Objective:To compare the preliminary efficacy and adverse events of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with or without immunotherapy in bladder preservation therapy for localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) confined to the pelvis.Methods:Clinical data of 60 patients with MIBC who received CRT with or without immunotherapy for bladder preservation at the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2016 to June 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into CRT plus immunotherapy group and CRT-alone group. Survival outcomes, bladder function preservation, recurrence and metastasis, as well as early and late radiation toxicities were evaluated. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for between-group comparisons. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and survival rates were compared by the log-rank test. Results:In the CRT plus immunotherapy group ( n=23), the median follow-up was 20 months. The median OS and median PFS were not reached. The 2-year OS, PFS, LRFS, and DMFS rates were 95.7%, 70.7%, 70.7%, and 92.9%, respectively, and 22 patients (96%) preserved normal bladder function. Patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) ≥1 had significantly higher 1-year PFS rate than those with CPS <1 (100% vs. 66.7%, P=0.004). In the CRT-alone group ( n=37), the median follow-up was 37 months, with median OS and PFS of 68 and 19 months, respectively. The 2-year OS, PFS, LRFS, and DMFS rates were 92.0%, 41.1%, 60.9% and 81.5%, respectively, and 33 patients (89%) preserved normal bladder function. Compared with the CRT-alone group, the CRT plus immunotherapy group showed a significant improvement in PFS ( χ2=4.38, P=0.036), while no significant differences were observed in OS, LRFS, or DMFS (all P>0.05). The incidence of acute hematologic toxicity in the CRT plus immunotherapy group and CRT-alone group were 52% (12/23), 27% (10/37) respectively, and late genitourinary toxicity was 22% (5/23), 8% (3/37), respectively, with no significant differences in overall acute or late toxicities (all P>0.05). Conclusions:For localized MIBC, bladder preservation with CRT combined with immunotherapy significantly improves PFS compared with CRT alone, while maintaining comparable safety. The PD-L1 status may serve as a favorable predictor for immunotherapy efficacy.

Nonunion of osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVF), predominantly affecting the elderly, can lead to intractable pain, vertebral collapse, progressive kyphotic deformity, and neurological impairment, significantly compromising patients′ quality of life. There exists considerable debate on diagnosis and management of OVF, encompassing key issues such as clinical diagnosis and staging criteria for nonunion, surgical indications and procedure selection, and postoperative rehabilitation planning. Currently, there lacks standardized clinical guideline and expert consensus on the diagnosis and management of OVF nonunion in China. To address this gap, Minimally Invasive Surgery Group of Chinese Orthopedic Association, Osteoporosis Committee of Chinese Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee for Osteoporosis of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and Minimally Invasive Orthopedic Surgery Branch of China Association for Geriatric Care jointly organized domestic experts in spinal surgery, endocrinology, and rehabilitation to formulate the Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment for nonunion of osteoporotic vertebral fractures ( version 2025), based on existing literature and clinical experience and adhering to principles of scientific rigor and practicality. The guideline provided 13 evidence-based recommendations encompassing diagnosis and treatment of OVF nonunion, aiming to standardize its clinical management.

For middle-aged and elderly patients with conditions such as spinal fractures and degenerative spinal diseases, spinal internal fixation is a core surgical procedure for reconstructing spinal stability, heavily relying on the biomechanical stability provided by pedicle screw systems. Whereas, these patients are often complicated by osteoporosis that can significantly compromise the stability of the bone-pedicle screw interface, leading to a marked increase in pedicle screw loosening and surgical failure rates. The bone cement-augmented pedicle screw technique, which involves injecting bone cement into the vertebral body or screw trajectory to optimize the mechanical properties of the bone-pedicle screw composite, has been proven to significantly enhance fixation strength and effectively prevent screw-related failures, thereby reducing the incidence of internal fixation failure in high-risk populations undergoing spinal fusion. However, the widespread clinical application of this technique has faced challenges such as inaccurate clinical decision-making (indication and contraindication selection), non-standardized operative practices, and insufficient awareness of complication prevention, resulting in considerable variability in clinical outcomes and even severe complications. To address this, Prof. Luo Fei from First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University initiated the project and the Chinese Association Orthopaedic Surgeons organized relevant experts to develop the Evidence-based clinical practice guideline for bone cement-augmented pedicle screw technique ( version 2025), based on current evidence. The guidelines put forward 8 recommendations regarding the clinical value, scope of application, and operational standards of the technique, aiming to provide evidence-based medical support and technical standardization for clinical decision-making.

