Methods: Cervical radiographs were analyzed. EOP hyperplasia was classified into three subtypes with standardized length measurements. Variables encompassed demographics, ONL-related indices, and sagittal parameters. Subtype comparisons and multivariate regression analyses (with EOP length as dependent variable) were conducted. Results: Analysis of 187 CSM patients (64.2% male) identified gender-specific patterns: males exhibited greater EOP length (9.4±6.8 mm vs. 4.6±3.4 mm, p<0.001). Type III EOP demonstrated male predominance (82.4% vs. type I 31.8%, type II 51.4%; p<0.001), with associated longer hyperplasia length (11.6±6.6 mm vs. type II 5.1±1.9 mm, p<0.001). Type III EOP was associated with higher ONL prevalence (type III 64.8% vs. type I 45.5%, type II 41.9%; p=0.010) and longer ONL osteophyte length (type III 18.8±9.8 mm vs. type I 14.2±8.1 mm, type II 14.2±9.4 mm; p=0.046). Multivariate regression confirmed male sex (β=–3.82, p=0.009), ONL osteophyte length (β=0.16, p=0.017), T1 slope (β=0.27, p=0.041), and spino-cranial angle (β=–0.19, p=0.009) as factors independently associated with EOP length (adjusted R²=0.382). Conclusions Severe EOP hyperplasia exhibits a male-predominant distribution pattern and demonstrates significant radiological associations with ONL and cervical sagittal imbalance in CSM patients. These findings advocate for EOP evaluation in clinical evaluations to identify high-risk biomechanical profiles.

Objective:To screen the key genetic,diagnostic and therapeutic targets of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)patients by using microarray datasets and Mendelian randomization(MR)method,and to provide the evidence for clinical diagnosis and treatment of COPD.Methods:Four COPD gene expression profile datasets were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database.The data were processed and normalized using R software,and differentially expressed genes(DEGs)were screened.MR analysis was performed to explore the causal relationship between COPD and expression quantitative trait loci(eQTL),intersection with DEGs was taken to identify potential key targets.Gene Set Enrichment Analysis(GSEA),Gene Ontology(GO)functional enrichment analysis,and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)signaling pathway enrichment analysis were conducted to investigate the functional roles and pathways of the key targets,external datasets were used to validate their expression.Results:A total of 1 571 DEGs were screened,including 820 upregulated genes and 751 downregulated genes.MR analysis identified 286 COPD-related genes,and intersection with DEGs revealed 3 upregulated genes:diacylglycerol kinase gamma(DGKG),neurofilament heavy polypeptide(NEFH),and Fc receptor like B(FCRLB);and 6 downregulated genes:STEAP4 metalloreductase(STEAP4),pleckstrin homology domain containing family F member 2(PLEKHF2),CD3d molecule(CD3D),transgelin 2(TAGLN2),tripartite motif containing 22(TRIM22),and ribosomal protein L9(RPL9).The biological function analysis results indicated that these genes were mainly involved in pathways such as iron ion transport into the cells,oxidoreductase activity,primary immunodeficiency,and Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation.The MR analysis results confirmed the causal relationship between these targets and COPD.The external validation results showed that compared with healthy controls,the expression level of FCRLB in COPD samples was significantly increased(P<0.01),while the expression levels of CD3D and RPL9 were significantly decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),which was consistent with the MR analysis results,highlighting the reliability of this study.Conclusion:DGKG,NEFH,FCRLB,STEAP4,PLEKHF2,CD3D,TAGLN2,TRIM22,and RPL9 may serve as important regulatory factors and clinical diagnostic/therapeutic targets in the pathogenesis of COPD,providing clues for early screening,diagnosis,and targeted treatment of COPD.

Methods: The median sagittal diameter and transverse diameter of the spinal canal from C2 to C7 were measured on CT images. The ratio of the median sagittal diameter to the transverse diameter was calculated. Accordingly, the spinal canal shape of each segment was classified into four, and the specific criteria of lunar phase classification were determined through linear discriminant analysis based on the ratio of the median sagittal diameter to the transverse diameter. The inter-rater reliability of the classification was explored using Kappa coefficients. Finally, the morphology of the different segments of the cervical spinal canal in healthy volunteers was revised and compared. Results: According to the ratio of the median sagittal diameter and the transverse diameter of the cervical spinal canal, the lunar phase classification of the cervical bony spinal canal was determined as follows: full-moon >0.65, 0.55< convex-moon ≤0.65, 0.46≤ quarter-moon ≤0.55, and residual-moon <0.46. The Kappa values of C2–C7 were 0.851, 0.958, 0.823, 0.927, 0.793, and 0.946, and the Kappa value of all C2–C7 segments was 0.854 that mainly presented two forms of full-moon (76.5%) and convex-moon (23.0%). A quarter-moon spinal canal was mainly distributed in C3, C4, C5, and C6; a residual-moon spinal canal was mainly distributed in C4 and C5; and the morphological distribution of C4 and C5 were similar (p>0.05). The frequency of the spinal canal of the residual-moon type was the highest, and the full-moon (6.5%) and residual-moon (7.5%) types of C7 were rare. Conclusions The morphological classification of the cervical spinal canal was established to present anatomical variations. The classification showed good inter-rater reliability.

