AIM: To investigate the abnormal conditions and change patterns of accommodative facility in patients with different refractive states before and after small incision lenticule extraction(SMILE)surgery.METHODS:A prospective clinical cohort study was conducted. A total of 59 patients(118 eyes)who underwent SMILE surgery and had visual function files established in our hospital from June to December 2023 were randomly selected, including 37 males and 22 females, aged 18-35 years(with an average age of 25.19±5.65 years). According to the preoperative spherical equivalent(SE), they were divided into two groups: the low-to-moderate myopia group(SE≥-6.00 DS)with 40 patients(80 eyes), and the high myopia group(SE<-6.00 DS)with 19 patients(38 eyes). The monocular and binocular accommodative facility before surgery and at 1 wk and 1 mo after surgery were compared, and the changes in accommodative facility before and after SMILE surgery in the two groups of patients were analyzed.RESULTS:All surgeries were completed successfully. In the low-to-moderate myopia group, 33 cases(66 eyes)completed the 1-month follow-up after surgery, with a loss to follow-up rate of 17.5%(7/40). In the high myopia group, 15 patients(30 eyes)completed the 1-month follow-up after surgery, with a loss to follow-up rate of 21.1%(4/19). After SMILE surgery, the uncorrected visual acuity and SE of both low-to-moderate myopia and high myopia were significantly improved(all P<0.05). The accommodative facility of the right eyes in all the patients at 1 mo after surgery was better than that before surgery and at 1 wk after surgery(P=0.002, 0.006), the accommodative facility of the left eyes was significantly increased at 1 mo after surgery than that at 1 wk after surgery(P=0.005), and the binocular accommodative facility at 1 mo after surgery was significantly increased compared with that before surgery(P<0.017). Furthermore, there were statistical significance in accommodative facility of the right eyes in the low-to-moderate group at 1 mo compared with that before surgery and at 1 wk after surgery(P=0.011, 0.004); it was significantly increased in the left eyes at 1 mo after surgery compared with that at 1 wk after surgery(P=0.001), and binocular accommodative facility at 1 mo after surgery was significantly better than that before surgery(P<0.001). Furthermore, there was no statistical significance in the right, left and binocular accommodative facility of patients in the high myopia group(all P>0.017).CONCLUSION: After SMILE surgery, the monocular accommodative facility shows a transient decrease and then exceeds the preoperative level at 1 mo after surgery, and the binocular accommodative facility gradually improves after surgery. SMILE surgery has a positive impact on the monocular and binocular accommodative facility in patients with low-to-moderate myopia, but has no significant impact on the accommodative facility in patients with high myopia. It is of clinical significance to strengthen the detection of monocular and binocular accommodative facility before and after SMILE surgery.

Objective: To explore the association between preoperative aspartate transaminase to alanine transaminase (AST/ALT) ratio and the outcomes of urothelial cancers. Methods: After a systematic search of Web of Science，PubMed and Embase before Aug.2024，14 studies were included in the Meta-analysis.The hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for overall survival (OS)，cancer-specific survival (CSS)，and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed using STATA 15.0 software. Results: The Meta-analysis included a total of 8190 patients.Urothelial cancer patients with an elevated preoperative AST/ALT ratio had worse OS (HR=1.92，95% CI：1.38-2.67，P<0.001)，CSS (HR=2.12，95% CI：1.48-3.05，P<0.001)，and RFS (HR=1.63，95% CI：1.27-2.10，P<0.001).In subgroup analyses，preoperative AST/ALT ratio had a better predictive value for OS，CSS，and RFS in patients with bladder cancer than in patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma，and a better predictive value in Asian population than in Caucasian population (P<0.001). Conclusion: A high preoperative AST/ALT ratio is associated with poor OS，CSS and RFS in urothelial cancers，particularly among the Asian population.

