AIM: To investigate the preoperative ocular symptoms and the characteristics of asymptomatic ocular surface abnormalities in hospitalized patients with primary pterygium.METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Hospitalized patients diagnosed with primary pterygium and scheduled to receive pterygium excision surgery at the Xiamen Eye Center of Xiamen University from August 2022 to October 2022 were enrolled. Ocular surface disease index questionnaire(OSDI), six examinations including non-invasive tear film break-up time, Schirmer I test, tear meniscus height, lid margin abnormality, meibomian gland dropout and tear film lipid layer thickness, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography(AS-OCT)were performed and statistically analyzed.RESULTS: A total of 178 cases(178 eyes), with a mean age of 54.39±10.75 years old, were recruited, including 75 males(42.1%)and 103 females(57.9%). The average values of ocular surface parameters in these patients included OSDI: 11.47±9.69, tear film break-up time: 7.10±3.86 s; tear meniscus height: 0.16±0.07 mm, Schirmer I test values: 14.39±7.29 mm/5 min, and pterygium thickness: 504.74±175.87 μm. Totally 161 eyes(90.4%)presented with abnormal lid margin, 44 eyes(24.7%)presented with meibomian gland dropout score ≥4, 52 eyes(29.2%)presented with low lipid layer thickness. In the 6 objective examinations, abnormalities in at least 4 of these tests were found in 85.4% of eyes. Pterygium morphology was classified into four grades: 10 eyes(5.6%)of grade Ⅰ, 93 eyes(52.2%)of grade Ⅱ, 60 eyes(33.7%)of grade Ⅲ, and 15 eyes(8.4%)of grade Ⅳ. In patients with a higher grade of pterygium, the tear film break-up time was lower, and the proportion of abnormal lid margin was also significantly higher(P<0.05). The patients were further divided into two subgroups, including 121 eyes(68.0%)with normal OSDI <13 in the normal group and 57 eyes(32.0%)with OSDI ≥13 in the abnormal group. No significant difference was found in the proportion of meibomian gland dysfunction between the two groups of patients(71.9% vs. 71.9%, P=0.872). In addition, there were differences in the number of abnormal objective examinations(4.11±0.85 vs. 4.91±0.99, P<0.001).CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic ocular surface abnormalities were present preoperatively in patients hospitalized for primary pterygium. A comparable high incidence of structural or functional meibomian gland dysfunction existed in pterygium patients with or without apparent ocular discomfort. More attention should be paid to the ocular surface abnormalities in those asymptomatic patients before primary pterygium surgery.

Internuclear ophthalmoplegia mainly affects the horizontal movement disorder of the eyeball. "One and a half syndrome" is characterized by a combination of one eyeball on the affected side cannot be adducted and abducted, and the other eyeball cannot be adducted, but can be abducted accompanied by horizontal nystagmus due to the lesion of tegmental pontine. At present, articles have successively reported "eight and a half syndromes""nine syndromes""thirteen and a half syndromes" and so on. The rapid identification of "one and a half syndrome" spectrum is helpful for clinicians to make right positioning and clinical decision-making. A case of bilateral peripheral facial paralysis with bilaterally horizontal gaze palsy caused by pontine dorsal tegmental lesions is now reported, so as to improve the understanding of the anatomical location and heterogeneity of pontine lesion.

