Background::Liver cancer is largely resistant to chemotherapy. This study aimed to identify the effective chemotherapeutics for β-catenin-activated liver cancer which is caused by gain-of-function mutation of catenin beta 1 ( CTNNB1), the most frequently altered proto-oncogene in hepatic neoplasms. Methods::Constitutive β-catenin-activated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) were established by deleting exon 3 ( β-cateninΔ(ex3)/+ ), the most common mutation site in CTNNB1 gene. A screening of 12 widely used chemotherapy drugs was conducted for the ones that selectively inhibited β-cateninΔ(ex3)/+ but not for wild-type MEFs. Untargeted metabolomics was carried out to examine the alterations of metabolites in nucleotide synthesis. The efficacy and selectivity of methotrexate (MTX) on β-catenin-activated human liver cancer cells were determined in vitro. Immuno-deficient nude mice subcutaneously inoculated with β-catenin wild-type or mutant liver cancer cells and hepatitis B virus ( HBV); β-cateninlox(ex3)/+ mice were used, respectively, to evaluate the efficacy of MTX in the treatment of β-catenin mutant liver cancer. Results::MTX was identified and validated as a preferential agent against the proliferation and tumor formation of β-catenin-activated cells. Boosted nucleotide synthesis was the major metabolic aberration in β-catenin-active cells, and this alteration was also the target of MTX. Moreover, MTX abrogated hepatocarcinogenesis of HBV; β-cateninlox(ex3)/+ mice, which stimulated concurrent Ctnnb1-activated mutation and HBV infection in liver cancer. Conclusion::MTX is a promising chemotherapeutic agent for β-catenin hyperactive liver cancer. Since repurposing MTX has the advantages of lower risk, shorter timelines, and less investment in drug discovery and development, a clinical trial is warranted to test its efficacy in the treatment of β-catenin mutant liver cancer.

Objective:To investigate the risk factor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with vessels encapsulating tumor clusters (VETC) and the application value of its risk scoring model.Methods:The retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 149 patients with HCC who were admitted to two medical centers, including 97 cases in the Jiangnan University Medical Center and 52 cases in the Affiliated Xingtai People′s Hospital of Hebei Medical University, from January 2017 to April 2020 were collected. There were 116 males and 33 females, aged (58±12)years. There were 74 cases with VETC and 75 cases without VETC. Observation indica-tors: (1) clinical characteristics of patients with and without VETC; (2) imaging features of patients with and without VETC; (3) multivariable analysis of HCC patients with VETC; (4) construction of VETC related risk scoring model and its performance evaluation; (5) postoperative early tumor recurrence of patients with and without VETC who were confirmed by risk scoring model and histopathological examination. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the t test. Count data were described as absolutes, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test and continuous correction chi-square test. Variables of clinical and imaging characteristics with statistically signifi-cant were included in the multivariate analysis. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Logistic regression model of backward stepwise selection. VETC related risk scoring model was constructed based on the results of Logistic regression model. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn, and the area under curve (AUC), the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and their 95% confidence interval ( CI) were calculated. The maximizing Youden index was the optimal cutoff value for VETC prediction. The Hosmer Lemeshow goodness of fit test was used to assess the consistency between VETC risk scoring model predicted VTEC status and the true VETC status. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates and draw survival curves. The Log-rank test was used for survival analysis. Results:(1) Clinical characteristics of patients with and without VETC. Cases with postoperative albumin <36 g/L were 57 in patients with VETC, versus 68 in patients without VETC, respectively, showing a significant difference between them ( χ2=5.13, P<0.05). (2) Imaging features of patients with and without VETC. Cases with lesion imaging presence as nonperipheral washout, cases with lesion imaging presence as mosaic architecture, cases with lesion imaging presence as intratumoral hemorrhage, cases with lesion imaging presence as corona enhancement, cases with lesion imaging presence as non-smooth tumor margin, cases with lesion imaging presence as peritumoral enhancement in arterial phase, cases with lesion imaging presence as intratumoral arteries, cases with lesion imaging presence as peritumoral hypointensity in hepatobiliary phase, cases with lesion imaging enhancement type as uniform low enhancement, uniform high enhance-ment, heterogeneous enhancement with septations and heterogeneous enhancement with irregular ring-like structures, cases with intratumoral necrosis or ischemic, cases with tumor diameter >5 cm were 73, 35, 33, 15, 39, 28, 42, 27, 4, 5, 27, 38, 45, 46 in patients with VETC, versus 64, 16, 13, 3, 19, 15, 9, 13, 9, 35, 5, 26, 10, 10 in patients without VETC, respectively, showing