Objective:To investigate the value of using ultrasound excited contrast agents to assess extracorporeal hydrostatic pressure on the basis of ultrasound contrast imaging.Methods:An extracorporeal hydrostatic pressure evaluation system was established. The changes in contrast intensity was first evaluated for the same concentration of microbubble contrast agent at ambient pressures of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 cmH 2O. Contrast agents with the same initial intensity were placed at different pressures for 1 s, 3 s, and 5 s, and the percentage change in contrast agent intensity was analyzed to select the optimal excitation time. Finally, the contrast agent at different pressures was stimulated using an acoustic excitation device, and correlation analysis was performed using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. Linear regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between different pressures and the percentage change in intensity. Results:When the ambient pressure was varied under 6 gradients of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 cmH 2O, the contrast strength decreased with the pressure increased, and there was a negative correlation between contrast strength and the pressure ( r=-0.971, P<0.001). Under different pressures, the contrast agent intensity showed different degrees of natural decrease in 1 s, 3 s, and 5 s. The difference in the percentage change in contrast agent intensity in each pressure gradient was not statistically significant in 1 s ( P>0.05), whereas the differences in the percentage change in contrast agent intensity in 3 s and 5 s were statistically significant in each pressure gradient (all P<0.05). After microbubble contrast agent was stimulated by ultrasound excitation for 1s, the percentage change in contrast agent intensity was significantly correlated with ambient pressure ( r=-0.976, P<0.001). A linear regression model was fitted with the percentage change in contrast agent intensity after 1 s of stimulation as the independent variable and the pressure as the dependent variable, with the model equation: y=60.075-2.559×x1, where x1 is the percentage change in contrast agent ( R2=0.952, P<0.001). Conclusions:The percentage change in contrast intensity after 1 s of ultrasound excitation of microbubble contrast agent is a favorable predictor of hydrostatic pressure at 6 pressure gradients of 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 cmH 2O, which may provide a new method for noninvasive monitoring of portal vein pressure for clinicans.

Objective:To establish a nomogram prediction model for recurrence within 2 years after radical resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) based on clinical and ultrasonographic characteristics.Methods:Clinical data from 405 HCC patients (including 327 males and 78 females), aged 60 (53, 66) years old, who underwent radical hepatectomy in the Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, from January to December 2021, were retrospectively collected. The patients were divided into two groups: the training group ( n=283) and the validation group ( n=122). Based on recurrence within 2 years after surgery, the 283 patients in the training group were further categorized into the recurrence group ( n=73) and the non-recurrence group ( n=210). Among the 122 patients in the validation group, 33 had recurrence within 2 years, while 89 did not. Data on age, microvascular invasion, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), AFP lentil lectin-reactive fraction (AFP-L3), protein induced by vitamin K absence or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II), tumor number, and enhancement homogeneity were collected. Logistic regression analysis was performed on the training group to identify risk factors associated with postoperative recurrence, and a nomogram model for predicting HCC recurrence was constructed based on these factors. Calibration curves were used to compare the consistency between predicted and actual outcomes in both the training and validation groups. Results:Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age ( OR=0.976, 95% CI: 0.953-1.000, P=0.004), higher AFP-L3 ( OR=1.066, 95% CI: 1.014-1.120, P=0.012), higher PIVKA-II ( OR=1.000, 95% CI: 1.000-1.001, P=0.042), multiple tumors ( OR=0.399, 95% CI: 0.225-0.706, P=0.038), and heterogeneous enhancement ( OR=0.472, 95% CI: 0.243-0.916, P=0.045) were significant risk factors for recurrence after partial hepatectomy in HCC patients. The nomogram constructed based on these variables had a C-index of 0.87 (95% CI: 0.81-0.93) in the training group and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.77-0.89) in the validation group. The calibration curves for predicting recurrence within 2 years after partial hepatectomy in HCC patients showed a high degree of fit in both the training and validation groups, indicating a good agreement between predicted and actual outcomes. Conclusion:The nomogram model constructed based on preoperative clinical and ultrasonographic characteristics can effectively predict the risk of recurrence within 2 years after radical resection of HCC.

