Objective To review the research progress of the vacuum phenomenon in spine. Methods The recent articles about the vacuum phenomenon in spine were reviewed; the features of imaging and the cl inical correlation were summarized. Results The vaccum phenomenon has been described in every segment of the spine. This phenomenon occurs mostly to the disc space and represents a transparent area on radiograph. Conclusion The causes of the vacuum phenomenoninclude degeneration of the anatomic structures of spine, trauma, and other pathologic changes. The vacuum phenomenon has important diagnostic and cl inical significances.
Objective To investigate the CT manifestation and clinical significance of the gastrointestinal tract involvement in acute pancreatitis (AP). Methods Two hundreds CT scans in 131 patients with acute pancreatitis between Jan. 1, 2009 and Jun. 30, 2009 were included into the study. Two radiologists analyzed the images retrospectively, paying attention to the CT features of the gastrointestinal tract involvement, such as the style, distribution, and so on. The correlation between gastrointestinal tract involvement and CT severity index, clinical severity grading, and turnover of acute pancreatitis were studied using a SPSS 14.0 for windows statistics software. Results The CT images in 109 (83.2%) patients showed gastrointestinal tract involvement, which distributing mainly stomach, duodenum, jejunum, and transverse colon, and showing mainly the gastrointestinal tract wall thickening and distension. The gastrointestinal tract involvement had positive correlation with CT severity index, clinical severity grading, and turnover of acute pancreatitis (r=0.689， P=0.000; r=0.584， P=0.000; r=0.346， P=0.000). Conclusions The gastrointestinal tract involvement is common complication in acute pancreatitis and concerns with severity and prognosis of the disease. As other extrapancreatic organs involvement, the gastrointestinal tract involvement has important value for severity assessment, prognosis evaluation, and therapeutic effect monitoring of acute pancreatitis.
ObjectiveTo study the diagnostic significance of modified Alvarado Score System for different types of acute appendicitis. MethodsClinical data of 1 930 cases of acute appendicitis, who underwent appendicectomy in The First Hospital of Yulin from Jan. 2004 to Jan. 2014, were retrospectively collected. Then the diagnostic significance of Modified Alvarado Score System was detected and evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and its correlation with postoperative pathological results was calculated. ResultsThe modified Alvarado score of cases in progressive group was higher than that of simplex group (7.5±1.3 vs. 3.6±0.7, P < 0.001). The areas under ROC curve of modified Alvarado Score System was 0.943 (95% CI:0.929-0.958, P < 0.001). The critically diagnostic points of Modified Alvarado Score System for differential diagnosis of simplex acute appendicitis and progressive acute appendicitis was 6 score, with sensitivity of 92.9%, specificity of 86.3%, positive predictive value of 96.9%, negative predictive value of 72.6%, positive likelihood ratio of 6.8, negative likelihood ratio of 0.1, and Youden index of 91.7%. ConclusionThis Modified Alvarado Score System has a certain significance for the type diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between placental growth factor (PlGF) and the gastric cancer. MethodsThe cancer tissues (cancer tissue group) and para-cancer tissues (para-cancer tissue group) of 88 patients with gastric cancer who underwent surgery in Sichuan Mianyang 404 Hospital from Mar. 2013 to Dec. 2014 were collected retrospectively, to determine the expressions of PlGF mRNA and its protein by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry method. In addition, blood samples of 30 normal persons (normal person group) who got examina-tion in Sichuan Mianyang 404 Hospital in Sep. 2014 and 88 patients with gastric cancer (gastric cancer group) were collected to detect the concentration of serum PlGF, by using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Comparison of the expressions of PlGF mRNA and its protein between cancer tissue group and para-cancer tissue group, concentration of PlGF between cancer tissue group and normal person group were performed, as well as the relationship between expressions of serum PlGF mRNA/PlGF in gastric cancer tissues and clinicopathological features of patients with gastric cancer, and relationship between concentration of PlGF in blood and clinicopathological features of patients with gastric cancer was explored by univariate analysis. ResultsThe expression level of PlGF mRNA (0.569±0.166 vs. 0.037±0.020, t=-29.948, P=0.000) and positive-expression rate of PlGF[80.7% (71/88) vs. 5.7% (5/88), χ2=100.867, P=0.000] were significantly higher in cancer tissue group than those of para-cancer tissue group. And the concentration of PlGF in blood of patients in gastric cancer group was higher than that of normal person group[(57.247±9.800) ng/L vs. (10.351±1.715) ng/L, t=43.000, P=0.000]. The expressions of PlGF mRNA and its protein were both correlated with diameter of tumor, pT staging, pN staging, differentiation, and Borrmann type (P<0.050). The expression levels of PlGF mRNA and its protein in that patients with diameter of tumor greater than 4 cm, pT3-4 staging, pN3 staging, low differentiation, and Borrmann Ⅲ-Ⅳ staging were higher. While there were no significant correlation between expressions of PlGF mRNA/protein and age, gender, pM staging, and gastrointestinal type (P>0.050). Concentration of serum PlGF of gastric cancer patient wasn't significantly correlated with age, gender, diameter of tumor, pT staging, pN staging, pM staging, differentiation, Borrmann type, and gastrointestinal type (P>0.050). ConclusionThe abnormal expression of PlGF at gastric cancer tissues may play an important role in pathogenesis of gastric cancer.