Objective:To evaluate the short-term efficacy of our modified anterior pelvic ring internal fixator(INFIX) in the treatment of anterior pelvic ring injuries.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data from the 16 patients with pelvic anterior ring injury who had been treated with our modified INFIX at Department of Orthopaedics, The First Hospital Affiliated to Bengbu Medical University from June 2020 to June 2023. There were 9 males and 7 females with an age of (49.1±14.3) years. According to the AO/OTA classification, 10 cases were of type B2 and 6 cases of type C1. Their time from injury to surgery was (7.6±2.9) days. Fixation with our modified INFIX was as follows: Three pedicle screws were inserted into the anterior inferior iliac spine on one side and into the pubic symphysis on both sides. Next, a subcutaneous tunnel was created from the anterior inferior iliac spine incision toward the pubic symphysis, and connecting rods were inserted for fixation. The surgical incision length, intraoperative blood loss, surgical time, postoperative fracture reduction quality, fracture healing time, incidence of complications during follow-up, and pelvic functional recovery at the last follow-up were recorded in this cohort.Results:In this cohort, surgical incision length was (5.8±0.4) cm, intraoperative blood loss (75.4±11.9) mL, and surgical time (66.1±8.9) min. By the end of one week after surgery, the quality of fracture reduction was evaluated according to the Matta scoring criteria as excellent in 11 cases and as good in 5 cases. All patients were followed up for (17.4±3.1) months after surgery. The fractures got united in all the 16 patients after (11.2±1.2) weeks. At the last follow-up, the pelvic function recovery was evaluated according to the Majeed scoring system as excellent in 13 cases and as good in 3 cases, yielding a Majeed score of (90.1±4.2) points. During the follow-up period, no patient developed complications such as nerve injury, wound infection, or loosening, breakage or withdrawal of internal fixation devices.Conclusion:In the treatment of anterior pelvic ring injuries, our modified INFIX has the advantages of few complications, simple operation and minimal invasion, leading to good short-term efficacy.

OBJECTIVE To explore the value of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)metagenomic next generation sequencing(mNGS)technique in diagnosis of the pulmonary cryptococcosis patients with different clinical features so as to raise the clinicians' awareness of the diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis with BALF-mNGS.METHODS Totally 73 patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis and 73 non-pulmonary cryptococcosis patients who were treated in Wenzhou People's Hospital from Jan.2021 to May 2024 were recruited as the research subjects.The clinical data including baseline data,complications,clinical manifestations,clinical laboratory test data,ima-ging findings and serological test data were collected from the patients.The sensitivity and specificity of BALF-mNGS in diagnosis of the pulmonary cryptococcosis were observed,and the difference in the sensitivity in diagno-sis of the patients with various clinical features was analyzed.RESULTS A total of 73 patients with pulmonary cryp-tococcosis were enrolled in the study,44 of whom were male,and 29 were female;62 were positive for BALF-mNGS,11 were negative;all of the 73 non-pulmonary cryptococcosis patients were tested negative for BALF-mNGS,the sensi-tivity of the BALF-mNGS test was 84.93％,with the specificity 100.00％,the positive predictive value 100.00％,the negative predictive value 86.95％.Totally 45 patients had the symptoms of cough and expectoration,42 of whom were positive for BALF-mNGS,the test sensitivity of the patients with the symptoms of cough and expectoration was 93.33％,higher than that of the patients without the symptoms of cough and expectoration(P＜0.05).Totally 31 pa-tients had the lesion site of right lung,30 of whom were positive for BALF-mNGS,and the test sensitivity of the patients with lesion site of right lung was 96.77％,higher than that of the patients with the lesion site of left lung or both lungs(P＜0.05).Totally 44 patients had multiple lesions,41 of whom were positive for BALF-mNGS,the test sensitivity of the patients with multiple lesions was 93.18％,higher than that of the patients with single lesion(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The sensitivity of the BALF-mNGS is high in diagnosis of the patients with pulmonary cryptococ-cosis,especially for the patients with symptoms of cough and expectoration,lesion site of right lung and multiple lesions.It can be used for the early diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis.

