Background: and Purpose Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute posterior circulation tandem lesion (PCTL). This study aimed to explore the role of extracranial vertebral artery (VA) stenting in patients with PCTL stroke undergoing EVT. Methods: Individual patient data were pooled from the BASILAR (EVT for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Study) and PERSIST (Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke) registries. Patients with PCTLs who underwent EVT were included in the present cohort and divided into the stenting and nonstenting groups based on the placement of extracranial VA stents. The primary efficacy outcome was the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at 90 days and 1 year. Safety outcomes included 24-hour symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and all-cause mortality at 90 days and 1 year post-surgery. Results: A combined dataset of 1,320 patients with posterior circulation artery occlusion, including 263 (19.9%) with tandem lesions, of whom 217 (median age, 65 years; 82.9% male) met the inclusion criteria for the analysis. The stenting group had 84 (38.7%) patients, while the non-stenting group had 133 (61.3%). After adjustment for the potential confounders, extracranial VA stenting was associated with favorable shifts in mRS scores at both 90 days (adjusted common odds ratio [OR], 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–4.28; P<0.01) and 1 year (adjusted OR [aOR], 2.04; 95% CI [1.05–3.97]; P=0.04), along with lower rate of mortality at both 90 days (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI [0.21–0.93]; P=0.01) and 1 year (aOR, 0.36; 95% CI [0.16–0.79]; P=0.01), with no significant difference in sICH incidence (aOR, 0.35; 95% CI [0.06–1.98]; P=0.24). Conclusion Extracranial VA stenting during EVT may improve functional outcomes and reduce mortality in patients with PCTL strokes.

Erosive pustular dermatosis of the scalp (EPDS) is a rare superficial skin inflammatory disease that occurs on the scalp, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Its clinical manifestations are similar to those of infective inflammation and malignant tumors, and its diagnosis is highly dependent on non-specific pathological changes, so the diagnosis is relatively difficult. Clinically, topical glucocorticoids are the main treatment method, but treatment outcomes vary greatly among individuals, and patients with refractory EPDS need other treatment methods. EPDS generally requires long-term topical glucocorticoid therapy, and adverse drug reactions are common. This review summarizes research progress in EPDS in recent years, in order to improve clinicians' understanding of this disease.

Congenital triangular alopecia is a kind of non-inflammatory and non-cicatricial alopecia, and most cases develop this disease at the ages of 2 - 9 years. The pathogenesis of congenital triangular alopecia is still unclear, and there is a lack of effective treatments. Congenital triangular alopecia is rather liable to be misdiagnosed and erroneously treated, and dermoscopy helps confirm the diagnosis. This review summarizes the progress in the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical diagnosis, and treatment of congenital triangular alopecia.

Objective:To analyze the current development status and spatial distribution characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals in China, predict the changing trends of the number of TCM hospitals, the number of beds, and the number of physicians, and provide references for the development of TCM hospitals and the formulation of related policies.Methods:From the official websites of the National Bureau of Statistics and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the total population and number of TCM hospitals of 31 provinces (excluding China′s Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) in China from 2013 to 2022 were included, as well as the number of beds and practicing (assistant) physicians in TCM hospitals from 2013 to 2021. The grey prediction model was applied to predict the changing trends of the number of TCM hospitals, beds and physicians. Using the global Moran′s I index in spatial autocorrelation analysis, the distribution of TCM hospitals per 10 000 people in China was analyzed by spatial correlation analysis, and local G coefficient was analyzed by local hot spots.Results:From 2013 to 2027, the number of TCM hospitals, beds and practicing (assistant) TCM physicians in China all showed an increasing trend year by year. The number of TCM hospitals per 10 000 people in China showed a spatial correlation between 2013 and 2022 ( P<0.05). The hot spots of TCM hospitals were mainly concentrated in North China and Northeast China, while the cold spots were mainly concentrated in southeast coastal areas and Northwest China. Conclusions:The number of TCM hospitals in China is increasing year by year, but it is necessary to control the reasonable increase and avoid blind expansion. It is necessary to formulate regional policies of TCM hospitals according to local conditions and pay attention to the individuation of policies. Focus on hot and cold areas to promote balanced development of TCM hospitals.

