Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a critical disease that endangers the health of the Chinese population. At present, there are still many deficiencies in the diagnosis and treatment of RA in China. The 2024 Chinese Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis addresses 10 important clinical issues in the diagnosis and treatment of RA, and provides evidence-based recommendations based on the latest domestic and international literature, with consideration of the actual situation of RA diagnosis and treatment in China. The guidelines comprehensively cover the diagnosis of RA, imaging examinations, treatment goals, follow- up monitoring, initial treatment plans, treatment adjustments, the application of glucocorticoids, drug tapering, and health education. They will promote the RA diagnosis and treatment levels and improve the prognosis of RA patients in China.

【Objective】 To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of transurethral blue laser vaporescetion of the prostate in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). 【Methods】 The clinical data of 100 BPH patients undergoing the surgery in our hospital during May and Sep.2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The observations included operation time, bladder irrigation duration, postoperative catheter indwelling time, hospital stay, complications, as well as changes in hemoglobin, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Quality of Life Scale (QoL) score, maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), bladder residual urine volume (PVR), and other related indicators before and 3 months after surgery. 【Results】 All 100 procedures were successfully completed without turning to transurethral resection of the prostate and/or open surgery. No blood transfusion was needed. The operation time was (37.8±19.6) min, bladder irrigation time (1.3±0.5) d, catheter indwelling time (12.7±0.4) d, hospital stay (3.4±0.7) d, hemoglobin drop (4.1±7.1) g/L. The postoperative IPSS and QoL score were significantly lower than those before surgery (P<0.05); postoperative Qmax was higher than that before surgery (P<0.05); postoperative PVR was smaller than that before surgery (P<0.05). Urinary retention occurred in 4 cases (4%) after removal of the catheter; carnal hematuria and bladder clot formation occurred in 3 cases (3%); mixed urinary incontinence occurred in 2 cases (2%); stenosis of the external urethra occurred in 2 cases (2%). All complications were cured after symptomatic treatment. There were no serious perioperative complications, no intraoperative complications such as ureteral orifice injury or bladder perforation, and no serious postoperative complications such as transurethral resection syndrome (TURS), permanent urinary incontinence or bladder neck contracture. 【Conclusion】 The blue laser surgical system had satisfactory effects of vaporization and hemostasia. Transurethral blue laser vaporesection of the prostate is safe and effective in the treatment of BPH.

Objective:To investigate the clinical and imaging features of population receiving opportunistic screening for lung cancer and in convalescent stage of COVID-19.Methods:Cross-sectional study and analysis was performed on the patients who underwent chest low-dose CT examination for cancer prevention in Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from December 28, 2022 to January 19, 2023. All the patients completed the COVID-19 questionnaire. A total of 334 questionnaires were sent out, all of which were recovered, and 321 valid questionnaires were collected, among them, 293 questionnaires were included in the analysis. Statistical analysis was conducted according to the questionnaire information, clinical symptoms and chest CT imaging results. The potential influencing factors of COVID-19 infection were explored, and the imaging characteristics of COVID-19 infection and early stage of lung cancer were compared.Results:A total of 293 patients underwent lung cancer screening during the convalescent stage of COVID-19 infection. A total of 231 (78.8%) cases had cough and 228 (77.8%) cases had fever. 214 (73.0%) cases still had clinical symptoms within 2 weeks after nucleic acid or antigen test showing negative, especially for cough in 171 (58.4%) cases, fatigue in 79 (25.3%) cases and sputum in 73 (24.9%) cases. There were 54 (18.4%) cases with positive chest CT changes. The main imaging findings showed that there were 46 cases with new patchy shadows, 25 cases with linear opacities, 10 cases with ground-glass opacities, 10 cases with nodular like shadows and 2 cases with consolidation, and most lesions were in the subpleural area of both lungs. Univariate analysis showed that positive CT findings were correlated with the time from positive detection of COVID-19 to screening ( P=0.026), age ( P<0.001) and underlying diseases ( P=0.006). Multivariate analysis showed that age≥65 years old ( OR=6.425, 95% CI: 2.688-15.358; P<0.001) and underlying diseases ( OR=2.292, 95% CI: 1.120-4.691; P=0.023) were risk factors for pulmonary imaging changes of COVID-19 infection. For lung cancer opportunistic screening, 36 (12.3%) cases showed ground-glass opacities in bilateral or unilateral lung lobes, among which 4 cases were suspected to be atypical adenomatous hyperplasia and 2 cases s were suspected to be early stage of lung cancer. Conclusions:Abnormal clinical symptoms and chest CT findings are still observed in the patients during the convalescent stage of COVID-19 infection. Age≥65 years, underlying diseases were the high-risk factors for the changes in chest CT imaging after COVID-19 infection. Attention should be paid to the differential diagnosis of chest CT findings between changes in the convalescent stage of COVID-19 and early stage of lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: The impact of sex on the clinical manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were diversely reported in the literature. The Chinese Registry of rhEumatoiD arthrITis provides a platform for the investigation of this issue in Chinese patients. METHODS: Demographic and clinical parameters were collected from all enrolled patients with RA and from patients with early RA (disease duration ≤6 months). The differences in data regarding disease activity, comorbidities, and medications for RA were compared between men and women. The proportions of patients who achieved remission and low disease activity were compared at enrollment and during 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up visits. RESULTS: A total of 11,564 patients were enrolled, 83.6% of whom were female. In all the enrolled patients and patients with early RA, C-reactive protein (CRP, 12.0 vs . 6.7 mg/L), pain visual analogue scale (4.8 vs . 4.5), patient's and physician's global assessment (4.9 vs . 4.5 and 4.9 vs . 4.5), 28-joint disease activity score using DAS28-CRP (4.3 vs . 4.0) simplified disease activity index (21.9 vs . 19.9), and clinical disease activity index (19.3 vs . 18.0) were significantly higher in men than in women. Additionally, the swollen joint count/tender joint count and DAS28 using erythrocyte sedimentation rate were higher in male patients than in female patients with early RA. More female patients with early RA reached the treatment target at baseline than male patients (23.4% vs . 18.2%, assessed by CDAI). At 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months, the proportion of remission and treatment target achievement was similar in both sexes. Coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke were more frequent in men than in women. CONCLUSIONS In Chinese patients with RA, men were found to have more active disease, as well as more cases of CAD and stroke. Therefore, sex should be carefully considered during the personalization of RA treatment.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; East Asian People ; Severity of Illness Index ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy* ; Registries ; Stroke/drug therapy* ; Antirheumatic Agents/therapeutic use*