OBJECTIVE To explore the value of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)metagenomic next generation sequencing(mNGS)technique in diagnosis of the pulmonary cryptococcosis patients with different clinical features so as to raise the clinicians' awareness of the diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis with BALF-mNGS.METHODS Totally 73 patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis and 73 non-pulmonary cryptococcosis patients who were treated in Wenzhou People's Hospital from Jan.2021 to May 2024 were recruited as the research subjects.The clinical data including baseline data,complications,clinical manifestations,clinical laboratory test data,ima-ging findings and serological test data were collected from the patients.The sensitivity and specificity of BALF-mNGS in diagnosis of the pulmonary cryptococcosis were observed,and the difference in the sensitivity in diagno-sis of the patients with various clinical features was analyzed.RESULTS A total of 73 patients with pulmonary cryp-tococcosis were enrolled in the study,44 of whom were male,and 29 were female;62 were positive for BALF-mNGS,11 were negative;all of the 73 non-pulmonary cryptococcosis patients were tested negative for BALF-mNGS,the sensi-tivity of the BALF-mNGS test was 84.93％,with the specificity 100.00％,the positive predictive value 100.00％,the negative predictive value 86.95％.Totally 45 patients had the symptoms of cough and expectoration,42 of whom were positive for BALF-mNGS,the test sensitivity of the patients with the symptoms of cough and expectoration was 93.33％,higher than that of the patients without the symptoms of cough and expectoration(P＜0.05).Totally 31 pa-tients had the lesion site of right lung,30 of whom were positive for BALF-mNGS,and the test sensitivity of the patients with lesion site of right lung was 96.77％,higher than that of the patients with the lesion site of left lung or both lungs(P＜0.05).Totally 44 patients had multiple lesions,41 of whom were positive for BALF-mNGS,the test sensitivity of the patients with multiple lesions was 93.18％,higher than that of the patients with single lesion(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS The sensitivity of the BALF-mNGS is high in diagnosis of the patients with pulmonary cryptococ-cosis,especially for the patients with symptoms of cough and expectoration,lesion site of right lung and multiple lesions.It can be used for the early diagnosis of pulmonary cryptococcosis.

Nonunion of osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVF), predominantly affecting the elderly, can lead to intractable pain, vertebral collapse, progressive kyphotic deformity, and neurological impairment, significantly compromising patients′ quality of life. There exists considerable debate on diagnosis and management of OVF, encompassing key issues such as clinical diagnosis and staging criteria for nonunion, surgical indications and procedure selection, and postoperative rehabilitation planning. Currently, there lacks standardized clinical guideline and expert consensus on the diagnosis and management of OVF nonunion in China. To address this gap, Minimally Invasive Surgery Group of Chinese Orthopedic Association, Osteoporosis Committee of Chinese Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee for Osteoporosis of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and Minimally Invasive Orthopedic Surgery Branch of China Association for Geriatric Care jointly organized domestic experts in spinal surgery, endocrinology, and rehabilitation to formulate the Clinical guideline for the diagnosis and treatment for nonunion of osteoporotic vertebral fractures ( version 2025), based on existing literature and clinical experience and adhering to principles of scientific rigor and practicality. The guideline provided 13 evidence-based recommendations encompassing diagnosis and treatment of OVF nonunion, aiming to standardize its clinical management.

For middle-aged and elderly patients with conditions such as spinal fractures and degenerative spinal diseases, spinal internal fixation is a core surgical procedure for reconstructing spinal stability, heavily relying on the biomechanical stability provided by pedicle screw systems. Whereas, these patients are often complicated by osteoporosis that can significantly compromise the stability of the bone-pedicle screw interface, leading to a marked increase in pedicle screw loosening and surgical failure rates. The bone cement-augmented pedicle screw technique, which involves injecting bone cement into the vertebral body or screw trajectory to optimize the mechanical properties of the bone-pedicle screw composite, has been proven to significantly enhance fixation strength and effectively prevent screw-related failures, thereby reducing the incidence of internal fixation failure in high-risk populations undergoing spinal fusion. However, the widespread clinical application of this technique has faced challenges such as inaccurate clinical decision-making (indication and contraindication selection), non-standardized operative practices, and insufficient awareness of complication prevention, resulting in considerable variability in clinical outcomes and even severe complications. To address this, Prof. Luo Fei from First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University initiated the project and the Chinese Association Orthopaedic Surgeons organized relevant experts to develop the Evidence-based clinical practice guideline for bone cement-augmented pedicle screw technique ( version 2025), based on current evidence. The guidelines put forward 8 recommendations regarding the clinical value, scope of application, and operational standards of the technique, aiming to provide evidence-based medical support and technical standardization for clinical decision-making.