Objective:To understand the development status of maternal and child health care institutions in China from 2012 to 2022, identify the challenges they face, and provide references for further promoting the high-quality development of these institutions.Methods:Data from the China Health Statistics Yearbook (2013—2015), China Health and Family Planning Statistics Yearbook (2016—2017), and China Health and Wellness Statistics Yearbook (2018—2023) were used. Descriptive analysis was conducted on the data related to resource allocation and utilization efficiency, service provision, income and expenditure structure, and operational status of maternal and child health care institutions in China from 2012 to 2022, using methods such as fixed-base growth rate, year-on-year growth rate, and average annual growth rate. Results:From 2012 to 2022, the number of maternal and child health care institutions in China decreased from 3 044 to 3 031. In terms of resource allocation, the average annual growth rates of bed numbers and business-use floor area were 5.404% and 10.923%, respectively, while the average annual growth rate of health professionals was 7.183%. Regarding service provision, the average annual growth rates of outpatient visits and inpatient admissions were 3.954% and 1.572%, respectively. In terms of service efficiency, the bed occupancy rate decreased from 76.9% to 53.9%, and the average number of patients seen per physician per day decreased from 8.85 to 7.30. In terms of income and expenditure and operations, the income-expenditure surplus rate decreased from 9.16% to 5.41%, and the debt-to-asset ratio increased from 27.88% to 33.60%. During the same period, the average annual growth rates of bed numbers and business-use floor area in grassroots maternal and child health care institutions were 4.545% and 10.091%, respectively, lower than the national average. The number of outpatient visits increased from 89.03 million to 126.93 million, with an average annual growth rate of 3.610%, while the number of inpatient admissions decreased from 4.19 million to 3.91 million, with an average annual decline of 0.689%. The income-expenditure surplus rate of grassroots institutions decreased from 7.76% to 4.05%, 1.36 percentage points lower than the national level, and the debt-to-asset ratio increased from 27.53% to 36.37%, higher than the overall level.Conclusions:From 2012 to 2022, maternal and child health care institutions in China achieved certain developments in resource allocation and service scale. However, several challenges remain, including unbalanced resource allocation, decreased utilization efficiency, slowed growth in medical service volume, imbalanced income and expenditure structure, increased asset operation risks, and restricted development of grassroots institutions. It is recommended that relevant management departments and maternal and child health care institutions optimize resource allocation, plan for service transformation and upgrading, expand income sources, strengthen internal financial control, and reinforce the construction of high-quality and efficient maternal and child health care systems to promote the high-quality development of maternal and child health care institutions in China.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the economic burden of the intensive care unit(ICU)patients due to hospital-associated multidrug-resistant organisms(MDROs)infections based on propensity score matching(PSM)so as to provide evidence-based bases for prevention and control of hospital-associated MDROs infection and improvement of utilization efficiency of medical resources.METHODS A total of 2118 patients who were hospitalized in Zibo Central Hospital from Jan.1,2023 to Dec.31,2024 and conformed to the inclusion and exclusion criteria were re-cruited as the research subjects.The patients with hospital-associated MDROs infections were matched in a 1∶1 ratio by PSM(with the clamp value 0.02).Totally 309 pairs were successfully matched.The length of hospital stay and the costs were observed and compared between the MDROs group and the non-MDROs group.RESULTS The MDROs group was with the length of hospital stay 14.00 days longer than the non-MDROs group after the matching(Z=-5.750,P＜0.001),with the total cost of hospitalization increased by 91,420.84 yuan(Z=-8.271,P＜0.001).With the respect to the medical treatment expenses,the expenses of the MDROs group were higher than those of the non-MDROs group,covering the cost of medical service,therapeutic procedures,nursing,western medicine and TCM,and there were significant differences(P＜0.05).Among the differences in the costs between the two groups,the difference in the cost of western medicine was the most signif-icant(22,182.91 yuan),followed by the cost of clinical laboratory test for diagnosis(19,529.60 yuan)and the cost of therapeutic procedures(16,333.50 yuan).CONCLUSIONS The hospital-associated MDROs infections may lead to the extension of hospital stay length of the ICU patients,which then increases the economic burden.There-fore,it is necessary to strengthen the multidisciplinary collaboration and formulate corresponding measures so as to reduce the risk of such infections among the ICU patients.

Morphea alopecia is a rare secondary cicatricial alopecia, often caused by linear scleroderma of the scalp. When hair loss appears as the only symptom of morphea, it is easily confused with other localized alopecia. The diagnosis of morphea alopecia depends on histopathologic and dermoscopic examinations. In order to improve the understanding of morphea alopecia among clinicians, this review summarizes research progress in its pathogenesis, clinical and pathological characteristics, diagnosis and treatment.