Although the artificial intelligence diagnosis technology of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)is constantly developing,the existing intelligent syndrome differentiation models can only output the diagnosis results and cannot display the reasoning process of TCM diagnosis.They do not have the interpretability of TCM diagnostic knowledge and are difficult to truly reflect the process of TCM's syndrome differentiation.This can be a long-standing problem that has puzzled the academic community.This article elaborates on the development process and technical characteristics of intelligent diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine,explores multiple key technologies and bottlenecks in current research in reasoning of TCM's Syndrome Differentiation,and factors affecting diagnosis.A novel intelligent diagnosis model architecture that can infer and explain the process of TCM'ssyndrome differentiation was proposed,and the implementation process of the model and algorithm was explained,and detailed data instance analysis was conducted.This article will provide new methods for the development of intelligent syndrome differentiation of TCM and open up new research ideas for clinical decision-making assistance of TCM.

Objective:To explore the degree of fear of pain in bum patients and analyze the related factors of fear of pain.Methods:519 cases of bum inpatients were selected and investigated by using the Fear of Pain Ques-tionnaire(FPQ),the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire(MCMQ)and the Family APGAR Index(APGAR).Re-sults:The score of fear of pain in burn patients was(95.5±16.3).The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that the score of fear of pain was positively correlated with male,moderate and severe burn and hospitaliza-tion time over 4 weeks(β=0.22,0.35,0.41),and negatively correlated with the scores of family function of the Family APGAR Index and coping style of the Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire(β=-0.29,-0.16).Con-clusion:Male patients with moderate and severe bums who have been hospitalized for more than 4 weeks are more likely to have a higher level of fear of pain,and burn patients with better family function and coping style may have a lower degree of fear of pain.

