Objective To explore the effect of aortic valve neo-cuspidization (AVNeo) for patients with severe aortic valve lesions simultaneously. Methods Patients who underwent AVNeo combined valve repair surgery for multiple valve diseases were included in Beijing Anzhen Hospital from May 2016 to September 2023. Results We included 11 patients with 7 males and 4 females at a median age of 38 (36, 49) years. Rheumatic heart disease was found in 5 (45.5%) patients and non-rheumatic heart disease in 6 (54.5%) patients. The median EuroSCORE Ⅱ score was 1.62 (1.18, 1.75) points. Eight patients underwent AVNeo plus mitral and tricuspid valve repair, and 3 patients underwent AVNeo plus mitral valve repair. The median operative time was 356 (315, 415) min, and the median cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic clamping time were 203 (174, 231) min and 168 (131, 188) min, respectively. In the early stage, 2 patients underwent combined valve repair surgery, and 1 patient underwent in-hospital reoperation for aortic valve replacement because of severe aortic regurgitation. There were 9 patients in the mature stage of AVNeo, and no perioperative adverse events or moderate or above residual valvular disease occurred. All patients recovered and were discharged from the hospital. The follow-up period was 3-99 months, and no reoperation, severe valve disease, bleeding, cerebral infarction, or other adverse events occurred in all patients. Conclusion For non-elderly patients whose mitral and tricuspid valves can be repaired successfully with severe aortic valve lesions, AVNeo can be attempted after proficiency. But the operation time and cardiopulmonary bypass time will inevitably be prolonged, and the patient's basic situation should be carefully evaluated before surgery.

Extremely unbalanced data here refers to datasets where the values of independent or dependent variables exhibit severe unbalance in proportions, such as extremely unbalanced case-control ratio, very low incidence rate of disease, heavily censored time-to-event data, and low-frequency or rare variants. In such scenarios, the statistic derived from hypothesis test using the classical statistical method, e.g., logistic regression model and Cox proportional hazard regression model, might deviate from theoretical asymptotic distribution, resulting in inflation or deflation of type I error. With the increased availability and exploration of resources from large-scale population cohorts in genome-wide association study (GWAS), there is a growing demand for effective and accurate statistical approaches to handle extremely unbalanced data in independent and non-independent samples. Our study introduces classical statistical methods in genetic statistics firstly, then, summarizes the failure of classical statistical methods in dealing with extremely unbalanced data through simulation experiments to draw researchers' attention to the extremely unbalanced data in GWAS.

Objective To observe the value of dynamic contrast enhanced MRI(DCE-MRI)for evaluating the early efficacy of chemotherapy in rabbit models of VX2 malignant bone tumor.Methods Models of VX2 malignant bone tumor were established in 30 rabbits,among which 14 were treated with intravenous cisplatin by 7 mg/kg body mass(chemotherapy group),while the other 16 were injected with equal dose of normal saline(control group).Non-contrast MRI and DCE-MRI were acquired 2 weeks after tumor implantation(before intervention)and 3 days later injection(after intervention),respectively.Point-to-point comparisons were performed between images and pathological findings,and the values of volume transfer constant(Ktrans),rate constant(Kep),extravascular and extracellular volume fraction(Ve),plasma volume fraction(Vp)and microvessel density(MVD)in tumor region were obtained.MRI findings before and after intervention within groups,as well as those after intervention were compared between groups.The efficacy of the above parameters forjudging whether the tumor being treated with chemotherapy or not was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and the area under the curve(AUC),and the correlations between DCE-MRI parameters after intervention and MVD were analyzed.Results No statistical difference of the maximum diameter of tumors shown on plain MRI was found before and after intervention in chemotherapy group(P＞0.05).Compared with those before intervention,Ktrans and Kep in tumor region decreased in chemotherapy group but increased in control group after intervention(allP＜0.05),while no significant difference of Ve nor Vp was found in both groups(all P＞0.05).Ktrans and Kep in chemotherapy group were lower than those in control group(both P＜0.05),while no significant difference of Ve nor Vp between groups after intervention(both P＞0.05).The AUC of Ktrans,Kep,Ve and Vp for judging whether the tumor treated with chemotherapy or not was 0.964,0.933,0.317 and 0.455,respectively.MVD in tumor regions in chemotherapy group was lower than that in control group after intervention(P＜0.05).Ktrans and Kep in tumor region in both groups were positively correlated with MVD(r=0.876,0.881,both P＜0.05),while Ve and Vp did not significantly correlated with M VD(r=0.118,0.202,both P＞0.05).Conclusion DCE-MRI quantitative parameters Ktrans and Kep could be used to sensitively observe the early reflection of rabbit models of VX2 malignant bone tumor to chemotherapy and changes of MVD.

