Background::Pathological scars are a disorder that can lead to various cosmetic, psychological, and functional problems, and no effective assessment methods are currently available. Assessment and treatment of pathological scars are based on cutaneous manifestations. A two-photon microscope (TPM) with the potential for real-time non-invasive assessment may help determine the under-surface pathophysiological conditions in vivo. This study used a portable handheld TPM to image epidermal cells and dermal collagen structures in pathological scars and normal skin in vivo to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment in scar patients. Methods::Fifteen patients with pathological scars and three healthy controls were recruited. Imaging was performed using a portable handheld TPM. Five indexes were extracted from two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) perspectives, including collagen depth, dermo-epidermal junction (DEJ) contour ratio, thickness, orientation, and occupation (proportion of collagen fibers in the field of view) of collagen. Two depth-dependent indexes were computed through the 3D second harmonic generation image and three morphology-related indexes from the 2D images. We assessed index differences between scar and normal skin and changes before and after treatment.Results::Pathological scars and normal skin differed markedly regarding the epidermal morphological structure and the spectral characteristics of collagen fibers. Five indexes were employed to distinguish between normal skin and scar tissue. Statistically significant differences were found in average depth ( t = 9.917, P <0.001), thickness ( t = 4.037, P <0.001), occupation ( t= 2.169, P <0.050), orientation of collagen ( t = 3.669, P <0.001), and the DEJ contour ratio ( t = 5.105, P <0.001). Conclusions::Use of portable handheld TPM can distinguish collagen from skin tissues; thus, it is more suitable for scar imaging than reflectance confocal microscopy. Thus, a TPM may be an auxiliary tool for scar treatment selection and assessing treatment efficacy.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of psoriasis and status quo of medical care for patients in county areas of China.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional investigation. Based on the “Qianxian Wuyin” Project (a national project for upgrating ability for psoriasis care at county level), an online questionnaire survey was conducted in the dermatology departments of 459 county hospitals in 404 pilot administrative counties across China from February to June 2023. The questionnaire included demographic information of patients (gender, ethnicity, age, place of residence, education, marital status), and clinical characteristics of psoriasis (disease course, type, comorbidities, body surface area (BSA) and previous treatment. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) were applied for assessing the quality of life and disease severity, and completed by patients or guardian and doctors, respectively.Results:A total of 16 935 patients completed the questionnaire. The age of patients was 1-102(44.17±11.58)years, and 71.0% (12 036/16 935) were 30-59 years old. The ratio of male to female was 2.21∶1; 24.3%(4 117/16 935) of patients had high school education; there were 9 940 patients(58.7%) with previous or current smoking and/or alcohol use; 42.8%(7 218/16 855) of patients had a disease course of 1-5 years. There were 15 630 patients(92.3%) with DLQI≥10, 8 346 patients(49.7%) with PASI≥10, 15 017 patients(89.2%) with BSA≥10%. The plaque type was the most common disease type ( n=14 965, 88.7%), and spotting type ranked the second ( n=1 141, 6.8%). The most common initial site was the trunk ( n=12 309, 72.9%). Among the comorbidities, hypertension was the most common one ( n=1 681, 10.0%). There were 7 650 reports of treatment response to conventional topical drug therapy and 3 112 reports of treatment response to systemic drug therapy, with 6 269 (81.9%) and 2 493 (80.1%) reporting poor or no response, respectively. Conclusions:The survey shows that in the county areas of China, the majority of psoriasis patients are severe patients with short course of disease, plaque type is the most common type, and hypertension is the most common comorbidity; and the conventional treatment is less effective for most patients.

BACKGROUND: Observational research has reported that systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is related to common female hormone-dependent cancers, but the underlying causal effect remains undefined. This study aimed to explore the causal association of these conditions by Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. METHODS: We selected instrumental variables for SLE from genome-wide association studies (GWASs) conducted in European and East Asian populations. The genetic variants for female malignant neoplasms were obtained from corresponding ancestry GWASs. We utilized inverse variance weighted (IVW) as the primary analysis, followed by sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, we conducted multivariable MR (MVMR) to estimate direct effects by adjusting for the body mass index and estradiol. Finally, we implemented reverse direction MR analysis and gave a negative example to test the reliability of MR results. RESULTS: We found SLE was significantly negatively associated with overall endometrial cancer risk (odds ratio [OR] = 0.961, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.935-0.987, P  = 3.57E-03) and moderately inversely related to endometrioid endometrial cancer (ENEC) (OR = 0.965, 95% CI = 0.936-0.995, P  = 0.024) risk in the European population by IVW. We replicated these results using other MR models and detected a direct effect by MVMR (overall endometrial cancer, OR = 0.962, 95% CI = 0.941-0.983, P  = 5.11E-04; ENEC, OR = 0.964, 95% CI = 0.940-0.989, P  = 0.005). Moreover, we revealed that SLE was correlated with decreased breast cancer risk (OR = 0.951, 95% CI = 0.918-0.986, P  = 0.006) in the East Asian population by IVW, and the effect was still significant in MVMR (OR = 0.934, 95% CI = 0.859-0.976, P  = 0.002). The statistical powers of positive MR results were all >0.9. CONCLUSION This finding suggests a possible causal effect of SLE on the risk of overall endometrial cancer and breast cancer in European and East Asian populations, respectively, by MR analysis, which compensates for inherent limitations of observational research.
Female ; Humans ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Mendelian Randomization Analysis ; Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent ; Reproducibility of Results ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/genetics* ; Carcinoma, Endometrioid ; Breast Neoplasms ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