Objective:To evaluate the short-term efficacy of our modified anterior pelvic ring internal fixator(INFIX) in the treatment of anterior pelvic ring injuries.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the clinical data from the 16 patients with pelvic anterior ring injury who had been treated with our modified INFIX at Department of Orthopaedics, The First Hospital Affiliated to Bengbu Medical University from June 2020 to June 2023. There were 9 males and 7 females with an age of (49.1±14.3) years. According to the AO/OTA classification, 10 cases were of type B2 and 6 cases of type C1. Their time from injury to surgery was (7.6±2.9) days. Fixation with our modified INFIX was as follows: Three pedicle screws were inserted into the anterior inferior iliac spine on one side and into the pubic symphysis on both sides. Next, a subcutaneous tunnel was created from the anterior inferior iliac spine incision toward the pubic symphysis, and connecting rods were inserted for fixation. The surgical incision length, intraoperative blood loss, surgical time, postoperative fracture reduction quality, fracture healing time, incidence of complications during follow-up, and pelvic functional recovery at the last follow-up were recorded in this cohort.Results:In this cohort, surgical incision length was (5.8±0.4) cm, intraoperative blood loss (75.4±11.9) mL, and surgical time (66.1±8.9) min. By the end of one week after surgery, the quality of fracture reduction was evaluated according to the Matta scoring criteria as excellent in 11 cases and as good in 5 cases. All patients were followed up for (17.4±3.1) months after surgery. The fractures got united in all the 16 patients after (11.2±1.2) weeks. At the last follow-up, the pelvic function recovery was evaluated according to the Majeed scoring system as excellent in 13 cases and as good in 3 cases, yielding a Majeed score of (90.1±4.2) points. During the follow-up period, no patient developed complications such as nerve injury, wound infection, or loosening, breakage or withdrawal of internal fixation devices.Conclusion:In the treatment of anterior pelvic ring injuries, our modified INFIX has the advantages of few complications, simple operation and minimal invasion, leading to good short-term efficacy.

Objective:To compare the preliminary efficacy and adverse events of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with or without immunotherapy in bladder preservation therapy for localized muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) confined to the pelvis.Methods:Clinical data of 60 patients with MIBC who received CRT with or without immunotherapy for bladder preservation at the Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from January 2016 to June 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into CRT plus immunotherapy group and CRT-alone group. Survival outcomes, bladder function preservation, recurrence and metastasis, as well as early and late radiation toxicities were evaluated. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for between-group comparisons. Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), local recurrence-free survival (LRFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and survival rates were compared by the log-rank test. Results:In the CRT plus immunotherapy group ( n=23), the median follow-up was 20 months. The median OS and median PFS were not reached. The 2-year OS, PFS, LRFS, and DMFS rates were 95.7%, 70.7%, 70.7%, and 92.9%, respectively, and 22 patients (96%) preserved normal bladder function. Patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) combined positive score (CPS) ≥1 had significantly higher 1-year PFS rate than those with CPS <1 (100% vs. 66.7%, P=0.004). In the CRT-alone group ( n=37), the median follow-up was 37 months, with median OS and PFS of 68 and 19 months, respectively. The 2-year OS, PFS, LRFS, and DMFS rates were 92.0%, 41.1%, 60.9% and 81.5%, respectively, and 33 patients (89%) preserved normal bladder function. Compared with the CRT-alone group, the CRT plus immunotherapy group showed a significant improvement in PFS ( χ2=4.38, P=0.036), while no significant differences were observed in OS, LRFS, or DMFS (all P>0.05). The incidence of acute hematologic toxicity in the CRT plus immunotherapy group and CRT-alone group were 52% (12/23), 27% (10/37) respectively, and late genitourinary toxicity was 22% (5/23), 8% (3/37), respectively, with no significant differences in overall acute or late toxicities (all P>0.05). Conclusions:For localized MIBC, bladder preservation with CRT combined with immunotherapy significantly improves PFS compared with CRT alone, while maintaining comparable safety. The PD-L1 status may serve as a favorable predictor for immunotherapy efficacy.