Objective:To compare and discuss the mid-to-long-term outcomes of mitral valve repair (MVP) versus biological mitral valve replacement (bMVR) in patients aged 60 years and above with rheumatic mitral valve disease.Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study. A total of 765 patients aged 60 years and older, diagnosed with rheumatic mitral valve disease and who underwent MVP or bMVR at Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 2010 to January 2023, were retrospectively included. Among them, 186 were male and 579 were female, with an age of (66.1±4.5) years (range: 60 to 82 years). Patients were divided into two groups based on the surgical method: the mitral valve repair group (MVP group, n=256) and the bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement group (bMVR group, n=509). A 1∶1 propensity score matching was performed using a caliper value of 0.2 based on preoperative data. Paired sample t-tests, χ2 tests, or Fisher′s exact tests were used for intergroup comparisons. Kaplan-Meier method was employed to plot survival curves and valve-related reoperation rate curves for both groups before and after matching, and Log-rank tests were used to compare the mid-to long-term survival rates and valve-related reoperation rates between the two groups. Results:A total of 765 patients who completed follow-up were ultimately included, with a follow-up period ( M(IQR)) of 5.1(5.0) years (range: 1.0 to 12.9 years). After matching, each group consisted of 256 patients. The incidence of early postoperative atrial fibrillation (39.1% vs. 49.2%, χ2=4.95, P=0.026) and early mortality rates (2.0% vs. 6.2%, χ2=4.97, P=0.026) were lower in the MVP group. Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analysis showed significantly higher 5-year and 10-year survival rates for the MVP group (92.54% vs. 83.02%, 86.22% vs. 70.19%, Log-rank: P=0.001). After adjustment with propensity scores, the Kaplan-Meier analysis still indicated higher 5-year and 10-year survival rates in the MVP group compared to the bMVR group (92.54% vs. 85.89%, 86.22% vs. 74.83%, Log-rank: P=0.024). There were no significant differences in the rates of valve-related reoperation between the two groups before and after matching (5-year and 10-year reoperation rates pre-matching: 1.75% vs. 0.57%, 5.39% vs. 7.54%, Log-rank: P=0.207; post-matching: 1.75% vs. 0, 5.39% vs. 9.27%, Log-rank: P=0.157). Conclusion:For patients aged 60 years and above with rheumatic mitral valve disease, mitral valve repair offers better mid-to-long-term survival compared to biological valve replacement.

Objective:To compare and discuss the mid-to-long-term outcomes of mitral valve repair (MVP) versus biological mitral valve replacement (bMVR) in patients aged 60 years and above with rheumatic mitral valve disease.Methods:This is a retrospective cohort study. A total of 765 patients aged 60 years and older, diagnosed with rheumatic mitral valve disease and who underwent MVP or bMVR at Beijing Anzhen Hospital from January 2010 to January 2023, were retrospectively included. Among them, 186 were male and 579 were female, with an age of (66.1±4.5) years (range: 60 to 82 years). Patients were divided into two groups based on the surgical method: the mitral valve repair group (MVP group, n=256) and the bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement group (bMVR group, n=509). A 1∶1 propensity score matching was performed using a caliper value of 0.2 based on preoperative data. Paired sample t-tests, χ2 tests, or Fisher′s exact tests were used for intergroup comparisons. Kaplan-Meier method was employed to plot survival curves and valve-related reoperation rate curves for both groups before and after matching, and Log-rank tests were used to compare the mid-to long-term survival rates and valve-related reoperation rates between the two groups. Results:A total of 765 patients who completed follow-up were ultimately included, with a follow-up period ( M(IQR)) of 5.1(5.0) years (range: 1.0 to 12.9 years). After matching, each group consisted of 256 patients. The incidence of early postoperative atrial fibrillation (39.1% vs. 49.2%, χ2=4.95, P=0.026) and early mortality rates (2.0% vs. 6.2%, χ2=4.97, P=0.026) were lower in the MVP group. Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analysis showed significantly higher 5-year and 10-year survival rates for the MVP group (92.54% vs. 83.02%, 86.22% vs. 70.19%, Log-rank: P=0.001). After adjustment with propensity scores, the Kaplan-Meier analysis still indicated higher 5-year and 10-year survival rates in the MVP group compared to the bMVR group (92.54% vs. 85.89%, 86.22% vs. 74.83%, Log-rank: P=0.024). There were no significant differences in the rates of valve-related reoperation between the two groups before and after matching (5-year and 10-year reoperation rates pre-matching: 1.75% vs. 0.57%, 5.39% vs. 7.54%, Log-rank: P=0.207; post-matching: 1.75% vs. 0, 5.39% vs. 9.27%, Log-rank: P=0.157). Conclusion:For patients aged 60 years and above with rheumatic mitral valve disease, mitral valve repair offers better mid-to-long-term survival compared to biological valve replacement.

