Background and Aims:Parastomal hernia is a common complication after colostomy,with a high incidence rate.Laparoscopic Sugarbaker repair is currently the mainstream surgical approach for treating parastomal hernia.However,compared to other abdominal wall hernia repair techniques,the recurrence rate of parastomal hernia after laparoscopic Sugarbaker repair remains relatively high.Furthermore,the recurrence rate after surgery for recurrent parastomal hernias is significantly higher than that after the initial surgery,with inadequate lateral mesh coverage being one of the major contributing factors.This study was performed to analyze the efficacy of two-point mark-guided laparoscopic Sugarbaker repair in patients with terminal colostomy parastomal hernia,so as to provide evidence-based references for clinical practice. Methods:The clinical data of 120 patients with terminal colostomy parastomal hernia,who underwent laparoscopic Sugarbaker repair guided by the two-point mark of mesh at the Department of Hernia and Obesity Surgery,the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China,from January 2015 to December 2023,were retrospectively collected.The parastomal hernias were classified according to the European Hernia Society classification.Postoperative symptomatic and radiological recurrence rates were analyzed,as well as the incidence of complications such as bowel obstruction,stoma infection,and intestinal fistula in recurrent and non-recurrent patients. Results:Of the 120 patients,2(1.7％)were lost to follow-up.The mean follow-up duration was 48(6-96)months.The postoperative symptomatic recurrence rate was 5.1％(6/118),and the radiological recurrence rate was 6.8％(8/118).There were no statistically significant differences between recurrent(n=8)and non-recurrent patients(n=110)in terms of sex,age,body mass index(BMI),or hernia defect size(all P＞0.05),but the operative time in recurrent patients was longer than that in non-recurrent patients(P＜0.05).The overall postoperative complication rate was 8.5％(10/118),including stoma skin-mucosa separation(3 cases),stoma infection(2 cases),delayed bowel obstruction(2 cases),early bowel obstruction(1 case),hernia sac effusion(1 case),and delayed fistula formation in the hernia sac cavity(1 case).According to the Clavien-Dindo classification,there were 6 cases of grade Ⅱ,3 cases of gradeⅢa,and 1 case of grade Ⅳ complications.There were no statistically significant differences between patients with and without complications regarding sex,BMI,hernia defect size,operative time,and comorbidities(all P＞0.05);however,patients with complications were older than those without(P＜0.05). Conclusion:The application of laparoscopic Sugarbaker repair under the guidance of two-point mesh identification can effectively reduce the recurrence rate of parastomal hernia and It has high clinical applicability.

Objective:To investigate the application value of porcine small intestinal sub-mucosa (SIS) acellular matrix mesh in laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR).Methods:The prospective multicenter randomized controlled single-blind non-inferiority-type study was conducted. The clinical data of 216 patients who underwent LIHR in 4 medical centers, including Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University et al, from April 2021 to August 2022 were selected. Patients were divided into two groups using a central randomization system. Patients in the experimental group were implanted domestic SIS mesh, and patients in the control group were implanted imported mesh of similar material origin. The baseline characteristics of enrolled patients were evaluated using the full analysis set, and the effectiveness indicators were evaluated using the protocol set. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the ttest. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range), and comparison between groups was conducted using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Count data were expressed as absolute numbers and/or percentages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. If the lower limit of 95% confidence interval( CI) of the difference in effective rates between the experimental group and the control group was greater than the non-inferiority cut-off value of ?10%, the experimental group was considered non-inferior to the control group. Results:(1) Situations of the enrolled patients. A total of 216 patients were selected for eligibility, with 46 patients dropping out due to violation of the trial protocol, and the remaining 170 patients were included in the full analysis set. Nine patients were dislodged due to loss to follow-up, and 161 patients completed follow-up. One case in the experimental group was excluded due to violating the inclusion and exclusion criteria, while the remaining 160 patients were included in the protocol set (80 cases in the experimental group and 80 cases