Background::Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and diameter, stiffness, and wave reflections, are independent and important clinical biomarkers and risk predictors for cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of the present study was to establish nationwide reference values of carotid properties for healthy Chinese adults and to explore potential clinical determinants.Methods::A total of 3053 healthy Han Chinese adults (1922 women) aged 18-79 years were enrolled at 28 collaborating tertiary centers throughout China between April 2021 and July 2022. The real-time tracking of common carotid artery walls was achieved by the radio frequency (RF) ultrasound system. The IMT, diameter, compliance coefficient, β stiffness, local pulse wave velocity (PWV), local systolic blood pressure, augmented pressure (AP), and augmentation index (AIx) were then automatically measured and reported. Data were stratified by age groups and sex. The relationships between age and carotid property parameters were analyzed by Jonckheere-Terpstra test and simple linear regressions. The major clinical determinants of carotid properties were identified by Pearson’s correlation, multiple linear regression, and analyses of covariance.Results::All the parameters of carotid properties demonstrated significantly age-related trajectories. Women showed thinner IMT, smaller carotid diameter, larger AP, and AIx than men. The β stiffness and PWV were significantly higher in men than women before forties, but the differences reversed after that. The increase rate of carotid IMT (5.5 μm/year in women and 5.8 μm/year in men) and diameter (0.03 mm/year in both men and women) were similar between men and women. For the stiffness and wave reflections, women showed significantly larger age-related variations than men as demonstrated by steeper regression slopes (all P for age by sex interaction <0.05). The blood pressures, body mass index (BMI), and triglyceride levels were identified as major clinical determinants of carotid properties with adjustment of age and sex. Conclusions::The age- and sex-specific reference values of carotid properties measured by RF ultrasound for healthy Chinese adults were established. The blood pressures, BMI, and triglyceride levels should be considered for clinical application of corresponding reference values.

Objective:To evaluate the performance of an artificial intelligent (AI)-based automated digital cell morphology analyzer (hereinafter referred as AI morphology analyzer) in detecting peripheral white blood cells (WBCs).Methods:A multi-center study. 1. A total of 3010 venous blood samples were collected from 11 tertiary hospitals nationwide, and 14 types of WBCs were analyzed with the AI morphology analyzers. The pre-classification results were compared with the post-classification results reviewed by senior morphological experts in evaluate the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and agreement of the AI morphology analyzers on the WBC pre-classification. 2. 400 blood samples (no less than 50% of the samples with abnormal WBCs after pre-classification and manual review) were selected from 3 010 samples, and the morphologists conducted manual microscopic examinations to differentiate different types of WBCs. The correlation between the post-classification and the manual microscopic examination results was analyzed. 3. Blood samples of patients diagnosed with lymphoma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, or myeloproliferative neoplasms were selected from the 3 010 blood samples. The performance of the AI morphology analyzers in these five hematological malignancies was evaluated by comparing the pre-classification and post-classification results. Cohen′s kappa test was used to analyze the consistency of WBC pre-classification and expert audit results, and Passing-Bablock regression analysis was used for comparison test, and accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and agreement were calculated according to the formula.Results:1. AI morphology analyzers can pre-classify 14 types of WBCs and nucleated red blood cells. Compared with the post-classification results reviewed by senior morphological experts, the pre-classification accuracy of total WBCs reached 97.97%, of which the pre-classification accuracies of normal WBCs and abnormal WBCs were more than 96% and 87%, respectively. 2. The post-classification results reviewed by senior morphological experts correlated well with the manual differential results for all types of WBCs and nucleated red blood cells (neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, immature granulocytes, blast cells, nucleated erythrocytes and malignant cells r>0.90 respectively, reactive lymphocytes r=0.85). With reference, the positive smear of abnormal cell types defined by The International Consensus Group for Hematology, the AI morphology analyzer has the similar screening ability for abnormal WBC samples as the manual microscopic examination. 3. For the blood samples with malignant hematologic diseases, the AI morphology analyzers showed accuracies higher than 84% on blast cells pre-classification, and the sensitivities were higher than 94%. In acute myeloid leukemia, the sensitivity of abnormal promyelocytes pre-classification exceeded 95%. Conclusion:The AI morphology analyzer showed high pre-classification accuracies and sensitivities on all types of leukocytes in peripheral blood when comparing with the post-classification results reviewed by experts. The post-classification results also showed a good correlation with the manual differential results. The AI morphology analyzer provides an efficient adjunctive white blood cell detection method for screening malignant hematological diseases.