Objective:To investigate the personnel, equipment, new technology of various radiotherapy units in Gansu Province, aiming to deeply understand the current status of radiotherapy in Gansu Province.Methods:From March 2023 to March 2024, the data of personnel, equipment and technology of different radiotherapy units in Gansu Province were investigated via online questionnaire survey and offline field visits by Gansu Provincial Quality Control Center for Radiation Oncology. The questionable data were reviewed, logical verification and outlier identification were conducted, and all information was entered according to the principle of double entry. Qualitative data were described by frequency (percentage).Results:As of March 2024, there are 26 radiotherapy units in Gansu Province, including 7 units in Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu Province and none in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The ratio of radiotherapy physicians and physicists was 2.71 vs. 1, lower than the national level of 3.51 vs. 1. Radiotherapy physicians with intermediate and senior titles accounted for 66.2%, 54% for physicists with intermediate and senior titles and 34.0% for therapists with intermediate and senior titles, respectively. There were 1.70 accelerators per million population in Gansu Province. Among 42 accelerators in Gansu Province, 40 were linac and 2 heavy ion accelerators. In Lanzhou, 7 radiotherapy units had 17 linac, and the remaining 11 cities had 23 linac. All 40 linac could perform 3D conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. The high-end equipment could apply advanced technologies such as volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, optical surface-guided radiation therapy and adaptive radiation therapy, etc. Relevant data in this survey were improved compared with those in the national surveys conducted in 2006, 2015 and 2019. Conclusions:The radiotherapy status has developed in Gansu Province, whereas uneven development still exists among regions. According to the actual demands of equipment, talents and technology in each region, the structural adjustment should be oriented to the underdeveloped cities and counties in the province to meet the local medical needs.

Objective:To investigate the personnel, equipment, new technology of various radiotherapy units in Gansu Province, aiming to deeply understand the current status of radiotherapy in Gansu Province.Methods:From March 2023 to March 2024, the data of personnel, equipment and technology of different radiotherapy units in Gansu Province were investigated via online questionnaire survey and offline field visits by Gansu Provincial Quality Control Center for Radiation Oncology. The questionable data were reviewed, logical verification and outlier identification were conducted, and all information was entered according to the principle of double entry. Qualitative data were described by frequency (percentage).Results:As of March 2024, there are 26 radiotherapy units in Gansu Province, including 7 units in Lanzhou, capital city of Gansu Province and none in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The ratio of radiotherapy physicians and physicists was 2.71 vs. 1, lower than the national level of 3.51 vs. 1. Radiotherapy physicians with intermediate and senior titles accounted for 66.2%, 54% for physicists with intermediate and senior titles and 34.0% for therapists with intermediate and senior titles, respectively. There were 1.70 accelerators per million population in Gansu Province. Among 42 accelerators in Gansu Province, 40 were linac and 2 heavy ion accelerators. In Lanzhou, 7 radiotherapy units had 17 linac, and the remaining 11 cities had 23 linac. All 40 linac could perform 3D conformal radiotherapy and intensity-modulated radiotherapy. The high-end equipment could apply advanced technologies such as volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, optical surface-guided radiation therapy and adaptive radiation therapy, etc. Relevant data in this survey were improved compared with those in the national surveys conducted in 2006, 2015 and 2019. Conclusions:The radiotherapy status has developed in Gansu Province, whereas uneven development still exists among regions. According to the actual demands of equipment, talents and technology in each region, the structural adjustment should be oriented to the underdeveloped cities and counties in the province to meet the local medical needs.