Objective:To investigate the distribution and morphological characteristics of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions in patients with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody related demyelinating diseases and aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and their clinical value in early diagnosis.Methods:A total of 35 patients with MOG antibody related demyelinating diseases [20 males and 15 females; aged 31 (25, 43) years] and 36 patients with AQP4 antibody positive NMOSD [3 males and 33 females; aged 42 (29, 54) years] were collected retrospectively from September 2018 to June 2021 in Chenzhou First People′s Hospital and the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University which were classified as MOG group and AQP4 positive group respectively. All patients underwent routine cranial MRI scanning before treatment and the location, shape and quantity of intracranial lesions were recorded. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare the number of different types of lesions between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the significance of different lesions for the two diseases.Results:There were 7 types of lesions with significant differences in different parts and shapes. Stepwise Logistic regression showed that cortical and juxtacortical lesions ( OR=21.91, 95% CI 3.09-61.69, P<0.05) and infratentorial peripheral white matter lesions ( OR=10.48, 95% CI 2.00-18.89, P<0.05) were the most important risk factors in the MOG group. The incidence of cortical and juxtacortical lesions in the MOG group was 51.4% (18/35), which was higher than that in the AQP4 positive group (2.8%, 1/36; χ2=19.02, P<0.01). The incidence of infratentorial peripheral white matter lesions in the MOG group was 31.4% (11/35), which was higher than that in the AQP4 positive group (5.6%, 2/36; χ2=6.31, P<0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that peripheral lesions [including 6 types of lesions such as supratentorial soft meningitis, cortical encephalitis, cortical and juxtacortical lesions, infratentorial soft meningitis, infratentorial soft meningeal demyelination and infratentorial peripheral lesions, area under curve (AUC)=0.93] were more important than cortical and juxtacortical lesions (AUC=0.75) and central lesions (supratentorial paraventricular white matter lesions, diencephalon, infratentorial paraventricular lesions,AUC=0.64), which had higher diagnostic efficiency. Conclusions:The incidence of intracranial lesions in MOG antibody related demyelinating disease was higher than that in AQP4 positive NMOSD, and the distribution and morphology of intracranial MRI lesions in the two diseases had their characteristic manifestations. Identifying the distribution patterns of peripheral lesions (distributed along pia mater) and central lesions (distributed along ependyma) had a certain reference significance for distinguishing the two groups of diseases.

Objective:To analyze the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation, and to quantitatively analyze the changes of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC).Methods:The MRI images of 14 cases of diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation were retrospectively analyzed in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from April 2017 to November 2019. The location, edge, signal, peritumoral edema and enhancement characteristics of the lesions were observed, and the changes of ADC values were analyzed.Results:The tumors were located in thalamus in four cases, pons in six cases, medulla oblongata in two cases and spinal cord in two cases. In seven cases, the tumor was confined to the midline region, of which six cases had clear boundary, seven cases were located in the midline area, but infiltrated into the non midline area at the same time, and six cases had unclear boundary. Basilar artery entrapment was found in all six patients located in pons. Multiple large cystic changes were found in five cases, multiple small cysts in four cases and no cystic changes in five cases. Cystic changes were found in all seven cases of tumors involving the non midline region, of which six cases were located only in the non midline region, and only two of the seven tumors localized in the midline region had small cysts. Hemorrhage was found in four cases. Five cases showed mild heterogeneous enhancement, six cases showed moderate heterogeneous enhancement, two cases showed obvious enhancement, and one case showed no enhancement. There was no edema around the tumor in nine cases and mild edema in five cases. The average edema index was 1.13. The average ADC value of tumor parenchyma in 12 patients was (7.83±0.88)×10 -4 mm 2/s, which was 15.6% lower than that of the contralateral side [(9.28±0.69)×10 -4 mm 2/s, t=-6.336, P<0.05]. Conclusions:Diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation have a younger onset age and are more likely to occur in thalamus, brainstem and spinal cord. Most of the tumors have no peritumoral edema or mild peritumoral edema. The tumors confined to the midline region are regular in shape and clear in boundary. The masses involving the non midline area are prone to cystic necrosis. Diffuse midline gliomas with H3K27M mutation in pons are prone to basilar artery entrapment. ADC value can provide a quantitative basis for preoperative tumor grading.

