Synthetic CT (sCT) generated from CBCT has proven effective in artifact reduction and CT number correction, facilitating precise radiation dose calculation. However, the quality of different regions in sCT images is severely imbalanced, with soft tissue region exhibiting notably inferior quality compared to others. To address this imbalance, we proposed a Multi-Task Attention Network (MuTA-Net) based on VGG-16, specifically focusing the enhancement of image quality in soft tissue region of sCT. First, we introduced a multi-task learning strategy that divides the sCT generation task into three sub-tasks: global image generation, soft tissue region generation and bone region segmentation. This approach ensured the quality of overall sCT image while enhancing the network's focus on feature extraction and generation for soft tissues region. The result of bone region segmentation task guided the fusion of sub-tasks results. Then, we designed an attention module to further optimize feature extraction capabilities of the network. Finally, by employing a results fusion module, the results of three sub-tasks were integrated, generating a high-quality sCT image. Experimental results on head and neck CBCT demonstrated that the sCT images generated by the proposed MuTA-Net exhibited a 12.52% reduction in mean absolute error in soft tissue region, compared to the best performance among the three comparative methods, including ResNet, U-Net, and U-Net++. It can be seen that MuTA-Net is suitable for high-quality sCT image generation and has potential application value in the field of CBCT guided adaptive radiation therapy.
Cone-Beam Computed Tomography/methods* ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods* ; Artifacts ; Algorithms ; Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; Neural Networks, Computer

The performance appraisal of tertiary public hospitals is key to their high-quality development. Since 2019, Children′s Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine has taken the following measures to leverage performance appraisal. Namely promoting medical technology innovation to enhance the diagnosis and treatment capabilities of difficult and critical diseases; Reasonably setting a target system, improving the performance appraisal mechanism of the hospital; Improving operational efficiency, enhancing the sense of gain by children patients; Building a high-quality talent pool, promoting sustainable development, and effectively promoting high-quality development of hospitals. These measures can provide reference for promoting the high-quality development of hospitals.

Objective To explore the association between frailty and muscle performances of hospitalized elder adults with coronary artery disease.Methods A total of 122 hospitalized patients aged 65-85 years old with coronary artery disease from Department of Geriatrics and Cardiology,Peking Union Medical College Hospital between December 2017 and March 2018 were enrolled in the study.A comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed to evaluate existing comorbidity and geriatric syndromes of the patients.Frailty was assessed using the Clinical Fraity Scale.The patients were classified as frail and non-frail,according to the scale.Muscle performances were assessed using grip strength,gait speed,etc.Whole body and appendicular skeletal muscle mass was detected with bioelectrical impedance analysis in patients with reduced grip strength or slowed gait speed.Appendicular skeletal muscle index (ASMI) was calculated.Results Among all subjects,28 were with frailty (23.0％) and 94 were without (77.0％).The frail patients were older [(76.7±5.4) years vs.(72.2±5.6)years],had higher Charlson comorbidity index [2.0(1.0,2.75)vs.1.0(0,2.0)],and higher proportion of malnutrition (14.29％ vs.1.06％),urinary incontinence (39.29％ vs.15.96％),using walking-aid (28.57％ vs.6.38％),and more kinds of taken drugs (8.1±3.0 vs.6.6±2.7),than the non-frail patients.Prealbumin levels [(207.8±60.0)mg/L vs.(234.3±45.4)mg/L] were lower,and highly sensitive C-reactive protein levels [(5.89±9.57)mg/L vs.(1.89±2.49)mg/L] were higher in the frail patients than in the non-frail patients (all P＜0.05).Compared with non-frail patients,the frail patients had poorer grip strength [(19.67±7)kg vs.(29.23±8.29)kg] and slower gait speed [(0.54±0.2)m/s vs.(0.91±0.22)m/s](all P＜0.001).Spearman rank correlation analyses showed that grip strength was positively correlated with the appendicular skeletal muscle mass(r =0.811),whole body skeletal muscle mass(r =0.74) and the ASMI (r =0.783),respectively.Conclusions The incidence of frailty among hospitalized older adults with coronary artery disease is high.Poor muscle performances were common in these patients.Assessment of frailty and muscle performances can help to evaluate the overall function of older adults with cardiovascular disease in a comprehensive way.

