Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics of patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis complicated by pulmonary cryptococcosis, thereby enhancing the understanding of this clinical scenario.Methods:We report a case of pulmonary sarcoidosis complicated by pulmonary cryptococcosis treated at Beijing Hospital.The patient was diagnosed with stage Ⅱ pulmonary sarcoidosis via CT-guided percutaneous fine needle aspiration lung biopsy.However, during treatment with oral prednisone, a chest CT scan revealed newly developed multiple nodules in the right lower lobe.By considering the patient's medical history, imaging results, cryptococcal antigen(CrAg)levels, and treatment response, a diagnosis of pulmonary sarcoidosis complicated by pulmonary cryptococcosis was established.Additionally, we systematically reviewed the literature on pulmonary sarcoidosis complicated by pulmonary cryptococcosis published before April 2024, focusing on epidemiological characteristics, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis.Results:A total of seven articles were obtained, and nine cases were reviewed in conjunction with this case.Among these, 55.6%(5/9)of the patients were male, with an average age of 51 years, and one-third of the patients were categorized as elderly.The stages of pulmonary sarcoidosis identified were stage Ⅰ and stage Ⅱ.Eight patients(88.9%, 8/9)were receiving glucocorticoids or other immunosuppressants at the time of cryptococcosis diagnosis.In the cases that specified the diagnostic method for cryptococcosis, serum cryptococcal antigen(CrAg)was found to be positive, including in three elderly patients.One patient did not receive antifungal treatment due to the rapid deterioration of his condition.During a follow-up period of at least six months, all patients remained clinically stable, with fluconazole being the most chosen antifungal agent.Conclusions:Although cases of pulmonary sarcoidosis complicated by cryptococcal infection are rare, clinicians should remain vigilant to this possibility.The two conditions may exhibit overlapping clinical manifestations, yet their treatment strategies can be contradictory.Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis could result in serious clinical consequences.Serum CrAg testing is particularly useful for diagnosis, especially in elderly patients.

In order to preliminarily evaluate the efficacy and safety of endoscopic intermuscular dissection (EID) for the treatment of rectal neuroendocrine tumors (R-NETs), a retrospective observational study was conducted on 8 consecutive patients with R-NETs confirmed by postoperative pathology at South China Hospital, Medical School, Shenzhen University from January 2022 to October 2023. The therapeutic efficacy, incidence of complications, and follow-up results were mainly analyzed. The results showed that all 8 cases achieved complete resection after EID, with operation times ranging from 40 to 90 minutes. No bleeding, perforation, fever or electrocoagulation syndrome occurred after operation. The hospital stay was 4 to 6 days. During follow-up of 3 to 24 months, there was no local recurrence or metastasis. Therefore, a preliminary conclusion can be drawn that EID is a safe and feasible treatment for R-NETs.

Objective:To explore the effect of getting out of bed activity 6 hours after silicone breast augmentation surgery on the comfort of patients.Methods:From May 2019 to August 2020, 84 female patients aged 20-37 (28.34±6.27) years who underwent silicone breast augmentation surgery at the Department of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetology at the Second People′s Hospital of Guangdong Province were randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, with 42 patients in each group, using a random number table method. The control group got out of bed 24 hours after surgery, while the observation group got out of bed 6 hours after surgery. The chest drainage and fixation patency, comfort, silicone prosthesis displacement, and incision bleeding rate between the two groups of patients were compared 24 hours after surgery.Results:The extraction time of the thoracic drainage tube in the observation group was (82.64±11.78 hours), which was shorter than that in the control group (90.67±12.44 hours), and the difference was statistically significant ( t=5.369, P<0.01). The comfort scores of the observation group patients at 6 hours after surgery (95.07±4.14) and 24 hours after surgery (97.52±4.07) were higher than those of the control group at 6 hours (91.14±4.03) and 24 hours (94.19±3.93), and the difference was statistically significant ( t=4.413, 3.832, both P<0.01); 7 days after surgery, there were 2 cases of silicone prosthesis displacement in the observation group, with an incidence rate of 4.76% (2/42); there were 2 cases of silicone prosthesis displacement in the control group, with an incidence rate of 4.76% (2/42); there were 6 cases of incision bleeding, with an incidence rate of 14.29% (6/42); there were 5 cases of incision bleeding in the control group, with an incidence rate of 11.90% (5/42). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of silicone implant displacement and incision bleeding between the two groups (χ 2=0.21, 0.10, P>0.05). Conclusions:Getting out of bed and moving around 6 hours after silicone breast augmentation surgery can help improve the patient′s physical comfort, ensure smooth fixation of the chest drainage tube, and do not increase the occurrence of incision bleeding in patients.

