Objective:To compare the efficacy and safety of adjuvant radiotherapy versus surgery alone in patients with stage pT 2-3N 0M 0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma after radical resection. Methods:The search was conducted through Web of Science, Emabse, PubMed, Cochrane Library, CNKI, Chongqing VIP, China Biomedical Literature Database, and Wanfang database, etc. The search time was ranged from the establishment of the database to December 2022. Searched studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Review Manager 5.4 software was used for analysis.Results:Clinical data of 2 424 patients from 8 controlled clinical studies were finally included. Meta-analysis showed that postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy had higher 3-year and 5-year disease-free survival rates ( OR=2.33, 95%CI=1.71-3.17, P<0.001; OR=2.38, 95% CI=1.73-3.27, P<0.001) and 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates ( OR=1.89, 95% CI=1.37-2.60, P<0.01; OR=1.94,95% CI=1.50-2.49, P<0.001) than surgery alone. Meanwhile, the local recurrence rate ( OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.21-0.50, P<0.001) and distant metastasis rate ( OR=0.62, 95% CI=0.39-0.98, P=0.040) of postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy group were lower than those in the surgery alone group. The incidence of radiation esophagitis (1.4%-9.5%), radiation pneumonitis (2.1%) and anastomotic stenosis (5.3%) was reported. Conclusions:For patients with stage pT 2-3N 0M 0 squamous cell carcinoma after radical resection of esophageal cancer, adjuvant radiotherapy may improve 3-year and 5-year disease-free survival rates and 3-year and 5-year overall survival rates compared with surgery alone. In addition, adjuvant radiotherapy may reduce the local recurrence and distant metastasis rates. Therefore, postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy is an optional treatment for stage pT 2-3N 0M 0 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective:To investigate the influence of the depth of invasion on the prognosis of pT1 stage mid-thoracic esophageal cancer patients undergoing left thoracotomy.Methods:Retrospectively analyze the clinicopathological data of 139 patients with pT1N0M0 stage of mid-thoracic esophageal cancer who meet the enrollment criteria. Firstly, the prognosis and influencing factors of the whole group were analyzed. The differences in prognosis, local recurrence and distant metastasis between PT1A and PT1B patients were compared, and the influence of different infiltration depth on prognosis and treatment failure of patients was analyzed. SPSS 19.0 statistical software was used for statistical analysis.Results:The 1-year, 3-year and 5-year overall survival(OS) and disease-free survival(DFS) were 95.0%, 87.8%, 82.0% and 91.4%, 84.2%, 77.0%, respectively. There were significant differences in OS( χ2=7.500, P=0.006) and DFS( χ2=7.354, P=0.007) at 1, 3 and 5 years between pT1a and pT1b patients. Cox multivariate analysis showed that pT stage and pathological type were independent prognostic factors for OS and DFS( P<0.05). There were no significant differences in OS( χ2=0.734, P=0.693) and DFS( χ2=0.7690, P=0.681) of pT1a tumors with different invasion depths. There were significant differences in OS( χ2=15.368, P<0.001) and DFS( χ2=27.470, P<0.001) at 1, 3 and 5 years of pT1b tumors with different invasion depths. The recurrence rate of pT1b(23.8%) was significantly higher than that of pT1a(5.3%)( χ2=5.274, P=0.022). The distant metastasis rate of the former(10.9%) was also significantly higher than that of the latter(0)( χ2=4.494, P=0.034). There were significant differences in local recurrence rate( χ2=17.051, P<0.001) and distant metastasis rate( χ2=15.460, P<0.001) among pT1b patients with different infiltration depths. Logistic multivariate analysis showed that the depth of infiltration was an independent factor affecting the occurrence of local recurrence in stage pT1b patients after treatment( P<0.001). Pathological type( P=0.003) and infiltration depth( P=0.027) were independent factors affecting the occurrence of distant metastasis. Conclusion:pT1a period and pT1b period after the prognosis and treatment of patients with different failure modes, and pT1b period in patients with different infiltration depth and the prognosis of patients and its failure mode after treatment significantly related, infiltration depth of pT1b period after treatment in patients with the independence of the influencing factors of failure, suggest that clinical doctors should pay attention to pT1b period in patients with postoperative adjuvant therapy. This conclusion needs to be confirmed by large prospective studies of cases.

