Objective: Inflammatory cascade reactions play a crucial role in secondary neuronal injury in acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The aim of this study was to explore the correlations between specific serological indicators, early neurological deterioration (END), disease prognosis, and syndrome factors in AIS based on this injury mechanism. Methods: The data for this study were collected from 135 patients with AIS admitted to the emergency department of Fangshan Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, within 24 h of onset between November 2019 and May 2021. Among these, 29 patients had complete data and experienced END. Additionally, 9 non-END patients were matched from the remaining 90 patients with complete data, resulting in a total of 38 patients for statistical analysis. Statistical methods, including logistic regression and receiver operating curves, were used to analyze the correlation between serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) within 24 h of END onset, disease prognosis, and syndrome factors. Grouping criteria included END occurrence, presence of syndrome elements on the first and third day post-onset, and prognosis at 90 days post-onset. Results: All 38 cases had onset time of less than 12 h, and there were no significant differences in age, gender, and onset time between the END and non-END groups. The TNF-α serum level within 24 h of onset was not associated with the occurrence of END but was negatively correlated with all-cause mortality at 90 days [0.110; P<0.05). An elevated IL-10 serum level within 24 h of onset showed a strong negative correlation with non-disabling and good functional outcomes at 90 days post-onset (0.110; P<0.05). When the ICAM-1 serum levels exceeded 233 599.500 μg/L and 125 141.500 μg/L, respectively, the susceptibility to endogenous wind and endogenous fire on the third day of onset was 15.364 times and 6.071 times higher, respectively, than that in patients with serum levels below these thresholds. Conclusion As accessible and objective biomarkers, inflammatory serum indicators are closely associated with both disease progression and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome elements. They enhance AIS diagnosis, assessment, and treatment and contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of TCM syndrome differentiation in AIS diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: To investigate the potential of conventional cranial computed tomography (CT) in assessing the early neurological deterioration(END), long-term prognosis, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome elements during the acute phase in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods: This study included 101 patients with AIS onset within 24 h in the Emergency Department of Fangshan Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, from November 2019 to May 2021. To investigate the correlation between the relevant characteristics of the first conventional cranial CT in patients with AIS onset within 24 h and END, 90 d prognosis, and initial syndrome elements, the presence or absence of END, the 90 d prognosis (non-disabling outcome or functionally independent outcome), and the establishment of syndrome elements (internal fire, phlegm-dampness, blood stasis, qi deficiency, yin deficiency) were used as dependent variables and grouping criteria. Results: This study included 61 males and 40 females, with an age of (64.43±10.56) years. The time from onset to conventional cranial CT examination was 3.50 (1.50, 9.75) h. Among the patients, there were 70 cases (69.3%) of mild AIS, 30 cases (29.7%) of moderate AIS, and one case (1.0%) of severe AIS. Fifteen patients (14.9%) received intravenous thrombolysis. Among the 101 patients, six syndrome elements were observed within 24 h of onset: internal wind in 101 cases (100.0%), internal fire in 58 cases (57.4%), phlegm-dampness in 60 cases (59.4%), blood stasis in 67 cases (66.3%), qi deficiency in 39 cases (38.6%), and yin deficiency in 23 cases (22.8%). The incidence of END was higher in patients with lesions in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere to the affected limb (32.9%) than in those without such lesions (10.7%), showing a strong positive correlation with END occurrence (OR=4.082, P = 0.026). The incidence of END was higher in patients with lesions in the basal ganglia region (33.3%) and the carotid system blood supply area (32.8%) than in those without lesions in the basal ganglia region (15.8%) and the carotid system territory (14.7%), showing moderate positive correlations with END occurrence (OR=2.667, P =0.047; OR=2.836, P=0.044). The proportion of non-disabling outcomes was lower among patients with white matter degeneration (30.8%) and lesions in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere to the affected limb (52.1%) than in those without white matter degeneration (63.6%) and without such lesions in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere to the affected limb (78.6%), both showing strong negative correlations with the occurrence of non-disabling outcomes (OR=0.254, P=0.034; OR=0.296, P=0.015). Similarly, the proportion of functionally independent outcomes was lower among individuals with white matter degeneration (30.8%) and lesions in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere to the affected limb (64.4%) than in those without white matter degeneration (77.3%) and without such lesions in the contralateral cerebral hemisphere to the affected limb (89.3%), both also showing strong negative correlations with the occurrence of functionally independent outcomes (OR=0.131, P=0.001; OR=0.217, P=0.014). The incidence rates of internal fire, blood stasis, and yin deficiency syndrome elements were 66.7%, 73.0%, and 30.2%, respectively, among patients with lesions in the basal ganglia region, compared to 42.1%, 55.3%, and 10.5% among those without lesions in this region. The presence of lesions in the basal ganglia region showed moderate to strong positive correlations with internal fire and yin deficiency syndrome elements (OR=2.750, P=0.016; OR=3.670, P=0.028). Patients with lesions in the centrum semiovale and corona radiata regions (66.7%) had a higher incidence of qi deficiency than those without lesions in this region (33.7%), showing a strong positive correlation with the occurrence of qi deficiency (OR=3.931, P=0.022). No CT characteristics were found to be correlated with phlegm-dampness syndrome elements. Conclusion The first cranial CT in patients with AIS has potential application value in predicting disease progression, assessing prognosis, and diagnosing syndromes, which can provide physicians with diagnostic and treatment decisions to improve the long-term prognosis of patients with AIS.