Background/Aims: Metabolic syndrome is common in patients with acute pancreatitis and its components have been reported to be associated with infectious complications. In this post hoc analysis, we aimed to evaluate whether metabolic abnormalities impact the effect of immuneenhancing thymosin alpha-1 (Tα1) therapy in acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) patients. Methods: All data were obtained from the database for a multicenter randomized clinical trial that evaluated the efficacy of Tα1 in ANP patients. Patients who discontinued the Tα1 treatment prematurely were excluded. The primary outcome was 90-day infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) after randomization. Three post hoc subgroups were defined based on the presence of hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia, or both at the time of randomization. In each subgroup, the correlation between Tα1 and 90-day IPN was assessed using the Cox proportional-hazards regression model. Multivariable propensity-score methods were used to control potential bias. Results: Overall, 502 participants were included in this post hoc analysis (248 received Tα1 treatment and 254 received matching placebo treatment). Among them, 271 (54.0%) had hyperglycemia, 371 (73.9%) had hypertriglyceridemia and 229 (45.6%) had both. Tα1 therapy was associated with reduced incidence of IPN among patients with hyperglycemia (18.8% vs 29.7%: hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% confidence interval, 0.37 to 0.97; p=0.03), but not in the other subgroups. Additional multivariate regression models using three propensity-score methods yielded similar results. Conclusions Among ANP patients with hyperglycemia, immune-enhancing Tα1 treatment was associated with a reduced risk of IPN (ClinicalTrials.gov, Registry number: NCT02473406).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to classify mandibular molar furcation involvement (FI) in periapical radiographs using a deep learning algorithm. Materials and Methods: Full mouth series taken at East Carolina University School of Dental Medicine from 2011-2023 were screened. Diagnostic-quality mandibular premolar and molar periapical radiographs with healthy or FI mandibular molars were included. The radiographs were cropped into individual molar images, annotated as “healthy” or “FI,” and divided into training, validation, and testing datasets. The images were preprocessed by PyTorch transformations. ResNet-18, a convolutional neural network model, was refined using the PyTorch deep learning framework for the specific imaging classification task. CrossEntropyLoss and the AdamW optimizer wereemployed for loss function training and optimizing the learning rate, respectively. The images were loaded by PyTorch DataLoader for efficiency. The performance of ResNet-18 algorithm was evaluated with multiple metrics, including training and validation losses, confusion matrix, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve, and the area under the ROC curve. Results: After adequate training, ResNet-18 classified healthy vs. FI molars in the testing set with an accuracy of 96.47%, indicating its suitability for image classification. Conclusion The deep learning algorithm developed in this study was shown to be promising for classifying mandibular molar FI. It could serve as a valuable supplemental tool for detecting and managing periodontal diseases.

【Objective】 To explore the clinical features, treatment and prognosis of paraganglioma of the urinary bladder (PUB). 【Methods】 The clinical data of 41 PUB patients treated at our hospital during Sep.2012 and Sep.2022 were collected. The clinical features, surgical records, pathological reports and follow-up records were retrospectively analyzed. Patients’ survival was estimated with Kaplan-Meier estimator. The differences among groups were compared with Log-rank test. 【Results】 Among the 41 patients, 20 were male and 21 were female, with a median age of 52 years. All patients were treated with surgery, including transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) in 16 cases, partial cystectomy (PC) in 23 cases, and radical cystectomy (RC) in 2 cases. All patients were followed up for 4.0 to 125.0 months, with a median of 59.0 months. Local recurrence occurred in 5 patients, and distant metastasis occurred in 5 patients. Survival analysis showed that the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate and 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) rate were 95.7% and 84.8%, respectively. Further analysis showed statistically significant differences in OS and RFS among groups with different maximum tumor diameters, growth patterns, and Ki-67 expressions (P<0.05). For patients with a maximum tumor diameter ≤2.8 cm, there was no significant difference in OS and RFS among different surgical groups. 【Conclusion】 PUB is rare, and a definitive diagnosis is based on pathology. In addition, the main treatment is surgery and the prognosis is good.

Gardner syndrome has head and neck manifestations that may be recognized during dental visits. Features such as multiple gnathic osteomas, impacted supernumerary teeth, and multiple foci of idiopathic osteosclerosis can be easily identified on dental radiographs, prompting the clinician to refer the patient for further investigation. A dental examination and routine radiographs play a vital role in revealing the extracolonic presentation of Gardner syndrome, which facilitates timely screening and detection of colorectal cancer and other malignancies associated with this condition. This report discusses the case of a 50-year-old Caucasian man who presented with a hard swelling of the left angle of the mandible and was diagnosed with Gardner syndrome based on abnormal findings from an oral examination, dental imaging, and medical and family history. (Imaging Sci Dent 2023; 53: 169-74)

The clinical data of a 64-year-old patient with adrenocortical adenoma complicated with inferior vena cava tumor thrombus(IVCTT) were retrospectively analyzed. The patient was admitted becourse of intermittent dizziness for 4 months. CT examination revealed right adrenal tumor, and IVCTT was found in operation. Adrenal cortical adenoma needs to be distinguished from adrenal cortical carcinoma pathologically. Preoperative color Doppler ultrasonography, CT angiography or inferior vena cava angiography can confirm the diagnosis of IVCTT and tumor thrombus grade, and different surgical methods should be selected according to tumor thrombus grade.