BACKGROUND:With the rapid development of minimally invasive spinal surgery and enhanced recovery after surgery,endoscopic intervertebral fusion techniques have gradually emerged and been widely used in clinical practice in recent years. OBJECTIVE:To analyze the early clinical efficacy of uniaxial spinal endoscopic intervertebral fusion combined with posterior percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases. METHODS:135 patients with lumbar degenerative diseases treated by uniaxial spinal endoscopic intervertebral fusion combined with posterior percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in the Suining Central Hospital from October 2020 to December 2021 were enrolled in this study.There were 59 males and 76 females,aged 47-79 years.The lower limb and lumbar pain was evaluated by visual analog scale and lumbar function was assessed by Oswestry disability index before the operation,1 week,1,and 6 months after the operation,and at the end of follow-up.The overall pain recovery of patients was evaluated by the scoring criteria for low back pain surgery of Spine Group of Chinese Orthopedic Association and the lumbar physiological curvature and intervertebral fusion were evaluated on lumbar lateral X-ray preoperatively and at the end of follow-up. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The 135 patients were followed up for(17.8±3.0)months after surgery.There was 1 case of endplate injury,1 case of cerebrospinal fluid leakage,1 case of nerve root injury,1 case of intervertebral cage subsidence and displacement,1 case of chronic infection,and 1 case of pedicle screw rupture.The complication rate was 5.2%.(2)The lumbar visual analog scale score and Oswestry disability index significantly decreased in the waist and lower limbs at various time points postoperatively compared with those preoperatively in 135 patients(P<0.05).The scoring criteria for low back pain surgery of the Spine Group of the Chinese Orthopedic Association were significantly better at the last follow-up than that preoperatively in 135 patients(P<0.05).(3)At the last follow-up,there was no significant difference in physiological curvature of lumbar vertebra as compared with that preoperatively in 135 patients(P>0.05),with a fusion rate of 95.8%.(4)It is concluded that uniaxial spinal endoscopic intervertebral fusion combined with posterior percutaneous pedicle screw fixation in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases has shown satisfactory early clinical results and is a highly safe minimally invasive spinal surgery mode.

Objective:To explore the association between dietary patterns and the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM), so as to provide insights for the prevention and management of T2DM.Methods:Participants were recruited from the " The Tianjin Chronic Inflammation and Health Cohort Study(TCLSIH)" cohort study from 2013 to 2018, who had completed the modified semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire(FFQ) and blood glucose testing( n=26 425), free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes at baseline. The relevant information collected includes food frequency, blood glucose concentration, and other confounding factors. In this study, the correlation between dietary patterns and T2DM was tested using Cox proportional risk regression model, and the gender stratification analysis and body mass index stratification analysis of different gender groups were carried out. All statistical analysis was performed using SAS 9.3 software. Results:The age of all participants was (41.0±11.5)years, and the cumulative incidence was 3.84% for T2DM. The cumulative incidence of T2DM in male population was 5.29%, while that in female population was 2.16%. There were significant differences in the incidence of T2DM among different genders( P <0.001). The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios( HR) and corresponding 95% CI of T2DM across the plant-based dietary pattern score were 1.09(95% CI 0.91-1.31), 0.80(95% CI 0.66-0.97), and 0.76(95% CI 0.62-0.94; Ptrend =0.010). Moreover, no statistically significant differences were observed between animal and traditional northern Chinese diets with the incidence of T2DM. Conclusions:The plant-based dietary patterns were associated with substantially lower risk of developing T2DM, and there were no significant association between animal and traditional northern Chinese dietary patterns with T2DM. Plant-based dietary patterns characterized by a variety of fruit, leeks, onions, seaweed may be beneficial to the prevention and control of T2DM.