Objective:To understand the iodine nutrition states of children in Dongtai City Jiangsu Province by analyzing the urinary iodine level of children aged 0 - 12 years old (prepubescent children), so as to provide scientific reference for prepubescent children's reasonable iodine nutrition intake.Methods:Under the guidance of the "National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Monitoring Program" (2016), Dongtai City was divided into 5 districts according to the east, west, south, north and middle locations. In each district, children aged 0 - 7 years old who underwent physical examination in township hospitals and prevention and health centers were selected to collect urine samples for urine iodine testing. One township was selected from each district, and one primary school was selected from each township. At least 90 children aged 8 to 12 (half boys and half girls) were selected from each primary school to collect urine samples for urine iodine testing. The urinary iodine levels of children of different genders, ages and regions were compared and analyzed.Results:A total of 2 934 urine samples were collected. The median of urinary iodine was 191.9 μg/L, ranging from 1.4 to 627.9 μg/L, the proportion of urine iodine content < 50 μg/L was 5.5% (162/2 934), the proportion of 50 - 99 μg/L was 10.9% (319/2 934), the proportion of 100 - 199 μg/L was 37.4% (1 096/2 934), the proportion of 200 - 299 μg/L was 28.3% (829/2 934), and the proportion of ≥300 μg/L was 18.0% (528/2 934). A total of 1 535 and 1 399 urine samples of boys and girls were collected. The medians urinary iodine of boys and girls were 202.3 and 177.7 μg/L, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant ( Z = - 5.487, P < 0.05). There were 106, 1 539, 753 and 536 cases of infants (0 - 12 months old), early childhood (1 - 3 years old), preschool children (4 - 6 years old), and school-age children (7 - 12 years old), the medians urinary iodine were 169.8, 189.6, 169.9 and 243.7 μg/L, respectively, the difference was statistically significant ( H = 127.395, P < 0.05). There were 642, 699, 422, 738 and 433 cases in different regions (east, west, south, north and middle) and the medians urinary iodine were 194.2, 172.7, 196.8, 200.5 and 196.6 μg/L, respectively, the difference was statistically significant ( H = 29.461, P < 0.05). Conclusions:Children aged 0 - 12 years old in Dongtai City are not deficient in iodine on the whole, but those with urinary iodine value higher than 200 μg/L account for a large proportion. Therefore, a reasonable iodine nutrition plan should be implemented according to the actual situation. In addition, individual iodine deficiency and excess should also be paid attention to.

Objective:To analyze the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of epithelioid glioblastoma (eGBM), and to quantitatively analyze the characteristics of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) , perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) and magnetic resonance spectrum (MRS) of eGBM patients.Methods:The MRI results of eight cases of eGBM confirmed by pathology in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from October 2016 to November 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. The location, edge, signal, peritumoral edema, adjacent meningeal invasion and enhancement of the patients were observed, and the changes of ADC value, relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF), relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and the ratio of choline (Cho)/N-acetyl-L-aspartic acid (NAA) were analyzed.Results:Among the eight patients, the main tumors were located in temporal lobe ( n=3), frontal lobe ( n=3) and parietal lobe ( n=2). The boundary of the lesion was clear in six cases and unclear in two cases. The lesions were superficial in five cases and in deep white matter in three cases. Bleeding could be seen in four cases. There were three cases with cystic change and four cases with necrosis, and there was no cystic necrosis only in one case. There was no edema around the lesion in one case, severe edema in five cases and moderate edema in two cases. The adjacent meninge was involved in four cases and the ependyma was involved in one case. Two patients had leptomeningeal metastasis within two months after operation. The average ADC value of tumor parenchyma in eight patients was 7.15×10 -4 mm 2/s, which was 17.6% lower than that of the contralateral side. MRS showed that the ratio of Cho/NAA in the lesions of two patients were 5.27, 0.81. PWI showed that the rCBV in the lesions of two patients was 3.51 ml/100 g and 3.32 ml/100 g, respectively, which was 36% and 29% higher than that of the contralateral side, respectively. And the rCBF of the lesions was 31.5 ml·100 g -1·min -1and 82.1 ml·100 g -1·min -1, respectively, which increased by 49% and 203% respectively compared with the contralateral side. Conclusions:eGBM has the characteristics of superficial location, easy to be cystic, but the wall of the cyst is not smooth and uneven, the boundary of the mass is clear, the adjacent meninges are easy to be involved and the meningeal tail sign appears, and it is easy to be spread by cerebrospinal fluid. ADC value, PWI and MRS can provide some help for preoperative tumor grading.

