BACKGROUND:Early diagnosis and treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration is particularly important.Pyroptosis of nucleus pulposus cells plays an important role in the early process of intervertebral disc degeneration,but the role of pyroptosis-related molecules of nucleus pulposus cells in early intervertebral disc degeneration and related molecular markers are still unclear. OBJECTIVE:To explore the diagnostic and therapeutic value of differentially expressed genes related to pyroptosis during intervertebral disc degeneration. METHODS:Public datasets of the GEO database were integrated for differential analysis,and intersected with 33 pyroptosis-related genes previously reported.Using Gene Ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes,pathway enrichment analysis was performed in genes related to pyroptosis during intervertebral disc degeneration.Enrichment analysis of the intervertebral disc degeneration dataset was conducted using gene set enrichment analysis.To construct the immune cell spectrum in intervertebral disc degeneration samples,the correlation between the differentially expressed pyroptosis-related genes and immune cells was analyzed.Protein interaction networks were built.Screening of the Hub gene to identify key genes associated with intervertebral disc degeneration in protein interaction networks.The receiver operating characteristic curve of the differentially expressed pyroptosis-related genes was plotted,and the area under the curve was calculated.The clinical diagnostic value of target genes was explored.qRT-PCR was applied to verify the difference in the expression of pyroptosis-related genes between normal human nucleus pulposus cells and degenerated human nucleus pulposus cells with intervertebral discs. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)4426 differentially expressed genes associated with intervertebral disc degeneration were obtained,and 14 differentially expressed pyroptosis-related genes were obtained after the intersection.(2)Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes revealed important enrichment pathways,mainly related to inflammation,cell cycle,infection and NOD-like receptor pathway.Gene set enrichment analysis showed that pathways such as amino acid metabolism and P53 transcription regulation were significantly enriched in patients with intervertebral disc degeneration.Immune infiltration analysis suggested that the occurrence and development of intervertebral disc degeneration were closely related to immune cells.(3)A total of five Hub genes were screened,namely IL1-β,Caspase-1,AIM2,Caspase-5,and NLRC4.(4)Acquisition and identification of key biomarkers for intervertebral disc degeneration:After intersecting the two datasets of GEO with the pyroptosis-related gene,it was found that NLRP3 had significant expression differences,and the receiver operating characteristic curve showed that NLRP3 had clinical diagnostic significance.(5)qRT-PCR showed that the expression of Hub genes such as IL1-β,Caspase-5 and NLRC4 was significantly increased in the nucleus pulposus cells of intervertebral disc degeneration(P<0.05),and there was no difference in Caspase-1,AIM2 and NLRP3 expression(P>0.05).(6)It is suggested that cell pyroptosis plays an important mechanism in the occurrence and development of intervertebral disc degeneration,among which pyroptosis-related molecules NLRP3,IL1-β,Caspase-5 and NLRC4 have early diagnosis and treatment value.

Objective:To explore the effect of the isolated organ laparoscopic simulation training teaching mode in laparoscopic partial nephrectomy training.Methods:A 39-hour in vitro organ laparoscopic simulation training for 12 urologists who had previously participated in laparoscopic basic technique training but had not independently completed laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. The training was conducted twice a week for 3 months from April to June 2022. Five modules, namely ultrasonic knife separation training, ultrasonic knife cutting training, vascularization training, blunt separation training, and partial nephrectomy and wound closure training, were used to provide targeted training for the decomposition of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy, and each training item was assessed and scored according to the scoring rules. At the same time, a questionnaire was used to find out the level of confidence of the 12 physicians in completing the operation and each step in the procedure, so as to assess the changes in the operational skills and psychological quality of the physicians before and after training using paired t-tests or Wilcoxon paired rank sum tests. Results:After the training, the assessment scores of operations in all surgeons were significantly improved. The training scores of ultrasonic knife separation training, ultrasonic knife cutting training, blood vessel nudity training, blunt separation training, and partial nephrectomy and traumatic suture improved from (8.5±0.3), (6.9±0.3), (4.2±0.4), (6.6±0.4), and (5.6±0.7) to (9.8±0.2), (9.6±0.3), (9.3±0.2), (9.4±0.3), and (9.8±0.2), respectively( P<0.05). The average operation time for the partial renal excision and traumatic suture training improved from (47.5±5.8) minutes to (21.6±5.1) minutes( t=18.72, P<0.001). At the same time, self-confidence in completing the operation was also significantly improved from 2(1, 3) before the training to 4(4, 4) after the training ( Z=-3.002, P =0.003). Conclusions:After laparoscopic simulation training with isolated organs, physicians with no previous experience in partial nephrectomy can become proficient in all steps of the procedure, complete the resection of the renal tumor and suturing of the wound within 30 minutes, and gain confidence in the operation of all steps of partial nephrectomy.

