Objective:To analyze the changes rule of serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels in patients with traumatic brain injury in plateau areas, and to evaluate its value in assessing the severity and prognosis of the patients.Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted. The patients with traumatic brain injury admitted to the critical care medicine departments of Xining Third People's Hospital (at an altitude of 2 260 metres) and Golmud City People's Hospital (at an altitude of 2 780 metres) from May 2018 to September 2022 were enrolled. According to the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score at admission, the patients were divided into mild injury group (GCS score 13-15), severe injury group (GCS score 9-12), and critical injury group (GCS score 3-8). All patients received active treatment. Chemiluminescence immunoassay was used to measure the serum PCT levels of patients on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th day of admission. The Kendall tau-b correlation method was used to analyze the correlation between serum PCT levels at different time points and the severity of the disease. The patients were followed up until October 30, 2022. The prognosis of the patients was collected. The baseline data of patients with different prognosis were compared. The Cox regression method was used to analyze the relationship between baseline data, serum PCT levels at different time points and prognosis. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn to analyze the predictive value of serum PCT levels at different time points for death during follow-up.Results:Finally, a total of 120 patients with traumatic brain injury were enrolled, including 52 cases in the mild injury group, 40 cases in the severe injury group, and 28 cases in the critical injury group. The serum PCT levels of patients in the mild injury group showed a continuous downward trend with the prolongation of admission time. The serum PCT levels in the severe injury and critical injury groups reached their peak at 3 days after admission, and were significantly higher than those in the mild injury group (μg/L: 3.53±0.68, 4.47±0.63 vs. 0.40±0.14, both P < 0.05), gradually decreasing thereafter, but still significantly higher than the mild injured group at 7 days. Kendall tau-b correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between serum PCT levels on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 of admission and the severity of disease ( r value was 0.801, 0.808, 0.766, 0.528, respectively, all P < 0.01). As of October 30, 2022, 92 out of 120 patients with traumatic brain injury survived and 28 died, with a mortality of 23.33%. Compared with the survival group, the GCS score, serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, white blood cell count (WBC) in peripheral blood, and PCT levels in cerebrospinal fluid at admission in the death group were significantly increased [GCS score: 5.20±0.82 vs. 4.35±0.93, IL-6 (ng/L): 1.63±0.45 vs. 0.95±0.27, blood WBC (×10 9/L): 14.31±2.03 vs. 11.95±1.98, PCT in cerebrospinal fluid (μg/L): 11.30±1.21 vs. 3.02±0.68, all P < 0.01]. The serum PCT levels of patients in the survival group showed a continuous downward trend with prolonged admission time. The serum PCT level in the death group peaked at 3 days after admission and was significantly higher than that in the survival group (μg/L: 4.11±0.62 vs. 0.52±0.13, P < 0.01), gradually decreasing thereafter, but still significantly higher than the survival group at 7 days. Cox regression analysis showed that serum IL-6 levels [hazard ratio ( HR) = 17.347, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was 5.874-51.232], WBC in peripheral blood ( HR = 1.383, 95% CI was 1.125-1.700), PCT levels in cerebrospinal fluid ( HR = 1.952, 95% CI was 1.535-2.482) at admission and serum PCT levels on admission days 1, 3, 5, and 7 [ HR (95% CI) was 6.776 (1.844-24.906), 1.840 (1.069-3.165), 3.447 (1.284-9.254), and 6.666 (1.214-36.618), respectively] were independent risk factors for death during follow-up in patients with traumatic brain injury (all P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of serum PCT levels on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 for predicting death during follow-up in patients with traumatic brain injury was all > 0.8 [AUC (95% CI) was 0.898 (0.821-0.975), 0.800 (0.701-0.899), 0.899 (0.828-0.970), 0.865 (0.773-0.958), respectively], indicating ideal predictive value. The optimal cut-off value for serum PCT level at 3 days of admission was 1.88 μg/L, with the sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 88.0% for predicting death during follow-up. Conclusions:Abnormal expression of serum PCT levels in patients with traumatic brain injury on the 3rd day of admission was found. The serum PCT levels greater than 3 μg/L may be related to severe illness. The serum PCT levels greater than 1.88 μg/L can predict the poor prognosis of patients. Dynamic observation of changes in serum PCT levels has good evaluation value for the severity and prognosis of patients with traumatic brain injury in plateau areas.

