Objective:To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of robot-assisted coronary artery bypass(RACAB).Methods:We retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes from 252 consecutive patients who underwent RACAB in our center between April 2021 and August 2023. The internal mammary artery(IMA) was harvested using the skeletonized technique with the assistance of the robotic system. Then, graft-to-target vessel anastomoses were performed via a 4-6 cm left fifth intercostal thoracotomy. Coronary angiography or coronary CTA was routinely performed before discharge.Results:149 patients(59.1%) underwent multi-vessel coronary bypass. 140 patients(55.6%) underwent total arterial bypass grafting, with 131 patients(52.0%) undergoing RACAB with in situ bilateral IMA. IMA harvesting failed in 6 patients(1.6%). One patient(0.4%) was assisted by extracorporeal circulation, and 5 patients(2.0%) underwent re-thoracotomy postoperatively. The patency rate of grafts was 96.6%(449/465). The 12-month and 24-month survival rate were 97.8% and 96.5% respectively; The 12-month and 24-month MACCE-free survival rate were 95.2% and 92.6%, respectively.Conclusion:RACAB is safe and feasible. With the assistance of the robotic system, in situ bilateral IMA can be obtained and bypassed to all target vessels territory. Extended follow-up is warranted.

Objective:To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of robot-assisted coronary artery bypass(RACAB).Methods:We retrospectively analyzed the clinical outcomes from 252 consecutive patients who underwent RACAB in our center between April 2021 and August 2023. The internal mammary artery(IMA) was harvested using the skeletonized technique with the assistance of the robotic system. Then, graft-to-target vessel anastomoses were performed via a 4-6 cm left fifth intercostal thoracotomy. Coronary angiography or coronary CTA was routinely performed before discharge.Results:149 patients(59.1%) underwent multi-vessel coronary bypass. 140 patients(55.6%) underwent total arterial bypass grafting, with 131 patients(52.0%) undergoing RACAB with in situ bilateral IMA. IMA harvesting failed in 6 patients(1.6%). One patient(0.4%) was assisted by extracorporeal circulation, and 5 patients(2.0%) underwent re-thoracotomy postoperatively. The patency rate of grafts was 96.6%(449/465). The 12-month and 24-month survival rate were 97.8% and 96.5% respectively; The 12-month and 24-month MACCE-free survival rate were 95.2% and 92.6%, respectively.Conclusion:RACAB is safe and feasible. With the assistance of the robotic system, in situ bilateral IMA can be obtained and bypassed to all target vessels territory. Extended follow-up is warranted.

The diagnosis and treatment resources for rare diseases in China are highly imbalanced. The basic diagnosis and treatment capabilities are weak, the diagnosis period for patients is long, and the rates of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are relatively high. The establishment of a hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system is the inevitable approach to enhancing the diagnosis and treatment standards of rare diseases. Currently, the implementation of the domestic hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system for rare diseases still confronts numerous challenges, such as ambiguous referral standards and processes of primary medical institutions, and ineffective information interaction among institutions at all levels. Thus, it is essential to facilitate high-level information construction for the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases. This paper explores the process of constructing a multidisciplinary joint remote diagnosis and treatment platform and a health management platform through informatization, with the hope of establishing two closed loops of digital diagnosis and treatment services and health follow-up management for patients with rare diseases, as well as achieving timely diagnosis and lifelong health management for patients. It integrates and optimizes auxiliary diagnostic tools, promotes the rapid dissemination of rare disease diagnosis and treatment experiences to the grassroots, enhances the information construction level of the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system, and endeavors to address the practical predicament of weak diagnosis and treatment capabilities of rare diseases in grassroots medical institutions. Additionally, this paper proposes an essential approach for multi-dimensional independent innovation to guide the popularization of efficient and high-quality rare disease diagnosis and treatment services. By encompassing innovating the rare disease diagnosis and treatment collaboration network and multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment model, facilitating the application of the latest biomedical and informatics technologies to the grassroots, and constructing a national intelligent data platform for rare disease innovation, a new model for rare disease services with Chinese characteristics will be established. This will significantly enhance the medical treatment level of rare diseases in China and strive for more benefits for patients.