in the control group). There was no significant difference in the gender, age, body mass index (BMI), surgical method, Gilbert type of hernia, volume of intraoperative blood loss, operation time of patients between the experimental group and the control group ( P>0.05), confounding bias ensured comparability. (2) Study endpoints. ① Primary study endpoint. During the postoperative 6 month of follow-up, none of patient in the experimental group or the control group had hernia recurrence, with the recurrence rate as 0. Results of non-inferiority test showed that the difference of hernia recurrence between the two groups was 0 (95% CI as ?4.58% to 4.58%), with the lower limit of ?4.58% greater than the non-inferiority cut-off value of ?10%, which fulfilled the non-inferiority hypothesis. ② Secondary study endpoints. Cases with plasmapheresis during the follow-up were 18 in the experimental group and 29 in the control group, respectively, showing no significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=3.65, P>0.05). There were 4 cases with postoperative pain and 1 case with postoperative malaise in the experimental group, and there were 8 cases with postoperative pain and 0 case with postoperative malaise in the control group, showing no signifi-cant difference in the above indicators between the two groups ( P>0.05). None of patient in the experimental group or the control group had incision infection, enterocutaneous fistula, intestinal obstruction, intestinal canal injury, allergy and rejection, testicular inflammation and/or atrophy, or any other complication. Conclusion:Compared with imported mesh of similar material origin, domestic porcine SIS mesh is safe and effective in LIHR.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficiency of lumbar hernia repair based on path planning.Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinical data of 35 patients with lumbar hernia who were admitted to The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from November 2016 to March 2024 were collected. There were 14 males and 21 females, aged (61±8)years. According to preoperative computerized tomography examination of the hernia defect diameter, patients with a defect diameter <4 cm underwent enhan-ced field laparoscopic total extraperitoneal repair (eTEP), patients with a defect diameter of 4-8 cm underwent laparoscopic partial extraperitoneal repair (TAPE), and patients with a defect diameter >8 cm underwent open preperitoneal mesh repair (Sublay). Measurement data with normal distribu-tion were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison of three groups were conducted using the one-way ANOVA or Kruskal Wallis test, and Bonferroni correction was used for pariwise comparison. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were descri-bed as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Results:(1) Operation conditions. Of 35 patients, there were 15 cases undergoing eTEP, of 7 males and 8 females and 12 cases of left hernia and 3 cases of right hernia, with operation time of (92±44)minutes and the duration of postoperative hospital stay of (5.6±2.8)days. There were 17 cases undergoing TAPE, of 5 males and 12 females and 9 cases of left hernia, 7 cases of right hernia and 1 case of bilateral hernia, with operation time of (114±56)minutes and the duration of postoperative hospital stay of (6.4±3.0) days. There were 3 cases undergoing Sublay, of 2 males and 1 female and 1 case of left hernia and 2 cases of right hernia, with operation time of (150±55)minutes and the duration of postoperative hospital stay of (12.3±7.8)days. There were significant differences in the duration of postoperative hospital stay among the three groups ( F=4.83, P<0.05). (2) Follow-up. All 35 patients were followed up for 40.5(range, 3.0-91.0)days. None of patient underwent postoperative complications such as serous swelling, incision infection, intestinal fistula, intestinal obstruction, or puncture hematoma, and no recurrence of lumbar hernia occurred. One patient who underwent TAPE had postoperative abdominal distension, and was cured by symptomatic treatment. Cases with acute pain within postoperative 3 months were 0, 5, 2 in patients undergoing eTEP, TAPE, Sublay, respectively, showing significant differences among them ( χ2=8.69, P<0.05). Results of pariwise comparison showed that there was a significant difference in acute pain within postoperative 3 months between patients undergoing eTEP and Sublay ( P<0.05), and there was a significant difference in acute pain within postoperative 3 months between patients undergoing eTEP and TAPE ( P<0.05); Cases with chronic pain after postoperative 3 months were 0, 1, 1 in patients undergoing eTEP, TAPE, Sublay, respectively, showing no significant difference among them ( χ2=4.00, P>0.05). Conclusion:It is safe and feasible to formulate the surgical method according to the defect diameter of lumbar hernia.