Objective To explore the short-term outcome of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) and open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) for pancreatic head cancer.Methods The retrospective cohort study was conducted.The clinicopathological data of 108 patients with pancreatic head cancer who were admitted to the Affiliated Tongji Hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology between July 2014 and July 2015 were collected.Among 108 patients,47 and 61 who respectively underwent LPD and OPD were allocated into LPD and OPD groups.Observation indicators:(1) intraoperative situations;(2) postoperative situations;(3) postoperative pathological situations;(4) follow-up and survival situations.Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was performed to detect chemotherapy and postoperative survival situations at 1 and 3 years postoperatively up to June 2018.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as x±s and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test.Comparison between groups of count data was analyzed using the chi-square test.Results (1) Intraoperative situations:operation time in the LPD and OPD groups was respectively (288±24)minutes and (265±29)minutes,with no statistically significant difference between groups (t=5.138,P＞0.05).Volume of intraoperative blood loss in the LPD and OPD groups was respectively (136±14)mL and (388±21)mL,with a statistically significant difference between groups (t=-7.297,P＜0.05).Cases with blood transfusion were respectively 3 and 7 iu the LPD and OPD groups,with no statistically significant difference between groups (x2 =0.325,P ＞ 0.05).(2) Postoperative situations:of 47 patients in the LPD group,16 with postoperative complications were improved by conservative treatment,including 7 with pancreatic fistula (5 with biochemical pancreatic fistula and 2 with grading B and C of pancreatic fistula);4 with delayed gastric emptying were cured by gastrointestinal decompression and gastric motility promoting treatment;2 with postoperative bleeding were improved by conservative treatment;2 with intraabdominal infection were improved by enhanced antibiotic therapy and transabdominal percutaneous drainagc;1 with biliary fistula was improved by transabdominal percutaneous drainage;there was no wound infection and perioperative death.Of 61 patients in the OPD group,28 with postoperative complications were improved by conservative treatment,including 12 with pancreatic fistula (9 with biochemical pancreatic fistula and 3 with grading B and C of pancreatic fistula);8 with delayed gastric emptying were cured by gastrointestinal decompression and gastric motility promoting treatment;3 with intra-abdominal infection were improved by enhanced antibiotic therapy and transabdominal percutaneous drainage;2 with postoperative bleeding were improved by conservative treatment;2 with wound infection were c ured by conservative treatment;1 with biliary fistula was improved by transabdominal percutaneous drainage;there was no perioperative death.There was no statistically significant difference in the cases with postoperative complications between groups (x2 =1.546,P＞ 0.05).Duration of hospital stay in the LPD and OPD groups was (13.6±2.1)days and (19.3 ±4.4)days,respectively,with a statistically significant difference (t =-4.354,P＜0.05).(3) Postoperative pathological situations:R0 resection rate was respectively 100.0％ (47/47) and 98.4％ (60/61) in the LPD and OPD groups,with no statistically significant difference (x2 =0,P＞0.05),and there was 1 patient with R1 resection in the OPD group.The total number of lymph node dissected in the LPD and OPD groups was respectively 19±4 and 13±4,with a statistically significant difference (t=-4.126,P＜0.05).The cases with high-and moderate-differentiated tumor and low-differentiated tumor (tumor differentiation),staging T1-T2 and T3-T4 (T stage),staging N0 and N1 (N stage),staging Ⅰ and Ⅱ-Ⅲ (TNM staging) and nerve or vascular invasion were respectively 35,12,28,19,20,27,16,31,21 in the LPD group and 50,11,36,25,36,25,14,47,32 in the OPD group,with no statistically significant difference (x2=0.891,0.003,2.882,1.628,0.643,P＞0.05).(4) Follow-up and survival situations:44 and 55 patients in the LPD and OPD group respectively underwent postoperative adjuvant therapy during the follow-up,with no statistically significant difference (x2=0,P＞0.05).The postoperative 1-year follow-up:47 patients in the LPD group were followed up,37 survived and 10 died;of 61 patients in the OPD group,3 lost to follow-up,and 58 were followed up (43 survived and 15 died);there was no statistically significant difference in survival between groups (x2=0.301,P＞0.05).The postoperative 3-year follow-up:of 47 patients in the LPD group,3 lost to follow-up,and 44 were followed up (21 survived and 23 died);of 61 patients in the OPD group,6 lost to follow-up,and 55 were followed up (23 survived and 32 died);there was no statistically significant difference in survival between groups (x2 =0.346,P＞0.05).Conclusion LPD is safe and feasible for pancreatic head cancer,with advantages of less bleeding,shorter duration of hospital stay and more total number of lymph node dissected,and its survival effect is equivalent to that of OPD.