Osteoporotic proximal humeral fracture (OPHF) is one of the common osteoporotic fractures in the aged, with an incidence only lower than vertebral compression fracture, hip fracture, and distal radius fracture. OPHF, secondary to osteoporosis and characterized by poor bone quality, comminuted fracture pattern, slow healing, and severely impaired shoulder joint function, poses a big challenge to the current clinical diagnosis and treatment. In the field of diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of OPHF, traditional Chinese and Western medicine have accumulated rich experience and evidence from evidence-based medicine and achieved favorable outcomes. However, there is still a lack of guidance from a relevant consensus as to how to integrate the advantages of the two medical systems and achieve the integrated diagnosis and treatment. To promote the diagnosis and treatment of OPHF with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, relevant experts from Orthopedic Expert Committee of Geriatric Branch of Chinese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Youth Osteoporosis Group of Orthopedic Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Osteoporosis Group of Orthopedic Surgeon Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and Osteoporosis Committee of Shanghai Association of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine have been organized to formulate Expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporotic proximal humeral fracture with integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine ( version 2024) by searching related literatures and based on the evidences from evidence-based medicine. This consensus consists of 13 recommendations about the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of OPHF with integrated traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, aimed at standardizing, systematizing, and personalizing the diagnosis and treatment of OPHF with integrated traditional Chinse and Western medicine to improve the patients ′ function.

Abstract Survival analysis has been widely used in the field of medical research. The Cox proportional hazard model is commonly used, but its practical application is limited. Machine learning method can compensate for the shortcomings of the Cox proportional hazard model in terms of nonlinear data processing and prediction accuracy. This article reviewed the advance of machine learning methods represented by neural networks, within the field of survival analysis, and highlighted the principles and benefits of three machine learning methods that DeepSurv, Deep-Hit and random survival forest, providing methodological insights for the analysis of complex survival data.