Objective:To investigate the changes of artemin protein expression in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and to explore the regulatory effect of human adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) exosomes on the change of artemin protein expression.Methods:This research was a prospective observational clinical research combined with experimental research. Thirteen DPN patients (9 males and 4 females, aged 32 to 68 years) who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University (hereinafter referred to as our hospital) from May 2022 to October 2023 and met the inclusion criteria were selected as DPN group, and 5 non-diabetes patients (4 males and 1 female, aged 29 to 61 years) who were admitted to our hospital in the same period of time and met the inclusion criteria were selected as control group. The toe nerve or sural nerve tissue in the abandoned tissue after debridement or amputation of patients in the two groups was collected. The pathological changes of nerve tissue were observed after hematoxylin-eosin staining; the protein expressions of S100β and artemin in nerve tissue were observed after immunofluorescence staining, and the artemin protein expression was quantified; the protein and mRNA expressions of artemin were detected by Western blotting and real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively (the sample number in DPN group and control group was 13 and 5, respectively). Twelve male C57BL/6 mice aged 3 to 5 days were collected to isolate Schwann cells, and the cells were divided into conventional culture group cultured routinely, high glucose alone group (cultured with high concentration of glucose solution only), and high glucose+exosome group (cultured with high concentration of glucose solution and extracted human ADSC exosomes). After 24 hours of culture, the cell proliferation activity was detected by cell counting kit 8 ( n=6). After 48 hours of culture, the protein expression of artemin was detected by Western blotting ( n=3). Results:Compared with those in control group, the neural supporting cells decreased and the inflammatory cells increased in the nerve tissue of patients in DPN group, showing typical manifestations of nerve injury. Immunofluorescence staining showed that compared with those in control group, the nuclei was more, and the protein expression of S100β was lower in nerve tissue of patients in DPN group. The protein expression of artemin in nerve tissue of patients in DPN group was 71±31, which was significantly lower than 1 729±62 in control group ( t=76.92, P<0.05). Western blotting detection showed that the protein expression of artemin in nerve tissue of patients in DPN group was 0.74±0.08, which was significantly lower than 0.97±0.06 in control group ( t=5.49, P<0.05). The artemin mRNA expression in nerve tissue of patients in DPN group was significantly lower than that in control group ( t=7.65, P<0.05). After 24 hours of culture, compared with that in conventional culture group, the proliferation activities of Schwann cells in high glucose alone group and high glucose+exosome group were significantly decreased ( P<0.05); compared with that in high glucose alone group, the proliferation activity of Schwann cells in high glucose+exosome group was significantly increased ( P<0.05). After 48 hours of culture, compared with those in conventional culture group, the protein expressions of artemin of Schwann cells in high glucose alone group and high glucose+exosome group were significantly decreased ( P<0.05); compared with that in high glucose alone group, the protein expression of artemin of Schwann cells in high glucose+exosome group was significantly increased ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The protein expression of artemin in nerve tissue of DPN patients is lower than that in normal nerve tissue, which may be related to the reduction of proliferation activity of Schwann cells by high glucose. Human ADSC exosomes may improve the proliferation activity of Schwann cells by increasing artemin protein expression, thereby delaying the progression of DPN.

【Objective】 To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognostic differences between type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC), and identify the prognosis-related independent predictors. 【Methods】 A total of 143 PRCC patients treated during Jan.2012 and Dec.2019 were involved, including 91 type Ⅰ patients and 52 type Ⅱ patients. The prognostic factors were analyzed with univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. The differences in cancer-specific survival (CSS) between the two groups were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. 【Results】 The patients’ age was 53.41±13.50 years. After a mean follow-up of 63.27±26.20 months, 14 patients died, and the overall CSS was 90.2%. The prognosis of type Ⅰ patients was better than type Ⅱ patients (94.5% vs. 82.7%, P=0.020). Cox regression suggested that PRCC subtype and stage were significantly associated with prognosis. There was no difference in prognosis between type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ patients in T1/T2 subgroup (P>0.05). However, in T3/T4 subgroup, type Ⅰ patients had a significant better prognosis than type Ⅱ patients (P=0.023), while the above trends were not observed in G1/G2 and G3/G4 subgroups (P>0.05). 【Conclusion】 PRCC subtype and stage are independent prognostic predictors. The impact of PRCC subtype on prognosis is mainly manifested in the subgroup of patients with T3 or higher stage.

