Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of patients with malignant melanoma liver metastasis. Methods The clinical data of patients with melanoma liver metastasis before first-line systemic therapy were retrospectively collected. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was conducted to evaluate the association of clinical characteristics with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Prognostic factors associated with PFS and OS were determined through Cox regression analysis. Results A total of 80 patients were included in this study. Six of these patients did not receive systemic or local antitumor therapy after the diagnosis of liver metastasis. Their median survival time after the diagnosis of liver metastasis was 2.3 months. The median OS of the remaining 74 patients was 12.83 months. Cox regression analysis determined that in the patients receiving systemic or local antitumor therapy, age and local treatment were independent prognostic factors for OS; gender and serum NSE levels were independent prognostic factors for systemic PFS and intrahepatic PFS. First-line treatment including immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) may have survival benefits for patients but the difference was not statistically significant (HR=0.716, P=0.255). Among gene mutations, NRAS mutations had the highest rates (11.25%) and were associated with poor prognosis. In addition, BRAF and CKIT mutations were detected in eight (10%) and four (5%) patients, respectively. Conclusion Patients who are younger and receive local treatment have a relatively better prognosis. The first-line ICI therapy may have survival benefits for patients.

Cutaneous melanoma is a malignant skin cancer with a poor prognosis.However,re-cent advances in immune checkpoint blockade and targeted therapy have significantly improved outcomes in advanced-stage resectable melanoma,which have made neoadjuvant therapy a viable option for melanoma patients.Currently,several relevant clinical trials on neoadjuvant therapy have achieved significant results.This paper reviews the recent advances in neoadjuvant therapy for cutaneous melanoma,focusing on the selection of neoadjuvant therapy,subsequent surgical considerations after neoadjuvant therapy,prognostic indicators,and baseline biomarkers.

Background::Risk assessment and treatment stratification for three-vessel coronary disease (TVD) remain challenging. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of left atrial volume index (LAVI) with the Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) score II, and its association with the long-term prognosis after three strategies (percutaneous coronary intervention [PCI], coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG], and medical therapy [MT]) in patients with TVD.Methods::This study was a post hoc analysis of a large, prospective cohort of patients with TVD in China, that aimed to determine the long-term outcomes after PCI, CABG, or optimal MT alone. A total of 8943 patients with TVD were consecutively enrolled between 2004 and 2011 at Fuwai Hospital. A total of 7818 patients with available baseline LAVI data were included in the study. Baseline, procedural, and follow-up data were collected. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), which was a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke. Secondary endpoints included all-cause death, cardiac death, MI, revascularization, and stroke. Long-term outcomes were evaluated among LAVI quartile groups. Results::During a median follow-up of 6.6 years, a higher LAVI was strongly associated with increased risk of MACCE (Q3: hazard ratio [HR] 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-1.37, P = 0.005; Q4: HR 1.85, 95%CI 1.64-2.09, P <0.001), all-cause death (Q3: HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.17-1.69, P <0.001; Q4: HR 2.54, 95%CI 2.16-3.00, P <0.001), and cardiac death (Q3: HR 1.81, 95% CI 1.39-2.37, P <0.001; Q4: HR 3.47, 95%CI 2.71-4.43, P <0.001). Moreover, LAVI significantly improved discrimination and reclassification of the SYNTAX score II. Notably, there was a significant interaction between LAVI quartiles and treatment strategies for MACCE. CABG was associated with lower risk of MACCE than MT alone, regardless of LAVI quartiles. Among patients in the fourth quartile, PCI was associated with significantly increased risk of cardiac death compared with CABG (HR: 5.25, 95% CI: 1.97-14.03, P = 0.001). Conclusions::LAVI is a potential index for risk stratification and therapeutic decision-making in patients with three-vessel coronary disease. CABG is associated with improved long-term outcomes compared with MT alone, regardless of LAVI quartiles. When LAVI is severely elevated, PCI is associated with higher risk of cardiac death than CABG.