Objective:To construct a nomogram for predicting unfavorable prognosis at 6 months after moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI) and validate its predictive effectiveness.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 387 patients with msTBI who were admitted to 904th Hospital of the Joint Logistic Support Force of PLA from January 2020 to December 2022, including 265 males and 122 females, aged 6-97 years [58(47, 68)years]. According to the Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) score at 6 months after injury, the patients were divided into favorable prognosis group (GOS 4-5 points, n=201) and unfavorable prognosis group (GOS 1-3 points, n=186). The clinical characteristics, imaging manifestations, and laboratory test results of the two groups on admission were recorded. Univariate analysis was applied to evaluate the correlation between the aforementioned indicators and the unfavorable prognosis of the msTBI patients at 6 months after injury. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of single variable and the correlation heatmap among continuous variables were plotted. Lasso regression was used to select variables and multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent predictive factors so as to construct Logistic regression equation and plot the nomogram. The internal verification was carried out by means of random and non-random split of data. In random split, the data were divided randomly with a ratio of 6∶4 into training group ( n=232) and verification group ( n=155). In non-random split, the patients admitted from January 2020 to December 2021 were assigned to the training group ( n=260), while those admitted from January 2022 to December 2022 to the verification group ( n=127). Area under the curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the predictive ability of the model in the training group and verification group, calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) test to evaluate its goodness of fit, and decision curve analysis (DCA) to evaluate its clinical applicability. The influence of inclusion of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) model on the warning effectiveness of poor prognosis was analyzed in comparison with the model without inclusion of NLR. Results:Univariate analysis showed that there was a certain correlation between age, length of hospital stay, Glasgow coma scale (GCS), American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification, Injury severity score (ISS), prehospital tracheal intubation, hypotension, hypoxia, pupillary responsiveness, midline shift, basilar cisterna status, traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (tSAH), D-Dimer, prothrombin time activity (PTA), glucose, hemoglobin, K +, Cl -, Ca 2+, HCO -, creatinine, albumin, lactic acid, platelet, lymphocyte, systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), NLR, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and unfavorable prognosis of msTBI patients at 6 months after injury ( P<0.05 or 0.01). The ROC curve of single variable showed that GCS (AUC=0.82), ISS (AUC=0.81), pupillary responsiveness (AUC=0.76), basal cistern status (AUC=0.73) and NLR (AUC=0.73) had good predictive validity. The results of the correlation heatmap showed that there was a significant correlation and collinearity among the continuous variables, while no collinearity was found between ISS and NLR. Fourteen potential predictors selected by Lasso regression were included in multivariate Logistic regression analysis and its results showed that age ( OR=0.86, 95% CI 1.38, 5.19), GCS 6-8 points ( OR=3.13, 95% CI 1.06, 9.27), GCS 3-5 points ( OR=12.36, 95% CI 2.81, 54.27), ISS ( OR=3.68, 95% CI 1.38, 9.80), pupillary responsiveness ( OR=2.45, 95% CI 0.85, 7.07), and NLR ( OR=2.62, 95% CI 1.52, 4.51) were identified as the independent risk factors for unfavorable prognosis of msTBI patients at 6 months after injury ( P<0.05 or 0.01). The multivariate Logistic regression equation was Logit [P/(1-P)]=0.066×"age"+ 1.474×"GCS 6-8"+2.357×"GCS 3-5"+0.066×"ISS"+0.965×"absence of pupillary light reflex"+0.194×"NLR"-10.704. In the internal verification of random split of data, the AUC value of the model was 0.93 (95% CI 0.89, 0.96) in the training group and 0.93 (95% CI 0.89, 0.97) in the verification group. In the internal verification of non-random split, the AUC value was 0.94 (95% CI 0.91, 0.97) in the training group and 0.93 (95% CI 0.89, 0.97) in the verification group. The calibration curve and H-L test showed that the model had good calibration ability ( P>0.5). The results of DCA showed that the application of the nomogram would increase the net benefit of the patients (risk threshold probability of 0.0-0.8). Compared with the conventional model (AUC=0.90), inclusion of NLR model (AUC=0.93) enhanced the warning effectiveness. Conclusions:Age, GCS, ISS, pupillary responsiveness and NLR are independent risk factors affecting unfavorable prognosis in msTBI patients at 6 months after injury, based on which the nomogram constructed can better predict the clinical outcome of msTBI patients.

The incidence of intracranial aneurysms is higher in population, and the death and disability rates after rupture are extremely high. Early detection of intracranial aneurysms, prediction of rupture risk, operation program, and evaluation of treatment outcomes are all the clinical concerns. With the continuously deepening integration of artificial intelligence technology and medicine, its application in the diagnosis and treatment of intracranial aneurysms is becoming increasingly widespread. This article reviews the current application status of artificial intelligence technology in the diagnosis and treatment of intracranial aneurysms.

