Objective:To investigate the current status of endoscopic treatment for gastroesophageal varices in portal hypertension in China, and to provide supporting data and reference for the development of endoscopic treatment.Methods:In this study, initiated by the Liver Health Consortium in China (CHESS), a questionnaire was designed and distributed online to investigate the basic condition of endoscopic treatment for gastroesophageal varices in portal hypertension in 2022 in China. Questions included annual number and indication of endoscopic procedures, adherence to guideline for preventing esophagogastric variceal bleeding (EGVB), management and timing of emergent EGVB, management of gastric and isolated varices, and improvement of endoscopic treatment. Proportions of hospitals concerning therapeutic choices to all participant hospitals were calculated. Guideline adherence between secondary and tertiary hospitals were compared by using Chi-square test.Results:A total of 836 hospitals from 31 provinces (anotomous regions and municipalities) participated in the survey. According to the survey, the control of acute EGVB (49.3%, 412/836) and the prevention of recurrent bleeding (38.3%, 320/836) were major indications of endoscopic treatment. For primary [non-selective β-blocker (NSBB) or endoscopic therapies] and secondary prophylaxis (NSBB and endoscopic therapies) of EGVB, adherence to domestic guideline was 72.5% (606/836) and 39.2% (328/836), respectively. There were significant differences in the adherence between secondary and tertiary hospitals in primary prophylaxis of EGVB [71.0% (495/697) VS 79.9% (111/139), χ2=4.11, P=0.033] and secondary prophylaxis of EGVB [41.6% (290/697) VS 27.3% (38/139), χ2=9.31, P=0.002]. A total of 78.2% (654/836) hospitals preferred endoscopic therapies treating acute EGVB, and endoscopic therapy was more likely to be the first choice for treating acute EGVB in tertiary hospitals (82.6%, 576/697) than secondary hospitals [56.1% (78/139), χ2=46.33, P<0.001]. The optimal timing was usually within 12 hours (48.5%, 317/654) and 12-24 hours (36.9%, 241/654) after the bleeding. Regarding the management of gastroesophageal varices type 2 and isolated gastric varices type 1, most hospitals used cyanoacrylate injection in combination with sclerotherapy [48.2% (403/836) and 29.9% (250/836), respectively], but substantial proportions of hospitals preferred clip-assisted therapies [12.4% (104/836) and 26.4% (221/836), respectively]. Improving the skills of endoscopic doctors (84.2%, 704/836), and enhancing the precision of pre-procedure evaluation and quality of multidisciplinary team (78.9%, 660/836) were considered urgent needs in the development of endoscopic treatment. Conclusion:A variety of endoscopic treatments for gastroesophageal varices in portal hypertension are implemented nationwide. Participant hospitals are active to perform emergent endoscopy for acute EGVB, but are inadequate in following recommendations regarding primary and secondary prophylaxis of EGVB. Moreover, the selection of endoscopic procedures for gastric varices differs greatly among hospitals.

The finite element method(FEM)is a widely employed mathematical technique in mechanical research that divides an object into discrete and interacting finite elements. Medically, finite element analysis(FEA)enables the simulation of biomechanical experiments that are challenging to conduct. Orbital surgery poses significant challenges to ophthalmologists due to its inherent difficulty and steep learning curve. FEM enables the simulation and analysis of the mechanical properties of orbital tissue, offering a novel approach for diagnosing and treating orbital-related diseases. With technological advancements, FEM has significantly matured in the diagnosis and treatment of orbital diseases, becoming a popular area of research in orbital biomechanics. This paper reviewed the latest advancements in orbital FEM, encompassing the development of orbital FEA models, simulation of orbital structure, and its application in orbital-related diseases. Additionally, the limitations of FEM and future research directions are also discussed. As a digital tool for auxiliary diagnosis and treatment, orbital FEA will progressively unlock its potential for diagnosing and treating orbital diseases alongside technological advancements.

