise groups underwent VCI modeling via bilateral common carotid artery occlusion, while the sham-operated group received the same surgical procedure without vessel ligation or transection. Beginning forty-eight hours after the surgery, the exercise group carried out daily 30-minute treadmill training sessions, 5 days a week, for a total of 4 weeks, while the other two groups were placed on the same treadmill with it not in operation. After the intervention, cognitive functioning was assessed using the novel object recognition (NOR) test and a Y-maze test. Western blotting was employed to evaluate the expression of Sema3G, Nrp2, PlexinA4, and Rac1 in the hippocampus. Immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the distribution of Nrp2 and PlexinA4 in the hippocampus.Results:Compared with the model group, the exercise group exhibited significantly higher NOR indices during both the short-term and long-term memory testing phases after the intervention. Those rats also tended to have significantly longer total exploration times in the novel arm of the Y-maze test. The western blotting revealed that the expression levels of Sema3G, PlexinA4, and Rac1 in the hippocampus were significantly higher in the exercise group compared to the model group, on average. Immunofluorescence showed significantly increased PlexinA4 fluorescence intensity in the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) regions of the hippocampus, and significantly elevated Nrp2 fluorescence intensity in the CA3 region in the exercise group compared to the model group. The Pearson correlation coefficients for Nrp2/PlexinA4 co-localization in the CA1, CA3 and DG regions were significantly higher in the exercise group than in the model group.Conclusions:Exercise training significantly improves memory function in rats with VCI, and this effect may be associated with activation of the hippocampal Sema3G/Nrp2/PlexinA4 signaling pathway.

Objectives:To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH)concomitant with obstructive sleep apnea(OSA).Methods:We analyzed the data of 208 patients diagnosed with PAH in the Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Ward of our hospital from September 2019 to August 2024,who underwent sleep breathing monitoring and echocardiography during hospitalization.Three clusters were identified:Cluster 1(n=121)had no OSA and mildly elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP),Cluster 2(n=71)exhibited mild OSA and mildly elevated NT-proBNP,and Cluster 3(n=16)presented with moderate to severe OSA along with significantly elevated NT-proBNP.Results:The mean age of this patient cohort was(39±12)years,mean body mass index was(21.74±3.67)kg/m2,and 27.9%patients were male.Sixty-five patients(31.3%)had OSA.The echocardiographic indicators reflecting the structural function of the heart chambers and hemodynamic parameters in patients with PAH showed a significant correlation with nocturnal hypoxia.Compared to Cluster 1,patients in Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 had wider pulmonary arteries and inferior vena cava diameters,larger right ventricular diameters,higher pulmonary artery pressure,higher pulmonary vascular resistance,and lower cardiac index(all P<0.05).Cluster 3 patients had a significantly higher risk of death(log-rank P=0.022).Conclusions:Thirty-one percent of PAH patients in this study had concomitant OSA.PAH patients with significantly elevated NT-proBNP and comorbid moderate-to-severe OSA had a significantly higher risk of death compared to those with only mild or without OSA without significantly elevated NT-proBNP.Management strategies that address both PAH and OSA might be effective in improving the outcomes of these patients.

Objectives:To investigate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH)concomitant with obstructive sleep apnea(OSA).Methods:We analyzed the data of 208 patients diagnosed with PAH in the Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Ward of our hospital from September 2019 to August 2024,who underwent sleep breathing monitoring and echocardiography during hospitalization.Three clusters were identified:Cluster 1(n=121)had no OSA and mildly elevated N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP),Cluster 2(n=71)exhibited mild OSA and mildly elevated NT-proBNP,and Cluster 3(n=16)presented with moderate to severe OSA along with significantly elevated NT-proBNP.Results:The mean age of this patient cohort was(39±12)years,mean body mass index was(21.74±3.67)kg/m2,and 27.9%patients were male.Sixty-five patients(31.3%)had OSA.The echocardiographic indicators reflecting the structural function of the heart chambers and hemodynamic parameters in patients with PAH showed a significant correlation with nocturnal hypoxia.Compared to Cluster 1,patients in Cluster 2 and Cluster 3 had wider pulmonary arteries and inferior vena cava diameters,larger right ventricular diameters,higher pulmonary artery pressure,higher pulmonary vascular resistance,and lower cardiac index(all P<0.05).Cluster 3 patients had a significantly higher risk of death(log-rank P=0.022).Conclusions:Thirty-one percent of PAH patients in this study had concomitant OSA.PAH patients with significantly elevated NT-proBNP and comorbid moderate-to-severe OSA had a significantly higher risk of death compared to those with only mild or without OSA without significantly elevated NT-proBNP.Management strategies that address both PAH and OSA might be effective in improving the outcomes of these patients.