Cervical spinal cord injury without fracture-dislocation (CSCIWFD) in adults is a condition in which the cervical spinal cord is injured by an external force to the cervical spine, but the cervical spine itself is not fractured or dislocated on X-ray films or CT. Since CSCIWFD is caused by a second-strike injury to the body, with a compression formed by spinal cord edema and ligamentous hematoma, signs of neurological function impairment that may not appear until several days after the injury which often cause incomplete or complete paralysis, thus resulting in chronic pain and loss of work. Inadequate treatment in the early stages of injury can exacerbate delayed neurological deficits, seriously offecting the patients' quality of life and life expectancy. Currently, there are problems related to the diagnosis and treatment of CSCIWFD, such as the of clinical manifestations varying severity, complex mechanism of injury, high rates of missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, and controversial treatment methods. Besides, standardized diagnostic and treatment regimens, multimodal diagnostic approach, and individualized treatment plans should be adopted to improve the diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic effects and maximize the prognosis of patients. In this regard, the authors discussed the clinical characteristics and key issues requiring urgent attention in the diagnosis and treatment of CSCIWFD to provide a reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

ObjectiveTo explore the effect and regulatory mechanism of notoginseng total saponins on apoptosis of mammary gland cells in rats with mammary gland hyperplasia. MethodSixty female non-pregnant SD rats were randomly divided into control group， model group， Notoginseng total saponins low-， medium- and high-dose （10， 20， 40 mg·kg^-1， respectively） groups and tamoxifen group （1.8 mg·kg^-1）， 10 rats per group. Rat model of mammary gland hyperplasia was established by intramuscular injection of estradiol benzoate and progesterone. Oral administration was performed according to the experimental dose of each group， once a day for 30 consecutive days. The rats in the control group and the model group were given equal volume of normal saline by gavage every day. After administration， the diameter of the second pair of nipples of the rats was measured with vernier calipers， and breast tissue samples were collected and stained with hematoxylin and eosin （HE） to observe the pathological changes. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of apoptosis regulators B-cell lymphoma-2 （Bcl-2）-associated X （Bax） and Bcl-2， and Western blot was conducted to detect the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin （PI3K/Akt/mTOR） signaling pathway-related proteins. ResultCompared with the control group， the model group had increased diameter of the second pair of nipples （P<0.05）， elevated volume of mammary lobules and number of acinus， diffuse mammary gland hyperplasia， and up-regulated expression of Bcl-2 protein， increased ratio of p-PI3K/PI3K， p-Akt/Akt， p-mTOR/mTOR （P<0.05） and decreased expression of Bax in the mammary gland （P<0.05）. Compared with the conditions in the model group， the diameter of the second pair of nipples of the rats in the notoginseng total saponins low-， medium- and high-dose groups and tamoxifen group was decreased （P<0.05）， and the number of mammary lobules and acinus and the amount of secretions were reduced. In addition， the mammary gland hyperplasia was alleviated， and a decrease was observed in the expression of Bcl-2 protein and the ratio of p-PI3K/PI3K， p-Akt/Akt， p-mTOR/mTOR （P<0.05）， and an increase in the expression of Bax （P<0.05）. ConclusionNotoginseng total saponins could improve mammary gland hyperplasia in rats， and its mechanism was related to regulating PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway and promoting apoptosis of mammary gland cells.

Osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) is mostly noted in the elderly with many comorbidities and most of them are treated by non-surgical treatments such as analgesia, antiosteoporosis or rehabilitation and by minimally invasive vertebroplasty. However, when there is instability, neurological dysfunction or severe kyphosis, open surgery is still necessary. The authors discuss the relevant issues in the indications, surgical approaches, results and complications of open surgery for OVF so as to provide a reference for better clinical treatment.