Objective:To explore the value of machine learning models based on multiple structural MRI features for diagnosis of Parkinson disease (PD).Methods:The clinical and imaging data of 60 PD patients (PD group) diagnosed in the Neurology Department of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from November 2017 to August 2019 and 56 normal elderly people (NC group) recruited from the community were retrospectively analyzed. All subjects underwent brain MR imaging. Multiple structural MRI features were extracted from cerebellum, deep nuclei and of brain cortex based on different partition templates. The Mann-Whitney U test, as well as least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression were used to select the most discriminating features. Finally, logistic regression (LR) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier combined with the 5-fold cross-validation scheme were used to construct the models based on structural features of cerebellum, deep nuclei and cortex, and a combined model based on all features. The receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn, and the diagnostic performance and clinical net benefit of each model were evaluated by the area under curve (AUC) and the decision curve analysis (DCA). Results:In total, four cerebellum (asymmetry index of Lobule Ⅵ volume, asymmetry index of Lobule ⅦB cortical thickness, asymmetry index of total gray matter volume and absolute value of right Lobule Ⅵ gray matter volume), 3 deep nuclei (absolute value of right nucleus accumbens volume, absolute and relative value of total nucleus accumbens volume) and 3 cortex features (local gyration index of left PFm, local fractal dimension of right superior frontal gyrus and sulcal depth of left superior occipital gyrus) were selected as the most discriminating features, and the related models were constructed. In validation set, the AUC of cerebellum, deep nuclei, cortex and combined models for diagnosis of PD based on LR classifier were 0.692, 0.641, 0.747 and 0.816; the AUC of cerebellum, deep nuclei, cortex and combined models for diagnosis of PD based on LDA classifier were 0.726, 0.610, 0.752 and 0.818. The diagnostic efficiency of the combined models based on LR and LDA classifiers were significantly better than those of other models ( P<0.05). The DCA curve demonstrated that the combined models based on LR and LDA classifiers showed the highest clinical net benefit. Conclusion:The combined models with all structural features of cerebellum, deep nuclei and cortex included based on LR and LDA classifiers showed favorable performance and clinical net benefit for diagnosis of PD, which have the potential application value in clinical diagnosis.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is one of the common chronic complications of diabetes, resulting in neuropathy of spinal nerve, cranial nerve, and vegetative nerve. Diabetic distal symmetric multiple neuropathy is the most representative lesion of DPN, including symptoms of bilateral limbs pain, numbness, and paresthesia, etc. DPN is one of the main reasons causing diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). Schwann cells (SCs) are the primary glia cells of the peripheral nervous system, which play very important role in repairing after nerve injury. As the target cells of chronic hyperglycemia, SCs' functions, including the formation of myelin sheath, the secretion of neurotrophic factors, energy supplying for the axon, and the guidance of axon regeneration, etc., are damaged under the action of high glucose. The destroyed functions of SCs can inhibit the repair of damaged nerves and accelerate the progress of DPN. Therefore, if the damage of high glucose to SCs can be effectively reduced, it will provide a new way for the treatment of DPN and DFU and reduce the morbidity of DFU. This review focuses on the function of SCs and its relationship with DPN.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in the perioperative treatment of elderly patients with intertrochanteric fracture in a primary hospital.Methods:Retrospectively analyzed were the data of 104 elderly patients with intertrochanteric femoral fracture who had been treated by fixation with proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA) at Joint & Trauma Surgery, Shangyu People's Hospital of Shaoxing from January 2017 to January 2019. According to whether the ERAS concept was applied perioperatively, the patients were divided into 2 groups. In the ERAS treatment group of 53 cases, there were 27 males and 26 females with an age of (72.7±1.5) years. By the AO classification, 27 cases were type 31-A1, 16 cases were type 31-A2, and 10 cases were type 31-A3. Internal diseases were complicated in 37 cases. The time from injury to operation was (65.8±3.9) h. In the conventional treatment group of 51 cases, there were 31 males and 20 females with an age of (72.6±1.5) years. By the AO classification, 21 cases were type 31-A1, 19 cases were type 31-A2, and 11 cases were type 31-A3. Internal diseases were complicated in 37 cases. The time from injury to operation was (111.5±5.9) h. The postoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS), hospital stay, complications, Harris hip score at the last follow-up, and one-year mortality were compared between the 2 groups.Results:Except for the time from injury to operation, there was no significant difference in the other preoperative general data between the 2 groups, showing comparability ( P>0.05). All the 104 patients were followed up for 12 to 24 months (average, 14.8 months) after operation. The VAS pain score [(3.2±1.2) points], hospital stay [(6.6±2.2) d], complication rate [5.7% (3/53)], and hip Harris score at the last follow-up [(90.7±1.3) points] in the ERAS treatment group were significantly better than those in the conventional treatment group [(3.9±1.0) points, (12.7±1.8) d, 19.6% (10/51), and (86.5±3.8) points] ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the one-year mortality between the ERAS treatment group [18.9% (10/53)] and the conventional treatment group [27.5% (14/51)] ( P>0.05). No such complications were followed up as injury to nerve or blood vessel, wound infection, fracture nonunion or femoral head necrosis in this cohort. Conclusion:In the perioperative treatment of elderly patients with femoral intertrochanteric fracture in a primary hospital, compared with conventional treatment, application of ERAS concept can shorten the patients' hospital stay, reduce the incidence of postoperative complications, achieve rapid recovery, and improve the patients' satisfaction.