Objective To show the changes of coagulation function in patients with esophageal carcinoma, and to explore the clinical significance of the changes. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 202 patients(as a trial group, 114 males, 88 females, aged from 36 to 69 years, median age at 49 years) with esophageal carcinoma confirmed by pathological examination in Gansu Provincial Hospital from January 2010 through May 2014. The prothrombin time (PT), prothrombin time activity (PTA), international activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (Fib), D-Dimer, and platelet count, pathological type, TNM stage, gender were recorded. Eighty patients (38 males, 42 females, with aged of 39 to 71 years, median age of 51 years) without cancer were selected as a control group. Results Compared with the control group, coagulation parameters including PT, APTT, PLT, Fib, TT, D-Dimer were statistically higher in the trial group (P<0.05). Higher Fib level was found in the squamous cell esophageal carcinoma patients than adenocarcinoma cell esophageal carcinoma patients (P<0.05). Fib increased significantly (P<0.05) and APTT shorten (P<0.05) in the patients at stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅳ compared with those of patients at stage Ⅰ and stage Ⅱ. Fib and D-Dimer levels increased (P<0.05) in N1-3 patients compared with those of N0 patients. There was no statistical difference in gender or age (P>0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion Most of the patients with esophageal carcinoma have abnormal changes of coagulation and fibrinolysis system. Patients with squamous subtype and/or lymph node metastasis at advanced stages of esophageal carcinoma are prone to thrombophilia. So monitoring the coagulation parameters of cancer patients can be used as an effective measure to prevent blood clot.
Objective To explore the diagnostic value and safety of CT-guided percutaneous lung biopsy (CT-PLB) for pulmonary nodules. Methods A total of 438 patients with pulmonary nodules underwent CT-PLB for further diagnosis. Results The CT-PLB was performed successfully in all 438 patients. The positive biopsy rate at the first puncture was 94.9%, and 100.0% at the second puncture. The pathology results revealed 379 (86.5%) cases of malignant lesions, 37 cases of benign lesions, and 22 cases with uncertainty. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CT-PLB were 97.9% (376/384), 94.4% (51/54), and 97.4% (427/438), respectively. The first puncture induced complications included pneumothorax in 33 (7.5%) cases, blood in phlegm in 62 (14.2%) cases, pleural reaction in 7 (1.6%) cases, and bleeding at the site of puncture in 6 (1.4%) cases. There was no occurrence of neoplasm needle track implantation. The second puncture induced complications included pneumothorax in 7 (46.6%) cases and blood in phlegm in 11 (73.3%) cases. The incidences of pneumothorax and blood in phlegm were significantly higher in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with pulmonary lesion size＜3 cm, or with penetration depth ≥5 cm (P＜0.05). Conclusions CT-PLB is a safe method with a relatively small trauma and has good diagnostic value for pulmonary nodules. The incidence of complications increases in patients with smaller pulmonary lesions, deeper puncture, or COPD.
Objective To measure the rate of changes of the cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and serum urea nitrogen (N), serum creatinine (Cr), estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of acute type A aortic dissection (AAAD) patients before and after surgery, and to explore the prognostic significance of the rate of changes. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 77 AAAD patients' clinical data between August 2015 and March 2016 from the department of the cardiothoracic surgery in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. There were 57 males and 20 females with an average age of 51.1±13.1 years. The test results of cTnT, N, Cr, eGFR were recorded. Patients were divided into three groups based on the duration of ventilation: less than 48 hours, 48 hours to 7 days, longer than 7 days, and divided into two groups based on whether postoperative dialysis was performed: dialysis group and non-dialysis group. Results In the groups with different duration of ventilation, the rate of cTnT change differed significantly. The rate of Cr and eGFR change in the group with the duration of ventilation longer than 7 days showed significantly different compared to other two groups. We found that the rate of Cr and eGFR change were statistically significant between the dialysis group and the non-dialysis group. In the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of the Cr growth rate for predicting postoperative dialysis therapy was 58.1%, and the optimal cut-off value of the eGFR decline rate was 45.5%. Conclusion The rate of changes in cTnT, N, Cr and eGFR can be used as a reliable mean to evaluate respiratory and renal function for AAAD patients in the early stage, which will facilitate an early assessment of the prognosis of AAAD patients.
