Objective To compare the early clinical efficacy and safety of transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TA-TAVI) with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients with severe AS admitted to the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China from January 2020 to March 2024. According to the surgical method, patients were divided into a SAVR group and a TA-TAVI group, and the clinical data of the two groups were compared. Results A total of 71 patients were included, with 45 in the SAVR group, including 33 males and 12 females, aged 16-75 (60.89±10.88) years; 26 in the TA-TAVI group, including 15 males and 11 females, aged 61-83 (72.85±5.53) years. The results showed that postoperative aortic valve transvalvular flow velocity [(2.31±0.38) m/s vs. (2.60±0.50) m/s, P=0.019] and transvalvular pressure gradient [(21.09±6.03) mm Hg vs. (28.20±10.79) mm Hg, P=0.001] in the TA-TAVI group were lower than those in the SAVR group. In terms of left ventricular end-diastolic diameter, both preoperative [(56.73±7.74) mm vs. (52.36±7.00) mm, P=0.017] and postoperative [(52.61±7.18) mm vs. (48.04±4.78) mm, P=0.010] values in the TA-TAVI group were larger than those in the SAVR group. In terms of left ventricular ejection fraction, the preoperative value in the TA-TAVI group was lower than that in the SAVR group (58.00%±13.84% vs. 64.87%±7.63%, P=0.026), but there was no statistical difference between the two groups after surgery (P=0.670). The operation time and drainage volume on the first day after surgery in the TA-TAVI group were shorter or lower than those in the SAVR group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the postoperative hospital stay, ICU stay, or postoperative mechanical ventilation time (P>0.05). In addition, no serious complications occurred in patients after SAVR, while perivalvular leakage (2 patients), third-degree atrioventricular block (1 patient), and death (3 patients) occurred in the TA-TAVI group. Conclusion For elderly patients with severe AS and poor cardiac function, TA-TAVI technology has minimal surgical trauma, high safety and effectiveness, and is a safe and effective treatment option besides traditional surgical operations.

The number of investigator initiated research (IIR) is increasing. But the recognition and management of IIR in China is still in its infancy, and there is a lack of specific and operable guidance for the implementation process. Based on our practical experiences, previous literature reports, and current policy regulations, the authors took prospective IIR as an example to summarize the implementation process of IIR into 14 steps, which are as the following: study initiation, ethical review, study registration, study filing, case report form design, database establishment, standard operating procedure making, investigator training, informed consent, data collection, data entry, data verification, data locking and data archiving.

Objective To use World Health Organization Family International Classifications (WHO-FICs) to explore the framework and approaches of development and research of guidelines of rehabilitation at levels of policies, community and services.Methods The important documents and tools of rehabilitation at international level, including United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, WHO World Report on Disability, Community-based Rehabilitation Guideline, Rehabilitation in Health Service System, and International Classification of Diseases (ICD), International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and International Classification of Health Intervention (ICHI) of WHO-FICs, had been discussed.Results The framework, classifications, diagnosis and description of diseases and functioning, coding, intervention and functioning evaluation based on ICD-11, ICF and ICHI-β-2 had been established for development and implementation of rehabilitation guidelines and Cochrane rehabilitation.Conclusion The framework and systematic approaches of ontology, classification, terminology, coding, diagnosis and description of diseases and functioning, interventions and evaluations for the development and implementation of rehabilitation guidelines had been developed.

Objective To explore the effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on upper limbs function in chronic stroke patients. Methods From March, 2016 to May, 2018, 53 patients were randomly divided into control group (n = 27) and research group (n = 26). All the patients received conventional rehabilitation, and the research group received additional intervention of TEAS, for six weeks. They were assessed with Manual Muscle Test (MMT) on upper limbs, modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Fugl-Meyer Assessment-upper extremities (FMA-UE), Hand Motor Status Scale and modified Barthel Index (MBI) before, at the end of 6-week treatment and twelve weeks after treatment. Results There was no significant difference in all the scores between two groups at the end of 6-week treatment (t < 1.511, P > 0.05). The scores of MMT of wrist dorsal extension, FMA-UE and MBI were better in the research group than in the control group twelve weeks after end of treatment (t > 2.312, P < 0.05). Conclusion TEAS may promote the recovery of hands and upper limbs function in chronic stroke patients.