Objective:To compare the safety and efficacy of ticagrelor and clopidogrel in dual antiplatelet therapy for stent-assisted embolization of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.Methods:Patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms received stent-assisted embolization in the Department of Neurosurgery, Linyi People's Hospital from January 2021 to June 2022 were retrospectively included. According to the preprocedural dual antiplatelet therapy scheme, they were divided into aspirin+clopidogrel group (clopidogrel group) and aspirin+ticagrelor group (ticagrelor group). The incidence of ischemic and bleeding events was compared between the clopidogrel group and the ticagrelor group at 3 months after procedure. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze independent risk factors for postprocedural ischemic and bleeding events. Results:A total of 195 patients were included. Their age was 58.15±10.11 years and 75 were males (38.5%). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of bleeding events (12.8% vs. 5.9%) and ischemic events (14.9% vs. 18.8%) at 3 months after procedure between the ticagrelor group ( n=94) and the clopidogrel group ( n=101). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking (odds ratio [ OR] 6.085; 95% confidence interval [ CI] 1.589-13.012; P=0.019], hypertension ( OR 4.547, 95% CI 1.589-13.012; P=0.005), aneurysm at the branch vessel ( OR 3.089, 95% CI 1.122-8.504; P=0.029), and the use of flow diverter ( OR 3.111, 95% CI 1.062-9.110; P=0.038) were the independent risk factors for postprocedural ischemic events. Triglycerides might be an independent risk factor for postprocedural bleeding events ( OR 1.435, 95% CI 0.989-2.082; P=0.057), but did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions:In dual antiplatelet therapy for stent-assisted embolization of unruptured intracranial aneurysms, ticagrelor and clopidogrel have the same safety and efficacy.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of Tubridge flow diverter (TFD) in the treatment of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs).Methods:The clinical data of patients with UIAs treated with TFD in the Department of Neurosurgery, Linyi People's Hospital from July 2021 to July 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) was used to evaluate functional outcomes during postoperative follow-up. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) follow-up was performed at least 3 months after procedure, and the occlusion degree of the aneurysm was assessed with the O'Kelly-Marotta (OKM) grading system.Results:A total of 52 patients (71 aneurysms) were included and 54 TFDs were successfully implanted. Forty-one patients (78.8%) were treated with TFD alone, while 11 (21.2%) were treated with TFD combined with coil embolization. One patient experienced in-stent thrombosis during the procedure, and the symptoms disappeared after medical treatment. Postoperative hemorrhage and ischemic complications occurred in each 2 cases, respectively. No patient died during the follow-up period. DSA follow-up was performed on a total of 45 aneurysms in 34 patients. The followed-up time was 8.3±3.1 months (range, 3-15 months), including 2 OKM grade A (4.4%), 11 grade B (24.4%), 1 grade C (2.2%), and 31 grade D (68.9%). At the last follow-up, 51 patients had good outcomes (mRS score 0-2), and 1 patient had poor outcome (mRS score 4).Conclusion:TFD for UIAs has a high complete occlusion rate and a low complication rate.

Gastric cancer with hemorrhage and cerebral infarction is a serious complica-tion with poor prognosis in clinic. Although the incidence rate is extremely low, the fatality and disability rates are very high. In addition, the opposition in treatment between the two complica-tions increases the difficulty of clinical diagnosis and treatment. The authors report the diagnosis and treatment of a gastric cancer patient with hemorrhage and new cerebral infarction, in order to to provide reference for related treatments.

The condition of patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) complicated by corona virus 2019 disease (COVID-19) is complex. sTBI can significantly increase the probability of COVID-19 developing into severe or critical stage, while COVID-19 can also increase the surgical risk of sTBI and the severity of postoperative lung lesions. There are many contradictions in the treatment process, which brings difficulties to the clinical treatment of such patients. Up to now, there are few clinical studies and therapeutic norms relevant to sTBI complicated by COVID-19. In order to standardize the clinical treatment of such patients, Critical Care Medicine Branch of China International Exchange and Promotive Association for Medical and Healthcare and Editorial Board of Chinese Journal of Trauma organized relevant experts to formulate the Chinese expert consensus on clinical treatment of adult patients with severe traumatic brain injury complicated by corona virus infection 2019 ( version 2023) based on the joint prevention and control mechanism scheme of the State Council and domestic and foreign literatures on sTBI and COVID-19 in the past 3 years of the international epidemic. Fifteen recommendations focused on emergency treatment, emergency surgery and comprehensive management were put forward to provide a guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of sTBI complicated by COVID-19.

Traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leakage commonly presents in traumatic brain injury patients, and it may lead to complications such as meningitis, ventriculitis, brain abscess, subdural hematoma or tension pneumocephalus. When misdiagnosed or inappropriately treated, traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leakage may result in severe complications and may be life-threatening. Some traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leakage has concealed manifestations and is prone to misdiagnosis. Due to different sites and mechanisms of trauma and degree of cerebrospinal fluid leak, treatments for traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leakage varies greatly. Hence, the Craniocerebral Trauma Professional Group of Neurosurgery Branch of Chinese Medical Association and the Neurological Injury Professional Group of Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association organized relevant experts to formulate the " Chinese expert consensus on the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leakage in adults ( version 2023)" based on existing clinical evidence and experience. The consensus consisted of 16 recommendations, covering the leakage diagnosis, localization, treatments, and intracranial infection prevention, so as to standardize the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic cerebrospinal fluid leakage and improve the overall prognosis of the patients.