Objectives:To investigate the physical growth status of pediatric patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) and analyze the effects of treatment-related and socioeconomic factors on physical growth.Methods:Based on the specialized thalassemia database from gene therapy clinical research at the Institute of Hematology & Hospital of Blood Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, we collected data on height and weight development, family economic status, and medical records of 338 pediatric patients with TDT from October 2023 to May 2024. The length/height-for-age and body mass index (BMI) -for-age were classified based on the Growth Standard for Children under 7 Years of Age, Standard for Height Level Classification among Children and Adolescents Aged 7-18 Years, and Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the effects of family economic status and disease-related treatment on length/height-for-age and BMI-for-age.Results:Among the 338 patients, 118 were children and 220 were adolescents (192 males and 146 females), with a median age of 12 years (range: 0.8-18) and a median diagnosis duration of 10.3 years (range: 0.5-17.9). Subtypes included α-thalassemia [21 cases (6.2%) ], β-thalassemia [288 cases (85.2%) ], and combined αβ-thalassemia[29 cases (8.6%) ]. The monthly household income of patients was concentrated in 3 000-5 000 yuan (39.9%) and 5 001-10 000 yuan (34.9%), whereas 67.2% of the families had monthly medical expenses of <3 000 yuan. Of the patients, 75.5% received their first transfusion before 1 year of age. The proportions of children and adolescents with pretransfusion hemoglobin (HGB) of ≤70 g/L were 4.2% and 6.4%, respectively. Adolescents demonstrated significantly higher rates of transfusion frequency of <4 weeks/session, monthly red blood cell infusion of >2 U, serum ferritin (SF) of ≥5 000 μg/L, iron chelation therapy, and splenectomy compared with children (all P<0.05). Of the 338 patients, 26.0%, 22.8%, and 8.9% demonstrated stunted growth, underweight, and concurrent stunted growth with underweight, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the stunted growth rates between children (22.9%) and adolescents (27.7%) ( P=0.402). However, the underweight rate in adolescents (26.8%) was significantly higher than that in children (15.3%) ( P=0.023). The multivariate analysis determined the following risk factors for stunted growth: monthly household income of <10 000 yuan (5 001-10 000 yuan: OR=5.49, 95% CI: 1.48-35.76; 3 000-5 000 yuan: OR=6.87, 95% CI: 1.88-44.60; <3 000 yuan: OR=9.29, 95% CI: 2.20-64.77), pretransfusion HGB of ≤70 g/L ( OR=3.25, 95% CI: 1.07-10.18), and SF of ≥5 000 μg/L ( OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.20-7.70). Longer diagnostic duration was associated with underweight ( OR=1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20) . Conclusions:Children and adolescents with TDT with pretransfusion SF of ≥5 000 μg/L, HGB of ≤70 g/L, low monthly household income, or longer diagnosis duration were significantly more likely to experience delayed physical growth.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of cyclophosphamide in patients with T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL) and the maintenance of treatment-free remission (TFR) following drug discontinuation.Methods:Clinical data were collected from 37 patients with T-LGLL who received oral cyclophosphamide at the Regenerative Medicine Clinic of the Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital between June 2019 and March 2024. Patient clinical characteristics, treatment efficacy, and long-term TFR were analyzed.Results:The median age of the 37 patients was 60 years (range: 37-86), and 22 (59.5%) were male. Anemia was observed in 30 patients (81.1%), and 28 (75.7%) met the diagnostic criteria for secondary pure red cell aplasia. Neutropenia occurred in 15 patients (40.5%), lymphocytosis in 11 (29.7%), and thrombocytopenia in three (8.1%). Sixteen patients (43.2%) had not received prior immunosuppressive therapy (treatment-naive group), while 21 patients (56.8%) were refractory to or had relapsed after immunosuppressive treatment (refractory/relapsed group). All patients met the treatment criteria and received oral cyclophosphamide at doses of 50-100 mg/day. Among the 36 evaluable patients, hematologic remission was achieved in 25 (69.4%), with a median time of 2.0 months (range: 0.7-7.0). There was no statistically significant difference in remission rates between the treatment-naive and refractory/relapsed groups (68.5% vs. 66.7%, P=0.589). Among the 25 patients who achieved hematologic remission, 24 discontinued cyclophosphamide. With a median follow-up of 39.0 months (range: 8.0-56.0), the median TFR duration was not reached. The estimated TFR rates were (90.87± 6.16) % at 12 months and (75.72±11.04) % at 36 months. No significant difference in TFR was observed between the treatment-naive and refractory/relapsed groups ( P=0.451) . Conclusion:Oral cyclophosphamide is effective in the treatment of T-LGLL, and patients may maintain long-term TFR following drug discontinuation.