Objective:To investigate the relationship between psoriasis severity and clinical features in psoriatic arthritis (PsA).Methods:Patients were recruited from the Chinese REgistry of Psoriatic ARthritis (CREPAR) between December 2018 and June 2021, and data were collected including the baseline demographic characteristics, various clinical manifestations (including arthritis, nail disease, comorbidities), laboratory tests[including erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP)], health assessment questionnaire (HAQ). Body surface area (BSA) and psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) were selected for the tools of assessment of cutaneous psoriasis. Patients were divided to two groups, including the severe psoriasis group (BSA>10%) and the non-severe psoriasis group (BSA≤10%). Disease assessment included ankylosing spondylitis disease activity score (ASDAS), disease activity score 28 (DAS28) and disease activity in psoriatic arthritis (DAPSA).Results:1 074 eligible patients with PsA were recruited, and 106 (9.9%) had severe psoriasis. Compared with non-severe psoriasis group, the severe psoriasis group had more peripheral joint involvement (including patients with ever or current peripheral arthritis, 94.3% vs. 85.6%), more polyarticular joint involvement (including patients with current peripheral arthritis, 74.0% vs. 58.2%), more axial joint involvement (51.4% vs. 39.9%), more nail disease (72.6% vs. 61.4%), more frequency of smoking (20.2% vs. 18.7%), and higher proportion of hypertension (23.4% vs. 14.4%). In addition, the severe psoriasis group had higher level of ESR [33(10, 70) mm/1h vs. 20(9, 38) mm/1h] and CRP [18.6(5.0, 60.8) mg/L vs. 7.0(2.4, 18.1) mg/L], higher values of DAS28-ESR (4.5±1.7 vs. 3.7±1.5), DAS28-CRP (4.2±1.5 vs. 3.4±1.4), ASDAS-ESR (3.5±1.4 vs. 2.6±1.2), and ASDAS-CRP(3.4±1.6 vs. 2.5±1.2), higher scores of HAQ [0.6(0.1, 1.0) vs. 0.3(0.0, 0.8)].Conclusion:Patients with PsA with severe psoriasis bore a heavier disease burden. Therefore, clinicians were supposed to pay more attention to them. In addition to skin lesions, they should also focus on examination of other clinical manifestations, such as joints and nails.

A 50-year-old man was admitted to the Department of Rheumatology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital with rash for 6 months, and fever and hematuria for 5 months. The main clinical manifestations included fever, fatigue, purpura, hematuria and thrombocytopenia. He was positive for antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) and rheumatoid factor (RF), and had low complement levels. Initial blood culture, echocardiography and chest CT showed no signs of infection. Diagnosis of connective tissue disease was made initially. His disease improved under treatment with glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents, but relapsed when glucocorticoids were tapered. After admission, the diagnosis was reconsidered, and infective endocarditis was finally diagnosed with repeated positive blood cultures and vegetations detected by transesophageal echocardiography. Amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium were initiated, and surgery was performed. His symptoms finally recovered gradually.