Objective:To assess the prognostic value of pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma treated with anti-programmed cell death-1 (PD1) immunotherapy. Methods:A retrospective analysis of 29 patients (15 males, 14 females, age (59.1±13.0) years) with pathologically diagnosed metastatic malignant melanoma in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital between June 2017 and October 2020 was conducted. Anti-PD1 immunotherapy were performed in all patients after 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters including SUV max, bone marrow-to-liver SUV max ratio (BLR), spleen-to-liver SUV max ratio (SLR) were obtained. Total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of primary lesions were measured automatically using the thresholds of 40%SUV max. The median value of each PET parameter was regarded as the threshold value and was used to divide patients into 2 groups (≥ and < the median value, respectively). Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox proportional risk model were used to analyze the overall survival (OS) differences between groups. Results:The median follow-up time was 15.0 months and 13 patients died. The median OS was 26.0(95% CI: 20.4-31.6) months. The median SUV max, TMTV, TLG, BLR and SLR were 6.2, 8.2 cm 3, 38.6 g, 0.82 and 0.84 respectively. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test showed that differences of OS between SUV max≥6.2 and <6.2 groups, TLG≥38.6 g and <38.6 g groups, BLR≥0.82 and <0.82 groups, SLR≥0.84 and <0.84 groups were not significant ( χ2 values: 0.01-0.35, P values: 0.061-0.929), while patients with TMTV≥8.2 cm 3 suffered from poorer OS compared with those with TMTV<8.2 cm 3 ( χ2=5.90, P=0.015). Cox multivariate analysis showed that TMTV (hazard risk ( HR)=6.347, 95% CI: 1.039-38.789) was a significant predictor of OS ( P=0.045). Conclusion:18F-FDG PET/CT parameter TMTV is the independent predictive factor of OS in metastatic melanoma treated with anti-PD1 immunotherapy.

Objective:To investigate the prognostic value of metabolic parameters measured by 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with primary advanced cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). Methods:A retrospective analysis was comprised of 42 patients with advanced CMM (15 males and 27 females; median age: 60.0 years) from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School between June 2014 and December 2019. All patients were initially diagnosed by pathology, and underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. 18F-FDG PET/CT parameters including SUV max, SUV mean, total metabolic tumor volume (TMTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of metastatic lesions were measured. ROC curve analysis was performed to obtain the optimal cut-off values of those metabolic parameters for predicting progression-free survival (PFS) and over-all survival (OS). Patients were divided into different groups based on their metabolic parameters (≥cut-off values or

Objective:To assess the prognostic value of pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters in patients with primary melanoma. Methods:A retrospective analysis comprised of 35 patients (21 males, 14 females, age: 35-85 years; from January 2014 to August 2019; Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, the Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School) who were newly-diagnosed primary melanoma with preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT was conducted. 18F-FDG PET/CT metabolic parameters including SUV max, SUV mean, peak of SUV (SUV peak) were obtained. Metabolic tumor volume (MTV) and total lesion glycolysis (TLG) of primary focus were measured automatically using the threshold of 40%SUV max. The optimal thresholds of PET parameters were obtained by using ROC curve analysis. The associations between melanoma-specific survival (MSS), progression-free survival (PFS) and PET/CT metabolic parameters were assessed using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model. Results:The median follow-up was 15.4 months, and 20 patients showed disease progression and 7 died. The cut-off values for SUV max, SUV mean, SUV peak, MTV and TLG were 3.95, 2.45, 2.65, 3.60 cm 3 and 14.85 g, respectively (AUCs: 0.742, 0.790, 0.728, 0.655, 0.693; P values: 0.016, 0.004, 0.022, 0.121, 0.053). Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test showed that SUV max, SUV mean, SUV peak, MTV and TLG were predictors of PFS ( χ2 values: 4.06-8.35, all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that MTV (hazard ratio ( HR)=3.09, 95% CI: 1.08-8.86, P=0.036) and TLG ( HR=3.36, 95% CI: 1.11-10.14, P=0.031) were significant predictors of PFS but not for MSS ( HR=5.14, P=0.080). Conclusions:SUV max, SUV mean and SUV peak of primary focus may help for predicting PFS of patients with primary melanoma. MTV and TLG of primary focus may be the best to predict PFS of primary melanoma.

Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune disease involving the skin and muscles. At the onset of dermatomyositis, it is difficult to make an early diagnosis due to atypical clinical manifestations and lack of serological markers. Skin and muscle lesions are associated with disease activity and prognosis in patients with dermatomyositis or clinical amyopathic dermatomyositis. Computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasonography, dermoscopy and other imaging techniques may be used to assess skin and muscle involvements, which can not only improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of dermatomyositis, but also provide important reference for the assessment of disease activity and prognosis.

Objective: To investigate the clinical features of anti-signal recognition particle (SRP) antibody-positive patients with dermatomyositis/clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (DM/CADM) . Methods: Clinical data were collected from 90 patients with DM/CADM, who were hospitalized at the Department of Dermatology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine from June 2015 to July 2017. Immunoblotting assay was performed to determine the serum level of anti-SRP antibody in these patients. Statistical analysis was carried out using t test and Chi-square test. Results: Of the 90 patients with DM/CADM, 11 (12.2%) were positive for serum anti-SRP antibody, including 6 with DM and 5 with CADM. Among 82 adult patients with DM/CADM, the prevalence of malignant tumors was significantly higher in the patients with anti-SRP antibody than in those without (7/9 vs. 31.5%[23/73], χ² = 7.394, P = 0.006) . The 11 patients with anti-SRP antibody had typical DM skin lesions, and their cutaneous dermatomyositis disease area and severity index (CDASI) was 18.1 ± 2.9. The prevalence of "angel wings sign" (aliform erythema on the trunk) was significantly higher in the patients with anti-SRP antibody than in those without (7/11 vs. 29.9%[20/67], Fisher′s exact test, P = 0.028) . The positive rate of antinuclear antibody was significantly higher in the patients with anti-SRP antibody than in those without (4/8 vs. 16.7%[13/78], χ² = 6.053, P = 0.014) . Magnetic resonance imaging of muscles of both thighs of the 10 patients with anti-SRP antibody (6 with DM and 4 with CADM) showed the presence of abnormal signals in the thigh muscle group in 8, swelling of the muscle group in 2, subcutaneous edema in 2, myofascial swelling in 1, and no abnormities in 2. No interstitial lung disease or myocardial involvement was observed in the patients with anti-SRP antibody. Conclusions The anti-SRP antibody-positive patients with DM/CADM showed a high prevalence of "angel wings sign" , and a high risk of malignant tumors. Early detection of the anti-SRP antibody in patients with DM/CADM is helpful to predict the occurrence of malignant tumors.