significant differences in the above indicators between them ( χ2=8.92, 11.15, 12.97, 9.28, 11.74, 5.77, 33.14, 6.96, 41.79, 36.05, 37.86, P<0.05). (3) Multivariable analysis of patients with VETC. Results of multivariable analysis showed that lesion imaging enhancement as heterogeneous enhancement with septations, lesion imaging enhancement as heterogeneous enhancement with irregular ring-like structures, intratumoral necrosis or ischemia and tumor diameter >5 cm were independent risk factors influen-cing patients with VETC ( odds ratio=4.18, 7.62, 4.23, 4.08, 95% CI as 1.60?11.60, 2.00?31.70, 1.71?10.90, 1.60?10.80), P<0.05). (4) Construction of VETC related risk scoring model and its performance evaluation. The VETC related risk scoring model was constructed as (heterogeneous enhancement with septations, presence: 1.0, absence: 0)+(heterogeneous enhancement with irregular ring-like structures, presence: 1.5, absence: 0)+(intratumoral necrosis or ischemia, presence: 1.0, absence: 0)+(main tumor diameter >5 cm, presence: 1.0, absence: 0). The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of VETC related risk scoring model were 0.86 (95% CI as 0.80?0.92), 79.7% (95% CI as 69.2%?87.3%), 80.0% (95% CI as 69.6%?87.5%) and 79.9% (95% CI as 72.7%?85.5%), respectively. Results of Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test showed a good consistency between VETC risk scoring model predicted VETC status and true VETC status ( P>0.05). (5) Postoperative early tumor recurrence of patients with and without VETC who were confirmed by risk scoring model and histopathological examination. All 149 patients were followed up for 29(range, 26?35)months. The time to tumor recurrence and 2-year cumulative tumor recurrence rate of 149 patients were 29(range, 24?33)months and 43.0%, respectively. The 2-year tumor cumulative recurrence rate of patients with and without VETC predicted by risk scoring model was 47.8% and 37.9%, respectively, showing a significant difference between ( χ2=3.90, P<0.05). The 2-year cumulative tumor recurrence rate of patients with and without VETC confirmed by postoperative histopathological examination was 47.4% and 38.1%, respectively, showing a significant difference between ( χ2=4.20, P<0.05). Conclusions:Lesion imaging enhancement as heterogeneous enhancement with septations or irregular ring-like structures, intratumoral necrosis or ischemia and tumor diameter >5 cm are independent risk factors influen-cing HCC patients with VETC. The proposed risk scoring model based on those three risk factors achieves an optimal preoperative diagnostic performance.

Objective:To investigate the value of the extrahepatic bile duct and main pancreatic duct segment patterns on magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) for differentiating the periampullary carcinoma (PAC).Methods:The clinicopathologic data of 125 patients with PAC who were admitted to Wuxi No.2 People’s Hospital from June 2013 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed, including 72 males and 53 females, aged (64.9±8.6) years. According to its anatomy, the extrahepatic bile duct (B) was divided into suprapancreatic and intrapancreatic (including ampullary) segments, and the main pancreatic duct (P) was divided into tail-body and head segments. MRCP patterns: i. the extrahepatic bile duct or main pancreatic duct visible without dilatation, ii. cutoff of the distal extrahepatic bile duct or main pancreatic duct with upstream dilatation, iii. cutoff of the intrapancreatic or head segment with upstream dilatation and remnant intrapancreatic or head segments invisible, iv. cutoff of the intrapancreatic or head segment with upstream dilatation and nondilated remnant intrapancreatic or head segments, were represented as 0, 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Segment patterns of B1/P0+ B1/P1, B0/P2+ B0/P3+ B2/P2+ B2/P3+ B3/P3, B3/P0, and B0/P0+ B2/P0 on MRCP were compared in PAC patients.Results:Of the 125 patients, there were 57 (45.6%) with pancreatic head carcinoma, 36 (28.8%) with ampullary carcinoma, 20 (16.0%) with distal cholangiocarcinoma, and 12 (9.6%) with periampullary duodenal carcinoma. Segment patterns of B0/P2+ B0/P3+ B2/P2+ B2/P3+ B3/P3 were found in 52 patients with pancreatic head carcinoma (91.2%, 52/57), with a significant difference between PAC (χ 2=110.66, P<0.001). Segment patterns of B1/P0+ B1/P1were found in 36 patients with ampullary carcinoma (100.0%, 36/36), fallowed by 11 (91.7%, 11/12) with periampullary duodenal carcinoma, with a significant difference between PAC (χ 2=129.95, P<0.001). Segment pattern of B3/P0 presented in 16 patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma (80.0%, 16/20), with a significant difference between PAC (χ 2=62.45, P<0.001). The segment patterns of B0/P0+ B2/P0 were only seen in 3 of 57(5.3%) patients with pancreatic head carcinoma. Conclusion:On MRCP, cutoff of the head segment with upstream dilatation and remnant head segment invisible or nondilated indicates the pancreatic head carcinoma. Cutoff of the intrapancreatic segment with upstream dilatation, remnant intrapancreatic segment visible, and main pancreatic duct nondilated, indicates the distal cholangiocarcinoma. And cutoff of the distal extrahepatic segment with upstream dilatation and main pancreatic duct dilatation or not, indicates the ampullary or periampullary duodenal carcinoma.