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to analyze the chronological changes in postoperative complications in surgical ulcerative colitis patients over the past decade in China and to investigate the potential parameters that contributed to the changes. Methods: Ulcerative colitis patients who underwent surgery during 2008–2017 were retrospectively enrolled from 13 hospitals in China. Postoperative complications were compared among different operation years. Risk factors for complications were identified by logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 446 surgical ulcerative colitis patients were analyzed. Fewer short-term complications (24.8% vs. 41.0%, P=0.001) and more laparoscopic surgeries (66.4% vs. 25.0%, P<0.001) were found among patients who received surgery during 2014–2017 than 2008–2013. Logistic regression suggested that independent protective factors against short-term complications were a higher preoperative body mass index (odds ratio [OR], 0.870; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.785–0.964; P=0.008), laparoscopic surgery (OR, 0.391; 95% CI, 0.217–0.705; P=0.002) and elective surgery (OR, 0.213; 95% CI, 0.067–0.675; P=0.009). The chronological decrease in short-term complications was associated with an increase in laparoscopic surgery. Conclusions Our data revealed a downward trend of short-term postoperative complications among surgical ulcerative colitis patients in China during the past decade, which may be due to the promotion of minimally invasive techniques among Chinese surgeons.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic efficacy of MRI-based or CT-based measurements and the combined evaluation methods for preoperative bone quality assessment in patients with cervical degenerative diseases.Methods:Patients who underwent spine surgery for cervical degenerative diseases at the Department of Orthopedics, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University from September 2020 to March 2022 with available preoperative X-ray, CT, MRI and dule energy X-Ray absorptiometry (DEXA) data were included in this study. Vertebral bone quality score (VBQ) based on MRI T1-weightedimages and CT Hounsfiled unit (HU) values of the cervical spine were measured, and a combined diagnostic formula based on the binary logistic regression was constructed. The patients were divided into normal bone mass (T≥-1.0) and osteopenia/osteoporosis groups (T<-1.0). The student's t-test and Chi-square test were performed for comparisons between groups. The Pearson correlation coefficient was also used to investigate the correlation between DEXA-T scores, cervical VBQ and CT HU values. In addition, receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were plotted to explore the diagnostic efficacy of VBQ, CT HU and their combined diagnosis. Meanwhile, the corresponding sensitivity and specificity were obtained. Results:A total of 71 patients were included in this study (17 in the normal group and 54 in the osteopenia/osteoporosis group). The student's t-test showed that VBQ (2.90±0.70 vs. 3.83±0.83, t=4.23, P<0.001) and CT HU values (370.26±85.38 vs. 295.20±67.96, t=3.73, P=0.002) were significantly different between the two groups. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for VBQ and CT values of the cervical spine were 0.81 and 0.75, respectively, and the AUC for the combined diagnostic value constructed on the basis of both was 0.85. Applying VBQ scores alone had a diagnostic sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 70%, and the combined diagnosis with VBQ and CT HU had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 75%. Person correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between DEXA T value, cervical VBQ value and CT HU value. The detailed formula was: DEXA T score=-0.63×cervical VBQ+0.64 ( r=-0.55, P<0.001), CT HU value=-40.20×cervical VBQ+458.40 ( r=-0.45, P<0.001), DEXA T score=0.006×CT HU-3.47 ( r=0.45, P<0.001). Conclusion:This study confirmed the feasibility of using cervical VBQ values, CT HU values and combined diagnostics for preoperative bone density screening in patients with degenerative cervical spine diseases. This method allows surgeons to perform an initial preoperative bone density screening based on the patient's existing imaging data, and thus could aid in confirming the indication and scheme of surgery. The method could be a powerful tool for preoperative bone density assessment screening in patients with cervical degenerative diseases.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between paraspinal muscle atrophy, morphological changes of facet joints and adjacent segment disease (ASDis) after lumbar fusion operation.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted among 195 patients who underwent posterior lumbar fusion again for ASDis at this institution from January 2014 to December 2020, including 29 patients with ASDis whose initial surgical fusion segment was L 4,5. According to Roussouly's staging, there were 5 cases of type I, 9 cases of type II, 10 cases of type III, and 5 cases of type IV. Another 29 cases were selected from patients without ASDis after lumbar fusion as a control group. The control group was paired 1∶1 with the ASDis group according to gender, fusion segment, and Roussouly typing of the lumbar spine. The cross-sectional area (CSA) and fat infiltration (FI) of paravertebral muscle, facet joint angle (F-J) and pedicle facet (P-F) angle before the first (second) operation were measured and compared between the two groups. Then logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of ASDis after posterior lumbar fusion. Finally, the receiver operation characteristic (ROC) curve was described, and the area under the curve (AUC) and cut-off point were calculated. At the same time, the paraspinal muscle atrophy before the second operation in ASDis group was measured. Results:The average follow-up time of 98 patients was 59.25±6.38 months (range, 49-73 months). The average body mass index (BMI) of ASDis group was 24.76±3.64 kg/m 2, which was higher than that in control group (22.24±2.92 kg/m 2) ( t=2.481, P=0.041). The average CSA and relative cross-sectional area (rCSA) of paraspinal muscle in ASDis group were 3 214.32± 421.15 mm 2 and 1.69±0.36 respectively, which were less than 3 978.91±459.87 mm 2 and 2.26±0.29 in control group ( t=10.22, P=0.012; t=9.47, P=0.038). The FI degree of paraspinal muscle in ASDis group (21.95%±5.89%) was significantly higher than that in control group (14.64%±7.11%) ( t=7.32, P=0.002). The F-J angle in ASDis group was 35.06°±3.45°, which was less than 38.39°±4.67° in control group ( t=4.76, P=0.027). The P-F angle in ASDis group was 117.39°±8.13°, which was greater than 111.32°±4.78° in control group ( t=5.25, P=0.031). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that higher BMI ( OR=1.34, P=0.038), smaller rCSA of paraspinal muscle ( OR=0.02, P=0.017) and higher FI of paraspinal muscle ( OR=1.58, P=0.032) were the risk factors of postoperative ASDis. The ROC curve showed that the AUC of BMI was 0.680 and the cut-off point was 22.58 kg/m 2; The AUC of the FI of paraspinal muscle was 0.716 and the cut-off point was 15.69%; The AUC of rCSA of paraspinal muscle was 0.227 and the cut-off point was 1.92. For ASDis patients, the paraspinal muscle before the second operation had a higher degree of FI (25.47%±6.59% vs. 21.95%±5.89%, t=3.99, P=0.042) and a smaller rCSA (1.52±0.28 vs. 1.69±0.36, t=3.85, P=0.038) than that before the first operation. The difference between the FI degree of paraspinal muscle before the second operation and the first operation was negatively correlated with the occurrence time of ASDis ( r=-0.53, P=0.039) , and the difference of rCSA was positively correlated with the occurrence time of ASDis ( r=0.64, P=0.043) . Conclusion:When BMI >22.58 kg/m 2, FI of paraspinal muscle >15.69%, and rCSA of paraspinal muscle <1.92, it suggests that ASDis is more likely to occur after operation. And the more obvious paraspinal muscle atrophy after the first operation, the earlier ASDis may occur. Morphological changes of facet joints cannot be used as an index to predict the occurrence of ASDis.