Objective:To explore the feasibility of deep learning technology for renal artery recognition in retroperitoneal laparoscopic renal surgery videos.Methods:From January 2020 to July 2021, the video data of 87 cases of laparoscopic retroperitoneal nephrectomy, including radical nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, and hemiurorectomy, were retrospectively analyzed. Two urological surgeons screened video clips containing renal arteries. After frame extraction, annotation, review, and proofreading, the labeled targets were divided into training set and test set by the random number table in a ratio of 4∶1. The training set was used to train the neural network model. The test set was used to test the ability of the neural network to identify the renal artery in scenes with different difficulties, which was uniformly transmitted to the YOLOv3 convolutional neural network model for training. According to the opinion of two senior doctors, the test set was divided into high, medium, and low discrimination of renal artery and surrounding tissue. High identification means a clean renal artery and a large exposed area. For middle recognition degree, the renal artery had a certain degree of blood immersion, and the exposed area was medium. Low identification means that the exposed area of the renal artery was small, often located at the edge of the lens, and the blood immersion was severe, which may lead to lens blurring. In the surgical video, the annotator annotated the renal artery truth box frame by frame. After normalization and preprocessing, all images were input into the neural network model for training. The neural network output the renal artery prediction box, and if the overlap ratio (IOU) with the true value box was higher than the set threshold, it was judged that the prediction was correct. The neural network test results of the test set were recorded, and the sensitivity and accuracy were calculated according to IOU.Results:In the training set, 1 149 targets of 13 videos had high recognition degree, 1 891 targets of 17 videos had medium recognition degree, and 349 targets of 18 videos had low recognition degree. In the test set, 267 targets in 9 videos had high recognition degree, 519 targets in 11 videos had medium recognition degree, and 349 targets in 18 videos had low recognition degree. When the IOU threshold was 0.1, the sensitivity and accuracy were 52.78% and 82.50%, respectively. When the IOU threshold was 0.5, the sensitivity and accuracy were 37.80% and 59.10%, respectively. When the IOU threshold was 0.1, the sensitivity and accuracy of high, medium and low recognition groups were 89.14% and 87.82%, 45.86% and 78.03%, 32.95%, and 76.67%, respectively. The frame rate of the YOLOv3 algorithm in real-time surgery video was ≥15 frames/second. The false detection rate and missed detection rate of neural network for renal artery identification in laparoscopic renal surgery video were 47.22% and 17.49%, respectively (IOU=0.1). The leading causes of false detection were similar tissue and reflective light. The main reasons for missed detection were image blurring, blood dipping, dark light, fascia interference, or instrument occlusion, etc.Conclusions:Deep learning-based renal artery recognition technology is feasible. It may assist the surgeon in quickly identifying and protecting the renal artery during the operation and improving the safety of surgery.