Objective: To semi-quantify the postoperative complications occurred after laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy(LPD) using Clavien-Dindo score, thereafter exploring its impact factors. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the clinical data of 124 patients who had undergone LPD for periampullary tumor from June 2016 to June 2017 at Department of Biliary Pancreatic Surgery, Affiliated Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology were collected.Malignancy was confirmed based on postoperative pathological reports.Postoperative complications were semi-quantitated using Clavien-Dindo score.Multivariable logistic regression model was applied to explore the factors related to severe complications(Clavien-Dindo Ⅲb-Ⅴ). Results: Of the 124 patients, there were 64 males(51.6%) and 60 females(48.4%), with age of 57 years(range, 23-82 years). In total, postoperative complications occurred in 30 patients(24.2%). Among the 30 patients, 4 patients suffered Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅰ, 18 patients(14.5%) suffered Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅱ, 6 patients(4.8%) suffered Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅲa, 1 patient(0.1%) suffered Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅳb, and 1 patient(0.1%) suffered Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅴ.Intraabdominal hemorrhage occurred in 8 patients, pancreatic fistula was found in 10 patients(7 patients had biochemical leakage and 3 of them had grade B pancreatic fistula), both biliary fistula and gastrointestinal fistula were found in 1 patient.Abdominal infection occurred in 10 patients, both liver failure and renal failure occurred in one patient.Moreover, arrhythmia was found in two patients, and mortality occurred in one patient.Five patients suffered multiple complications.Univariable analysis showed that postoperative complications were associated with body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA) score, intraoperative blood transfusion, and pancreatic texture(P<0.05). In multivariable logistic regression, ASA grade Ⅲ, intraoperative blood transfusion, and pancreatic softness were independently related to postoperative complications after LPD(P<0.05). Conclusions Clavien-Dindo score is feasible to be applied in management of patients with LPD.ASA score, texture of pancreas, and intraoperative blood transfusion were independently associated with postoperative complications.

Objective To explore the expression of miR-548j-5p in pancreatic cancer and its effect on the invasion of pancreatic cancer. Methods Tissue samples of 16 patients with pancreatic cancer who received treatment in Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science &Technology between January 2016 and January 2017 were collected. There were 8 males and 8 females, aged from 41 to 62, including 7 cases with an age of ≤50 and 9 cases with an age of >50. The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the local ethical committee approval was received. The expression of miR-548j-5p in pancreatic cancer and adjacent tissues was detected by RT-PCR. PANC-1 cells were transfected by mimic and inhibitor of miR-548j-5p to construct PANC-1 cells with over-expression and low-expression of miR-548j-5p. And in control group, PANC-1 cells were transfected with empty plasmid Ctrl. The effect of miR-548j-5p on PANC-1 invasion was detected by Transwell assay, and its effect on PANC-1 metastasis was evaluated by wound scratch assay. Comparison of three groups was conducted by one-way analysis of variance and LSD-t test. Results The median relative expression of miR-548j-5p in pancreatic cancer was 0.35(0.03-4.47), significantly lower than 4.30 (0.04-65.55) in adjacent tissues (Z=-2.689, P<0.05).Transwell assay results showed that the average number of cells penetrating membrane was(58±34) in miR-548j-5p over-expression group, significantly lower than (231±61) in control group (LSD-t=-2.852, P<0.05);and it was(491±149)in miR-548j-5p low-expression group,significantly higher than that in control group (LSD-t=4.313, P<0.05). The wound scratch assay results showed that the wound scratch healing rate was (20±8)% in miR-548j-5p over-expression group, significantly lower than (38±6)% in control group (LSD-t=-3.759, P<0.05); and it was (53±6)% in miR-548j-5p low-expression group, significantly higher than that in control group (LSD-t=2.946, P<0.05). Conclusions Low expression of miR-548j-5p is observed in pancreatic cancer. Over expression of miR-548j-5p can decrease the invasive and metastatic ability of pancreatic cancer.