Diagnosis and treatment of refractory hydrocephalus are the keys in reflecting the overall level of diagnosis and treatment of hydrocephalus. However, there is currently no clear definition of refractory hydrocephalus; moreover, treatment of these patients is difficult, with high failure rate. This article focuses on the definition, common causes and classification of refractory hydrocephalus, the treatment strategies of infectious refractory hydrocephalus, the treatment dilemmas of negative pressure or low-pressure hydrocephalus, and treatment future directions of refractory hydrocephalus, in order to attract attention of clinicians to the diagnosis and treatment of refractory hydrocephalus.

Objective:To systematically evaluate the current status of research on the development of indicators for entrustable professional activities (EPAs) of residents in China.Methods:We searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Airiti Library, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for literature on the development of EPA indicators for residents in China published between January 1, 2005 and February 28, 2025. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data, followed by descriptive analysis. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool for expert opinion. Quantitative data were presented as medians (ranges) and qualitative data were presented as frequencies (percentages).Results:A total of eight articles were included, in which two general EPA indicator systems and six specialty-specific EPA indicator systems were developed for residents. The overall quality of the research was high, with the main shortcomings related to the methods used in the process of constructing the consensus indicators. The number of experts recruited ranged from 22 to 45, with 100.00% response rate, high authority coefficients (0.820-0.914), and high coordination coefficients (0.157-0.741). Most of the studies used literature reviews as one source for the indicator pool (8 studies, 100.00%), employed the Delphi method to reach consensus (6 studies, 75.00%), and provided inclusion criteria for the indicators (7 studies, 87.50%). However, only one study (12.50%) explored the practical application of the developed indicators, and none of the studies set indicator weights or conducted quality assessments. The number of EPA indicators developed ranged from 10 to 38 per study. The reporting of EPA indicators was included in most studies regarding titles (8 studies, 100.00%) and the expected levels of entrustment at various stages of training (6 studies, 75.00%), but the reporting on other aspects was lacking. Among the specialty-specific EPA indicators, 38.39% overlapped with the general EPAs indicators.Conclusions:The research on the development of EPA indicators for residents in China is still in its early stages, and there is room for improvement in methodological quality and reporting coverage. There is partial overlap between specialty-specific and general EPA indicators, failing to fully reflect the unique characteristics of different specialties.

Objective:To investigate the current status of Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors, and to discuss the potential problems and development trends of this field.Methods:Related data were collected from the information platform of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools by Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and the characteristics of Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors were extracted for analysis. Categorical data were expressed as frequency (percentage), and continuous data were expressed as mean±standard deviation.Results:A total of 83 Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors were included in the study, accounting for only 3.45% (83/2 406) of all programs. Chinese partners in these cooperative programs were mainly from East China (41 programs, 49.40%), while foreign partners were mainly from Europe (39 programs, 46.99%). The mean duration of these programs was (3.61±0.88) years, with an enrollment of (87.08±35.52) students. Most of the students were included in National General Higher Education Enrollment Plan (79 programs, 95.18%), and the main majors included nursing (39 programs, 46.99%), medical technology (19 programs, 22.89%), and clinical medicine (11 programs, 13.25%), with the main enrollment level of junior college (45 programs, 54.22%). Chinese partners in the cooperative programs mainly issued academic certificate (45 programs, 54.22%) or academic certificate plus degree certificate (36 programs, 43.37%), while most foreign partners did not issue such certificates (44 programs, 53.01%).Conclusions:There are several problems in Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors, such as a limited number of programs, a significant regional difference, an imbalanced distribution of specialties, a low level of education, and inconsistency in issuance of certificates, which still requires further improvement and standardization. However, there are also high-level and high-quality programs for reference.