Objective:To explore the effect of exercise on the memory of rats modeling vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) and also its effects on the hippocampal Sema3G/neuropilin-2 (Nrp2)/PlexinA4 signaling pathway.Methods:Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a sham-operated group, a model group, and an exercise group, each of 6. The model and exercise groups underwent VCI modeling via bilateral common carotid artery occlusion, while the sham-operated group received the same surgical procedure without vessel ligation or transection. Beginning forty-eight hours after the surgery, the exercise group carried out daily 30-minute treadmill training sessions, 5 days a week, for a total of 4 weeks, while the other two groups were placed on the same treadmill with it not in operation. After the intervention, cognitive functioning was assessed using the novel object recognition (NOR) test and a Y-maze test. Western blotting was employed to evaluate the expression of Sema3G, Nrp2, PlexinA4, and Rac1 in the hippocampus. Immunofluorescence staining was used to observe the distribution of Nrp2 and PlexinA4 in the hippocampus.Results:Compared with the model group, the exercise group exhibited significantly higher NOR indices during both the short-term and long-term memory testing phases after the intervention. Those rats also tended to have significantly longer total exploration times in the novel arm of the Y-maze test. The western blotting revealed that the expression levels of Sema3G, PlexinA4, and Rac1 in the hippocampus were significantly higher in the exercise group compared to the model group, on average. Immunofluorescence showed significantly increased PlexinA4 fluorescence intensity in the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) regions of the hippocampus, and significantly elevated Nrp2 fluorescence intensity in the CA3 region in the exercise group compared to the model group. The Pearson correlation coefficients for Nrp2/PlexinA4 co-localization in the CA1, CA3 and DG regions were significantly higher in the exercise group than in the model group.Conclusions:Exercise training significantly improves memory function in rats with VCI, and this effect may be associated with activation of the hippocampal Sema3G/Nrp2/PlexinA4 signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the changing trends in etiology and treatment of male urethral stricture in recent 10 years.Methods A total of 940 male patients with urethral stricture admitted to the Department of Urology of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital during Jan.2013 and Dec.2022 were continually collected.The clinical data were divided into two groups according to the time of admission,namely the group from 2013 to 2017 and the group from 2018 to 2022,for a comparative analysis of the previous and subsequent 5 years.The etiology,location,length and the type of treatment of urethral stricture were retrospectively analyzed.Results The causes of the 940 cases of male urethral stricture were trauma in 447(47.55％),iatrogenic injury in 220(23.40％),idiopathic causes in 128(13.62％),lichen sclerosus(LS)in 78(8.30％),infection in 46(4.89％),and other causes in 21(2.23％).The treatment methods were urethroplasty in 691(73.51％),direct vision internal urethrotomy(DVIU)in 122(12.98％),urethral dilatation in 86(9.15％),and suprapubic cystostomy in 41(4.36％).Compared with the previous 5 years,in the past 5 years,the proportion of urethral stricture caused by trauma decreased significantly(60.34％vs.41.71％,P＜0.001),while the proportion of iatrogenic injury increased significantly(17.63％vs.26.05％,P=0.005).In the past 5 years,the proportion of urethroplasty increased from 68.81％to 75.66％(P=0.027),while the proportion of DVIU decreased from 19.66％to 9.92％(P＜0.001).Inthe past 5 years,the proportion of membranous urethral stenosis decreased significantly(26.98％vs.50.85％,x2=51.06,P＜0.001),the proportion of penile urethral stricture(21.40％vs.7.80％,=26.37,P＜0.001)and meatal stenosis(9.30％vs.4.75％,x2=5.80,P＜0.001)increased significantly.Conclusion In the past decade,trauma was the main cause of male urethral strictures,but its proportion showed a decreasing trend.Iatrogenic injury led to a gradual increase in urethral strictures,which was the second leading cause of male urethral stricture.The application of urethroplasty increased significantly,making it the main treatment method for male urethral stricture.