Objective: : Dermoid cysts are uncommon in spinal cord tumors, and the phenomenon of their spontaneous rupture into the syrinx cavity is quite rare. We aimed to analyze the imaging characteristics and etiologies, and propose some surgical strategies, for this uncommon phenomenon. Methods: : We retrospectively reviewed 14 cases with spinal dermoid cysts that ruptured into the cervical and thoracic syrinx cavity. There were six male and eight female cases, aged 21 to 46 years, who had lipid droplets in the syrinx cavity from C1 to L3. The dermoid cysts were always located at the conus. Based on patients’ complaints, clinical manifestations, and imaging results, we adopted tumor excision and/or syrinx cavity aspiration in one stage or multiple stages. Results: : Three patients had only a syrinx cavity aspiration surgery due to a history of dermoid cyst excision. Eight patients had dermoid cyst resection and syrinx cavity aspiration in one stage. One patient was operated upon in two stages due to the development of new symptoms at nine months follow-up. Two patients underwent only tumor resection since they did not show similar symptoms or signs caused by the cervicothoracic syrinx. The axial magnetic resonance imaging indicated that the lipid droplets were always not at the center but were eccentric. The clinical effect was satisfactory during the follow-up period in this group. Conclusion : The lipid droplets filled the spinal syrinx cavity, not entirely confined to the central canal. Based on the chief complaints and associated signs, we adopted different surgical strategies and had satisfactory clinical results.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic factors of community-acquired pneumonia(CAP)in the elderly.Methods:Clinical and laboratory data of elderly patients(≥65 years old)hospitalized for CAP in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Beijing Hospital from January to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.The patients were followed up after discharge.The patients were divided into a death group and a survival group according to their prognosis, and long-term mortality risk factors were analyzed by Cox regression.Results:A total of 118 elderly patients hospitalized for CAP with a male-to-female ratio of 1∶1 were included.The follow-up period was 20.7-39.0 months, with a median follow-up time of 29.8 months.The all-cause cumulative mortality rates at 1-2, 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months after discharge were 3.4%(4/118), 4.2%(5/118), 5.1%(6/118), 9.3%(11/118), 16.1%(19/118), and 21.6%(24/118), respectively.Pneumonia was the leading cause of death.Multifactorial Cox regression indicated that the Charlson comorbidity index score( HR=1.42, 95% CI: 1.11-1.83, P=0.006), the score of activities of daily living at discharge( HR=0.44, 95% CI: 0.23-0.84, P=0.013), body mass index( HR=0.83, 95% CI: 0.72-0.97, P=0.012), and the level of serum albumin( HR=0.84, 95% CI: 0.73-0.98, P=0.031)were independently associated with long-term mortality. Conclusions:The leading cause of long-term death for elderly CAP patients after discharge is pneumonia.High Charlson comorbidity index scores, lower BMI, low serum albumin levels and low scores of activities of daily living at discharge are independent risk factors for long-term mortality in these patients.Therefore, in order to reduce the occurrence of adverse prognosis and improve the quality of life, a multidimensional, comprehensive assessment and timely intervention should be performed during the acute phase of the disease.

Detailed knowledge on tissue-specific metabolic reprogramming in diabetic nephropathy (DN) is vital for more accurate understanding the molecular pathological signature and developing novel therapeutic strategies. In the present study, a spatial-resolved metabolomics approach based on air flow-assisted desorption electrospray ionization (AFADESI) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) integrated mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) was proposed to investigate tissue-specific metabolic alterations in the kidneys of high-fat diet-fed and streptozotocin (STZ)-treated DN rats and the therapeutic effect of astragaloside IV, a potential anti-diabetic drug, against DN. As a result, a wide range of functional metabolites including sugars, amino acids, nucleotides and their derivatives, fatty acids, phospholipids, sphingolipids, glycerides, carnitine and its derivatives, vitamins, peptides, and metal ions associated with DN were identified and their unique distribution patterns in the rat kidney were visualized with high chemical specificity and high spatial resolution. These region-specific metabolic disturbances were ameliorated by repeated oral administration of astragaloside IV (100 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. This study provided more comprehensive and detailed information about the tissue-specific metabolic reprogramming and molecular pathological signature in the kidney of diabetic rats. These findings highlighted the promising potential of AFADESI and MALDI integrated MSI based metabolomics approach for application in metabolic kidney diseases.