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of tigecycline-related adverse reactions and provide the basis for the safe and rational use of the drug.Methods:Adverse reaction reports with suspected drug as tigecycline from Beijing Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Center from January 1st, 2019 to June 30th, 2024 were collected. The adverse reaction reports were standardized using the preferred term (PT) and system organ class (SOC) in the Chinese updated edition (2015 version) of the World Health Organization Adverse Reaction Terminology. The patients' general condition, tigecycline use, and adverse reaction occurrence (including latency, severity, treatment, outcome, and correlation evaluation) were descriptively and statistically analyzed. Results:A total of 408 tigecycline-related adverse reaction reports were entered, including 153 females (37.5%) and 255 males (62.5%). The age was (68±21) years, ranging from 2 to 99. The main reasons for tigecycline use were infections of lung, blood flow, skin and skin soft tissue, etc. The pathogens were mainly Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii, Escherichia coli, etc. The usage and dosage of tigecycline in most patients were in line with the instructions. Four hundred and eight adverse event reports involved 11 SOCs and 580 PTs. The top 3 SOCs were gastrointestinal diseases (195 case times, 33.62%), vascular, bleeding and coagulation diseases (183 case times, 31.55%), and hepatobiliary diseases (142 case times, 24.48%). The main clinical manifestations were nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. The main laboratory abnormalities were decreased plasma fibrinogen, decreased platelet count, increased alanine aminotransferase, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased bilirubin. There were 27 case times of adverse reactions that were not recorded in the instructions, mainly including leukopenia, abdominal distension, fever, dysbacteriosis, etc. The latency of adverse reactions ranged from 5 min to 65 days, with a median time of 5 days. The grade of adverse reactions was general in 379 patients (92.89%) and severe in 29 patients (7.11%). The top 3 SOCs involved in 53 case times of severe adverse reactions were hepatobiliary diseases (30 case times, 56.60%), vascular, bleeding and coagulation diseases (8 case times, 15.09%), and urinary tract diseases (4 case times, 7.55%), the main clinical manifestations were elevated liver enzymes, coagulation disorders, pancreatitis, etc. After the occurrence of adverse reactions, all patients stopped tigecycline, and received symptomatic treatments such as liver protection, intravenous infusion of human fibrinogen, intravenous infusion of platelets, and antidiarrheal therapy. Among 408 patients, 66 (16.18%) were cured, 297 (72.79%) were improved, 20 (4.90%) were not improved, and 25 cases' outcome (6.13%) were unknown. The shortest time for recovery or improvement was 0.5 hour, the longest was 44 days, with a median time of 5 days. The correlation between tigecycline and adverse reactions was probable in 132 patients (32.35%), and possible in 276 patients (67.65%). Conclusions:Tigecycline-related adverse reactions involve multiple organ systems, mainly including gastrointestinal diseases, vascular, bleeding and coagulation diseases, and hepatobiliary diseases, etc. which can lead to severe adverse reactions such as acute pancreatitis and coagulation disorders. After drug withdrawal and symptomatic treatments, most patients had a good prognosis.

Objective:To systematically evaluate the current status of research on the development of indicators for entrustable professional activities (EPAs) of residents in China.Methods:We searched the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Airiti Library, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases for literature on the development of EPA indicators for residents in China published between January 1, 2005 and February 28, 2025. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data, followed by descriptive analysis. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool for expert opinion. Quantitative data were presented as medians (ranges) and qualitative data were presented as frequencies (percentages).Results:A total of eight articles were included, in which two general EPA indicator systems and six specialty-specific EPA indicator systems were developed for residents. The overall quality of the research was high, with the main shortcomings related to the methods used in the process of constructing the consensus indicators. The number of experts recruited ranged from 22 to 45, with 100.00% response rate, high authority coefficients (0.820-0.914), and high coordination coefficients (0.157-0.741). Most of the studies used literature reviews as one source for the indicator pool (8 studies, 100.00%), employed the Delphi method to reach consensus (6 studies, 75.00%), and provided inclusion criteria for the indicators (7 studies, 87.50%). However, only one study (12.50%) explored the practical application of the developed indicators, and none of the studies set indicator weights or conducted quality assessments. The number of EPA indicators developed ranged from 10 to 38 per study. The reporting of EPA indicators was included in most studies regarding titles (8 studies, 100.00%) and the expected levels of entrustment at various stages of training (6 studies, 75.00%), but the reporting on other aspects was lacking. Among the specialty-specific EPA indicators, 38.39% overlapped with the general EPAs indicators.Conclusions:The research on the development of EPA indicators for residents in China is still in its early stages, and there is room for improvement in methodological quality and reporting coverage. There is partial overlap between specialty-specific and general EPA indicators, failing to fully reflect the unique characteristics of different specialties.