Objective:To investigate the influence of interbody cage height during oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) on lumbar biomechanics with different degrees of degeneration and to provide a reference for cage choice.Methods:The finite element model of normal lower lumbar spine (L 3-S 1) was built and validated, then constructed three different degenerative segments in L 3, 4, and the cages with different height (8, 10,12, 14 mm) were implanted into L 4, 5 disc. All the twelve models were loaded with pure moment of 7.5 N·m to produce flexion, extension, lateral bending and axial rotation motions on lumbar spine, and the effects of cage height on range of motion (ROM), intervertebral pressure in adjacent segments and stress in facet joints were investigated. Results:The ROM of adjacent segments and the maximum stress of intervertebral discs increased with the increase of cage height, but this trend was not obvious in moderate and severe degeneration groups. After implantation of 4 different height cages (8, 10, 12, 14 mm), the ROM of L 3, 4 segment reached the maximum during extension. The ROM of mild degeneration group was 2.68 °, 2.71 °, 2.94 °, 2.98 °, moderate degeneration group was 2.33°, 2.37°, 2.41°, 2.49°, and severe degeneration group was 1.94 °, 1.99 °, 2.14 °, 2.21 °. The stress of L 3, 4 intervertebral disc reached the maximum during right bending. The maximum stress of L 3, 4 intervertebral disc was 23.95 MPa, 24.60 MPa, 24.90 MPa and 25.34 MPa in mild group, 25.57 MPa, 25.60 MPa, 25.82 MPa and 25.89 MPa in moderate group, and 25.95 MPa, 25.99 MPa, 26.48 MPa and 27.13 MPa in severe group. The maximum stress of L 3, 4 facet joint was 15.87 MPa, 15.78 MPa, 16.29 MPa and 16.43 MPa in mild group, 15.97 MPa, 16.31 MPa, 16.53 MPa and 16.79 MPa in moderate group, and 16.17 MPa, 16.49 MPa, 16.95 MPa and 17.35 MPa in severe group. Conclusion:For patients with mild lumbar degeneration requiring OLIF surgery, the intervertebral height of the surgical segment should not be overstretched. But for patients with moderate to severe lumbar degenerative disease who need to undergo OLIF surgery, it is recommended that the cage height be 0-2 mm higher than the original intervertebral space height.

Fusion surgery has been an effective modality for the treatment of spinal disorders for more than 100 years. With the increasing understanding of the disease and the increasing maturity of surgical techniques, lumbar fusion has become more widely performed and its efficacy has been conclusively proven. However, fusion surgery inevitably disrupts the original physiologic motion of the spine and limits segmental motion, resulting in a significant increase in disc and joint protrusion stress in adjacent segments. When a newly identified degenerative change on imaging is present in an adjacent segment or an existing degeneration is more aggravated, this is known as adjacent segment degeneration. When clinical symptoms such as pain and numbness in the lower extremities are present that are consistent with degeneration, this is known as adjacent segment disease. Real world studies (RWS) have become a major focus in medical research in recent years. Since it is closer to clinical practice and more practical for decision-making compared with randomized controlled trail (RCT), it is gaining importance in clinical practice. By searching major national and international databases, this article provides a review of risk factors as well as advances in the treatment of lumbar adjacent segment disease in RWS. According to the retrieved literature, there are many factors that contribute to the development and progression of adjacent segment degeneration and disease, which are mainly divided into patient-related factors and surgery-related factors. In general, patient age, weight, spinal-pelvic sagittal parameters, and internal diseases influence the progression of adjacent segment degeneration. Surgery-related risk factors include the number of segments operated on, the surgical approach, interference with adjacent segments, and whether the spinal-pelvicsagittal imbalance is corrected. To prevent the development of adjacent segment disease, patients can slow the progression of adjacent segment degeneration by reducing their own weight and controlling their internal diseases. The physician can also avoid the influence of surgery-related factors through adequate surgical planning and careful intraoperative management. At the same time, surgeries may be performed in patients who have developed adjacent segmental disease and for whom conservative treatment has failed. The current revision surgical approaches include endoscopic simple decompression and posterior decompression with extended internal fixation.Short-term RWS revealed that the efficacy of endoscopic treatment of adjacent spondylosis might be equivalent to re-fusion internal fixation surgery. Studies with large samples and long-term follow-up are still needed to guide the treatment of adjacent segment disease in the future, in order to improve clinical decision-making.