Objective:To investigate the impact of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rh-EGF) on the epithelial recovery and the tear film stability after trans-epithelial corneal collagen crosslinking in patients with progressive keratoconus.Methods:A randomized controlled clinical trail was designed.Consecutive 66 patients (37 males and 29 females) with an average age of (21.27±3.80) years old diagnosed with primary progressive keratoconus and hospitalized in Xiamen Eye Center Affiliated to Xiamen University from October, 2016 to January, 2017 were enrolled and treated with unilateral enhanced transepithelial corneal crosslinking surgery by iontophoresis, and the patients were randomly divided into control group and experimental group according to random number table method, with 33 patients 33 eyes in each group.The eyes in the control group were treated with carboxy-methylcellulose sodium lubricant eye drops and the eyes in the experimental group were treated with rh-EGF eye drops.The ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionare, slit lamp examination, Schirmer Ⅰ test, corneal fluorescein sodium staining scoring, non-contact tonometry, uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, bulbar conjunctival congestion scoring, lacrimal sevretion test, non-invasive break-up time of tear film (NIBUT), as well as tear meniscus height analysis were performed before surgery, and on day 1, day 3, day 5, day 7, day 14 and day 28 after surgery.This study followed the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Xiamen Eye Center Affiliated to Xiamen University (No.2016-ME-003).Results:On day 7 after surgery, the OSDI values were increased in both groups than the preoperative value, while the value in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group ( P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the overall corneal epithelial staining score values between the two groups at different time points ( Fgroup=16.701, P<0.01; Ftime=454.418, P<0.01). The corneal epithelial staining score in the experimental group on day 3 and day 5 after surgery were significantly lower than those in the control group (1.79±0.65 vs. 2.70±0.68; 0.91±0.46 vs. 1.55±0.51) (both at P<0.01). The conjunctival congestion score in the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group on day 3 and day 5 after surgery (both at P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in the overall NIBUT values between the two groups at different time points ( Fgroup=13.084, P<0.01; Ftime=34.383, P<0.01). The NIBUT values were significantly decreased rapidly on day 7, day 14 and day 28 after surgery in both groups (all at P<0.01), but gradually recovered.The NIBUT of the experimental group on day 7 and day 14 after surgery were significantly higher than those of the control group ([8.18±2.26]seconds vs. [5.93±2.33]seconds; [9.49±1.95]seconds vs. [7.52±2.27]seconds) (both at P<0.01). No statistical differences were found in the tonometry value, visual acuity, value of Schirmer I test as well as tear meniscus height at any time point before or after surgery between the two groups (all at P>0.05). Conclusions:Recombinant human epidermal growth factor has positive effects in the patients received enhanced transepithelial corneal crosslinking surgery, presenting with promotion of epithelial healing, relief of post-operative discomfort, and the recovery of tear film stability.

Objective: In order to master the epidemic trend of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and evaluate the effect of prevention and control, we evaluate the epidemic dynamics of COVID-19 in mainland China, Hubei province, Wuhan city and other provinces outside Hubei from January 16 to February 14, 2020. Methods: We collected the daily number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases by nucleic acid detection reported by the National Health Commission from January 16, 2020 to February 14, 2020. The analysis includes the epidemic curve of the new confirmed cases, multiple of the new confirmed cases for period-over-period, multiple of the new confirmed cases for fixed-base, and the period-over-period growth rate of the new confirmed cases. Results: From January 16 to February 14, 2020, the cumulative number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in mainland China was 50 031, including 37 930 in Hubei province, 22 883 in Wuhan city and 12 101 in other provinces outside Hubei. The peak of the number of new confirmed cases in other provinces outside Hubei was from January 31 to February 4, 2020, and the peak of new confirmed cases in Wuhan city and Hubei province was from February 5 to February 9, 2020. The number of new confirmed cases in other provinces outside Hubei showed a significant decline (23% compared with the peak) from February 5 to February 9, 2020, while the number of new confirmed cases in Wuhan city (30% compared with the peak) and Hubei Province (37% compared with the peak) decreased significantly from February 10 to February 14, 2020. Conclusion The epidemic prevention and control measures taken by the state and governments at all levels have shown very significant effects, effectively curbing the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in China.

The risk of perioperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) is pretty high in thoracic cancer patients. Perioperative VTE influences the recovery of patients after operation and quality of life in the future, even seriously leading to death. To strengthen the knowledge and attention of thoracic surgeons on perioperative VTE in thoracic cancer patients, China National Research Collaborative Group on VTE in Thoracic Surgery released the edition of VTE prophalaxis in thoracic cancer patients: Chinese experts consensus in 2018. This article is to interpret the diagnostic value and risk prediction value of D-dimer in VTE in detail, and briefly introduce the role of other biomarkers in VTE of tumor patients. The consensus interpretation aims to deepen the understanding of thoracic surgeons on the clinical significance of D-dimer in VTE.

The family doctor service is an important measure to transform primary health care mode,makes the community health service institutions to take on the gatekeeper role of residents' health and health care costs,and promotes the achievements of hierarchical diagnosis and treatment.At present,there are some difficulties in the process of family doctor service.For example,the construction of the general practitioner team is lagging behind and the residents don't understand the specific contents of the family doctor service well.Medical social workers have both the social work professional skills and medical literacy,which makes them become the effective strength of community health service.Introducing medical social workers by the purchase of the governments,volunteer training,and job settings mode can meet the needs of the development of family doctor service to some extent,and bring in new ideas to the implementation of the family doctor service.