Clinicians need to focus on various points in the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia.This article prescribed the treatment protocol based on the unique features,such as insomnia in the elderly,women experiencing specific physiologi-cal periods,children insomnia,insomnia in sleep-breathing disorder patients,insomnia in patients with chronic liver and kidney dysfunction.It pro-vides some reference for clinicians while they make decision on diagnosis,differentiation and treat-ment methods.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of the hepatolenticular degeneration in children,and to clarify the significance of gene diagnosis in children with hepatolenticular degeneration.Methods A total of 75 patients with hepatolenticular degeneration were enrolled in the Department of Pediatrics,Peking Union Medical College Hospital from 2011 to 2018.All of them carried out a generation of gene sequencing for ATPase Cu2+trans-porting beta polypeptide(ATP7B)gene and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification(MLPA)analysis.Results Among the 75 pediatric patients,55 patients were asymptomatic and had elevated aminotransferases as the incidental findings.All the pediatric patients had decreased ceruloplasmin.Seventy-two of pediatric patients had 24-hour urinary copper＞40 μg/d.There were 16 cases that had Kayser-Fleischer(K-F)rings.Sixteen six out of 75(21.33%)cases were diagnosed clinically and 15 cases were＞7 years old.All the remaining patients needed genetic diagnosis.Sixty-six patients had two mutations and 9 patients had only one mutation,1 had no mutation.Forty eight different mutations were found to be localized in ATP7B gene.These mutations included 32 missense mutations,6 splice mutations,5 deletion mutations,2 repeated mutations,2 insert mutations and 1 nonsense muta-tions.The most frequently three mutations were c.2333G＞T,p.R778L,c.2621C＞T,p.A874V,c.2975C＞T,p.P992L,whose allele frequencies were 30.49%,14.89%,9.92%.Conclusions The research showed that in young aged patients,the nervous system symptoms are not obvious and the positive rate of laboratory tests are lower than adults so is a challenge to clinical diagnosis.So Genetic testing is of great significance for the early diagnosis and early treatment of disease in pediatric patients.

A 56-year male patient was implanted with a third generation magnetic levitation HeartCon left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for refractory heart failure through a left antero-lateral thoracotomy. Inflow cannula of the HeartCon blood pump was inserted via the left apex and outflow tract with the artificial blood vessel was sutured to the descending aorta. The operation process was smooth, the LVAD worked stably, and results of left ventricular assist was good. Implantation of HeartCon LVAD through the left antero-lateral thoracotomy is an alternative technique with less surgical complications, less trauma and satisfactory results.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome(EDS)is a rare inherent connective tissue disorder.The prev-alence of EDS in the population is estimated at one out of ten thousand to one out of a hundred thousand.The vascular EDS(vEDS)are rare among the subtypes but are the worst in prognosis.The article reports a case of vEDS admitted to the hospital.The patient was a young man complaining of a sudden onset of aphasia in right hemiparalysis and severe left abdominal pain for unknown reasons.The diagnosis was made after the genetic testing.The patient suffered from vEDS.Then,the multi-disciplinary team(MDT)made a treatment plan tailored to this young patient.The complexity in classification and delusive presentations of the EDS make the correct diagnosis very challenging.This article hopes to report this case and to share the experiences to the bet-ter understanding of this disease.

Objective:Preliminary explore the safety and efficacy of using only vitamin K antagonists without antiplatelet therapy after left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) implantation.Methods:This is a cohort study. Patients who underwent HeartCon LVAD implantation in TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital from September 2020 to September 2022 were included. Oral warfarin sodium was given on postoperative days 1 to 2, with the target international standardized ratio (INR) of 2.0 to 2.5. Follow-up until September 2022, survival, INR level and occurrence of bleeding and thrombosis were recorded. Survival analysis was performed by the Kaplan-Meier method (censored for heart transplantation).Results:A total of 22 patients, including 16 male patients (72.7%), aged (51.0±13.3) years, were included. The duration of HeartCon LVAD support was (458±166) days and the INR during support was 2.28±0.26. One patient underwent the heart transplant at 307 d after implantation. One patient (4.5%) occured cardiac tamponade, two patients (9.1%) occured hemorrhagic stroke, five patients (22.7%) occured gastrointestinal bleeding, four patients (18.2%) occured gingival hemorrhage, two patients (9.1%) occured epistaxis, one patient (4.5%) occurred ischemic stroke, one patient (4.5%) occured pump thrombosis, and one patient (4.5%) occured aortic valve thrombosis. The survival rates were 100%, 95%, 95%, and 95% at 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years after implantation respectively.Conclusion:The single antithrombotic strategy using warfarin (target INR 2.0-2.5) without antiplatelet for patients with implantations of HeartCon type LVAD may be safe and effective.