Objective To explore the application of MRI in the differential diagnosis of high-and low-risk thymoma.Methods The data of patients with pathologically confirmed thymoma were collected bidirectionally,and the differences in clinical data,MRI image characteristics of lesions,signal characteristics and apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)values were compared and analyzed between high-and low-risk thymoma according to the pathological subtype.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis was used to screen out meaningful features,then the diagnostic efficacy and combined prediction probability of indicators were evaluated.Results There was no significant difference in clinical data(P＞0.001).The morphology of high-risk lesions was mainly irregular,while that of low-risk lesions was mainly regular.The edges of high-risk lesions were mostly not smooth,and the edges of low-risk lesions were mostly smooth.The enhancement degree of high-risk lesions was higher than that of low-risk lesions,and the ADC value was lower than that of low-risk lesions,with statistical significance(P＜0.001),in which the ADC value area under the curve(AUC)was higher than other indicators(AUC=0.968),and the combined prediction probability of indicators was the highest(AUC=0.981).Conclusion MRI shows great potential application value in preoperative differential diagnosis of high-and low-risk thymoma.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the commonest cause of heart failure (HF), whereas pulmonary hypertension (PH) has not been established or reported in this patient population. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence, risk factors, and survival in CAD-associated HF (CAD-HF) complicated with PH. METHODS: Symptomatic CAD-HF patients were continuously enrolled in this prospective, multicenter registry study. Echocardiography, coronary arteriography, left and right heart catheterization (RHC), and other baseline clinical data were recorded. Patients were followed up and their survival was recorded. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-two CAD-HF patients were enrolled, including 142 with HF with a preserved ejection fraction (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction [HFpEF]; left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] ≥50%) and 40 with a reduced ejection fraction (heart failure with reduced ejection fraction [HFrEF]; LVEF < 50%). PH was diagnosed with RHC in 77.5% of patients. Patients with PH showed worse hemodynamic parameters and higher mortality. HFrEF-PH patients had worse survival than HFpEF-PH patients. CAD-HF patients with an enlarged left ventricular end-diastolic diameter and reduced hemoglobin were at higher risk of PH. Nitrate treatment reduced the risk of PH. Elevated creatinine and mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), diastolic pressure gradient (DPG) ≥7 mmHg, and previous myocardial infarction (MI) entailed a higher risk of mortality in CAD-HF patients with PH. CONCLUSIONS: PH is common in CAD-HF and worsens the hemodynamics and survival in these patients. Left ventricle enlargement and anemia increase the risk of PH in CAD-HF. Patients may benefit from nitrate medications. Renal impairment, elevated mPAP, DPG ≥7 mmHg, and previous MI are strong predictors of mortality in CAD-HF-PH patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02164526.