Objective To investigate the association between ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and pulse pressure (PP) as well as the relationships between gene-gene interaction between PPARα/δ/γ genes and PP.Methods A total of 820 subjects,with 550 females and 270 males,were recruited from a cohort study of “Prevention of Metabolic Syndrome and Multi-metabolic Disorders in Jiangsu Province of China Study (PMMJS)”.Ten SNPs of PPARα/δ/γ genes were selected.GMDR software (version 1.0.1) was used to evaluate the gene-gene interactions among PPARs SNPs associated with PP.Results The mean levels of PP in people with mutant genotype of rs1805192 in PPARγ genes (PA+AA) showed a significant increase by 1.341 mmHg (95％CI:0.431-2.252 mmHg) when compared to the persons with wild genotype (PP).In the subgroup of subjects with more than 30 mmHg levels of PP,a six-locus model comprised rs135539 of PPARα,rs2016520 of PPARδ,rs10865710,rs1805192,rs709158 and rs3856806 of PPARγshowed a highest level of prediction accuracy (0.577) and displayed a better cross-validation consistency (10/10).In the subgroup of subjects with less than 40 mmHg levels of PP,a two-locus model was statistically associated with PP with 0.628 of prediction accuracy and 10/10 of cross-validation consistency.Conclusion PPARγrs1805192 was associated with the occurrence of PP.Gene-gene interactions among rs135539 of PPARα,rs2016520 of PPARδ,rs10865710,rs1805192,rs709158 and rs3856806 of PPARγ were all significantly related to PP.

OBJECTIVEVideo-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) esophagectomy has been performed for more than 10 years in China. However, compared with the conventional esophagectomy via right thoracotomy, whether VATS esophagectomy has more advantages or not in the lymph node (LN) dissection and prevention of perioperative complications is still controversial and deserves to be further investigated. The aim of this study was to explore whether there are significant differences in this issue between the two surgical modalities or not.

METHODSThe results of lymph node dissection and perioperative complications as well as other parameters in the patients treated by VATS esophagectomy and those by conventional esophagectomy via right thoracotomy at our department from May 1, 2009 to July 30, 2013 were compared using SPSS 16.0 in order to investigate whether there was any significant difference between these two treatment modalities in the learning curve stage of VATS esophagectomy.

RESULTSOne hundred and twenty-nine cases underwent VATS esophagectomy between May 1, 2009 and July 30, 2013, and another part 129 cases with the same preoperative cTNM stage treated by conventional esopahgectomy via right thoracotomy were selected in order to compare the results of lymph node dissection and perioperative complications as well as other parameters between those two groups of patients. There were no significant differences in the sex, age, lesion locations and cTNM stage between these two groups. The total LN metastatic rate in the VATS esophagectomy group was 35.7% and that of the conventional esophagectomy group was 37.2% (P > 0.05). The total average number of dissected lymph nodes was 12.1 vs. 16.2 (P < 0.001). The average dissected LN stations was 3.2 vs. 3.6 (P = 0.038). The total average number of dissected LN along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve was 2.0 vs. 3.7 (P = 0.012). The total average number of dissected LN along the right recurrent laryngeal nerve was 2.9 vs. 3.4 (P = 0.231). However, there was no significant difference in the total average number of dissected LN in the other thoracic LN stations, and in the perioperative complications between the two groups. The total postoperative complication rate was 41.1% in the VATS group versus 42.6% in the conventional group (P = 0.801). The cardiopulmonary complication rate was 25.6% vs. 27.1% (P = 0.777). The death rate was the same in the two groups (0.8%). The VATS group had less blood infusion (23.2% vs. 41.8%, P = 0.001) and shorter hospital stay (15.9 days vs. 19.2 days, P = 0.049) but longer operating time (161.3 min vs. 127.8 min, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSIn the learning curve stage of VATS esophagectomy, compared with the conventional esophagectomy, less LN number and stations can be dissected in the VATS group due to un-skillful VATS manipulation, especially it is more difficult in the LN dissection along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. Therefore, it is more suitable to select patients with early esophageal cancer without obvious enlarged lymph nodes for VATS esophagectomy in the learning curve stage.

China ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Humans ; Learning Curve ; Length of Stay ; Lymph Node Excision ; adverse effects ; methods ; statistics & numerical data ; Lymph Nodes ; Operative Time ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; adverse effects ; Thoracotomy