Infectious bone defect is bone defect with infection or as a result of treatment of bone infection. It requires surgical intervention, and the treatment processes are complex and long, which include bone infection control,bone defect repair and even complex soft tissue reconstructions in some cases. Failure to achieve the goals in any step may lead to the failure of the overall treatment. Therefore, infectious bone defect has been a worldwide challenge in the field of orthopedics. Conventionally, sequestrectomy, bone grafting, bone transport, and systemic/local antibiotic treatment are standard therapies. Radical debridement remains one of the cornerstones for the management of bone infection. However, the scale of debridement and the timing and method of bone defect reconstruction remain controversial. With the clinical application of induced membrane technique, effective infection control and rapid bone reconstruction have been achieved in the management of infectious bone defect. The induced membrane technique has attracted more interests and attention, but the lack of understanding the basic principles of infection control and technical details may hamper the clinical outcomes of induced membrane technique and complications can possibly occur. Therefore, the Chinese Orthopedic Association organized domestic orthopedic experts to formulate An evidence-based clinical guideline for the treatment of infectious bone defect with induced membrane technique ( version 2023) according to the evidence-based method and put forward recommendations on infectious bone defect from the aspects of precise diagnosis, preoperative evaluation, operation procedure, postoperative management and rehabilitation, so as to provide useful references for the treatment of infectious bone defect with induced membrane technique.

Objective: The pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been engendering enormous hazards to the world. We obtained the complete genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 from imported cases admitted to the Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, which was appointed by the Guangdong provincial government to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The SARS-CoV-2 diversity was analyzed, and the mutation characteristics, time, and regional trend of variant emergence were evaluated. Methods: In total, 177 throat swab samples were obtained from COVID-19 patients (from October 2020 to May 2021). High-throughput sequencing technology was used to detect the viral sequences of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary analyses were used to evaluate the mutation characteristics and the time and regional trends of variants. Results: We observed that the imported cases mainly occurred after January 2021, peaking in May 2021, with the highest proportion observed from cases originating from the United States. The main lineages were found in Europe, Africa, and North America, and B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 were the two major sublineages. Sublineage B.1.618 was the Asian lineage (Indian) found in this study, and B.1.1.228 was not included in the lineage list of the Pangolin web. A reasonably high homology was observed among all samples. The total frequency of mutations showed that the open reading frame 1a (ORF1a) protein had the highest mutation density at the nucleotide level, and the D614G mutation in the spike protein was the commonest at the amino acid level. Most importantly, we identified some amino acid mutations in positions S, ORF7b, and ORF9b, and they have neither been reported on the Global Initiative of Sharing All Influenza Data nor published in PubMed among all missense mutations. Conclusion These results suggested the diversity of lineages and sublineages and the high homology at the amino acid level among imported cases infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Guangdong Province, China.
Amino Acids ; COVID-19/epidemiology* ; Genomics ; Humans ; Mutation ; Phylogeny ; SARS-CoV-2/genetics*

Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological features of missed synchronous multiple early gastric cancer (SMEGC).Methods:Clinical and pathological data of 10 missed SMEGC patients in Beijing Friendship Hospital collected from January 2015 to December 2019 were reviewed for the clinicopathological and endoscopic features.Results:Ten missed SMEGC patients were all over 60 years old, and 6 of them were males. Six patients had family history of tumor and 6 had comorbidity (hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases). In terms of endoscopic and pathological manifestations, missed lesions of 6 cases were not smaller than the initial lesions, and more than half of the missed lesions had the same vertical location in the stomach (6/10), infiltration depth (8/10), histological classification (9/10), atrophic (8/10) and intestinal metaplasia (8/10) as the initial lesions.Conclusion:Physicians should be aware of the possibility of missed lesions during the first endoscopic treatment and the follow-up, especially at the same vertical location of the initial lesions in elderly males with family history of tumor and comorbidity.