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of arterial first approach in laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD).Methods The retrospective cohort study was conducted.The clinicopathological data of 181 patients with pancreatic head and periampullay tumors who underwent LPD in the Affiliated Tongji Hospital of Huazhong University of Science and Technology between October 2014 and December 2016 were collected.Among 181 patients,96 using arterial first approach and 85 using traditional approach were respectively allocated into the experimental group and the control group.Surgery was applied to patients in the same doctors' team,and there were the same extent of surgical resection,range of lymph node dissection and digestive tract reconstruction.Observation indicators:(1) intraoperative situation;(2) postoperative situation;(3) followup and survival situations.Follow-up using outpatient examination and telephone interview was performed to detect the tumor-free survival up to February 2017.Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as x±s,and comparison between groups was analyzed using the t test.Measurement data with skewed distribution were described as M (range).Comparison of count data were analyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.Results (1) Intraoperative situation:all the patients underwent successful LPD.Overall operation time and time of digestive tract reconstruction were respectively (268 ± 20) minutes,(33 ± 10) minutes in the experimental group and (285±25)minutes,(30± 17)minutes in the control group,with no statistically significant difference between 2 groups (t =8.529,2.741,P＞ 0.05).Time of tumor resection with superior mesenteric venous invasion were respectively (216± 13)minutes and (264±22)minutes in the experimental and control groups,with a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (t=41.826,P＜0.05).Time of tumor resection without superior mesenteric venous invasion were respectively (224± 14) minutes and (215±21) minutes in the experimental and control groups,with no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (t =7.423,P＞ 0.05).Volumes of intraoperative blood loss and blood transfusion were respectively (99± 16)mL,(1.3±0.8)U in the experimental group and (131±27)mL,(2.8±1.2)U in the control group,with statistically significant differences between the 2 groups (t =3.670,0.562,P＜ 0.05).Five and 8 patients had intraoperative blood transfusion in the experimental and control groups,showing no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (x2=1.195,P＞0.05).(2) Postoperative situation:time of drainage tube removal and duration of hospital stay were respectively (5.8±2.4)days,(18.3±6.3) days in the experimental group and (6.3±3.6)days,(19.6±7.1) days in the control group,with no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (t =0.498,1.305,P＞0.05).Eleven patients in the experimental group had postoperative early complications,including 8with grade A pancreatic fistula (4 combined with diarrhea,2 combined with biliary fistula,1 combined with delayed gastric emptying and 1 with single pancreatic fistula),3 with grade B pancreatic fistula (2 combined with intra-abdominal hemorrhage and 1 combined with intra-abdominal infection).One patient with intra-abdominal hemorrhage in the experimental group died after treatment failure.Twelve patients in the control group had postoperative early complications,including 6 with grade A pancreatic fistula (2 combined with biliary fistula,2 combined with delayed gastric emptying,1 combined with diarrhea,1 combined with digestive tract hemorrhage),3 with grade B pancreatic fistula and intra-abdominal hemorrhage (2 combined with infection,including 1 death) and 3 with diarrhea.Other patients with complications were cured by symptomatic and supportive treatment.There was no statistically significant difference in overall complications between the 2 groups (x2 =0.287,P＞0.05).Results of postoperative pathological examination showed that case with R0 resection was 93 and 76 in the experimental and control groups,with a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (x2 =4.057,P＜0.05).(3) Follow-up and survival situations:179 patients were followed up for 2-28 months,with a median time of 14 months.Postoperative 6-month tumor-free survival rate was 92.7％ (89/96) and 88.2％(75/85) in the experimental and control groups,with no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (x2=1.060,P＞0.05).Conclusion Arterial first approach in LPD could significantly shorten the time of tumor resection of patients with superior mesenteric artery invading pancreatic head and periampullay region,significantly reduce the volumes of intraoperative blood loss and blood transfusion,and increase the rate of R0 resection.