Objective:To evaluate the surgical methods for treating distal urethral stricture.Methods:The clinical data of 80 patients with distal urethral stricture in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital,Captial Medical University between January 2018 and December 2022 were retrospectively collected.Including male geni-tal lichen sclerosus(MGLS)33 cases,iatrogenic injury 25 cases,postoperative hypospadias 12 cases,and other causes such as trauma 10 cases.Among these cases,strictures involved the urethral meatus in 54 instances,of which 38 were treated with meatotomy(MO),7 with penile skin flap urethroplasty(PSFU),and 9 with oral mucosa graft urethroplasty(OMGU).There were also 26 instances where stric-tures involved both the navicular fossa and meatus;one case underwent PSFU while 25 underwent OMGU.Based on different surgical methods used for treatment purposes we divided the patients into MO group,PSFU group and OMGU group.The age of the three groups was(48.8±20.0)years,(53.3±21.8)years and(44.5±16.4)years.The mean±SD body mass index(BMI)was(28.6±3.9)kg/m2,(29.6±3.2)kg/m2 and(29.2±4.8)kg/m2.The preoperative maximum flow rate was(5.8±2.3)mL/s,(6.8±2.4)mL/s and(5.7±3.1)mL/s.Results:All the operations were suc-cessfully completed without Clavien Ⅲ or Ⅳ complications.The median length of strictures(measured intraoperatively)in the three groups were 1.1(1.0,1.6),1.5(1.1,2.0)and 4.0(2.5,5.0)cm.The median operation time was 60.0(60.0,75.0),85.0(75.0,112.5)and 180.0(75.0,330.0)min.The median estimated blood loss was 5.0(2.0,10.0),15.0(5.0,42.5)and 180.0(135.0,216.3)mL.The median postoperative hospital stay was 3.5(2.0,5.0),6.5(3.5,7.0)and 7.5(7.0,11.3)days.The median follow-up duration was 40.0(26.3,57.3),55.0(18.8,62.8)and 52.5(30.5,64.0)months.The median postoperative maximum flow rate was 18.3(15.5,19.8),19.2(16.1,20.1)and 17.2(14.2,19.6)mL/s.Among the 38 patients with MO,33 cases had nor-mal urination without reintervention,and 5 cases experienced recurrent strictures and required regular urethral dilation.Among the 8 patients with PSFU,7 cases had normal urination without reintervention,and one case developed a urinary fistula,for which intervention was recommended but the patient opted to maintain the status quo.Among the 34 patients with OMGU,28 cases had normal urination without re-intervention.There were 6 instances of stenosis recurrence,with 5 cases requiring regular urethral dila-tions and one case requiring reconstructive surgery.The overall success rate of operation was 85.0％,and the reintervention rate was 15.0％.Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in etiologies among the three groups(P=0.002),as well as in stricture locations(P＜0.001),length of strictures(P＜0.001),operation time(P＜0.001),estimated blood loss(P＜0.001)and postoperative hospital stays(P＜0.001).However,no significant differences were observed in terms of age,BMI,history of previous urethral stricture surgeries,preoperative maximum flow rate,follow-up duration,postoperative maximum flow rate and reintervention rate.Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses indi-cated that a history of previous urethral stricture surgeries was a risk factor for postoperative reintervention(P=0.026).Conclusion:MO and PSFU are primarily suitable for treating short-segment(≤1.5 cm)distal penile urethral strictures,whereas OMGU is more appropriate for longer segment strictures.MO and OMGU can both be utilized in managing MGLS cases.PSFU and OMGU are more conducive to im-proving the appearance of the urethral meatus.The success rate of surgical management of distal penile urethral stricture is 85.0％,15.0％of the patients still require surgical intervention after surgery,and having history of previous urethral stricture surgeries is a risk factor for postoperative reintervention.