ObjectiveTo observe the lower limb muscle activation strategy of healthy middle-aged and old women during stair ascent and descent with surface electromyography. MethodsFrom August, 2021 to February, 2022, 20 healthy middle-aged and old women were measured the surface electromyography root mean square (RMS) and integrated electromyography (iEMG) of bilateral vastus lateral, rectus femoris, vastus medialis, biceps femoris and semitendinosus during stair ascent and descent, and co-contraction ratio was calculated. ResultsDuring stair ascent, the RMS of bilateral vastus lateral, rectus femoris and vastus medialis was higher at starting stage than at following stage (|t| > 6.650, P < 0.001), while the RMS of biceps femoris and semitendinosus was lower (t > 3.559, P < 0.01); and the co-contraction ratio of hamstrings/quadriceps was lower at starting stage than at following stage (t > 8.185, P < 0.001). During stair descent, the RMS of bilateral vastus lateral, vastus medialis, biceps femoris and semitendinosus was higher at following stage than at starting stage (t > 2.345, P < 0.05), as well as the co-contraction ratio of hamstrings/quadriceps (t > 2.405, P < 0.05). ConclusionThe activities of the muscles around the knees are almost symmetrical during stair ascent and descent for healthy middle-aged and old women. The activation and co-contraction ratio of quadriceps and hamstring are various at starting/following stages.

Acupuncture can improve the motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and the effect of acupuncture combined with drug therapy is better than that of drug therapy alone. The possible mechanism includes inhibiting α-synuclein aggregation, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation, inhibiting the apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons, and achieving a neuroprotective effect. The points mainly selected for Acupuncture treatment for this disease are Zusanli (ST 36), Yanglingquan (GB 34), Taichong (LR 3), Xuehai (SP 10), and other points. Early use of acupuncture and acupuncture combined with medical treatment strategy is worthy of clinical application.

The precise recognition of feature points of impedance cardiogram (ICG) is the precondition of calculating hemodynamic parameters based on thoracic bioimpedance. To improve the accuracy of detecting feature points of ICG signals, a new method was proposed to de-noise ICG signal based on the adaptive ensemble empirical mode decomposition and wavelet threshold firstly, and then on the basis of adaptive ensemble empirical mode decomposition, we combined difference and adaptive segmentation to detect the feature points, A, B, C and X, in ICG signal. We selected randomly 30 ICG signals in different forms from diverse cardiac patients to examine the accuracy of the proposed approach and the accuracy rate of the proposed algorithm is 99.72%. The improved accuracy rate of feature detection can help to get more accurate cardiac hemodynamic parameters on the basis of thoracic bioimpedance.

Objective To analyze the imaging characteristics of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) and dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging ( CEMRI) for diagnosis of hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma ,and to increase the accuracy of diagnostic imaging . Methods The imaging characteristics of CEUS and dynamic CEMRI in 11 patients with hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma confirmed by surgical pathology or fine needle aspiration biopsy were retrospectively analyzed . Results On conventional ultrasound ,14 lesions in 11 patients showed hypoechoic . The peripheral blood flow was detected in most patients by color Doppler flow imaging and the average resistant index was 0 .62 ± 0 .05 . During the arterial phase ,6 lesions showed diffuse enhancement ,6 lesions showed annular enhancement and 2 lesions showed branch enhancement .As to time of peak enhancement ,compared to the normal hepatic parenchyma ,hypoenhancement ,isoenhancement and hyperenhancement were observed in 1 lesion ,7 lesions and 6 lesions respectively . Synchronous enhancement was observed in 8 lesions on contrast-enhanced ultrasound ,rapid enhancement was observed in 5 lesions and slow enhancement was observed in 1 lesion and all lesions decreased quickly in portal phase and delayed phase . On CEMRI ,all lesions showed low signal on TIWI ,high signal on T2WI and DWI . There were 5 lesions showed obvious annular constant enhancement and 1 lesion showed obvious annular progressive enhancement . Progressive peripheral enhancement and fully filling in delayed phase were found in 4 lesions .While progressive peripheral enhancement and incompletely filling in delayed phase were found in 3 lesions . One lesion displayed constant enhancement and incompletely filling in delayed phase . Halo sign" , lollipopsign" , capsular retraction sign" and vessel sign" were appeared in 6 ,7 ,8 and 8 patients respectively . Conclusions Both contrast-enhanced ultrasound and CEMRI have characteristic manifestations for the diagnosis of hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma and cominbing them would be great significance to improve the preoperative diagnostic accuracy .