Objective:To explore the application value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) parameters in glioma classification and glioma microstructure evaluation.Methods:From June 2017 to November 2019, 38 patients with glioma confirmed by surgery and pathology in Haikou Hospital Affiliated to Xiangya Medical College of Central South University were retrospectively analyzed. According to the pathological results, they were divided into low-grade (WHO Ⅰ-Ⅱ, 15 cases) glioma group and high-grade (WHO Ⅲ-Ⅳ, 23 cases) glioma group. They received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plain scan and DWI scan respectively, and the ADC value and microstructure of different grades of glioma were compared. The correlation between ADC value of glioma and the percentage of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-positive cells, cell density and integrated optical density (IOD) value of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) expression was analyzed.Results:(1) MRI examination showed that the signals of low-grade glioma were more uniform, with no or slight peritumoral edema and space occupying effect, and the enhancement was more non enhanced or slightly enhanced. The signals of high-grade glioma were more heterogeneous due to necrosis and bleeding, and the peritumoral edema and space occupying effect were more obvious, showing uneven obvious enhancement or irregular ring enhancement; (2) The percentage of VEGF positive cells, cell density and the IOD value of AQP1 expression in high-grade glioma were significantly higher than that in low-grade glioma, and the ADC value was lower than that in low-grade glioma (all P<0.05); (3) The ADC value of glioma patients was negatively correlated with the percentage of VEGF-positive cells, cell density, and the IOD value of AQP1 expression ( r=-0.55, -0.65, -0.63, all P<0.05). Conclusions:The ADC value of glioma can indirectly reflect the expression of VEGF, cell density and AQP1 positive expression level, which is helpful for preoperative glioma classification and evaluation of glioma microstructure and biological characteristics.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) gene polymorphisms on the therapeutic effect of lipid-lowering statins in patients with ischemic cerebral infarction. METHODS: One hundred and six patients with ischemic cerebral infarction who orally took lipid-lowering statins for 3 months were enrolled. Changes in serum triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) before and after the drug administration were analyzed. ApoE gene polymorphisms were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR, and genotypes of ApoE gene in patients with different effects were compared. RESULTS: The detection rates for E2/E2, E2/E3, E3/E3, E2/E4 and E3/E4 genotypes were 0.94%, 11.32%, 63.21%, 1.89% and 22.64%, respectively. And the detection rates for E2, E3 and E4 alleles were 7.55%, 80.19% and 12.26%, respectively. Biochemical phenotypes included E2 type (13 cases, 12.26%), E3 type (69 cases, 65.09%) and E4 type (24 cases, 22.65%). Before administration, TG and TC of E2 type were the highest (P<0.05), but no significant difference was detected in HDL-C and LDL-C among the three phenotypes (P>0.05).Following the drug administration, TG, TC and LDL-C were decreased, while HDL-C was increased. HDL-C of E2 type was the highest, TC and LDL-C of E4 type were the highest (P<0.05). The E3/E3 ratio in low-efficiency group at admission was lower than that in the high-efficiency group, while the E3/E4 ratio was higher than that in the high-efficiency group (P<0.05). The proportion of E3 allele in low-efficiency group was lower than that in high-efficiency group, while the proportion of E4 allele was higher than that in high-efficiency group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION ApoE gene polymorphisms are closely correlated with the therapeutic effect of lipid-lowering statins in patients with ischemic cerebral infarction. The lipid-lowering effects are more significant in patients with E2 and E3 genotypes, but were poor in those with the E4 genotype. Personalized regimens should be applied.