【Objective】 To explore the impacts of groove negative pressure drainage on the short-term prognosis of patients with transperineal anastomotic urethroplasty. 【Methods】 A retrospective case-control study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 78 patients who underwent transperineal anastomotic urethroplasty during May 2021 and Apr.2022, including 42 patients in the groove negative pressure drainage group (experimental group) and 38 in the rubber strip drainage group (control group). The postoperative drainage volume, rate of scrotal edema, rate of infection, visual analog scale (VAS) score, and maximum urine flow rate were compared between the two groups. 【Results】 Compared with the control group, the experimental group had a longer length of incision [ (12.9±1.6)cm vs. (12.1±1.5)cm, P=0.041] and larger drainage volume 3 days after surgery [(66.1±51.9)mL vs. (36.0±16.9)mL, P=0.001] , but lower rate of scrotal edema (21.4% vs.47.2%, P=0.016) and lower VAS score (3.2±1.0 vs.3.9±1.1, P=0.008). There were no significant differences in the infection rate 7 days after surgery and the maximum urine flow rate 1 month after surgery (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 Groove negative pressure drainage can be used to drain the effusion of perineum tissue adequately and decrease wound-specific complications, which is beneficial to the rapid recovery after transperineal anastomotic urethroplasty.

OBJECTIVE: To review targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) surgery for the construction of intelligent prosthetic human-machine interface, thus providing a new clinical intervention paradigm for the functional reconstruction of residual limbs in amputees. METHODS: Extensively consulted relevant literature domestically and abroad and systematically expounded the surgical requirements of intelligent prosthetics, TMR operation plan, target population, prognosis, as well as the development and future of TMR. RESULTS: TMR facilitates intuitive control of intelligent prostheses in amputees by reconstructing the "brain-spinal cord-peripheral nerve-skeletal muscle" neurotransmission pathway and increasing the surface electromyographic signals required for pattern recognition. TMR surgery for different purposes is suitable for different target populations. CONCLUSION TMR surgery has been certified abroad as a transformative technology for improving prosthetic manipulation, and is expected to become a new clinical paradigm for 2 million amputees in China.
Humans ; Artificial Limbs ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; Plastic Surgery Procedures ; Prosthesis Implantation

Bacteria-mediated anti-tumor therapy has received widespread attention due to its natural tumor-targeting ability and specific immune-activation characteristics. It has made significant progress in breaking the limitations of monotherapy and effectively eradicating tumors, especially when combined with traditional therapy, such as radiotherapy. According to their different biological characteristics, bacteria and their derivatives can not only improve the sensitivity of tumor radiotherapy but also protect normal tissues. Moreover, genetically engineered bacteria and bacteria-based biomaterials have further expanded the scope of their applications in radiotherapy. In this review, we have summarized relevant researches on the application of bacteria and its derivatives in radiotherapy in recent years, expounding that the bacteria, bacterial derivatives and bacteria-based biomaterials can not only directly enhance radiotherapy but also improve the anti-tumor effect by improving the tumor microenvironment (TME) and immune effects. Furthermore, some probiotics can also protect normal tissues and organs such as intestines from radiation via anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidation and apoptosis inhibition. In conclusion, the prospect of bacteria in radiotherapy will be very extensive, but its biological safety and mechanism need to be further evaluated and studied.