Objective:To confirm the efficacy and safety of cinepazide maleate injection in acute ischemic stroke patients with obvious motor function deficit.Methods:This study is a subgroup analysis of multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase Ⅳ clinical trial. A total 812 patients of acute ischemic stroke with obvious limb motor deficit [motor function of limbs score in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) ≥4] were enrolled in this subgroup analysis. Patients received either cinepazide maleate injection or placebo. The treatment period was 14 days and follow-up was 90 days. The efficacy endpoints included the proportions of patients with a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score ≤2, mRS score ≤1 and Barthel Index <95 on day 90. Safety was evaluated by recording all adverse events, monitoring vital signs, laboratory parameters and electrocardiogram.Results:A total of 732 patients were involved in the final efficacy analysis (361 in cinepazide maleate group and 371 in control group). The baseline limb motor function score of NIHSS was 5.23±1.43 in the cinepazide maleate group whereas 5.20±1.36 in the control group. Logistic regression analysis showed that following treatment for 90 days, the proportion of patients with a mRS score ≤2 was significantly higher in the cinepazide maleate group than in the control group [56.0% (202/361) vs 44.2% (164/371), OR=0.60, 95% CI 0.44-0.82, P=0.002]. The proportion of patients with a mRS score ≤1 was higher in the cinepazide maleate group than in the control group [43.3% (139/361) vs 35.2% (118/371), OR=0.69, 95% CI 0.50-0.97, P=0.031]. The proportion of patients with a Barthel Index <95 on day 90 was significantly lower in the cinepazide maleate group than in the control group [45.2% (145/361) vs 55.2% (185/371), OR=0.64, 95% CI 0.46-0.88, P=0.007]. During the treatment and follow-up period, the incidence of the most common adverse events in the cinepazide maleate group was 50.4% (199/395). Constipation and abnormal liver function were more common, but there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion:Cinepazide maleate injection is superior to placebo in improving neurological function and activities of daily living, reducing disability, and promoting functional recovery and safe in patients with acute ischemic stroke with obvious limb motor deficit.

Objective:To investigate the blood pressure change in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and hypertension treated with cinepazide maleate injection.Methods:This was a subgroup analysis of post-marketing clinical confirmation study of cinepazide maleate injection for acute ischemic stroke: a randomized, double-blinded, multicenter, placebo-parallel controlled trial, which conducted in China from August 2016 to February 2019. Eligible patients fulfilled the inclusive criteria of acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores of 7-25. The primary endpoints were mean blood pressure of AIS patients treated with cinepazide maleate or control, which were assessed during the treatment period (14 days), and the proportion of the patients with normal blood pressure was analyzed after the treatment period. Furthermore, a subgroup analysis was performed to investigate a possible effect of the history of hypertension on outcomes.Results:This analysis included 809 patients with hypertension. There was no significant difference in patients blood pressure and the proportion of patients with normal blood pressure (60.5% vs. 59.0%, P>0.05) between cinepazide maleate group and control group. Conclusion:Administration of cinepazide maleate injection does not affect the management of clinical blood pressure in patients with AIS.

To compare changes in platelet related parameters in obese patients before and after sleeve gastrectomy (SG), we retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 31 obese patients who underwent SG in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from December 2012 to September 2020. Results showed that compared with those before surgery, platelet count (PLT) decreased significantly at 2-12 weeks of follow-up ( P=0.009), while platelet distribution width (PDW), mean platelet volume (MPV), and large platelet ratio (P-LCR) increased significantly at the same periods of follow-up after operation ( P<0.001). However, the levels of PDW, MPV, and P-LCR began to decrease at 16-55 weeks when compared with those at 2-12 weeks of follow-up ( P<0.01). PLT was positively correlated with white blood cells and neutrophils at 2-12 weeks of follow-up and positively correlated with high sensitivity C-reactive protein at 16-55 weeks of follow-up after operation ( P<0.05).

Objective:To explore the application of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) in low-energy X-ray intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), analyze its potential risks in IORT, and preliminarily explore the feasibility of FMEA in optimizing IORT management and reducing the occurrence of potential risks.Methods:An FMEA working group was established by the IORT team (1 radiologist, 1 radiology physicist, 2 surgeons, and 2 nurses) to apply the FMEA methodology to conduct a systematic risk assessment. The process modules were established, the potential failure modes and causes for each module were analyzed, the severity (SR), frequency of occurrence (OR) and likelihood of detection (DR) of failure modes were scored and the risk priority number (RPN) was calculated: RPN= SR × OR × DR. The possible errors and potential clinical impact of each part of the radiotherapy process were prospectively analyzed and understood, the causes and current measures were analyzed for each failure mode and preventive measures were proposed and risk management measures were taken accordingly.Results:The IORT process was divided into 8 modules with 14 failure modes. The highest OR value was unsatisfactory target area confirmation (7 points), the highest SR value was equipment failure to discharge the beam (10 points), the highest DR value was wrong key entry after dose calculation (7 points), the highest RPN values were unsatisfactory target area confirmation (210 points) and ineffective protection of endangered organs (180 points). Weaknesses were corrected according to priorities, workflows were optimized and more effective management methods were developed.Conclusion:FMEA is an effective method of IORT management and contributes to reducing the occurrence of potential risks.