Objective To explore the expression differences of procalcitonin (PCT) in different infection sites and bacterial strains, and to provide the evidence for early differential diagnosis of infectious diseases with PCT as a biomarker. Methods The patients with various kinds of infections diagnosed in West China Hospital of Sichuan University between January 2012 and June 2016 were retrospectively included. The expression differences of PCT in various infection sites and bacterial strains were analyzed. Results A total of 1 005 patients were include in this study, including 259 with systemic infection and 746 with local infection. The median PCT level in the systemic infection group was higher than that in the local infection group (8.57 vs. 0.10 ng/mL, P<0.05). In the 779 patients with pulmonary infection, the median PCT level of the patients with sepsis caused by pulmonary infection was higher than that of the ones without sepsis (4.61vs. 0.10 ng/mL, P<0.05), and the median PCT level of the patients with positive sputum culture was higher than that of the ones with negative sputum culture (0.28vs. 0.08 ng/mL, P<0.05). In the 48 patients with urinary tract infection, the median PCT level of the patients with sepsis caused by urinary tract infection was higher than that of the ones without sepsis (12.00vs. 0.42 ng/mL, P<0.05), and the median PCT level of the patients with complicated urinary tract infection was higher than that of the patients with simplex urinary tract infection (19.15vs. 5.02 ng/mL, P<0.05). In the 259 patients with systemic infection, the median PCT level of the patients with infective shock was higher than that of the ones without infective shock (40.26vs. 3.83 ng/mL, P<0.05); the mean PCT level of patients with infection of Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria and fungi was 13.66, 0.99, and 3.30 ng/mL with a significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusion The PCT level has unique advantages in identifying different sites of the infection, early diagnosing complicated urinary tract infection, and evaluating the severity of infection, which could provide evidence in early identification for sepsis caused by various kinds of infectious pathogens.
Objective The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in the perioperative period of pancreatoduodenectomy. Methods This article conducted the forward-looking analysis on the information of 227 patients undergoing the pancreatoduodenectomy in West China Hospital from January 2016 to June 2017, and then compared the differences between the patients subjected to ERAS (ERAS group) and thosesubjected to regular measures (control group) with respect to time of setting in sickbed, time of mobilizing out ofsickbed, time of starting drink water, time of resumption of diet, exhaust time, defecation time, the time of nasogastric tube, postoperative hospitalization duration and expenses, postoperative complications, and postoperative pain scores. Results ① Postoperative indexes: by comparison of the ERAS group and the control group, it was found that the ERAS group had shorter (or lower) time of setting in sickbed, time of mobilizing out of sickbed, time of starting drink water, time of resumption of diet, exhaust time, defecation time, the time of nasogastric tube, postoperative hospitalization duration and expenses (P<0.05). ② Postoperative complications: of all postoperative complications, including pancreatic fistula, postoperative hemorrhage, delayed gastric emptying, biliary fistula, abdominal infection, incision complication, lung infection, and heart complication were without statistically significant differences (P>0.05) between the 2 groups.③ Reoperation and readmission: there was no significant difference on the incidences of reoperation and readmission between the 2 groups (P>0.05). ④ Postoperative pain scores: except 22 : 00 of the 6-day after operation, the pain scores in the ERAS group were all lower than those in the control group at 2 h and 8 h after operation, and the time points of 1–6 days after operation (8 : 00, 16 : 00, and 22 : 00), with statistically differences (P<0.05). Conclusion Without increasing the incidence of complications, ERAS may speed up the rehabilitation of patients undergoing the pancreatoduodenectomy and mitigate the pain of patients.
Objective To investigate the diagnostic significance of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) combined with BRAFV600E gene detection in the diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer. Methods Atotal of 140 patients with suspected cervical lymph node metastasis of thyroid cancer were collected as the research objects, and all patients were given ultrasound-guided FNAC and detection of BRAFV600E gene. The significance of the diagnosis was analyzed according to the gold standard after pathological examination. Results All the 140 patients underwent surgical treatment. For FNAC, the sensitivity was 63.6% (84/132), the specificity was 100% (8/8), the accuracy was 65.7% (92/140), the positive predictive value was 100% (84/84), and the negative predictive value was 14.3% (8/56). For detection of BRAFV600E gene, the sensitivity was 84.8% (112/132), the specificity was 100% (8/8), the accuracy was 85.7% (120/140), the positive predictive value was 100% (112/112), and the negative predictive value was 28.5% (8/28). For FNAC combined with BRAFV600E gene detection, the sensitivity was 90.9% (120/132), the specificity was 100% (8/8), the accuracy was 91.4% (128/140), the positive predictive value was 100% (120/120), and the negative predictive value was 40.0% (8/20). The area under curve of receiver operating characteristic for FNAC, detection of BRAFV600E gene, and FNAC combined with BRAFV600E gene detection were 0.818, 0.924, and 0.955, respectively. Conclusion FNAC combine with BRAFV600E gene detection improves the accuracy of neck lymph node metastasis in patients with thyroid cancer, which is worthyof performed.