Virtual reality technology is a technology that creates a visual environment for people to experience through computer simulation, with features of immersion, interaction and imagination. This technology was used in engineering mechanics and urban planning in early times In medicine, diagnostics serves as a bridge for medical students to transit from basic medicine to clinical medicine. Using virtual reality technology to produce standardized patients (SPs) allows medical students to simulate the role of clinicians in the classroom, complete the diagnosis and treatment for virtual patients using various electronic media and the mastered theoretical knowledge of diagnostics, set up simulation training and online-and-offline teaching according to the diagnostic course standards which compensates the disadvantages in traditional medical teaching. Virtual reality technology has practical significances for cultivating medical students' clinical skills and thinking through procedural process evaluation, real-time feedback, etc.. This paper will discuss the prospect of virtual reality technology, its application as well as its advantages in diagnostic teaching.

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of patients with POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal protein, and skin changes).Methods:The main clinical manifestations, auxiliary examination results, diagnosis and treatment process, and follow-up data of 5 patients with POEMS syndrome in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital from April 2017 to November 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, and the features of diagnosis and treatment were discussed with review of literature.Results:The patients with POEMS syndrome had typical manifestations of polyneuropathy (5 cases), organomegaly (4 cases), increased extravascular volume load (4 cases), endocrine changes (5 cases), etc. The patients were also accompanied by clinical manifestations of skin changes (2 cases), bone damage (3 cases), kidney damage (2 cases), anemia (4 cases), etc. Three cases were misdiagnosed as chronic Guillain-Barré syndrome. Five patients were followed up regularly, with a median follow-up time of 16 months (13-33 months). Until the end of follow-up, 1 patient who received DVD regimen chemotherapy had a disease-free survival time of 22 months and a survival time of 24 months; 1 patient underwent autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after receiving pretreatment of melphalan scheme, and the survival time was 6 months; the remaining 3 patients were in the disease-free survival period, and among which 1 patient survived 9 months without disease after autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, 1 patient survived 16 months without disease, and 1 patient survived 18 months without disease.Conclusions:The onset of POEMS syndrome is insidious, its clinical manifestations are complex, and it is easy to be misdiagnosed or missed. Clinicians should strengthen their understanding of this disease.

The cultivation of research ability can promote eight-year medical students to explore the uncharted academic fields and solve complex clinical problems. One of the firts pilot universities to provide eight-year programs, Xiangya Medical College of Central South University builds on its profound experience in medical education, and establishes a curriculum structure aiming at improving the students' research ability. In the general education stage, cross-disciplinary courses are set up. In the core medical education stage, basic medical innovation experiment extracurricular research courses are set up, and a two-year overseas exchange program is set up in the postgraduate training stage. Different evaluation methods are also designed to meet the specific needs in each stage. This program has achieved preliminary effects.

BACKGROUND: Age, sex, body mass index, hepatitis C infection, immunosuppressive drugs and family history of diabetes mellitus are shown to be risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation, but their effects remain controversial. OBJECTIVE: To systematically assess the risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation, so as to provide evidences for preventing and controlling the disease. METHODS: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and CBMdisc databases were searched for the articles concerning risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation published between January 2005 and May 2018. Two researchers extracted data from each study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality assessment was conducted in accordance with New castle-Ottawa Scale standard. Meta-analysis was performed on Revman 5.3 software to identify the risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Twenty-one studies involving 8 206 patients were included. There were 1 489 cases of new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation, and the morbidity was 18.15％. (2) The meta-analysis identified the following seven significant risk factors, non-modifiable risk factors: age ≥ 50 years, and donor type; modifiable risk factors: body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2, acute rejection, tacrolimus usage, hepatitis C infection and polycystic kidney. (3) Uncertain risk factor was family history of diabetes. (4) To conclude, age, donor type, body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2, acute rejection, tacrolimus usage, hepatitis C infection and polycystic kidney are risk factors for new-onset diabetes mellitus after kidney transplantation. But whether the family history of diabetes mellitus is the risk factor remains uncertain.