Objective To explore the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)combined with immunotherapy before radical cystectomy plus pelvic lymph nodes dissection(RC-PLND)for muscle-invasive bladder cancer(MIBC).Methods The clinical data of 101 patients with MIBC who underwent neoadjuvant therapy followed by RC-PLND in the Department of Urology,the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University during Jan.2019 and Dec.2023 were retrospectively analyzed,including 71 patients(70.3％)who received NAC(NAC group)and 30(29.7％)who received NAC combined with immunotherapy(NAC combine immunotherapy group).The clinical and pathological data and adverse events during neoadjuvant therapy were compared.Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the independent predictors of pathological complete response(pCR)and pathological partial response(pPR).Results There were no significant differences in the baseline data between the two groups(P＞0.05).However,the proportion of multiple tumors in patients receiving NAC before surgery was significantly higher than that in the NAC combined immunotherapy group(69.0％vs.46.7％,P=0.034).Compared with NAC group,NAC combined with immunotherapy group had significantly improved rate of pathological downstaging and pPR(60.6％vs.83.3％,P=0.026;45.1％vs.70.0％,P=0.022).Furthermore,the rate of pCR in patients undergoing NAC combined immunotherapy was higher than those undergoing NAC,but the difference was not significant(53.3％vs.33.8％,P=0.067).Logistic regression analysis revealed that clinical T-stage and tumor diameter were independent predictors of pCR and pPR(P＜0.05).In addition,the most common adverse events during neoadjuvant therapy were anemia,decreased white blood cells,nausea,and vomiting,but most of them were grade 1-2 and could be relieved through symptomatic treatment.Conclusion NAC combined with immunotherapy is safe and effective,which can improve the rate of pathological downstaging,pPR and pCR,without increasing the incidence of adverse reactions.

Objective To evaluate clinical efficacy and safety of Bizheng Granules combined with basic therapy in the treatment of liver and kidney insufficiency and phlegm-dampness cross-blocking syndrome of nerve root type cervical spondylosis radiculopathy.Methods Totally 108 patients with nerve root type cervical spondylosis radiculopathy were selected and divided into Bizheng Granules group,Jingfukang Granules group,and Bizheng Granules placebo group according to random number table method,with 36 cases in each group.The three groups were treated with the basic treatment(oral methylcobalamin tablets of 0.5 mg,three times a day,and cervical spine intermittent traction once a day,each time for 15 min),and Bizheng Granules were given in the Bizheng Granules group,and Jingfukang Granules in the Jingfukang Granules group,and Bizheng Granules placebo in the Bizheng Granules placebo group,twice a day after meals.All three groups were treated continuously for 2 weeks and followed up at 4 and 12 weeks after treatment.Visual analog scale(VAS),cervical dysfunction index(NDI),and 36-items short form survey(SF-36)score were recorded in the 3 groups before and after treatment and 4 and 12 weeks after treatment,respectively.Adverse reactions during treatment and follow-up were recorded in the 3 groups.Results 3 cases lost in the Bizheng Granules group,3 cases in the Jingfukang Granules group,and 1 case in the Bizheng Granules placebo group.Compared with the pre-treatment period,the differences in VAS score,NDI score,and SF-36 score among the three groups of patients at all time points of treatment and follow-up were statistically significant(P<0.05).At 12 weeks after treatment,the VAS score and NDI score of the Bizheng Granules group and the Jingfukang Granules group were lower than those of the Bizheng Granules placebo group,but the differences in VAS score and NDI score between Bizheng Granules group and Jingfukang Granules group were not statistically significant(P>0.05).12 weeks after treatment,the SF-36 score of Bizheng Granules group were higher than those of Bizheng Granules placebo group,but the difference in SF-36 score between Bizheng Granules group and Jingfukang Granules group was not statistically significant(P>0.05).The total effective rate of Bizheng Granules group was better than that of the Jingfukang Granules group and Bizheng Granules placebo group(P<0.05).The incidence of adverse reactions in the three groups was not statistically significant(P>0.05).There were no serious adverse events in the three groups.Conclusion Bizheng Granules combined with basic therapy has a definite therapeutic effect in improving pain,restoring cervical dysfunction,and improving quality of life in the treatment of liver and kidney insufficiency and phlegm-dampness cross-blocking syndrome of nerve root type cervical spondylosis radiculopathy,with good safety.