Apolipoproteins E/genetics* ; Cerebral Infarction/genetics* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Lipids ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Triglycerides

Background::The study aimed to clarify the characteristics of lymph node metastasis (LNM) and to compare the oncologic outcomes of minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) with open esophagectomy (OE) in terms of lymph node dissection (LND) in thoracic esophageal cancer patients.Methods::The data from esophageal cancer patients who underwent MIE or OE from January 2016 to January 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. The characteristics of LNM in thoracic esophageal cancer were discussed, and the differences in numbers of LND, LND rate, and LNM rate/degree of upper mediastinum between MIE and OE were compared.Results::For overall characteristics of LNM in 249 included patients, the highest rate of LNM was found in upper mediastinum, while LNM rate in middle and lower mediastinum, and abdomen increased with the tumor site moving down. The patients were divided into MIE ( n = 204) and OE groups ( n = 45). In terms of number of LND, there were significant differences in upper mediastinum between MIE and OE groups (8 [5, 11] vs. 5 [3, 8], P < 0.001). The comparative analysis of regional lymph node showed there was no significant difference except the subgroup of upper mediastinal 2L and 4L group (3 [1, 5] vs. 0 [0, 2], P < 0.001 and 0 [0, 2] vs. 0, P = 0.012, respectively). Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in terms of LND rate except 2L (89.7% [183/204] vs. 71.1% [32/45], P = 0.001) and 4L (41.2% [84/204] vs. 22.2% [10/45], P = 0.018) groups. For LNM rate of T3 stage, there was no significant difference between MIE and OE groups, and the comparative analysis of regional lymph node showed that there was no significant difference except 2L group (11.1% [5/45] vs. 38.1% [8/21], P = 0.025). The LNM degree of OE group was significantly higher than that of MIE group (27.2% [47/173] vs. 7.6% [32/419], P < 0.001), and the comparative analysis of regional LNM degree showed that there was no significant difference except 2L (34.7% [17/49] vs. 7.7% [13/169], P < 0.001) and 4L (23.8% [5/21] vs. 3.9% [2/51], P= 0.031) subgroups. Conclusion::MIE may have an advantage in LND of upper mediastinum 2L and 4L groups, while it was similar to OE in other stations of LND.

BACKGROUND: Video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is the main surgical method for lung cancer. The aim of this study was to analyze the reasons for conversion to thoracotomy in 83 cases among 1,350 consecutive cases who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) lobectomy by a single surgical team, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the rules and the opportunity for conversion to thoracotomy in VATS lobectomy under normal conditions. METHODS: The clinical data of 1,350 patients who underwent VATS lobectomy between September 21, 2009 and June 1, 2020, by a single surgical team in the Fifth Department of Thoracic Surgery of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. There were 773 males and 577 females, aged 8-87 years, with a median age of 61.3 years, including 83 cases of benign diseases, 38 cases of lung metastases, and 1,229 cases of primary lung cancer. The cases with stage I, II and IIIa were 676, 323 and 230, respectively. The cases of left upper, left lower, right upper, right middle, right lower, right middle and upper and right middle and lower lobectomy were 301 (22.30%), 231 (17.11%), 378 (28.00%), 119 (8.81%), 262 (19.41%), 16 (1.19%) and 43 (3.19%), respectively. RESULTS: In the cohort of 1,350 consecutive patients with VATS lobectomy, 83 patients (6.15%) were converted to thoracotomy for different reasons. The conversion rate of benign lesions was significantly higher than that of malignant tumors (P<0.05). The conversion rate in stage IIIa was significantly higher than that in stage I and II (P<0.05). The conversion rate of combined lobectomy was significantly higher than that of single lobectomy (P=0.001). The conversion rate of left upper lobectomy was significantly higher than that of other single lobectomy (P<0.001). The conversion rate of right middle lobectomy was significantly lower than that of other single lobectomy (P=0.049). The main reasons for conversion were vascular injury (38.55%), lymph node interference (26.51%) and dense adhesion in thoracic cavity (16.87%). In the conversion group, the total operation time was (236.99±66.50) min and the total blood loss was (395.85±306.38) mL. The operation time in patients converted to thoracotomy due to lymph node interference was (322.50±22.68) min, which was significantly longer than that in the other groups (P<0.05). The intraoperative blood loss in patients converted to thoracotomy due to vascular injury was (560.94±361.84) mL, which was significantly higher than that in the other groups (P<0.05). With the increase in surgical experience, the number of vascular injuries gradually decreased at the early stage, mid-stage and late stage (P=0.045). CONCLUSIONS In VATS lobectomy, benign lung lesions and more advanced malignant tumors led to more surgical difficulties and higher conversion rate. The conversion rate was different in different lobectomy sites, with the highest in left upper lobectomy, and the lowest in right middle lobectomy. Vascular injury, lymph node interference and dense adhesion were the main reasons for conversion to thoracotomy, which led to prolonged operation time and increased blood loss. With the increasing number of surgical cases, the rate of conversion to thoracotomy in VATS lobectomy continues to decline, which may be mainly due to the more advanced treatment of pulmonary vessels.