Objective:To present the learning curve of robotic assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy by a single surgeon.Methods:The clinical data of 100 patients with renal tumor who underwent robot assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in Peking Union Medical College Hospital from February 2016 to April 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 64 males and 36 females. The average age was 51.5(18-79) years. The average body mass index (BMI) was 24.9(19-31)kg/m 2. TNM stage was T 1N 0M 0, which indicated partial nephrectomy. The tumors were located on the left in 38 cases and on the right in 62 cases. The average maximum diameter of tumor was 3.9(1.0-6.7) cm, and the average R. E.N.A.L. score was 6.7(4-11). All operations were performed by a single surgeon. This group of operations were the first 100 robot cases for this surgeon. The mean machines docking time was 14(10-30) min, the mean operation time was 119.2(60-240) min, the mean warm ischemia time was 16.7(0-45) min, and the estimated mean blood loss was 105.2(30-500) ml. There was no conversion to open surgery or laparoscopic radical nephrectomy. No serious complications occurred (Dindo calvein grade ≥ grade Ⅲ). There were 1 case of lower extremity intramuscular venous thrombosis, 1 case of urinary fistula, 1 case of pulmonary infection and 1 case of peri-kidney hematoma after operation. All patients were cured after conservative treatment without further operation or intervention. Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) test was used to fit the learning curve of docking time and operation time, and to judge the three different learning stages of robot surgery according to the inflection of the curve (CUSUM stop rising, and CUSUM begin to decline). The characteristics of patients and perioperative data of different learning stages were compared. Result:According to the CUSUM, the learning curve of robot assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy was 19 cases. According to the inflection point of operation time learning curve, 100 cases could be divided into three stages, 1st-19th cases were learning stage, 20th-43rd cases were mastering stage and 44th-100th cases are proficient stage. There were no significant differences in age, gender, tumor side, intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative pathological type, total cost of hospitalization and incidence of complications among the three stages ( P>0.05). The median BMI in the learning stage was significantly lower than that in the mastery stage and the proficiency stage (23 kg/m 2, 26 kg/m 2, 25 kg/m 2, P=0.02). The median docking time(20 min, 12 min, 12 min), median operation time (150 min, 120 min, 100 min) and median warm ischemia time (21 min, 18 min, 15 min)were gradually shortened in the learning stage, mastering stage and proficient stage ( P<0.001). The median length of postoperative hospital stay in mastering stage and proficient stage was shorter than that in learning stage (7 d, 6 d, 6 d, P=0.011). The median maximum diameter of tumor (3.7 cm, 3.9 cm, 4.0 cm)and median R. E.N.A.L. score (6, 7, 7)increased gradually in learning stage, mastering stage and proficient stage, but the difference was not statistically significant( P=0.75, P=0.16). Conclusions:The learning curve of robotic assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for an experienced surgeon is about 19 cases. After the completion of the learning curve, the docking time, operation time, warm ischemia time and postoperative hospital stay of patients can be significantly shortened than the initial period, and more difficult renal tumor operations can be accomplished.

Objective:To investigate the safety and efficacy of domestic Kangduo robotic surgery system in adrenalectomy.Methods:This study summarized the clinical data of patients with adrenal adenoma who were operated by domestic kangduo robot from November 2020 to April 2021. This study was approved by the hospital ethics committee, and the clinical trials of medical devices were filed. Inclusion criteria: age 18-75 years old; all of them in accordance with the indication of adrenalectomy; tumor volume≤6 cm; agree to sign the informed consent, follow the doctor's advice and follow up regularly. Exclusion criteria: patients with ipsilateral upper abdominal surgery history; patients with severe uncontrolled disease or acute infection; patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, blood system diseases and immune system diseases that are not controlled and can not reach the operation standard; pregnant or lactating women. All patients underwent robot assisted adrenalectomy. The general information and perioperative data of the patients were summarized.Results:Five patients were included in this study, including 1 male and 4 female. The average age was 49 (34-61)years old. There were 2 cases on the left and 3 cases on the right. The average diameter of tumor was 2.2 (1.1-3.7) cm. All patients showed adenoma by CT examination. Two cases were diagnosed as primary aldosteronism, one as Cushing's syndrome, and two as nonfunctional adenoma. All the operations were successfully completed in 5 cases, including 4 cases via retroperitoneal approach and 1 case via peritoneal approach. The average docking time was 3.8 (3-6) min, the average operation time was 56.2 (21-92) min, and the average blood loss was 34 (20-50) ml. The postoperative pathology was adrenal cortical adenoma. The average postoperative hospital stay was 3.6 (3-5) days. No postoperative complications occurred in 5 cases. Two patients with primary aldosteronism had hypertension and hypokalemia before operation, and they needed oral antihypertensive drugs to control them. They did not need medication after operation, and their blood pressure and potassium were maintained at normal levels. All patients were followed up for average 1.5(0.5-5.0)months.Conclusions:Domestic robot assisted laparoscopic adrenalectomy has the advantages of few blood loss, short operation time, few complications. It’s a safe and effective operation, but the conclusion needs to be further verified by large sample and multi-center study.