Objective: To explore the heterogeneity and correlation of clinical phenotypes and genotypes in children with disorders of sex development (DSD). Methods: A retrospective study of 1 235 patients with clinically proposed DSD in 36 pediatric medical institutions across the country from January 2017 to May 2021. After capturing 277 DSD-related candidate genes, second-generation sequencing was performed to analyzed the heterogeneity and correlation combined with clinical phenotypes. Results: Among 1 235 children with clinically proposed DSD, 980 were males and 255 were females of social gender at the time of initial diagnosis with the age ranged from 1 day of age to 17.92 years. A total of 443 children with pathogenic variants were detected through molecular genetic studies, with a positive detection rate of 35.9%. The most common clinical phenotypes were micropenis (455 cases), hypospadias (321 cases), and cryptorchidism (172 cases) and common mutations detected were in SRD5A2 gene (80 cases), AR gene (53 cases) and CYP21A2 gene (44 cases). Among them, the SRD5A2 mutation is the most common in children with simple micropenis and simple hypospadias, while the AMH mutation is the most common in children with simple cryptorchidism. Conclusions: The SRD5A2 mutation is the most common genetic variant in Chinese children with DSD, and micropenis, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias are the most common clinical phenotypes. Molecular diagnosis can provide clues about the biological basis of DSD, and can also guide clinicians to perform specific clinical examinations. Target sequence capture probes and next-generation sequencing technology can provide effective and economical genetic diagnosis for children with DSD.
3-Oxo-5-alpha-Steroid 4-Dehydrogenase/genetics* ; Child ; China/epidemiology* ; Cryptorchidism/genetics* ; Disorders of Sex Development/genetics* ; Female ; Genital Diseases, Male ; Genotype ; Humans ; Hypospadias/genetics* ; Male ; Membrane Proteins/genetics* ; Penis/abnormalities* ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies ; Steroid 21-Hydroxylase/genetics*

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of gene polymorphism on the pharmacokinetics of sufentanil （SUF） in children with congenital heart disease undergoing interventional cardiac surgery. MethodsA total of 168 ASA grade Ⅱ patients aged 6~72 months and scheduled for interventional cardiac surgery were enrolled into the study. Anesthesia was induced by using propofol 2 mg·kg^-1， SUF 0.3 μg·kg^-1 and cisatracurium besilate 0.2 mg·kg^-1. Propofol 8 mg·kg^-1·h^-1 was administered to maintain anesthesia. Blood samples were collected at 5， 10， 20， 30， 45， 60， 75， 90 min after administration of SUF by dilution sampling method. Plasma concentration of sufentanil was determined by UHPLC-MS/MS method and pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by Phoenix Winnonlintm^TM software. The genotypes were detected by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry （MALDI-TOF MS）. The genotypes and pharmacokinetic data were analyzed by SNPStats software and the model with the smallest value of Akaike information criterion was chosen as the best model. ResultsThirty single nucleotide polymorphisms （SNPs） in 9 genes possibly involved in pharmacokinetics， pharmacodynamics related targets， metabolic enzymes， transporters and pathways of SUF were examined. ABCG2 rs2054576 and OPRM1 rs4870266 were found to be related to area under the curve （AUC） （P<0.05）. OPRM1 rs2236257 was correlated with the apparent volume of distribution （V_d） （P<0.05）. CYP3A4 rs2246709， OPRM1 rs2236257 and rs4870266 were associated with the drug clearance rate （CL） （P<0.05）. ConclusionGene polymorphisms of ABCG2 rs2054576，CYP3A4 rs2246709 and OPRM1 rs2236257， rs4870266 could significantly affect the pharmacokinetics of SUF in children undergoing interventional cardiac surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship of serum uric acid with prediabetes and newly detected type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in adults. Methods: Data were obtained from the baseline investigation of Songjiang Peak-Plan cohort. According to the baseline fasting plasma glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin, the eligible subjects were divided into normal blood sugar group, prediabetes group, and newly detected T2DM group. Unconditional logistic regression model was used to explore the effect of serum uric acid level on prediabetes and newly detected T2DM, and restricted cubic spline (RCS) function was used to explore the nonlinear dose-response relationship of serum uric acid level with the prevalence of prediabetes and newly detected T2DM. Results: A total of 30 375 subjects were included in the analysis, with an average age of (55.36±11.52) years, and 60.2% (18 299) of them were women. The baseline survey found that the prevalence of prediabetes was 38.6% (11 739 cases), and the prevalence of newly detected T2DM was 6.6% (1 992 cases). Logistic regression analysis showed that, in women, for every 10µmol/L increase in serum uric acid, the risk of developing prediabetes and T2DM s increased by 2.4% (OR=1.024, 95%CI: 1.018-1.030), and 1.5% (OR=1.015, 95%CI: 1.005-1.025), respectively; in men, for every 10 µmol/L increase in serum uric acid, the risk of developing prediabetes and T2DM decreased by 0.8% (OR=0.992, 95%CI: 0.987-0.998) and 5.0% (OR=0.950, 95%CI: 0.939-0.960), respectively. The RCS function showed that the serum uric acid level showed a nonlinear dose-response relationship with newly detected T2DM (P=0.017), but not with prediabetes (P=0.670) in women and showed a nonlinear dose-response relationship with both prediabetes (P=0.040) and newly detected T2DM (P<0.001) in men. Conclusions: Adult women are at increased risk of prediabetes and newly detected T2DM with increase of serum uric acid level, and adult men are at decreased risk of newly diagnosed T2DM with the increase of serum uric acid level. There was no significant relationship between serum uric acid level and prediabetes in men.
Adult ; Male ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Prediabetic State/epidemiology* ; Uric Acid ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/epidemiology* ; Glycated Hemoglobin ; Fasting