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between the activation level of Nod-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome and the change of cognitive functions in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods:A total of 88 patients with acute ischemic stroke in Department of Neurology from October 2018 to July 2020 were selected as case group and 100 healthy physical examinees were selected as control group.Peripheral blood of the case group and the control group was collected, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated by centrifugation.Then the NLRP3, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), Caspase-1 and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) expression were detected by Western blot.The cognitive function of patients with acute ischemic stroke was detected by Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). The differences in expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1 and IL-1β were compared between the case group and the control group.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1, IL-1β and MoCA score.Logistic multivariate regression was used to analyze the relationship between expression levels of NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1, IL-1β and the cognitive dysfunction.Results:(1)Western blot results showed that NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1 and IL-1β expressions in PBMCs cells in the case group were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). (2)The expression level of NLRP3 in stroke patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥ 8 points was significantly higher than that in patients without hypertension, hyperlipidemia and NIHSS score<8 points ( P<0.05); (3)The incidence of cognitive dysfunction in the case group was 34.09% (30/88). The MoCA scores of the cognitive dysfunction group and the non-cognitive dysfunction group were 20 (24, 28) and 27 (26, 28) points respectively, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant ( P<0.05); (4)Pearson correlation analysis showed that NLRP3, ASC, caspase-1 and IL-1β expression in PBMCs cells were negatively correlated with MoCA scores ( r=-0.426, -0.396, -0.417, -0.320 respectively, all P<0.05). (5)Logistic regression analysis showed that hyperlipidemia, NIHSS scores, frontotemporal lobe infarction, and NLRP3 expression were the influencing factors for the occurrence of cognitive dysfunction (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Patients with acute ischemic stroke have high activated NLRP3 inflammasome, and its activation degree is closely related to the condition and the occurrence of cognitive dysfunction after stroke.Targeted inhibition or regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation may become a new idea of neuroprotection for acute ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility of right neck anastomosis in thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy.

METHODSThis study used a retrospective cohort study method. Clinical data of 169 patients with stage I-III esophageal squamous cell carcinoma undergoing neck anastomosis in thoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy at the Department 5 of Thoracic Surgery, the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from November 2013 to October 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Eighty-two cases underwent right neck anastomosis (right neck anastomosis group) and 87 cases underwent left neck anastomosis(left neck anastomosis group). Both groups underwent routine thoracoscopic and laparoscopic radical resection of esophageal cancer. The entry of right and left neck anastomosis group was at the anterior edge of the right and left sternocleidomastoid muscle respectively. Anastomosis of the esophagogastric junction was performed and the drainage tube was placed in the neck incision. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, lymph node dissection and morbidity of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSThere were 101 males and 68 females among 169 patients with esophageal cancer. There were no significant differences in age, gender, tumor location, clinical stage between two groups(all P>0.05). The total operation time of left and right neck anastomosis groups was (278.3±39.4) minutes and (287.8±39.4) minutes, respectively (t=1.563, P=0.120). The intraoperative blood loss was (134.9±71.5) ml and(147.9±85.5) ml, respectively (t=1.074, P=0.284). The number of lymph node dissections was (17.45±5.68) and (16.47±4.98), respectively (t=1.190, P=0.236). Seventeen cases(20.7%) in the right neck anastomosis group developed postoperative complications, while 31 cases (35.6%) in the left neck anastomosis group developed postoperative complications (χ²=4.609,P=0.032). Compared with left neck anastomosis group, right neck anastomosis group had lower rate of gastric emptying disorder (0% vs. 6.9%, P=0.029), anastomotic fistula (7.3% vs. 18.4%, χ²=4.572, P=0.033), pneumonia (18.3% vs. 32.2%, χ²=4.294, P=0.038) and ICU management (4.9% vs. 16.1%, χ²=4.726, P=0.030).