Glioblastoma, which is the most common primary malignant brain tumor, usually occurs in the white matter of the brain. In this case, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) only showed abnormal cortical signal in the first hospital examination, so he was diagnosed as viral encephalitis. Seven months later, he was admitted to hospital again because of memory loss and slow response. MRI showed obvious mass in the original lesion area. Pathology confirmed glioblastoma (the World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors: grade Ⅳ). By analyzing this case, it is considered that some glioblastomas may only have cortical lesions in the early stage. Therefore, if cortical abnormal signals are found, glioblastoma should also be included in the differential diagnosis.

Objective:To explore effects of different lower limb placement angles on venous drainage among patients undergoing thoracolumbar surgery in prone position.Methods:From January 2017 to January 2018, we selected patients underwent elective thoracolumbar surgery in prone position of Operating Room in Beijing Hospital as research objects. According to the need of surgery, it was divided into 51 cases in low-angle group and 54 cases in traditional-angle group. We compared effects of different lower limb placement angles on patients by taking the changes of lower limb venous blood flow under ultrasound before and after surgery as main observation indicators and taking changes of lower limb skin temperature and leg circumference as the secondary observation indicator.Results:There were statistical differences in the changes of blood flow on the left and right popliteal veins, the left and right posterior tibial veins of patients under ultrasound between two groups before and after surgery ( P<0.05) . There were no statistical differences in the changes of the leg circumference of 10 cm above the left and right ankles and the changes of the leg circumference of 15 cm above the left and right patellae of patients between two groups ( P>0.05) ; there was also no statistical difference in the change of bilateral skin temperature ( P>0.05) . Conclusions:The lower limb placement angles among patients undergoing thoracolumbar surgery in prone position may affect the venous drainage which nurses of Operating Room should pay attention to when placing positions.

Objective To determine the occurrence and clinical characteristics of ectopic pituitary adenoma (EPA) in China.Methods The study are done by searching systematically and comprehensively on major Chinese and English medical literature databases and conference papers before 2015,which are only limited to collected,summarized,sorted and analyzed EPA cases that reported by Chinese authors in English or Chinese occurred in China.Results ① Among the 86 Chinese articles and 27 English articles related to ectopic pituitary adenoma (EPA) gathered by the author,except for cases that have been confirmed as repeated reports,a total of 73 EPA cases were found.Of 70 cases with complete data,31 were male cases,accounting for 44.29％;39 were female cases,accounting for 55.71％;the ratio is 1:1.3.The frequency of EPA occurrence according to the location of the lesion,from high to low in turn,was sphenoid sinus (31 cases,42.47％),nasopharynx (7 cases,9.59％),suprasellar region (7 cases,9.59％),clivus (5 cases,6.85％),followed by the third ventricle,sphenoid sinus/clivus,nasal cavity,and the temporal lobe of the brain,with the same incidence of 4.11％.According to the functional properties of EPA,the frequency of different secreting hormones adenoma was PRL-ma(21 cases,28.77％),NF-ma (21 cases,28.77％),ACTH-ma (15 cases,20.55％),GH-ma (10 cases,13.70％),TSH-ma (2 cases,2.74％) and FSH-ma (1 cases.1.37％).Three cases of EPA were uncertain in their property due to lack of information.The incidence of PRL and nonfunctional tumors was the highest,which was different from what was reported in other countries.Among them,one case of EPA was in pineal region and one in parapharyngeal space,which was even more rare and were never reported abroad.(② Except for 3 cases with incomplete medical records,15 out of 70 cases of EPA were accompanied by empty sella,accounting for 21.43％,among which 11 (73.33％) cases involved the sphenoid sinus,and 3 (20％) cases involved clivus.The sphenoid sinus and clivus cases together accounted for 93.33％.(③ 29 out of the 69 cases of EPA with complete record were invasive pituitary adenomas,accounting for 42.03％ and including 1 case of pituitary adenocarcinoma,which accounted for 1.45％.(④ All cases were treated with surgery as the first choice,and some of them were treated with radiotherapy or drug therapy.Conc lusion Ectopic pituitary adenoma is extremely rare.By the end of 2015,the total number of cases reported in China is only 73,which are mostly located in the sphenoid sinus,suprasellar region and nasopharynx.In the functional classification,the most common types are still PRL adenoma and nonfunctional adenoma as in situ pituitary adenoma.42.03％ of EPA adenomas are invasive.Surgical resection of EPA is the first choice and some cases can be treated with radiotherapy and drug therapy.