Objective:The minimal ablative margin (MAM) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was evaluated based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image registration to analyze its effect on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:Clinical data of 120 patients with HCC undergoing RFA in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from January 2017 to April 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 88 males and 32 females, aged (58.4±8.5) years. The enhanced MRI images of patients before and after treatment were imported into a 3D Slicer software to show the ablative margin, and patients were divided into two groups according to whether MAM exceeded the peritumor safety boundary of 5 mm: MAM<5 mm group ( n=75) and MAM≥5 mm group ( n=45). Clinical data were recorded such as gender, age, tumor length and location. Patients were followed up by outpatient review to record whether local tumour progression occurred. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and log-rank test was used for survival comparison. Cox regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors of local tumour progression after RFA in patients with HCC. Results:There were significant differen-ces in tumor volume, whether the tumor is located around the vessels, and the mode of RFA guidance between the two groups (all P<0.05). The cumulative local tumour progression-free survival rates at 6, 12 and 24 months after RFA were 100%, 100% and 98% in MAM ≥5 mm group, superior to those in MAM<5 mm group (92%, 84% and 69%, respectively, χ2=47.22, P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that MAM<5 mm ( OR=9.992, 95% CI: 4.358-22.913), tumor diameter ≥2 cm ( OR=1.758, 95% CI: 1.025-3.015) and perivascular tumor ( OR=2.344, 95% CI: 1.379-3.985) were risk factors for local tumour progression after RFA in patients with HCC (all P<0.05). Conclusion:The MAM evaluated based on MRI image registration is an influential factor on prognosis of patients with HCC. Patients with MAM<5 mm suffer an increased risk of postoperative local tumour progression.

Objective:To construct a prediction model for local tumor progression (LTP) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) based on the radiomics features of enhanced MRI.Methods:Clinical data of 120 patients with HCC undergoing RFA in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from June 2017 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 90 males and 30 females, aged (58.2±8.2) years. The patients were divided into training set ( n=84) and validation set ( n=36) in a ratio of 7∶3. According to whether LTP occurred within 2 years after RFA, the patients in training set were divided into LTP positive group ( n=32) and LTP negative group ( n=52). Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors for LTP after RFA in patients with HCC in training set. In the advanced arterial phase of preoperative enhanced MRI, the region of interest of tumor and peritumoral 5 mm area were mapped, and the radiomics features were extracted. The maximum correlation-minimum redundancy algorithm, the minimum absolute value shrinkage and selection operator algorithm were used to screen the radiomics features closely related to LTP, and the radiomics score was established. A nomogram model was constructed by combining the radiomics score with clinical tumor characteristics. The predictive performance and clinical practical value of different models were compared by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, clinical decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve (CIC). Results:Tumor located around the blood vessels ( OR=4.574, 95% CI: 1.454-14.393, P=0.009) and ablation margin <5 mm ( OR=5.724, 95% CI: 1.996-16.420, P=0.001) were independent risk factors for LTP in patients with HCC after RFA. Five higher-order radiomics features were extracted and screened, including three tumoral features (glrlm_ShortRunHighGrayLevelEmphasis, ngtdm_Complexity and glcm_Imc1) and two peritumoral features (firstorder_Mean and glszm_SmallAreaHighGrayLevelEmphasis). Delong test showed that the area under curve of the combined model was higher than that of the radiomics model ( Z=2.90, P=0.004) and the clinical tumor characteristic model ( Z=2.56, P=0.010). Calibration curves, DCA and CIC curves all show that the combined model had a better clinical net benefit. Conclusion:Combining the radiomics features extracted from enhanced MRI images with clinical tumor characteristics can effectively predict the risk of LTP in patients with HCC after RFA.

Compared to traditional suturing, lung stapling using automatic staplers offers advantages such as smaller trauma, faster wound healing, ease of operation, and lower complication rates, making it widely used in clinical practice. However, there are significant differences in bronchial tissue thickness at different anatomical locations, and the market is flooded with various types of staplers. Currently, there is a lack of recommended stapling schemes for bronchial staplers at different anatomical locations. This article reviews the development and application of automatic staplers and summarizes some types of staplers that are currently used in clinical practice, with the aim of promoting the formation of individualized stapler selection protocols for minimally invasive thoracic surgery based on the Chinese population.

Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) is a widely utilized therapeutic approach for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, the clinical implementation is constrained by the stringent preparation conditions of radioembolization agents. Herein, we incorporated the superstable homogeneous iodinated formulation technology (SHIFT), simultaneously utilizing an enhanced solvent form in a carbon dioxide supercritical fluid environment, to encapsulate radionuclides (such as ¹³¹I,¹⁷⁷Lu, or ¹⁸F) with lipiodol for the preparation of radiolipiodol. The resulting radiolipiodol exhibited exceptional stability and ultra-high labeling efficiency (≥99%) and displayed notable intratumoral radionuclide retention and in vivo stability more than 2 weeks following locoregional injection in subcutaneous tumors in mice and orthotopic liver tumors in rats and rabbits. Given these encouraging findings, ¹⁸F was authorized as a radiotracer in radiolipiodol for clinical trials in HCC patients, and showed a favorable tumor accumulation, with a tumor-to-liver uptake ratio of ≥50 and minimal radionuclide leakage, confirming the feasibility of SHIFT for TARE applications. In the context of transforming from preclinical to clinical screening, the preparation of radiolipiodol by SHIFT represents an innovative physical strategy for radionuclide encapsulation. Hence, this work offers a reliable and efficient approach for TARE in HCC, showing considerable promise for clinical application (ChiCTR2400087731).

ObjectiveTo investigate a suspected outbreak of healthcare-associated infection with carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in a geriatric emergency ward, and to provide references for the prevention and control of multidrug-resistant bacteria in a hospital in Shanghai. MethodsOn-site epidemiological investigation, combined with environmental hygiene monitoring and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) molecular typing method, were adopted to investigate a suspected outbreak of CRKP infection in the geriatric emergency ward of a hospital from October to November 2022, aiming at finding out factors caused the outbreak before taking corresponding control measures. ResultsA total of 3 cases of healthcare-associated CRKP infection were identified, of which 2 cases were homologous to a previous case of community-associated CRKP infection. What’s more, the 2 cases lived in the same ward with the latter and with adjacent beds, but the third case was non-homologous to the community-associated infection case. A total of 46 samples were collected from the environmental surfaces and the hands of healthcare workers, of which 7 samples tested positive for CRKP and were identical to the strains from the 2 healthcare-associated infection cases and the 1 community-associated infection case, originating from the bedrails, bedside tables, surface of non-invasive ventilator, bed curtains and panels of monitoring equipment, with a detection rate of 15.22%. But none of the 11 samples from the hands of healthcare workers tested positive for CRKP. The outbreak was effectively controlled after taking specific prevention and control measures such as strengthening personnel management, intensifying environmental cleaning and disinfection and strictly enforcing hand hygiene among healthcare workers. Subsequently, no similar new cases were reported during the 14-day follow-up period. ConclusionIncomplete environmental cleaning and disinfection, as well as inadequate enforcement of hand hygiene among heatheare workers may have contributed to the suspected outbreak of CRKP in the geriatric emergency ward. Early warning and timely investigation of suspected outbreaks of multidrug-resistant bacteria are crucial for preventing and controlling such outbreaks in hospitals.

Objective:The minimal ablative margin (MAM) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) was evaluated based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image registration to analyze its effect on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods:Clinical data of 120 patients with HCC undergoing RFA in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from January 2017 to April 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 88 males and 32 females, aged (58.4±8.5) years. The enhanced MRI images of patients before and after treatment were imported into a 3D Slicer software to show the ablative margin, and patients were divided into two groups according to whether MAM exceeded the peritumor safety boundary of 5 mm: MAM<5 mm group ( n=75) and MAM≥5 mm group ( n=45). Clinical data were recorded such as gender, age, tumor length and location. Patients were followed up by outpatient review to record whether local tumour progression occurred. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis, and log-rank test was used for survival comparison. Cox regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors of local tumour progression after RFA in patients with HCC. Results:There were significant differen-ces in tumor volume, whether the tumor is located around the vessels, and the mode of RFA guidance between the two groups (all P<0.05). The cumulative local tumour progression-free survival rates at 6, 12 and 24 months after RFA were 100%, 100% and 98% in MAM ≥5 mm group, superior to those in MAM<5 mm group (92%, 84% and 69%, respectively, χ2=47.22, P<0.001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that MAM<5 mm ( OR=9.992, 95% CI: 4.358-22.913), tumor diameter ≥2 cm ( OR=1.758, 95% CI: 1.025-3.015) and perivascular tumor ( OR=2.344, 95% CI: 1.379-3.985) were risk factors for local tumour progression after RFA in patients with HCC (all P<0.05). Conclusion:The MAM evaluated based on MRI image registration is an influential factor on prognosis of patients with HCC. Patients with MAM<5 mm suffer an increased risk of postoperative local tumour progression.