OBJECTIVE To establish the fingerprints of Tianma jiannao granules （TJG） and the method for content determination to evaluate the quality of TJG comprehensively combined with chemometric analysis. METHODS High-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） was used to establish the fingerprints of 13 batches （S1-S3） of TJG and determine the contents of inosine， gastrodin， parishin B and parishin E. Cluster analysis， principal component analysis， and orthogonal partial least squares- discriminant analysis were performed using SPSS 20.0 and SIMCA 18 software； using variable importance projection （VIP） value greater than 1 as a criterion， marker components that affected quality were screened. RESULTS A total of 28 common peaks were identified in the 13 batches of TJG with similarities greater than 0.9， and 7 common peaks were identified， which were gastrodin， p-hydroxybenzyl alcohol， parishin B， parishin E， rhynchophylline， inosine and salidroside. The 13 batches of TJG were clustered into 3 categories， S1-S2， S8-S10 and S12 were clustered into one category； S3 and S7 were clustered into one category； S4-S6， S11 and S13 were clustered into one category. VIP of inosine was greater than 1. The contents of inosine， gastrodin， parishin B and parishin E were 62.637-176.677， 17.821-37.642， 5.748-16.077 and 5.660-13.510 μg/g. CONCLUSIONS The established HPLC fingerprints and content determination method are stable， reliable and highly reproducible， which can be used to evaluate the quality of TJG in combination with chemometric analysis. Inosine may be a marker component that affects the quality of TJG. There are differences in the quality of 13 batches of TJG.

Objective:To investigate the influences of age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index (ACCI) on prognosis of patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 242 gastric cancer patients who underwent laparoscopic radical gastrectomy in 19 hospitals of the Chinese Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study Group-04 study, including 54 patients in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital, 32 patients in the First Hospital of Putian City, 32 patients in Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 31 patients in Zhangzhou Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, 17 patients in Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, 11 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, 8 patients in Qinghai University Affiliated Hospital, 8 patients in Meizhou People′s Hospital, 7 patients in Fujian Provincial Hospital, 6 patients in Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, 6 patients in Longyan First Hospital, 5 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, 5 patients in the First Hospital Affiliated to Army Medical University, 4 patients in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 4 patients in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, 4 patients in Beijing University Cancer Hospital, 3 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, 3 patients in Guangdong Provincial People′s Hospital, 2 patients in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi′an Jiaotong University, from September 2016 to October 2017 were collected. There were 193 males and 49 females, aged 62(range, 23?74)years. Observation indicators: (1) age distribution, comorbidities and ACCI status of patients; (2) the grouping of ACCI and comparison of clinicopathological characteristics of patients in each group; (3) incidence of postoperative early complications and analysis of factors affecting postoperative early complications; (4) follow-up; (5) analysis of factors affecting the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of patients. Follow-up was conducted using outpatient examination or telephone interview to detect postoperative survival of patients up to December 2020. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M( Q1, Q3) or M(range), and comparison between groups was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Comparison of ordinal data was conducted using the nonparametric rank sum test. The X-Tile software (version 3.6.1) was used to analyze the best ACCI grouping threshold. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates and draw survival curves. The Log-Rank test was used for survival analysis. The Logistic regression model was used to analyze the factors affecting postoperative early complications. The COX proportional hazard model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses of factors affecting the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of patients. Multivariate analysis used stepwise regression to include variables with P<0.05 in univariate analysis and variables clinically closely related to prognosis. Results:(1) Age distribution, comor-bidities and ACCI status of patients. Of the 242 patients, there were 28 cases with age <50 years, 68 cases with age of 50 to 59 years, 113 cases with age of 60 to 69 years, 33 cases with age of 70 to 79 years. There was 1 patient combined with mild liver disease, 1 patient combined with diabetes of end-organ damage, 2 patients combined with peripheral vascular diseases, 2 patients combined with peptic ulcer, 6 patients combined