Objective Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and tuberculosis (TB) are major public health and social issues worldwide. The long-term follow-up of COVID-19 with pulmonary TB (PTB) survivors after discharge is unclear. This study aimed to comprehensively describe clinical outcomes, including sequela and recurrence at 3, 12, and 24 months after discharge, among COVID-19 with PTB survivors. Methods From January 22, 2020 to May 6, 2022, with a follow-up by August 26, 2022, a prospective, multicenter follow-up study was conducted on COVID-19 with PTB survivors after discharge in 13hospitals from four provinces in China. Clinical outcomes, including sequela, recurrence of COVID-19, and PTB survivors, were collected via telephone and face-to-face interviews at 3, 12, and 24 months after discharge. Results Thirty-two COVID-19 with PTB survivors were included. The median age was 52 (45, 59) years, and 23 (71.9％) were men. Among them, nearly two-thirds (62.5％) of the survivors were moderate, three (9.4％) were severe, and more than half (59.4％) had at least one comorbidity (PTB excluded). The proportion of COVID-19 survivors with at least one sequela symptom decreased from 40.6％ at 3 months to 15.8％ at 24 months, with anxiety having a higher proportion over a follow-up. Cough and amnesia recovered at the 12-month follow-up, while anxiety, fatigue, and trouble sleeping remained after 24 months. Additionally, one (3.1％) case presented two recurrences of PTB and no re-positive COVID-19 during the follow-up period. Conclusion The proportion of long symptoms in COVID-19 with PTB survivors decreased over time, while nearly one in six still experience persistent symptoms with a higher proportion of anxiety. The recurrence of PTB and the psychological support of COVID-19 with PTB after discharge require more attention.

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of endovascular recanalization treatment for acute vertebral basilar artery occlusion (AVBAO) underlying intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) using a balloon-mounted stent.Methods:A total of 16 cases of consecutive AVBAO patients who underwent endovascular treatment with the balloon-mounted stent within 24 h after onset were retrospectively enrolled in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital from February 2017 to August 2019. And the recanalization rate, operation-related complications, symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage, the improvement of 1 week National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score and 3 months modified Rankin Scale (mRS) after treatment were recorded.Results:In all of the 16 patients, 4 patients underwent direct stenting angioplasty, 12 patients received salvage stenting. Stent placement was successful in all 16 patients. Balloon-mounted stent were implanted in basilar artery of 4 cases, in intracranial segment of vertebral artery of 8 cases, and in origination segment of vertebral artery of 4 cases. Recanalization was successful (thrombolysis in cerebral infarction grade 2b and 3) in 15 patients. The time between arterial puncture and recanalization was 79.0 (72.3, 109.3) min. One patient experienced distal thrombosis during surgery. Two patients suffered symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 48 h after surgery. The scores of the NIHSS were improved more than 4 points at 1 week after operation in 8 patients. At 3 months follow-up, 9 patients had a good outcome (mRS 0-3 points) and 4 patients died.Conclusion:Selective stenting angioplasty treatment with a balloon-mounted stent seems to be feasible and safe for AVBAO patients underlying ICAD.