Objective: To observe the safety and impact of short-term anticoagulant therapy on prognosis after selective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with coronary artery disease. Methods: From January 2013 to December 2013, 9 769 consecutive patients underwent selective PCI in Fuwai Hospital were retrospectively included in this study. Patients were divided into two groups, including non-post-PCI anticoagulant therapy group and low-dose and short-time post-PCI anticoagulant therapy group (enoxaparin 0.4 ml/12 h or fondaparinux 2.5 mg/day by subcutaneous injection for 2-3 days after PCI). All patients were evaluated at 30 days, 180 days and 12 months for major adverse coronary and cerebral events (MACCE) including all-cause death, myocardial infarction, revascularization and stroke as well as in-stent thrombosis and bleeding events. Data from 1 755 pairs of patients were analysis after propensity score matching. The clinical outcomes were compared between groups by using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis before and after propensity score matching. Multivariable Cox analysis was used to define the impact and determinants of post-PCI anticoagulation on clinical outcomes. Results: one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five (18.0%) patients didn′t receive post-PCI anticoagulation and 8 014 (82.0%) patients received post-PCI anticoagulation, 5 666 (58.0%) patients received enoxaparin and 2 348 (24.0%) patients received fondaparinux. Patients were younger and incidence of female patients was less, incidence of renal dysfunction and acute coronary syndrome were higher in low-dose and short-time post-PCI anticoagulant therapy group than in non-post-PCI anticoagulation group (all P<0.05). Similarly, patients with post-PCI anticoagulation were associated with more left main coronary artery lesion and branch lesion (P<0.05). Post-PCI anticoagulation patients were associated with less trans-femoral process, more drug-eluting stents implantation and less simple balloon dilatation (all P<0.05). Nine thousand seven hundred and seventeen (99.5%) patients completed 2 years follow up. Post-PCI anticoagulation patients had significantly lower 30-day all-cause death (0.05% (4 cases) vs. 0.46% (8 cases), P<0.001) and stroke (0 vs. 0.11% (2 cases), P=0.003), lower 180-day all-cause death (0.17% (14 cases) vs. 0.57% (10 cases), P=0.002), revascularization (2.07% (166 cases) vs. 3.71% (65 cases), P<0.001) and MACCE (3.49% (280 cases) vs. 5.47% (96 cases), P<0.001), lower 2-year revascularization (7.61% (610 cases) vs. 12.84% (225 cases), P<0.001) and MACCE (10.92 (875 cases) vs. 16.01% (281 cases), P<0.001). Multivariable Cox regression analysis showed that post-PCI anticoagulant therapy was an independent protective factor of 30-day (HR=0.17, 95%CI 0.05-0.62, P=0.007), 180-day all-cause death (HR=0.37, 95%CI 0.16-0.87, P=0.023) and MACCE (HR=0.74, 95%CI 0.58-0.94, P=0.013), 2-year MACCE (HR=0.71, 95%CI 0.62-0.81, P<0.001). After propensity score matching, post-PCI anticoagulation therapy remained as an independent protective factor of 30-day all-cause death (HR=0.11, 95%CI 0.01-0.92, P=0.042) and 2-year MACCE (HR=0.81, 95%CI 0.68-0.96, P=0.015). Conclusions Low-dose and short-time post-PCI anticoagulant therapy may decrease 30-day all-cause death, 180-day all-cause death and MACCE and 2-year MACCE, and meanwhile this option does not increase bleeding risk in patients underwent selective PCI.

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of percutaneous closure of paravalvuar leak (PVL) in patients after heart valve replacement surgery using Amplatzer vascular plug Ⅲ (AVP Ⅲ). Methods: In this retrospective study, consecutive PVL patients after heart valve replacement surgery receiving percutaneous closure with AVP Ⅲ in Beijing Anzhen hospital between March 2017 and October 2018 (n=21) were enrolled.The preoperative and intraoperative data and short-and mid-term outcome results were analyzed. Results: Theage of patients in this cohort was (54.9±11.7) years, and there were 12 (57.1%) male patients. There were 8 patients (38.1%) post mitral valve replacement, 4 patients (19.0%) post aortic valve replacement and 9 patients (42.9%) post double valves replacements.There were 14 cases (66.7%) of mitral valve PVL,6 cases (28.6%) of aortic valve PVL, and 1 case (4.8%) of double valves PVL.Successful device deployment was accomplished in 18 defects from 17 PVL patients. Technical successful rate of mitral valve PVL closure and aortic valve PVL closure was 12/15 and 6/7,respectively. One patient received surgical repair due to procedure-induced femoral pseudoaneurysm.There were 17 cases of severe PVL and 1 case of moderate PVL before procedure, and there were 2 cases of moderate PVL, 6 cases mild PVL, and PVL disappeared in 10 cases after procedure (P<0.01 vs. pre-procedure). The follow-up time was (8.3±4.7) months. There were 10 cases (58.8%) of New York Heart Association (NYHA) function grade Ⅲ and 7 cases (41.2%) of NYHA function grade Ⅳ before procedure, and there were 12 cases of NYHA function grade Ⅰ(70.6%) and 5 cases (29.4%) of NYHA function grade Ⅱ post procedure (P<0.01). Post procedure, there was no displacement of the occluder and heart valve movement was not affected,and there was no new hemolysis or hemolysis worsening. Conclusion Percutaneous closure of PVL in patients after heart valve replacement surgery with AVP Ⅲ is feasible, and associated with favorable short-and mid-term clinical outcomes.