with congestive heart failure, 8 patients combined with chronic pulmonary diseases, 9 patients with diabetes without end-organ damage. The ACCI of 242 patients was 2 (range, 0-4). (2) The grouping of ACCI and comparison of clinicopathological characteristics of patients in each group. Results of X-Tile software analysis showed that ACCI=3 was the best grouping threshold. Of the 242 patients, 194 cases with ACCI <3 were set as the low ACCI group and 48 cases with ACCI ≥3 were set as the high ACCI group, respectively. Age, body mass index, cases with preoperative comorbidities, cases of American Society of Anesthesiologists classification as stage Ⅰ, stage Ⅱ, stage Ⅲ, tumor diameter, cases with tumor histological type as signet ring cell or poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and cases with tumor type as moderately or well differentiated adenocarcinoma, cases with tumor pathological T staging as stage T1, stage T2, stage T3, stage T4, chemotherapy cycles were (58±9)years, (22.6±2.9)kg/m 2, 31, 106, 85, 3, (4.0±1.9)cm, 104, 90, 16, 29, 72, 77, 6(4,6) in the low ACCI group, versus (70±4) years, (21.7±2.7)kg/m 2, 23, 14, 33, 1, (5.4±3.1)cm, 36, 12, 3, 4, 13, 28, 4(2,5) in the high ACCI group, showing significant differences in the above indicators between the two groups ( t=-14.37, 1.98, χ2=22.64, Z=-3.11, t=-2.91, χ2=7.22, Z=-2.21, -3.61, P<0.05). (3) Incidence of postoperative early complications and analysis of factors affecting postoperative early complications. Of the 242 patients, 33 cases had postoperative early complications, including 20 cases with local complications and 16 cases with systemic complica-tions. Some patients had multiple complications at the same time. Of the 20 patients with local complications, 12 cases had abdominal infection, 7 cases had anastomotic leakage, 2 cases had incision infection, 2 cases had abdominal hemorrhage, 2 cases had anastomotic hemorrhage and 1 case had lymphatic leakage. Of the 16 patients with systemic complications, 11 cases had pulmonary infection, 2 cases had arrhythmias, 2 cases had sepsis, 1 case had liver failure, 1 case had renal failure, 1 case had pulmonary embolism, 1 case had deep vein thrombosis, 1 case had urinary infection and 1 case had urine retention. Of the 33 cases with postoperative early complications, there were 3 cases with grade Ⅰ complications, 22 cases with grade Ⅱ complications, 5 cases with grade Ⅲa complications, 2 cases with grade Ⅲb complications and 1 case with grade Ⅳ complica-tions of Clavien-Dindo classification. Cases with postoperative early complications, cases with local complications, cases with systemic complications were 22, 13, 9 in the low ACCI group, versus 11, 7, 7 in the high ACCI group, respectively. There were significant differences in cases with postoperative early complications and cases with systemic complications between the two groups ( χ2=4.38, 4.66, P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in cases with local complications between the two groups ( χ2=2.20, P>0.05). Results of Logistic regression analysis showed that ACCI was a related factor for postoperative early complications of gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy [ odds ratio=2.32, 95% confidence interval ( CI) as 1.04-5.21, P<0.05]. (4) Follow-up. All the 242 patients were followed up for 36(range,1?46)months. During the follow-up, 53 patients died and 13 patients survived with tumor. The 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of the 242 patients was 73.5%. The follow-up time, cases died and cases survived with tumor during follow-up, the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate were 36(range, 2-46)months, 29, 10, 80.0% for the low ACCI group, versus 35(range, 1-42)months, 24, 3, 47.4% for the high ACCI group. There was a significant difference in the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate between the two groups ( χ2=30.49, P<0.05). (5) Analysis of factors affecting the 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of patients. Results of univariate analysis showed that preoperative comorbidities, ACCI, tumor diameter, histological type, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion, neural invasion, tumor pathological TNM staging, postoperative early complications were related factors for postoperative 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy [ hazard ratio ( HR)=2.52, 3.64, 2.62, 0.47, 2.87, 1.90, 1.86, 21.77, 1.97, 95% CI as 1.52-4.17, 2.22-5.95, 1.54-4.46, 0.27-0.80, 1.76-4.70, 1.15-3.12, 1.10-3.14, 3.01-157.52, 1.11-3.50, P<0.05]. Results of multivariate analysis showed that ACCI, tumor pathological TNM staging, adjuvant chemotherapy were indepen-dent influencing factors for postoperative 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy ( HR=3.65, 11.00, 40.66, 0.39, 95% CI as 2.21-6.02, 1.40-86.73, 5.41-305.69, 0.22-0.68, P<0.05). Conclusions:ACCI is a related factor for post-operative early complications of gastric cancer patients undergoing laparos-copic radical gastrectomy. ACCI, tumor pathological TNM staging, adjuvant chemotherapy are indepen-dent influencing factors for postoperative 3-year recurrence-free survival rate of gastric cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy.