Objective:To systematically analyze the efficacy of nasal endoscopic transsphenoidal decompression and glucocorticoid pulse therapy for traumatic optic neuropathy (TON).Methods:PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrial.gov, CNKI, Wanfang, China Biomedical and other databases were searched to retrieve clinical studies on endoscopic surgery and hormone therapy for TON since their establishment to November 1, 2020.Two researchers screened the literature and evaluated the quality of the included literatures.The improvement of visual acuity before and after treatment was taken as an effective indicator.RevMan 5.3 statistical software was used for meta-analysis.The sensitivity of the results was analyzed atfer literature exclusion.The publication bias of each study was double checked by funnel plot and Begg test.Results:Eight studies were included, including 7 cohort studies and 1 randomized controlled trial.There was no significant difference between the endoscopic decompression group and glucocorticoid group in the efficiency of visual acuity improvement in the treatment of TON [odds ratio ( OR)=1.65, 95% confidence interval ( CI)∶0.75-3.66, P=0.22], neither in TON patients with residual vision before surgery ( OR=2.17, 95% CI: 0.94-4.98, P=0.07). For nasal endoscopic decompression surgery, early surgery (disease course<7 days) was more effective than late surgery (disease course>7 days) ( OR=4.73, 95% CI: 2.55-8.78, P<0.01). Sensitivity analysis suggested that the results of this literature analysis were not robust.The Begg test showed that there was no literature publication bias. Conclusions:There is no significant difference between nasal endoscopic surgery and glucocorticoid therapy in the treatment of TON.Early endoscopic surgery may help improve visual acuity in patients with residual vision.

【Objective:】 To investigate the cognition, attitude and influencing factors of hospice care among high school students in Guangzhou, and to provide basis for improving the understanding level of hospice care and death education among adolescents. 【Methods:】 A total of 226 questionnaires were collected by convenient sampling and questionnaire survey. The questionnaire covered two parts: basic information of the respondents, cognition and attitude towards hospice care (including four dimensions: basic knowledge of hospice care, knowledge of pain control, attitude and thought of hospice care, and attitude towards hospice care education). Excel software was used to preliminary screen, preprocess and establish database of data. SPSS21.0 was used for statistical analysis. T-test and ANOVA were used for difference analysis, multiple linear regression was used for correlation analysis. 【Results:】 High school students had a basic understanding of hospice care. Among the four dimensions of basic knowledge of hospice care, knowledge of pain control, attitude and thought of hospice care, and attitude towards hospice care education, the cognition of "knowledge of pain control" dimension was the weakest link, and the entry of "attitude and thought of hospice care" had the highest score, which was the strong cognitive link. 【Conclusion:】 The main influencing factors of high school students’ cognition of hospice care were family structure, family residence and whether they have understood hospice care. This paper recommended that schools should add medical humanities education courses related to hospice and death education, and cooperate with hospice care centers to carry out hospice care experience practices. It was also suggested that relevant departments or organizations should make full use of mainstream media, such as online media and WeChat public accounts, to strengthen the popularity and popularization of hospice care education and science popularization from multiple channels and aspects, and improve the level and quality of hospice care education for young people.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical and genetic characteristics of two children with Williams-Beuren syndrome (WBS). METHODS: Two children who had presented at the Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University respectively on January 26 and March 18, 2021 were selected as the study subjects. Clinical data and results of genetic testing of the two patients were analyzed. RESULTS: Both children had featured developmental delay, characteristic facies and cardiovascular malformation. Child 1 also had subclinical hypothyroidism, whilst child 2 had occurrence of epilepsy. Genetic testing revealed that child 1 has harbored a 1.54 Mb deletion in the 7q11.23 region, whilst child 2 has a 1.53 Mb deletion in the same region, in addition with a c.158G>A variant of the ATP1A1 gene and a c.12181A>G variant of the KMT2C gene. Based on the guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, the c.158G>A and c.12181A>G variants were rated as variants of unknown significance (PM1+PM2_Supporting+PP2+PP3；PM2_Supporting). CONCLUSION Both children had characteristic features of WBS, for which deletions of the 7q11.23 region may be accountable. For children manifesting developmental delay, facial dysmorphism and cardiovascular malformations, the diagnosis of WBS should be suspected, and genetic testing should be recommended to confirm the diagnosis.
Child ; Humans ; Williams Syndrome/diagnosis* ; Genetic Testing ; Facies ; Epilepsy/genetics* ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 7/genetics* ; Chromosome Deletion

Phytochemical investigation on the ethanol extract of a well-known medicinal herb Leonurus japonicus, led to the separation of 18 labdane type diterpenoids (1-18). Through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses and quantum chemical calculations, these compounds were structurally characterized as six new interesting 5,5,5-di-spirocyclic ones (1-6), two new (7 and 8) and six known (13-18) interesting 6,5,5-di-spirocyclic ones, a new rare 14,15-dinor derivative (9), and three new ones incorporating a γ-lactone unit (10-12). An in vitro neuroprotective assay in RSC96 cells revealed that compounds 7 and 12 exhibited neuroprotective activity in a concentration-dependent way, comparable to the reference drug N-acetylcysteine.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Leonurus/chemistry* ; Plants, Medicinal ; Diterpenes/chemistry* ; Plant Components, Aerial ; Molecular Structure

