With the increasingly wide application of herbal medicines and dietary supplements worldwide,herb-induced liver injury(HILI)has become an important etiology of drug-induced liver injury.Due to the diverse manifestations of HILI,the difficulty in medical history collection,and the lack of specific biomarkers,how to identify suspected patients and make a correct diagnosis has become a major challenge in practice.Causality assessment is commonly used in the diagnosis of HILI,but there is still a lack of prospective cohort studies with a large sample size.In addition,further studies are needed to search for the specific biomarkers for the diagnosis of HILI.The diagnosis and differential diagnosis of HILI are challenging,and currently there is still no universally accepted uniform and standard method for the diagnosis of all-cause HILI.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD) is a major public health problem that seriously affects human health. At present, some good progress has been made in the research and development of new drugs for MASLD, but there is still great space for exploration. This paper summarizes and analyzes the reasons in the current clinical status and challenges for the research and development of new drugs for MASLD.

Drug can cause almost all known types of acute, subacute, and chronic liver injuries. Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is an important cause of unexplained liver injury in clinical practice. Correct diagnosis of DILI is challenging due to lack of specific diagnostic biomarkers, especially in patients with pre-existing liver disease and multiple concomitant drugs. A comprehensive understanding of the risk factors, clinical features, and prognosis of liver injury caused by different drugs will help physicians to recognize, diagnose, and manage it timely. Although the guideline was developed based on evidence-based medicine provided by the latest studies, there is limited high-quality evidence in the field of DILI. Therefore, this guideline should be interpreted with caution, and physicians should adopt an optimal diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for individual patients within the framework of the guideline.

Background::The potential impact of pre-existing coronary artery stenosis (CAS) on acute pulmonary embolism (PE) episodes remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the association between pre-existing CAS and the elevation of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) levels in patients with PE.Methods::In this multicenter, prospective case-control study, 88 cases and 163 controls matched for age, sex, and study center were enrolled. Cases were patients with PE with elevated hs-cTnI. Controls were patients with PE with normal hs-cTnI. Coronary artery assessment utilized coronary computed tomographic angiography or invasive coronary angiography. CAS was defined as ≥50% stenosis of the lumen diameter in any coronary vessel >2.0 mm in diameter. Conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between CAS and hs-cTnI elevation.Results::The percentage of CAS was higher in the case group compared to the control group (44.3% [39/88] vs. 30.1% [49/163]; P = 0.024). In multivariable conditional logistic regression model 1, CAS (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 2.680; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.243–5.779), heart rate >75 beats/min (OR, 2.306; 95% CI, 1.056–5.036) and N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) >420 pg/mL (OR, 12.169; 95% CI, 4.792–30.900) were independently associated with elevated hs-cTnI. In model 2, right CAS (OR, 3.615; 95% CI, 1.467–8.909) and NT-proBNP >420 pg/mL (OR, 13.890; 95% CI, 5.288–36.484) were independently associated with elevated hs-cTnI. Conclusions::CAS was independently associated with myocardial injury in patients with PE. Vigilance towards CAS is warranted in patients with PE with elevated cardiac troponin levels.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary disease (CTEPD) are diseases that occur after acute pulmonary embolism resulting from residual and organized intra-pulmonary thrombus, with or without pulmonary hypertension(PH). The prognosis of these diseases has been dramatically improved with the continuous progress of treatment and the updated concept of the comprehensive treatment strategy. However, there is a lack of awareness of these diseases among medical practitioners, and a lack of epidemiological data in China, with unknown pathogenesis and non-specific clinical manifestations. Therefore, it is easy to misdiagnosis, underdiagnosis and delay diagnosis in clinical practice. To enhance the understanding of medical personnel, this paper summarizes the definition, epidemiology, pathology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of CTEPH and CTEPD.

Background: To evaluate the feasibility of treating odontoid fractures in the Chinese population with two cortical screws based on computed tomography (CT) scans and describe a new measurement strategy to guide screw insertion in treating these fractures. Methods: A retrospective review of cervical computed tomographic scans of 128 patients (aged 18–76 years; men, 55 [43.0%]) was performed. The minimum external transverse diameter (METD), minimum external anteroposterior diameter (MEAD), maximum screw length (MSL), and screw projection back angle (SPBA) of the odontoid process were measured on coronal and sagittal CT images. Results: The mean values of METD and MEAD were 10.0 ± 1.1 mm and 12.0 ± 1.0 mm, respectively, in men and 9.2 ± 1.0 mm and 11.0 ± 1.0 mm, respectively, in women. Both measurements were significantly higher in men (p < 0.001). In total, 87 individuals (68%) had METD > 9.0 mm that could accommodate two 3.5-mm cortical screws. The mean MSL value and SPBA range were 34.4 ± 2.9 mm and 13.5°–24.2°, respectively, with no statistically significant difference between men and women. Conclusions The insertion of two 3.5-mm cortical screws was possible for anterior fixation of odontoid fractures in 87 patients (68%) in our study, and there was a statistically significant difference between men and women.

The successful market availability of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has brought revolutionary changes to the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). With the widespread application of ICIs in HCC patients, the impact or even termination of antitumor therapy due to ICIs hepatotoxicity is a clinical problem that must be faced. However, it is currently unclear whether there are differences in the occurrence and risk factors of ICI hepatotoxicity between HCC patients and other tumors. At the same time, the chronic liver disease that often accompanies HCC patients also poses great challenges to their diagnosis and management. Therefore, clinical physicians need to understand the coping strategies for ICIs hepatotoxicity so as to improve the benefit of immunotherapy for patients.

Drug⁃induced liver injury (DILI) is an important adverse drug reaction that can lead to acute liver failure or even death in severe cases. Currently, the diagnosis of DILI still follows the strategy of exclusion. Therefore, a detailed history taking and a thorough and careful exclusion of other potential causes of liver injury is the key to correct diagnosis. This guideline was developed based on evidence⁃based medicine provided by the latest research advances and aims to provide professional guidance to clinicians on how to identify suspected DILI timely and standardize the diagnosis and management in clinical practice. Based on the clinical settings in China, the guideline also specifically focused on DILI in chronic liver diseases, drug ⁃ induced viral hepatitis reactivation, common causing agents of DILI (herbal and dietary supplements, anti⁃tuberculosis drugs, antineoplastic drugs), and signal and assessment of DILI in clinical trials.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is well known as a chronic lung disease. In recent years, with the deepening of its understanding, various complications of COPD, especially pulmonary hypertension(PH) have received more and more attention. COPD patients with PH have an increased fatality rate and a poor prognosis, which seriously affects the quality of life of the patients, and the treatment of the disease lacks effective drugs. In order to fully understand the current status of the treatment of the disease, the research progress of the drug treatment of COPD combined with PH was reviewed. The results show that for patients with COPD and PH, the best treatment should be given to their underlying diseases. The use of statins and fasudil may be beneficial, but the effect of targeted drugs is still controversial. In the future, more large randomized controlled trials need to be carried out to further clarify the efficacy of various drugs on COPD.

Although tumor immune checkpoint inhibitors therapy brings survival benefits to cancer patients,it also faces many challenges,such as the occurrence of immune-mediated hepatotoxicity.Therefore,an in-depth understanding of the conditions,possible mechanisms,and risk factors that cause liver injury during the treatment of tumor immune checkpoint inhibitors will facilitate better clinical management.