The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) regarding acupuncture direction published from January 1st, 2013, to November 7th, 2023 were searched in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, and VIP Chinese Journal Database. As a result, 21 RCTs were included. The problems identified included conceptual misunderstandings regarding acupuncture direction, incomplete selection strategies, confounding research factors, and inaccuracies in reporting. Based on the findings, four strategic approaches for enhancing therapeutic efficacy through acupuncture direction were summarized: aligning needle direction with the meridian pathway, directing the needle toward the lesion site, orienting the needle toward adjacent acupoints, and targeting special anatomical structures. Two additional strategies were proposed for optimizing the procedure: simplifying acupuncture operations and directing the needle toward safe anatomical sites. Recommendations were made to improve the rationality of research factor settings and the completeness of acupuncture operation reporting. Furthermore, three methods for reporting acupuncture direction were discussed: reporting the tip-pointed position, reporting the insertion angle and orientation, and reporting azimuth and polar angles, aiming to promote greater standardization and completeness in acupuncture practice and reporting.
Acupuncture Therapy/standards* ; Humans ; Acupuncture Points ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Meridians

OBJECTIVES: To develop a risk prediction model for left ventricular adverse remodeling (LVAR) based on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: A total of 329 acute STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI at 8 medical centers from January, 2018 to December, 2021 were prospectively enrolled. The parameters of CMR, performed at 7±2 days and 6 months post-PCI, were analyzed using CVI42 software. LVAR was defined as an increase >20% in left ventricular end-diastolic volume or >15% in left ventricular end-systolic volume at 6 months compared to baseline. The patients were randomized into training (n=230) and validation (n=99) sets in a 7∶3 ratio. In the training set, potential predictors were selected using LASSO regression, followed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression to construct a nomogram. Model performance was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves, area under the curve (AUC), calibration curves, and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: LVAR occurred in 100 patients (30.40%), who had a higher incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events than those without LVAR (58.00% vs 16.16%, P<0.001). Left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS; OR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.61-0.95, P=0.015) and left atrial active strain (LAAS; OR=0.78, 95% CI: 0.67-0.92, P=0.003) were protective factors for LVAR, while infarct size (IS; OR=1.05, 95% CI: 1.01-1.10, P=0.017) and microvascular obstruction (MVO; OR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.01-1.59, P=0.048) were risk factors for LVAR. The nomogram had an AUC of 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86-0.94) in the training set and an AUC of 0.88 (95% CI: 0.81-0.94) in the validation set. CONCLUSIONS LVGLS, LAAS, IS, and MVO are independent predictors of LVAR in STEMI patients following PCI. The constructed nomogram has a strong predictive ability to provide assistance for management and early intervention of LVAR.
Humans ; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ; Prospective Studies ; ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction/diagnostic imaging* ; Ventricular Remodeling ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Aged ; Risk Assessment

Objective To provide evidence-based references for the prevention of surgical site infection(SSI)by sum-marizing the best evidence for the prevention of SSI in adult inpatients.Methods The'6S'evidence resource pyramid model was used to systematically search the related evidence in domestic and foreign databases,guideline websites,and academic socie-ty websites from the inception of the database to September 30,2023.Four researchers evaluated the quality of the included guidelines,and two researchers independently evaluated the quality of other types of literature and rated the level of evidence.Results A total of 12 articles were included,including 6 clinical decision making and 6 clinical guidelines.Thirty best items of the evidence were summarized from 7 aspects:diagnosis,clinical symptoms,influencing factors,patient prevention strategies,preventive strategies for medical staff,intraoperative and postoperative treatment,and consultation and education.Conclusion Clinical staff should develop a standardized management plan for infection prevention based on corresponding evidence to reduce the incidence of SSI instead of taking a single measurement.Moreover,they need to formulate a standardized work process for preventing SSI based on the clinical practice and patients'preference.