Objective:To explore the independent risk factors of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in liver cirrhosis, and to establish and evaluate a risk prediction model for PVT in patients with cirrhosis.Methods:A total of 295 cases of cirrhosis hospitalized in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from December 2019 to October 2021 were divided into a modeling set ( n=207) and an internal validation set ( n=88) by the random number table. In addition, patients with cirrhosis hospitalized in Yichang Central People's Hospital, Wuhan Puren Hospital, No.2 People's Hospital of Fuyang City and People's Hospital of China Three Gorges University during the same period were collected as an external validation set ( n=92). The modeling set was divided into PVT group ( n=56) and non-PVT group ( n=151). Univariate analysis was used to preliminarily screen the related indicators of PVT, and then multivariate logistic regression analysis with forward stepwise regression was used to determine independent risk factors for PVT. A nomogram prediction model was constructed based on the independent risk factors obtained. The internal and external validation set were used to verify the predictive ability of the model. Distinction degree was used to evaluate the ability of the model to distinguish patients with or without PVT. Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test was used to evaluate the consistency between predicted risk and the actual risk of the model. Results:Univariate analysis showed that smoking, history of splenectomy, trans-jugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS), gastrointestinal bleeding and endoscopic variceal treatment, and levels of hemoglobin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and D-dimer were significantly different between the PVT group and the non-PVT group ( P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis found that smoking ( P=0.020, OR=31.21, 95% CI: 1.71-569.40), levels of D-dimer ( P=0.003, OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.04-1.20) and hemoglobin ( P=0.039, OR=0.99, 95% CI: 0.97-1.00), history of TIPS ( P=0.011, OR=18.04, 95% CI: 1.92-169.90) and endoscopic variceal treatment ( P=0.001, OR=3.21, 95% CI: 1.59-6.50) were independent risk factors for PVT in patients with liver cirrhosis. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the internal validation set was 0.802 (95% CI: 0.709-0.895) ( P<0.001), and the AUC for the external validation set was 0.811 (95% CI: 0.722-0.900) ( P<0.001). Both AUC were larger than 0.75. The calibration curve of Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test showed that the P values of both internal validation set ( χ2=3.602, P=0.891) and the external validation set ( χ2=11.025, P=0.200) were larger than 0.05. Conclusion:Smoking, history of TIPS or endoscopic variceal treatment, levels of D-dimer and hemoglobin are independent risk factors for PVT in patients with liver cirrhosis. The prediction nomogram model based on the above factors has strong predictive ability.

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of thyroid nodules (TN) among people undergoing physical examination in Taiyuan City, and evaluate the impact of hyperuricemia (HUA) on the risk of TN.Methods:Using a prospective design, a total of 42 966 people who underwent routine physical examination at Shanxi Shangning Health Examination Center from October 2020 to October 2021 were selected as subjects and divided into the HUA group ( n = 7 235) and the non-HUA group ( n = 35 731) based on the serum uric acid levels. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to balance the confounding factors between groups, and logistic regression was used to analyze the impact of HUA on the risk of TN. Results:The total detection rate of TN in the physical examination population was 55.6% (23 907/42 966). The detection rate of TN in females [61.0% (15 011/24 618)] was higher than that in males [48.5% (8 896/18 348)], and the difference was statistically significant (χ 2 = 664.55, P < 0.001). A total of 2 438 pairs of matching data were obtained after PSM, and the distribution of confounding factors in HUA and non-HUA groups reached equilibrium (the absolute values of standardized differences < 0.10). Logistic regression analysis before PSM showed that HUA was a protective factor for the incidence of TN in general population and males [odds ratio ( OR) = 0.696, 0.817, 95% confidence interval ( CI): 0.661 - 0.732, 0.768 - 0.868], while HUA was a risk factor for the incidence of TN in females ( OR = 1.370, 95% CI: 1.192 - 1.574). After PSM, HUA was not a influencing factor for the incidence of TN in general population and males ( P > 0.05), but it was still a risk factor in females for the onset of TN ( OR = 1.373, 95% CI: 1.014 - 1.858). Conclusion:In the physical examination population in Taiyuan City, HUA is an independent risk factor for TN in females.

Objective:To compare the impact of different portal exposure techniques in the Kasai surgery on children with type Ⅲ. biliary atresia during their different perioperative periods.Methods:A retrospective study was performed on the data of children with type Ⅲ. biliary atresia who underwent Kasai surgery at Fujian Children's Hospital from January 2017 to October 2020. Of 45 children enrolled in this study, there were 24 males and 21 females, aged (71.3±21.0) days. Patients who had left and right branches of the portal vein and the left and right hepatic arteries in the portal area being completely freed and elastically stretched during the Kasai operation were included into the free group ( n=22) and the remaining patients were included in the control group ( n=23). Postoperative hospital stay, postoperative direct bilirubin levels, postoperative complications and transplant-free survival after the Kasai operation were compared between the 2 groups. Results:Postoperative hospital stay of (17.1±4.4) d in the free group was significantly lower than that in the control group (20.1±5.4) d, ( t=2.07, P=0.044). The direct bilirubin level at 3 months after surgery for the control group was 30.0 (109, 108.0)μmol/L, which was significantly higher than that of 14.5 (4.0, 37.5) μmol/L in the free group ( Z=-2.16, P=0.031). Twenty-one patients (91.3%) in the control group had frequent attacks of postoperative cholangitis, compared with 13 patients (59.1%) in the free group. The difference was statistically significant (χ 2=4.69, P=0.030). Eleven surviving patients (47.8%) in the control group did not undergo liver transplantation at one year after surgery, compared with 15 patients (68.2%) in the free group. At two years after surgery, 7 surviving patients (30.4%) in the control group did not undergo liver transplantation compared with 10 patients (45.5%) in the free group. Conclusion:For children with type Ⅲ. biliary atresia, completely freeing the left and right branches of portal vein, and left and right hepatic arteries in the liver portal area, and elastically stretching these vessels to expose the portal area of the liver during Kasai surgery increased surgical safety and reduced hospital stay.