Coronary Artery Disease/epidemiology* ; Creatinine ; Heart Failure/complications* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary/complications* ; Nitrates ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Registries ; Risk Factors ; Stroke Volume ; Ventricular Function, Left

Objective:To compare the safety and efficacy of laparoscopic versus open pancreaticoduodenectomy.Methods:The clinical data of 989 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy at Hunan People's Hospital from January 2015 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 349 patients in the laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) group and 640 patients in the open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) group. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match the baseline data of the two groups at a 1: 1 ratio. Data including operation time, intraoperative bleeding, postoperative hospital stay, bile leakage, pancreatic fistula and wound infection were compared between the two groups.Results:After PSM, there were 345 patients in each of the 2 groups. When the LPD group was compared with the OPD group, there were no significant differences in postoperative mortality, reoperation, intraoperative blood transfusion, pancreatic fistula, bile leakage, abdominal hemorrhage, abdominal abscess, severe complications, and pulmonary complication rates. The number of lymph node dissected, R 0 resection and overall survival rates between the two groups were also not significantly different ( P>0.05). However, the operation time of the LPD group (478.2±91.3) min was significantly longer than that of the OPD group (410.8±62.0) min ( P<0.05). On the other hand, the postoperative hospitalization time (10.8±4.3) d, intraoperative bleeding (322.0±362.6) ml, wound infection rate 1.2% (4/345) in the LPD group were significantly better than those in the OPD group [postoperative hospitalization time (12.5±7.9) d, intraoperative bleeding (478.8±570.2) ml, and wound infection rate 5.8% (20/345)] ( P<0.05) . Conclusion:LPD was safe and feasible, and it achieved similar curative effect as OPD.

Objective:To compare between laparoscopic and open pancreaticoduodenectomy in the treatment of distal cholangiocarcinoma.Methods:The clinical data of laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD group, n=101) and open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD group, n=99) in patients with distal cholangiocarcinoma who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy at Hunan people's Hospital from Jan 2015 to Dec 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, number of lymph node dissection, R 0 resection rate, postoperative hospital stay, postoperative complications and overall survival rate were compared between the two groups. Results:The operation time was (475.0±90.7) min and (444.8±63.3) min, the intraoperative blood loss was (350.9±397.9) ml and (546.7±642.9) ml, the postoperative hospital stay was (11.5±4.7) d and (13.3±5.1) d, the differences were statistically significant ( P<0.05).The number of lymph node dissection was 14.8±3.0 and 15.4±2.4, the R 0 resection rate was 93.1% and 96.0%, respectively, and there was no significant difference ( P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of residual complications ( P>0.05). During the follow-up of 5-64 months, the OS of 1, 3 and 5 years in the two groups were 90.4%, 41.3%, 20.6% and 94.3%, 50.8% and 24.7%, respectively. ( P>0.05). Conclusions:LPD is safe and feasible in the treatment of distal cholangiocarcinoma, and its short-term curative effect, curative effect and long-term overall survival rate are similar to those of OPD.

Objective:To investigate the clinical application value of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination in preoperative evaluation of adjacent organ invasion for periampullary carcinomas (PACs).Methods:The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 81 patients with PACs who were admitted to the Affiliated Wuxi No.2 People′s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from September 2013 to June 2019 were collected. There were 52 males and 29 females, aged from 41 to 80 years, with an average age of 62 years. Observation indicators: (1) surgical and pathological outcomes; (2) evaluation of adjacent organ invasion on CT and MRI examination for PACs; (3) comparison of diagnostic accuracy between CT and MRI examination in assessing adjacent organ invasion for PACs; (4) auxiliary and feature images of adjacent organ invasion for PACs; (5) comparison between CT and MRI examination in assessing adjacent organ invasion for PACs. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range), and count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages. Comparison between groups was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test.The receiver operating characteristic curve and area under curve were used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy between CT and MRI examination in assessing adjacent organ invasion for PACs. Consistency was compared using the κ test. Results:(1) Surgical and pathological outcomes: of the 81 patients, 76 underwent pancreatoduodenectomy, 5 underwent palliative gastrojejunostomy or biliary drainage combined with biopsy, including the pancreas, duodenum, or lymph nodes. Of the 81 patients, 35 had pancreatic head carcinoma including 26 with duodenal invasion and 9 without duodenal invasion; 23 had ampullary carcinoma