Objective:To evaluate the correlation and consistency between quantitative coronary flow fraction (QFR) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in assessing myocardial ischemia in patients with coronary heart disease (CAD).Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of coronary heart disease patients who underwent load CMR examination and coronary angiography at the Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University from August 2017 to March 2022. CMR examination includes cardiac cine, load/rest myocardial perfusion imaging, and delayed enhancement sequence. According to the results of CMR examination, the patient′s left ventricular myocardial segments were divided into normal segment group and abnormal segment group (further divided into ischemic segment group and infarcted segment group). On the basis of coronary angiography, an artificial intelligence based platform (AngioPlus system) was applied to calculate the preoperative coronary artery QFR value of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention treatment. Kappa test was used to evaluate the consistency of QFR and CMR in diagnosing abnormal myocardium; Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the differences in QFR between groups; The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the efficacy of QFR in diagnosing abnormal myocardium; Spearman correlation analysis was used to clarify the relationship between myocardial infarction area and QFR value of the supplying coronary artery in patients.Results:Among the 70 CAD patients enrolled, there were 60 males and 10 females, aged (54.1±11.1)years. At the vascular level, the consistency between QFR and CMR in diagnosing myocardial injury (including ischemia and infarction) is moderate (Kappa value=0.514). The sensitivity and specificity of detecting abnormal myocardial segments in CAD patients were 57% and 91%, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) value of QFR predicting abnormal myocardium in CAD patients was 0.769, and the optimal cutoff value was QFR=0.865. At this time, the sensitivity and specificity of QFR predicting myocardial injury in CAD patients were 67.2% and 84.3%, respectively. The difference in vascular QFR between the normal segment group, ischemic segment group, and infarcted segment group was statistically significant ( P<0.001), with the infarcted segment group having significantly lower QFR values than the other two groups (all P<0.01). The range of myocardial infarction was negatively correlated with the QFR value of the supplying coronary artery ( r=-0.45, P<0.001). At the patient level, the consistency between QFR and CMR in diagnosing myocardial injury (including ischemia and infarction) was moderate (Kappa value=0.445), with a sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 81% for diagnosing myocardial injury in CAD patients. Conclusions:Compared with CMR, QFR has better specificity in detecting myocardial injury in CAD patients. The QFR value of the infarcted segment group is significantly lower than that of the ischemic group and the normal group. The area of myocardial infarction is negatively correlated with the QFR value of the supplying coronary artery.

Objective To evaluate the predictive value of global longitudinal strain(GLS)measured by cardiac magnetic resonance(CMR)feature-tracking technique for left ventricular remodeling(LVR)after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI).Methods A total of 403 patients undergoing PCI for acute STEMI were prospectively recruited from multiple centers in China.CMR examinations were performed one week(7±2 days)and 6 months after myocardial infarction to obtain GLS,global radial strain(GRS),global circumferential strain(GCS),ejection fraction(LVEF)and infarct size(IS).The primary endpoint was LVR,defined as an increase of left ventricle end-diastolic volume by≥20%or an increase of left ventricle end-systolic volume by≥15%from the baseline determined by CMR at 6 months.Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive value of CMR parameters for LVR.Results LVR occurred in 101 of the patients at 6 months after myocardial infarction.Compared with those without LVR(n=302),the patients in LVR group exhibited significantly higher GLS and GCS(P<0.001)and lower GRS and LVEF(P<0.001).Logistic regression analysis indicated that both GLS(OR=1.387,95%CI:1.223-1.573;P<0.001)and LVEF(OR=0.951,95%CI:0.914-0.990;P=0.015)were independent predictors of LVR.ROC curve analysis showed that at the optimal cutoff value of-10.6%,GLS had a sensitivity of 74.3%and a specificity of 71.9%for predicting LVR.The AUC of GLS was similar to that of LVEF for predicting LVR(P=0.146),but was significantly greater than those of other parameters such as GCS,GRS and IS(P<0.05);the AUC of LVEF did not differ significantly from those of the other parameters(P>0.05).Conclusion In patients receiving PCI for STEMI,GLS measured by CMR is a significant predictor of LVR occurrence with better performance than GRS,GCS,IS and LVEF.