Due to the high incidence and postoperative high recurrence rate, parastomal hernia is one of the most difficult ventral hernias for clinical treatment. Currently, there are numerous of surgical options for the treatment of parastomal hernia, including suture repair, stoma relocation, onlay mesh repair through hernia ring, stoma relocation combined with sublay mesh prophylactic and repairing, Sugarbaker technique repair and its modified operation, Keyhole technique repair and its modified operation, Sandwich technique repair and hybrid surgery. However, none of them could achieve a satisfactory efficacy of low recurrence rate and few complications. With the increasing application of enhanced view-totally extraperitoneal technique in ventral hernia, laparoscopic extraperitoneal parastomal hernia repair has been applied and explored in clinical practice. There are contrary results in clinical studies on whether the prophylatic mesh placement can reduce the incidence of parastomal hernia. Hence, the treatment and prevention of parastomal hernia is still a long-term and arduous task in the field of abdominal wall defect repair, which needs to be further explored and verified by more high-quality and meaningful clinical studies.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical significance of our self-designed three-column scoring system for postoperative X-ray stability of intertrochanteric fracture after intramedullary nailing.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted of the 378 patients with intertrochanteric fracture who had been treated between January 2015 and June 2019 at Department of Orthopaedics, Linyi People's Hospital by internal fixation with proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA). They were 161 males and 217 females, aged from 60 to 97 years (average, 72.5 years). By the AO classification, there were 109 cases of type 31-A1, 188 cases of type 31-A2 and 81 cases of type 31-A3. Anteroposterior and lateral X-ray examinations of the hip were performed immediately after internal fixation to evaluate the fracture stability using our self-designed three-column scoring system by which the medial column is given 4 points, middle column 2 points and lateral column 2 points. A single column scoring full points is rated as stable, 3-column stability as excellent, 2-column stability as good, one-column stability as fair, and 3-column unstability as poor. Rehabilitation programs were carried out according to the results of stability evaluation: full weight bearing at an early stage was indicated for excellent patients, partial weight bearing at an early stage for good patients and weight bearing at an early stage contraindicated for fair or poor patients. Fracture union time and failure of internal fixation were recorded. The relationship between internal fixation failure and our three-column scoring system was calculated.Results:The 378 patients were followed up for 6 to 24 months (mean, 10.4 months). Of them, 365 obtained fracture union after an average time of 4.3 months (from 3 to 7 months). Internal fixation failure occurred in 13 patients, giving a failure rate of 3.4%(13/378).Of the 129 excellent patients by our three-column scoring system for post-operative X-ray stability of intertrochanteric fracture, none failed in internal fixation; of the 193 good patients, 4 failed; of the 56 fair patients, 9 failed. Internal fixation failure was closely related to our three-column scoring system for postoperative X-ray stability of intertrochanteric fracture ( r=-0.986, P=0.006), as well as to the column stability ( r=-1.000, P=0.033). Conclusion:Our self-designed three-column scoring system for postoperative X-ray stability of intertrochanteric fracture after intramedullary nailing can accurately reflect the fracture stability so that it can be used to guide rehabilitation programs for the patients and judge their prognosis.