Objective To investigate the common initial clinical presentations of primary Sj(o)gren's syndrome (pSS) with pulmonary complications,and to explore the differences between patients with extraglandular manifestations at disease onset (EGM) and those with glandular manifestations at disease onset (GM).Methods A total of 1 341 hospitalized SS patients from 2003 to 2012 were retrospectively reviewed.Of them,102 hospitalized patients with pSS'associated lung disease were analyzed and included.Case control study was performed to explore the differences between the EGM group and the GM group.Results Fifty-one percent of patients were presented with EGM at onset,with significantly shorter disease duration [36 (12,156) m vs 102 (48,159) m,x2=-2.41,P=0.016].Although the mean diagnose time was similiar,only 4％ of the EGM group could be confirmed the pSS diagnose at onset,which was significantly less frequently than that of the GM group (34％,22=15.29,P＜0.01).Case control study revealed that hyperglobulinemia,elevated RF titers and anti-SSA and/or anti-SSB test positive were less predominant in the EGM group [IgG 16(12,21) g/L vs 21 (15,28) g/L,x2=-2.15,P=0.032;22 (20,171) U/ml vs 104 (20,238) U/ml,x2=-l.98,P=0.048;33％ vs 72％,x2=15.78,P＜0.01].The predicted value of TLC and FVC were lower [(87±23)％ vs (97±20)％,x2=-1.96,P=0.050;(8±28)％ vs (100±27)％,x2=-1.70,P=0.089] and HRCT score was higher in EMG group [12(88,15) vs 8(5,13),x2=-1.82,P=0.070].Conclusion EMG at onset is the common initial manifestation of pSS'associated lung involvement.Pulmonary complication is more progressively and severe than those with MG at onset.Anti'SSA positive,elevated RF titer and hyperglobulinemia are not predominant for patients with EMG at onset.

Objective To analyze and compare the imaging characteristics of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CEMRI) in diagnosing hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEHE) for improving radiological diagnostic accuracy.Methods The imaging characteristics of CEUS and dynamic CEMRI in 17 patients with histopathological diagnosis of HEHE on specimens obtained after surgical resection or fine needle biopsy were retrospectively analyzed and compared.Results On CEUS,20 lesions in 13 patients demonstrated different enhancement patterns in the arterial phase:13 lesions (65.0％) displayed gross enhancement and 7 lesions (35.0％) displayed a rimlike enhancement.Synchronous enhancement was observed in 17 lesions (85.0％) and rapid enhancement was observed in 3 lesions (15.0％).All these 20 lesions manifested as a hypoechoic mass in the portal venous and delayed phases.Other characteristics included speculated enhancement in the inner margin of the lesions and a vessel sign.On CEMRI,45 lesions (71.4％) manifested slight enhancement in the arterial phase and continuous enhancement in the portal venous and delayed phases.The remaining 18 lesions (28.6％) manifested no enhancement in the arterial phase but progressive enhancement in the portal venous and delayed phases.47 lesions (74.6％) displayed a rim-like enhancement and 16 lesions (25.4％) displayed gross enhancement.Other imaging characteristics included a halo sign,a lollipop sign,a capsular retraction sign or avessel sign.Conclusions On CEUS,characteristic manifestations of HEHE were synchronous enhancement with a quick wash-out.At peak time,the enhancement degree was equal to the normal liver parenchyma.On CEMRI,the main radiological feature of HEHE was a rim-like enhancement.In the arterial phase,the enhancement degree was not high and there was either a continuous enhancement or a progressive enhancement in the portal venous and delayed phases.Furthermore,HEHE lesions always occurred under the liver capsule and showed acapsular retraction sign,ahalo sign,a lollipop sign or a vessel sign.The combination of CEUS and CEMRI helped to improve the diagnostic rate and contributed to selection of clinical treatment.