The medical records of 11 pediatric patients undergoing resection of adrenal cortical carcinoma from January 2012 to January 2019 in our hospital were collected.Anesthesia management for resection of adrenal cortical carcinoma in children was analyzed and investigated.Anesthesia was induced by intravenously injecting atropine 0.01 mg/kg, dexamethasone 2-5 mg, propofol 2-3 mg/kg, sufentanil 0.3-0.5 μg/kg or fentanyl 1-2 μg/kg, rocuronium 0.5 mg/kg or cis-atracurium 0.1-0.2 mg/kg.Radial artery catheterization and femoral vein catheterization were performed under ultrasound guidance.Arterial blood pressure was continuously monitored.The esophageal thermometers probe was placed to continuously monitor body temperature.The catheter was placed to monitor urine volume.Intermittent positive pressure ventilation was performed after endotracheal intubation with the inspiratory oxygen fraction set 60%-100%, oxygen flow rate 2-3 L/min, tidal volume 7-10 ml/kg, ventilation frequency 20-26 times/min, inhalation/respiration ratio 1∶(1.5-2.0) and airway pressure 16-20 cmH 2O, and the end-tidal pressure of carbon dioxide was maintained at 35-45 mmHg.Anesthesia was maintained by inhaling 2%-4% sevoflurane and/or intravenously infusing propofol 0.10-0.15 mg·kg -1·min -1, and continuously infusing remifentanil 0.2-0.5 μg·kg -1·min -1.Hemodynamics was maintained within the normal range, and the bispectral index was maintained at 40-60 during the surgery.Before the tumor was completely removed, 5-10 mg/kg sodium hydrocortisone succinate was intravenously infused.At the end of the operation, sufentanil 0.75-1.00 μg·kg -1·d -1 or fentanyl 7.5-10.0 μg·kg -1·d -1 was continuously infused for postoperative analgesia until 48 h after operation.Operation was smoothly completed with stable anesthesia in all the pediatric patients.The tracheal tube was removed successfully after the operation.All children in this group were discharged from hospital and no death occurred.Anesthesia management for resection of adrenal cortical carcinoma required an appreciation of the clinical characteristics and perioperative pathophysiological changes.Paying attention to the changes in hormone levels during perioperative period and timely adjusting the children′s internal environment to maintain the stability of anesthesia and reduce the stress response were the keys to anesthesia management.

Objective:To explore the clinical profile and prognostic features of relapsing polychondritis (RP) with nervous system involvement.Methods:The clinical data of 28 RP patients with nervous system involvement admitted to Peking Union Medical College Hospital from December 2005 to November 2019 were collected and analyzed.Results:The median age of the patients was 50 years and 57.1% (16/28) were men. Patients with central nervous system involvement accounted for 92.9% (26/28) of the total. Common manifestations included headache (69.2%, 18/26), cognitive impairment (38.5%, 10/26), and mental disorders (38.5%, 10/26); only two cases had peripheral nervous system damage. Brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed that subcortical (13/18) and cortical (8/18) tissues were most affected. Cerebrospinal fluid tests showed that the median white blood cell count was 55×10 6/L, while the protein level was also slighted elevated ((0.54±0.17) g/L). All patients were treated with glucocorticoids, and 85.7% (24/28) of patients with immunosuppressants; 27 patients showed optimistic responses to the treatment, while 24 had recurrent courses. Cognitive dysfunction was the most common residual symptom. Follow-up data of 16 patients were available with an average follow-up time of 3.3 years. Ten of the patients were in stable condition and three patients died. Conclusions:Nervous system damage, especially limbic encephalitis and meningitis may present in course of RP. However, it is a challenge to diagnose for the non-specific clinical manifestations. Treatment with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants can lead to a favorable response.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic ultrasound guided biliary drainage (EUS-BD) in patients with biliary obstruction and surgically altered anatomies.Methods We collected data from 33 patients with biliary obstruction and surgically altered anatomies from January 2016 to January 2018 in Zhejiang University School of Medicine Affiliated Hangzhou First People's Hospital who underwent EUS-guided biliary drainage after unsuccessful ERCP.The operation success rate,clinical success rate,complication rate,hospital stay were studied.Results Of 33 patients,31 were successfully operated and stented using endoscopic ultrasound puncture:14 patients through the stomach,17 patients through the duodenum;8 patients by the rendezvous approach.The operation success rate was 93.9％.Of the 33 patients,28 had a significant decrease in jaundice,with a clinical success rate of 84.9％.Complications consisted of 2 patients with bleeding and 1 patient with cholangitis.These patients improved after conservative treatment.The complications rate was 9.1％.The hospital stay was (12.4±5.7) d.Conclusion EUS-BD can be the first choice for patients with biliary obstruction and surgically altered anatomy after failed endoscopic retrograde cholangiograohv in centers with exoertise in EUS-BD procedures.