Objective Video?assisted thoracoscopic ( VATS ) esophagectomy has been performed for more than 10 years in China. However, compared with the conventional esophagectomy via right thoracotomy, whether VATS esophagectomy has more advantages or not in the lymph node ( LN) dissection and prevention of perioperative complications is still controversial and deserves to be further investigated. The aim of this study was to explore whether there are significant differences in this issue between the two surgical modalities or not. Methods The results of lymph node dissection and perioperative complications as well as other parameters in the patients treated by VATS esophagectomy and those by conventional esophagectomy via right thoracotomy at our department from May 1,2009 to July 30,2013 were compared using SPSS 16.0 in order to investigate whether there was any significant difference between these two treatment modalities in the learning curve stage of VATS esophagectomy. Results One hundred and twenty?nine cases underwent VATS esophagectomy between May 1, 2009 and July 30, 2013, and another pared 129 cases with the same preoperative cTNM stage treated by conventional esopahgectomy via right thoracotomy were selected in order to compare the results of lymph node dissection and perioperative complications as well as other parameters between those two groups of patients. There were no significant differences in the sex, age, lesion locations and cTNM stage between these two groups. The total LN metastatic rate in the VATS esophagectomy group was 35.7% and that of the conventional esophagectomy group was 37.2% (P>0.05). The total average number of dissected lymph nodes was 12.1 vs. 16.2 ( P<0.001) . The average dissected LN stations was 3.2 vs. 3.6 ( P=0.038) . The total average number of dissected LN along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve was 2.0 vs. 3.7 ( P=0.012) . The total average number of dissected LN along the right recurrent laryngeal nerve was 2.9 vs. 3.4 (P=0.231). However, there was no significant difference in the total average number of dissected LN in the other thoracic LN stations, and in the perioperative complications between the two groups. The total postoperative complication rate was 41. 1% in the VATS group versus 42. 6% in the conventional group ( P=0.801) . The cardiopulmonary complication rate was 25.6% vs. 27.1% ( P=0.777) . The death rate was the same in the two groups (0.8%). The VATS group had less blood infusion (23.2% vs. 41.8%, P=0.001) and shorter hospital stay (15.9 days vs. 19.2 days, P=0.049) but longer operating time (161.3 min vs. 127.8 min, P<0.01). Conclusions In the learning curve stage of VATS esophagectomy, compared with the conventional esophagectomy, less LN number and stations can be dissected in the VATS group due to unskillful VATS manipulation, especially it is more difficult in the LN dissection along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. Therefore, it is more suitable to select patients with early esophageal cancer without obvious enlarged lymph nodes for VATS esophagectomy in the learning curve stage.

Objective Video?assisted thoracoscopic ( VATS ) esophagectomy has been performed for more than 10 years in China. However, compared with the conventional esophagectomy via right thoracotomy, whether VATS esophagectomy has more advantages or not in the lymph node ( LN) dissection and prevention of perioperative complications is still controversial and deserves to be further investigated. The aim of this study was to explore whether there are significant differences in this issue between the two surgical modalities or not. Methods The results of lymph node dissection and perioperative complications as well as other parameters in the patients treated by VATS esophagectomy and those by conventional esophagectomy via right thoracotomy at our department from May 1,2009 to July 30,2013 were compared using SPSS 16.0 in order to investigate whether there was any significant difference between these two treatment modalities in the learning curve stage of VATS esophagectomy. Results One hundred and twenty?nine cases underwent VATS esophagectomy between May 1, 2009 and July 30, 2013, and another pared 129 cases with the same preoperative cTNM stage treated by conventional esopahgectomy via right thoracotomy were selected in order to compare the results of lymph node dissection and perioperative complications as well as other parameters between those two groups of patients. There were no significant differences in the sex, age, lesion locations and cTNM stage between these two groups. The total LN metastatic rate in the VATS esophagectomy group was 35.7% and that of the conventional esophagectomy group was 37.2% (P>0.05). The total average number of dissected lymph nodes was 12.1 vs. 16.2 ( P<0.001) . The average dissected LN stations was 3.2 vs. 3.6 ( P=0.038) . The total average number of dissected LN along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve was 2.0 vs. 3.7 ( P=0.012) . The total average number of dissected LN along the right recurrent laryngeal nerve was 2.9 vs. 3.4 (P=0.231). However, there was no significant difference in the total average number of dissected LN in the other thoracic LN stations, and in the perioperative complications between the two groups. The total postoperative complication rate was 41. 1% in the VATS group versus 42. 6% in the conventional group ( P=0.801) . The cardiopulmonary complication rate was 25.6% vs. 27.1% ( P=0.777) . The death rate was the same in the two groups (0.8%). The VATS group had less blood infusion (23.2% vs. 41.8%, P=0.001) and shorter hospital stay (15.9 days vs. 19.2 days, P=0.049) but longer operating time (161.3 min vs. 127.8 min, P<0.01). Conclusions In the learning curve stage of VATS esophagectomy, compared with the conventional esophagectomy, less LN number and stations can be dissected in the VATS group due to unskillful VATS manipulation, especially it is more difficult in the LN dissection along the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. Therefore, it is more suitable to select patients with early esophageal cancer without obvious enlarged lymph nodes for VATS esophagectomy in the learning curve stage.