Objective:To study the correlation between spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea and increased intracranial pressure.Methods:Clinical data of patients with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea treated in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology of the Provincial Hospital of Shandong First Medical University from January 2019 to December 2023 and their epidemiology, clinical symptoms and signs, preoperative cerebrospinal fluid pressure, imaging data, leakage site, repair method and the presence or absebce of increased intracranial pressure were analysed. SPSS 23.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results:Of the 57 patients with cerebrospinal fluid nasolacrimal leakage, 84.2%(48/57) were females and 15.8%(9/57) were males; 80.7%(46/57) were between 40 and 60 years old; and overweight and obese patients accounted for 75.4%(43/57). Of 57 patients, 35 patients received cranial MRI+magnetic resonance venography, and among them, 12(34.3%) patients were clinically with headache symptoms; the incidences of empty pterygoid and venous sinus stenosis were 40.0%(14/35) and 51.4%(18/35), respectively; and 33 patients underwent preoperative lumbar puncture examination, of whom 25(75.8%) patients had the increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure and 1 patient had idiopathic intracranial hypertension. All 57 patients underwent dural repair of the skull base, the postoperative follow-up period ranged from 3 to 60 months, and the success rate of surgery was 94.7%. The success rate was 100% in female patients and 33.3%(3/9) in male patients, including one with surgical failure receiving reoperation and two with postoperative recurrence in other areas of the skull base, with significant difference in the success rate of surgery between males and females (χ 2=16.890, P<0.001). Conclusions:Most patients with spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea have the increased cerebrospinal fluid pressures, but very few fulfil the diagnosis of idiopathic intracranial hypertension. The success rate of surgical repair alone is high, but some recurrences still exist, especially in male patients.

Objective:To explore the value of predicting new-onset heart failure events in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) using clinical and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) features based on machine learning algorithms.Methods:The study was a retrospective cohort study. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of HCM who underwent CMR examinations at Beijing Anzhen Hospital from May 2017 to March 2021 were selected and randomly divided into the training set and the validation set in a ratio of 7∶3. Clinical data and CMR parameters (including conventional parameters and radiomics features) were collected. The endpoint events were heart failure hospitalization and heart failure death, with follow-up ending in January 2023. Features with high stability and P value<0.05 in univariate Cox regression analysis were selected. Subsequently, three machine learning algorithms—random forest, decision tree, and XGBoost—were used to build heart failure event prediction models in the training set. The model performance was then evaluated using the independent validation set, with the performance assessed based on the concordance index. Results:A total of 462 patients were included, with a median age of 51 (39, 62) years, of whom 332 (71.9%) were male. There were 323 patients in the training set and 139 in the validation set. The median follow-up time was 42 (28, 52) months. A total of 44 patients (9.5% (44/462)) experienced endpoint events (8 cases of heart failure death and 36 cases of heart failure hospitalization), with 31 events in the training set and 13 in the validation set. Univariate Cox regression analysis identified 39 radiomic features, 4 conventional CMR parameters (left ventricular end-diastolic volume index, left ventricular end-systolic volume index, left ventricular ejection fraction, and late gadolinium enhancement ratio), and 1 clinical feature (history of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia) that could be included in the machine learning model. In the prediction models built with the training set, the concordance indices for the random forest, decision tree, and XGBoost models were 0.966 (95% CI 0.813-0.995), 0.956 (95% CI 0.796-0.992), and 0.973 (95% CI 0.823-0.996), respectively. In the validation set, the concordance indices for the random forest, decision tree, and XGBoost models were 0.854 (95% CI 0.557-0.964), 0.706 (95% CI 0.399-0.896), and 0.703 (95%CI 0.408-0.890), respectively. Conclusion:Integrating clinical and CMR features of HCM patients through machine learning aids in predicting heart failure events, with the random forest model showing superior performance.

Objective To evaluate the predictive value of global longitudinal strain(GLS)measured by cardiac magnetic resonance(CMR)feature-tracking technique for left ventricular remodeling(LVR)after percutaneous coronary intervention(PCI)in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI).Methods A total of 403 patients undergoing PCI for acute STEMI were prospectively recruited from multiple centers in China.CMR examinations were performed one week(7±2 days)and 6 months after myocardial infarction to obtain GLS,global radial strain(GRS),global circumferential strain(GCS),ejection fraction(LVEF)and infarct size(IS).The primary endpoint was LVR,defined as an increase of left ventricle end-diastolic volume by≥20%or an increase of left ventricle end-systolic volume by≥15%from the baseline determined by CMR at 6 months.Logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the predictive value of CMR parameters for LVR.Results LVR occurred in 101 of the patients at 6 months after myocardial infarction.Compared with those without LVR(n=302),the patients in LVR group exhibited significantly higher GLS and GCS(P<0.001)and lower GRS and LVEF(P<0.001).Logistic regression analysis indicated that both GLS(OR=1.387,95%CI:1.223-1.573;P<0.001)and LVEF(OR=0.951,95%CI:0.914-0.990;P=0.015)were independent predictors of LVR.ROC curve analysis showed that at the optimal cutoff value of-10.6%,GLS had a sensitivity of 74.3%and a specificity of 71.9%for predicting LVR.The AUC of GLS was similar to that of LVEF for predicting LVR(P=0.146),but was significantly greater than those of other parameters such as GCS,GRS and IS(P<0.05);the AUC of LVEF did not differ significantly from those of the other parameters(P>0.05).Conclusion In patients receiving PCI for STEMI,GLS measured by CMR is a significant predictor of LVR occurrence with better performance than GRS,GCS,IS and LVEF.