Objective:To investigate the current status of Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors, and to discuss the potential problems and development trends of this field.Methods:Related data were collected from the information platform of Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools by Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and the characteristics of Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors were extracted for analysis. Categorical data were expressed as frequency (percentage), and continuous data were expressed as mean±standard deviation.Results:A total of 83 Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors were included in the study, accounting for only 3.45% (83/2 406) of all programs. Chinese partners in these cooperative programs were mainly from East China (41 programs, 49.40%), while foreign partners were mainly from Europe (39 programs, 46.99%). The mean duration of these programs was (3.61±0.88) years, with an enrollment of (87.08±35.52) students. Most of the students were included in National General Higher Education Enrollment Plan (79 programs, 95.18%), and the main majors included nursing (39 programs, 46.99%), medical technology (19 programs, 22.89%), and clinical medicine (11 programs, 13.25%), with the main enrollment level of junior college (45 programs, 54.22%). Chinese partners in the cooperative programs mainly issued academic certificate (45 programs, 54.22%) or academic certificate plus degree certificate (36 programs, 43.37%), while most foreign partners did not issue such certificates (44 programs, 53.01%).Conclusions:There are several problems in Chinese-foreign cooperative education programs for medical majors, such as a limited number of programs, a significant regional difference, an imbalanced distribution of specialties, a low level of education, and inconsistency in issuance of certificates, which still requires further improvement and standardization. However, there are also high-level and high-quality programs for reference.

Objective:To analyze the clinical characteristics of tigecycline-related adverse reactions and provide the basis for the safe and rational use of the drug.Methods:Adverse reaction reports with suspected drug as tigecycline from Beijing Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Center from January 1st, 2019 to June 30th, 2024 were collected. The adverse reaction reports were standardized using the preferred term (PT) and system organ class (SOC) in the Chinese updated edition (2015 version) of the World Health Organization Adverse Reaction Terminology. The patients' general condition, tigecycline use, and adverse reaction occurrence (including latency, severity, treatment, outcome, and correlation evaluation) were descriptively and statistically analyzed. Results:A total of 408 tigecycline-related adverse reaction reports were entered, including 153 females (37.5%) and 255 males (62.5%). The age was (68±21) years, ranging from 2 to 99. The main reasons for tigecycline use were infections of lung, blood flow, skin and skin soft tissue, etc. The pathogens were mainly Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanii, Escherichia coli, etc. The usage and dosage of tigecycline in most patients were in line with the instructions. Four hundred and eight adverse event reports involved 11 SOCs and 580 PTs. The top 3 SOCs were gastrointestinal diseases (195 case times, 33.62%), vascular, bleeding and coagulation diseases (183 case times, 31.55%), and hepatobiliary diseases (142 case times, 24.48%). The main clinical manifestations were nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. The main laboratory abnormalities were decreased plasma fibrinogen, decreased platelet count, increased alanine aminotransferase, increased aspartate aminotransferase, and increased bilirubin. There were 27 case times of adverse reactions that were not recorded in the instructions, mainly including leukopenia, abdominal distension, fever, dysbacteriosis, etc. The latency of adverse reactions ranged from 5 min to 65 days, with a median time of 5 days. The grade of adverse reactions was general in 379 patients (92.89%) and severe in 29 patients (7.11%). The top 3 SOCs involved in 53 case times of severe adverse reactions were hepatobiliary diseases (30 case times, 56.60%), vascular, bleeding and coagulation diseases (8 case times, 15.09%), and urinary tract diseases (4 case times, 7.55%), the main clinical manifestations were elevated liver enzymes, coagulation disorders, pancreatitis, etc. After the occurrence of adverse reactions, all patients stopped tigecycline, and received symptomatic treatments such as liver protection, intravenous infusion of human fibrinogen, intravenous infusion of platelets, and antidiarrheal therapy. Among 408 patients, 66 (16.18%) were cured, 297 (72.79%) were improved, 20 (4.90%) were not improved, and 25 cases' outcome (6.13%) were unknown. The shortest time for recovery or improvement was 0.5 hour, the longest was 44 days, with a median time of 5 days. The correlation between tigecycline and adverse reactions was probable in 132 patients (32.35%), and possible in 276 patients (67.65%). Conclusions:Tigecycline-related adverse reactions involve multiple organ systems, mainly including gastrointestinal diseases, vascular, bleeding and coagulation diseases, and hepatobiliary diseases, etc. which can lead to severe adverse reactions such as acute pancreatitis and coagulation disorders. After drug withdrawal and symptomatic treatments, most patients had a good prognosis.