including 17 with duodenal invasion, 4 with both duodenal invasion and pancreatic invasion, and 2 without duodenal invasion or pancreatic invasion; 17 had distal bile duct carcinoma (including papillary type in 4 patients and periductal infiltrative type in 13 patients), of which 8 had duodenal invasion, 1 had duodenal invasion and pancreatic invasion (pathological classification of the 9 patients was periductal infiltrative type), 8 had neither duodenal invasion nor pancreatic invasion; 6 had duodenal carcinoma including 4 with pancreatic invasion and 2 without pancreatic invasion. (2) Evaluation of adjacent organ invasion on CT and MRI examination for PACs: of the 35 patients with pancreatic head carcinoma, duodenal invasion was identified in 25 patients and no duodenal invasion in 10 patients on both CT and MRI examination. Of the 23 patients with ampullary carcinoma, duodenal invasion, pancreatic invasion, both duodenal invasion and pancreatic invasion, and neither duodenal invasion nor pancreatic invasion were identified in 17, 1, 4, and 1 patients on CT examination, respectively; the above indicators were identified in 15, 2, 4, and 2 patients on MRI examination. Of the 17 patients with distal bile duct carcinoma, pancreatic invasion, both duodenal invasion and pancreatic invasion, and neither duodenal invasion nor pancreatic invasion were identified in 8, 1, and 8 patients on CT examination, respectively; the above indicators were identified in 9, 1, and 7 patients on MRI examination. Of the 6 patients with duodenal carcinoma, pancreatic invasion and no pancreatic invasion were identified in 3 and 3 patients on both CT and MRI examination.(3) Comparison of diagnostic accuracy between CT and MRI examination in assessing adjacent organ invasion for PACs: two reviewers had good agreement in assessing adjacent organ invasion on CT examination for pancreatic head carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma, and distal bile duct carcinoma ( κ=0.868, 0.701, 0.881, P<0.05), but they had poor agreement for duodenal carcinoma ( κ=0.333, P>0.05). Meanwhile, two reviewers had good agreement in assessing adjacent organ invasion on MRI examination for pancreatic head carcinoma and ampullary carcinoma( κ=0.860, 0.747, P<0.05), and moderate agreement for distal bile duct carcinoma ( κ=0.643, P<0.05), but they had poor agreement for duodenal carcinoma ( κ=0.333, P>0.05). (4) Auxiliary and feature images of adjacent organ invasion for PACs: for the 25 patients who had pancreatic head carcinoma with duodenal invasion on CT and MRI examination, based on well filling in duodenum, 12 patients showed locally morphological change of lumen and flattened or disappeared duodenal mucosal folds on negative contrast CT cholangiopancreatography; 14 patients showed similar signs on T2 weighted imaging or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. The 17 patients who had distal bile duct carcinoma with pancreatic invasion on CT and MRI examination were periductal infiltrative type. Pancreatic invasion manifested as local thickenness of ductal wall with marked enhancement and narrowed ductal lumen, which was indistinguishable from the pancreas, and the pancreatic parenchyma showed hyperdense or hyperintense signs similar with the lesion, like a "transmural" sign. One patient with both duodenal invasion and pancreatic invasion showed locally thickened and enhanced duodenal wall on both CT and MRI examination. Four patients, who had papillary type distal bile duct carcinoma with neither duodenal invasion nor pancreatic invasion, showed intraductal growing mass which had a discernible boundary to the pancreas and slighter enhancement than infiltrative type on both CT and MRI examination. (5) Comparison between CT and MRI examination in assessing adjacent organ invasion for PACs: CT examination evaluating adjacent organ invasion for pancreatic head carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma, distal bile duct carcinoma, and duodenal carcinoma had a sensibility of 92.3%, 90.5%, 88.9%, 75.0%, a specificity of 88.9%, 50.0%, 87.5%, 100.0%, an accuracy of 0.906, 0.702, 0.882, 0.875, respectively. MRI examination evaluating adjacent organ invasion for pancreatic head carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma, distal bile duct carcinoma, and duodenal carcinoma had a sensibility of 88.5%, 85.7%, 88.9%, 75.0%, a specificity of 77.8%, 50.0%, 75.0%, 100.0%, an accuracy of 0.831, 0.679, 0.819, 0.875. There was no significant difference in sensibility for pancreatic head carcinoma, distal bile duct carcinoma, or duodenal carcinoma between CT and MRI examination( χ2=3.140, 0.141, 0.444, P>0.05), while there was a significant difference in sensibility for ampullary carcinoma ( χ2=13.263, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in specificity for pancreatic head carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma, or distal bile duct carcinoma between CT and MRI examination( χ2=0.321, 2.000, 3.429, P>0.05). There was no significant difference in accuracy for pancreatic head carcinoma, ampullary carcinoma, distal bile duct carcinoma, or duodenal carcinoma between CT and MRI examination( Z=0.967, 0.273, 0.559, 0.000, P>0.05). Conclusion:CT and MRI examination can be used for preoperative evaluation of adjacent organ invasion for periampullary carcinoma, with similar performance in specificity and accuracy, however, CT examination has a higher sensibility for ampullary carcinoma.