Background: and Purpose Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute posterior circulation tandem lesion (PCTL). This study aimed to explore the role of extracranial vertebral artery (VA) stenting in patients with PCTL stroke undergoing EVT. Methods: Individual patient data were pooled from the BASILAR (EVT for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Study) and PERSIST (Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke) registries. Patients with PCTLs who underwent EVT were included in the present cohort and divided into the stenting and nonstenting groups based on the placement of extracranial VA stents. The primary efficacy outcome was the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at 90 days and 1 year. Safety outcomes included 24-hour symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and all-cause mortality at 90 days and 1 year post-surgery. Results: A combined dataset of 1,320 patients with posterior circulation artery occlusion, including 263 (19.9%) with tandem lesions, of whom 217 (median age, 65 years; 82.9% male) met the inclusion criteria for the analysis. The stenting group had 84 (38.7%) patients, while the non-stenting group had 133 (61.3%). After adjustment for the potential confounders, extracranial VA stenting was associated with favorable shifts in mRS scores at both 90 days (adjusted common odds ratio [OR], 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–4.28; P<0.01) and 1 year (adjusted OR [aOR], 2.04; 95% CI [1.05–3.97]; P=0.04), along with lower rate of mortality at both 90 days (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI [0.21–0.93]; P=0.01) and 1 year (aOR, 0.36; 95% CI [0.16–0.79]; P=0.01), with no significant difference in sICH incidence (aOR, 0.35; 95% CI [0.06–1.98]; P=0.24). Conclusion Extracranial VA stenting during EVT may improve functional outcomes and reduce mortality in patients with PCTL strokes.

High-performance phototheranostics with combined photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging have been considered promising approaches for efficient cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, developing phototheranostic materials with efficient photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE), especially over the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000-1700 nm), remains challenging. Herein, we report an ultraefficient NIR-II-activated nanomedicine with phototheranostic and vaccination capability for highly efficient in vivo tumor elimination and metastasis inhibition. The NIR-II nanomedicine of a semiconducting biradical oligomer with a motor-flexible design was demonstrated with a record-breaking PCE of 87% upon NIR-II excitation. This nanomedicine inherently features extraordinary photothermal stability, good biocompatibility, and excellent photoacoustic performance, contributing to high-contrast photoacoustic imaging in living mice and high-performance photothermal elimination of tumors. Moreover, a whole-cell vaccine based on a NIR-II nanomedicine with NIR-II-activated performance was further designed to remotely activate the antitumor immunologic memory and effectively inhibit tumor occurrence and metastasis in vivo, with good biosafety. Thus, this work paves a new avenue for designing NIR-II active semiconducting biradical materials as a promising theranostics platform and further promotes the development of NIR-II nanomedicine for personalized cancer treatment.

Background: and Purpose Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of endovascular treatment (EVT) for acute posterior circulation tandem lesion (PCTL). This study aimed to explore the role of extracranial vertebral artery (VA) stenting in patients with PCTL stroke undergoing EVT. Methods: Individual patient data were pooled from the BASILAR (EVT for Acute Basilar Artery Occlusion Study) and PERSIST (Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke) registries. Patients with PCTLs who underwent EVT were included in the present cohort and divided into the stenting and nonstenting groups based on the placement of extracranial VA stents. The primary efficacy outcome was the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at 90 days and 1 year. Safety outcomes included 24-hour symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (sICH) and all-cause mortality at 90 days and 1 year post-surgery. Results: A combined dataset of 1,320 patients with posterior circulation artery occlusion, including 263 (19.9%) with tandem lesions, of whom 217 (median age, 65 years; 82.9% male) met the inclusion criteria for the analysis. The stenting group had 84 (38.7%) patients, while the non-stenting group had 133 (61.3%). After adjustment for the potential confounders, extracranial VA stenting was associated with favorable shifts in mRS scores at both 90 days (adjusted common odds ratio [OR], 2.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.23–4.28; P<0.01) and 1 year (adjusted OR [aOR], 2.04; 95% CI [1.05–3.97]; P=0.04), along with lower rate of mortality at both 90 days (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI [0.21–0.93]; P=0.01) and 1 year (aOR, 0.36; 95% CI [0.16–0.79]; P=0.01), with no significant difference in sICH incidence (aOR, 0.35; 95% CI [0.06–1.98]; P=0.24). Conclusion Extracranial VA stenting during EVT may improve functional outcomes and reduce mortality in patients with PCTL strokes.