Objective To study stress distributions of the cartilage around the hip joint in stress environment of complete gait cycle, and explore the optimal correction angle of bone block in curved periacetabular osteotomy (CPO), so as to provide theoretical references for clinical operation. Methods Based on CT scans from a healthy volunteer and a patient with development dysplasia of hip (DDH), the three-dimensional (3D) model including pelvis and proximal femur was reconstructed. The cortical bone and cancellous bone were distinguished by dividing the masks, and the material attributes were assigned to the finite element model. A total of 100 different postoperative models were obtained by simulating CPO in DDH model, by adjusting lateral center edge angle (LCEA) and anterior center edge angle (ACEA). According to hip joint stresses in complete gait cycle, the model was loaded respectively, and stress changes of normal, preoperative and postoperative acetabular cartilage were analyzed and compared. ResultsThe minimum peak contact stresses of acetabular cartilage of DDH patient at heel landing phase, start phase of single leg support, mid phase of single leg support, end phase of single leg support and double support phase after simulated CPO operation were 5.273, 6.128, 7.463, 6.347, 6.582 MPa, which were decreased by 2.159, 2.724, 2.249, 2.164, 2.119 MPa,respectively, compared with those before operation. The contact area between femoral head and acetabulum was significantly increased after operation, but it was still smaller than that of normal volunteers. Conclusions The optimal correction angle of LCEA and ACEA can be obtained by using finite element method, and the simulation of CPO surgery on different patients is of great significance to improve surgical accuracy and efficiency.

Objective:To investigate the overlapping prevalence and risk factors of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among rural adults in Shaanxi Province.Methods:From February 1 to October 31 in 2019, 12 villages in Shaanxi Province were randomly selected for household questionnaire survey through multistage stratified cluster sampling. A total of 2 423 subjects were enrolled, including 1 037 males and 1 386 females, with age of (45.3±16.9) years old. GERD was diagnosed according to the Montreal criteria, FD and IBS were diagnosed according to the Rome Ⅳ criteria. The overlapping prevalence of the three diseases were calculated. The risk factors for the overlapping of GERD, FD and IBS were analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was used for statistical analysis.Results:Among the 2 423 subjects, 624 cases had GERD (302 cases), FD (377 cases) or IBS (167 cases), of which 30.77% (192/624) patients had overlap of ≥two diseases. The overlap rates of GERD and FD, GERD and IBS, FD and IBS, GERD, FD and IBS were 2.56% (62/2 423), 1.61% (39/2 423), 2.52% (61/2 423) and 1.24% (30/2 423), respectively. The results of Multivariate analysis showed that female and migraine without aura were positively correlated with the overlap of GERD and FD, FD and IBS, and GERD and IBS (odds ratio ( OR)=3.08, 2.68, 3.66, 7.37, 5.91 and 4.46, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.35 to 7.01, 1.35 to 5.30, 1.52 to 8.83, 3.97 to 13.69, 1.78 to 19.60 and 2.01 to 9.92; all P<0.05). Heavy drinking (alcohol intake≥50 g/d (male) or≥30 g/d (female)) was positively correlated with the overlap of FD and IBS, GERD and IBS, and GERD, FD and IBS ( OR=3.69, 4.20 and 4.91, 95% CI 1.19 to 11.48, 1.01 to 17.50 and 1.23 to 19.52; all P<0.05). Heavy smoking (smoking≥20 cigarettes per day) was positively correlated with the overlap of GERD and FD, FD and IBS, GERD and IBS, and GERD, FD and IBS ( OR=3.44, 6.25, 8.27 and 7.04, 95% CI 1.07 to 11.01, 1.60 to 24.44, 1.80 to 38.07 and 1.76 to 28.12; all P<0.05). The educational level of junior or senior high school and age≥60 years old were negatively correlated with the overlap of GERD and FD, FD and IBS, GERD and IBS, and GERD, FD and IBS ( OR=0.47, 0.29, 0.20, 0.05, 0.23, 0.10, 0.37 and 0.16, 95% CI 0.23 to 0.93, 0.09 to 0.95, 0.09 to 0.42, 0.01 to 0.19, 0.09 to 0.60, 0.02 to 0.65, 0.15 to 0.87 and 0.03 to 0.81; all P<0.05). Conclusions:The overlap of GERD, FD and IBS is common and affected by many factors. Female, age≥60 years old, heavy smoking, heavy drinking, low education level and history of migraine without aura are associated with multiple overlaps of GERD, FD and IBS.