Objective:To investigate the association between split foot and electrophysiology in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Methods:The clinically definite or clinically probable ALS patients hospitalized in the Department of Neurology, the First Medical Center of Chinese People′s Liberation Army General Hospital from April 2021 to December 2022 were prospectively collected. From April 2021 to December 2022, patients who visited the Chinese People′s Liberation Army General Hospital for other reasons without abnormal electrophysiological examination were collected as the control group. The incidence of split leg [the limb whose modified Medical Research Council Muscle Strength Scale (mMRC) score of ankle dorsiflexors was lower than that of ankle plantarflexors] in ALS patients was calculated, and the incidence of split foot (the limb whose mMRC score of hallux dorsiflexors was lower than that of hallux plantarflexors) in ALS patients was calculated. The amplitude of compound muscle action potential (CMAP) of common peroneal nerve and tibial nerve was detected to observe the involvement of motor neurons innervating ankle dorsiflexors and ankle plantarflexors. The characteristics of split leg and split foot in ALS patients were analyzed from the perspective of muscle strength, and the characteristics of split foot in ALS patients were analyzed from the perspective of electrophysiology. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the sensitivity and specificity of peroneal nerve/tibial nerve CMAP amplitude ratio in distinguishing ALS patients from controls.Results:A total of 101 ALS patients with lower limb involvement and 110 controls with normal lower limb muscle strength were collected. Among the 101 ALS patients with lower limb involvement, strength of ankle plantarflexors was greater than that of ankle dorsiflexors in 35.64% (36/101) patients, strength of ankle dorsiflexors was greater than that of ankle plantarflexors in 5.94% (6/101) patients, and strength of ankle plantarflexors and ankle dorsiflexors was equal in 58.42% (59/101) patients. Strength of hallux dorsiflexors was lower than that of hallux plantarflexors in 53.47% (54/101) patients, strength of hallux dorsiflexors was greater than that of hallux plantarflexors in 1.98% (2/101) patients, and the strength of hallux dorsiflexors and hallux plantarflexors was equal in 44.55% (45/101) patients. The incidence of split leg was negatively correlated with age ( OR=0.25, 95% CI 0.16-0.40, P<0.05), course of disease ( OR=0.52, 95% CI 0.38-0.80 P<0.05) and ALS functional revised scores ( OR=0.29, 95% CI 0.12-0.67, P<0.05). The incidence of split foot was negatively correlated with the onset time of lower limb symptoms ( OR=0.96, 95% CI 0.93-0.99, P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the differences of the decrease of CMAP amplitude in the common peroneal nerve and tibial nerve [the common peroneal nerve (6.45±2.56) mV vs (3.63±1.83) mV, tibial nerve (12.87±4.72) mV vs (9.18±6.22) mV] were statistically significant ( t=-4.65, t=-3.44, both P<0.001) and the differences of the peroneal nerve/tibial nerve CMAP amplitude ratio (0.54±0.24 vs 0.36±0.18) decrease was statistically significant ( t=-4.31, P<0.001) in patients with split foot. ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve of CMAP amplitude ratio of common peroneal nerve/tibial nerve in ALS patients with split foot was 0.70, indicating that the accuracy of CMAP amplitude of common peroneal nerve/tibial nerve in distinguishing ALS patients from controls was low. Conclusions:In ALS patients with lower limb involvement, strength of ankle dorsiflexors is weaker than that of ankle plantarflexors, and strength of hallux dorsiflexors is weaker than that of hallux plantarflexors. At the diagnostic level, the CMAP amplitude ratio of common peroneal nerve/tibial nerve in ALS patients with split foot has a lower accuracy in the diagnosis of ALS.