Therapeutic plasma exchange in pediatric patients with acute demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system: A single-center experience

BackgroundTherapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an extracorporeal treatment that can be used in adult and pediatric patients with acute demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system. In this study, the efficacy and safety of TPE was evaluated in 10 pediatric patients who underwent TPE that were unresponsive to corticosteroid treatment.MethodsRecords of 10 pediatric patients who underwent TPE in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) between May 2017 and June 2020 were used. Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Gait Scale (GS), and Visual Outcome Scale (VOS) were applied to the patients before and after TPE.ResultsOf the 10 patients who underwent TPE, five were diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), three with transverse myelitis (TM), and two with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). The median age of the patients was 13.3 years (IQR 8-15), and the median day from symptom onset to onset of TPE was 12.5 days (IQR 7-28). A total of 104 TPE sessions were performed successfully. While no complications were encountered in three patients during the sessions, the most common complication was hypofibrinogenemia. The decrease in EDSS and GS scores was found to be consistent with the clinical response of the patients. There was no statistically significant decrease in the VOS.ConclusionsWith this study, we can say that TPE is a feasible, effective, and safe treatment modality in children with acute demyelinating syndromes of the central nervous system.     

Emerging innovations in cold plasma therapy against cancer: A paradigm shift

Cancer is one of the major causes of mortality, accounting for ～ 9.5 million deaths globally in 2018. The spectrum of conventional treatment for cancer includes surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Recently, cold plasma therapy surfaced as a novel technique in the treatment of cancer. The FDA approval of the first trial for the use of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in cancer therapy in 2019 is evidence of this. This review highlights the mechanisms of action of CAP. Additionally, its applications in anticancer therapy have been reviewed. In summary, this article will introduce the readers to the exciting field of plasma oncology and help them understand the current status and prospects of plasma oncology.     

1例富血小板血浆治疗外阴Paget′s病术后创面感染的护理体会

总结1例外阴Paget’s病术后创面感染的护理体会,利用伤口评估三角工具对患者创面进行评估,通过使用液体伤口敷料联合银离子敷料控制感染,富血小板血浆技术促进伤口愈合,个体化健康教育提高患者治疗依从性的整体干预方案对伤口进行有效管理,结果显示伤口愈合效果良好。     

A Coupled FEM-BEM Approach for the Solution of the Free-Boundary Axi-Symmetric Plasma Equilibrium Problem

In this paper we present a coupled Finite Element Method – Boundary Element Method (FEM-BEM) approach for the solution of the free-boundary axi-symmetric plasma equilibrium problem. The proposed method, obtained from an improvement of the Hagenow-Lackner coupling method, allows to efficiently model the equilibrium problem in unbounded domains by discretizing only the plasma region; the external conductors can be modelled either as 2D or 3D models, according to the problem of interest. The paper explores different iterative methods for the solution of the nonlinear Grad-Shafranov equation, such as Picard, Newton-Raphson and Newton-Krylov, in order to provide a robust and reliable tool, able to handle large-scale problems (e.g. high resolution equilibria). This method has been implemented in the FRIDA code (FRee-boundary Integro-Differential Axisimmetric – https://github. om/matteobonotto/ FRIDA), together with a suitable Adaptive Integration Technique (AIT) for the computation of the source term. FRIDA has been successfully tested and validated against experimental data from RFX-mod device, and numerical equilibria of an ITER-like device.     

D-二聚体和中性粒细胞/淋巴细胞比值评估卵巢癌预后的临床价值

目的:研究D-二聚体（D-dimer,D-D）和中性粒细胞/淋巴细胞比值（neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio,NLR）与卵巢癌临床病理特征及预后的关系。方法:回顾性分析2012年1月至2015年12月于我院妇科行手术治疗的卵巢恶性肿瘤患者387例和卵巢良性肿瘤患者250例临床资料。比较血清D-D和外周血NLR在卵巢良、恶性肿瘤中的表达水平；确定D-D和NLR临界值，D-D+NLR=0（D-D≤0.555 mg/L和NLR≤2.792）,D-D+NLR=1（D-D>0.555 mg/L或NLR>2.792），D-D+NLR=2（D-D>0.555 mg/L和NLR>2.792），分析两者联合的评分系统与卵巢癌临床病理特征和预后的关系。结果:血清D-D和外周血NLR在卵巢良、恶性肿瘤患者中的表达水平有统计学差异（P＜0.001）。D-D高水平组与低水平组相比，患者的分期、分级、淋巴结转移、腹水、CA125水平、残余瘤大小有统计学差异（P＜0.05）。NLR高水平组与低水平组相比，患者的年龄、分期、淋巴结转移、腹水、CA125水平、残余瘤大小有统计学差异（P＜0.05）。D-D+NLR为0、1、2分的平均总生存期（OS）分别为70个月、58个月、40个月。D-D+NLR评分是影响OS的独立预后因素。结论:术前血清D-D和外周血NLR与卵巢癌临床病理特征和OS相关，D-D+NLR评分可以作为评估卵巢癌预后的指标。