Objective:To investigate the relationship between blood glucose fluctuation and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) in newly diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the predictive value of betatrophin.Methods:A total of 180 newly diagnosed T2DM patients in Taiyuan Central Hospital from June 2018 to December 2019 were included for the study. And they were divided into normal intima-media group (81 cases), intima-media thickening group (60 cases) and plaque formation group (39 cases) according to the results of carotid ultrasound. The body test indexes, glucose and lipid metabolism indexes, blood glucose fluctuation and betatrophin level were compared among the three groups, and the correlation of these indexes with CIMT and risk factors of CIMT were analyzed.Results:The mean and maximal amplitude of glycemic excursions (AGE) in the plaque formation group and intima-media thickening group were significantly higher than those in the normal intima-media group [(5.08±0.62), (4.06±0.54) vs (3.17±0.41) mmol/L and (5.20±0.72), (4.26±0.54) vs (3.34±0.59) mmol/L] (all P<0.05), and these indexes in the plaque formation group were significantly higher than the intima-media thickening group (all P<0.05). Betatrophin levels in intima-media thickening group and plaque formation group were significantly higher than those in normal intima-media group [(423.35±76.24) and (490.68±97.84) vs (358.29±92.27) ng/L] (both P<0.05). Hip circumference and triglyceride (TG) in plaque formation group were obviously higher than those of the normal intima-media group and intima-media thickening group [(103.5±6.3) vs (97.6±7.0), (99.5±7.4) cm and 2.99 (1.32, 3.92) vs 1.70 (1.21, 2.39), 1.84(1.43, 2.93) mmol/L] (all P<0.05), and waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), insulin resistance of homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) levels in plaque formation group were significantly higher than those in normal intima-media group [(94.0 (86.0, 102.0) vs 88.0 (82.5, 94.0) cm, (136.2±18.0) vs (125.9±15.3) mmHg, 10.16 (8.43, 13.23) vs 8.49 (6.98, 9.97) mmol/L, (6.31±0.90) vs (4.99±0.99) mmol/L, 4.90 (3.50, 7.13) vs 2.77 (1.32, 5.07)] (all P<0.05). CIMT was positively correlated with waist circumference, hip circumference, systolic blood pressure (SBP), FBG, TC, TG, HOMA-IR, betatrophin, the mean and maximal AGE, blood glucose fluctuation coefficient (BGFC) (all P<0.05), and it was negatively correlated with time in range (TIR) ( P<0.05). The mean and maximal AGE, TC, TG and betatrophin were independent risk factors of CIMT (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Blood glucose fluctuation is closely related to CIMT in patients with T2DM, and betatrophin is expected to be an early predictor of diabetic macroangiopathy.

Objective:To study the expression and value of inflammatory factors and disease activity in dry eyes of rheumatoid arthritis patients.Methods:From March 2017 to November 2019, 78 patients with rheumatoid arthritis complicated with dry eye diagnosed by the rheumatology department of our hospital, 80 patients with simple dry eye treated in the ophthalmology clinic and 80 normal volunteers were collected. All subjects were examined for OSDI questionnaire scores, tear film rupture time (BUT), tear secretion test (SIT), and corneal fluorescein staining (FL) scores. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), rheumatoid factor (RF) and other disease activity-related indicators were collected. The concentrations of interleukin-1b (il-1b), tumor necrosis factor-a (tnf-a), chemokine 3(CCL3), CCL4, CCL5, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the collected tears were detected by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). One-way Anova was used to analyze the correlative indexes among the three groups, LSD- t method was used for multiple comparison. Pearson's method was used to analyze the correlation between Ra activity and dry eye. Results:The results of OSDI [(44±9) points vs (44±9) points vs (24±7) points], SIT [(3.3±2.2) mm/5 min vs (3.6±2.1) mm/5 min vs (11.7±1.6) mm/5 min], BUT [(4.3±1.8) s vs (5.9±1.9) s vs (10.4±2.0) s], FL [(7.3±3.1) points vs (5.7±2.8) points vs (1.6±1.6) points] were com-pared among the three groups. There were significant differences among the three groups( F=154.22, P<0.01; F=470.49, P<0.01; F=217.72, P<0.01; F=101.99, P<0.01). The concentrations of IL-1β [(1.92±0.14) ng/L vs (1.28±0.18) ng/L vs (0.64±0.15) ng/L], IL-6 [(38.24±0.69) ng/L vs (36.31±0.82) ng/L vs (30.43±0.87) ng/L]、TNF-α [(0.78±0.03) ng/L vs (0.67±0.03) ng/L vs (0.56±0.02) ng/L], CCL3 [(91±25) ng/L vs (83±21) ng/L vs (24±18) ng/L], CCL4 [(187±76) ng/L vs (137±64) ng/L vs (37±5) ng/L], CCL5[(259±70) ng/L vs (182±42) ng/L vs (135±34) ng/L] and VEGF [(172±25) ng/L vs (152±22) ng/L vs (41±21) ng/L] in the tears of the three groups were significantly different( F=1 300.15, P<0.01; F=2 036.37, P<0.01; F=1 305.89, P<0.01; F=764.01, P<0.01; F=225.47, P<0.01; F=138.48, P<0.01; F=121.04, P<0.01). The indexes of disease activity (ESR, CRP, RF) were compared among the three groups. The positive rate of RF[(100%) vs (5%) vs (4%)] was significantly higher in Ra dry eye group than in the other two groups ( χ2=127.38, P<0.01) There were significant differences in ESR[(51±23) mm/1 h vs (9±4) mm/1 h vs (8±5) mm/1 h] and CRP[(44±23) g/L vs (5±4) g/L vs (6±4) g/L] among the three groups ( F=253.18, P<0.01; F=222.36, P<0.01) . BUT was negatively correlated with the activity index (ESR, CRP, RF) in rheumatoid arthritis dry eye group ( r=-0.398, P=0.005; r=-0.353, P=0.010; r=-0.302, P=0.038) , FL was positively correlated with activity index (ESR, CRP, RF) ( r=0.345, P=0.014; r=0.385, P=0.007; r=0.412, P=0.003) . There was no correlation between SIT, OSDI and activity index (ESR, CRP, RF)( r=-0.265, P=0.060; r=-0.156, P=0.318; r=-0.275, P=0.070); ( r=-0.087, P=0.582、 r=-0.065, P=0.664; r=-0.045, P=0.768). Conclusion:Inflammatory factors and disease activity indexes are highly expressed in rheumatoid arthritis patients with dry eye of disease, and there is a correlation between disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis and dry eye, which has some clinical meaing.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify potential epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer that went undetected by amplification refractory mutation system-Scorpion real-time PCR (ARMS-PCR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 200 specimens were obtained from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University from August 2014 to August 2015. In total, 100 ARMS-negative and 100 ARMS-positive specimens were evaluated for EGFR gene mutations by Sanger sequencing. The methodology and sensitivity of each method and the outcomes of EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 100 ARMS-PCR-positive samples, 90 were positive by Sanger sequencing, while 10 cases were considered negative, because the mutation abundance was less than 10%. Among the 100 negative cases, three were positive for a rare EGFR mutation by Sanger sequencing. In the curative effect analysis of EGFR-TKIs, the progression-free survival (PFS) analysis based on ARMS and Sanger sequencing results showed no difference. However, the PFS of patients with a high abundance of EGFR mutation was 12.4 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 11.6−12.4 months], which was significantly higher than that of patients with a low abundance of mutations detected by Sanger sequencing (95% CI, 10.7−11.3 months) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The ARMS method demonstrated higher sensitivity than Sanger sequencing, but was prone to missing mutations due to primer design. Sanger sequencing was able to detect rare EGFR mutations and deemed applicable for confirming EGFR status. A clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of EGFR-TKIs in patients with rare EGFR mutations is needed.
Adenocarcinoma/genetics ; Adenocarcinoma/pathology ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Disease-Free Survival ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms/genetics ; Lung Neoplasms/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation/genetics ; Mutation Rate ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor/genetics ; Sequence Analysis, DNA/methods ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To explore the effect and mechanism of sulfotanshinone sodium in lung fibrosis in ALI rats by intraperitoneal injection. Method The rats were divided into normal group,model group and sulfotan-shinone sodium group randomly.During the experiment,acute lung injury was induced by oleic acid in rats.Sulfo-tanshinone sodium group was treated by intraperitoneal injection of sulfotanshinone sodium for 14 days consecutively. The 12 rats were sacrificed at 7thand 14thday after last administration.The indexes of weight,arterial partial pres-sure of oxygen(PaO2),oxygenation index(PaO2/FiO2),lung index and wet/dry ratio,IL-1,TNF-α,PCⅢ,TGF-β1 and the lung histopathology of rats were observed. Results There was no difference in rat weight between the groups.The values of PaO2and PaO2/FiO2were increased.The lung index and wet/dry ratio,IL-1,TNF-α,PCⅢ, TGF-β1 and IQA were all reduced. The lung histopathology damage was significantly lightened.as compared with the model group. Conclusion It has treatment effect of sulfotanshinone sodium in lung fibrosis in the ALI rats, which may be related with the adjustment on inflammatory factor.