Objectives:To investigate the physical growth status of pediatric patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) and analyze the effects of treatment-related and socioeconomic factors on physical growth.Methods:Based on the specialized thalassemia database from gene therapy clinical research at the Institute of Hematology & Hospital of Blood Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, we collected data on height and weight development, family economic status, and medical records of 338 pediatric patients with TDT from October 2023 to May 2024. The length/height-for-age and body mass index (BMI) -for-age were classified based on the Growth Standard for Children under 7 Years of Age, Standard for Height Level Classification among Children and Adolescents Aged 7-18 Years, and Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to assess the effects of family economic status and disease-related treatment on length/height-for-age and BMI-for-age.Results:Among the 338 patients, 118 were children and 220 were adolescents (192 males and 146 females), with a median age of 12 years (range: 0.8-18) and a median diagnosis duration of 10.3 years (range: 0.5-17.9). Subtypes included α-thalassemia [21 cases (6.2%) ], β-thalassemia [288 cases (85.2%) ], and combined αβ-thalassemia[29 cases (8.6%) ]. The monthly household income of patients was concentrated in 3 000-5 000 yuan (39.9%) and 5 001-10 000 yuan (34.9%), whereas 67.2% of the families had monthly medical expenses of <3 000 yuan. Of the patients, 75.5% received their first transfusion before 1 year of age. The proportions of children and adolescents with pretransfusion hemoglobin (HGB) of ≤70 g/L were 4.2% and 6.4%, respectively. Adolescents demonstrated significantly higher rates of transfusion frequency of <4 weeks/session, monthly red blood cell infusion of >2 U, serum ferritin (SF) of ≥5 000 μg/L, iron chelation therapy, and splenectomy compared with children (all P<0.05). Of the 338 patients, 26.0%, 22.8%, and 8.9% demonstrated stunted growth, underweight, and concurrent stunted growth with underweight, respectively. No significant difference was observed in the stunted growth rates between children (22.9%) and adolescents (27.7%) ( P=0.402). However, the underweight rate in adolescents (26.8%) was significantly higher than that in children (15.3%) ( P=0.023). The multivariate analysis determined the following risk factors for stunted growth: monthly household income of <10 000 yuan (5 001-10 000 yuan: OR=5.49, 95% CI: 1.48-35.76; 3 000-5 000 yuan: OR=6.87, 95% CI: 1.88-44.60; <3 000 yuan: OR=9.29, 95% CI: 2.20-64.77), pretransfusion HGB of ≤70 g/L ( OR=3.25, 95% CI: 1.07-10.18), and SF of ≥5 000 μg/L ( OR = 3.04, 95% CI: 1.20-7.70). Longer diagnostic duration was associated with underweight ( OR=1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20) . Conclusions:Children and adolescents with TDT with pretransfusion SF of ≥5 000 μg/L, HGB of ≤70 g/L, low monthly household income, or longer diagnosis duration were significantly more likely to experience delayed physical growth.