Objective:To construct a prediction model for local tumor progression (LTP) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) based on the radiomics features of enhanced MRI.Methods:Clinical data of 120 patients with HCC undergoing RFA in the General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University from June 2017 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, including 90 males and 30 females, aged (58.2±8.2) years. The patients were divided into training set ( n=84) and validation set ( n=36) in a ratio of 7∶3. According to whether LTP occurred within 2 years after RFA, the patients in training set were divided into LTP positive group ( n=32) and LTP negative group ( n=52). Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the risk factors for LTP after RFA in patients with HCC in training set. In the advanced arterial phase of preoperative enhanced MRI, the region of interest of tumor and peritumoral 5 mm area were mapped, and the radiomics features were extracted. The maximum correlation-minimum redundancy algorithm, the minimum absolute value shrinkage and selection operator algorithm were used to screen the radiomics features closely related to LTP, and the radiomics score was established. A nomogram model was constructed by combining the radiomics score with clinical tumor characteristics. The predictive performance and clinical practical value of different models were compared by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, clinical decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve (CIC). Results:Tumor located around the blood vessels ( OR=4.574, 95% CI: 1.454-14.393, P=0.009) and ablation margin <5 mm ( OR=5.724, 95% CI: 1.996-16.420, P=0.001) were independent risk factors for LTP in patients with HCC after RFA. Five higher-order radiomics features were extracted and screened, including three tumoral features (glrlm_ShortRunHighGrayLevelEmphasis, ngtdm_Complexity and glcm_Imc1) and two peritumoral features (firstorder_Mean and glszm_SmallAreaHighGrayLevelEmphasis). Delong test showed that the area under curve of the combined model was higher than that of the radiomics model ( Z=2.90, P=0.004) and the clinical tumor characteristic model ( Z=2.56, P=0.010). Calibration curves, DCA and CIC curves all show that the combined model had a better clinical net benefit. Conclusion:Combining the radiomics features extracted from enhanced MRI images with clinical tumor characteristics can effectively predict the risk of LTP in patients with HCC after RFA.

To investigate the collective influence of sarcopenia on the extended prognosis of hospitalized elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).

To investigate the collective influence of sarcopenia on the extended prognosis of hospitalized elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).

Objective To investigate the risk factors for identifying local tumor progression(LTP)in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)after radiofrequency ablation(RFA)and to establish a predictive model.Methods The clinical data of 122 HCC patients treated by RFA were analyzed retrospectively,and then the patients were divided into positive and negative LTP groups according to that whether LTP occurred within 12 months after RFA.The risk factors of LTP were determined using univariate and multivari-ate analysis,and the predictive model was constructed based on these factors and the internal validation was conducted.Results The results of this study showed that multiple number,diameter＞2 cm,rough margin,and adjacent to large blood vessels of the tumor could be independent predictors of LTP,which were further incorporated into constructing the predictive model.Internal validation results showed that the area under the curve(AUC)of receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was 0.815[95％confidence interval(CI)0.735-0.895],indicating the model with high differentiation ability.The calibration curve was drawn and the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-fit test showed that the model had good stability(P＞0.05).The decision curve suggested that the model had good clinical application value.Conclusion The independent risk factors of LTP of HCC after RFA are multiple number,diameter＞2 cm,rough margin,and adjacent to large blood vessels of the tumor.When the predictive model is integrated with the above factors,it can poten-tially predict the risk of local tumor and may offer useful guidance for individual treatment and follow-up.