Objective:To compare CT with MRI on the accuracy in TNM staging of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) based on the 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer System and Pathological Staging.Methods:From October 2013 to October 2019, 105 patients who had pathologically confirmed PDAC treated at the Affiliated Wuxi No.2 People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were retrospectively studied. Of 52 patients who met the inclusion criteria, there were 32 males and 20 females, with age ranging from 45 to 84 years (mean 66.1 years). Based on the 8th American Joint Committee on Cancer System and Pathological Staging, CT was compared with MRI in their accuracies in categorizing TNM and staging of PDAC.Results:Forty-three of 52 patients who underwent curative resection had a mean tumor size of (3.4±1.2) cm, compared with tumor sizes of (3.3±1.2) cm and (3.3±1.4) cm on CT and MRI, respectively. No significant differences were observed between gross pathological examination and CT ( P>0.05) or MRI ( P>0.05). The accuracy of T, N, and M categories on CT versus (vs) MRI was 97.7% (42/43) vs 97.7% (42/43), 79.1% (34/43) vs 76.7% (33/43), and 100% (9/9) vs 88.9% (8/9), respectively. No significant differences were observed between the two modalities ( P>0.05). The overall accuracy of PDAC staging on CT vs MRI was 82.7% (43/52) vs 76.9% (40/52), respectively. There was also no significant difference between the two modalities ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Both CT and MRI had similar accuracies in categorizing TNM and staging of PDAC. However, the accuracies of T and M stages were higher than that of the N stage for these two imaging modalities.

Objective To analyze the differences of clinical manifestations and organ damage between patients with severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome(SFTS)and patients with tsutsugamushi disease,and to investigate the prognostic factors of SFTS.Methods The research was performed on 49 patients with SFTS and 16 patients with tsutsugamushi disease who visited the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University from October 2014 to June 2017.The general information of patients including region,age,gender and clinical manifestations were evaluated.Blood routine,liver and kidney function,myocardial enzyme levels,lipase,amylase,electrolytes,C-reactive protein,procalcitonin,prothrombin time(PT)and activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT)were continuously monitored during the course of disease.T test was used for continuous variables of normal distribution,and non-parametric test was used for variables of non-normal distribution.Chi-square test was used for categorical variables.Results The mean age of SFTS patients was 62.1±15.5(ranging from 17 to 87 years)and the mean age of tsutsugamushi patients was 56.1±9.2(ranging from 47 to 73 years).There was no significant difference between the two groups(t=1.47,P=0.147).There were 25 males(51%)in SFTS patients and 8 males(50%)in tsutsugamushi disease patients.There was no significant difference between the two groups(x2=0.005,P=0.943).The incidences of headache,vomiting,superficial lymphadenectasis,disturbance of consciousness,proteinuria,hematuria,pulmonary infection,multiple organ dysfunction and acute pancreatitis in SFTS patients were all significantly higher than those in tsutsugamushi disease patients(x2=8.82,4.38,8.71,11.17,7.88,5.56,4.35,9.43,and 8.13,respectively,P <0.05 or 0.01).The counts of leukocytes(Z=2.73),neutrophils(Z=2.46),lymphocytes(Z=3.15),platelets(Z=4.25),albumin(Z=2.65)and sodium ion(t=2.10)in SFTS patients were all significantly lower than those in patients with tsutsugamushi disease(P <0.05 or 0.01).The levels of aspartate aminotransferase(Z=2.94),lactate dehydrogenase(Z=3.42),creatine kinase(CK)(Z=2.88),amylase(Z=2.11),lipase(Z=2.82),creatinine(Z=2.07)and urea nitrogen(Z=2.50)in fatal SFTS patients were all significantly higher than those in patients with tsutsugamushi disease(P <0.05 or 0.01).Among 49 SFTS patients,16 patients died and 33 patients recovered finally.The age(t=3.33),platelet count(Z=2.55),alanine aminotransferase(ALT)(Z=2.10),aspartate aminotransferase(AST)(Z=2.22),lactate dehydrogenase(Z=2.26),CK(Z=3.50),CK-MB(Z=3.10),creatinine(Z=2.17),urea nitrogen(Z=2.36),and sodium(t=2.65)between the two subgroups had significant differences(P <0.05 or 0.01).Conclusions SFTS is more severe and has high mortality,while tsutsugamushi disease has a better prognosis.Early differential diagnosis and early rational treatment are important to reduce the mortality of patients with SFTS.