Objective:In order to compare the effect of ascending medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy and descending medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy on patellar height.Methods:Our group analyzed 77 patients of medical cases which were closely associated with medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy for the treatment of knee varus deformity and medial compartment osteoarthritis from May 2011 to December 2018 and 77 cases were effectively followed up, including 36 males and 41 females with an average age of 59.4±10.5. By the way, there are 51 cases of ascending osteotomy and 26 cases of descending osteotomy. During these treatment, we adopted some scientific methods full-length standing anteroposterior radiograph,Miniaci method, Insall-Salvati index (ISI), Caton-Deschamps index (CDI) and Blackburne-Peel Index (BPI) to measure the corresponding parameters and changes in patellar height (PH) at different stages.Results:77 patients were enrolled, the mean follow-up time was 20.6 months (range, 12-60 months), ascending and descending high tibial osteotomy (HTO) show the average degree of varus correction (10.43°±2.67° and 11.16°± 2.80°) respectively. And at the same time, in these cases of ascending HTO, PH decreased by 8.1% (CDI method), 2 cases of low PH (the patellar height decreased by 10%, which is the low patellar) were measured (ISI method), 7 cases of low PH occurred (CDI and BPI). Instead, PH decreased by 4.5% (CDI method) in descending HTO,the difference was significant ( t=2.101, P=0.040). 22 cases of ascending HTO with varus correction less than 10 degrees, the PH decreased by 6.9%. By the way, the ISI method did not detect the occurrence of low PH, but we found one by CDI and BPI. The 29 cases with varus correction of more than 10 degrees in ascending HTO, and PH decreased by 10.4%. There were 2 low PH (ISI method), and 6 low PH (CDI and BPI), the difference was significant ( t=2.310, P=0.028). Conclusion:In ascending HTO, the low PH is closely related to the degree of varus correction. Conversely, The descending HTO did not influence PH.

Repair of abdominal hernia is in dynamic evoluation.Laparoscopic intra-peritoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) and open Sublay repair are still the best methods for the repair of abdominal wall hernia. The application of component separation technique has further widened the indications of IPOM and Sublay repair for the treatment of large abdominal wall hernia. Endoscopic Sublay technique theoretically combines the advantages of open Sublay repair and laparoscopic IPOM repair, but it has the disadvantages of iatrogenic destruction of the tendon septum and normal mechanical deconstruction, which requires strict specification of indications and further research.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the classification of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) based on clinical manifestations and myositis- specific antibodies using cluster analysis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with IIM admitted in Nanfang Hospital in 2015-2019. The clinical data of the patients including serum creatine kinase (CK), interstitial lung disease (ILD), cancer, and myositis-specific antibodies were collected for two-step cluster analysis to identify the distinct clusters of patients, whose clinical characteristics were subsequently analysed. RESULTS: A total of 71 patients with IIM were included in this study, including 30 (42.3%) with polymyositis (PM), 20 (28.2%) with classic dermatomyositis (DM), 16 (22.5%) with amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM), and 5 (7.0%) with immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM). Two-step cluster analysis identified 3 distinctive subgroups: Cluster 1 of 15 (51.7%) patients characterized by rash, positive anti-MDA5 antibody and hypoproteinemia ( < 0.05) with normal or slightly elevated CK level, mainly corresponding to CADM; Cluster 2 of 4 (57.1%) patients with significantly elevated CK and positive anti-SRP antibody ( < 0.001) corresponding to IMNM; and Cluster 3 of 17 (48.6%) patients consisting primarily of patients with PM, characterized by positivity for anti- aminoacyl transfer RNA synthetases antibodies (=0.022) corresponding to antisynthetase syndrome (ASS). CONCLUSIONS Patients with IIM can be divided into 3 subgroups based on their clinical and serological characteristics (especially myositis-specific antibodies), and among them ASS may represent an independent IIM subgroup with unique clinical characteristics.
Antibodies ; metabolism ; Humans ; Myositis ; classification ; physiopathology ; Retrospective Studies