Purpose To analyze and compare the imaging characteristics of contrastenhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and dynamic contrast-enhanced CT for hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (HEHE) diagnosis.Materials and Methods The imaging characteristics of CEUS and dynamic contrast-enhanced CT performed on 16 patients with pathological-confirmed HEHE were retrospectively analyzed.Dynamic contrast-enhanced CT was performed on 5 patients,real-time CEUS was performed on 8 patients,and both examinations were performed on 3 patients.Results On CEUS,14 lesions were selected from 11 HEHE cases.In the case of enhancement mode,5 lesions displayed ringenhancement,and 9 lesions displayed global enhancement;in the case of arterial phase,11 lesions were synchronously enhanced,and 3 lesions were rapidly enhanced compared with liver parenchyma;in the case of peak time,hyper-enhancement,iso-enhancement and hypo-enhancement were observed in 2 lesions,9 lesions and 3 lesions,respectively;all 14 lesions manifested hypoechoic mass in portal phase and delayed phase.On dynamic contrast-enhanced CT,29 lesions were found in 8 HEHE cases.In the case of arterial phase,9 lesions (31.0％) showed slight inhomogeneous enhancement,4 lesions (13.8％) showed no obvious enhancement and 16 (55.2％) lesions showed slight edge enhancement;all 29 lesions presented continuous hypo-enhancement in delayed phase.Conclusion Both CEUS and dynamic contrast-enhanced CT have respective characteristic manifestations,and are of high value for the diagnosis of HEHE.

Objective To retrospectively analyze the contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)features of metastatic hepatic neuroendocrine neoplasm(MHNEN)and their diagnostic value.Methods Twenty-eight patients with 35 MHNEN lesions were enrolled in this retrospectively study and underwent CEUS examination.The dynamic enhancement features,including enhancement pattern,peak intensity,and washout pattern were analyzed.Results The arrival time of contrast agent,time to peak,time to iso-echogenity and time to hypo-echogenity was(15.96 ± 4.14)s,(21.42 ± 5.01)s,(29.41 ± 4.83)s and (42.06±22.84)s,respectively.Compared with adjacent liver parenchyma,rapid enhancement,synchronous enhancement and slow enhancement were found in 42.9% (15/35),48.6%(17/35),8.5%(3/35) of MHNEN lesions,respectively.As for enhancement patterns,82.9%(29/35)of MHNEN lesions showed global enhancement,while 17.1%(6/35)showed rim-like enhancement.In addition,22.9%(8/35)of the selesions had a centripetal pattern during the arterial phase.Compared with liver parenchyma,all lesions demonstrated hyper-enhancement at peak enhancement.In portal venous phase,68.6%(24/35)of MHNEN lesions presented marked hypo-enhancement and 31.4%(11/35)with slight hypo-enhancement.And in late phase,all the lesions showed marked hypo-enhancement.Moreover,the boundaries of the lesions became distinct after contrast injection and another 36 lesions were identified on CEUS compared with conventional ultrasound.Conclusions CEUS can afford more diagnostic information of MHNEN and may be a good technique for diagnosing MHNEN.