CONCLUSIONThoracoscopic and laparoscopic esophagectomy with right neck anastomosis is safe and effective, can completely remove the tumor, at the same time, has less complications than left neck anastomosis, and improve the quality of life.

Anastomosis, Surgical ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; Female ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Lymph Node Excision ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies ; Thoracoscopy

OBJECTIVE:To observe the clinical efficacy of taxol combined with cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer and effects on serum tumor markers in patients with esophageal cancer. METHODS:100 patients with esophageal cancer were randomly divided into control group(50 cases) and observation group(50 cases). Observation group was given taxol+Cisplatin injection(TP)neoadjuvant chemotherapy,given 175 mg/m2 taxol by intravenous infusion,d1-5. And ev-ery 5 d was a treatment course,the regimen was adjusted based on patients’efficacy;control group was given conventional sur-gery and TP after surgery,the same usage and dosage as observation group,it lasted for 4 courses. Clinical efficacy,high mobility protein B1(HMGB1),carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) level in 2 groups before and after treatment were observed,objective response rate,disease control rate,the incidence of toxicity and severe toxicity,inci-dence of postoperative complications and survival rate of postoperative 1,3 and 5 years were recorded. RESULTS:After treatment, objective response rate in observation group was significantly higher than control group,HMGB1,CEA and SCC-Ag levels were significantly lower than before and control group,HMGB1 and CEA levels in control group were significantly lower than before, the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05);there were no significant differences in the disease control rate,chemothera-py-related toxicity,severe toxicity,incidence of postoperative complications,survival rate of postoperative 1,3 and 5 years and the median survival time between 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Taxol combined with cisplatin neoadjuvant chemotherapy can significantly improve the efficacy of patients with esophageal cancer and reduce the levels of cancer-related indicators,with good safety.

Objective To study the relationship between radiation gastritis ( RG ) caused by esophageal cancer radical postoperative prophylactic IMRT and the dose of gastric. Methods A total of 49 esophageal cancer patients received postoperative adjuvant radiatherapy after esophagectomy, we analysised the dose?volume histogram of treatment plan and the the occurrence of RG, To analysis those physical indicators may be related to the occurrence of RG. The of ROC curve to analysis the physical index of the occurrence of acute radiation gastritis, Chi square test is compared between groups, Logistic method was used to multivariate analysis. Results The whole group, a total of 19 cases ( 39%) patients with symptoms of acute RG level 2 or higher. The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the physical variables associated with the occurrence of RG include stomach Max,stomach Mean,LSTT5?LSTT40 and V5?V50.According to the ROC curve,the cutoff values of the physical parameters of the patients were grouped. The incidence of acute≥2RG in the group of above boundary value patients significantly higher than below boundary value group, the physical index of the differences between groups were significant (P=0. 000?0. 022),except V5.The results of Logistic multivariate analysis showed that LSTT5 and V40 were independent predictor of≥2 RG (P=0. 026,0. 001). Conclusions According to the results of this study,We should pay attention to the protection of the stomach in develop a treatment plan for the prevention of postoperative patients with esophageal cancer,dose?volume histogram can well predict the occurrence of RG. Stomach LSTT5 and V40 were independent predictor of≥2 RG.The results of this study need to be further studied.